Running Bear's February 2023 Coffee Shop

[Jaz avalley]

Also I own loads and loads of be best before expiry, even food especially tinned can be perfectly fine for years even decades after,if kept in good cool dark conditions, food can deteriorate not at all or at a very slow rate vitamin c levels can drop, whilst ingredients like metals stay but may be in food that goes rancid.
Surprisingly people are so used to eaten rancid nuts they do not even realise they are off unless excess moisture makes them too soft.

Also for the win, pasta and rice and flour which does not have a long life span, has that short date not because it will go ranci,but that given the right circumstances heat humidity that weevil eggs with which it is almost certainly contaminated BUT if you pop it in plastic,as it is usually in paper, and freeze it for 3 days a week to be certain it kills the eggs, and can be kept longer. FYI pasta looks like it has cracked just before the weevils break out, with a black centre as the weevil is black,they then break out and infest anything they can get into, air tight glass is safest. To stop them.

They get into sugar, but do not do well, but it is horrible to find them there, so need to be protected, thin plastic wrapped food is easily chew for them to gain access. Oats are a favourite as well. And to my cost I once bought a badly infected box of Weetabix and when opening it had them pour out in their thousands. Totally gross

 

[TLOC]

I certainly understand the cold weather thing. I hate it and always have. Hawaii - I know that you've been there before. While the heat isn't really that bad, the humidity usually is high. And it rains quite often, but no snow to shovel. I am told that all things used in every day life are more expensive due to having to be shipped in either by air or by ship.
Austin - It does get warm here in Texas. High humidity in the coastal areas. Austin is a liberal oasis in a conservative state.

The liberal part of Austin doesn’t bother me. Where we are now is the heart and soul of liberalism in Wisconsin and I am able for the most part to ignore the extremes of both conservatism and liberalisms.

The heat and humidity in Summertime is what will keep us from not settling down in any part of Texas near a large city, not just Austin. We had thought maybe March, April, May and November might work for us.

Hawaii, is more day to day expensive than even NYC, IMOO. If we go to stay we will adjust our spending. The most expensive daily thing to me is the food. Her veggie gardens though go a long way in helping knock down that cost. Trade winds every time I have been there over the past many years have mitigated the effects of the humidity. The pool also helps.

Arizona, and I don’t mean to offend folks that live there, IMO is too hot and dreary. Springtime in the Sonoran deserts are pretty but are over very quickly. I am not a desert person. Others like my brother are and love it there.

This is a process we have gone through before and decided because of the grandkids this is where we will be. That dynamic has changed, especially in the last few weeks.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Also I own loads and loads of be best before expiry, even food especially tinned can be perfectly fine for years even decades after,if kept in good cool dark conditions, food can deteriorate not at all or at a very slow rate vitamin c levels can drop, whilst ingredients like metals stay but may be in food that goes rancid.
Surprisingly people are so used to eaten rancid nuts they do not even realise they are off unless excess moisture makes them too soft.

Also for the win, pasta and rice and flour which does not have a long life span, has that short date not because it will go ranci,but that given the right circumstances heat humidity that weevil eggs with which it is almost certainly contaminated BUT if you pop it in plastic,as it is usually in paper, and freeze it for 3 days a week to be certain it kills the eggs, and can be kept longer. FYI pasta looks like it has cracked just before the weevils break out, with a black centre as the weevil is black,they then break out and infest anything they can get into, air tight glass is safest. To stop them.

They get into sugar, but do not do well, but it is horrible to find them there, so need to be protected, thin plastic wrapped food is easily chew for them to gain access. Oats are a favourite as well. And to my cost I once bought a badly infected box of Weetabix and when opening it had them pour out in their thousands. Totally gross

Plus now that food is going up, rather than using this as back up food it could be used to offset price rises. A tin of corned beef now cost 3.50 or 4 pounds, I paid 2.00 max for most of mine, and usually only 2.50 when on offer, and it has a long life BBE.

I kept a load of receipts to record when I got special offers, and am shocked at high big the price hikes are.

They speak about inflation being 10,11,upto 15 percent, but they are usually talking per month! in fact a lot of food I commonly bought has doubled in price. In only a couple of years.

Because of all the bad press over Brexit,a lot was hype,a lot now blaming it,is actually Covid Or the Ukraine situation effecting other countries. I often hear a UK comment about a company blaming Brexit, but the same country in an EU country blaming either Covid or the Ukraine situation.

