Running Bear's July 2022 Coffee Shop

[troyphoto]

So where is the overnight crew from across the pond? Smudge, Jaz? Or the early risers like Karl, OB Ken and Troy???

Recovering from the birthday night. Wife let me take one of those little blue pills. They always take a toll on me. I'm half a pot of coffee in already, and may need a nap.

Here's the obligatory pet-tax pic of Lord Fuzzbutt.

That was one of his first times exploring the catio in smoggy Los Angeles. He soon learned there were two very noisy dogs across the street in a fenced-in "yard" (eg driveway). They barked at everything and everyone. Took him a day to figure out he was beyond their reach.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Thanks for the comments on my tunnel portals! In our modern "throw away" society, I get a perverse pleasure out of reclaiming or repurposing items for my railroad hobby. (And I am a cheapskate, too!)

I am thinking about another project for the club holiday train show. I have a couple Bachman N scale garage structures that I want to use to show how to upgrade a pre-assembled structure. I want to add a few detail parts and paint to one structure and then scratch build a third similar structure to show the difference between a unique model and a mass produced toy structure.
I hope to get approval from the club and the museum to display this for the show.

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

80° and clear this morning, going for 100° again. Not sure if I'm mowing today or not. It felt pretty warm when I went to take the trash bin to the curb this morning.

Finally have 2FA\MFA working and almost available for use. Took a bit and was finally sent a document from the Firewall manufacturer that wasn't in their website knowledge base. So now it turns out we need user licenses to actually roll it out (always something). Once they are approved, we'll be rolling. Firewall includes 2, but I need at least 40, so we're looking at 100 for future growth. They are concurrent, so as long as we don't have 103 people wanting in at the same time, we should be fine for a long time with that number. Now to setup our internal documentation to "idiot" proof the conversion.

BBL

 

[D&J RailRoad]

I attended another county meeting last night. It became apparent that there's a money problem with the school board.
They presented a budget to the board of supervisors a couple months ago and the supervisors glossed over it. I'm looking at a $2million problem. Where did the money go? Basically, they had 54 vacancies in the system but claim to have spent their entire budget for 21/22. Of course they talk about these issues at separate meetings so hopefully the two points aren't connected. Last night a BoS member was present at the meeting and claimed that he voted against the school board budget. I clearly remember him voting in favor of it. I addressed this with him after the meeting and he explained himself as being against the school budget but had to go along with the rest of the board to move the whole budget process forward. So, he goes along to get along. I told him, "next election is going to very tough on you". Now, I wonder if my home is going to burn down some day when I'm away.
I'm waiting on a response from my contact at the school board and my county supervisor.

 

[Smudge617]

Good morning all! 72 with light rain on the way to 86 for the day. Distant thunder going on from a much heavier part of the storm about 10 miles north of me. Nothing much to report really. Back to work for the last day of the work week soon. New assignment for my online class becomes available tomorrow morning so I plan to work on that part of the weekend. No real big plans otherwise.

Thanks for the comments regarding my school plans for the Fall semester. I don't mind doing the Speech class at all. I'm not sure yet but I think it will be held in the classroom directly across the hall from my office. I'll have to use my lunch hour to go to class but that's no big deal. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time during the day to eat a sandwich so not really concerned about the lunch hour. As far as the second class goes, unless something changes between now and when sign up starts for Fall I plan to go ahead and take the math class too. Not looking forward to it but I think I'd rather deal with it this Fall instead of having to keep dreading it till the Spring. Either way, if I stick to my plan I should be able to graduate with an Associates Degree next Spring. Hoping I stick to the plan and don't talk myself into spreading it out longer.

Hope you all have a great day!

A man with a plan, I like it

 

[Smudge617]

So where is the overnight crew from across the pond? Smudge, Jaz? Or the early risers like Karl, OB Ken and Troy???

Busy trying to re arrange my "holiday", seems my 2 month vacation will be interspersed with 11 days at work, due to a "driver shortage", lovely.

 

[Alcomotive]

TROY/CHAD -- You guys need to get a prescription of LASSICK (I 'll have to look up the medical term later) as it is a water pill.
Long story short - it gets rid of excess water in your body. I am down 18 pounds from it in just a couple weeks from 175 to 157.

Lasix Patient Tips: 7 things you should know

Easy-to-read patient tips for Lasix covering how it works, benefits, risks, and best practices.

www.drugs.com

 

[Alcomotive]

Rapido, yeah.
How long have they been kicking the E8 model around?
I placed an order for three units, what? a couple years ago?
Since then, they have come out with I don't know how many other models, but the E8s, no where to be seen.

It would be nice to get some E8s/E9s........I have a few of the Proto series in the E8s/E9s only A units though and a dozen E6s/E7s A and B units

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and still a warm 78°, expecting 105° later today. Wasn't quite as warm as predicted yesterday at only 102°. When I went to bed at 8:30, it was still 100°! There's a 20% chance of rain next Wednesday when the high is only expected to be 99°.

