Running Bear's January 2024 Coffee Shop

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those with feral bacon on the menu...

It's troy again.

Looks like it snowed overnight. Haven't stuck my butt outside to measure it. I'll wait for this current batch to pass before I shovel the patio and front walk. The header on WeatherBug's page was pretty, so I thought I'd share. On the radar map, I'm near the "Fort Wayne" dot in the center.

Not sure what I said about this here in past threads, but yesterday I woke up and spent my creative time writing a blog post for the gaming blog I edit, all about gamer burnout, and how I'm going through it.

Had fun playing with the AI image generator. It has a problem with the size discrepancy between little 28mm toy soldiers and a full sized human. It won't make them that small. But it was interesting trying to get concept art.

The gist of the piece is that I was doing too much. After the pandemic subsided, the industry/hobby hit hard. Game Conventions and events sprang up like dandelions after a spring rain. I was helper at two events, and ran one. Plus my local scene I ran one. Then I switched games, and did a ton of painting in a short time.

And I've been talking about being burned out in that hobby for about a month now. But, yesterday, I had to vent about it. So I wrote. Got it out to the others on the blog's steering committee for feedback, and it should run next week if they don't suggest major changes.

And I'm arguing with BlueHost about getting a DKIM record set up for one of my domains. I use a newsletter service that sends emails to my readers, and Google/Yahoo are cracking down on spammers.

I'm trying to get the DKIM to stick, but it doesn't seem to want to...


Not sure if the TXT record needs the v=DKIM front tag or not on the value??? If you're a techie who understands that, let me know.

Not sure what I'm doing later today. The weather changes have given me a nagging little headache. I figure that means I need more coffee.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

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

WELP - I didn't deflate, but heart damn near stopped!
Something about "disturbing" a nerve which set off a chain reaction: blood pressure went to 278 and heart rate was dropping be low 30. All of a sudden, I experienced some of the worst pain that I have ever had and there were instantly 6-7 people in the room and "Code Blue" was screaming throughout the hospital.

They were all frantic, I was frantic, and wife just about lost it when they announced RADIOLOGY!
Enough excitement for one day!

MEL - some scrambled with bacon and a plate of hash browns and gravy
I'm hungry this morning!
Still glad to be here!

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from So. Central Wisconsin. The temperature is +3f degrees with a wind chill of -14. The high today should be 8 but there is a wind chill advisory until 3pm. The 2-3” of predicted snow overnight looks like maybe a 1/2” but until sunrise that is a decent guess. .

I was able yesterday to stay off the internet for 13 hours before I decided I had had enough internet free time yesterday. Today is a push on some weathering, not rushing just moving forward.

The only thing today that is of any “real” importance is we have a shipment of wood slabs and logs being picked up. This the first shipment under the agreement with the new distributor. This shipment is heading to a wood table top creator in Springfield, Missouri. In November this client personally picked out the slabs he wanted. While here he saw the white oak logs and asked for the 2 as is. The Crew is very excited as this is the biggest shipment we have made.

enjoy the day

 

[TLOC]

WELP - I didn't deflate, but heart damn near stopped!
Something about "disturbing" a nerve which set off a chain reaction: blood pressure went to 278 and heart rate was dropping be low 30. All of a sudden, I experienced some of the worst pain that I have ever had and there were instantly 6-7 people in the room and "Code Blue" was screaming throughout the hospital.

They were all frantic, I was frantic, and wife just about lost it when they announced RADIOLOGY!
Enough excitement for one day!

MEL - some scrambled with bacon and a plate of hash browns and gravy
I'm hungry this morning!
Still glad to be here!

Lordie lordie Sherrel, retirement is supposed to be relaxing

You have too much excitement going on in your life. I can’t imagine the terror though going through your mind hearing all that around you. We are also glad you are still here

 

[TLOC]

Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those with feral bacon on the menu...

It's troy again.

Looks like it snowed overnight. Haven't stuck my butt outside to measure it. I'll wait for this current batch to pass before I shovel the patio and front walk. The header on WeatherBug's page was pretty, so I thought I'd share. On the radar map, I'm near the "Fort Wayne" dot in the center.

View attachment 179803

Not sure what I said about this here in past threads, but yesterday I woke up and spent my creative time writing a blog post for the gaming blog I edit, all about gamer burnout, and how I'm going through it.

Had fun playing with the AI image generator. It has a problem with the size discrepancy between little 28mm toy soldiers and a full sized human. It won't make them that small. But it was interesting trying to get concept art.

