Running Bear's February 2022 Coffee Shop

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Steve- What is this “cooking wine” you speak of? My Dad taught me many, many moons ago(he’s been gone for the better part of 3 decades) that you never cook with any wine(or other “adult beverage”) that isn’t good enough to drink.

I firmly agree for red wines and cooking, but whites, to me, are more flexible. And at the risk of raising the whole grocery store issue again, I'll explain. Whole Foods has a brand called Three Wishes. Went in one day to ask for a decent white for cooking and the guy (whom I knew and trusted) said that when the store does any cooking with white wine, the Three Wishes Chardonnay is what they use. I figured I would give it a try, especially at $2.99 per bottle. It is good. And I would drink it, but never do mostly because of snob factor. I don't drink Chard too often, anyway.

So that's the wine; except now it is $3.49. Progress, progress.
 
Good morning all! 22 and sunny on the way to 28 and sunny today. Still feeling pretty excited about getting the new job. I woke up this morning and briefly wondered if I had dreamed the whole thing LOL Fortunately it's not just a dream. Just can't get over how happy I am about this. A friend of mine works there and he and I are both happy for the chance to work together. He's the marketing director for the college and we've been friends for at least 20 years. Can't wait to get the next 4 weeks over with so I can start my new adventure.

I had originally planned to run my own IT and digital forensics business when I retired from the police department. I was a certified forensic analyst and had done cases through my side business as well as criminal cases for the police department. When retirement time came I decided I there just wasn't enough money to be made in my small area of the world to run such a business so I gave up on the idea. Pretty glad I gave up on it honestly. I liked doing the work but I hated running a business. I'd much rather just work for someone else.

That's about all I've got here. Hope you all have a great day!!!
 


Good morning all,

Cold day here at -3F. Funeral this morning with the burial this afternoon. Will be a chilly one out there. The son is from LA California!!

Got a little done yesterday, but hoping to secure down the 22R track this afternoon after returning from the funeral. Didn't sleep great. Ended up having a big lunch (burger and fries at Red RObin) so didn't fix dinner until almost 7 and served about 8. Boiled new potatoes, sauteed asparagus, simple green salad with balsamic mustard vinaigrette and pan seared salmon with a shallot-lemon-butter pan sauce. Tasty! Served a Spanish Cava with it I had in the fridge.

Enjoy the day!
 
Well, howdy there internet MRR people, and those in-between jobs right now 😜

It's Troy again.

Wife is off to her mother's again. More purging, and another incident with the infusion set for her insulin pump.

Anyone else with insulin pumps have a problem with the infusion set (i assume that's the tubing and such). She's had a bad run of sets that either get bent or crimped at the connection port.

Her BS got into the 300s last night as they troubleshot via a conference call (Mom, my wife, and her LPN Sister).

They're going down to take a look at the various boxes of infusion sets, as well as keep Mom going on her purge and declutter streak. Mom can't really complain about the purging of junk from the homestead if she's having trouble every other time she changes the set on her insulin pump and has to call the girls.

I'll be heading out to game today. Napoleonics. If Christian were still here he could help with my French Accent. Instead, I'll just imitate these fellows...

 
Good Morning!
We are enjoying a brief one-day reprieve from the blizzard conditions. I shovelled the driveway and walks twice yesterday. It's just below freezing today, and not snowing.

For something different today, I'm going to build another 4' module table for my layout, and make legs for it all with the poor mans leveling system:
Levelers_02-19-2022.jpg

My plan is to drill a hole in the bottom of the 2x2 leg, thread it with a die, and then douse it with CA glue; just like one might do to attach wings to an R/C aircraft.
If I can get two more modules built, I can run trains. I'm hoping that will give me more enthusiasm for the hobby, because I'm running a-bit dry on motivation. My projects have not been going anywhere quick, for example. Interest has been low. - The blizzards and snow-shovelling arn't helping in that respect, though.

Jaz avalley - I always enjoy the photos you post. The scenery is wonderful.

Joe - That B&O station you posted a photo of looks more like a cathedral than a train station. You would never find that type of extravagance up here.

