Running Bear's April 2025 Coffee Shop

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Look what I just got in my text!




The interesting part is I was just plotting the route from NE Indiana to Gettysburg PA next month... Debating on shaving about 40+ minutes off with the PA turnpike or whatever the toll road is. Tried to look up what the tolls would be for one way , and saw a $60+ price tag. For that much, I'll take the slower US 30 ??? route. Unfortunately, that's going to be a 10 hour drive by the time I factor in coffee and negative-coffee stops.
I’d take I-80, then US 15 South to Gettysburg. 80 dumps you about 15 miles North of Harrisburg, I-76 (turnpike) about 10 miles South. You’ll also have the pleasure of viewing Rockville bridge and Enola yard by taking that route.
 
I’d take I-80, then US 15 South to Gettysburg. 80 dumps you about 15 miles North of Harrisburg, I-76 (turnpike) about 10 miles South. You’ll also have the pleasure of viewing Rockville bridge and Enola yard by taking that route.
Yeah.... 80 not 30... They look almost the same 😜 Below is the screen grab from Google with the option for "no tolls" selected.

Screenshot 2025-04-28 at 12.50.39 PM.png
 


The newest toll scam received this morning. Look at the address it was sent from.

At least they got the I-pass right this time for us Illinois residents. All the other texts had EZ-pass or something along those lines.


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Terry got a text on her phone today from the WisconsinTollway Commission! Too bad but Wisconsin has no Toll Roads
 
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Texted and then talked to the son this morning. He was having 2 unfinished tiny houses moved onto the Wimberley Texas property to give them a place to stay over the next couple years while his house will be slowly built. He had a couple Asphalt sales guys out for quotes last week for the main driveway and workshop, the soon to be hangars and aprons leading to the runway. He was having breakfast with his girlfriend in a local Wimberley cafe Sunday morning. A guy introduced himself and found out they are sort of neighbors. Anyway gave him an Asphalt company that is local and they r coming out this afternoon.
 
Good afternoon to all...........

I just remembered I had pre-ordered a couple of the Rapido helium tank cars a while back. Rapido stuff is not cheap but with the tariff charges added, I think I'll cancel that pre-order.

I'm not saying adding tariffs is the answer to this countries lopsided trading practices but this country used tariffs early on in history to its advantage. I'm taking the "wait and see" approach. And there is a lot of imported crap that, in all reality, I can certainly live without.

I recently received a letter/e-mail from Kadee stating "no tariffs". Their products are all made in the U. S. A. Their products are top notch and sold at a reasonable price. Their rolling stock is actually as nice as Rapido stuff at a lower price. Go figure. I support "made in USA " goods and think bringing manufacturing back to this country is a good idea. When Branchline Trains first started, all their products were made in the USA and sold at reasonable prices. They had a very nice product line. But when Atlas bought out the rolling stock part of Branchline, the first thing they did was ship all the injection molding machines to China. Did you see prices on Branchline items go down? And China lays claim to these machines never to be returned to the USA.
And, I believe Accurail rolling stock is made here in the USA as well as the Tichy products line, both offering very nice items at a reasonable price.
OK.......my rant is over for now.

I say spend your money as you see fit. After all, we all have worked hard to earn a living so enjoy the "spoils of your toils".

Have a great evening.......John
 


I just remembered I had pre-ordered a couple of the Rapido helium tank cars a while back. Rapido stuff is not cheap but with the tariff charges added, I think I'll cancel that pre-order.
Those were just announced a few months ago and may not be here till late 205 or early 2026 things may and probably will settle down by then. Maybe wait a while to see if the dust settles if you really want them. They seem well received and might be hard to get if original pricing remains.

I have a bunch of the Cryo-trans and Lineage reefers on pre-order from them. They are going to be an instant sell out so I’m keeping mine and will decide when we see what unfolds.
 
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I really need to buy a second battery. I asked the Ryobi rep, who was at HD one day, about that and she said that it would be cheaper to just buy a leaf blower with the same size battery rather than buying another battery.
That's often very true. I use Greenworks 80V (weed whacker, leaf blower, snow blower, lawn mower, and probably one or two other items) and with that, as well as my Ryobi, Kobalt, and Bosch tools, its often easier to buy a tool/batery combo than just the battery.

You can also look at the non OEM batteries. Though those are hit and miss. I bought a Greenworks compatible battery on Amazon but it wouldn't run the mower. It worked fine in the leaf blower and the weed whacker. My hand tool fake Bosch batteries didn't last as long as real Bosch batteries either.
 
Free trade is fine as long as the counter parties also reciprocate and abolish their duties and protections. Reality is the counter parties maintained their duties and protections, but were free to dump their product here below cost and kill our domestic industries.

Blame: This actually started during the Eisenhower era, with the demise of domestic commercial ship building around 1956 and has continued since.
yes, the problem is that these countries don't have the same commitment to free trade, as you rightly pointed out.

But it's not that those countries can dump their stuff and drive our industry out. American companies can compete against Dong Feng Red Dragon Plastics Co Ltd with their fake Barbie or whatever. The problem is that American companies moved their manufacturing overseas and imported it back "for free" but sold it as an "American Product" (ie a product of an American company -- I'm not claiming they were falsifying the small "mad in X" print on the backside of a package).

I have no problem with low tariffs for foreign companies bringing in their own products and selling their products under their own foreign company name. As long as their country allows the same for us. What I am opposed to is the outsourcing of manufacturing (and now white color work like software and IT. and medical coding and diagnosing, lower level law clerking, and other white collar stuff) to foreign countries by American companies and the import back to the US of those products from abroad IN THE AMERICAN COMPANY name. American companies should pay a tariff on products they source overseas and sell in their own name equal to or greater than the cost savings they achieve. (And yes they can try legal maneuvers to get around what country they are etc but we can account for that).

Let global trade be really global trade. Not a shifting of costs.
 
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Market kind of a wash today. Mostly up but Nasdaq down. My 401k and HSA self directed accounts were similar. The HSA was down 0.15% and the 401K up 0.34%. *The table fell apart after I saved but you can still see the data and the rows of data aline with the indexes listed.


DJIA
Closed
NASDAQ Composite
Closed
S&P 500 INDEX
Closed
Russell 2000
Closed

[td]
40,227.59
+ 114.09 (+0.28%)

[/td]
[td]
17,366.13
-16.81 (-0.10%)

[/td]
[td]
5,528.75
+ 3.54 (+0.06%)

[/td]
[td]
1,965.55
+ 7.93 (+0.41%)

[/td]​
 


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