Running Bear's August 2025 Coffee Shop

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Good day to all...........

I finished my drafting project last Wednesday but haven't done much since. Some of the standard trip to town to grocery store, post office, Dollar General for cat food and so on. Just winding down.

No internet all day Friday because highway dept is re-working the drainage ditches on either side of Hiway 82. Seems they cut into the phone cables that are in the easement that is the drainage ditch. Internet/phone was restored around 7:30 pm Friday. I expect this to happen at least one more time in next couple of weeks.

Then at 4:45 pm last Friday, the compressor in my a/c condenser unit quit. What timing. Kinda like the toothache on a Friday night thing. I managed to stay in the house Friday night because my place is well insulated and it was still somewhat cool with the fan running. A bit warm Saturday but overcast clouds kept temps down to bearable so I made through last night again at home. But this evening I am going to town for a COOL motel room as the sun is high in the sky. I need to go to the local HVAC repair shop at 8 am Monday so I will already be in town. I hope the A/C guy is not on vacation. There is only one other A/C repair place in town and they are high priced.

I spent a bit of time in my train room yesterday afternoon......it has its own A/C, heat unit.......felt pretty good. However, I need to install some Tam Valley servo fascia controllers and the main controller board. The Tam Valley fascia control units are made to be used with their switch "pockets". I want to use their printed circuit board buttons with build in LEDs but not the pocket unit. This is like another whole new project. So I quickly ran out of patience and came back in the house for some iced tea. I'll need to ask around and see how others have mounted their control switches without using the Tam Valley mounting item. I'll feel better when my home A/C unit is up and running again. That is priority number ONE.

Well I need to get the cat out and get ready for my trip into town.

Everyone take care....John
 
NorthBrit said:
Fly tipping here is dumping your trash (without being seen) and not paying anyone to take it away. Therefore the Council has to foot the bill to clear it away.

The people who do it are too lazy to take it to the local 'Council owned Tip'. Which is free.
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It sounds like its all over.

Around here since we are considered rural, its not uncommon for someone to through Couches, Mattresses, TVs etc.... in the ditches
along the Country roads or even the State Highways.
 
Well, I have a tank...

20250810_132207.jpg
 


troyphoto said:
Nope. Different guy. He's definitely out of Fort Wayne with a different last name. He's not one of your weathering clients based on the fleet of unweathered rolling stock on the layout.

In other news, we had gaming club today. One of the players got to celebrate his 65th birthday with us. We made him a cake. Well, our lone female player did. He claimed to be totally oblivious despite someone asking him what his favorite cake flavor was the week before.

View attachment 234915

Another player showed up only to pick up some pieces he paid a "pro" painter to do for him. Extremely good job. His army is based on an Arabian nights theme. I'd love to paint the models, but this level of painting is beyond my current skill set.

View attachment 234916

View attachment 234917

Unfortunately too many of our players run a lot of Grey Plastic armies. I keep telling them that painted troops win more often...
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Thanks for letting me know. The guy I know is not a client but after The Railroad Line forums shut down he’s not on any other forums. I know he’s only a few mile west of Fort Wayne.
 
Boris said:
Remember when that was the most popular forum going? Over Moderation, and an antagonist clientele drove people away.
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Boris, are you sure you are not thinking about Model Railroader forums? Those were definitely over moderated to the point if you even mentioned another forum or magazine they’d warn you or delete the comment. I talked to the main moderator there at an OPS session a couple years ago. People always thought he was too tough, told me just following company directives.

Personally I don’t think Model Railroader Hobbyist (MRH) moderates enough! But I have learned to just stop reading whatever thread it is. You could always tell how the thread was going to trend by who the 1st responds were by.
 
TLOC said:
Boris, are you sure you are not thinking about Model Railroader forums? Those were definitely over moderated to the point if you even mentioned another forum or magazine they’d warn you or delete the comment. I talked to the main moderator there at an OPS session a couple years ago. People always thought he was too tough, told me just following company directives.

Personally I don’t think Model Railroader Hobbyist (MRH) moderates enough! But I have learned to just stop reading whatever thread it is. You could always tell how the thread was going to trend by who the 1st responds were by.
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I agree Tom. The MR forum pretty much had turned me off to forums until I found this one. In fact it had pretty much turned me off to MR itself. MRH forums were ok, but a few of the posters were a bit snobbish. So here I am.
 


migalyto said:
It sounds like its all over.

