Running Bear's August 2023 Coffee Shop

[chadbag]

The Okinawa daughter and two g-kids now living with us just ruined my night by informing that there is a leak in the roof over her bed. I'm going to guess that it is a result of the solar panels being installed , what, 10 years ago! I will have to look for the contract? (if I can find it) and see what warranty was written into it. With the concrete tile roof, in order to repair a leak will result in a large number of tiles being replaced. Not a cheap thing to do!
Interesting part is that there was no leak from all the rain we had over last winter?

Just looked at the weather one last time -- The eye of the storm is directly overhead Lancaster, CA.

It's going to be hard to get blame on the panels to stick based on the length of time. I'm not saying it isn't that, just that its probably an uphill battle to get any claim like that approved.

 

[troyphoto]

Well howdy there internet peeps.

It's Troy again.

finished writing up my tournament recap from last week. It will publish on the gaming blog tomorrow. Later today it's drive 1.5 hours to take mom to get her toenails trimmed at the podiatrist.

So, here are some of the armies from the tourney up in Ontario last week. None of these are mine, but I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the paint jobs.

 

[TLOC]

Good morning modelers, gamers, baseball knowledgeable people, rain receivers and the leaking roof (that sucks) person. Texting online with a Torrance, Ca.based weathering client he texted holy sh.., we just had an earthquake! what a day for California. Then I called my sister in Pasadena and asked if she felt it and said no but the quake alert alarms went off in her condo complex! Lots of reasons I wouldn’t move to the state but earthquakes would bother me!

Mid 90’s coming today. Terry is getting antsy but it’s too hot this week to do any over night trips. I think I talked her out of going Friday and Saturday to Minneapolis for some Volleyball. But if we go, Scale Model Supplies in St. Paul is always a must stop!

The Department of Natural Resources Wardens are coming out today. We have poachers again. Even though the entire property is fenced and clearly posted we still get trespassers. At this time of year it’s usually duck hunters setting up blinds in the marsh but the SIL has one on drone video hauling out a deer at 5 in the morning. Plus he got the plate on the pick up truck. We haven’t heard any gun shots so it’s either a bow or crossbow hunter. There is no water in the marsh just the stream in a 12’ wide meandering bed that has maybe a 2-3’ spread of water in it. But that’s where the drone saw the hunter. I talked to the district DNR office Friday and they always respond with, is your property posted. I always reply, it’s not deer/duck or whatever season. The next question is do I own the property the alleged poacher was seen on. I used to respond, does it matter to just saying yes.

We stopped about 18 months ago blocking in trespassing vehicles. The SIL would place large boulders around the vehicles until he was threatened the last time by a hunter with a rifle. That guy is still waiting for trial and his truck was blocked almost a month until his wife came begging for it. Fun times again on the homestead! The biggest issue is threefold, I walk the trails every other morning, Terry daily rides the horse trails and there are lots of horses in the fenced off fields, both our fields and the stable’s fields next door that we share. We both are back to wearing hi-vis jackets or vests when on the trails.

Still waiting for my NCE DCC system and WifiTrak modules to show up. They were out for delivery the other day, then the next day they were at the Chicago Center. I didn’t bother to check this morning. I’m hoping once those things show up I will start working on the layout. There is 140’ of framework attached to the walls but no foam down yet. My framework building crew (daughter and her friend) want to start on the helix to the staging level and have threatened to build it without any plans from me! They plan to be here Wednesday, so maybe I should get cracking

enjoy the day

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Morning peeps: Still here - did not blow, or float away!
Locally the weather says high of 77 today, mostly cloudy, with possible showers.
At midnight it showed 3.09 inches had fallen -- pretty good for this time of year!

FLO - How about some coffee? I will have breakfast later.
Mission for today is a medical procedure at one P.M. at the local (nearby) hospital.
They are hooking me up with a heart monitor that I will bring home with me - always something!

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 78°, and a little unusual for here, an AQI of 57, in the moderate range. North wind yesterday didn't help at all, it was still 107°, with a repeat today. Quite honestly, it's not the heat that is a problem here, but a total lack of rain. While leaves are falling from most trees, I have not seen any real dieback except one tree in the yard.

I did have to spend about an hour yesterday, cleaning and flushing out my "graywater drain" line. Usually starts with a rodent crawling into the open end, drowning and then blocking soap, grease, lint from the washer and other stuff; causing very slow drainage before stopping completely. I knew that it was becoming an issue beforehand and cleaned it before it stopped completely. I run all my washer, dishwasher, sinks and showers through a line that drains out in the field, instead of over-burdening the septic tank which is just for sewer water. It's a once every 8-10 years task.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I followed the plan and only ran trains. It was quite relaxing. No new pictures, so here are some from the archive that I may not have posted before.

