Running Bear's December 2022 Coffee Shop
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
The Eagles - Cowboys game was fun to watch. After being beaten by Jacksonville the "experts" did not give the Cowboys much of a chance against the Eagles. First, Jacksonville is a good, but young team. Young teams are often plagued by inconsistency. Second, as I always say, "there are no pushovers in the NFL".
Rarely do I pull for the Cowboys, but I was pulling for them yesterday. I am tired of hearing about how great the Eagles are. Dak Prescott is a great young man as a person, and he has all the skills needed to be a Superbowl QB. Hard to route against him. When the Cowboys come to DC in week 18, I will be routing against Dak and his Cowboys!
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TLOC
Well-Known Member
Good evening and Merry Christmas. The travelers have finally landed in Wisconsin. They landed at 8:30PM but the SIL has not dropped them off yet. The son, my sister and niece had an interesting day at DFW airport including a drunk on the plane right before pulling out of the gate.
Terry has not checked the sign in book but the open house was a definite success even with the temperature never getting higher then +2f degrees or the wind chill better then -10. Noon to 9PM open houses have now become a thing of the past for us, the daughter can take those over.
HoHoHo and to all a Good Night
Terry has not checked the sign in book but the open house was a definite success even with the temperature never getting higher then +2f degrees or the wind chill better then -10. Noon to 9PM open houses have now become a thing of the past for us, the daughter can take those over.
HoHoHo and to all a Good Night
Trussrod-2
Well-Known Member
Merry Christmas to All
It's the miracle of Christmas ! My YouTube channel is back !
Chris Funny Little Trains
Chris Funny Little Trains
No problem.
Bruette
Well-Known Member
It's great to see your post! I know you have your hands full, thank you for taking the time to post.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
chadbag
Well-Known Member
Merry Christmas everyone! The day is almost over for us. Almost 9pm in Kobe. About 40F. I've heard many of you in the US are in a deep freeze. Hopefully everyone is safe.
We got up this morning and had breakfast with a few gifts as well. We did our main gifts for St Nicholas Day this year (and a few days early at that on the weekend before the day) since we knew we wouldn't be home for Christmas. Yesterday I did find some Christmas Cards for the kids and for my SIL and her husband. We gave the kids each 10,000. (¥ that is: about $78-$79 at current achievable exchange at an ATM). Since they'd already had a bunch of presents in the US I had planned 5,000 each but we didn't have 5000 bills, only 10,000 bills in our stash. Each got a small present from their aunt and uncle as well. My wife's birthday was today so she got a nice dress from her sister and BIL. They have me a small box of sweets but they did present me with a fancy Panasonic electric wet/dry razor when we arrived 2 weeks ago (which was part of the Christmas present and totally unexpected). (I wonder if they are giving a hint
).
We had to get off to church and even then ended up about 12 minutes late. They were late starting due to a congregant collapsing on the way to church (ad being taken to the hospital). An older person I understand. I don't know what happened. Today they only did the main 1 hour service. It was nice. They offered us a translation headset (someone in the congregation translates) but I usually refuse. The exact words spoken aren't as important as the feeling and spirit in the meeting. I find the translations to be distracting to the person doing it and usually not that great. (Last week in Yokohama was the exception -- I didn't really get a chance to refuse and the guy did an excellent job). Our church is run by a non-paid laity, including the various leadership positions, to which people are called (by others in leadership positions) for usually indeterminate time periods, though "Bishop" is usually a 5 year calling. As such, the "sermons" each week are usually a few shorter "talks" prepared by members who are asked to speak on a given Sunday. Today they had 4 speakers, with a "choir" number in between singing "O Come, All Ye Faithful". It was a nice service, focused on Christmas and Jesus Christ (though I did hear KFC mentioned twice in one person's talk while reciting a story that helps their point of the talk).
There is an American in the congregation who is married to a Japanese woman and he has lived here for decades. I first met him when we came about 19 years ago the first time and he is usually here each time we come. Last time in 2019 I missed him the couple Sundays we were here locally and this year, so far, he was on the Zoom 2 weeks ago, and he was there today but afterwards, we had to go in another room for a few minutes to talk to some people, and by the time we came out he was gone so I missed talking with him. Hopefully he is there next week, which will be our last Sunday here.
We made it home finally (we had 75 min travel each way by train -- we are attending a congregation further away than the one that serves my sister in law's area -- the one we are attending is the one my wife was part of when she lived here before she came to the US so she and we know people there). Ate a snack, read the Bible Christmas Stories in Matthew and Luke, and had a family pow wow for this weeks schedules. Then I took a nap.
