Running Bear's January 2024 Coffee Shop

[Snowman]

I heated up dinner for mom (89) again tonight, and as usual she had the TV cranked up so loud it almost shakes the paint off the walls. I pretty much stay in the kitchen. I'm about thirty feet away, open floor plan and it's still painful to listen to.

A couple of months ago she had it cranked up and was glued to "The Golden Bachelor." And one night I heard this joke, told by one of the candidate ladies to the rest. It's a bit sexist, but like most jokes also has some basis in reality. And since it was a gal-to-gal joke on prime-time TV, I figure I can repeat it here. Paraphrasing mine:

"So this guy finally decides he wants to settle down, but he can't decide which of his two girlfriends he wants to marry. After pondering the problem for a while he gets this idea to help him choose.

He gives girlfriend number one a thousand dollars and says 'Go spend it however you want.'

So she goes out and spends $800 on herself and puts $200 in the bank.

He does the same with his other girlfriend: 'Here's a thousand dollars. Go spend it however you want.'

His second girlfriend spends $200 on herself and puts $800 in the bank.

-----------

Q: So which one did he marry?

A: He married the one with the big boobs."

 

[NorthBrit]

Good morning all. A fine dusting of snow on a hard frost causing icy conditions.
Friend we haven't seen in many a year is visiting today. Our children used to play with her children. We both moved to other areas, but have kept in touch.

Back Later

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It’s clear and 48.
I just was forced to add 2FA to my final “free” email account, so they have more sellable info my account is more secure.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning!
Freight house and other buildings at Tipton IN (LE&W/NKP) 1950s

 

[ctclibby]

Good Morning All!
15F @ 68% Another 4 to 6" of snow last night. Looks like we have about 12" total. More to come ... supposedly.

Thanks for the comments on my track spaghetti.

Ran across this and got a giggle.

I've never been to a lot of places
but I've been in Cahoots. Apparently
you can't go alone, you have to be
in Cahoots with someone.
I've also never been in Coginito.
I hear no one recognizes you there.
I have however been in Sane.
They do not have an airport, you
have to be driven there. I have made
several trips!

Later

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

17° and cloudy this morning with a high expected of only 33°. No precipitation today, however, we are expecting a little bit of snow for tomorrow.

BBL

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

28° and clear this morning. High of 38° later. We have a front coming through late this afternoon that will drop the temps again. At least this one will be brief. Low tomorrow morning of 5°. High tomorrow of 20° and then the warmup starts over.

Celebrated the 1st anniversary of the Russians coming to town. Fortunately it was quite a bit quieter as we have a lot more locked down.

Good morning. It’s clear and 48.
I just was forced to add 2FA to my final “free” email account, so they have more sellable info my account is more secure.

May be more truth in that then you know. I continue to both love and loathe 2FA. Helps keep the "undesirables" out and is a PITA when you're needing info really fast or the code changes while you're trying to enter it. Depending on which product you use, it will need to be reset if when you change phones.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Mostly cloudy and 37° here in North Central Texas. Mid-50's today and then another cold front around midnight tonight, dropping temps into the teens by morning. This global warming is getting to be a PIA for me.

Using the desktop again this morning, with my new 24" monitor. Sure is bright. So happy to not be using the damn laptop, I just couldn't get used to it even though I have a mouse to use instead of the touchpad. Every time my wrist got close to it, something unexpected would happen! I'm just old-fashioned I guess.
Funny how Tuesday was a nicer day than yesterday. On Tuesday the temperature was just 24°, sunny and no wind at all. Yesterday was sunny, 42°, but with winds averaging 20 mph out of the south! Less wind today should make for a really nice day.

Back into the routine with the weekly grocery trek this morning. No ill effects from the four days of sub-freezing temperatures, no broken pipes but still dealing with the slow drainage in the graywater line. Most likely some accumulated debris that I need to clear out...shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so. Shower was draining slowly and by the end, there was some water standing in it.

I did make it out to the train shed yesterday. Ran some trains since it had been almost a week. Inspected and cleaned a few more freight cars. I have a balky P2K engine that started giving me problems. Motor runs but wheels don't turn. I'll take it apart today...I've seen this before and I think that the drive shafts just popped out. I also finished the first 11" of split rail fence for the cemetery. I have to do some measurements before I do the next two sections which go on the sides. One is ~12" the other is ~17". The front fence is just rails between the 8 rock posts and will have to be measured after the other three sides are installed. I have to decide what color to make it, white, brown or whatever.
I recently posted a picture similar to this one.

A fellow member PM'd me and asked where the figure came from. It is a Preiser figure that I altered.

Totally in another world, here is a visit from some feral hogs taken from my porch.

What they are finding on that gravel road is beyond me, when they could be rooting in that wheat field on the other side.

