Running Bear's January 2026 Coffee Shop

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40 min ago it was 28f. Now at 9am it’s 32F. The weather forecast for the next 10 days is pretty much the same. Between partly cloudy and sunny daily with highs in mid 40s and overnight lows somewhere in the 20s. Only 1 day is a little colder with highs in upper 30s and overnight low at about 19. Same “partly sunny” or whatever. Just cooler.

How those forecasted temperatures map to our neighborhood could change it a degree or three but it’s basically the same weather we’ve been having.

Unfortunately this weather brings inversion most days. Yesterday wants bad but a lot of days are. Luckily we are in the edge of the valley and a little higher up so the air is not as bad on high inversion days as in the middle of the valley. Looking along the edge of the valley from our neighborhood you can see pretty far compared to looking across the valley.

Luckily the air in the house is better. House is air tight so it’s not leaking in through gaps that much. And the ventilation system has two good filters in it plus each outgoing to the rooms manifolds have filters as well.

Our main room has a “table top” air filter that shows the particulate level and I have another particulate level meter in the house and they show basicallly nothing. Even when I go outside and walk our neighborhood I don’t notice it much but looking across the valley you can see the bad air.

So while I like the warmer days and lack of snow in the valley the inversion is bad. (And we need lots of snow in the mountains to help refill the reservoirs Snow there, rain here is fine).
 


Good morning. Started to post last week and the other day and got interrupted with a phone call and never got back to the computer. Was supposed to start chemo last week but the hospital in Kalispell wanted to get another biopsy on something that was detected on a PET scan done prior to the surgery. Really pissed me off. They won't start the chemo until they get the results of the biopsy. Have been on the phone for hours trying to find out why they all of a sudden are concerned with this and couldn't do a biopsy when I was stuck in the hospital for 11 days.

Willie- Those temperatures are colder than we have had here in Montana. The donuts in the photo in question are made in the diner on the corner in the photo. Sorry to see that the tractors were damaged. That fire truck and the Trailways bus were a couple of my favorites. Looking at a few boxes, there are still over 100 vehicles left. I had a lot of legless 1/87 people.

Kusojiji- Those log cars are, or were at least still in service up to a few years ago. Saw them in service heading west out of Livingston, MT. I have 3 of them along with logs in HO scale if you're interested.

Marliin39
- Love the picture. Years ago we had an American Eskimo that we adopter along with may dachshunds and she just loved to lay outside, no matter how bad the weather. If she was riding in a car, she wanted the window down, even if temps were below zero. She had a bed out on the front porch and would rather be out on the bed, in a storm with snow coming down sideways than come inside.

rgeiter - It's all in the details. Those little details are what makes a good scene.

Mikey - I thought I had a lot of figures. You win. Sent what ones I could find off to Willie, but have come across a few more. Figures sure make a scene.

chadbag - Working on cars and engines is a hobby that I really miss since moving into a town and into a place without a garage. I have my classics spread out across the state with relatives who had room to store them. Not much of a fan of new vehicles because of the technology which seems to be a major problem with them. I wouldn't even consider buying a new car with all of the horror stories I have seen on auto blogs. My newest vehicle is a '97 Buick Riviera. After a deer murdered my car, I didn't have much time to find a replacement, but the Riviera only had 57,000 miles on it and was like new inside and out. It had a couple of codes that the seller didn't want to pay to find out what they were. I have a tablet that dealerships use and gave him a lowball offer, $3,500 and was able to get it back to 100% for less than $200. Been driving it for a year and a half without a single problem. The 3800 V-6 was a big selling point.

kbkchooch - I will agree with the wiring insulation. It's like a delicatessen for rodents. Had to replace and intake air temp sensor 3 times because of that. Peppermint cured that problem. I wrapped the wire from the loom to the sensor with aliminum foil and then sprayed a peppermint concentrate on the lead and never had the problem again.

Got to get going so here goes some archive photos.

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Later
 
When I finally got out on my walk at 10:30 it was 40F and when I got him 5 min ago at 11:30am it was 43F. The temps are per the sensor on the north side of the house.

Blue skies. Partly cloudy due to high level wispy clouds here and there.

I had an undershirt, a tshirt, and a long sleeve high SPF sport shirt with hood to keep the sun off my neck and ears. Even with it being 40F, in the sun I was feeling warm.

A woman in a puffy jacket and knit hat was out running, pushing a jogging stroller with a kid in it. I thought she must be dying of heat.
 
Good afternoon gentlemen. Long work day so far, but almost done. Driving on I95 through Philly, i caught this special:
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Looks like a "Keystone" from Harrisburg to New York. Pulled in Lancaster with salt delivery and right by the salt place is a former Reading secondary to Manheim. Just in time to catch GP38-2 in special livery:
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Freezing most of the day, but for the past hour it actually got above freezing.
 
Michael,
My son was speaking, on line, with one of his German gaming friends about beer. When he told him I like Bitburger he replied that it's the Budweiser of Germany. I told my son Bud ain't even close.
I'd say the only good tasting American beer is Keystone and Yuengling. Bud tastes like pi..s. Comparing American beer to anything sold in Europe is pretty pointless, since most beers sold in Europe have a lot higher alcohol content.
 


My wife said" I do" to taking me for better or worse 59 years ago today.
We are financially a little better off, but we are worse off physically as neither of us have all our original equipment. So far, the replacement parts have kept us puttering along.
No fancy plans for today, just dinner at our favorite Irish pub.
 
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Mine was added about 30 minutes ago too. The low must be starting to turn farther north, Yea me! 🍻🍕🍻

The watch has been extended two counties north of mine. That's about 100 miles farther north than when it was first issued. Still three days out. Forcast probability for 4+ inches is now at 50%+.
 
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Scored at the local model train hobby shop over the weekend

- New UP locomotive
- Several rolling stock (most with knuckle couplers)
- A batch of trees of various types
- couple of buildings and a watertower
- Some scenery supplies... grass, gravel, etc (not shown)

I really like the Spirit of '76 caboose.. but will need to change the coupler

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