Running Bear's January 2025 Coffee Shop

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Good morning, Everybody!

I survived the winter storm, thanks to the good Samaritans. I'm tired, but I'm none the worse for wear.

We ended up with eight inches of snow in our backyard. Fortunately, there was no additional accumulation on the cleared surfaces from the second wave of the storm. This was the most snow since we bought this house in late 2017. The snow blower my son gave me proved to be a blessing.

I read online that the Christmas season extends to the first Sunday after the Epiphany. That gives me a great excuse to leave the Christmas Tree up in the living room! 😁

Years ago, I used to take the tree down after the Super Bowl. That was when they played a 14-game schedule and there were only two rounds of the playoffs before the Super Bowl.

I like to see the lights from the Christmas tree reflecting on the TV screen when I watch football. It doesn't take much to keep me happy.

Have an enjoyable day Everybody!
 
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Good morning! It's 19°F in Tipton.
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Morning all,

A comfortable 6° and clear this morning, going for a scorching high of 22° and sunny later. Roads are worse in the work county than the home county. Not sure why. With today's sun, a lot more is going to melt.

I hate tire pressure monitors. Truck said I have a low tire and to service tpm. All tires were at 32#, so none are low and I suspect I have a sensor that died (usually what the service message means). Which means I'll ignore them and when I change the tires, replace them with normal old fashioned valve stems. I monitor once a week anyway. That's what they make pressure gauges for. $10 is a lot cheaper than even 1 of the $125 sensors. The ones on the Equinox at least gives you the pressure and location. The Colorado just says low tire.
 
Its been a while since my wife and I have been there too. I just loved to hang around and watch all the people and happenings.

I'm not much of a gambler either .#1 I never win! #2 I always looked at it as not losing a few hindered bucks but losing a DCC/sound locomotive and a few pieces of rolling stock that I could of had instead. :D


Yep...I always look at that. the value of the dollar what I could spend on vs gambling it away. Lady Luck isn't always in my favor at all....so I think the same way I could buy another locomotive....oh look a locomotive me likes lol
 
Does anyone here purchase Brekina HO scale vehicles. They have been making strides and expanding quite a bit in the 6 months. I recently have been getting a few trucks (semis/tractors) Peterbuilts, Kenworth and other manufactures for my layout. Trucks N Stuff is good too but lately Brekina is coming out with some detailed HO models. Love that they are Diecast too. I recently got the "Rubber Duck" from the movie Convoy so coooool! Looking for a correct tanker for it though. I will find one. I also got the cab over from the old 70's show BJ and the Bear too. lol I will upload pictures in a minute.
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Gambling.

We were on Queen Mary 2 on our return to the U.K.
I cannot remember the reason, but Dawn was waiting for me. Where she was it was busy with people coming and going. She saw an empty seat and sat down.
"You cannot sit there unless you play the machines," the Casino Attendant said.

When I returned Dawn had LOST TWO DOLLARS.

She has never lived it down.
 
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Good morning to the Crew. It’s a nice +6f degrees because the winds are calm at 1mph gusting to 3! High later should be mid 20’s. I did the 2 mile walk in the dark neighborhood this morning. I’ve had to use the machine (treadmill) that goes nowhere the last couple of weeks because of the pain Terry had been experiencing. I say had been because Sunday evening it disappeared as quickly as it came on at Thanksgiving. She is suffering some headaches but we are thinking it’s still the caffeine withdrawal. She is down to 1 full cup of coffee at wake-up! She does have Wednesday appointments she will keep with the neurologist and the pain clinic.

Today between time at the bench I am re-arranging the seasonal item storage area. It was originally going to be my staging area but the 8’x 24’ area became bin storage for all the seasonal indoor stuff we have and modeling stuff. Terry has eliminated almost 1/2 of the bins the last 5 years so after this seasonal elimination one side of the room just has the shelf. Because we are staying here I have some thoughts for trains for the shelf conveniently at 52” to match the main deck of the layout. First though I have to re-do the bin #’s for the Christmas items. Each bin gets a number! Each space in storage has a corresponding #. Bins go into those numbered areas. Christmas bins were using all the floor space and are in green or red colored bins. Winter bins are blue, Halloween is orange bin with black lids and so forth. Yep, slightly anal but it has worked the past 30 years in all the houses we’ve had. No bin storage any where else in the house. That keeps Under my layout clear except for one of my workbench areas. The garage floor and walls are also clear. Right before Covid of 2020, that January I with help did the daughter/SIL storage areas and 1 of their neighbors. Both still are using it but in different houses.