View attachment 179804

The gist of the piece is that I was doing too much. After the pandemic subsided, the industry/hobby hit hard. Game Conventions and events sprang up like dandelions after a spring rain. I was helper at two events, and ran one. Plus my local scene I ran one. Then I switched games, and did a ton of painting in a short time.

And I've been talking about being burned out in that hobby for about a month now. But, yesterday, I had to vent about it. So I wrote. Got it out to the others on the blog's steering committee for feedback, and it should run next week if they don't suggest major changes.

And I'm arguing with BlueHost about getting a DKIM record set up for one of my domains. I use a newsletter service that sends emails to my readers, and Google/Yahoo are cracking down on spammers.

View attachment 179805

I'm trying to get the DKIM to stick, but it doesn't seem to want to...


Not sure if the TXT record needs the v=DKIM front tag or not on the value??? If you're a techie who understands that, let me know.

Not sure what I'm doing later today. The weather changes have given me a nagging little headache. I figure that means I need more coffee.

Troy will you be able to share the blog with us. Burn out is real in everything

Tom

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's 56 and cloudy.

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

Feeling generous this morning, Flo: Put everyone's beverages today on my tab!

5° and clear with windchill of -13°. Getting to 19° later and then warming through the weekend to near normal temps. I have a skating rink in my backyard from the sump pump discharge. My furnace dumps the water generated from the high efficiency furnace and the flow through whole house humidifier into the sump pump. So with the bitter cold it went outside and froze. Not like I do much with the yard this time of year, but it is several inches deep. I do have a little bit of slope to the yard away from the house.

Hope to get to some trains this weekend.

 

[NorthBrit]

Good afternoon all. A warmer day than of late; we are on the plus side.

Sherrel. Reading that is really scary. Glad you are back.

A busy morning with jobs to attend to. An easier afternoon hopefully.

Time to make some lunch. I shall see what Dawn wants me to cook?

Back Later.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

MEL - some scrambled with bacon and a plate of hash browns and gravy
I'm hungry this morning!
Still glad to be here!

Sherrel- We are glad you are still here and able to take nourishment!

 

[ctclibby]

Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those with feral bacon on the menu...

It's troy again.

Looks like it snowed overnight. Haven't stuck my butt outside to measure it. I'll wait for this current batch to pass before I shovel the patio and front walk. The header on WeatherBug's page was pretty, so I thought I'd share. On the radar map, I'm near the "Fort Wayne" dot in the center.

View attachment 179803

Not sure what I said about this here in past threads, but yesterday I woke up and spent my creative time writing a blog post for the gaming blog I edit, all about gamer burnout, and how I'm going through it.

Had fun playing with the AI image generator. It has a problem with the size discrepancy between little 28mm toy soldiers and a full sized human. It won't make them that small. But it was interesting trying to get concept art.

View attachment 179804

The gist of the piece is that I was doing too much. After the pandemic subsided, the industry/hobby hit hard. Game Conventions and events sprang up like dandelions after a spring rain. I was helper at two events, and ran one. Plus my local scene I ran one. Then I switched games, and did a ton of painting in a short time.

And I've been talking about being burned out in that hobby for about a month now. But, yesterday, I had to vent about it. So I wrote. Got it out to the others on the blog's steering committee for feedback, and it should run next week if they don't suggest major changes.

And I'm arguing with BlueHost about getting a DKIM record set up for one of my domains. I use a newsletter service that sends emails to my readers, and Google/Yahoo are cracking down on spammers.

View attachment 179805

I'm trying to get the DKIM to stick, but it doesn't seem to want to...


Not sure if the TXT record needs the v=DKIM front tag or not on the value??? If you're a techie who understands that, let me know.

Not sure what I'm doing later today. The weather changes have given me a nagging little headache. I figure that means I need more coffee.

Troy:
I use SPF and have not needed DKIM ... yet.
SPF txt format is: v=spf1 mx a ip4:107.191.165.236/32 ~all

dig -t txt alyntroy.com
I don't think that you can use TLD's in SPF, needs to be an IP. You also have a colon ':' after the v=DKIM, not sure about the colon or semi-colon.

"v=spf1 include:_spf.mlsend.com a mx include:websitewelcome.com ~all"

"v=DKIM: k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0GC....bla, bla

Don't know if I helped or not?

