Running Bear's April 2022 Coffee Shop

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Afternoon All,

Early posting today since the wife is going to need help in the kitchen soon. MOH is making about 70% of the meal then we're trucking it to daughter's house where everyone is meeting. Happy Easter to all that celebrate the day. After putting the lights together yesterday I decided I could make my own since I have to assemble them anyway, that way I can save a few $$. I should be able to mount the lights tomorrow.

Smudge- I actually thought you were serious until I read the end. :D

Troy- That photo is different!

Steve- I'm glad your daughter was able to get a dog to help her.

TomO- That hopper looks great to me. Maybe you need to take a short break from MRR'ing. I've done that in the past when I got burnt out.

Terry- I will take small kids over moody teenagers that think that everything is not fair.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 


Happy Easter Everyone.....cloudy and unseasonably cold. At least the wind has died down a bit. Just Cathy, Riley and myself for our Easter Day and meal. Our close family is Cathy's sister's family and they are at Disney Land in California for the day. I only have a couple of distance cousins to call my family. Going to have a fire in the fireplace and watch a couple of movies on Netflix.

Our fire wood supply is growing low and I'll order a cord or so this summer at the cabin. Funny ordering firewood when I have thousands of pine trees and some shrub and white oak. The pine is fine for the fire pit, but not indoor fire places.

Looking forward to turning on the water and a spending some nights at the cabin.

Heard from a old friend from High School who moved to Northern Wisconsin and found a great girlfriend. Rick has been married four times and I think this is the one, besides at 73 time is growing shorter for him and any more marriages.

My teeth in the areas where they were extracted are now much better and the last one is starting to heal. The problem is the number of teeth removed and the locations on the top and bottom and both sides of my mouth. A good night's sleep and no late night television watching. I think about model railroading and it helps put me asleep. Overall, I feel much better since the dental work!

TomO: Real nice weathering start on the covered hopper car. I like the proto photo showing the different weathering patterns on the individual cars.

Lloyd: It's good to see you back at the Forum. Your scenes are so realistic and the use of the background and foreground plant material makes a real difference. Nice touch with the flat car load and the chains holding it down. I heard a good source of chain material is at the local jeweler and asking them about some cheap, plated chain and coloring it black..

All the neighbors have family coming for Easter Dinner, except one guy who in his 30's lives in his father's paid for house. The largest house (most expensive) in the area and the guys doesn't work. We suspect he's a drug dealer. He let his side yard fill with junk and debris to the point that we called the Zoning Officer and she notified him to clean up the mess. He did that yesterday. One neighbor even said she would clean it up for him and Cathy told her that she would be crazy to do the work for the able bodied man.

That's about all for now.....

Greg

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Almost forgot . . . . . Last night while lying awake, I heard, Train whistles!! And I live in a suburban residential "No Whistle" zone. I'm pretty sure it was the CP line which runs not too far from us.

What would make a train sound its horn at 0200 in a no whistle zone? Can't be good, I'm thinking.

Steve J
Steve, it might have been one of those dumb truckdrivers that mount train horns on their truck with a large air supply so they can scare the daylights out of folks at RR crossings.
Happy Easter all.. Alleluia, He is Risen.....
 
Good afternoon!

Just thought I'd post a couple photos on how the Easter morning dog walk went.
It started out not too bad, but, was a blizzard by the time we got back to the house.
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Since the photos were taken this morning, it's been off/on squalls all day. I've shovelled the walks twice, just so I don't get a skating rink out there tonight.

It's been a wonderful day, though. Even though I never did anything with the layout. All that shovelling tired me out, and I took a nap this afternoon.

Just a question. Do you folks paint the Caboose switch throws on your layouts?
 
Well howdy there internet people, and those who found an easter egg from three years ago...

It's Troy again...

I'm so glad someone else made the zombie joke. People give me dirty looks when I tell it. 🤪 😜

Just visited the spousal unit at the MIL's place. Poor girl (wife) is trying to organize not just the clutter, but the family items MIL won't have room for.

We were very surprised when Granddaughter #2 of the brood (our daughter is grandaughter #5 out of 5 for MIL) took grandpa's (my wife's father) old Korean Army uniform. I figured we end up donating it to a local museum....

And, one of wife's sisters had a flood in her home many years ago, and lost all sorts of photo albums of her girls... So my wife is trying to sort through multitudes of old snapshots and photo albums.

She'd get done with the last box, and the relatives cleaning out the garage would bring in two more boxes of photos.... My wife's glazed-over look made sense when I learned they were well into double digits of the numbers of photo boxes she's gone through, sorting pics into family groupings for divvying up at this summer's family reunion.

