Running Bear's April 2025 Coffee Shop

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Good Morning All. Clear and 55° this morning. Looking at 86° later on today, then a few days of thunderstorms with highs around 80°. Our humid season will begin.
Off to a late start this morning, I ran into my next door neighbor while walking this morning and we talked for a bit. She has decided to resume walking before she goes to work and today is her first day.
The dew finally dried off enough around 2:00 yesterday for me to get about an hour of mowing in. More of the same this afternoon.

Since I was mowing late into the afternoon, I just ran trains out in the train shed yesterday. Also, since there was no wind, I did a couple of short flights with my drone. Here are a couple of pictures of the Corps of Engineers flood control lake across the road, about 200 yards away from our house.
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The lake is on private property and the Corps maintains it. I have only seen them actually maintain it one summer when they added about 170 truckloads of "rip-rack" (the foreman's estimate) along the dam. That's the light colored rock lining the waterline in the picture above. It protects the earthen dam from erosion caused by wave action. The lake itself is about 26 acres in size, but has expanded to over 600 acres a couple of times since we moved in. The top of the actual dam itself is one foot lower than the road in front of our house, so we are not in the flood plain. Other problems exist if it really rains that much, like the road going north is under water for several hundred feet. We've always been able to get out going south except while runoff was actually happening.

Len - That Sherman Hill Model Railroad Club really looks like a great place.
Swal - For over 30 years, I commuted to work in a Honda Civic, different cars before that. Whenever I bought a new one, I asked the dealer to include a full-sized spare, usually after we agreed on a price and signed the contract. Both different dealers that I used always agreed.
Chad - Good luck with the possible new job.
Hughie - The Pierogie building complex looks really good.
Joe - A three hour medical procedure is great. Take care with your recovery.
Snowman - I offer my condolences on the passing of your Mom. May she rest in peace. Now is the time to get yourself back into life.
Patrick - The first ballasting picture looks very good.

Today is Earth Day. Go and plant a tree. Jack Nicholson is 88 today, making many of us seem like kids!
Everyone have a great Tuesday.
 
Willie,
I like how you say your "humid season" will begin. ;) It brings back memories of when this 19 year old California kid landed in Miami, in August.:oops: I spent 2 years in Miami earning my BS and swore I would never have anything to do with that steaming swamp ever again. I think there was maybe 2 months I wasn't sweating.

I was also at the University of Houston in September once for a seminar. That was pretty close to what I experienced in Miami.

I've only been back to FL twice since then. The first time I had to transfer planes on my way to Grand Cayman and the other time to Disney World (thankfully in May)
 


Good morning all, it has been a while since I have been around, I got fired last week (was a big shock) so I am newly retired at 67 years and 2 months. First time in my life I have ever been fired from a job. Purely a case of the boss (I will mention here that she is a millennial) being a man hater, in my humble opinion.

I am glad they fired me because I was reluctant to quit. I have some time now for the coffee shop.

I filed for social security on Thursday and am in the process of signing up for medicare. I have 52 years of reported earnings, according to Big Brother. Also a small pension from a decade of government work.

The hardest part may be navigating the home life, my wife retired about 15 years ago and she pretty has a routine taking up most of the house all day. Luckily I have the train shed...

I may be able to keep up here, but we shall see...

Willie, the drone is a cool toy, how long can you fly on a charge and how far away can you go?

more later, Dave LASM
 
Good morning all, it has been a while since I have been around, I got fired last week (was a big shock) so I am newly retired at 67 years and 2 months. First time in my life I have ever been fired from a job. Purely a case of the boss (I will mention here that she is a millennial) being a man hater, in my humble opinion.

I am glad they fired me because I was reluctant to quit. I have some time now for the coffee shop.

I filed for social security on Thursday and am in the process of signing up for medicare. I have 52 years of reported earnings, according to Big Brother. Also a small pension from a decade of government work.

