Running Bear's February 2023 Coffee Shop

[TLOC]

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

Todd, 50 years after I would think you may not recognize the Islands. Maui is very different than even our 1st 3 day Island hopping visit in 2005.The brother’s 1st house out there was purchased around 2012 but was part of a condo like community, it was a strange deal.

While I am not sure about other islands, Maui is a Leasehold but you can buy out the lesser. That is part of why it’s so expensive to own on Maui.

• Leasehold
  As the word implies, being a leasehold owner means that while you have the right to use the land throughout the term of your lease, you do not permanently own it. Once the term is over, the land rights revert back to the lesser – though there are instances wherein the lesser will sell the property and land to the lessee.

An good article explaining the history of Leasehold

The History of Hawai‘i’s Leasehold Property | Maui Now

The main interest of land trusts was to keep the land, not to buy and sell. So, leasehold became a popular way to “temporarily sell” land through a lease, which limits ownership to a predetermined number of years.

mauinow.com

My brother now has almost 20 acres of Simple fee property and even with that much property he is still limited to what he can build due to water allocation. Each allocation is for roughly 5000 square feet of residence. His acreage has water rights for 3 residences. He was able to combine 2 allocations for the house he has. He does have cisterns to capture rain water for use on the landscaping, green houses, gardens and for the pools. The pool water though is filtered as a salt water pool. We sold him our adjoining property so he could build bigger when we decided a couple years ago not to move out there full time. Originally we were building a family complex. But we got an offer we believe from the then world’s richest guy when he tried to buy everything on Maui, that we couldn’t refuse. The brother says since his last stay 6 months ago, you couldn’t tell where we were building, it’s all been leveled and naturalized.

 

[Boris]

I am just rambling because I thought I should post something?

Sherrel: I frequently do that any more...The recent collective medical adventures, ranging from unexplained weight gain, sciatica, disc disease, flu, heart failure, pneumonia, and most recently heart valve replacement, make me realize that I'm not getting any younger either. As good as medical science is, they reolacement parts ain't as good as OEM.

31° and cloudy, going into the 40s. Rain is expected after 1500.

Not much planned for today, not sure yet, if we will watch the "Big Game". Demands of the railroad, diminished too many non work interests over the years. I did watch the Capitals Win, and the Maple Leafs loose, last night...that's the most Hockey I've watched in three weeks.

 

[bnsf971]

The sun has partly come out from behind the clouds, the wind has picked up quite a bit, and the temp has dropped a degree. It's now 64.

 

[Boris]

living in NY isn't cheap and we may have to move to maximize our retirement dollar

Tom: You're right about that. Obviously, Jersey is not any cheaper, nor is Maryland/DC/Metro Virginia. I was surprised to learn that Delaware is also expensive. Pennsylvania, depends on where in PA you live, I guess. I'm not sure that the Carolina's are for us, either. Perhaps, South Jersey? Prices locally are lower than last summer, but holding at a reasonable level.

When I re-financed in 2003, my rate was 6¾. For some reason, I never re-financed again to get a lower rate, probably because it always seemed it would cost me more to do so. The current rate is still under 6¾%. My first three houses were purchased with mortgage interest rates of between 10½ and 11¾%, and the original lien on this property was 10½ %. (That mortgage would have been paid off, now). If there is a next place, It will be a cash purchase.

 

[TLOC]

Tom: You're right about that. Obviously, Jersey is not any cheaper, nor is Maryland/DC/Metro Virginia. I was surprised to learn that Delaware is also expensive. Pennsylvania, depends on where in PA you live, I guess. I'm not sure that the Carolina's are for us, either. Perhaps, South Jersey? Prices locally are lower than last summer, but holding at a reasonable level.

When I re-financed in 2003, my rate was 6¾. For some reason, I never re-financed again to get a lower rate, probably because it always seemed it would cost me more to do so. The current rate is still under 6¾%. My first three houses were purchased with mortgage interest rates of between 10½ and 11¾%, and the original lien on this property was 10½ %. (That mortgage would have been paid off, now). If there is a next place, It will be a cash purchase.

Cash is great but in our area of Wisconsin when we moved cash didn’t get us a lower price. So we financed. But, Terry hated paying a mortgage after years without. It maybe different in other parts of the country.

