Running Bear's April 2022 Coffee Shop

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Greetings all!

Great day yesterday with a beautiful church service. Music Director outdid herself and we enjoyed lots of wonderful music. Good turnout, also, with some familiar faces we haven't seen for awhile. ALways nice.

Came home and napped. Then got busy with SIL making Chicken Souvlaki and lamb chops, all on the grill. Wife made a big greek salad - which went mostly untouched! Several whiskies consumed and then hit the wine. Nice day. Ended by them deciding to stay another night so we showered and watched a movie. I was asleep by about 30 minutes into it! Wife not surprised. This morning, a little worse for wear (read: hangover) but a quiet day of rest for me. Weather is not great. Started snowing as we were finishing the dinner on the Weber and kept on most of the night. Little accumulation, though. We are all ready for some Spring weather.

SF Willie - - Wife and I will be in "Big D" the week after this. She flies Monday morning for the first of two business meetings. I fly down Wednesday to join her for the second, which is more of a convention type deal. Staying at the Gaylord by DFW airport and looking forward to it! Looking like temps in the 80s? I may try to play golf on Thursday, but also want lots of pool time. We return Saturday morning. Dau and SIL will come over to care for the dogs. The knee is still really bothering me. Never thought I would say this, but now actually looking forward to the surgery so I can get back to pain-free. Scheduled May 04.

I will run the kids home here in a little bit and maybe have an early lunch/brunch with my daughter. Then back here for naps, movies, and maybe run trains. The big food blowout is over, so back to managed fare to continue weight loss. Oh, and I don't think I will have a whisky today, thanks anyway!

Steve J
 
Good afternoon all,

Currently 33° and some off/on snow showers today. Some slippery roads on the way in this morning.

We had a great Easter, packed church and I knew every hymn. MIL and nephew over for a delicious easter dinner at our house. My wife is a great cook and she enjoys it. We sometimes "fight" over leftovers, even.

Ken OBTC - glad some improvement with the eyes

Smudge - Toe truck 😁

Troy - Luck helping MIL move. At least if you are buying donuts, you can make sure to get your personal favorite

TomO - $72 per plate buffet price? Ouch.

Also, a great day in the train room Saturday. Finished more hydrocal, also unpacked some more treasures

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Horses don't look too bad, I need to work on the mans face, however

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more fun, this bus was a challenge to assemble. Looks like I have a hairline space to deal with:

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I remember it being a challenge to get all the bus parts to line up. Maybe photo from the other side?

More later, Dave LASM
 
Howdy there pardner! 63 degrees F and we are looking for 80 this afternoon with not a wisp of a cloud in the sky.
KEN - If I lived a little closer - you would have two "old" people at your layout! LOL

JAMES - Merci -- you have a lot going on. I would need a scorecard to keep up?

Not much has changed around here. The MIL is still hanging on by a thread, the Spousal Unit and sister are in Hawaiian Islands for a few days before sailing for LA.
The Easter dinner at the "Ranch" was nice - cooked by our youngest daughter. and counting her family there were only ELEVEN of us there; the crowd is getting smaller!
That's all I have at the moment.
 


Afternoon all,

Well, I cheated and got the fence fixed in 2.5 hours. I had previously measured and had 7 ft between the broken post and the one one either side. So when I started to dig out the old post and started breaking the cement overage, I was able to get a straight hole 24" down 7" from the original broken post. I know I was going to have to replace the stringers (horizontal 2"X4") anyway, so new post in place and cemented in, new stringers in and old pickets back in. Old stringers were left as they made lining up the pickets easier. I have double stringers as I just don't want to do the extra work to try to take the old cedar pickets off carefully. They are rather brittle. I do use screws to attach the pickets to the new stringers. Then I had to get the wheelbarrow out of the shed too move the extra dirt to a pile I have behind the shed, so I figured since I had the shed open, I might as well mow the lawn, which lead to weed eating and blowing the walks and driveway and finally spraying the weeds in the yard. 4 hours and most of my yard stuff is caught up. I did take ibuprofen before starting, so I shouldn't hurt. Now that I stopped for a bit, I am going to get stiff.

