Running Bear's January 2024 Coffee Shop
- Thread starter bnsf971
- Start date
ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
Growing up we'd get snow days off when the busses couldn't run due to snow and ice. It was a more rural community so kids couldn't walk 3-7 miles to school, especially in the bad weather. When the weather sucked we were always listening to the radio for the school closure announcement lists and always disappointed when our school wasn't listed. This was way before internet etc so the radio was the conduit. For the whole state (Mass) the radio stations would list school district after school district.
Burnout comes in all forms and as you wrote not just in our hobbies.
My journey into the dark hole of burnout started around Thanksgiving of 2021 when the bans of Covid were finally being loosened in Wisconsin. The closures of Covid had accelerated my weathering sideline into almost a full time business. No problem, retired, sometimes healthy, turning something I had come to love (weathering) into a little bit more money for the trains was easy with FB sales sites. On top of the weathering I still custom fabricated scale structures and designed and built slot car tracks. Covid caused me to become busy, very busy! After Thanksgiving of 2021 I stopped sleeping and my daily life started to suffer. I still forced myself into the train room and my workshop that my wife started calling the Weathering Studio! During a routine Doctor in person visit, I literally freaked out on the examine table and it took a bit for the Doctor to calm me down from my 1st ever anxiety attack. Sleeping or I should say trying to sleep was a nightmare that lead to daily anxiety attacks. But, the weathering previously fun now became a chore! I had promises to keep and I had never missed a deadline in my life! So, I pushed through it. That’s what we did, it’s the way aI was raised…
Troy, your 1 step at a time approach in theory is wonderful but it didnt work for me. I needed a jolt and got it. I saw a Behavior Specialist, not a shrink but close at the local UW Health Medical System Clinic. That was 1/20/2022. She listened, she chuckled and I asked what was so f…ing funny. I was very easily set off in those couple months. She says you are experiencing what so many in the healthcare field were experiencing, Covid Burnout. Following the rule, limited human contact, staying sheltered, etc… Yeah, that hit home. She went on to explain that I wasn’t abnormal just suffering because of the way you grew up, keep it inside and it will be alright in the end. She continued that your generation is/was always great at compartmentalization. Being able to internally shuffle things around and ignoring the pains that ail you.
Gee, another nail on the head. So how did my climb out of burnout, anxiety and yeah, depression start. Why by finding my ”happy space” within my mind. I couldn’t believe she was telling me this gobble, the new age crap but I promised I’d give it a try. 2 days of forcing myself to find my “happy space” felt like a joke. On night 2 I slept laying down in a bed for almost 5 hours. The climb as you Troy describes it had begun.
Other things done over the next month was to throttle back on the custom building but the weathering continued. I felt good now and occasionally could just walk away from the hobby of trains including the weathering. I dropped daily stopping In at way to many Model Train Forums and basically even today regularly only visit 2. Reduced my online exposure that I still fight even today. I have started reducing my online time on Tuesday and Thursday. ( I know today is Tuesday but there will be no weathering for all of February) I have re-kindled my love of golf and reduced my FB sales to practically nothing.
My advice is don’t fight the burnout. Walk away a little farther than you have and let things happen around you. Maybe reducing those armies of gremlins, orcs and tiny soldiers. That may help you not feel like you have to immerse yourself into getting them completed.
Remember when Simone Biles choked at the Olympics. I would say if she had issues of doubt as she said she should have walked away and given another USA team member a chance at glory. Fight through it or get out.
BOY, how I came to regret expressing that out loud as I came to understand what she was going through. The no sleep, forcing my way through my weathering and no longer being the wonderful person I used to be.
I now use this forum to express some of my feelings and doubts when approaching burnout. The guys and the occasional gals (missing JazA) here are good listeners and many of us are of thatage generation, keep it to yourself and push through it.
