Running Bear's April 2022 Coffee Shop

[PNKFLOYD]

British Rail

They are all driving on the wrong side of the road! lol.
Great PICTURES.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Hello Shop Dwellers! Thanks for all the 'reaction' clicks on my Tuesday post.

Patrick: for your follow-up job interview tomorrow!

Troy: for you and your mom, and everyone caring for her!

. . .
IBKen let me check with SWMBO on the 30th.
. . .

Karl -

Not much of interest to report on today, since this was my once-a-week day of having to work on-site instead of 'remoting' in on the VPN. Had to make a few honey-do related stops on the way home and then prepare my own supper [SWMBO is babysitting the grandson] and now I'm just plain exhausted! I'll have to find time tomorrow to do some more Centerline car experiments like I promised the guys on that separate thread.

Good Night - and have a Pleasant Tomorrow!

 

[Boris]

Good evening y'all. Fog and Drizzle at 48° right now. Rain gauge in the front garden measured 2¼" of rain overnight and this morning. Still not getting much done outside, due to weather. Spending a lot of time on the layout. Not for nothing, I'm running out of material. Seems I have (just barely) enough code 70 switches, but I'm down to my last six sections of flex. Rather than buy more, the engine terminal will use code 83 flex. Running low on roadbed also. rather than buy another box of cork, I ordered a 12 pack of foam from Woodland Scenic to finish up. Wire, so much for color coded, I'll use what I have. BTW, most of what I'm short of, is not in stock, or only available in large packages. The yard(s) are coming along well. Last remaining task, will be the engine terminal and related structures.

All of y'all who have family members who are dealing with health issues are on my prayer list. All of y'all embarking on a new career or considering a career change are also on the prayer list.

Lots of good reading to catch up with, NMRA Magazine, RMC, Keystone, and PC Post. Even MR has some interesting stuff this month.

Gotta run, it's bedtime.

 

[MikeInHubCity]

Yo:
Feels like it's fixin to rain any minute now. 53° and damp.

Sherrel: As my son will attest, Your daughter got the premium route. He has had some really exotic routes from Jacksonville, NC to San Diego...and his route, San Diego to Okinawa, was equally bad. Returning included a stop over in Anchorage AK. Now he works for the Navy, Navy Travel, is even worse...when traveling from Cherry Point to San Diego.
Watch that breathing..........keep your emergency meds close.......Have the cardiologists come up with a workable treatment plan for the Ticker?

Went over to the local Candy Shop to buy Easter Candy...Grand Children are coming...spent less than last year, even though prices were up and portion size down. Speaking of down, the short sellers are out today.

Have a few chores in the garage, which still feels like a refrigerator, and looks like a cold storage warehouse.

My sports teams have all fallen apart of late, Starting with Villanova losing to Kansas, the Devils are really bad, even the Capitals are having some difficulty winning games of late. At least they are holding on to a wild card spot, and will be eliminated in the first round. Just not my year.

Baseball opens on Thursday, with The Amazins vs the Nationals, Friday, another year of futility begins when the Orioles play Tampa Bay. The big questions are how long before the Mets choke?, And whether the Orioles or the Nationals are the first team this season to lose 100 Games. I guess I'm just angry that I wasted money on an annual subscription to MLBTV, though I probably won't watch it after the first week or so when I see how bad my favorite teams are.

Since I don't feel like raking leaves today, I'm going down to the train room.

Joe- that MLB.TV subscription is our one splurge from our tax return(especially since our income dropped from 2020 to 21). Got the full package(rather than team-specific), so that SWMBO can watch her fav play in Arlington.

After my 3rd trip to the ER with the chest pains/SOB since 3/18, my PCP decided that a chest CT was in order. Not sure why ER/on call cardiologist couldn’t do that in 3 ER visits is beyond me. All they could tell me what WASN’T wrong(heart/pacer/lungs fine). A hospitalise & one ER doc mentioned doing a catheterisation(my last one was back in 2009 or 10(when I was in South Jersey yet) and/or chest echo- I’ve been in Wisconsin for almost 10 years. Hopefully the CT shows something.

