Good Morning All. Mostly clear and 60°, warmer than
Terry for a change. Still looking at a cold front tomorrow, originally forecast for sunset, now advanced to 3:00 pm. Won't last too long, back into the 60's and 70's by Wednesday. Tuesday will be nice, but just not warmed up yet. Still absolutely no precipitation in the forecast. As I have posted before, this is a La Niña winter weather pattern with warmer and drier conditions than average for the Southwest. But Mother Nature can change her mind at any time.
Changes in our schedule, actually earlier in the week but I wasn't told until yesterday; but we're doing my wife's side of the family Christmas gathering at the Sister-in-law's house this afternoon. Might be 14-16 people depending on who shows up. I'm glad that I asked yesterday!
The dishwasher couldn't wait yesterday and after a baking session in the morning I had to run it around noonish instead of the usual nightly run. Then I had to empty it while preparing supper. Other mundane tasks occupied the rest of the day. My chest really itches from the hair growing back after the surgery 2 weeks ago. But not the groin area? Wonder why?
Out in the train shed yesterday, I unpacked the Christmas booty. The usual $50 gift certificate from Discount Model Railroads. My daughter's in-laws went with her when she went, and commented to us about all of the "naughty" Noch figures available there. They got me a set of dog-walkers from Noch instead.
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I also got a new set of paint brushes , all with "pointy" tips for figure painting.
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Some are a bit big but will be useful for things like molded-on window frames.
A surprise was a track-powered EOT device from Bachmann.
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But it was made for the extra-wide Bachmann kingpin.
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Somewhere on the layout are a couple of Bachmann cars that I fixed up and could use, but then I had a brilliant idea! What about those mystery washers that came with all of those Intermountain tankers that I showed you last week?
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Perfect fit.
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Although it was a press fit, I dabbed a bit of super glue in and mounted it on a grain hopper that trails a unit grain train.
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The coupler is a plastic EZ Mate, which shouldn't matter since I won't be coupling a car to it anyway.
Louis - I am in agreement with you regarding hams. I only purchase bone-in whole hams, so no chunking possible. I do tend to choose name-brand hams over store-brands.
Terry - I thought about a load of steel plates for the flatcar, but have decided against it. Making the plates and dunnage is no real issue, but getting the right color paint for the steel might make the task impossible for me. I have a similar pipe load on a shorter car that worked out OK, and I will enhance this load a bit.
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I do have the second bulkhead flat and a regular flat car that I might use in the future when I have more time to experiment with the color. Specifically I am using the TTX car because it will provide a better contrast of colors than this weathered BN car or the black AOK car that I posted.
Michael - Sitting in my backyard is enjoyable whether the trees have leaves or not. Without them, I can see the wildlife better. The Cardinals are currently searching for mates and scouting out nesting locations here.
Kusojiji - My rodent problem is disappearing since two feral cats took up residence in my demolished barn. They're having to come scavenging meals nearer the house under the wood piles now that they have cleared the wreckage. Good luck with yours.
Most other German type lagers that I have tried, are not quite as sweet as Yuengling, but that doesn't detract from the taste for me.
Michael is right though, it is now a higher quality American beer.
Everyone have a great Saturday.
