Running Bear's February 2025 Coffee Shop

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Awake since 2 am with a case of the existential dread. Can't say more to to the rules of the forum. Yep, that one.

It's 4:10am local as of now.

Yesterday I managed to word about 7500 words. One more chapter to write on this small book. Then it's revising time.

Got the hardcover book sample in for the book I just ran the kickstarter on. It's ready to order. Now I need to upload the paperback version, so I can order both at once. Looks like about 25 books total between the two
Unfortunately I totally understand and been there and still doing that. So sad people ignored history
 
Good morning to all including the existential dread of who that is probably around 1/2 the country! Woke up to the sounds of heavy duty rain slamming my west facing bedroom windows. The app says in the last hour we only received .25” of rain drops. The rain should end in 45 minutes or 7:15 local time. The app says around .5 to .75” total. It is 39f degrees now and maybe 50 later.

A good visit and quick work session that involved a phone call than a Zoom session to the son. Pat has a brand new 65” TV from Costco that was on sale for $400 and the clarity of the picture was awful. Took me 10 minutes of looking over the manual to figure most of it out and than I needed to call for help and finally we went Zooming. The son walked me through it and it’s a very good picture for $400! I was really having a tough time with the sound.

We then headed to Kenosha and the Italian Grocery store Tenuta’s. Spent way too much but man everything tastes great. Cannolis there remind me of my grandmother’s, Biscotti’s and pizzelles that we called a different name. Replenished the 2 Italian oils Terry uses, Gia Russa and Ponti. The daughter also requested what she uses, San Giuliano. I purchased 3 deli meats that I brought enough just for 3 sandwiches today. 1 sandwich for me at lunch and some for Terry and me when she gets here around 8pm. A super time shopping there. Afterwards we walked across the street and had a way to big and great tasting burger at Ron’s Place where we were joined by a friend of Pat’s as they both tested various Long Island Iced Teas. They Uber’ed back to Racine and I headed west into the setting sun!

I picked up some paint, decals and another coil car yesterday on the trip into the sun heading home. Just enough time at Hiawatha to get back onto I94 west bound to where the sun had set. That 30 minutes heading directly into the sun was nerve racking even though about 15 minutes of it was crawling along at 6 mph.

Once traffic cleared past the Western Milwaukee suburbs I was doing 80 in a 70 mph zone passing a string of slow pokes when a huge pickup appeared on my bumper, blinked his lights, blew his horn and gestured to me to get out of the way. One, I was passing cars and no way could I pull over, second I already was too close to the vehicle in front of me. So I did what any red blooded driver would do. I tapped by brake lights, slowed down to 78 and flipped one of the fingers. As soon as I could though I did let him pass. About 15 minutes later he was pulled over by a State Patrol car. The karma was wonderful…

Today will just flow as it unwinds, what happens or not will not be any part of a plan

Enjoy the day
 


So my new girlfriend wants me to move to NC this year. She's really not new I was going to marry her back in 1972. That ending with a fight I had with her mother. I miss my wife but she's not coming back so I have to move on. I spent a week with her in September. It was a good time for both of us. My layout will have to be passed on to whoever buys the house if I move. Tough decision I'll have to make this year.
Swal

Deb_)2_26_25.jpg
 
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Mornin' y'all from mostly cloudy Cheyenne, Its 26, headed for a high of 41 and low tonight of 28. No precipitation in the forecast. Nic day in SE Wyoming.
Doc day today; meet my new GI doc and see Cardio doc later. Getting around better but still a tad weak in the knees.
Y'all have a good day and take care.
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 54°, to begin another warm day in the upper-70's. Yesterday reached 76°. Another week of this and then maybe slightly cooler temperatures.

Most of yesterday was taken up by chores, laundry and trash removal early and some yard work after the dew dried. Double-checked all of the mower components even though I had used it occasionally all winter. Wound up a couple of reels of line for the weedeater, and re-sharpened all of the trimming tools. Heck, I even re-sharpened my favorite garden hoe. Closed the evening out by making chicken/mushroom/bacon quesadillas for supper and loading and running the dishwasher. Whew!