Tues is the big moving day. I'm supposed to fetch the donuts, drive an hour down to MIL's place, and be in charge of telling the movers which furniture and which pile of boxes goes to the new place across from us.

Wife still has the glazed-over look, explaining this too me.

I look at her and say: "Tuesday night is Pasta night at your favorite Italian place, a large rum and coke, then I'm tucking you into bed."

I can't get her to take Wednesday off, but she really needs it.
 


I'll have my Tesla Model Y sometime early June. Got solar panels so fill ups are free now.
It's comin. The administration said they will do away with fossil fuels. I didn't want to wait and get caught in the rising prices of the rush and nowhere to get rid of my internal combustion vehicle. Same with the solar panels.
The y is more roomy than our model, but we moved early as the trade in on the bmw was so good, and now over a year we can trade it in basically for what we paid for it - we did get a higher government subsidy than is now available, and we went for the longer distance rather than the faster model,and we took the basic wheels because with the pkastic covers on over the nice looking wheels we get much better economy on the battery.
Do not fill the battery to 100 percent, (unless a specific journey necessitates it) nor let it drain below 20 percent, 20-80 percent will give you more longevity on the battery life,you can easily check this out by looking up the best way to charge a battery, and prolong life.
We took a tow bar but are yet to use it. I keep the plug in I use regularly in the front trunk, because keeping it in the back either means it is left out in the way or is in the back truck and is a pain to get to as I often have loads in the back trunk.
FYI because I can I keep a first aid pack front and back in case of accident, in case I cannot get to one in the event of an accident. plus I sourced trauma blood bandages, this don’t give blood thry help clog it fast, they are like 5 pound a pop and no guarantees but it seems with Covid ensuring long delays in ambulance responses that having them in the car in the home just in case might save a life avoiding a bleed out, I carry our medicines my asthma his migraine there too.
Do you get a 13 amp plug on the y yet? I know the cyber truck will but I am not holding my breath for its roll out anytime soon, plus US first left hand drivers next in Europe then UK last, plus the EU rules and it’s a German build atm are going to downgrade it, so by the time it hits our market I am cynically wondering if I will still want it,although nothing else is catching our eye at the moment. glad we did not go S when we went 3, as they immediately after upgrade the S but then the cost went big also, we have been wavering and consider an X,but at present we cope with the smaller 3 and at least it fits properly into car parking spaces, the S barely makes it into a space and getting out the door is fun - we had a courtesy one, old model of course probably a trade in.
 
I saw condolences for Bud, can’t find the original post Karl, but you have all my sympathies, I have had cats and dogs, I am sorry when I lose the cats and miss them,but every dog has made me mourn their loss.
Kara and Herja the last two were sisters,a Doberman is very loyal,had anyone threatened me they would have happily torn the idiot to pieces,but were excellent dogs.
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Trampus was a rescue from a breeder when his wife left him, but I suspect there was more to it,he could not be trusted near children, that said he was a much loved pet, my other half cried when he died, he was chunky and often mistaken for a Rottweiler
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Really sorry about Bud.
 
Good morning all!
Bout 65F in Metropolis, IL and overcast. Rains every once in a while.
28F in Libby, supposed to be clear

Easter was pretty null. Went to Harrah's for dinner and wasn't to bad. 2 big slices of ham, smashed spuds, carrots and beans with roll; $17. We tried for the motel there - wanted $279.00 per night. Way over our budget. Stayed at Baymont for $78 which has a ton of parking and is right next door to casino. Wanted to play some Blackjack but the $15 minimum buy in per hand stopped that. Looks like they also changed 21 payout to 3:2 vs 2:1 which was the last time I played. Welp, it has been years and that Harrah's was in Bow, WA.

We plan to get back here as there is stuff we want to see. Some railroad orientated even; coal to barge loader looks interesting. Have to rent a car in Paducah as it is tough to fit 70ft just about anywhere. No rental place here. Superman museum looks like it will be fun and the National Quilt Museum is in Paducah which the wife wants to see. There are also many old brick buildings, some look railroady although I am not sure.

Should be outa here around daylight heading back to Olive Branch. Will give us some time for a Wal*Mart visit and some brunch before we load and head back to Aurora then Mt Prospect IL.

Enjoy your day!
 
Morning all,

Going to help the wife for a bit this morning as her workmates is off. Got a fence post I got to replace. Why anyone would use cedar for fence posts...Hopefully this one replaces quick, but probably not. I've had to fight with every post I've replaced over the years. Hole twice the size so I can break the concrete up and take it out in pieces. Not much fun.

Supposed to be a bit warmer today.
 
Good morning....A crisp 27, just can't get a break in the weather. Plenty of stuff to do in the yard but the ground won't dry out when it keeps raining and snowing. My wife showed me a pic of last year at this time and I could see the leaves were starting to come out. Nowhere near that this year.
 
