Running Bear's December 2025 Coffee Shop

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Good Morning All. Partly cloudy and a warmish 58°. Mid-60's again today with a cold front tonight, might get near freezing. But back into the 60's again tomorrow with many days in the 70's coming up. My kind of winter. 78° is the forecast for Christmas Day.

Headed out for the weekly grocery trek today, doubling up since I won't be going next week. Plumber is returning this afternoon to change the heating element in the water heater. I can deal with the cold shower as long as we have running water. The leak yesterday wasn't real bad, but it could have escalated easily. So much for my "day off".

Out in the train shed yesterday, I painted a little more on the figures on the bench. And celebrated day 4 of the "Ten Days of Christmas" with the unveiling of an Athearn RTR boxcar.
View attachment 251807
Slightly detailed with separately applied ladders and end grabs.View attachment 251808
View attachment 251809
This is not a recycled and assembled Blue Box car, but traces it's lineage to the Details West freight car line that Athearn acquired in the early 2000's. Still quite similar to a Blue Box. It's kind of gaudy and will look much better with a shot of Dull Coat and some weathering. I might even experiment with the airbrush or rattle-can of rust since the build date of 3/63 is a good 15 years before my era.

Patrick - I get a lot of use out of my battery powered 6" chainsaw when pruning trees. It sure is easier than hauling the 16" one around.
David (Marlin) - Try to stay dry up there. Did any of the downed trees damage anything on your property? Building kits is my second favorite aspect of this hobby. Running trains, specifically switching, is my favorite.
Louis - Get rested and get back to it!
Tom O - Yep! Terminating people was the hardest part of my job through all of those years. Terminating for cause wasn't nearly as difficult as a lay-off due to business.

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is 82 today, proving that miracles do happen.

Everyone have a great Thursday.
One window company I worked for had temporary workers. 90 day workers that the union allowed during seasonal rushes. We basically hired them and of 60 maximum we were allowed 5-10 might transition into fulltime union workers. About a week before the 90 days I got the list and had no issue with who we were cutting loose except for 1 girl. I say girl because that what she was, 1st job at 18 her dad was fulltime for 20+ years and she was special needs. A touch slow on a new job but after a few days she would become a dynamo on that job. We had a new French door we were having issues with in the sash department. I put her on the sash machine and along with her direct supervisor walked her through the process. A few days later the engineers were TRYING to adjust the tools when she offered a suggestion. Basically college educated know it all engineers laughed her off. Her supervisor told them to humor him and try her adjustments. They wouldn’t so he called me. As soon as I showed up in the department they decided they had nothing to lose. It worked. She got a bonus that week in her check. But corporate would not let us keep her or even give another extension to her. We had the union rep even though she wasn’t union, her dad and best work friend were there when I Had to tell her she no longer had a job. I wanted to cry along with her when she finally understood she didn’t have a job. That was the absolute worst and unjustified

About 3 months later on the hiring list I spotted her name. I asked HR what happened. The HR person attending her termination meeting offered her an office job at our glass location I had nothing to do with. Something about the request to keep her in production and the written recommendations made HR feel they could use her. Before I left 5 years later she was going to college in the evenings and was moving up the production control department ladder.
 
David (Marlin) - Try to stay dry up there. Did any of the downed trees damage anything on your property? Building kits is my second favorite aspect of this hobby. Running trains, specifically switching, is my favorite.
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We were very fortunate. Not even a branch in our yard.

My ops session is about 30-40 minutes crawling along with a work order. I have a sorting track that helps me when moving loaded and empties.

This was one of the trees my son passed on his way to work. (video from yesterday) We have trees this large behind us also.

 


One window company I worked for had temporary workers. 90 day workers that the union allowed during seasonal rushes. We basically hired them and of 60 maximum we were allowed 5-10 might transition into fulltime union workers. About a week before the 90 days I got the list and had no issue with who we were cutting loose except for 1 girl. I say girl because that what she was, 1st job at 18 her dad was fulltime for 20+ years and she was special needs. A touch slow on a new job but after a few days she would become a dynamo on that job. We had a new French door we were having issues with in the sash department. I put her on the sash machine and along with her direct supervisor walked her through the process. A few days later the engineers were TRYING to adjust the tools when she offered a suggestion. Basically college educated know it all engineers laughed her off. Her supervisor told them to humor him and try her adjustments. They wouldn’t so he called me. As soon as I showed up in the department they decided they had nothing to lose. It worked. She got a bonus that week in her check. But corporate would not let us keep her or even give another extension to her. We had the union rep even though she wasn’t union, her dad and best work friend were there when I Had to tell her she no longer had a job. I wanted to cry along with her when she finally understood she didn’t have a job. That was the absolute worst and unjustified

About 3 months later on the hiring list I spotted her name. I asked HR what happened. The HR person attending her termination meeting offered her an office job at our glass location I had nothing to do with. Something about the request to keep her in production and the written recommendations made HR feel they could use her. Before I left 5 years later she was going to college in the evenings and was moving up the production control department ladder.
As you probably know, I was in the window business for over 40 years. We had to have a layoff in 2009 due to the housing crunch. Supervisors themselves prepared the layoff lists, but as part of upper management, I had to accompany them and an HR rep out to announce to the employees. One older lady, who had been there 25+ years was in tears. A bit after she got the news, me and a VP were walking back to the front offices, when we both spotted her, in tears of course, going from one saw to another, gathering oily aluminum saw chips and putting them in her lunch pail and purse. We both discreetly looked the other way.
 