Dave - We are having a similar weather pattern to what you showed out the office window, minus the blue sky patches. I suppose it's that time of year.

OBTC Ken - Great that you got the job. Well done! Gotta tell you, though, if I had a choice between IT and a shovel, I'd probably pick the shovel. Seems like it would be easier to work with.

I was looking at more old photos, trying to find more local vintage photos for my collection. I came across this 1949 photo of the very 3rd class station I'm trying to scratch build:
Whitecourt Station_1949.jpg

That boxcar ramp in the lower right interests me. I believe it's purpose may have been to bring the cars up to truck level, so freight could be off-loaded. - If I'm wrong about that, I hope someone with more experience corrects me.

I'm finding out that FB groups are a great place to find photos that might not be available on net searches. Actually, I find net searches to be lacking.

Well, I suppose that's enough gibberish for one day. Thanks for the coffee; have a good one!
 
I hope things start getting much better for you, quickly. Sounds like your former employer(s) are rapidly on their way out.
Karma can be a vindictive old wench.
Actually, it reads to me like a plan. They can cancel out of any contracts if service is dropped for any reason including not paying bills. The credit card issue though is an eye opener and is strange.

TomO
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 35°. Three beautiful days coming up to go along with the one yesterday, the weather geeks are predicting 82° on Monday. Then Wednesday morning it's supposed to drop to 24° and not rise above freezing until noon Thursday with freezing rain in the interim time. Seems like the wicked winds that hit us from Tuesday through Thursday have made their way east, hopefully they have left the continent. And I hope that all of our UK friends have survived their ordeal.


Thanks for all of the comments and reactions regarding yesterday's post; Guy, OB Ken, Joe, Justin, Steve J, Chad, Gary, Dave B, Smudge, James, Karl, Louis, Hughie, Tom O, Patrick, Jaz, Tom, Rick, IB Ken.

I still wasn't motivated to do much modeling out in the train shed yesterday. I did run trains again and scouted out future project candidates.
I am going to start with that Dolly's Confectionery that I posted yesterday. I need to start by adding an interior.
I am looking at this area between Drywell Inks and Rosa's Cafe as another candidate for upgrading. Rosa's has moved a few times, but has remained in this spot for over four years so it seems permanent.
01-23-19 014.JPG

Another simple and easy project is Harrison's Hardware. I never added a sidewalk to this structure, it's about time as this is the only business on this block without one.
IMG_6822.JPG

IMG_7461.JPG

IMG_7454.JPG

Then I can add customers.

Jaz - Continue to stay safe.
Troy - My first pair of HA's were that $1400 set from Costco, decent enough but mine were not maintenance free. Had to visit several times for warranty work. Finally after two years, the microphone went out in the left side and they said that they couldn't get the part any more. They were about three weeks out of warranty. I had even offered to pay for the part, but they were adamant and snotty about it. I would have bought another pair, but Costco wouldn't accept American Express any more and that also pissed me off. In the interim, Sam's club opened a store 25 miles closer to home and I went there since we had already bought a membership. Been using the Lucid Hearing ones ever since. I started wearing ear plugs to concerts in the late 80's which is probably the reason that I have any hearing left at all! Unfortunately while working, our insurance didn't cover hearing.
Ken D&J - I do agree that sometimes the silence was welcome.
Tom O - If your son needs implants, he should proceed even with the lengthy process. That is odd about the wait time just to see the guy in Austin. Up here in my small town, I was able to get the initial appointment within two weeks. We made out he plan. The extraction of the broken teeth and implanting the first titanium bases started three weeks later. For me it took over four years for eight implants and nine crowns. Some of it was my scheduling as the company dental plan only paid $1500/year, barely 10% of the total cost.
IB Ken - I still have to ask people to repeat themselves. I can hear them but sometimes the clarity is muffled.
Steve J - I totally agree with you on the red vs white cooking vines. Dad taught me that 60 years ago, he was in the liquor business.

Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend. Hold on to a tree (maybe) if you venture out.
 