Troy, keep expressing yourself as you did in that blog post you have shared with us. The burnout will lessen and you may get back into gaming but in a more thoughtful way that makes sense to you! In the meantime the trains can be a source of relaxation and if they become a frustrating chore, go read, not write, a book. The best to you…
TomO
Swal
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)
- Status
santafewillie
Same Ol' Buzzard
Good Morning All. Currently foggy and 38°, once again the temperature rose overnight. We're under a dense fog advisory, supposed to rain again around noon. Right now, it's hard to tell if this is dense fog alone or it's misting! No accumulation yet in my rain gauge. Rain is still in the forecast for the rest of the week.
Yesterday was just a miserable day, starting with freezing rain, although the roads were just wet, then drizzle for the rest of the day. Between Sunday night and yesterday, I got just 0.25" in the rain gauge.
My cardiologist visit yesterday was uneventful, just a routine follow-up to the stent put in 18 months ago. I continue to be cleared for normal activity. While I was in town, I got my ears lowered and stopped by the pharmacy on the way home.
Today's activities will start with emptying the dishwasher; after lunch sometime I need to do ash removal from the wood burning heater. It's supposed to be near 50° later on, and 60° by Friday. But I need to take some ashes/embers out now in order to have an efficient fire. Next week the forecast is for 65° and I will let it go out completely and do a thorough cleaning with no embers!
My main train activity yesterday was logging maintenance information into my database in the computer. I am now complete through March 2023. I also need to update the new freight cars that I added to the layout. Even though most were bought 10 years ago, I have just been slowly assembling the kits and adding to the layout population. I'm about 20 entries behind. Later in the afternoon, I ventured out to the train shed to again run trains and inspect and clean cars. No additional progress on either the cemetery or the quarterly layout cleaning. All of the track and ROW's are done and about a third of the structures have been dusted off. As I continue, I will clear the roads of vehicles and vacuum, clean those vehicles and re-place them; normally in different positions. I have two classes of vehicles, those with drivers and those without - kinda determines which ones go where. I'll sometimes add drivers also.
Here's the next round of photos from the model railroad club. I was mainly focused on scenery and scenes, as I have seen enough trains running over the years.
It's quite obvious here that they do a lot of switching as there are many large industries.
And there is a block party to attend.
Downtown is busy but it seems that everyone is inside. I assume that there are some removable hatches in there somewhere, as there is no way to access any of this downtown area from any aisles, even the non-public one in behind everything.
There's even a Discount Model Trains there, although it doesn't resemble the real thing in any way.
Of particular interest to me right now is their cemetery.
And just like the layout posted Sunday, there's a drive-in movie here. It's just to the right of the cemetery, note the retaining wall.
Mike -
Everybody have a great day. Stay dry if you're near me.
Yesterday was just a miserable day, starting with freezing rain, although the roads were just wet, then drizzle for the rest of the day. Between Sunday night and yesterday, I got just 0.25" in the rain gauge.
My cardiologist visit yesterday was uneventful, just a routine follow-up to the stent put in 18 months ago. I continue to be cleared for normal activity. While I was in town, I got my ears lowered and stopped by the pharmacy on the way home.
Today's activities will start with emptying the dishwasher; after lunch sometime I need to do ash removal from the wood burning heater. It's supposed to be near 50° later on, and 60° by Friday. But I need to take some ashes/embers out now in order to have an efficient fire. Next week the forecast is for 65° and I will let it go out completely and do a thorough cleaning with no embers!
My main train activity yesterday was logging maintenance information into my database in the computer. I am now complete through March 2023. I also need to update the new freight cars that I added to the layout. Even though most were bought 10 years ago, I have just been slowly assembling the kits and adding to the layout population. I'm about 20 entries behind. Later in the afternoon, I ventured out to the train shed to again run trains and inspect and clean cars. No additional progress on either the cemetery or the quarterly layout cleaning. All of the track and ROW's are done and about a third of the structures have been dusted off. As I continue, I will clear the roads of vehicles and vacuum, clean those vehicles and re-place them; normally in different positions. I have two classes of vehicles, those with drivers and those without - kinda determines which ones go where. I'll sometimes add drivers also.