The sister in law picked up the KFC but the KFC was not the main part of the Christmas dinner. Not coming from a Christian tradition, they don't typically celebrate Christmas more than a little and did so roe for us. But we had sushi, salad, KFC, etc. and it was awesome. Not at all what our traditions are back home.
We also had a small birthday party for the wife -- featuring a Christmas Cake since that's what she was able to get in the store last minute (since we didn't know if we'd be back or not from our trip or in Nagasaki depending on the health situation).
All in all it's been a nice relaxed Christmas Day.
Obligatory pics:
My breakfast. The mug is my "made in Japan" low carb cocoa variation and the stuff in the back plate is Japanese pear. This breakfast is a reasonable local variation on a western style breakfast. Throw in some salad, and these excellent little sausages that we've not found in the US. (Typical Japanese breakfast would probably be rice and fish, maybe curry, some Japanese salad type stuff, etc. though they also eat more western style a lot of the time -- eggs, bacon, ham, pastries, cereal, etc)
Part of our ride to church (and basically the same back home). A Kobe Subway and a Hanky train or two).
While at the Hankyu Sannomiya station, we saw this Sanyo Railway train come in and drop its passengers. And then drive away empty. It is a private railway that seems to go from Kobe to Himeji area but is connected to the Hanshin and Hankyu systems for through service to Sannomiya in Kobe and Umeda in Osaka (Umeda is the main station area where all the majors have stations next to each other). Hankyu and Hanshin are both children private railways of the Hankyu company as of some time in the last 20 years when Hankyu Railway's parent bought Hanshin. What I gather from Wikipedia Sanyo Railway is not part of that conglomerate but has extended their networks together with them to give further reach. We did not ride this railway but I found it interesting to see it in Sannomiya. Interestingly, Hankyu, Hanshin, and Sanyo all run standard gauge networks, unlike the JR system and most other private railways, which run Cape Gauge (1067mm).
Christmas Dinner (a KFC bucket without red!)
(I didn't eat any of the biscuits though my daughter ate one -- they looked like standard biscuits but with a hole in the middle like a donut).
We got up this morning and had breakfast with a few gifts as well. We did our main gifts for St Nicholas Day this year (and a few days early at that on the weekend before the day) since we knew we wouldn't be home for Christmas. Yesterday I did find some Christmas Cards for the kids and for my SIL and her husband. We gave the kids each 10,000. (¥ that is: about $78-$79 at current achievable exchange at an ATM). Since they'd already had a bunch of presents in the US I had planned 5,000 each but we didn't have 5000 bills, only 10,000 bills in our stash. Each got a small present from their aunt and uncle as well. My wife's birthday was today so she got a nice dress from her sister and BIL. They have me a small box of sweets but they did present me with a fancy Panasonic electric wet/dry razor when we arrived 2 weeks ago (which was part of the Christmas present and totally unexpected). (I wonder if they are giving a hint
).We had to get off to church and even then ended up about 12 minutes late. They were late starting due to a congregant collapsing on the way to church (ad being taken to the hospital). An older person I understand. I don't know what happened. Today they only did the main 1 hour service. It was nice. They offered us a translation headset (someone in the congregation translates) but I usually refuse. The exact words spoken aren't as important as the feeling and spirit in the meeting. I find the translations to be distracting to the person doing it and usually not that great. (Last week in Yokohama was the exception -- I didn't really get a chance to refuse and the guy did an excellent job). Our church is run by a non-paid laity, including the various leadership positions, to which people are called (by others in leadership positions) for usually indeterminate time periods, though "Bishop" is usually a 5 year calling. As such, the "sermons" each week are usually a few shorter "talks" prepared by members who are asked to speak on a given Sunday. Today they had 4 speakers, with a "choir" number in between singing "O Come, All Ye Faithful". It was a nice service, focused on Christmas and Jesus Christ (though I did hear KFC mentioned twice in one person's talk while reciting a story that helps their point of the talk).
There is an American in the congregation who is married to a Japanese woman and he has lived here for decades. I first met him when we came about 19 years ago the first time and he is usually here each time we come. Last time in 2019 I missed him the couple Sundays we were here locally and this year, so far, he was on the Zoom 2 weeks ago, and he was there today but afterwards, we had to go in another room for a few minutes to talk to some people, and by the time we came out he was gone so I missed talking with him. Hopefully he is there next week, which will be our last Sunday here.
We made it home finally (we had 75 min travel each way by train -- we are attending a congregation further away than the one that serves my sister in law's area -- the one we are attending is the one my wife was part of when she lived here before she came to the US so she and we know people there). Ate a snack, read the Bible Christmas Stories in Matthew and Luke, and had a family pow wow for this weeks schedules. Then I took a nap.