When before Covid the daughter, my wife, my sister, the brother’s girlfriend and a couple other ladies went on a nation wide school search for schools for the granddaughter I researched the areas for taxes and livability. The granddaughter is Down Sydrome and her parents wanted an immersive educational experience for her. The best climate and livability for seniors I found was the Nashville, Tennessee area but the public schools didnt measure up for the granddaughter.

I looked for University towns or Cities. Medical and things to do. Temperate weather and then taxes. Madison, Wi. was always in the top 3 but Tennessee back then was better except the schools were not rated highly. As a retiree that shouldn’t have bothered me but the only way we would move was to be near the grandkids.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 34°, headed into the upper 60's today and into the lower 70's Tuesday and Wednesday.Cold front Thursday but it only lasts two days.

So I did my first actual "in the garden" planting yesterday. It was just ~25 or so Radish seeds. Meanwhile I was able to put the flat with 35 Tomato seedlings out on the porch in the full sunlight most of the day. Another flat that I planted a few days later with seven different other veggies in it are mostly up and under the lights in the house. My wife cooked chicken and dumplings along with Brussels Sprouts last night, giving me a break from cooking duties.
Today is my wife's birthday. She's still older than me!

Yesterday was a lazy day out in the train shed. I mainly ran trains, but I did do some ground cover. And some good news, I finally located the missing Dust Monkeys that I have been looking for to put on the three new cabooses that I got at the train show three weeks ago. Problem is that there were just two left so I will need to get another package of them. Or I might just remove one from one of the Tyco cabooses that I plan to retire!
From the archives today. Just random layout pictures with trains in them.

Tom O - Let's face it, there is no real ideal place in the good ole USA to live year round. It's either bitter cold in the Rockies and all of the northern tier states, excessive humidity and insects along the Gulf Coast, hurricanes also on the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coasts, tornadoes and in my case high temperatures across mid-America, but is not humid in my part of the state, heat in the Southwest, California and the West Coast, well it is California. That leaves us with the bustling cultural centers of Kentucky and West Virginia. No offense meant to residents of that area.
Good luck with the thought process.
Chrιstιaη - I wish you luck with the negotiations regarding the layout space. Are you able to build a shed (attached or detached) on the property anywhere?

Today is Abe Lincoln's birthday as well as my wife's. Kiss a penny for him.
Everyone have a great day, and if you really care about the game, I hope that your team wins.

 

[Chrιstιaη]

Chrιstιaη - I wish you luck with the negotiations regarding the layout space.

Thanks ! SWMBO allows me to build a 4'x6' layout. It's better than nothing. But the negotiations continue !

Chrιstιaη -Are you able to build a shed (attached or detached) on the property anywhere?

Nope ! Our property is too small for that.

 

[Espeefan]

This showed up on the front porch last week:

I know, right, what is the SP guy doing with this thing? Well, I needed it to go behind these:

A few years back Atlas did a nice version of their RS1 in IT livery and it spoke to me. It also fits right in at the club for doing peddler freights when we operate. Athearn did a foobie of an IT caboose using their old faithful Santa Fe caboose, but when an accurate one came out I jumped on it. I have an interest in eclectic short lines, as evidenced by these old Blue Boxers I painted up for the Birmingham Southern.

 

[Smudge617]

Good Morning All. Clear and 34°, headed into the upper 60's today and into the lower 70's Tuesday and Wednesday.Cold front Thursday but it only lasts two days.

So I did my first actual "in the garden" planting yesterday. It was just ~25 or so Radish seeds. Meanwhile I was able to put the flat with 35 Tomato seedlings out on the porch in the full sunlight most of the day. Another flat that I planted a few days later with seven different other veggies in it are mostly up and under the lights in the house. My wife cooked chicken and dumplings along with Brussels Sprouts last night, giving me a break from cooking duties.
Today is my wife's birthday. She's still older than me!

Yesterday was a lazy day out in the train shed. I mainly ran trains, but I did do some ground cover. And some good news, I finally located the missing Dust Monkeys that I have been looking for to put on the three new cabooses that I got at the train show three weeks ago. Problem is that there were just two left so I will need to get another package of them. Or I might just remove one from one of the Tyco cabooses that I plan to retire!
From the archives today. Just random layout pictures with trains in them.
View attachment 161910
View attachment 161911
View attachment 161912



Tom O - Let's face it, there is no real ideal place in the good ole USA to live year round. It's either bitter cold in the Rockies and all of the northern tier states, excessive humidity and insects along the Gulf Coast, hurricanes also on the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coasts, tornadoes and in my case high temperatures across mid-America, but is not humid in my part of the state, heat in the Southwest, California and the West Coast, well it is California. That leaves us with the bustling cultural centers of Kentucky and West Virginia. No offense meant to residents of that area.
Good luck with the thought process.
Chrιstιaη - I wish you luck with the negotiations regarding the layout space. Are you able to build a shed (attached or detached) on the property anywhere?