Still have to fix a leak in the sprinkler system. Know what line it isn't in, but still going to require some digging. Fortunately it's 1" pvc which fixes pretty easy as long as it's clean first.

Easter was nice, having almost everyone there. My egg method makes for easy peeling, even after a day or 2 in the fridge.

Try to BBL.
 
Afternoon All,

Today I mounted 8 pole lamps in the engine servicing area. One kept cutting out so I took it out and worked with it but couldn't get it to work consistently so I made my own to replace it. I'll take a photo tonight when it gets darker. Tomorrow, I think I'm doing a project for MOH in her sewing room.

Troy- When we were cleaning up Mom's and Dad's (took about 7 weeks) there was box after box after box of photos. They're all still in the boxes under my layout. My retired widowed brother couldn't be bothered to come down from VA to help but he wanted me to go through 1000's of photos to find pictures with him in it. I won't say what I said to him. :mad:

TomO- I totally agree, it's not about the meal, it's about being with family and friends.

Willie- Great looking family pictures.

James- Sounds like you've been busy. Congrats on picking up the Big Boy.

Dave- Nice scenes.

layout36.jpg

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Alcomotive said:
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....

Train Museum | Nevada Northern Railway

Explore a living museum and take a step back in time with guided tours, be the engineer train rides, and a active rail yard.
www.nnry.com www.nnry.com
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The 5e switch you keep looking for, I'm still looking too, I thought I'd found one a few weeks go, but then realised it was a RH, not the LH you need, but I'll keep looking, never know.
 


Alcomotive said:
Coincidently I just found one today. Paid way to much for it but had to have it. 69 bucks plus shipping ouch!
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That's the thing, they are so scarce, like trying to find rocking horse sh@t, so people can (and do) ask silly money for them, If you were to ever give up MRR (heaven forbid) your track is likely to be worth more than anything else.
But glad you found one at last, but $69+postage, Yikes!!
 
santafewillie said:
Bureaucracy has already taken it's toll. It took a month to get the death certificate, and another 2 1/2 months for the court to approve the executor. Meanwhile no one could freeze the investment accounts and they lost money for 3 1/2 months while the Stock Market tumbled! Fortunately none of the five siblings needs or was expecting this windfall. We originally thought that he was leaving it all to his church. My other two brothers have been keeping up with and paying all bills (insurance, property taxes, utilities, etc), while this was in limbo. They also paid for the impending foundation repair prior to the house contract.
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Willie- Mom had to take annual dispersals while she was still working, because it was after what would have been Dad’s 70th womb escape day(they were his IRA’s).
Louis- happy to hear your O’s are putting up a fighting chance so far. I laugh at the fans whining about Kershaw getting pulled after 7 perfect innings. They’re clearly casual fans who aren’t looking at the big picture.
 
Mike, I would have not pulled Kershaw. I understand why they did, but I still would not have done it. He had only thrown 82 pitches. Nothing wrong with throwing 100 pitches.
Over 218,00 games in MLB history, only 23 perfect games!

League leaders in innings pitched 2021, AL - Robbie Ray 193 1/3, NL - Zach Wheeler 213 1/3
In my mind under 200 innings should never lead either league, especially the American league!
I believe most AL teams should have at least one pitcher with 200+ innings pitched and a few teams in the NL.
I think 250 innings is about the most you can get from any pitcher in a single season.

The last pitcher to pitch 300 innings in a season, Steve Carlton 304, 1980.
Jack Scott pitched complete games in both games of a double header in 1927.

I think MLB has become over protective of pitchers. I'm not suggesting a return to 400, 500 or 680 innings like Will White in 1879.

I believe the rash of injuries to modern pitchers is they throw to much when they are young. Little league, high school even college coaches over use their ace. I never let a pitcher pitch more than 3 innings per game and only let them pitch twice in a week.

Some kids play from March to late October. Add to that over zealous dads and coaches that have them throw almost every day at home and at practice.
 
