Running Bear's August 2025 Coffee Shop

[boogietrain94]

Yeah, I do know.
"The top three largest oil producers in the world are the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, with the United States leading in production. In 2024, the US produced over 20 million barrels per day, followed by Saudi Arabia and Russia with approximately 10.9 and 10.8 million barrels per day respectively, according to Statista."

and yet gas is still almost 4$ a gallon lol

 

[DeaconKC]

Good evening folks, hit only 91 here today with a nice breeze. Worked today as my Boss was called to testify as an expert witness in a murder trial. Looking forward to the Conway AR train show tomorrow, it will be a nice change of pace. Should get to meet some folks from a couple of train clubs that do modular layouts so I can join up. Paid 2.50 a gallon yesterday for gas here.

 

[insomniville]

and yet gas is still almost 4$ a gallon lol

Still cheaper than @TLOC's Dr. Pepper, which would be about $35.14/gallon if I've got the numbers right...

 

[migalyto]

Shampoo... I use a bar of Irish Spring “All the Freshness of Ireland"

You mean " Clean as a .....Whistle!

 

[Marlin39]

We're having a very unusual heat wave. 100+ for a couple of days, then 90's until Friday.

101 with 22% humidity @ 4pm. Sugar wanted to go in the backyard with me while I watered veggies. A quick pee and she dug a depression under a bush and relaxed. Pyrenees aren't good in the heat. I gave her 30 minutes and dragged her back inside. She plopped down on the floor register to cool down. Freezing temps, ice, and snow are no problem for the breed though.

 

[santafewillie]

A few years ago, I started handing my server their tip in cash instead of adding it to the credit card. That way they get the whole thing. I never leave it on the table since the bus persons don't tend to be honest.

 

[Marlin39]

A few years ago, I started handing my server their tip in cash instead of adding it to the credit card. That way they get the whole thing. I never leave it on the table since the bus persons don't tend to be honest.

Been doing the same for the same reasons.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

and yet gas is still almost 4$ a gallon lol

And that price has very little to do with the amount of oil produced.

 

[Kusojiji]

IF the company has mandatory service charge

then that'll be the last time I go there.

 

[Kusojiji]

Just to put it in perspective. Japan is one of those "no tipping" cultures, though there are exceptions. They pay the staff and it is note expected to leave a tip at restaurants or hotels etc. Again there are some exceptions and ways of doing so for outstanding service or things like after midnight taxi rides where you can but I won't go into the details of when it might be appropriate or how it is done as its not germane. In general, Japan is no tipping.

The reason I bring this up is that some hotels and restaurants and stuff have a sign in the room, menu, etc that says, in English, something like the following. They probably don't even say this in Japanese -- its for the tourists who come from tipping cultures.

(I'm making these words up but I have seen this in many hotels etc_
----

No Tipping. In Japan, tipping is not expected or required. The staff are adequately paid to do their job. A 10% service charge is included in the price of the service, which is shared amongst all staff. Mp tipping is expect or required

-----------

That sort of thing. It's not a service charge listed separately. It's in the price already that they quote you when you book the room or the food. They just explain it so the dense Americans understand how it works.

Yeah, that got me when I first got to Japan as I tried to tip. I learned quickly.

 

[chadbag]

I don't know if it was any better back in the day but when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s baseball card gum was nasty. It tasted like cardboard and was about as chewy as glass.

Wasn't any better in the early and mid 70s.

 

[DirtyD696]

“Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it.”
― Mark Twain

 

[TLOC]

Good evening fellow model railroaders, travelers, gasoline price inspectors and tippers! We are in the room about 90 minutes earlier than what we normally would be. All packed for leaving in the morning. LA via Amtrak’s the Coast Daylight.

Dinner tonight was at 5 Points Diner and Bar. Much more to our liking. A dive bar rated #1 in Seattle with very good food and lots of reasonable priced selections. Ubered over, walked 3 blocks to the Space Needle and hopped on the Monorail again. My WeatherChannel app says the high was 85 and with a calm wind and clean skies it was hot. It’s Friday night and downtown is wall to wall people. We did see one guy running after someone running off with a purse. Yelling stop thief the sidewalks seemed to part like Moses at the Red Sea.