Today is Abe Lincoln's birthday as well as my wife's. Kiss a penny for him.
Everyone have a great day, and if you really care about the game, I hope that your team wins.

Great foto's Willie, and best wishes to your wife on her birthday.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Good Day for a Superbowl it seems... Howdy again there folks.
Someone left the door open last night and got down to 34 degrees - only looking fir a 57 high with mostly sunny.
CURT - I watched a realy good "Tube" on the USS BERGALL from the history guy - Quite a venture they had!

Speaking of history - gander at these - neat!
https://interactive.guim.co.uk/embed/2014/apr/image-opacity-slider-master/index.html?ww2-dday

Late getting up this morning - an alcohol front moved through last night -- Watched the movie
'Forrest Gump' and the spousal unit asked me if I would like a cocktail - many later was noted.
Out to breakfast with the wifey this morning ....
Later guys and girls!

P.S. Just spoke to Arlene (Willie's better half) to wish her a happy BD.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Tom: You're right about that. Obviously, Jersey is not any cheaper, nor is Maryland/DC/Metro Virginia. I was surprised to learn that Delaware is also expensive. Pennsylvania, depends on where in PA you live, I guess. I'm not sure that the Carolina's are for us, either. Perhaps, South Jersey? Prices locally are lower than last summer, but holding at a reasonable level.

When I re-financed in 2003, my rate was 6¾. For some reason, I never re-financed again to get a lower rate, probably because it always seemed it would cost me more to do so. The current rate is still under 6¾%. My first three houses were purchased with mortgage interest rates of between 10½ and 11¾%, and the original lien on this property was 10½ %. (That mortgage would have been paid off, now). If there is a next place, It will be a cash purchase.

I had 6.5% and refinanced three years ago. The last president had low rates for vets. Got 2.875%

 

[kbkchooch]

Good afternoon gang!

Hanging in the basement today, and NOT watching football. Sorry to say but I just can't watch it. A bunch of guys fighting over a ball, and occasionally one of them gets carted off by a medical team, to the adoring cheers of the gathered throngs. The only real difference from the Roman coliseum is they pay scale,, which has gotten absurd.

Besides, I've got to do. Been fiddling with a few ideas for the bridge at the laundry room door. between lift or swing bridge. Advantages and disadvantages to both. Also SWMBO gave me a new watch yesterday as a pre-Valentines day gift. The band is a bit to large so I have to shorten it. It's one of those metal "pull a pin and relocate to x" watch bands, this oughta be fun!

Happy birthday to Mrs Willie!!

Christian keep working, wearing her down, you just may get what you want, someday. Just remember Gibbs rule #18.
Its better to seek forgiveness then to ask permission.

YMMV

BBL

 

[Chrιstιaη]

Christian keep working, wearing her down, you just may get what you want, someday.

Thanks for your supporting !

Christian Just remember Gibbs rule #18.
Its better to seek forgiveness then to ask permission.

 

[Boris]

Cash is great but in our area of Wisconsin when we moved cash didn’t get us a lower price. So we financed. But, Terry hated paying a mortgage after years without. It maybe different in other parts of the country.

I have the worst luck, when it comes to Mortgages,and interest rates. Doesn't seem to matter that I have high credit scores, clean credit reports and sufficient income, I frequently get treated as a sub-prime client...which explains my refusal to re-fi when the rates were rock bottom. The original "deal" never survived underwriting. I tried to deal with top shelf lenders, but somehow...someone saw an extra buck somewhere.... The last "offer" through a major national bank, suddenly morphed into a new house mortgage in underwriting. The extra charges they added, would have set my break even date, back seven years even with a rate 3½% lower than the existing mortgage. I owe a little over 50, and could come up with the payoff now, or wait until I sell it.

We are looking for a smaller two bedroom single floor home, preferably a single. Garage for train room if necessary. The search is on, although my current medical situation limits us somewhat. Somewhere where the property taxes are 50% lower than where we are at. I reallydon't want one of those senior living areas where mandatory fun and social activity along with the high HO fees and covenants are part of the package.