Here's the next round of photos from the model railroad club. I was mainly focused on scenery and scenes, as I have seen enough trains running over the years.
It's quite obvious here that they do a lot of switching as there are many large industries.
And there is a block party to attend.
Downtown is busy but it seems that everyone is inside. I assume that there are some removable hatches in there somewhere, as there is no way to access any of this downtown area from any aisles, even the non-public one in behind everything.
There's even a Discount Model Trains there, although it doesn't resemble the real thing in any way.
Of particular interest to me right now is their cemetery.
And just like the layout posted Sunday, there's a drive-in movie here. It's just to the right of the cemetery, note the retaining wall.
Mike -
That reminds me that up until the year 2002 or so, the bus drivers in our local school district still carried paddles on the buses, with overwhelming approval from parents. And they used them on occasion.
Everybody have a great day. Stay dry if you're near me.
troyphoto
Snarky Old Fart (in training)
Well, howdy there internet peeps and those in Dixville Notch
It's Troy again
We're up to 35° F... so hopefully the ice will start to melt as the rain gets a bit warmer. Had freezing drizzle overnight.
For those asking about my burnout article:
nodicenoglory.com
It's live. Enjoy reading. Most of the images are from LeonardoAI
It's Troy again
We're up to 35° F... so hopefully the ice will start to melt as the rain gets a bit warmer. Had freezing drizzle overnight.
For those asking about my burnout article:
Burnout and finding a new gaming path
By Troy Hill I had to face a stark realization recently. I’m in gaming burnout. That’s not surprising looking back at the last three years. When the pandemic hit, a lot of gamers went f…
nodicenoglory.com
It's live. Enjoy reading. Most of the images are from LeonardoAI
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
That is frigging hilarious
Sirfoldalot
Days Gone Bye!
Greetings from the SW corner of the room!
Starting at 59 degrees looking for 68 and cloudy later on.
Before this latest flooding ... we were 1.5 inches below annual normal -- today we are 1.5 inches above annual normal; it really came down yesterday! Out here that is a monsoon.
I have to go back and read the prior two pages ... but, we never closed the school for anything.
BILL - Great photo of the boxcar -love it!
BBL - peeps
Starting at 59 degrees looking for 68 and cloudy later on.
Before this latest flooding ... we were 1.5 inches below annual normal -- today we are 1.5 inches above annual normal; it really came down yesterday! Out here that is a monsoon.
I have to go back and read the prior two pages ... but, we never closed the school for anything.
BILL - Great photo of the boxcar -love it!
BBL - peeps
Sirfoldalot
Days Gone Bye!
Strange that you would have had this problem ... HAVE HAD FRONTIER FOR YEARS with not so much as a hiccup.
TLOC
Well-Known Member
Good morning from another that heard they walked uphill both ways and the snow was over their heads. We had the WeatherChannel app showing an inch of snow in the last 12 hours. But the TV person per Terry translating for me says the rain started around six and it’s icy. I can see that out the window. I had a late wake up this morning. Out of bed at 8:03 and Terry said she checked if I was still breathing. Normal sleep time at midnight, fell to sleep immediately but woke at 1:30 and could not fall back. I remember checking the iPad at 3 and wondering if I should just get up. Then got 5 hours in. I have a headache and yes I took something for it. I may even do another diet Dr Pepper!
The school bus made it in our area and the local schools are schooling. South and west of us are closed, closing or delayed. Generally once there they keep the students the whole day as the bus drivers work other part time jobs.
Thank the electronic wizards of the world for Bluetooth. Terry is enraptured with the TV right now as the Oscar nominees are being announced. I thankfully do not have to hear them. We have not been to the movie theaters since Covid started in March 2020! Before that every Tuesday we went to the movies with few exceptions starting in 2010. After I retired in 2014 we started also going on some Fridays.