Regardless The threat of Brexit,then the actuality of Covid has encouraged me to set up a decent pantry,and look seriously at self sufficiency for food water etc. Sone friends and family who mocked me are now wishing they had done the same, I have water collection system that gets grey water,which could be treated, but means I can water plants when hit by a hosepipe ban. when there was the toilet paper roll panic I had long since got reserves in at a discount price, again the best I can buy now is twice the price,and the rolls are waterproofed and do not age so will save me money in the long run. I have spare kettle in a box, tested that it works,then repacked, when one of mine goes down it comes out and I have time to shop around, rather than panic buy the first one I can grab.

 

[Smudge617]

The liberal part of Austin doesn’t bother me. Where we are now is the heart and soul of liberalism in Wisconsin and I am able for the most part to ignore the extremes of both conservatism and liberalisms.

The heat and humidity in Summertime is what will keep us from not settling down in any part of Texas near a large city, not just Austin. We had thought maybe March, April, May and November might work for us.

Hawaii, is more day to day expensive than even NYC, IMOO. If we go to stay we will adjust our spending. The most expensive daily thing to me is the food. Her veggie gardens though go a long way in helping knock down that cost. Trade winds every time I have been there over the past many years have mitigated the effects of the humidity. The pool also helps.

Arizona, and I don’t mean to offend folks that live there, IMO is too hot and dreary. Springtime in the Sonoran deserts are pretty but are over very quickly. I am not a desert person. Others like my brother are and love it there.

This is a process we have gone through before and decided because of the grandkids this is where we will be. That dynamic has changed, especially in the last few weeks.

When deciding to move, and moving to Maui seems like a logical choice to me, you have to weigh up the Pro's and con's as I'm sure you have.

End of the day it's simply down to two things, "can I afford to live there" and "will I be content/happy" living there", as you've mentioned, your "services" as far as the grandkids go seem to be winding down, Terry no longer has her Horses, which is making her "antsy" as you say, and moving round the country 3 or 4 times a year also seems to have lost it's lustre for you both.

You have property there that affords Terry her obvious pride and joy of the Horses, and you of your Trains, Golf etc.
More expensive day to day maybe, but if you count the cost of moving around 3 or 4 times a year, I think would offset that. especially if you own those properties, you could then sell them off or rent them out year round, which would definitely offset the extra cost's associated with Maui.

But this is a decision that you and Terry, and other family members perhaps, will need to discuss at some length, but seeing as you have been discussing this with your friends for some time, gives me the impression you already know what you want to do.

 

[JeffH]

Hawaii is the only place we've been to on vacation where I wasn't ready to go home by the end of the trip. I was ready to call my sister (who has POA) and have her sell everything I own and wire me the money... I was ready to sell hotdogs along the road to Hana. But... it wasn't my decision, and for good reason, lol!

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Started out with a walk at 67F this morning then did a couple of chores. After that I completed the hand/foot hold on the other end of the car. They were more obstinate than yesterday. I looked ahead at doing the sides and realized I need to make some changes to the car so that it actually looks like historical photos. After lunch I took the not needed structures and gave them to my buddy Mark who will keep what he wants and donate the rest to my old club. Our internet keeps going in and out. Technician tomorrow at 5 pm.

Sherrel- No, the skunk was being a pain in the butt.

Troy- I fight with both of those things also.

Willie- Happy Birthday to your wife.

TomO- Good luck with whatever you decide about moving. We lived in Hawaii for 15 years (left in 1995). We moved to Florida after retiring from the military because we couldn't afford to live there without working ourselves to death.

Christian- Good luck with SWMBO.



I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

I learned you can enjoy pizza without needing to eat almost the whole thing…

This works.....but it is really hard when you have great pizza!

 

[troyphoto]

Well howdy there internet peeps

Off to a wargaming tournament today. I volunteered to be the "Ringer". That means if we have an odd number of players for pairings (including me in the roster), I'm out and don't play. We need even numbers to keep the matchups going at 2 per table.

I'm taking my Milites Christi - painted as Knights of St. John of Jerusalem aka, Knights Hospitaller.

This tourney isn't limited to just the crusade era, so I may face off against Spartans, Romans of some stripe, Mutattawia', etc... Three rounds of action. If I don't play, I'll hang out, help with organizing, and take pics of the action.

Debating on stopping for a donut on the way. Sounds good. But I don't need the calories. But it sounds good...

Edit: Came back and saw that this didn't post... so here are some pics from the event.

YES, I had the donut... then ate a Nestle Crunch bar and an oatmeal cream cookie for lunch. Popcorn (mini bag) for dinner. Not great, but less carbs and decent portions.

