Running Bear's December 2022 Coffee Shop

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Good morning, a chilly 5° and it snowed during my entire commute, so visibility about 150', drove about 45 mph the whole way. Only added up to a couple inches, I think,

Christian- Clementine was a person in a familiar old time song (Oh my Darling). I suppose it could have been the name of a gold mine somewhere.

Curt - I purchased a reconditioned computer once. It lasted exactly 6 months then simply did not respond. Was a "Toughbook" proved not to be very tough. Will never buy a reconditioned one again, as it was a bit spendy. Since it worked fine out of the box I gave them a good rating. Wish I could go back and change that.

I worked on dulling down my log cars a little, just used some water/white/alcohol. Also added some fine dirt to the bed of the , also some bark, so far I like the way they turned out:

View attachment 157342

The focus is on the back log deck.

more later, Dave LASM
Nice load!
 
In RR related news.

You may remember in October I bought a Broadway CP SD40-2, nice loco, couple of minor issues, ran very slowly even at full throttle and had tension locks rather that knuckle or Kadee couplings, but nothing serious, or rather that's what I thought.

I thought the previous owner had swapped out the original couplings for NEM pockets, (that's the method I would've used) nope this guy had cut down two Bachmann couplings and had seriously and I mean seriously, glued them into the plastic body, after an hour scraping off the excess glue and pretty much getting nowhere near removing the tension lock I resorted to more aggressive measure's.

I've drilled it out!!

Luckily I'd bought a mini usb electric drill, useless for most types of drilling, but for doing small pilot holes in freight cars or structure kits for wiring etc. ideal, so, three hours later, I've removed ONE tension lock, and correctly fitted a #5 Kadee, all without damaging the bodyshell.

I'm now going to make a mug of tea, that's after giving myself a pat on the back of course.:D
This is a lot of work for a stupid action from the previous owner. You deserve that cup of tea.
 


I will not hide from the world! I will live it to the best of my abilities, even while I limp along.

Chris, thanks I’ll be fine. Who’d of thought anything like this would happen. Terry did get a call on voicemail from the parents of the kid who hit me. They apologized
Tom, this is not helping you forget the pain, but its something and parents don't always react like that. All the best to you.
 
My sister popped up a bit on her Facebook page about a cookie we used to get at home.

View attachment 157406

Steenstra's St Claus (Windmill) cookies. Can't get them here, but Meijer's sells them in the states where there are such stores. There's another store in Grand Rapids that I just ordered some from. I popped off the name of the place which surprised my wife that I even knew about it. Hopefully they aren't all broken when they get here. I knew about the place as I was going to order some for dad for Christmas before I made the run up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan before he passed.

We used to clean out the Grand Haven Meijer's store when we'd visit my grandmother and bring them back.

A bit on the story of St. Nicholas and these cookies:

This seem to be speculaas (dutch) or specoloos (belgium). When you want to I can give you a recipe, but you need a mold as well (made out of wood. You get a little Holland into your home.
 
Good morning. The only good French fries IMO at a fast service place are now no where. When they all switched oils, the French fry world to me went kaput. But, interesting discussion.

Hockey rink fries. I agree with Gary, fries were some of the best around. I was the Hockey association president for 6 years and 12 on the board. Our 2 best profit makers were the fries and popcorn. During high school games or youth weekend tournaments we had 3 people manning the fryers and big popcorn machine. That’s when oils were still oils in the 90’s and the early 2000’s.

I felt good yesterday around the noon hour. Pain killers were in full action. The hip is slightly sore this morning but no longer painful and I slept last night without any pain killers. So hopefully just a small scary set back. I did though laying on the ground Wednesday think my world was ending. That thought I can’t seem to be able to shake! But, hey there, there is no less drama on Tom’s medical front. No pain no gain so let’s have a nose bleed. Yes, the nosebleed is back this morning. It disappeared the day after my ice adventure. I did think to take my blood pressure during the bleed and it was elevated. Not crazy high, in the 140’s when 122 is my daily average at wake up. Hey, it’s me, got to have some excitement going on.

Today, packages to the post office before the white stuff now falling gets too deep. We either will get the 1/2” we already seem to have received since midnight when it was still clear or the 4-6” seemingly more likely since we passed the minimum, depending on the neighborhood you are in. The daughter, hubby and hockey player are off at noon for a hockey tournament in Hudson, Wi. about 4 hours driving on I94 west from here. We have the granddaughter after school today till Sunday. The daughter is finding out today how impractical her 4 seat speed demon SUV is in miserable Wisconsin weather. She decided yesterday to take her GMC SUV that I can’t remember the name of, it’s blue and big. 2 sets of parents, 2 hockey players, their equipment and luggage and room is still available for stuff, not people.