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D&J RailRoad said:
Yep, some kids just don't have the slightest interest in them. Might be distracted from their computer game for a moment, then they snap out of their dead stare and go back to the computer game.
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It's true enough. Cell phones make them all too easy and accessible.
My nephew (who I'm still building a portable layout for (N)) largely lost interest too 'round about high school time, but he still surprised me over X-mas when, home on break from college, he asked me if I could bring the California Zephyr back and set it up so he could just look at it while he was home.

He'll get back to it again down the road. He's brilliant, and on the fast track to be a doctor, so eventually he will have the money for it, if not as much the time. But his was always more the collectors mind-set anyway than the builders.

On the plus side too, his family are all Mac/iphone people, so his gaming was all Nintendo and X-box. He seems to have outgrown both of those too...so there is hope.
 
Computer games: I happen to (also) be a sim-racer, and I used to race against this guy online in a Papyrus sim called "Grand Prix Legends." It was a pretty small online community really, and we had a gathering place to scan the available races...and I knew this guy's name, but I just couldn't place him.
I finally did though. Rick Rideout, who owns his own plastic molding company. He's the guy behind Rix Products, Pikestuff, and (I think) Smalltown USA. What I didn't know then was that he had also raced dirt-bikes back in the day, so the competitive urge was always there.
None of the sim racing slowed down his model railroading either--maybe he just wanted a hobby away...from his hobby. :D
 
Smudge617 said:
That's the thing, they are so scarce, like trying to find rocking horse sh@t, so people can (and do) ask silly money for them, If you were to ever give up MRR (heaven forbid) your track is likely to be worth more than anything else.
But glad you found one at last, but $69+postage, Yikes!!
Click to expand...


I miss typed it was 59 plus shipping see my edited post.....
 
Bruette said:
Mike, I would have not pulled Kershaw. I understand why they did, but I still would not have done it. He had only thrown 82 pitches. Nothing wrong with throwing 100 pitches.
Over 218,00 games in MLB history, only 23 perfect games!

League leaders in innings pitched 2021, AL - Robbie Ray 193 1/3, NL - Zach Wheeler 213 1/3
The last pitcher to pitch 300 innings in a season, Steve Carlton 304, 1980.
Jack Scott pitched complete games in both games of a double header in 1927.

I think MLB has become over protective of pitchers. I'm not suggesting a return to 400, 500 or 680 innings like Will White in 1879.
In my mind under 200 innings should never lead either league, especially the American league!
I believe most AL teams should have at least one pitcher with 200+ innings pitched and a few teams in the NL.
I think 250 innings is about the most you can get from any pitcher in a single season.

I believe the rash of injuries to modern pitchers is they throw to much when they are young. Little league, high school even college coaches over use their ace. I never let a pitcher pitch more than 3 innings per game and only let them pitch twice in a week.

Some kids play from March to late October. Add to that over zealous dads and coaches that have them throw almost every day at home and at practice.
Click to expand...
Louis, normally I would agree with everything you wrote about todays pitchers. Keyshawn in this case is different and special. Coming off an arm injury in the 2021 season and missing the playoffs, I would be counting his pitches into Memorial Day. His 17 million dollar salary has nothing to do with it as in today’s baseball that is a small number for a “ace” type pitcher.

Currently watching the Hawks and Flames and the Hawks have real issues with their goaltenders. 38 seconds in and Flames score and IMO, poor goaltending. Same with the second goal. I can’t remember the Hawks being this bad since the 70’s before Tony O starting being the goaltender.


TomO
 


Snowman said:
Computer games: I happen to (also) be a sim-racer, and I used to race against this guy online in a Papyrus sim called "Grand Prix Legends." It was a pretty small online community really, and we had a gathering place to scan the available races...and I knew this guy's name, but I just couldn't place him.
I finally did though. Rick Rideout, who owns his own plastic molding company. He's the guy behind Rix Products, Pikestuff, and (I think) Smalltown USA. What I didn't know then was that he had also raced dirt-bikes back in the day, so the competitive urge was always there.
None of the sim racing slowed down his model railroading either--maybe he just wanted a hobby away...from his hobby. :DI
Click to expand...
I used to race online with the NASCAR sims from Papyrus/Sierra. Had a lot of fun back in those days. I tried Grand Prix Legends but I was terrible at it. Never could get the hang of the road courses.
 
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