What? - What? Oh, hearing dates. The we talk about hearing dates. According to my Wife, we had pretty interesting conversations at times. That was pretty much me about 15 years ago. Front end alignment with Dad, USMC computer rooms, KACC and of course Rock n Roll along with all the ammo bangs contributed. Did not do anything about it until my Wife threatened to leave. 1st set was those that were molded for your ear. Did like them as they also blocked loud noise ( rifle or pistol fire ). Had multiple programs one of which was for my phone. I answer in right ear and that is transmitted to the left ear ( no blue tooth music yet ). With my hearing I missed R's, A's and a couple others that I don't remember just now. Hmmm - need a brain aid? Also lost most of the higher bands of voice. Can still hear a BNSF's turbine whine and low rumble without them. Wife has a deeper voice so I could somewhat make her out. Next were behind the ear thingies which took some time getting used to. And yes, they have been through the shower with me; unintentional of course.
Tinnitus abounds, and like some of you I am amazed that others can not hear it at times. Wife now is starting to do the 'what' thing.
For those of you that are borderline - pull the trigger you will like what you hear. One of my regrets is all that stuff I missed because I was a dumb sh.t and stayed the course thinking it was not me, all the others had the problem. Hay! Ima guy so it can't be me!
 
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Tinnitus abounds, and like some of you I am amazed that others can not hear it at times.
I used to think that the tinnitus was just the constant sound of crickets droning, I am a country boy and that wasn't unusual. Until I had to step into a soundproof booth for a hearing test and the noise went inside with me. During my later years at work, I had to attend a daily meeting with some of the new management team, some of whom didn't know of my hearing difficulties and spoke too softly. After the meeting, I would go to a fellow managers office and ask him what we discussed. That's when I finally admitted that I had an issue and started the process.
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 35°. Three beautiful days coming up to go along with the one yesterday, the weather geeks are predicting 82° on Monday. Then Wednesday morning it's supposed to drop to 24° and not rise above freezing until noon Thursday with freezing rain in the interim time. Seems like the wicked winds that hit us from Tuesday through Thursday have made their way east, hopefully they have left the continent. And I hope that all of our UK friends have survived their ordeal.


Thanks for all of the comments and reactions regarding yesterday's post; Guy, OB Ken, Joe, Justin, Steve J, Chad, Gary, Dave B, Smudge, James, Karl, Louis, Hughie, Tom O, Patrick, Jaz, Tom, Rick, IB Ken.

I still wasn't motivated to do much modeling out in the train shed yesterday. I did run trains again and scouted out future project candidates.
I am going to start with that Dolly's Confectionery that I posted yesterday. I need to start by adding an interior.
I am looking at this area between Drywell Inks and Rosa's Cafe as another candidate for upgrading. Rosa's has moved a few times, but has remained in this spot for over four years so it seems permanent.
View attachment 141242
Another simple and easy project is Harrison's Hardware. I never added a sidewalk to this structure, it's about time as this is the only business on this block without one.
View attachment 141243
View attachment 141244
View attachment 141245
Then I can add customers.

Jaz - Continue to stay safe.
Troy - My first pair of HA's were that $1400 set from Costco, decent enough but mine were not maintenance free. Had to visit several times for warranty work. Finally after two years, the microphone went out in the left side and they said that they couldn't get the part any more. They were about three weeks out of warranty. I had even offered to pay for the part, but they were adamant and snotty about it. I would have bought another pair, but Costco wouldn't accept American Express any more and that also pissed me off. In the interim, Sam's club opened a store 25 miles closer to home and I went there since we had already bought a membership. Been using the Lucid Hearing ones ever since. I started wearing ear plugs to concerts in the late 80's which is probably the reason that I have any hearing left at all! Unfortunately while working, our insurance didn't cover hearing.
Ken D&J - I do agree that sometimes the silence was welcome.
Tom O - If your son needs implants, he should proceed even with the lengthy process. That is odd about the wait time just to see the guy in Austin. Up here in my small town, I was able to get the initial appointment within two weeks. We made out he plan. The extraction of the broken teeth and implanting the first titanium bases started three weeks later. For me it took over four years for eight implants and nine crowns. Some of it was my scheduling as the company dental plan only paid $1500/year, barely 10% of the total cost.
IB Ken - I still have to ask people to repeat themselves. I can hear them but sometimes the clarity is muffled.
Steve J - I totally agree with you on the red vs white cooking vines. Dad taught me that 60 years ago, he was in the liquor business.

Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend. Hold on to a tree (maybe) if you venture out.
Willie thanks for the info. He actually had the initial appointment and pricing estimates right away, like 2 weeks after he requested a appointment.

I was the scheduled appointments that took so long. Seems the dental practice put all the newly minted dentists in that 1st appointment schedule and then the dentists who actually do the work are more experinced and appointment times are full.

He had 4 of the 8 teeth done over a 2 1/2 year period as the 1st anchor or something had to be redone as it did not graph to the jawbone. Then they basically stopped for a Covid break. He is building up courage to schedule the rest. The 1st one when it didn‘t graph he said was super painful

TomO
 
Good afternoon, all. A cool 50 degrees with some sun. Predicted to warm up over the next several days, including one day at 82 before the next cold front blows in.
PB&J with a glass of milk sounds pretty good about now.

Terry - Ken - congrats on the new jobs. I hope they work out for you.
Jaz - Smudge - Living on the Gulf coast I have firsthand knowledge of what you might have experienced. I hope you fared well.

Hearing aids - I worked in the petrochemical business for 40 plus years. We were always encouraged to wear hearing protection; you could be fired for not wearing hearing protection. I have lost some, due to old age I suppose. I still have relatively good hearing and continue to wear hearing protection mowing, edging or more than one cut with a skill saw. I buy ear plugs at Harbour Freight or Amazon with a rating of 29db.

On the RR front, I was notified the A C Brown Manufacturing building should be delivered Wednesday. Did run a train for about 30 minutes yesterday.

Boston and Maine switcher 1212 working the wine and beer distributer.
1645297486396.jpeg


STAY SAFE

LATER
 
Actually, it reads to me like a plan. They can cancel out of any contracts if service is dropped for any reason including not paying bills. The credit card issue though is an eye opener and is strange.

TomO

Of course, word will spread that they are d*cks to work with so making new, as they hope, better, contracts will be harder for them.

Companies that work this way often end up in the dumpster, eventually. It may take a while but it catches up to them.
 
Good Morning!
We are enjoying a brief one-day reprieve from the blizzard conditions. I shovelled the driveway and walks twice yesterday. It's just below freezing today, and not snowing.

For something different today, I'm going to build another 4' module table for my layout, and make legs for it all with the poor mans leveling system:View attachment 141240
My plan is to drill a hole in the bottom of the 2x2 leg, thread it with a die, and then douse it with CA glue; just like one might do to attach wings to an R/C aircraft.
If I can get two more modules built, I can run trains. I'm hoping that will give me more enthusiasm for the hobby, because I'm running a-bit dry on motivation. My projects have not been going anywhere quick, for example. Interest has been low. - The blizzards and snow-shovelling arn't helping in that respect, though.

Jaz avalley - I always enjoy the photos you post. The scenery is wonderful.

Joe - That B&O station you posted a photo of looks more like a cathedral than a train station. You would never find that type of extravagance up here.

Dave - We are having a similar weather pattern to what you showed out the office window, minus the blue sky patches. I suppose it's that time of year.

OBTC Ken - Great that you got the job. Well done! Gotta tell you, though, if I had a choice between IT and a shovel, I'd probably pick the shovel. Seems like it would be easier to work with.

I was looking at more old photos, trying to find more local vintage photos for my collection. I came across this 1949 photo of the very 3rd class station I'm trying to scratch build:
View attachment 141241
That boxcar ramp in the lower right interests me. I believe it's purpose may have been to bring the cars up to truck level, so freight could be off-loaded. - If I'm wrong about that, I hope someone with more experience corrects me.

I'm finding out that FB groups are a great place to find photos that might not be available on net searches. Actually, I find net searches to be lacking.

Well, I suppose that's enough gibberish for one day. Thanks for the coffee; have a good one!
I've used T-nuts on the bottom of the leg. Works good.
 


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