Hughie - Happy Birthday today. I'd drive down for the party, except I have a ophthalmologist appointment tomorrow morning. I need to return the cotton ball.
Tom O -

Willie, news to me about the cotton in the eyes, I didn’t get that treatment.

They probably just didn't mention it. They're supposed to put them when they start the dilation, and remove them before wheeling you into the surgery room.
I have to laugh at heat advisories for anything below 100°.
Interesting picture of the containers yesterday. Almost all that I have observed coming out of the Alliance Intermodal Yard are oriented the same way. Some trains have all of the rear doors facing forward, some have them all facing the rear. But is rare to have them facing both ways, especially on the same well car.
Troy - The Pacific Ocean, just like the Atlantic Ocean, has it's own version of the Gulf Stream, although I no longer remember what it's called. Warm water from the tropical latitudes travel clockwise along Asia's eastern coasts, cool off up near Alaska, and flow from north to south along the west coast of North America. Hence the lack of warm water off the California coast. That's why cyclones and typhoons are prevalent in SE Asia, and hurricanes are rare along our West Coast.
Interesting stories about the pier.
Chad - Comment from someone who spent 43 years in the window manufacturing industry. Custom-sized windows are rarely as accurate as the builder or homeowner really like them to be. Our contract sheets stated ± .375". Oversizing openings was a very easy fix with shims and trim.
Sherrel - I know that terrain and geography is different out in your neighborhood, but I regularly receive 4"-6" of rain without any real difficulty, other than some standing water for a few hours since the county has botched up the run-off ditches. My personal record is a pair of 10" downpours in 8 hours about 8-9 years ago. Ironically, they were in July!!!
How's Waldo taking this weather???

Everybody have a great day.

 

[santafewillie]

Interesting photo of Dodger Stadium in LA, surrounded by water taken yesterday.

Photo courtesy Dodger Aerial.

 

[chadbag]

Chad - Comment from someone who spent 43 years in the window manufacturing industry. Custom-sized windows are rarely as accurate as the builder or homeowner really like them to be. Our contract sheets stated ± .375". Oversizing openings was a very easy fix with shims and trim.

For this company, all windows are "custom" to order. They have no standard sizes and every window is built to order for the size needed. And except for this one wide triple window in one casing, they've all been pretty much right on (I've not measured to the 1/100" of an inch but on the tape they pretty much are dimension as on the plans and order form). This one window is a 3 windows in one casing and is 3/4" less wide than listed. The listed size is calculated by doing 3x the size of an individual window of the 3 so 3 x 37.75. I suspect that the shared window frames in the middle shave a small amount off the normal size of the frame so for a given glass size there are 3/8" less frame for each leading to the 3/4" not so wide. Its a manageable thing and not a problem with shims etc.

Too wide or tall of an opening becomes a problem as these are not sill flange nail fin windows, but inset windows with brackets that snap in a track around the outside of the window with an arm stick into the frame (into the house) that is screwed into the frame. Too much shimming can lead to making it hard to get a good attachment and not enough support for the window (the "thicker" the shims the wide they need to be to provide the same support -- the manufacturer calls for a lot of shimming at specific points to support the windows as they are heavier and have more forces on the frames as they are tilt/turn windows with multiple sets of hinges and the whole window turning from a side hinge or tilting back from a bottom hinge).

For those interested the windows are from Alpen High Performance Products in Colorado using German tech and German materials/hardware -- windows from REHAU tech. thinkalpen.com and the series are their Tyrol series of windows.

In this pic the one that was slightly less wide (which ended up being good) is the one facing the photographer with the three windows in one. The two outer windows are tilt-turn and the inner is a set piece of fixed glass. The window with frame is 112.5"

(The foil balloons are hooked to tiny tubes in the window and allow for the expansion and contraction of the argon to allow the windows to acclimatize to their new home after being built at high altitude in Colorado -- you crimp it three times and then cut the end and dip in a silicone)

 

[TLOC]

Good Morning All. Clear and 78°, and a little unusual for here, an AQI of 57, in the moderate range. North wind yesterday didn't help at all, it was still 107°, with a repeat today. Quite honestly, it's not the heat that is a problem here, but a total lack of rain. While leaves are falling from most trees, I have not seen any real dieback except one tree in the yard.

