Good Morning All. Mostly clear and 42°. back into the 60's today, peaking in the 70's for a few days coming up. Current forecast has a high of 76° on Christmas Day. No precipitation in the 10 day forecast. Could dip into the 30's Thursday night, but that's the only chill coming up. So it looks like I'll be letting the fire go out in the wood-burning heater today, have an overnighter Thursday and then let it go out until at least after Christmas. Eight windows on the SE face and 4 more on the SW face will allow the solar heater to do it's thing in the house.
A visit to my primary care doc this morning is on the agenda; he always wants to see his patients after any hospital visits. Recovery is coming in spurts, yesterday was not much progress but today already feels much better. It's not the surgery (ablation) itself, but the entry points in the groins that are the concern. Still have two very large ugly bruises but with lessening discomfort; I'm told and have read that this is normal. I just don't like it. The extended walking through the grocery store on Sunday probably contributed to my lack of progress yesterday. I miss getting out and getting a good workout in the garden or with the firewood, although I have been carrying it in in very light loads.
The lack of any real activity is driving me crazy, but I know that I must resist for a few more days, maybe another week or so. After today's doc visit, all medical stuff is on hold until my 2 week follow-up with the NP from the surgeon's office on the 29th. The drive to and from will take longer than the actual visit. He, along with the surgeon and the PCP are in agreement that I should be able to reduce the amount of BP medication that I am taking, which I feel has been causing the feeling of lethargy since my ER visit in June. Prior to that visit, I was taking 3 different BP meds a day, some multiple times. I am now on 7! I did drop the 8th one a month after it was started and another one has had the dosage reduced recently, but I still think it's far too many. However, my cardiologist disagrees, even though my BP is lower than I have seen in 20 years, too low on some days. My goal is to return to the quality of life before the June ER visit.
I do have three holiday fests to deal with; this Saturday is the huge extravaganza for my side of the family at my brother's home. Christmas Day is split between my two daughter's homes, brunch at one and dinner at the other, and an as yet unscheduled get-together with my wife's side of the family. Where to have it is still being discussed. The niece's home that we've been going to burned down last spring, and wife's SIL's house is currently undergoing flood remediation. Everyone else is an out-of-towner. So we'll probably go to a sports bar like we have done a few times in the past.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I did the usual train running and a little more figure painting. I now have 16 figures in the ready cup for dull-coating. I also did the "Second Day of Christmas" thing, unveiling a second new to the layout freight car. Some background here: I haven't bought but a couple of freight cars since 2014. Prior to then, I would get 2-3 a week from my LHS, in preparation for eventual retirement which happened in mid-2015. In late 2014, I decided that I had enough and the shelf was also full! I have been slowly introducing them to the layout ever since, maybe 10-12 a year. Decided over the weekend to gift myself with a "Ten Days of Christmas" this year and introduce a new one every day for 10 days. Most will be RTR cars, so it's easy! So here's day 2's gift to myself. This is an Intermountain tanker.
This is not quite RTR, but almost. It comes with these parts for the modeler to install.
The air hoses are easy, but I don't know what the 2 round washers(?) are for. I already have a growing collection of them in the details cabinet.
The tanker itself is a 19,600 gallon, 40' one which is generally used for heavy corn syrup. This is confirmed with the type of hatch and fittings on top.
I did have to a bit of straightening out of the handrails around the top, as I have had to do on most of these same cars over the years.
Overall, it was no issue, weight is good, coupler height is correct and I had no flash when I used the truck tuner. IM uses their own brand of knuckle couplers and metal wheelsets. The bottom detail is extremely well done, but that picture just didn't look good. I'll try again today. It is worth noting that this particular car is actually out of range for my era by a few years, but Trinity used this car design starting in the late 80's which fits in OK. I have a few others with a build date of 1988 and they are identical.
Terry - Convenience is what we might sacrifice in order to live where we are most comfortable. For us, the closest grocery store was 12 miles away, but took less than 15 minutes to get to it. Then it closed down due to Interstate expansion. We still went 25 miles to the Kroger in Denton because it had better prices and selection. But even now, it still only takes 30 minutes to get there. Commuting 50 miles to work each way took at best 44 minutes due to the time of day I went in and left. But I am still happy with my choice of home location.
Karl - Our "snowbirds" here are city folk that want to experience the "country life". 90% only last 18 months or so.
Tom O - Despite it being on sale, I had to pass on the tenderloin Sunday. I love it and it looked good, but I am currently out of room in the freezer!
I think that you did "Post Reply" yesterday, as I saw it as post #856 and again with the added verbiage in post #864.
Todd - Happy Birthday. I start another orbit in about 2 1/2 weeks.
Guitarist Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is 76 today.
Everyone have a great Tuesday.
Have a good day!