Today's plan includes actually doing some mowing and preparing the next set of seedbeds in the garden for more greens and English Peas to be planted tomorrow or Friday. I'll also start some pots of Yellow and Zucchini Squash and some heirloom tomatoes to grow indoors before setting them out in 4-6 weeks. Baby-back ribs, Green Beans and Sweet Potatoes for supper tonight.

Just as productive out in the train shed yesterday. I was successful in flattening out and re-attaching the two roofs for the Saw Pit Store.
IMG_0385.JPG

Then I went to the small project list and decided to add some of the figures that I have been painting to a business structure. It's a Walther's Merchant's Row II kit that has been in place for a few years. I originally had figures in front of (and one inside of) the two end businesses. On the left is a Good Earth Natural Foods Store and on the right is a fitness center, however I never populated the space in front of the Western Auto store in the center.
IMG_0387.JPG

IMG_0388.JPG
IMG_0389.JPG
IMG_0390.JPG

No more! I sorted through 100's of figures to come up with five more appropriate for this scene.
IMG_0392.JPG

Those white glue spots on their feet will disappear by today. I have traditionally used Woodland Scenics Scenic Accents re-positionable adhesive to affix figures, but I have switched to Aleene's Glue after having to re-glue many earlier figures. The Scenic Accent's, while a good concept, just doesn't seem to be able to hold up after 8-10 years. I have people falling over in several places.

Mike - Black Friday huh! You really need some of that online buying therapy or that visit to the LHS like Tom O suggested.
John U - We had one of those Federal Thunderbolt 1000 thingys across the road from a rental home we had in '76. Looked exactly like that. Never heard it, but my wife said that they tested it occasionally while I was at work.
Terry -
Events swing like a pendulum. What swings left eventually swings right, and vice-versa. Unfortunately, the pendulum seems to be swinging further and further in each direction. It would be nice if the pendulum remained closer to center.
The more that it swings one way, the further it swings back the other way. American politics over the last hundred years has proved that. Especially the last 25 or so years.
Karl - I also dislike masks, on me and on others. For me it is a comfort thing and an availability thing. Due to my hearing aids, I cannot wear the usual around the ears style as it dislodges the hearing aids which I would hate to lose. For others, as I am hearing impaired even with the aids, I count on some degree of lip-reading to understand things without constantly repeating "What?". Had this issue at the doctor on Monday. Nurse wore one and I had trouble since she was soft-spoken besides being garbled through the mask. Doctor didn't wear one.

Johnny Cash was born on this day in 1932. RIP
Everyone have a wonderful Wednesday.
 
Good morning to all including the existential dread of who that is probably around 1/2 the country! Woke up to the sounds of heavy duty rain slamming my west facing bedroom windows. The app says in the last hour we only received .25” of rain drops. The rain should end in 45 minutes or 7:15 local time. The app says around .5 to .75” total. It is 39f degrees now and maybe 50 later.

A good visit and quick work session that involved a phone call than a Zoom session to the son. Pat has a brand new 65” TV from Costco that was on sale for $400 and the clarity of the picture was awful. Took me 10 minutes of looking over the manual to figure most of it out and than I needed to call for help and finally we went Zooming. The son walked me through it and it’s a very good picture for $400! I was really having a tough time with the sound.

We then headed to Kenosha and the Italian Grocery store Tenuta’s. Spent way too much but man everything tastes great. Cannolis there remind me of my grandmother’s, Biscotti’s and pizzelles that we called a different name. Replenished the 2 Italian oils Terry uses, Gia Russa and Ponti. The daughter also requested what she uses, San Giuliano. I purchased 3 deli meats that I brought enough just for 3 sandwiches today. 1 sandwich for me at lunch and some for Terry and me when she gets here around 8pm. A super time shopping there. Afterwards we walked across the street and had a way to big and great tasting burger at Ron’s Place where we were joined by a friend of Pat’s as they both tested various Long Island Iced Teas. They Uber’ed back to Racine and I headed west into the setting sun!

I picked up some paint, decals and another coil car yesterday on the trip into the sun heading home. Just enough time at Hiawatha to get back onto I94 west bound to where the sun had set. That 30 minutes heading directly into the sun was nerve racking even though about 15 minutes of it was crawling along at 6 mph.