As we rode down from Vancouver on Amtrak we had a few station stops with gas stations nearby. I never bothered checking the price conversion to USD while in Canada. But we crossed the border and it was easy to see the prices that ranged from $5.04 per gallon to $4.77. Yesterday on the tour around Seattle most station prices were around $4.90. When we left Wisconsin it was $2.94 per gallon. People forget that the USA produces the most oil in the world. But we’ve closed so many refineries to convert that oil!

Tipping. Basically you give decent service 20% of the final bill plus I round off to the nearest dollar or the next $5. Poor service is 15% and I don’t believe I have ever tipped less. You give me great service and there is more available! Both my wife and sister were waitresses. My sister at a golf course in Summer time during college. Terry worked waitress jobs from high school till the week before she started teaching. I earned tips working as a caddy from 8th grade till I was a junior in high school. From then in the summer I worked as the bag room attendant at the same golf course I caddied at. My tips financed my education and paid for my 1st car when I graduated college. Tipping in the American culture is inbred for me. What I did learn in Seattle is to really review the bill. No 18% service charge on tonight’s bill. They did post 3% because I only use a debit or credit card. They explained the credit card company charges them 3%. They only pass the 3% on, I’m ok with that! I used to give cash as the tip but I once was told by a restaurant owner they would guess the tips for tax purposes for those servers. Unfair to me but I switched to mainly debit cards and just add the tip to the card. Because we are traveling we use the credit card because we earn cash back which I think Terry uses to buy even more shoes.

Amtrak’s Coast Daylight train does not have Internet service per the advertisements. The IPhone is hard to use but easier with the stylus Terry let me use coming down on the Amtrak Cascade. I may or not be online the next couple days

Be well

 

[chadbag]

Amtrak’s Coast Daylight train does not have Internet service per the advertisements.

They might get more riders if they added it... Starlink or equivalent would probably pay for itself.

 

[Kusojiji]

“Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it.”
― Mark Twain

That's why we have pre chew Charlies.

edit: finally found a video. I guess utube ain't handling it.

 

[Kusojiji]

They explained the credit card company charges them 3%. They only pass the 3% on

RG Rokko out here in Japan does not allow the use of a credit card on their new releases as they give a nice discount on the item. They explained that the credit card company charges them for the use and it eats up any profit that they were already slim on with the discount. RGR that! Good of them to let me know the details and the website is very clear about not being able to use the cc.

 

[Kusojiji]

I've been using train-o-matic (tom) decoders as they are pretty cheap. Was about $15 for a micro decoder, but they have since gone up to $18. What I just found out is that they are from Romania. They make decoders, function decoders, smart power packs, axle wipers for power pick up and small lighting kits.

I have/had a Rapido Hunslet and it ran fine on DC. I put a decoder in it and it made a very loud metallic rattling sound (coreless motor). I did everything I could think of and it still rattled like crazy. So I ran it like that for a little while. Then it stopped and fwd motion was severely sucking as compared to reverse. Wrote to Rapido who did their best to say that it was all in my head. I sent them video files with audio and they kept saying "we can't heeeeear yoouuuuuuu". Finally, I got right up to the loco and had it rattle for a while. Then they came back with it's probably the decoder. I told them I tried 2 different tom decoders and an ESU, which has a calibration, which didn't do anything for the rattling. I told them this and still they denied it. Well, it is back with them for a check up. I hope they do the right thing.

Anyway, while all this was going on, I wrote to tom and asked if a motor could damage a decoder. I told them the current symptoms and they said that while it was very slim, the fact that this decoder performs poorly in fwd but rev works fine, there may be damage to one side of the amp. So, they are sending me a replacement decoder. Along with a few samples of 8 more and 4 power packs. Unreal. I thanked them several times after I got off the floor.

 

[chadbag]

I have/had a Rapido Hunslet and it ran fine on DC. I put a decoder in it and it made a very loud metallic rattling sound (coreless motor)

Some decoders have CVs to set the frequency of the signal so it behaves better with coreless motors. I know D&H published an article on what to set with their decoders when running coreless.

Worth asking your decoder supplier about getting their CV list.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Saturday morning! It's 63°F and mostly cloudy.

Have a great day!

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's raining and 76.