Terry during a commercial just announced we are not driving to Racine today or tomorrow. I was unaware we were even thinking about that!
enjoy the day
The school bus made it in our area and the local schools are schooling. South and west of us are closed, closing or delayed. Generally once there they keep the students the whole day as the bus drivers work other part time jobs.
Thank the electronic wizards of the world for Bluetooth. Terry is enraptured with the TV right now as the Oscar nominees are being announced. I thankfully do not have to hear them. We have not been to the movie theaters since Covid started in March 2020! Before that every Tuesday we went to the movies with few exceptions starting in 2010. After I retired in 2014 we started also going on some Fridays.
Terry during a commercial just announced we are not driving to Racine today or tomorrow. I was unaware we were even thinking about that!
enjoy the day
Sirfoldalot
Days Gone Bye!
WILLIE - Perchance, I hope that you did not see my name on there?
santafewillie
Same Ol' Buzzard
Nope! I don't expect to see it any time soon.
Sirfoldalot
Days Gone Bye!
WILLIE - The detail on that Club's layout is astonishing! Thanks for posting, but it's Texas: Where are the oil wells and refinery's?
chadbag
Well-Known Member
Up hill both ways!
Growing up we'd get snow days off when the busses couldn't run due to snow and ice. It was a more rural community so kids couldn't walk 3-7 miles to school, especially in the bad weather. When the weather sucked we were always listening to the radio for the school closure announcement lists and always disappointed when our school wasn't listed. This was way before internet etc so the radio was the conduit. For the whole state (Mass) the radio stations would list school district after school district.
TLOC
Well-Known Member
Excellent story about your journey into burn out and hopefully your way out. I knew from your postings here that you were very involved in your gaming but I guess not to the involvement you were/are.Well, howdy there internet peeps and those in Dixville Notch
It's Troy again
We're up to 35° F... so hopefully the ice will start to melt as the rain gets a bit warmer. Had freezing drizzle overnight.
For those asking about my burnout article:
Burnout and finding a new gaming path
By Troy Hill I had to face a stark realization recently. I’m in gaming burnout. That’s not surprising looking back at the last three years. When the pandemic hit, a lot of gamers went f…
It's live. Enjoy reading. Most of the images are from LeonardoAI
Burnout comes in all forms and as you wrote not just in our hobbies.
My journey into the dark hole of burnout started around Thanksgiving of 2021 when the bans of Covid were finally being loosened in Wisconsin. The closures of Covid had accelerated my weathering sideline into almost a full time business. No problem, retired, sometimes healthy, turning something I had come to love (weathering) into a little bit more money for the trains was easy with FB sales sites. On top of the weathering I still custom fabricated scale structures and designed and built slot car tracks. Covid caused me to become busy, very busy! After Thanksgiving of 2021 I stopped sleeping and my daily life started to suffer. I still forced myself into the train room and my workshop that my wife started calling the Weathering Studio! During a routine Doctor in person visit, I literally freaked out on the examine table and it took a bit for the Doctor to calm me down from my 1st ever anxiety attack. Sleeping or I should say trying to sleep was a nightmare that lead to daily anxiety attacks. But, the weathering previously fun now became a chore! I had promises to keep and I had never missed a deadline in my life! So, I pushed through it. That’s what we did, it’s the way aI was raised…
Troy, your 1 step at a time approach in theory is wonderful but it didnt work for me. I needed a jolt and got it. I saw a Behavior Specialist, not a shrink but close at the local UW Health Medical System Clinic. That was 1/20/2022. She listened, she chuckled and I asked what was so f…ing funny. I was very easily set off in those couple months. She says you are experiencing what so many in the healthcare field were experiencing, Covid Burnout. Following the rule, limited human contact, staying sheltered, etc… Yeah, that hit home. She went on to explain that I wasn’t abnormal just suffering because of the way you grew up, keep it inside and it will be alright in the end. She continued that your generation is/was always great at compartmentalization. Being able to internally shuffle things around and ignoring the pains that ail you.