I came in next to last place in the tourney but had three fun games. Here are some pics...

 

[Sirfoldalot]

WELL Howdy there RR fans and those who like to toss their weight around!
I have been very fortunate that my weight has not varied more than plus/minus 5 lbs all my adult life.
I have been able to eat just about anything that is placed in front of me and I am very thankful for that. I only have trouble with a touch of COPD from smoking for 50 years and lots of associated aneurysms, I presume from that as well. Seem to have survived colon cancer 8 years back.
Lately I have had heart problems with A-FIB which - for the first time in my life - have sorta put fear in me of realizing that I seem to be running out of time - to me that's scary!

I look around and try to think where "we" might go in the sunset of our life and - I just really like the climate here ... the lack of bugs and the low humidity plus lots of sunshine. It's just that the cost of living have skyrocketed with this state taxing everything and continuing to want to tax more.
What I thought was a good retirement 30 years ago was a mistake on my part big time!

Well, I just talked to PHIL down in Florida for several minutes and we both have come to the conclusion that we're not getting any younger!
I am just rambling because I thought I should post something?
Have a great day ladies and gents - opps - can I still say that?

 

[troyphoto]

WELL Howdy there RR fans and those who like to toss their weight around!
I have been very fortunate that my weight has not varied more than plus/minus 5 lbs all my adult life.
I have been able to eat just about anything that is placed in front of me and I am very thankful for that. I only have trouble with a touch of COPD from smoking for 50 years and lots of associated aneurysms, I presume from that as well. Seem to have survived colon cancer 8 years back.
Lately I have had heart problems with A-FIB which - for the first time in my life - have sorta put fear in me of realizing that I seem to be running out of time - to me that's scary!

I look around and try to think where "we" might go in the sunset of our life and - I just really like the climate here ... the lack of bugs and the low humidity plus lots of sunshine. It's just that the cost of living have skyrocketed with this state taxing everything and continuing to want to tax more.
What I thought was a good retirement 30 years ago was a mistake on my part big time!

Well, I just talked to PHIL down in Florida for several minutes and we both have come to the conclusion that we're not getting any younger!
I am just rambling because I thought I should post something?
Have a great day ladies and gents - opps - can I still say that?

Yeah, but did you get a donut today? Or play in a wargaming tourning?

Those both have serious fun attached. The donuts were made by a business started by an Amish family. So they were def yum!

 

[CambriaArea51]

The liberal part of Austin doesn’t bother me. Where we are now is the heart and soul of liberalism in Wisconsin and I am able for the most part to ignore the extremes of both conservatism and liberalisms.

The heat and humidity in Summertime is what will keep us from not settling down in any part of Texas near a large city, not just Austin. We had thought maybe March, April, May and November might work for us.

Hawaii, is more day to day expensive than even NYC, IMOO. If we go to stay we will adjust our spending. The most expensive daily thing to me is the food. Her veggie gardens though go a long way in helping knock down that cost. Trade winds every time I have been there over the past many years have mitigated the effects of the humidity. The pool also helps.

Arizona, and I don’t mean to offend folks that live there, IMO is too hot and dreary. Springtime in the Sonoran deserts are pretty but are over very quickly. I am not a desert person. Others like my brother are and love it there.

This is a process we have gone through before and decided because of the grandkids this is where we will be. That dynamic has changed, especially in the last few weeks.

My wife and I will have to make a big decision when we retire, living in NY isn't cheap and we may have to move to maximize our retirement dollar. I will say if we move I'll be looking for a train club near the house.

 

[TLOC]

My wife and I will have to make a big decision when we retire, living in NY isn't cheap and we may have to move to maximize our retirement dollar. I will say if we move I'll be looking for a train club near the house.

Our area here has train clubs but around Madison are mainly modular. Clubs with permanent layouts like Alan’s (espeefan) is about 80 miles and just too far a drive to be worthwhile for me to go once or twice a week.

 

[TLOC]

This works.....but it is really hard when you have great pizza!

Heck it is tough to do with even a crummy pizza. But, I have not met a pizza yet that I hated enough not to eat it

 

[TLOC]

WELL Howdy there RR fans and those who like to toss their weight around!
I have been very fortunate that my weight has not varied more than plus/minus 5 lbs all my adult life.
I have been able to eat just about anything that is placed in front of me and I am very thankful for that. I only have trouble with a touch of COPD from smoking for 50 years and lots of associated aneurysms, I presume from that as well. Seem to have survived colon cancer 8 years back.
Lately I have had heart problems with A-FIB which - for the first time in my life - have sorta put fear in me of realizing that I seem to be running out of time - to me that's scary!