Patrick - No more income than you described makes income tax prep pretty easy. Without knowing more than you listed yesterday, you should be able to use the 1040EZ return. Maybe fill out 10-12 lines and you're done. If you have money coming back and file electronically, we've gotten it in a week or less prior to 2021. That is if the IRS has it's s**t together like they did pre-covid. I won't tell you what my wife (former H&R Blockhead) says is the reason, because that would border on political for this forum.
Joe - Hasn't Jimmy Dolan been mostly in alleged trouble for the last 30 years?
Chad - I looked at bigger screens than the 24" one that I got, but they don't really fit well on my computer desk. This is big enough, especially after my cataract surgery last summer.
Swal - Home hospice care has been the best option for all who I know who had to go through the same type of situation. My experience is that it is not expensive and the people doing it are very dedicated to doing an excellent job with the patients. Money never seemed to be their driving factor, patients were.
Now I see a further post that shows $20/hour. That seems to be an excellent set-up for your area. That's actually less than what we paid for my brother's care in late 2021. I would have expected NY to be higher.
Hughie - Nice remembrances regarding the trains.

Everyone out there have a great day today. Stay warm and safe if applicable.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Morning guys - girls - and those in Coginito ---

Once again we are at a low of 44 - looking for 72 with "mostly sunny"!

Have to dress for the biopsy today and drive 65 miles for the procedure.
Depending on the rush hour traffic .... either one hour or1.5 hours drive.
The Spousal Unit will be the chauffeur today.

Hope I don't deflate when they "poke me"?

 

[ctclibby]

Good Morning All. Mostly cloudy and 37° here in North Central Texas. Mid-50's today and then another cold front around midnight tonight, dropping temps into the teens by morning. This global warming is getting to be a PIA for me.

Using the desktop again this morning, with my new 24" monitor. Sure is bright. So happy to not be using the damn laptop, I just couldn't get used to it even though I have a mouse to use instead of the touchpad. Every time my wrist got close to it, something unexpected would happen! I'm just old-fashioned I guess.
Funny how Tuesday was a nicer day than yesterday. On Tuesday the temperature was just 24°, sunny and no wind at all. Yesterday was sunny, 42°, but with winds averaging 20 mph out of the south! Less wind today should make for a really nice day.

Back into the routine with the weekly grocery trek this morning. No ill effects from the four days of sub-freezing temperatures, no broken pipes but still dealing with the slow drainage in the graywater line. Most likely some accumulated debris that I need to clear out...shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so. Shower was draining slowly and by the end, there was some water standing in it.

I did make it out to the train shed yesterday. Ran some trains since it had been almost a week. Inspected and cleaned a few more freight cars. I have a balky P2K engine that started giving me problems. Motor runs but wheels don't turn. I'll take it apart today...I've seen this before and I think that the drive shafts just popped out. I also finished the first 11" of split rail fence for the cemetery. I have to do some measurements before I do the next two sections which go on the sides. One is ~12" the other is ~17". The front fence is just rails between the 8 rock posts and will have to be measured after the other three sides are installed. I have to decide what color to make it, white, brown or whatever.
I recently posted a picture similar to this one.
View attachment 179760
A fellow member PM'd me and asked where the figure came from. It is a Preiser figure that I altered.
View attachment 179761
View attachment 179762
Totally in another world, here is a visit from some feral hogs taken from my porch.
View attachment 179764
What they are finding on that gravel road is beyond me, when they could be rooting in that wheat field on the other side.

Patrick - No more income than you described makes income tax prep pretty easy. Without knowing more than you listed yesterday, you should be able to use the 1040EZ return. Maybe fill out 10-12 lines and you're done. If you have money coming back and file electronically, we've gotten it in a week or less prior to 2021. That is if the IRS has it's s**t together like they did pre-covid. I won't tell you what my wife (former H&R Blockhead) says is the reason, because that would border on political for this forum.
Joe - Hasn't Jimmy Dolan been mostly in alleged trouble for the last 30 years?
Chad - I looked at bigger screens than the 24" one that I got, but they don't really fit well on my computer desk. This is big enough, especially after my cataract surgery last summer.
Swal - Home hospice care has been the best option for all who I know who had to go through the same type of situation. My experience is that it is not expensive and the people doing it are very dedicated to doing an excellent job with the patients. Money never seemed to be their driving factor, patients were.
Now I see a further post that shows $20/hour. That seems to be an excellent set-up for your area. That's actually less than what we paid for my brother's care in late 2021. I would have expected NY to be higher.
Hughie - Nice remembrances regarding the trains.

Everyone out there have a great day today. Stay warm and safe if applicable.

Willie: Probably too late, you can turn off that damn touchpad when using a mouse. Finally figured that out with my Dell lapper. Think it is in Settings/Devices/Touchpad. Do remember to turn it back on before you disconnect the mouse or you will have to figure out the keystrokes to get to settings and stuff. Don't ask how I know, took the laptop without the mouse once.

Later

 

[Boris]

I talked with her Boris she said because she wasn't terminal it was either a nursing home or paying for a home care aid. I looked at some prices for this service and it's around $20.00 an hour 3 times a week. I think I'm going that route. I really don't want to give up half of all the money we have.
Swal

George: I think that the home care aid is a reasonable alternative to a nursing home. Depending on your personal circumstance, you may be able to recover some of that expense on your income taxes as it is a medical Care expense.

 

[Boris]

Hope I don't deflate when they "poke me

Sherrel: Best of luck. Hope it's Negative.