Once traffic cleared past the Western Milwaukee suburbs I was doing 80 in a 70 mph zone passing a string of slow pokes when a huge pickup appeared on my bumper, blinked his lights, blew his horn and gestured to me to get out of the way. One, I was passing cars and no way could I pull over, second I already was too close to the vehicle in front of me. So I did what any red blooded driver would do. I tapped by brake lights, slowed down to 78 and flipped one of the fingers. As soon as I could though I did let him pass. About 15 minutes later he was pulled over by a State Patrol car. The karma was wonderful…

Today will just flow as it unwinds, what happens or not will not be any part of a plan

Enjoy the day
Love it when the police are there when you need them.
 


Well howdy there internet peeps, and those who got the measles vaccine.

In sad news, I see that Texas has lost their first unvaxed child to the current measles outbreak.

In other news, I got the books ordered to fulfill the kickstarter. Just to make sure I have enough, I ordered 6 extra. I still have to order the two in Europe that drop ship from printing in the UK or France. The woman in the Netherlands that ordered a previous book from the same printer (with US, UK, France, Canada and Oz facilities for printing and shipping) - got her order from the UK, and not the EU facility. I always thought the Netherlands was part of the EU?

I also released the audiobook for the kickstarter. One of the privileges of backing on Kickstarter is all the ebooks and audio book files go out before the April release date.

Here's a pic from the book, shared just for you folks. Supposed to be our magical secret agent chasing someone across the rooftops of Brooklyn.

Neirin Rooftop 1- BW.jpg



As for pendulums, I suspect it's being locked in place so it no longer swings. Hence my lack of sleep. Though I did get another hour or so in the recliner once I had my first cup of coffee.

Since my books are set "a few years in the future" for vagueness, I'm rolling ideas in my head of what the world will look like in about five years. That will be written into the next book. I just won't put any official dates in, that way it's not like 1984, or 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Until then:
 
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So my new girlfriend wants me to move to NC this year. She's really not new I was going to marry her back in 1972. That ending with a fight I had with her mother. I miss my wife but she not coming back so I have to move on. I spent a week with her in September. It was a good time for both of us. My layout will have to be passed on to whoever buys the house if I move. Tough decision I'll have to make this year.
Swal

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Swal

Life's too short to not be happy, follow your path wherever it leads.
 
Swal

Life's too short to not be happy, follow your path wherever it leads.
You got that right Karl and every day it gets shorter. I'll be 80 soon she's in her 70's any time we have together will be short. I would like to win the over 65 golf championship one more year to get my name on the board 3 times. I'll miss my layout, but you can't have everything.
Swal
 
Ken did this the easy way. Plugged his signals wires into to another board that took care of everything. I'm doing it the hard way running the wires into a tortoise switch machine. With that I have to solder a 460 ohm resistor on to the ground of each signal head. Maybe I should have bought a board like Ken.
Swal

IMG_20250226_140408370.jpg
 
our magical secret agent chasing someone across the rooftops of Brooklyn.
Rooftop chases are always great. It will be perfect for the movie!
As for pendulums, I suspect it's being locked in place so it no longer swings. Hence my lack of sleep.
Avoid the news, try not to worry. It is beyond our control. I recommend following baseball, but your games are a good distraction.
 


Rooftop chases are always great. It will be perfect for the movie!

Avoid the news, try not to worry. It is beyond our control. I recommend following baseball, but your games are a good distraction.
I don't have the math mind for baseball.

It was the one sport I was decent at, but I realized it has a LOT of downtime.
As a news photographer, it was both easy to photograph, and a pain.... "Hey, we don't have pics of the Center fielder doing much other than batting. He's going to get some awards this season... get a good action shot of him."

sure, mr. sports editor. Want to get the publisher to spring for a 400mm zoom lens? You'll want it for gym sports too, and track, and swimming. And since every swim meet is in some medievally lit torture dungeon, it needs to be f2.8 or better. (Price back then was around $3000.00 for such).

Yeah, we got told they'd add ours to the insurance once we purchased one on our own dime. $3K was about two months salary when I was shooting.

So, the sports editor got Pitcher, Catcher, 1st, 3rd and short. Everyone else was at the plate. I might be able to get a good play at 2nd once a runner was on first, but too often they'd run on a hit to third when I was on the roof of the 1st base dugout.

Wife does keep saying we should go the the Fort Wayne Komets hockey match. But we never seem to get the energy when there is a home game.
 
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