The sister in law picked up the KFC but the KFC was not the main part of the Christmas dinner. Not coming from a Christian tradition, they don't typically celebrate Christmas more than a little and did so roe for us. But we had sushi, salad, KFC, etc. and it was awesome. Not at all what our traditions are back home.
We also had a small birthday party for the wife -- featuring a Christmas Cake since that's what she was able to get in the store last minute (since we didn't know if we'd be back or not from our trip or in Nagasaki depending on the health situation).
All in all it's been a nice relaxed Christmas Day.
Obligatory pics:
My breakfast. The mug is my "made in Japan" low carb cocoa variation and the stuff in the back plate is Japanese pear. This breakfast is a reasonable local variation on a western style breakfast. Throw in some salad, and these excellent little sausages that we've not found in the US. (Typical Japanese breakfast would probably be rice and fish, maybe curry, some Japanese salad type stuff, etc. though they also eat more western style a lot of the time -- eggs, bacon, ham, pastries, cereal, etc)
Part of our ride to church (and basically the same back home). A Kobe Subway and a Hanky train or two).
While at the Hankyu Sannomiya station, we saw this Sanyo Railway train come in and drop its passengers. And then drive away empty. It is a private railway that seems to go from Kobe to Himeji area but is connected to the Hanshin and Hankyu systems for through service to Sannomiya in Kobe and Umeda in Osaka (Umeda is the main station area where all the majors have stations next to each other). Hankyu and Hanshin are both children private railways of the Hankyu company as of some time in the last 20 years when Hankyu Railway's parent bought Hanshin. What I gather from Wikipedia Sanyo Railway is not part of that conglomerate but has extended their networks together with them to give further reach. We did not ride this railway but I found it interesting to see it in Sannomiya. Interestingly, Hankyu, Hanshin, and Sanyo all run standard gauge networks, unlike the JR system and most other private railways, which run Cape Gauge (1067mm).
Christmas Dinner (a KFC bucket without red!)
(I didn't eat any of the biscuits though my daughter ate one -- they looked like standard biscuits but with a hole in the middle like a donut).
Bruette
Well-Known Member
One of our Christmas traditions.
Like this photo I found on Bing, on Christmas morning we replace the 3 purple and one pink Advent candle with 4 white candles. Joy to the world the Lord has come.
I used to have an expensive brass 5-candle holder. Things happened and I found a low cost four candle holder at Dollar General. It did not diminish my Christmas spirit in the least. I have had several candle holders since. My tradition has been to use four candles ever since.
There have been years since I could not find pink and purple candles. I've used all white and all red. The feelings were always the same and the little flames always burn bright.
Christmas has nothing to do with how much things cost, and things don't have to be perfect.
God Bless Us Everyone!
Like this photo I found on Bing, on Christmas morning we replace the 3 purple and one pink Advent candle with 4 white candles. Joy to the world the Lord has come.
I used to have an expensive brass 5-candle holder. Things happened and I found a low cost four candle holder at Dollar General. It did not diminish my Christmas spirit in the least. I have had several candle holders since. My tradition has been to use four candles ever since.
There have been years since I could not find pink and purple candles. I've used all white and all red. The feelings were always the same and the little flames always burn bright.
Christmas has nothing to do with how much things cost, and things don't have to be perfect.
God Bless Us Everyone!
santafewillie
Same Ol' Buzzard
Merry Christmas Morning to All. Clear and 22°. Low 20's tonight and tomorrow night, and then Spring-like weather for a while, sunshine and upper 60's. The frozen pipe from Thursday/Friday thawed out yesterday, no breaks/leaks.
Today is a rough day, starting with Mass at 8:00, and then directly to my daughter's home in Dallas for brunch and gift exchange, over to other daughter's home for a nap and then dinner before heading home, 12 hours later. Before we leave this morning, I need to stoke enough large logs in the heater to last all day; 3-10" diameter x 16" long should do it. Them suckers are heavy. Need the protective clothing!
Snowman - How's your mom?
Louis - Just imagine how long Lemmy would have lived had he cleaned up a bit. Not sure what got him in the end, 60 years of 2 packs a day, a bottle a day of Jack Daniels, or his constant amphetamine usage. Or it could have been the parade of groupies.
As you know, I do not normally watch NFL football any more, but I did see part of the ending of the nailbiter yesterday between Dallas & Philadelphia. Dallas managed to hold on.
Hughie - I'll send warmer weather in a day or two.
Tom O - "Drunk on a plane" - always a possibility when the damn plane is 2-3 hours late.
Today is Jimmy Buffet's 76th birthday. Have a Margarita in his honor. I'm outta here!
Merry Christmas my Friends.