 

[Boris]

Good morning. 24º and cloudy, going to 34º. Tomorrow, is supposed to be a Snow day.

 

[bnsf971]

I talked with her Boris she said because she wasn't terminal it was either a nursing home or paying for a home care aid. I looked at some prices for this service and it's around $20.00 an hour 3 times a week. I think I'm going that route. I really don't want to give up half of all the money we have.
Swal

There is one other alternative I can think of, and that is an assisted living facility. They are for people that need more help than they could reasonably get at home, but don't require around-the-clock care.
They are generally significantly less money than a full-blown nursing facility.

 

[bnsf971]

Willie: Probably too late, you can turn off that damn touchpad when using a mouse. Finally figured that out with my Dell lapper. Think it is in Settings/Devices/Touchpad. Do remember to turn it back on before you disconnect the mouse or you will have to figure out the keystrokes to get to settings and stuff. Don't ask how I know, took the laptop without the mouse once.

Later

Some laptops will do that with a combination of "fn+F10".

 

[chadbag]

Yesterday I woke up to another inch of wet icy snow. Then it partially cleared in the morning but then after lunch when I went outside it had been snowing again in clumpy wet snow for another inch or so. But then it stopped and got warmer -- up to higher 30s. And even at midnight it was just around 32-33F (I had to go up to the house to see why the cameras and whole home automation system was down -- the drywall guys, who were still there and in fact didn't get there until evening -- had caused the basement GFCI to trip as they've been plugging some of their stuff in down there with an extension cable -- I moved all the network stuff to its own outlet as I have a few outlets now working).

Today it is around 33F outside but should get low 40s. Saturday it is supposed to rain for a week, with occasional "frozen mix". Big dofference from the low teens we had recently at night (just mid 20s during the day).

Yesterday I got a text that the solar guys would be there in 45 min. I don't know if they ever showed up but was asking myself why -- it was snowing out. Got another text that they will be there in about 15 min -- 9am for me. We'll see if they can wrap this up. They've been at it for a couple weeks off and on. They don't show on the good weather days but schedule (and then cancel) on bad weather days. They do have the inverter on the side of the house and hooked into the service box but nothing on the roof.

II did get another coach light working yesterday. I had day-job stuff to do so didn't get much time but did finish off a coach I had started the day before but I had decided I needed longer screws and had dropped and lost a neoprene washer used to keep water out so had postponed it to yesterday. I also got the Lutron smart hub working (for the various light switches etc). One of the smart switches won't attach to the hub. Claims to be unsupported though the app is up to date and it definitely is part of this same system. Have to call them today

 

[Bruette]

Trains - What I thought I might do is show you how a wound up with Boston and Maine as my core railroad. Apple Ridge of course is an imaginary place, with a rail line transfer to the B&M. When I was very young, my parents and grandparents would vacation in Shelburne Falls, Mass. Adlers Cabins was the name of the place, maybe 4 or 5 miles out for town. The actual cabins are gone except for one. The house of the proprietor has been replaced by a white water rafting company. the building in the center. The cabins were to the left. The tracks at the bottom of the picture are/were Boston and Maine. Going left, or west you go to the Hoosac tunnel. When I heard the steam whistle, I'd find my grandfather and sit on his lap and we'd count the cars. As I stare at this photo a great number of memories come flooding back. Steam locomotives echoing through the Berkshire Mts., going into town to get block ice for the ice box, seeing the pot belly stove glowing red as it burned coal, grandfather singing, "Fuzzy wassy was a Bear", my first taste of YooHoo chocolate soda thanks to Mr. Adler. There is a small bridge, center bottom. The last time I was there, canoed under the bridge and camped in the woods. That one, single piece of track had that much influence.

Fantastic! You made my day Hughie, thank you!

 

[migalyto]

Totally in another world, here is a visit from some feral hogs taken from my porch.

What they are finding on that gravel road is beyond me, when they could be rooting in that wheat field on the other side.

Willie-Are those allowed to be legally hunted?

 

[migalyto]

Good Morning everyone!

Not as cold this morning as the last several. Currently sitting at 21 degrees, and little to no wind. Another batch of weather is supposed to come through the area tonight into tomorrow morning. 1-3 inches of the white stuff, and heavy winds. Temps will drop back to below 0 again for a few nights, and then a warmer trend for the next ten days.

Other than that, not a lot happening here, which I guess is a good thing.

Stay safe everyone!

 

[Grizzled]

Morning folks,

Yesterday's respite from the cold was very welcome but it was short. Back to -3F with light snow this morning.

George: I'm going to be facing the same situation before the year is out. You have my sincere sympathy.

Photo of the day: Western Energy Company's Alco units used for switching the traditional tipple in the "Pit 6" area were mothballed for several years after the unit train load out was constructed about 5 miles east on the East Fork Armells Creek, near the new open pit areas. I suspect the tipple was actually left over from the Northern Pacific days (the NP originally opened the Colstrip mile with a 30 mile branch line constructed connecting it to the mainline at Forsyth, MT). The tipple/Alcos/track are all long gone.

I was working on several reclamation research projects in that area and snapped a few photos one afternoon in September 1978.