Going to Titletown show in downtown Green Bay on Sunday. Hoping to find some good deals on rolling stock/structure kits.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning....Rain on and off today. Well didn't have the new computer one day and it's going back. Won't install the ESU loksound programer. I don't know if its the firewall they installed that's preventing it or what.

Patrick good luck on the interview today.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!
46 degrees with light rain,

Flo, can I get a blueberry muffin and a large coffee to go please, It’s time to saddle up and ride.

BBL

 

[Smudge617]

H

Good morning....Rain on and off today. Well didn't have the new computer one day and it's going back. Won't install the ESU loksound programer. I don't know if its the firewall they installed that's preventing it or what.

Patrick good luck on the interview today.

You can turn the firewall off and then do the install, just go into your antivirus programme, then settings, should be there somewhere, unless you intend for them to install the loksound for you?

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

Thanks for the well wishes on the interview. This one is scheduled for a bit longer than the first one with more people involved. At least I'm not in a position to really NEED a job. Haven't been that way in a long time. Drive is actually about 8 miles shorter, but I'd have to deal with the Wichita traffic I haven't dealt with in about 7 years....Interview at 1:00P this afternoon.

Terry: Hope the wife's condition improves soon. Continued prayers and best wishes.

Good morning....Rain on and off today. Well didn't have the new computer one day and it's going back. Won't install the ESU loksound programer. I don't know if its the firewall they installed that's preventing it or what.

Patrick good luck on the interview today.

What operating systems between the 2 computers? I had programs using Windows 7, that ran when I upgraded to Windows 10 that won't install under Windows 11. Does the install say anything or just die? I even had some that installed, but didn't run.

 

[OBTC 1909]

Good morning all! 39 degrees heading for 53 and sunny with a chance of rain later in the day.

Busy day at work yesterday. One of my superiors from the district office came in yesterday and spent the whole day with me. Got a lot done, but definitely tired when I got home. He's helped me learn a lot of things that I didn't have previous experience with. He also gave me a whole lot of things to work on as I have time. Lots to work on today and in the coming days.

Terry: Continued prayers for your wife.
Patrick: Best of luck on the interview today!

Hope you all have a great day!

 

[Boris]

After my 3rd trip to the ER with the chest pains/SOB since 3/18, my PCP decided that a chest CT was in order. Not sure why ER/on call cardiologist couldn’t do that in 3 ER visits is beyond me. All they could tell me what WASN’T wrong(heart/pacer/lungs fine). A hospitalise & one ER doc mentioned doing a catheterisation(my last one was back in 2009 or 10(when I was in South Jersey yet) and/or chest echo- I’ve been in Wisconsin for almost 10 years. Hopefully the CT shows something.

Mike: Valid question. I share the CT Scan test results with my cardiologist. He has me scheduled for an Echo-C every August. I would think that in your case, they would monitor you alt least that closely.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

At one point in my career, I used to interview people for positions. For the young starters I would typically ask them to tell me about one of their weak points. Really brings out the BS. One response that I really liked though was, "Sometimes I undersell myself".

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from NYC. 46f degrees here and I am working on breakfast of yogurt and granola for $18. Plus tip. Boy, I dislike this city. This is a business adventure of the legal kind. Hopefully this can end today but the other side has delayed this over a year, so anything I have found in this city is possible. I should be in my bed tonight back home in Wisconsin.

This week has been interesting. Looked at horses with Terry near Denton, Texas and then a bit further over the Ok. state line. Willie, I can’t remember the ranch name but it’s a 1/4 horse ranch seen right next to I35. Then down to OKC to another ranch on Monday. Saw the Murrah Memorial, ate at the Cattlemen’s Steakhouse Cafe, saw some horses and then Tuesday we hit Independence, Mo. The plan was the Truman Presidential Library but I screwed that up. They didn’t re-open until 9am the next day. So I Uber’ed to Midwest Model Railroad. Having a son with a plane was neat! I flew out of KC to Wisconsin and slept in my bed Tuesday night. Flew to NYC on Wednesday evening. Terry flew to Phoenix on Tuesday.