Later

 

[santafewillie]

WELP - I didn't deflate, but heart damn near stopped!
Something about "disturbing" a nerve which set off a chain reaction: blood pressure went to 278 and heart rate was dropping be low 30. All of a sudden, I experienced some of the worst pain that I have ever had and there were instantly 6-7 people in the room and "Code Blue" was screaming throughout the hospital.

They were all frantic, I was frantic, and wife just about lost it when they announced RADIOLOGY!
Enough excitement for one day!

MEL - some scrambled with bacon and a plate of hash browns and gravy
I'm hungry this morning!
Still glad to be here!

Whoa Nellie! It's one thing for you to be frantic, but when a whole room full of medical personnel get frantic, it's time for concern. I guess that's why they call it Medical practice"!
Anyway, absolutely glad that you came through it.

 

[bnsf971]

WELP - I didn't deflate, but heart damn near stopped!
Something about "disturbing" a nerve which set off a chain reaction: blood pressure went to 278 and heart rate was dropping be low 30. All of a sudden, I experienced some of the worst pain that I have ever had and there were instantly 6-7 people in the room and "Code Blue" was screaming throughout the hospital.

They were all frantic, I was frantic, and wife just about lost it when they announced RADIOLOGY!
Enough excitement for one day!


Still glad to be here!

Sherrel, what did I tell you about scaring the medical professionals?

We're also glad you're still here.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

28° and snowing here, supposed to snow til 5 today. Nothing screws up a dealership worse than snow. We've all been out there slipping and sliding and moving cars. Now they are plowing, so I'm back at my desk with a mug of coffee letting my feet thaw out. The young bucks finally made it in, so I'll let them play in the snow. 2 of us "older guys" have already fallen on their butts (not me), I'm not tempting fate.

Sherrel, don't spook us like that! Glad it all worked out and your back!

Troy:
I use SPF and have not needed DKIM ... yet.
SPF txt format is: v=spf1 mx a ip4:107.191.165.236/32 ~all

dig -t txt alyntroy.com
I don't think that you can use TLD's in SPF, needs to be an IP. You also have a colon ':' after the v=DKIM, not sure about the colon or semi-colon.

"v=spf1 include:_spf.mlsend.com a mx include:websitewelcome.com ~all"

"v=DKIM: k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0GC....bla, bla

Don't know if I helped or not?

Later

This is all Geek to me!

BBL

 

[ctclibby]

Troy:
I use SPF and have not needed DKIM ... yet.
SPF txt format is: v=spf1 mx a ip4:107.191.165.236/32 ~all

dig -t txt alyntroy.com
I don't think that you can use TLD's in SPF, needs to be an IP. You also have a colon ':' after the v=DKIM, not sure about the colon or semi-colon.

"v=spf1 include:_spf.mlsend.com a mx include:websitewelcome.com ~all"

"v=DKIM: k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0GC....bla, bla

Don't know if I helped or not?

Later

Troy, did more looking around. DKIM should be DKIM1 whereas 1 is the version. Don't think that has changed yet.

Later

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

28° and snowing here, supposed to snow til 5 today. Nothing screws up a dealership worse than snow. We've all been out there slipping and sliding and moving cars. Now they are plowing, so I'm back at my desk with a mug of coffee letting my feet thaw out. The young bucks finally made it in, so I'll let them play in the snow. 2 of us "older guys" have already fallen on their butts (not me), I'm not tempting fate.

Sherrel, don't spook us like that! Glad it all worked out and your back!

Troy:
I use SPF and have not needed DKIM ... yet.
SPF txt format is: v=spf1 mx a ip4:107.191.165.236/32 ~all

dig -t txt alyntroy.com
I don't think that you can use TLD's in SPF, needs to be an IP. You also have a colon ':' after the v=DKIM, not sure about the colon or semi-colon.

"v=spf1 include:_spf.mlsend.com a mx include:websitewelcome.com ~all"

"v=DKIM: k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0GC....bla, bla

Don't know if I helped or not?

Later

This is all Geek to me!

 

[troyphoto]

Troy will you be able to share the blog with us. Burn out is real in everything

Tom

Yep. It publishes on Tues. It's still in tweaking mode as my compatriots read the draft.

 

[migalyto]

WELP - I didn't deflate, but heart damn near stopped!
Something about "disturbing" a nerve which set off a chain reaction: blood pressure went to 278 and heart rate was dropping be low 30. All of a sudden, I experienced some of the worst pain that I have ever had and there were instantly 6-7 people in the room and "Code Blue" was screaming throughout the hospital.