Good morning all! Overcast and 37 on the way to mostly cloudy and 51. Supposed to have the last freeze of the season coming up tonight. Hoping to get the garden started later this week but we were waiting until after the last freeze.

My 3 day weekend went by pretty quick. Didn't accomplish much, but enjoyed it just the same. Had a nice time with family yesterday for Easter dinner.

Back to work today. Hope you all have a great day!
 
Got some friends coming over to see the empire today. They're bringing and older guy who they have been helping out for some time now. He says he had a layout many decades ago but had to give it all up when he became sick and moved into a small apartment. Hopefully, this will cheer his heart today.
 
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Good morning Crew from a weather confused portion of Wisconsin.
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The snow shower actually is coming down fairly heavily and coating the grass. It is melting as it hits the driveway. This is Spring and there are no buds on the trees around the house! But the grass is pretty green and could use a trim but not a cutting.

Yesterday, was a good day. Brunch out was fun until I got the bill. The buffet was plentiful but no omelette station or juice bar. Great desserts but not many choices. The ballroom where the Brunch was held had 100 numbered tables and when one emptied it got cleaned very quickly. The waiter told me the tips on Easter were getting split between all staff unless it was cash. I gave him cash and then added a tip to the Credit card. He handled our table of 14 very well. I do ask the servers if they want cash or on the credit card for tipping. Easter Brunch however is a chance for the restaurant to gouge which was too bad and this place did it in spades. I think I need to have the talk again with the daughter about the value of the dollar for the services being received. $72 for adults and $24 for kids under 9. But, since I didn’t eat last night the Brunch got amortized! But, there is no price you can put on sitting down with family. That’s what this was about yesterday!

The SIL’s mom and step-dad joined us and he always insists on paying their own. That’s fine but he always complains loudly about the price when the bill comes. The daughter said he was told a couple days ago the pricing and that the tip was extra. He is known to stiff the wait staff.

Trains. Late last night after I watched my 1st full NBA game (Bulls/Bucks) of this season. At least it was on the TV while I was researching on You Tube. Operated within the Paper Mill complex only for the 1st time since February. I have promised myself to do this more often.

The WC covered hoppers weathering project will resume today. I have gathered my materials for a large warehouse structural to be built a a front only. Trying to decide if it will be a new tilt building with space for rent or a closed factory warehouse with space for rent.

Enjoy your day
TomO




TomO
 
Good Morning All. Partly cloudy and 46°, headed up to 73° today. That's not quite as warm as yesterday at 76°, but still much better than what Ken and Tom are expecting. Another day like this tomorrow and then back to the mid-80's for a week.

The prime rib dinner at my daughter's home last night was great. My SIL has a new to me method of cooking it that we tried about two months ago. I call it a reverse sear slow roast. He calls it something else. He cooks a seasoned roast in the oven for five hours at 190°, takes it out and submerges it in ice water for five minutes. Then he slathers it in a softened butter/herb paste and puts it back in the now 550° oven for 15 minutes to sear it. It has come out perfectly medium rare, actually a little more on the rare side, both times.
Here is a picture that my other daughter took with my SIL on the left.
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Extra picture of my three local grandkids with one of the granddogs.
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Wife and granddaughter making an Easter cake
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Finished product.
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A good time was had by all.

Thanks for all of the likes and comments yesterday, for the last (currently) garden pictures; Gary, Louis, George, Karl, Smudge, OB Ken, Tom O, Hughie, Patrick, Steve J, Rick, James, Tom, Guy, Sherrel, IB Ken, Chad.

I totally ignored the citizens of the SFW train shed yesterday, but I did leave the beer fridge full for them.

Steve J - I had to look up Spaghetti Puttanesca, seems a lot like what we call Mexican Spaghetti here.
OB Ken - Mostly cloudy vs partly sunny. It seems to depend on whether the weather guy is a pessimist or an optimist.
Louis/Hughie - While my wife eats leg of lamb, we'd be eating it for a week. Mom cooked it about once a month, but there were eight of us eating it. Dad liked it. She had to order it ahead of time since the grocery store butcher didn't stock it all of the time.
Greg - You're absolutely right about the White Pine being lousy wood for indoor heating. It will also fill your chimney with creosote in a flash.

Today is Tax Day in the US. If you owe, better pay up. If they owe you, don't let them use it interest-free!
Everybody have a great day.
 


Morning folks!