The brother’s girlfriend had a Hopefully benign mass removed from a breast on Wednesday afternoon. My wife joined my sister with the brother during the surgery. This was a unknown procedure to family until the bro mentioned it over the weekend. Tradition in our family is that we gather around for any major surgeries to support the patient and partner. The g/f is technically not family, due to a stupid brother, but she is still a part of it.

Sorry to continue to read about Terry with Marie’s health issues. Same for Sherrel and Troy with the mom’s and the MIL’s. Mikeinhubcity’s heart! Terry, how is the job going, are they understanding of Marie’s health issues?

As written above, I stopped at Midwest Model Railroad. What a great store. Huge, well organized, CLEAN, well priced and a knowledgeable staff. I now have been in person to my 3 favorite online stores, Hiawatha Hobbies, Lombard Hobby and MWMRR. Purchased what I wanted on the list!

TomO

 

[kbkchooch]

Karl -

Ken, Time frame?? SWMBO gotta know the details (nosey ain't she?)

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 48°, calm right now, but a wind advisory again today, 25mph+ from the north. You need to shut the door up there Patrick! Supposed to continue again tomorrow and then the same thing from the south at least through Tuesday. While it made it up to 75° yesterday, today and tomorrow we're only expecting 70°.
I mowed for about 30 minutes yesterday before the mower deck drive belt crapped out on me. I have a brand new replacement, but I am unable to locate it right now! Ordered another one just in case and it will be here Friday.
Meanwhile, the weekly grocery trek is today and I don't know this early whether we'll be making any additional stops. Wife will help with that decision. I have a list for Dollar General, but nothing on it is critical. OH! I just remembered that I need to stop at Sam's Club for my new eyeglasses that are ready. That means roast chicken for supper!
I may have posted this before, but in the nearby town of Sanger TX, 12 miles away; there's an intersection of IH35 and a small two lane state highway. It's the only stop light closer than 25 miles to me. Well both the Interstate and the state highway are being expanded soon. Property acquisition began a couple of years ago and as a result, four of the six gas stations in town as well as the only supermarket have closed down and been mostly demolished. It was disclosed yesterday that Race Trac purchased property at that intersection and will build a new service station. The info blurb didn't specify which corner that they bought, but is most likely what remains of the grocery store property. The highway expansions took out most of their parking lot, but there is a good healthy 2± acres left. No remedial clean up still left like at the gas station sites. The old supermarket parking lot provided a very convenient and well used right turn lane to avoid that traffic light!

Thanks to all who commented on or liked the window scenes yesterday; George, Karl, Guy, Smudge, Troy, Chad, Hughie, Patrick, James, Louis, Dave B, Steve J, Sherrel, Jaz, Curt, Tom O, Rick, Gary, Tom, IB Ken, Mikey, OB Ken, Joe.

For whatever reason, I didn't have a lot of time in the train shed yesterday, so I mostly cleaned and organized stuff. Seems neverending. I added several new details to and took some some pictures of the bungalow enhancements, first the curtains.

Plumbing vent added to the roof.

Flower pots added to the front steps, flowers will be added later today.

George - For the better part of 60 years, I didn't really pay attention to what I ate, except I didn't eat fast foods, chips or most sweets. I always had a good metabolism and stayed healthy. About that age, I started looking at the "cause and effect" of certain foods as I started experiencing aging, heaven forbid! I am now more careful and use moderation in quite a few things instead of giving them up or taking too many "supplements".
Curt - Best wishes for your wife.

Willie- I really like the curtains. Enlarged they look like venetian blinds to me.

Good eye. Those in the picture that I posted yesterday were indeed Venetian blinds. The windows with the curtains that I installed were not posted yesterday, but rather this morning.
Troy - 3000 words is still progress.
Patrick - Good luck if you're wanting the change.
Terry - Prayers continue for your wife. BTW How's the new job working out?