The hardest part may be navigating the home life, my wife retired about 15 years ago and she pretty has a routine taking up most of the house all day. Luckily I have the train shed...

I may be able to keep up here, but we shall see...

Willie, the drone is a cool toy, how long can you fly on a charge and how far away can you go?

more later, Dave LASM
She wasn't a man hater, she was insecure and intimidated by people with more knowledge and experience. You'll realize they did you a favor retiring you in a couple of months.

My wife is 5 years older and had retired well before me. I retired at 62 and screwed up my wife's routine. I was in outside sales and found out the hard way you can't go from 10000mph to 10mph. I took a part time job mainly to pay for Obamacare until I hit 65, but it was a great way to transition to relaxed retirement.
 
Well howdy there retired internet peeps who are still working hard,

It's troy again.

Had a busy day. So I'm patio sitting. Finished up the work day by getting the sun-shade installed over the patio.

patio.jpg


Patio sitting with a cold beverage has commenced. Birds are chirping. I even hung the yellowjacket trap. I hate those little arseholes. Always chasing the hummingbirds away from their feeder. I should put up the hummybird feeder, but I'll wait a week and see if I catch any little yellow arseholes.

My earlier project was a piece of plastic

We have a no-window AC rule in our condos, but our upstairs gets HOT in the non winter months. Already had the attic insulation refreshed with another 10in blown in a few years ago, along with new windows about then as well. Because we have crank-out windows, doing window AC is out. The HOA doesn't allow anything to extend past the window frame. And Mini-splits are right out. We're in a middle unit, so running power and tubing for a new AC blower from the patio to the second floor is what the HOA requires... and that's a good 10 grand or so. They don't make it as easy as it sounds.

But, I found some 1/8th in sheet styrene at the local big box, and trimmed it down today. Cut a hole, added the mounting plate and some bracing. Fits snug on the inside. Nothing extends beyond the inside of the window frame where the screen sits. I can close the window, then open it at night when we want to cool the upstairs down.
Screenshot 2025-04-22 at 2.18.58 PM.png
 
I get PO'd with the young people camping out on the machines playing with their phones. I work around them and come back when they are gone.
You're doing more than most, and that's good.
I have the same problem in my gym, sometimes i have to raise my voice because some young guy or girl has the headphones on and i have to try to get their attention to get off the bench or machine.The younger generation has absolutely no gym etiquette. Back in the day you could just walk up to another lifter and ask if you could work in, now they are afraid to get near to another human being. There are exceptions, but for the most part seems that the plandemic also did it's thing with interpersonal socializing.
 
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Willie, the drone is a cool toy, how long can you fly on a charge and how far away can you go?
The range on a single battery charge is 20 minutes. Radio range is 6 miles. So if you go 6 miles away, you do not have enough battery life to return home though! Battery life can only get you a maximum of 7.45 miles, so you would have to land near someone with a spare battery to return home. Air speed in "sport" range is 16m/s. Normal which I use is 10m/s, or about 33'/sec.
I can hook the cell phone up to the controller and get the drone view on it. Then you can plan when and where to take pictures. Pictures are saved to the camera and to a chip in the controller. The camera has a panning feature and of course the drone can turn in any direction. It can fly forward, backward or sideways. Maximum altitude is ~250'. It is GPS equipped and automatically restricts you from flying over restricted spaces like airports (and their approach paths), military bases, prisons and similar areas. A neat feature is the RTH (Return to Home) button. Hit the button and it automatically ascends to its maximum altitude (to clear any obstructions) and returns to the almost exact point of take-off. It's within 5' or so. The drone also senses when it has just enough battery life to return and automatically does so without any guidance from the operator.
Since my cell phone is "Blue-toothed" with my hearing aids, there's a voice in my ear telling me exactly what it is doing. It's a neat toy. Cannot be flown on windy days though, since it weighs less than a half pound. Anything heavier has to be registered with the FAA. I guess that in urban areas, it can be used to spot folks sunbathing by their pools!
 