 

[Boris]

Today is my wife's birthday. She's still older than me!

Wish Arlene a Happy Birthday from us.

 

[Boris]

The last president had low rates for vets. Got 2.875%

So they said....By the time that came up, I had soured on re-fi's....2.875% is a keeper.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

I was fortunate to grab one at 3.75% several years back. A little over a year back there was a guy who was literally begging me to go to a 2.75, but the spousal unit did not want to have to pay the refi cost and did not want me to do it - which would have been recouped within fourteen months or so.
Since then -- she has remarked SEVERAL TIMES that "WE" should have done that!!!!

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Started out with several chores this morning then took a break for a bit. After lunch I I put in the grabs on the first side. I'm not really happy with the foot stirrups. They are from Tichy (in kit). They look clunky to me, but the walls of the car are so thin that I don't dare to try and drill into that thickness.

Troy- Nicely painted figures.

TomO- I've heard the horror stories from youth sports. I must be naive. When my kids did sports, I didn't see any of this type of behavior.

Joe- You could move to Orlando! There's a great club here and several excellent modelers (not blowing my own horn). Plus, you get at least 30 days of low humidity and bugs over the course of the year!

Willie- Nice looking trains.

Christian- Take the 4x6 and run with it, then work on the wife for more.

James- A lot of nice-looking equipment.



I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[montanan]

God afternoon. Not much going on hee. Started out in the high 20's with the sun coming out. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow. Met the neighbors for breakfast and then headed to the grocery store in the next town, Troy, about 17 miles west. They had a special on some ribs and other meats that I can cook up and freeze for individual servings.

Louis - I understand your calling Social Security an entitlement whereas I call it a debt as I have paid in for too many years and don't get very much in return compared to what could have been made with some wise investments.

Joe - I think I miss the layout more. It's one reason I hadn't been on for a while and why I hesitate sometimes to check in.

Troy - I guess the Keto diet does work as my son lost over 30 pounds on it. Me, I can't give up the carbs. I should also lose some weight, but not taking my girls for a walk with the area being either snow, ice, water or mud, I will have to wait a while.

Willie - Nice photos as usual. There are a lot of families visiting the club layout. Livingston is quite busy in the summer with tourists and with the old Northern Pacific station right on main street being a museum, there is usually a lot of visitors. I try to take my photos when the area is less crowed.

Cell phones are a bit of a sore point with me. A few months back I got a notive from AT&T about needing to get a new phone with 5G capabilities. Just another expense. My old one was working just fine. Not I am waiting for my daughter to get her new SIM car from Mint Mobile so I can save some money. $15 a month, unlimited text and talk with 4 gigs of data. My son switched a few months ago and says it works just as good as AT&T. I use wifi for my phone at home and my mobile data for January was only 6 gigs.

You can charge so many things now with the USB ports. Motels are getting them. I have one on my Yamaha stereo receiver. The batteries for my drone charges with a USB port.

Sherrel - Glad to hear that Phil is doing well. Lost his phone number. Used to talk with him on a regular basis.

Todd - Know the feeling about Hawaii. Was there in 1969 coming back from 7 months stationed as flag ship for the middle east force (us, 1 ship) in Bahrain. Stopped in Australia, New Zealand, the Marshall Islands, Manila and Yokosuka before crossing the big pond. Had to stop at Midway for fuel. That ship was a fuel hog. Got into pearl and the ship was in major need of servicing after beingaway from the states and any facitlties for 8 months. Enjoyed the panama canal. Glad we went through in daylight. Was there again in 2001. Had to go to the Arizona memorial. So many improvements since 1969. I know what you mean about duplicate tools. I have a couple of Mac Tools tool chests in my son's storage locker in Bozeman and still have another small chest here. You've seen it. Duplicates in there. Can't count how many times I misplaces a tool only to buy another and then find the one I lost. Think we all have probably done that.

Not going to watch the Superbowl. Not even sure who is playing. When Kappernick went down to his knee and the NFL did nothing, that was the end of pro football for me.

From the archives.

And last but not least, my first car. Restored it a number of years back. Have it at my cousins place in Deer Lodge now.

LATER

 

[bnsf971]

Good evening. It's mostly cloudy and 60.
I've come to a sad realization that, even making $30/hour, I still can't afford a decent 2 bedroom apartment.
People are renting tool sheds for $1300/month.