Running Bear's December 2025 Coffee Shop

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Mama's little granddaughter is no longer little. We have seen our granddaughter begin Rainbows, then Brownies.
I have just taken her to the Brownies Christmas Party. A pretty young lady if I must say.

January she will be a Girl Guide Yes, Mama's little girl is no longer little.
 
Well, howdy there internet peepers!

Or is that people with peepers?

It's Troy again from the semi-frigid hoosier-topia of NE Indiana.

AppleWatch says we currently have 21 F degrees outside.

Did a couple of little things for the next book this morning, but the brain isn't ready to word the words yet. Last book is out with the editor so I've got a solid week where I can't tinker with that one. Might as well start the new one.

But, then the train table called. It wanted some glue on the foam. So I used my cheap 1/2 inch foam sections and the Locktite Foam Project and caulk gun going.

Now the DR Pepper train is doing it's fine work of holding stuff in place until it cures.

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I even put the dumbells to work on the other side. No, not me, the steel dumbells
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the bags are crushed walnut shells (for sandblasting) I got to do loose rubble with for gaming basing. Bought a box of it at Harbor Freight. I've given over half the box away, and I still have four bags of the stuff left.

The cat says it's nap time. I'm not going to argue with him. BBL.
 


Back from the morning work session. 2 hours 20 minutes of cutting framing pieces. I had a cutting sheet and the framing lumber all laid out for me when I arrived. I had a helper to move materials in but mainly out of my space. The layout owner, his wife and another friend were gluing and nailing the frames together, he has cornered jigs! I came home and they took a break for lunch. Terry just left for her dental cleaning.

Wednesday’s session will see the no-lix peninsula final 2 decks put together. I cut enough this morning for all the needed frames and support pieces. My helper was their 12 year old niece and she was a big helper and she knows the grandson! He’s just soooo nice.

Lunch for me and then another grocery run now that we know the son and girlfriend will be here for Christmas. Tenderloin is on sale but don’t ask me how much per pound but it is lots higher than last year.

Gas the last 5 days has hovered around $2.59 a gallon. I have over $3.00 off per gallon that I can use and keep any unused balance of the gas perks. No perks where we are going this afternoon

Be well

Edit: it’s about 3 hours from when I wrote the above and did not POST REPLY!

Since the above was written, Terry returned from the dental cleaning. We grocery shopped and purchased the beef tenderloin on sale for $29.00 per # or Terry says almost double last Spring’s purchase price! She and the daughter love beef tenderloin, I think it’s ok. 2 10# segments were purchased. That will last until Summer. Dr Pepper and A&W root beer were $2.99 per 6 pack of 16.9oz bottles. Limit was 12. Got home and instead of the bench, napped in my chair in the cave! Now heading to the train room. I need to figure out the dump pit for the coal for the power plant. This came home with me from the work session. 2 tracks wide!

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bnsf971 said:
When my wife had cataract surgery, she was able to see without glasses for the first time in over 45 years. She was able to see without glasses for about 5 years, after which she began needing vision correction again.
Click to expand...
My cataract surgery was done in 2015 (about 57 years) and while I need glasses to read or model that’s it. I’d worn glasses since 1st grade and was almost blind without them.
 
NorthBrit said:
Mama's little granddaughter is no longer little. We have seen our granddaughter begin Rainbows, then Brownies.
I have just taken her to the Brownies Christmas Party. A pretty young lady if I must say.

January she will be a Girl Guide Yes, Mama's little girl is no longer little.
Click to expand...
Yea, they do grow up much faster than we want them too it seems!

Hard to believe my little girl is going to be 15 in Feb.
 
bnsf971 said:
Traffic here is miserable, and there's nothing close by, so I am forced to do a lot of shopping online.
I "can" get to a grocery store in about a half hour, if I have to. It's 4 miles away...
Click to expand...
I have been buying and selling on E-bay since 2008. Only had one bad buying experience and e-bay took care of it pronto.
Trick is always buy from sellers with 99.5% or higher positive feedback. I also read reviews of folks I buy from.

On another note, I was on fakebook for about 6 months. That was 10 years ago. I'll NEVER have anything to do with fakebook or Mark Zuckerturd EVER.

My nearest grocery store is 16 miles away, one way. Nearest hobby store is 185 miles away, one way.

Oh well........just my nickels worth. I say stick with what works for you.

John
 
Excuse me if someone else posted this as I may have missed it...........

Raul Malo died on December 8, 2025 at age 60. Singer, song writer and guitar player for the Mavericks.
Raul was blessed with a great singing voice. He could do any Roy Orbison tune and that is not an easy task.
He also did cover songs at his concerts that other artist, other than the original, could not do.
In September 2025, Malo said on Instagram that he was battling LMD, or leptomeningeal disease, a rare complication when cancer spreads to membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. He was originally diagnosed with colon cancer.

At age 77, I thank my God for everyday he gives me. Spend your days wisely my friends.

John
 
troyphoto said:
Yah, but is worse than Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas..."?