I did have to spend about an hour yesterday, cleaning and flushing out my "graywater drain" line. Usually starts with a rodent crawling into the open end, drowning and then blocking soap, grease, lint from the washer and other stuff; causing very slow drainage before stopping completely. I knew that it was becoming an issue beforehand and cleaned it before it stopped completely. I run all my washer, dishwasher, sinks and showers through a line that drains out in the field, instead of over-burdening the septic tank which is just for sewer water. It's a once every 8-10 years task.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I followed the plan and only ran trains. It was quite relaxing. No new pictures, so here are some from the archive that I may not have posted before.
View attachment 173218
View attachment 173219View attachment 173220
View attachment 173221

Hughie - Happy Birthday today. I'd drive down for the party, except I have a ophthalmologist appointment tomorrow morning. I need to return the cotton ball.
Tom O -

They probably just didn't mention it. They're supposed to put them when they start the dilation, and remove them before wheeling you into the surgery room.
I have to laugh at heat advisories for anything below 100°.
Interesting picture of the containers yesterday. Almost all that I have observed coming out of the Alliance Intermodal Yard are oriented the same way. Some trains have all of the rear doors facing forward, some have them all facing the rear. But is rare to have them facing both ways, especially on the same well car.
Troy - The Pacific Ocean, just like the Atlantic Ocean, has it's own version of the Gulf Stream, although I no longer remember what it's called. Warm water from the tropical latitudes travel clockwise along Asia's eastern coasts, cool off up near Alaska, and flow from north to south along the west coast of North America. Hence the lack of warm water off the California coast. That's why cyclones and typhoons are prevalent in SE Asia, and hurricanes are rare along our West Coast.
Interesting stories about the pier.
Chad - Comment from someone who spent 43 years in the window manufacturing industry. Custom-sized windows are rarely as accurate as the builder or homeowner really like them to be. Our contract sheets stated ± .375". Oversizing openings was a very easy fix with shims and trim.
Sherrel - I know that terrain and geography is different out in your neighborhood, but I regularly receive 4"-6" of rain without any real difficulty, other than some standing water for a few hours since the county has botched up the run-off ditches. My personal record is a pair of 10" downpours in 8 hours about 8-9 years ago. Ironically, they were in July!!!
How's Waldo taking this weather???

Everybody have a great day.

Yeah it’s nuts about the heat advisories. Even Terry thought yesterday that putting that up was ridiculous.

I spoke to my sister in Pasadena a few minutes after one of the earthquakes hit. She was laughing as Pasadena at that time had received a 1/4” of rain and many in the complex were in panic over that “ much” rain. She spent the majority of her life living in the Chicago southwest suburbs. There you didn’t get too excited about any rain until you got to 2 to 3” in 1 hour. They had water accumulating at the curb. She told somebody probably the drain was blocked. Person asked what should they do? One of the maintenance guys cleared the drain and the water went where it should. It’s a matter of what you are used to!

will you head over to the National Trainshow this week in Grapevine?

 

[Patrick]

Almost afternoon all,

Got in late due to having my annual physical this morning. Lab work cam back looking good. Only problem noted in all the work is that my good cholesterol is low, but my overall levels are normal. BP was good enough, Dr is removing the water pill part of my BP med. If my BP stays good, we're going to look at taking me off of it entirely. Work is slow so far for a Monday.

Still have the youngest granddaughter with the wife. She's getting picked up after mom get off work.

Supposed to be be 105° today. Heat indexes to 110° through the remainder of the week.

BBL

 

[Texas Hobo]

I feel for those folks in CA, but like Willie pointed out, 4 to 6 inches here is a common occurance. I wonder what might happen if a full blown hurricane were to hit. Imagine an Ike, Katrina or a Harvey. Below is a copy of the log I kept has Harvey flooded the area.

 

[Bruette]

Happy Birthday Hughie!

 

[santafewillie]

OK, all you computer geeks. I need to replace my printer. However I am a neophyte at this, none of the past five printers that I have bought have lasted more than a few years. I am hoping for a laser-jet model that prints, scans and copies. I have never faxed nor do I see a need. I'm done with the ink-jet varieties, cartridges are mostly wasted doing nozzle cleaning etc, when the initial print doesn't work.
If it makes a difference, my desktop is a HP, current printer is an Epson and it sucks. I only print a couple of times a month, so it sits idle a lot. Wireless is necessary so my wife can print from her laptop.
I'd like a low cost model, but price is no object for something that could make quality copies for a long time.
Any recommendations???

 

[Boris]

OK, all you computer geeks. I need to replace my printer. However I am a neophyte at this, none of the past five printers that I have bought have lasted more than a few years. I am hoping for a laser-jet model that prints, scans and copies. I have never faxed nor do I see a need. I'm done with the ink-jet varieties, cartridges are mostly wasted doing nozzle cleaning etc, when the initial print doesn't work.
If it makes a difference, my desktop is a HP, current printer is an Epson and it sucks. I only print a couple of times a month, so it sits idle a lot. Wireless is necessary so my wife can print from her laptop.
I'd like a low cost model, but price is no object for something that could make quality copies for a long time.
Any recommendations???

Can't help ya Willie, but at least I know I'm not alone when it comes to bad printers...Epson does suck...last HP printer wasn't much better. Previous Cannon was great, but didn't update for Win 11, so that sucked also.
I'm also interested in the possibility of a color laser that prints, scans and copies. Will follow responses.