Well this past weekend was a whirlwind. I took Friday off to get my boat in order. I got most of it done but still have an hour or 2 left to complete all my yearly maintenance. I didn't go fishing as I wanted too... the weather was not very cooperative. Hard to fly fish in 15+ mph gust etc. On Saturday it also rained off and on. I was burning wood all weekend. Damp cool weather is no fun. Then Sunday we had snow squalls on 3 different occasions up by me but no accumulation thank goodness! This morning it was back down to 28 degrees at my homestead and yet here we are April 18th! Tonight forecast freezing rain and into to tomorrow all day with 92% chance of rain. Nuts! Wednesday is supposed to dip back into the mid 20 in the evening yet again. Mother nature is still not cooperating with the idea of spring time weather....

In other news. For the first time in 20 plus years I acquired a new steam locomotive! Yup I went for it! It was a decent deal. I was torn about getting a BLI or getting an Athearn. I just have not had luck with programing with BLI products over the years. So I went with the Athearn unit as it was a price I couldn't refuse. I got the latest release Tsunami 2 and LED edition. It's the "The Great Race to Promontory" Big Boy 4014 150th Anniversary Golden Spike 1869 - 2019. I paid 300 including shipping. The guy lives in Nevada and had it listed for 350 on FB Market Place. Got tracking number Saturday and it should be here this coming Saturday. He says he ran it once but he doesn't have a layout at this time and has switched to HOn3. He works for the Nevada Northern RR. So that is what he is going to model for his future layout. He has been there quite a few years. He sent me some really nice pics of the steamer and a few Alcos that they have on that RR. Anyways I got lucky with this fella to get this new Big Boy in mint condition. I will post on the RPO when it arrives.

More trains...so as I was shut in over the weekend with inclement weather etc. I found a few more deals and got a pair of GP38-2s in the MKT livery. Both are Athearn Genesis locos with Tsunami sound etc. These are the only MKT locos I will have on my layout with the exception of the UP heritage Katy unit. I decided that whatever heritage unit I had for UP I wanted at least (2) GPs on the yards or elsewhere on the layout. So he had 4 of these listed for 200 each so I just got (2) of them #304 & #306. I got the (2) units for 300...plus 20 for shipping not bad.

I mentioned in the RPO I acquired some business cars. I am looking for one more but that may take some time. So far I have the SP "Sunset Limited" SP150 (posted on RPO thread), UP "Sunset" (looking for the other one the Cheyenne at a decent price. Some are listed over 200 bucks nuts!) and the DRGW "Wilson McCarthy" which looks real nice. I have yet to post that one on RPO thread. I like these Kato business cars. I will add some additional LEDs and such on the rear of the cars particularly the ditch lights.

Well I have yet to get the elusive ladder track switch LH 5e by Micro Engineering but the search is still on.

Today is tax day as we all know. I got that done late last night. Ugh had to pay a little bit to Uncle Sam but that's ok. I try real hard to stay close to zero. I do not like getting anything back as I don't like having all my $ through out the year that's just me and my thinking.

This weeks weather will be blah that supposedly will follow into the weekend. I may still try to get out and Crappie fish. Spring turkey hunt isn't until May 1st with a 2 bag limit for the spring here in upsate NY. I am looking forward to that.

I hope everyone had a nice Easter if you celebrate it etc. Peace to all regardless. After reading of the on goings of some of you guys going through some trying times keep the faith or stay positive, it always gets better when things bottom out. I mentioned a while ago about a lady I was dating. We have been dating for 2 months. Due to her father having major health issues she decided to put things on hold which is understandable. I support her in that decision. We will probably hook up again in a few months when things calm down or get into some kind of schedule. She is having to deal with taking care of him. Dialysis everyday and he had a surgery that went well but then had 7 mini strokes and now he is in rehab for PT. Tough go. He is tough Marine though. She is at her wits end. I am there to help if I can but she prefers to handle things on her own. Very strong and independent woman. Gotta admire that.

So it goes. I will keep myself busy. I am looking at flooring samples for my humble adobe. I am going to replace 1,100 sqft of carpet with luxury vinyl flooring on the 2nd floor that will include the 3 bedrooms and kitchen/dining rooms as well as the family room. Then down stairs I will replace 1,600 sqft of flooring. The carpet in the guest bedroom will get a really nice 24x24 thick carpet tile which is really nice. The den will get new broadloom carpet which will be installed by a pro not me lol. The foyer will get marble tile I have already. The laundry room and man cave will get a red Italian tile I got for free long ago and now getting around to install it. I will hire a guy to do some of the work for the tile. I hate setting tile. I will do all the demo and tear out. I will also lay down all the laminate flooring. That will be it for home improvement for a while. I will do the 2 full bathroom remodels and kitchen remodel next year. I do have small plans to work on a few projects in the garage. The garage expansion is still on hold as material cost is ridiculous.

Ok that's enough rambling on, ya'll have a good day!



EDIT:

Here is where that fella works.......the guy who I bought my Big Boy from....

 
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