Around here since we are considered rural, its not uncommon for someone to through Couches, Mattresses, TVs etc.... in the ditches
along the Country roads or even the State Highways.
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Even in the city it happens. Just slide on over to your nearest university's dorms when classes let out for the summer and you'll find furniture laying on the side of the road after they clear out the dorms for the incoming freshmen and returning students when fall hits. If you lack shame or dignity, it's a great way to pick up some furniture on the cheap.
 
TLOC said:
Boris, are you sure you are not thinking about Model Railroader forums? Those were definitely over moderated to the point if you even mentioned another forum or magazine they’d warn you or delete the comment. I talked to the main moderator there at an OPS session a couple years ago. People always thought he was too tough, told me just following company directives.

Personally I don’t think Model Railroader Hobbyist (MRH) moderates enough! But I have learned to just stop reading whatever thread it is. You could always tell how the thread was going to trend by who the 1st responds were by.
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For me it's the opposite MRH is just as over-moderated. MR still is too nothing's changed over there either. Who'd have thought a hobby about creativity would have so many stick in the muds and Aunt Sallys in it. I'm tired of everything being family friendly in this hobby.
 
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Howdy folks, 91 here right now and sunny. Supposed to be hot the next few days and dry. Great services at Church today...and now we are about 2 steps from collapse. Spent Friday and Saturday getting my Nephew and his MiL moving trucks unloaded and the stuff into two houses. Wow...
Thankful for folks from church showing up to help. But we are all worn out from the last few months.
Hopefully later this week I will feel like getting back into hobbying. Last Thursday I scheduled an appointment with my chiropractor for Tomorrow and my back is certainly looking forward to it.
 
DirtyD696 said:
Even in the city it happens. Just slide on over to your nearest university's dorms when classes let out for the summer and you'll find furniture laying on the side of the road after they clear out the dorms for the incoming freshmen and returning students when fall hits. If you lack shame or dignity, it's a great way to pick up some furniture on the cheap.
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Hurry though! Pick it up before it rains. ;):D
 
Furniture on the curb. I live in a University centric area with quite a few colleges/universities. The main one of course is the University of Wisconsin Madison with its 40,000+ full time on campus students. At semester but especially after 2nd semester and the beginning of Summer you will see lots of furniture on the curbs. Take it if you want it but if not the garbage collection services will pick it up.

But IMO that’s different than tipping! Tipping around here is driving along the road and dumping anything. Garbage, appliances and just junk. While it doesn’t happen as often as maybe 20-30 years ago because of enforcement occasionally you will still see it.

From 9 pm Saturday to 8pm tonight my collection rain gauge had just over 5” in it. Areas 2 miles away at the daughters had almost 9. Of course much of Milwaukee County surrounding the City got clobbered. The son in law this afternoon was flying the drones over the properties and checking where the water collection points are. We certainly do not want a sub division in some areas we previously thought were safe. I was unaware the daughter and grandson can also fly the drones as I no longer need those daily to check the fence lines anymore. No horses for almost 2 years so we only check weekly now.
 
We have issues around here with people dumping construction waste, dirt, on teh side of the roads on the outskirts, etc. As well as old appliances occasionally out in the desert.

The worst offenders here in the neighborhoods is where someone has a dumpster. Either a construction dumpster, or our city has a cheap rental dumpster they bring for 2 days and then haul away. These are the double length (12-15' or so?) dumpsters they drag up on the flatbed.

People will come around at night and put things not allowed in the city dumpsters like mattresses, certain kinds of appliances, old tires, etc into the dumpster you have. And then you get in trouble for those items and get fined. Or if it's a construction dumpster, you're probably not allowed some of those same things but people come in the middle of the night and fill it up. I had a construction dumpster when we were building and one night someone came and put a couple mattresses, some springs, etc in and it pissed me off. I had to pay by weight.

I already mentioned the story of the landscaping guys who dumped a bunch of dirt and gravel on our lot next door right when we were starting our project. I asked them to move it but they never did and I got a $200 check from the company owner when I sent him a bill... It was his rent-a-yyyyy type workers who were doing it.
 


I just watched the History channel on the Marfa lights. Took a look at g-maps and if I'm correct in thinking that the viewing area is on the wider side of the wedge (building shape), then you are looking over the air field. Pretty flat area. I'm thinking headlights. And as far as the statement made about not having headlights in the 18th century, they did have oil lamps and the occasional UFO... haha
 
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