 

[chadbag]

Willie and other interested parties

I don't know much about the all in one stuff -- my old Brotehr all in one monochrome laser seems to work when I try it but I don't use it a lot. I've had it for 15+ years but have a 25 year old HP Laserjet 2100TN that is my main laser (monochrome) and a Konica Minolta color laser that is probably 6 or 7 years old, that replaced a Konica Minolta model I had that fell off a table and cracked the frame. None of them are all in one.

While laser is cheaper per page historically, check the consumables prices for anything you consider. Some of the newer ones have outrageously priced toner cartridges. HP has turned to that model of sales and I'd avoid HP in any case though my old Laserjet 2100 is working fine (and I bought a Laserjet 2200TN from eBay a long while back that I still have not put into service yet -- the nice thing about these old printers is that toner carts of the remanufactured sort are dirt cheap).

In looking at PC Mag and other review sites, they seem to line the Canon all in one -- both color and monochrome. But looking at consumables they look kind of expensive but I've not done an in-depth look so I may be looking at the wrong ones (mainly seeing what the -- you need this too recommendations are on the selling websites and those are not always accurate).

 

[Boris]

Hokay! Is 88°, made it to 90°, partly cloudy with Canadian Smoke haze. Looking ahead Scattered Sprinkles over night, low of 65°. High tomorrow, only 78°.

This evenings baseball games, Baseball Giants vs. Phillies, Queens @ Atlanta. Monday Night Football, Baltimore @ Washington, National broadcast on ESPN, (cable).

Trying to raise my interest I am taking a BB gondola, adding rust to the inside, adding stained wooden floor, short shanked scale whisker couplers, metal 33" wheels, and a load of stained pilings, (bamboo skewers). If this works, I will do the same in a Tangent Southern ownership, (ACL), gondola loaded with utility poles.

Speaking of Tropical Cyclones, Currently, in the Atlantic and Caribbean, are Five Disturbances. #1 is East of Africa and has a 60% chance of becoming a Tropical Storm, Emily is a Post tropical Depression in the middle of the Atlantic. Gert is a Tropical Storm off of South America expected to dissipate over night, Franklin is between Hispaniola and South America, and could threaten Central America, and Storm #9, which could develop into a Cyclone over night. That one is in the Caribbean and headed west toward the Texas - Mexico border. The TV Hypesters are salivating over the prospects.

We are planning an after dinner walk at the Reservoir tonight, then some time in the train room, while I listen to the Mets on radio.

Take a Ride on the Reading...Ardsley PA on the Hatboro Branch, August 1959. Gerry Meyle Jr Collection, Photographer Unknown.

 

[Bruette]

Willie, I can't definitely answer your printer question.

I think, if you have room in the budget a color laser is the way to go.

I suspect they are all wireless now. HP has an app to print from any device that can run the app. I have an HP all-in-one inkjet that has served me well for three years.

I've had my brother all-in-one b/w laser for better than 10 years and it still works great.

Here is something that might help. I used to trust these people.

Best Laser Printers

www.pcmag.com

 

[Bruette]

Baltimore Ravens at Washington Commanders 2023 PRE 2 - Game Center | Official Site of the National Football League

The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more.

www.nfl.com

 

[CambriaArea51]

Well howdy there internet peeps.

It's Troy again.

finished writing up my tournament recap from last week. It will publish on the gaming blog tomorrow. Later today it's drive 1.5 hours to take mom to get her toenails trimmed at the podiatrist.

So, here are some of the armies from the tourney up in Ontario last week. None of these are mine, but I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the paint jobs.

View attachment 173214
View attachment 173215
View attachment 173216

View attachment 173217

There are a lot of hours painting all that stuff, and an excellent job at that.

 

[JimKrol]

Yeah it’s nuts about the heat advisories. Even Terry thought yesterday that putting that up was ridiculous.

I spoke to my sister in Pasadena a few minutes after one of the earthquakes hit. She was laughing as Pasadena at that time had received a 1/4” of rain and many in the complex were in panic over that “ much” rain. She spent the majority of her life living in the Chicago southwest suburbs. There you didn’t get too excited about any rain until you got to 2 to 3” in 1 hour. They had water accumulating at the curb. She told somebody probably the drain was blocked. Person asked what should they do? One of the maintenance guys cleared the drain and the water went where it should. It’s a matter of what you are used to!

will you head over to the National Trainshow this week in Grapevine?

My son owns a Condo in Pasadena, the only problem they had was a leaky roof, that is an on-going problem, My son and his wife are both lawyers, I wonder why they have not brought the Condo company to court yet. LA has "weathered" the hurricane fairly well, did not live up to all the hype.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's 79 and mostly dark, with a good chance of light later today.