Today is a rough day, starting with Mass at 8:00, and then directly to my daughter's home in Dallas for brunch and gift exchange, over to other daughter's home for a nap and then dinner before heading home, 12 hours later. Before we leave this morning, I need to stoke enough large logs in the heater to last all day; 3-10" diameter x 16" long should do it. Them suckers are heavy. Need the protective clothing!
Moon Martin - He wrote the Robert Palmer song "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)". I only knew of him because he opened many shows in the Dallas/Ft Worth area in the early 80's. He was from nearby Oklahoma. I distinctly remember him opening for British rockers Rockpile (Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe) at a place called the Agora Ballroom in a pretty seedy area near downtown Dallas, in the early 80's.
Snowman - How's your mom?
Louis - Just imagine how long Lemmy would have lived had he cleaned up a bit. Not sure what got him in the end, 60 years of 2 packs a day, a bottle a day of Jack Daniels, or his constant amphetamine usage. Or it could have been the parade of groupies.
As you know, I do not normally watch NFL football any more, but I did see part of the ending of the nailbiter yesterday between Dallas & Philadelphia. Dallas managed to hold on.
Hughie - I'll send warmer weather in a day or two.
Tom O - "Drunk on a plane" - always a possibility when the damn plane is 2-3 hours late.
Today is Jimmy Buffet's 76th birthday. Have a Margarita in his honor. I'm outta here!
Merry Christmas my Friends.
Thanks for enlightening my day.
Merry Christmas to all! Had the kids and grandkids over last night for snacks and gifts. They go to the in-laws for Christmas day. Thanksgiving was with us, next year we swap out. That will last until the kids are a little older and my son gets tired of dragging everyone and everything across town, like I did many years ago, and just has people over to his place. The granddaughter is finally old enough to get Christmas, and she had a blast. The little thunder goblin mostly stayed with mama. He's going through that whole separation anxiety stage, which is a pain, but doesn't last long. We'll open our gifts later. it's been colder than a well diggers a$$ up here in the frozen tundra. High winds made it even worse, so we've been sticking close to home. The furnace didn't want to kick on for some weird reason two days ago. Not sure what it was, but a reset cleared it up. I had to run the gas logs to keep it from getting too cold. Not looking forward to seeing this month's heating bill! Going to get all the way to 10 degrees today. Heat wave! 43 by Thursday. Weird weather!
Bruette
Well-Known Member
Lemmy is a mystery to modern medical science. After the self-destructive life he led he spent much of his remaining years sitting in a bar in LA drinking and playing video games.
The Eagles - Cowboys game was fun to watch. After being beaten by Jacksonville the "experts" did not give the Cowboys much of a chance against the Eagles. First, Jacksonville is a good, but young team. Young teams are often plagued by inconsistency. Second, as I always say, "there are no pushovers in the NFL".
Rarely do I pull for the Cowboys, but I was pulling for them yesterday. I am tired of hearing about how great the Eagles are. Dak Prescott is a great young man as a person, and he has all the skills needed to be a Superbowl QB. Hard to route against him. When the Cowboys come to DC in week 18, I will be routing against Dak and his Cowboys!
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TLOC
Well-Known Member
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate or not. Everyone else here is sleeping but I’ve been up 90 minutes or so.
Terry and I will exchange gifts when she wakes.
The breakfast grazing foods I have out. Pork sausages, Italian sausages, ham and bacon are to be nuked to warm up. There will be 2 loaves of fresh baked bread in about 15 minutes. There are cinnamon rolls also in the oven and I will be taking those to the brunch. The bakery made them and I am just following baking instructions. The house smells great. We head to the daughters around 10:30. We will do gifts for the grandkids before noon and then sit down for a brunch together, 10 family, the daughter and SIL best friends and the couple to be married Isabel and Matilda, 14 of us.
Wedding at 4 with 40 guests and a reception till 10pm with the above folks plus employees and friends of the couple. Another great party day in our little orbit.
While we never forget the reason for the season ours has always been family and friends concentric. Celebrate your way and be true to yourself
Terry and I will exchange gifts when she wakes.
The breakfast grazing foods I have out. Pork sausages, Italian sausages, ham and bacon are to be nuked to warm up. There will be 2 loaves of fresh baked bread in about 15 minutes. There are cinnamon rolls also in the oven and I will be taking those to the brunch. The bakery made them and I am just following baking instructions. The house smells great. We head to the daughters around 10:30. We will do gifts for the grandkids before noon and then sit down for a brunch together, 10 family, the daughter and SIL best friends and the couple to be married Isabel and Matilda, 14 of us.
Wedding at 4 with 40 guests and a reception till 10pm with the above folks plus employees and friends of the couple. Another great party day in our little orbit.
While we never forget the reason for the season ours has always been family and friends concentric. Celebrate your way and be true to yourself
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