Wow, big flakes coming down that I now can see with the dawning light at 7:17am. A winter wonderland, now looking across the valley and pastures tinted with white. Geez, give me the green any day. But no shoveling this year for me…

enjoy the day
Enjoy the view and stay home. Yesterday was very slippery in Holland. We had black ice (had to translate this from dutch, not known this english word)and we had to walk to the forest close by. Glad I returned home without any broken arm or leg. In the late afternoon I had to visit a friend on my bike (20 minutes cycle distance) and that was tricky. Even more happy to be home in 1 piece. 2 ppl died, 1 in a car that ended in a small canal and a cyclist that ended in the water and died due to the cold.
 
Good afternoon, all! A very overcast and cool day here in Houston. The weather guessers are going nuts here trying to predict how cold it's going to get this coming weekend. As of now Friday looks to be the coldest at 17 that night. A few other nights will hover in the low 30's to mid 20's. Would you believe I mowed grass yesterday. Spent the morning wrapping pipes, test running the generator and heat lamp for the well. ERCOT, the Texas grid operator hasn't won everyone's confidence yet.
I place the Val-U Fuel and Oil building where I think it's going to reside. I have another Showcase Miniature to assemble and maybe swap positions, we'll see.

1671307394847.jpeg


STAY SAFE

LATER
 
Yeah, so was I, been a while since I've done much on the rolling stock, all was well till my daughter phoned in a major panic, seems a "friend" of hers turned up under the influence of drugs, and collapsed in her apartment, so she had to administer CPR, till the Ambulance and Police turned up, also I found out this is the same guy who broke into her place a few weeks ago and tried stealing her stuff, but my daughter caught him in the act.

Now my eldest is about 5'2" and around 110lbs, so not a big girl by any means, but I have always taught her to take no nonsense from anyone, she didn't this time, after she stabbed him in the leg her ran off, why the heck he would go back I don't know, anyway he's now in a hospital handcuffed to the bed, and under arrest.

All in all that's resulted in a three hour phone call calming her down, fortunately I've her boss's phone number, so he's aware that she may not be up to going into work tomorrow.

All in all, not a bad day, hopefully tomorrow will be better, but as -5c (25F) is forecast for tonight/tomorrow plus a couple of inches of snow, I doubt it will be much better, ah well, such is life in paradise.:)

G'nite folks, I'll make sure Flo's got the coffee going for you early birds or night owls.
Man...cant believe this. All the best to you and your daughter.
 


My day get's better and better, the "emergency" was another driver taking the wrong vehicle (mine) which is only a 40 seater, for a job that requires a double decker (70 seats), so had to take the decker out to his pickup point and swap them over.

Do my usual college run, and while waiting for my second run for the day, some numbnut learner driver while trying to do a hill start, rolls back and hits the 🚍.

Accidents happen, but this idiot then decided to do a hit and run, not a registered instructor, someone "teaching" a friend or family member I think, my boss isn't a happy bunny either, fortunately lots of cameras on large vehicles these days, so insurance company have to by law inform the Police, that should be an interesting conversation, explaining a hit and run.
Do'n they check before driving? Well keeps you moving!
 
Afternoon All,

Started out with a walk this morning. It was 50F for it which for here is pretty brisk. Today I electrically connected the 4 dwarfs (thought it was 5) and did some chores. Not sure what's on the agenda for tomorrow but I think a grocery store and the pool supply store is in my future.

I talked to Phil today and he's doing so-so with low energy. If you call him, it may take a couple of days to get back to you. It sounds like he keeps his phone in the bedroom.

Thank you for the photo likes yesterday.

Joe- You sure have a full plate. Good luck on your procedure Monday.

Chad- Your discussions on the Japanese rail system has been interesting.

Louis- It sounds like your grandkids are lucky to have you.

Dave- Thank you. I wish you and your wife the best during retirement. Nice layout shots.

George- That sounds like a really tough job, not to mention dangerous.

Smudge- Good job.

Hughie- Nice scene.

Troy- I think the steepness of track is also related to how well your locos pull. If you have weak pullers, then you need flatter terrain.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Good evening.
It's cloudy and 62.
I have returned from the hobby shop.
I noticed a couple of things:
1- There's a LOT more traffic than there was the last time I was there.
2- The owners are a LOT older than they were 20 years ago. They both immediately recognized me, since I look basically the same, but I barely recognized either of them. And before anybody says it, they are the ones that mentioned I hadn't changed. A little less hair, a few more grey hairs, but that's it.
The hobby shop is also the same, though more cluttered. They still have the same N scale mini layout in the middle of the store, and the same HO layout running down the length of one wall. They also have the same O gauge layout in the opposite corner. The store i still well-stocked with most scales, which is good to see.
I found a pair of engines, and a storage box with 14 MT and Deluxe boxcars to match the engines.
So, I now have a Christian train and layout:

IMG_3691[724].jpg
 
This is a lot of work for a stupid action from the previous owner. You deserve that cup of tea.

Was a bit, I'll admit, that stressed me out big time removing that coupling, it's not as if I can easily replace the bodyshell if I made a mistake, and it's got all the bells and whistles, so it was not a cheap buy in the first place.

But what I don't understand is why glue it to the shell, you can easily stress and break it if your pulling a bit of weight and you can get longer tension lock couplings, so it could have been fitted to the chassis if a bit of thought had been put into it.
 


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