P
Statins can affect the muscles and joints. The statin that I'm on bothered me a little when I first started on it, but it doesn't bother me much anymore. Sometimes my hips hurt a little, but that's all. That's probably just getting older too.

I take Rosuvastatin, 40mg.

That is what I am taking. I have the aches and pains the guys gphere have been talking about. I never thought it might be the meds!
 
Statins can affect the muscles and joints. The statin that I'm on bothered me a little when I first started on it, but it doesn't bother me much anymore. Sometimes my hips hurt a little, but that's all. That's probably just getting older too.

I take Rosuvastatin, 40mg.
While I have been on a Statin for 17+ years I have had no muscle/joint problems with it (yet) thankfully.

The one problem I have is restless leg syndrome started about 10 years ago. My doctor says there is no conclusive evidence
that a statin is the cause but more studies are being done. i have just learned to live with it, as most night i can fall asleep before
it really sets in.
 
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Good morning, Everyone!

I just got back from the University of Maryland's urgent care. There goes $200 I'll never see again. Angela insisted I go after work this morning. She said I didn't look good. If I don't look good something must be wrong! 🤪

She was right, I have some kind of infection, I couldn't hear half of what the doctors said with a mask on. Angela talked to them, and they poked and prodded me. We picked up antibiotics on the way home. I should be right as rain in no time. I wonder how much all that lab work will cost?

Enjoy your day Everyone!
 
That's just two years shy of how long I've been taking it. It really does lower the cholesterol. Mine has been on the low side of normal since starting them. Makes my cardiologist happy when he sees those numbers. BP is always good too at 120/80.

Success at the barber shop. And she was late. She had a good excuse though, she broke her glasses this morning and had them duct taped. But I got in and out with one before me and now I feel respectable again. Hillary did show up yesterday, but she said he didn't know when. I told her it was after ten. It's good to be da boss.

Mel_Brooks_King85e8i_1200x628.jpg
 


You guys on statins should look into supplementing with CoQ10. Supposedly statins tend to lower the bodies levels of this important vitamin.

Don’t ask your doctor if you should. Just ask him/her if it will hurt or is harmful. Most doctors are not trained in nutrition but should be able to look up adverse reactions and stuff.

You can look this up as a need when on statins. It’s pretty well known and non-controversial. CoQ10 is important for heart, gum, and other health needs.
 
You guys on statins should look into supplementing with CoQ10. Supposedly statins tend to lower the bodies levels of this important vitamin.

Don’t ask your doctor if you should. Just ask him/her if it will hurt or is harmful. Most doctors are not trained in nutrition but should be able to look up adverse reactions and stuff.

You can look this up as a need when on statins. It’s pretty well known and non-controversial. CoQ10 is important for heart, gum, and other health needs.
I get it checked in my blood work annually. My level is normal as it is for most people on statins. There is a small minority of people and those on very high dosages that when the blood levels are checked they do need the supplement.
 
Supposedly statins tend to lower the bodies levels of this important vitamin.
Chad is on to something.

GI disorders, kidney, liver and other diseases and certain drugs can alter the absorption of vitamins and minerals.

Having several conditions and haven taken as many as 13 different prescriptions, once a year my doctors order Micronutrient Panels. They comprehensive tests measuring multiple vitamins and minerals. I don't know much other than they are expensive. At least they were when I was paying cash, insurance covers them now. My doctors have to write detailed requests to get prior authorization. Other than sodium and potassium, I have never come up deficient in anything.

I am doing better; I only take 8 different prescriptions now! 😁
 
Hot water returns after a 24 hour absence! Plumber came back around 2:00 and we changed out the two heating elements in the electric tankless water heater, 1 was shot and I decided to replace the other since it was all apart. Whooops! No work! Our plumber is not totally familiar with these heaters, so I directed him to pull the flow meter. What a mess. These are the pieces that he retrieved.
1766097569980.jpeg

It took him over 30 minutes with a drill and screwdriver to get them out. It had somehow melted. I had a spare so it got installed and everything works now.
I can do all of these things myself, and have done all of them before; but I wasn't in the mood to do the strenuous wrench twisting so soon after the recent surgery. I hadn't had issues with the flow meter before, I had just removed it once too see how things work!
What happened? Well my hypothesis is that the flow meter melted, blocking the flow of water, which in turn caused one of the heating elements to rupture from running without adequate water pressure. The backup also caused the inlet pipe to rupture, which was fixed yesterday. But what caused the flow meter to melt? I want to know in order to prevent a future occurrence. Even though I provided guidance and some minor labor, it set me back $425 for 4 hours work, a reasonable cost for being out here in the boonies.
 
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Off to the dentist today to get that molar fixed. I hope that this one will last as they say. Then off to the base to get deionized water for my humidifier and food for the weekend.

My buddies from work showed up at my house yesterday and delivered some stuff. They said that they were in the neighborhood. When one rang the doorbell, I took a look at the camera and he was making sure to look the other way. So I went down to find out. I told the driver, who came on the job about the same time I did that I should have had him delete the pin on his map haha. This was only the second time he had come to my house. First time was when we were getting dropped off from the xmas party by the duty driver back in 2010-ish, so not sure how he found it again and pinned it.
 


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