Where does it rank on the Whammy Scale? Better or worse than "Last Christmas"?
Click to expand...
All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a Christmas song recorded by American novelty act Vince Vance & the Valiants. Initially released as a single in 1989, Vince Vance's version of the song has charted several times on the Billboard country singles charts.
The song, which features lead vocals from Lisa Burgess Stewart (now known as Lisa Layne), is a mid-tempo track and expresses a desire for a lover rather than traditional Christmas gifts or decorations.
The title character Vince Vance is portrayed by Andy Stone, the only permanent member of the group. He was born Andrew John Franichevich Jr. The remainder of the Valiants (or, if female, Valiantettes) are rotating musicians.

In the early and mid 1980s, friends and I would catch Vince Vance and the Valiants at clubs around Dallas. Andy Stone (aka Vince Vance) also put out a book of poetry and I was able to get him to sign a copy for me, now a gift my son owns.
Lisa Burgess Stewart still receives royalties from the Christmas song when played on radio today.
The Valiants always put on a great show with usually 6 or 7 musicians in the band, each dressed in some "unique" outfit doing covers and some of there own material. They also usually included a "gimmick" act by getting someone from from the audience up on the stage for some crack-pot comedy skit.
Those were good days and some some fun memories. I lost track of the Valiants after 1985, as my life went in a different direction, but was pleasantly surprised when the Christmas song came out.
The original, "ALL I Want for Christmas Is You", by Lisa and the Valiants is still my favorite Christmas song.

Mariah Carey lawsuit....
The original version by Vince Vance & the Valiants has been the subject of a copyright lawsuit filed by Andy Stone, who portrayed Vince Vance, against Mariah Carey in 2022, alleging that Carey's similarly titled song exploited his work. The lawsuit was dismissed in March 2025, with the court ruling that the songs were not substantially similar and ordering Stone and his attorneys to pay part of Carey's legal fees.

Merry Christmas to all...........John
 


westtexjohn said:
All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a Christmas song recorded by American novelty act Vince Vance & the Valiants. Initially released as a single in 1989, Vince Vance's version of the song has charted several times on the Billboard country singles charts.
The song, which features lead vocals from Lisa Burgess Stewart (now known as Lisa Layne), is a mid-tempo track and expresses a desire for a lover rather than traditional Christmas gifts or decorations.
The title character Vince Vance is portrayed by Andy Stone, the only permanent member of the group. He was born Andrew John Franichevich Jr. The remainder of the Valiants (or, if female, Valiantettes) are rotating musicians.

In the early and mid 1980s, friends and I would catch Vince Vance and the Valiants at clubs around Dallas. Andy Stone (aka Vince Vance) also put out a book of poetry and I was able to get him to sign a copy for me, now a gift my son owns.
Lisa Burgess Stewart still receives royalties from the Christmas song when played on radio today.
The Valiants always put on a great show with usually 6 or 7 musicians in the band, each dressed in some "unique" outfit doing covers and some of there own material. They also usually included a "gimmick" act by getting someone from from the audience up on the stage for some crack-pot comedy skit.
Those were good days and some some fun memories. I lost track of the Valiants after 1985, as my life went in a different direction, but was pleasantly surprised when the Christmas song came out.
The original, "ALL I Want for Christmas Is You", by Lisa and the Valiants is still my favorite Christmas song.

Mariah Carey lawsuit....
The original version by Vince Vance & the Valiants has been the subject of a copyright lawsuit filed by Andy Stone, who portrayed Vince Vance, against Mariah Carey in 2022, alleging that Carey's similarly titled song exploited his work. The lawsuit was dismissed in March 2025, with the court ruling that the songs were not substantially similar and ordering Stone and his attorneys to pay part of Carey's legal fees.

Merry Christmas to all...........John
Click to expand...
Mariah Cary’s version makes my ears bleed.
 
westtexjohn said:
My nearest grocery store is 16 miles away, one way. Nearest hobby store is 185 miles away, one way.
Click to expand...
Nearest LHS is now 41 miles, or 110 minutes away.

Once upon a time I worked in Southern Missouri, and commuted 42 miles one-way to work. It took me less time to drive back and forth to work (84 miles) than it does here to drive the 17.6 miles one-way.
 
Marlin39 said:
I can totally relate to this video. Graduated HS in 1977. We really did have it good.

Click to expand...
I used to take my toys apart and put them back together. I put one bicycle brand's front sprocket on my Schwinn to make it go faster and it almost put me in the hospital when the chain came off while I was doing my high speed run and suddenly had no brakes, heading to a major intersection.

Used to play in the canal, even after a major rain storm flooded it and sent a few kids down river.

Could have burned down the house or put myself into the wall when I decided to see how AC house power affected a toy DC motor. The big spark ended that.

Used to walk to and from school, uphill both ways, in the freezing blizzard (Hawaii).

As far as the impatience part, I am getting better since retiring. Since I am no longer in a hurry, I can wait.
 


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