Sounds like in your case it was overtraining.
Over playing, working and partying with the ladies, yes. Over training, not in my case, I hated training. I would disappear when asked to train. You could find me playing with the basketball team during wrestling season. Or in the pool for baseball and football season. Call me when you stop training. I never willingly missed a game or a match. I always showed up ready and on time.

I would happily play ball from sunup to sundown. I would throw a ball at a target for hours. Often a "no ball playing sign" I loved batting practice. I even like the infield, outfield, and tackling drills, but lift wights or run... boring! I was a naturally gifted athlete, too good (in my mind) for any "mickey mouse" coach, I had to discipline me. I was bigger, stronger, and faster than everybody else I knew of, why bother? "I'm only going to prove it to you once. Leave me be, cut me or I can quit and play somewhere else" Regrettably, I got away with it.

I'm all for balance
You nailed it my friend! Balance is the key. It's too bad I learned that too late.

I believe sleep, nutrition, and exercise are the most underrated aspects of our lives.

Saying "there will be plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead" nearly killed me. Along with Tastykake's brownies, king size Hershy bars with almonds, alcohol and other substances. Only by the Grace of God do I wake up every day and I am eternally grateful to God for showing me mercy.

I am living proof God loves all of us.
 
Today is Earth Day...I go back to the first one, but being the "reactionary" that I am I opposed what they called the ecological movement back then.

To be honest, I prefer clean air and water to what was common then when the Delaware River was nothing but oil slicks, and waste water. But I don't like idiot radical extremists demanding I change my life style to pleas them and their vision.

To celebrate Earth Day, the NJ Forrest management group, managed to start a wild fire in Ocean County...another "controlled burn" that got out of control. Since the State of New Jersey is never wrong or at fault, they blamed this fire on Global Warming...and they wonder why only the most naive still believe the environmentalist radicals. So to all the commuters stranded on the Parkway, Happy Earth Day from the State of New Jersey.

It's spring time, all the door to door salespeople are out selling their overpriced subscription exterminator services..$250/mo per species for 8 months....R they Nutz? They all get mad when an older person doesn't buy their spiel and tells them to take a hike.
 
Good evening. It’s mostly clear with a smoke haze, and 84.
In celebration of Earth Day here, a local salvage yard caught fire at 2:15 this morning, and continues to burn. If I had to guess, I’d say the smoke from that fire has more toxins than Joe’s forest fire…
 
I was disappointed I didn't get a free reusable shopping bag today at my local Meijer when I went in for groceries. Got one on earth day a year ago, and still using it.

got used to using them out in California, now I like them.
I got a crayon decorated paper bag, 4th graders artwork , forgot the reusable one in the closet...

We have numerous reusable bags, some dating back 20 years, the stores went belly up but we still advertise them with their bags.
 
Good evening. It’s mostly clear with a smoke haze, and 84.
In celebration of Earth Day here, a local salvage yard caught fire at 2:15 this morning, and continues to burn. If I had to guess, I’d say the smoke from that fire has more toxins than Joe’s forest fire…
Terry: No Doubt. Salvage Yard Fires are also hard to get to without ladder pipes, tower ladders and Sqirts. Ground level water streams don't usually hit the fire.
 
I got a crayon decorated paper bag, 4th graders artwork , forgot the reusable one in the closet...

We have numerous reusable bags, some dating back 20 years, the stores went belly up but we still advertise them with their bags.
Dave: Welcome to the realm of retired people.

In Jersey they banned "non reusable" plastic bags, replacing them with reusable paper and plastic bags on sale at various prices. We have an eclectic collection of plastic bags ranging from Trader Joe's to ShopRite, Stop and Shop, Topps and Safeway, as well as some of the wife's own creations. On a positive note, we don't see as many plastic Walmart Bags in trees any longer after a wind.

The Orioles humiliated themselves again tonight, losing to Washington 7-0. They were one hit. Right now, they are on a par with the Football Giants.
 


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