Gee, another nail on the head. So how did my climb out of burnout, anxiety and yeah, depression start. Why by finding my ”happy space” within my mind. I couldn’t believe she was telling me this gobble, the new age crap but I promised I’d give it a try. 2 days of forcing myself to find my “happy space” felt like a joke. On night 2 I slept laying down in a bed for almost 5 hours. The climb as you Troy describes it had begun.
Other things done over the next month was to throttle back on the custom building but the weathering continued. I felt good now and occasionally could just walk away from the hobby of trains including the weathering. I dropped daily stopping In at way to many Model Train Forums and basically even today regularly only visit 2. Reduced my online exposure that I still fight even today. I have started reducing my online time on Tuesday and Thursday. ( I know today is Tuesday but there will be no weathering for all of February) I have re-kindled my love of golf and reduced my FB sales to practically nothing.
My advice is don’t fight the burnout. Walk away a little farther than you have and let things happen around you. Maybe reducing those armies of gremlins, orcs and tiny soldiers. That may help you not feel like you have to immerse yourself into getting them completed.
Remember when Simone Biles choked at the Olympics. I would say if she had issues of doubt as she said she should have walked away and given another USA team member a chance at glory. Fight through it or get out.
BOY, how I came to regret expressing that out loud as I came to understand what she was going through. The no sleep, forcing my way through my weathering and no longer being the wonderful person I used to be.
I now use this forum to express some of my feelings and doubts when approaching burnout. The guys and the occasional gals (missing JazA) here are good listeners and many of us are of thatage generation, keep it to yourself and push through it.
Troy, keep expressing yourself as you did in that blog post you have shared with us. The burnout will lessen and you may get back into gaming but in a more thoughtful way that makes sense to you! In the meantime the trains can be a source of relaxation and if they become a frustrating chore, go read, not write, a book. The best to you…
TomO
Grizzled
Well-Known Member
Morning folks
39 and the great January thaw continues.
Late start, had to help my wife wash her hair-the simple stuff she can no longer do. sigh Burnout indeed but unfortunately, it isn't ever going to be any better.
The new battery (Odyssey) for the RAV4 arrived last evening so that install is on the day's plate. It should be the same dimensions as the Toyota battery so there shouldn't be an issue with the battery hold down not working with the smaller replacement batteries. The Toyota battery, in theory, should have been good for another year but it was real unhappy at -30F.
The day's question: does anyone make HO scale John Deere decals for the Woodland Scenic's JD tractors?
39 and the great January thaw continues.
Late start, had to help my wife wash her hair-the simple stuff she can no longer do. sigh Burnout indeed but unfortunately, it isn't ever going to be any better.
The new battery (Odyssey) for the RAV4 arrived last evening so that install is on the day's plate. It should be the same dimensions as the Toyota battery so there shouldn't be an issue with the battery hold down not working with the smaller replacement batteries. The Toyota battery, in theory, should have been good for another year but it was real unhappy at -30F.
The day's question: does anyone make HO scale John Deere decals for the Woodland Scenic's JD tractors?
jmupton2000
John M Upton
It be a dark and stormy night down Portsmouth...
...but the heater in the cab works thankfully!
...but the heater in the cab works thankfully!
NYC_George
Well-Known Member
Some more nice photos Willie.
Swal
NYC_George
Well-Known Member
I talked to the nursing home finance. person today and found out some things I didn't know. I said in a previous post my wife made $27,500 from her retirement's funds. I added everything up yesterday and now with the increases last year her income is $30,602.00. 602 dollars over the Medicaid limit for nursing home stays. She receives $607.00 from my RR retirement for some reason but that puts her over the limit. The nursing home finance person said if she's over the limit we will only have to pay the amount she's over $602.00. That's good news. I tried calling our lawyer to see if this is true, but she wasn't in her office.
Swal
Swal
rgeiter
Conrail Quality
- Status
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)