Of course today is National Beer Day; since yesterday was New Beer's Eve! If you don't indulge, then I am sure one of us will hoist one for you. I'll do mine at home Thank You.
Everyone have an awesome day.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Always entertaining, WILLIE! You seem to cover most all the bases.
I will echo most everything you talkee about so as to not waste electrons?

I just may have failed on my sprinkler valve repair. I don't think I got a good enough seal in that one inch pipe with 125PSI on the line? Will find out within an hour.

TROY, I have the same problem as your Mom. Cardioversion is set for May 11th; I certainly hope that it works. I am having a miserable time trying to do any project around here. So far, the only thing that does not "give me out" is washing the dishes! Even getting a pair of socks on and tying my shoes is a chore!

It reached 93F yesterday and 95 is forecast for today. If the water line repair fails - I will have to hand-water until I can get pro help to deal with it.

The #2 daughter finally got to Okinawa last evening around 10pm my time - which I think works out to be some 38 hours from SAN Diego? I enjoyed hearing about the military travel times you all have encountered.
The Spousal Unit is in Tahiti with her sister and sent me this yesterday - just to make me feel good? She was on her way to be chauffeured to a dinner after snorkeling all day. Well, she has earned it - and I am happy she is able to go!
I'll get around to posting a train photo to counterbalance this?

 

[JazzDad]

At one point in my career, I used to interview people for positions. ...

One year, I was required to do my own performance evaluation. I did fantastically that year. I heartily recommended myself for a huge raise (which I did not have the authority to do). I got the raise!

 

[troyphoto]

TROY, I have the same problem as your Mom. Cardioversion is set for May 11th; I certainly hope that it works. I am having a miserable time trying to do any project around here. So far, the only thing that does not "give me out" is washing the dishes! Even getting a pair of socks on and tying my shoes is a chore!

Hope all goes well with your inversion.

Out of curiosity? Are you noticing any mental fog that isn't part of not sleeping well? Mom is running about 50-70% of her normal level of mental awareness. She is speaking ok, but slowly. And details are gone. She'll say she had an infection instead of explaining her heart was in AFIB. Close... AFIB ... An Infection... I can see how those wires got crossed.

I can see when she's struggling to find the right word. Normally she runs through all of the grandkid names until the one in front of her reacts (That's normal for her since the 1970s... I kept getting called my uncle's names, and my sisters were whichever interchangeably.) Now she stares off, and you can see her searching but the details aren't there. That's a huge change from a month ago.

Cat scan of her head came back with no signs of clots.

I'm set up her watching Mom nap, and trying to get some words in on the book. Still no word on Whodunnit.

But I did sneak in a donut from the Amish Bakery. Don't tell her doc. Ok?

 

[chadbag]

At one point in my career, I used to interview people for positions. For the young starters I would typically ask them to tell me about one of their weak points. Really brings out the BS. One response that I really liked though was, "Sometimes I undersell myself".

I have to help interview a guy in 30 min over a MS Teams video chat -- the candidate is for our India office and has already passed an interview or two there. We are just the backline technical experts that get a shot. I hate this whole thing but it is expected...

 

[Patrick]

I had to interview our IT tech and will do the new one we are hiring soon. So I've now been on both sides, except for the interviewee. Last time I interviewed as 7 years ago...

I think I'll do ok...Been around long enough to understand what they will be asking and what they will be looking for.

 

[TLOC]

I had to interview our IT tech and will do the new one we are hiring soon. So I've now been on both sides, except for the interviewee. Last time I interviewed as 7 years ago...

I think I'll do ok...Been around long enough to understand what they will be asking and what they will be looking for.

No wishes of luck from me Patrick. You won’t need it. You know what you are doing, so just go with that and you shall be fine. The best part? You wrote you don’t need the job! So the interview will be a snap. Have a good time with this opportunity.

I enjoyed interviewing perspective employees. It was the termination process that always haunted me.

TomO