They were all frantic, I was frantic, and wife just about lost it when they announced RADIOLOGY!
Enough excitement for one day!

MEL - some scrambled with bacon and a plate of hash browns and gravy
I'm hungry this morning!
Still glad to be here!

You seem to have all the action!

So glad your still with us!

 

[migalyto]

Good afternoon all. A warmer day than of late; we are on the plus side.

We have some cooler temps to send you if it gets too warm for you!

 

[NYC_George]

It was a learning experience getting both my parents in a nursing home. Best thing my brother and I did was get a lawyer that specialize in that. We were able to keep the nursing home from taking everything and did the paperwork to put them on Medicaid.

So I'm taking Tom's advice heading to our lawyer's office. I called the heath aid company in our town and they want $45.00 an hour with the minimum of 24 hours a week (24 X 45 = 1080). That's a 1080 a week X 52 X 1080 $56,000 a year and I would have to take care of her the other 4 days a week. That's in home care 3 days a week. So off to our lawyer's office I go.
Swal

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 21° with stiff north winds of 17 mph. Wind chill is 7°. This cold spell is easy compared to the one at the beginning of the week, as it is at least going above freezing each day. Back into the mid-50's on Monday. And I thought that we had major problems along the southern border; there's way too much cold weather crossing our northern border this year.

Yesterday's weekly grocery trek went well, other than the aisles in the store still have too many re-stock carts making for a real maze going up and down them. I spoke with a couple of firefighters who I see every week when I am there. I jokingly asked why they just shop for one day's worth of groceries at a time? One of them said that going every day relieves some of the monotony of being in the fire station for their 12 hour shifts! So tax $$$ pay for daily grocery treks as well as feeding them daily! Two different companies use this Kroger so I assume that they get a discount. And yes, they use a big fire truck, presumably in case they get called for an emergency while there. They are usually starting their shopping just as I am finishing, so I never see them at the cash register.
Meanwhile, gasoline around the city seems to have dropped again to $2.63/gal; down 6¢ from last week.

Beautiful day after I got home. It reached 58° with just a light wind. Perfect day for spreading wood ashes and more compost on the garden. I'm getting excited about planting time coming up in just two weeks or so. The compost and wood ashes can just remain on top of the soil if I don't get a chance to till it in, it works just as well either way. I have already made the mid-winter tilling so the ground is ready.
Today is for some indoor chores and bringing in firewood for some exercise. The wind is supposed to die down later so I won't walk until it does.

Love the new computer monitor, that extra inch of size really does make a difference. I did have to turn on the "nighttime light" setting to reduce the brightness in the evening. It's always been there, but I never needed to activate it.

I even had time to go out to the train shed yesterday and run some more engines/trains. They are all a little stiff after the four days of temperatures below 48° out there.
I also started removing and cleaning structures as part of the quarterly layout cleaning project. I am starting with the structures in the vicinity of the cemetery since I already removed them to allow access to the site. Other than making that fence this week, I really haven't done anything on that project since before Christmas.
No pictures yet on any projects, as I refocus on them this weekend. I did inspect, clean and repair if needed, 86 freight cars while I had them moved out of the staging yard. There is still 2-16 car container trains left to do, but they are currently in the staging yard on the other end of the lower level...out of sight, out of mind.
Here are some engine pictures from the archives, although some may be duplicates as I can't always remember which ones that I posted before.

Todd - I was aware of the off/on setting for the touchpad, but I don't use it because I would certainly forget to turn it back on when handing the laptop back to her. The fallout would be worse than the inconvenience to me.
David - Excuse my ignorance regarding British steam engines and facilities. But what is that white thing over the steam engine in your third photo in post #826 yesterday?
Louis - Speaking of Baltimore, I was reading that the Baltimore Sun just got a new owner recently. Is it too soon to tell how that is working out? It is actually one of the online sources of news that I read despite our differing political leanings. They generally seemed relatively fair in their coverage, although it was all biased a bit.
Hughie - Did you replace your water heater with a tank type or a tankless type? I am very happy with my tankless type that I installed about four years ago.
Troy/Todd - Y'all's conversation this morning was way above my pay grade, but interesting.
Tom O - How about some pictures of your sawmill some day. I would find them fascinating.

Interesting day for birthdays today, some are somewhat controversial. Robert E Lee, Edgar Allan Poe, Paula Dean is 77, Dolly Parton is 78 and Janis Joplin would have been 81.

Everyone have a nice day today. Don't overdo the snow removal.