Enjoy the day
 
First though I have to re-do the bin #’s for the Christmas items. Each bin gets a number! Each space in storage has a corresponding #. Bins go into those numbered areas. Christmas bins were using all the floor space and are in green or red colored bins. Winter bins are blue, Halloween is orange bin with black lids and so forth.
That is brilliant!

I use boxes reinforced with packing tape and labeled. It works, but I like your method so much more. I often must pull out several boxes to find the one I want.
 
That is brilliant!

I use boxes reinforced with packing tape and labeled. It works, but I like your method so much more. I often must pull out several boxes to find the one I want.
I have a few buddies that think it’s crazy. I found cardboard boxes to be awkward for our storage space and cardboard didn’t hold up well in the garage. After 1 Christmas 30+ years ago Menards had a red/green Rubbermaid bin sale! I purchased 10 and for years looked to the sales at Menards but mainly HD and Lowe’s. Once I had uniformed sized bins that easily stacked the organization became easy. Then one year I numbered the bins and added those numbers to the shelf so they returned to the same spot. The colors came later for the bins that weren’t Christmas red and green.

It’s the little things
 
Good Morning All. Clear skies and 19° again this morning. Should be only 24° overnight tonight. Then the chance for 8" of snow on Thursday. Not really looking forward to that.

Yesterday's trip to the dentist was a dud. The new permanent crown did not fit. He couldn't get it on right, even after filing on it a bunch. I also told him that it was too big, protruding further into the inside of my jaw than the former tooth or the temporary crown. After more than an hour of trying the new one, I have my temporary back in again until the 16th. While I didn't ask, I think that it was either made wrong or it wasn't mine to begin with.
Christmas stuff is down and in the totes, but I haven't made the trip to the attic yet, today it will happen. Daughter and grandson came up last night to get the granddog. For some reason, I thought their stay in South Jersey was going to be longer, but grandsons have school today. Wife rescheduled our combined primary care doctor's visit from today until next month, so that's off the schedule for today. Dermatologist is still tomorrow and I will go grocery shopping on that trip...perhaps I will beat the Snowmageddon rush. Probably not though.

I did some more structure rehab out in the train shed yesterday, this time on some resin structures from Magnuson. But I left the camera out there and I'm not trekking out in this cold yet. These structures all came with cardstock roofs which have warped too badly to ignore. Here are a couple of shots from the archives.
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I think that I recently posted a shot or two of Ellis Industrial Tools; this one is before I added the sign.
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James - I personally was not impressed with my one and only trip to Las Vegas. Business trip, so all expenses paid. I'm not a gambler so that has no allure to me. If I was a gambler, there is a WinStar casino just 25 miles north of me, and no red lights between me and them.
I think that I have some Brekina trucks scattered about the layout.

It must be cold in Washington DC. Yesterday I saw TV footage of our representatives with their hands in their own pockets.

Everyone have a great Tuesday. Stay warm.
 
If Dawn had her way everything would go in one bin.
Sounds like my wife.

She will pack the kitchen bin so full and keep pushing till there is no roon possibe and the bag wont come out without stretching to the limit getting it out. Heck the garbage and recycle bins are out the door thru the breezeway and into the garage less than 25 feet. Dont even have to walk outside!

I know better as to say anything! :D
 
Good morning, y'all. I'm Len, 78 and live (for about 3 more weeks) in East Texas. I've been reading through the Coffee Shop threads for several months now and I see there's a bunch of good folks with some common interests here. It also seems like a pretty close knit group so I will tread lightly. I've been sort of an on-and-off model railroader for many years. I started the Pine Flat diorama several months ago only to have to pack it all up and get ready for our move to Cheyenne at the end of the month. I'm really hoping this will be the last move for us...
Anyway, with your permissions, I would like to join the group for coffee from time to time. Thanks and a good day to all.
 


Good morning, y'all. I'm Len, 78 and live (for about 3 more weeks) in East Texas. I've been reading through the Coffee Shop threads for several months now and I see there's a bunch of good folks with some common interests here. It also seems like a pretty close knit group so I will tread lightly. I've been sort of an on-and-off model railroader for many years. I started the Pine Flat diorama several months ago only to have to pack it all up and get ready for our move to Cheyenne at the end of the month. I'm really hoping this will be the last move for us...
Anyway, with your permissions, I would like to join the group for coffee from time to time. Thanks and a good day to all.
Welcome to the Coffee Shop Len.

Your right, a great group here! Don't be shy, jump on the pile!
 
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