I look around and try to think where "we" might go in the sunset of our life and - I just really like the climate here ... the lack of bugs and the low humidity plus lots of sunshine. It's just that the cost of living have skyrocketed with this state taxing everything and continuing to want to tax more.
What I thought was a good retirement 30 years ago was a mistake on my part big time!

Well, I just talked to PHIL down in Florida for several minutes and we both have come to the conclusion that we're not getting any younger!
I am just rambling because I thought I should post something?
Have a great day ladies and gents - opps - can I still say that?

Running out of time! I have concluded that when my time runs out, I won’t notice it. I just don’t want to linger and be a burden…

Mortal, never felt my age or mortality until my first cancer surgery. After my second surgery I am just happy for each day.

Retirement in California. The weather for the most part is great and that is a huge selling point but yeah those taxes are tough.

 

[Chrιstιaη]

Christian- Good luck with SWMBO.

Thanks !

 

[santafewillie]

Have a great day ladies and gents - opps - can I still say that?

How can you really tell any more???

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning....The sun for 2 days straight. A little warmer with temps in the mid 40's.
Coffee Flo and have Mel start the bacon.

TomO I think if we moved I still would have something small in the house, but for sure would want to be near a club layout.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's cloudy and 65.

 

[ctclibby]

Good Morning All!
27F @ 76%

Hawaii: Got to Oahu in 1/1972, left 12/1973. What a place for a 19yo! There was always something to do and ..boy.. could I get into trouble. When I made E-4 I could get 'comrats', so I and 2 others rented a place. Lived on Namanhana street about 3 blocks from Waikiki. That was tough to take as there was *lots* of eye candy about. During monsoon it rained and rained and rained. Not a big deal all in all as you only had to wait about 10 minutes and you were dry again. The rest of the season(s) were pretty much 82 degrees, with rain in the afternoon about 1400; you could almost set your watch by it. All the tourists would scurry off the beach for the 20 minutes of rain, then back they would come.

I don't know if it has changed or not, but you could not buy land. You could get a zero-lot home, but not the property. Aunt lived there from 1952 to 1978 and was one of the last that owned her property. Been to Kauai and Maui, did not get to the Big Island. After being there about a year, one of the problems I had was that I could not go anywhere except in circles. I was one that loved to drive somewhere; still am. Sure you could hop a flight, if I remember correctly for about $50 round trip to Kauai. At that time there was only ONE traffic light on Kauai and it even was a flashing red thing - no red/yellow/green. Food was definitely more spendy than 'The World' although it was worth it to live off base. I would like to visit again just to see what 50+ years did to the place. Would not want to pull up stakes and move though.

Gawd: Been sorting stuff in the shop as I clean benches and the like. There are still boxes and boxes of stuff to go through. You know how many duplicate hand tools I have? When we were on 'home time' I would give up searching for a specific tool and just go out an buy what I needed. Welp, I am now good for the next 100 years with the supply of sockets, screw drivers, end wrenches, drill bits, router bits ... you name it ... that I have acquired. Tool box ( filled ) by every bench too. Have something like 5 DMM's and who knows where all the tape measure thingies are ... probably will have to buy a couple of those as the Wife has been bitch'n that there is not one in the house. Happy Valentines day honey!

Later

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from the still frozen but thawing tundra of Wisconsin. 50 for a high today but it’s 20 now feeling like 15.

Worked in the train room yesterday on and off till about 4. We did make a soda run yesterday. Pepsi products in 16.9 oz bottles were 4 for $10 in 6 packs as were the Dr Pepper products. Limits of 4 for each. Thankfully the stores are only a 6 mile round trip. Each of our 4 grocery stores had different weekend specials so we hit each of them and got only what she wanted of the specials. I may make that soda only run again today as it is a special this weekend for that Commerical Game today that has some NFL football attached. I have no rooting interest as they both cannot lose.

Around 3 yesterday I was getting cold at the bench and then quit around 4 when I got chilled. Thinking here we go again, I quit and went upstairs. Even at midnight when I climbed into bed I still had the chills. Felt good around 4:30 AM but have been awake since. I seem alright.

10 last night I got an invite to a Super Bowl avoidance operating session. Starts at 3 and runs to 10 with a 1 hour supplied dinner break thrown in. That is too long for me and the invite said no split sessions. Since I wasn’t feeling good I declined it. It was too bad, I really want to see his layout.



enjoy your day