The grocery trek yesterday went as expected, prices stable this week as far as I could tell. Disappointment next at Home Depot as they didn't have a qualified forklift operator available to unload their overnight truck, and they were out of liquid chlorine. I doubt that they would accept my operators license from years ago to unload for them. I was licensed on gasoline, propane and electric lifts. I needed the training and license in order to train and supervise employees during the downturn in 2008 when we didn't have a safety director. Next stop at Sam's was more successful. I got my hearing aids repaired, cleaned, tuned up and my phone app updated. Not due for another hearing test until September.

Daughter #2 came up last evening with grandson #2 to pick up grandson #1 and granddaughter. While I enjoyed their visit, I am glad to return to a normal life where I can venture down the hallway to get a drink of ice water in the middle of the night without a concern about being in the buff! Grilled burgers for the six of us and then had wife's homemade brownies and ice cream.

Still no train shed time yesterday. Had the extended grocery trek, helped the grandson with a woodworking project, pool time and general household tasks pretty much shot my time.
I have posted before about the tiny spiders that had invaded the train shed. Here are two examples of what I have to put up with!

Tom O - About 20 years ago, we had close friends who got a 60" TV, that really kinda sucked. Not only that, but you couldn't really watch it even in the largest room of their house! Solution: they took out a wall and converted their former dining room into an extension of the living room! It's the first thing that their kids got rid of when the couple died tragically a year apart at a young age in 2005/2006.
I also don't believe in gimmicky weight loss deals. For me portion control is the best. I have been counting carbs for about two years now, despite my liking of beer, and my A1C has dropped to 5.6. While I keep my carb consumption in check, I still have too many calories otherwise. I don't walk that 1-1.5 miles a day for weight loss, but for cardiac exercise instead.
Dave B - Thanks for the comment regarding the grandson's scouting progress. I am not sure just how much longer it will last as he now has his beginners driver license as well as a girlfriend.
Karl - No railroading merit badge - he lost interest about two or three years ago. Partly because he is so far away from my layout.
Steve J - Heck, 190 is my goal. Just 18 lbs away! I stagnated at 208 after dropping from 254 two years ago. Being as I am a tightwad, frugal, storing all of those old clothes was a real blessing.
Guy - Nice job on the oil storage tanks. I am a subscriber to the "less is more" philosophy of weathering.

So it's finally Friday for those who have to still live by the calendar. Everybody have an absolutely great day.

 

[santafewillie]

Funny about that, seems like one can gain 5 pounds in one meal but it takes a week to loose it. Too bad money doesn't work the same way.

It's like the cost of gasoline. It goes up immediately when the cost of a barrel of oil goes up, but comes down at a snails pace when the cost of oil goes down.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Greetings from Never/Never Land where folks are expected/begged to move from Florida to California -- Like YEAH - that's really going to happen? OK - we are looking at another clear sky with an 89f high for today, and for the next 10 days the highs are expected to wander around the low to almost mid 90's and cooling to the high 50's at night. It would be nice to have some moisture, but does not seem to be on the horizon any time soon.

Thanks to all who commented on the Liasic pill. Curt, Willie, TomO, and others! I told everyone a long while back that my medical knowledge is pretty piss poor; just never had to think about it for 95% 0f my life.
At the present, I have several Doctors whom I like very much and are doing their best to keep me vertical -so I try to listen to them - after all that is what they are trained for? A plug here: Kaiser has been great to me and for me - lately!

Sorry that my "bold" is stuck on - it happens now and then! After I post, I will try the edit function and see if that cures, or reboot after this?

I'VE "YAMMERED ON" long enough - thanks for reading this boring post?

TROY - I keep trying to use the Blue Pill, but not getting the other half to agree. Maybe have to resort to the Margaritas again? That's worked before!

 

[JeffH]

@santafewillie , those cobwebs look cool! Like a movie set from late 60's horror film where giant spiders overtake the world, lol!

All you need is a few army guys with flame throwers.

Man.. if you could bottle those webs and sell them, you'd be wealthy!

 

[TLOC]

Good morning fellow train nuts. A wet start to the day. Moved from the open south deck to the mostly covered north deck due to a few rain drops. 71f degrees for the last hour but hopefully it gets to the predicted 77. For maybe 10 minutes after switching decks it rained. That is the supposed happening today, on and off rains till mid afternoon.

Troy that dreaded blue wife approved blue pill! A tremendous headache producer to me but I never refused permission to use it. I am slow, not stupid. For the other half, hotel rooms seem to be the trigger. Why do you think we drive around the country? Like I wrote, I’m not stupid.

I have a PT appointment in 51 minutes at the Clinic. I have not been able to accomplish the goals she and I set in May. The surgery and then the Covid 2 weeks plus the recovery sure messed that up.

Just under 3 hours at the paint and weathering bench yesterday. Then last night the NHL draft that was very interesting to me. My Hawks finally started the cleaning out the roster process that is 5 years too late IMO. While I don’t agree with the trades they made yesterday, the starting over needed to begin. Now if they can trade out the whole defense group and Toews I’d feel better. I hope P. Kane can go home to Buffalo if they trade him and Toews to Winnipeg. Kane is worth a lot, Toews not anymore.

Enjoy the day

 

[JeffH]

I need to go do that. Has been ages.

I have a shooting range in my back yard. When we built our house, I had them use a lot of the excavated dirt to build up a backstop about 125 yards from our back porch.

I'm actually within a city's limits, but we are in a "discharge zone" meaning it's OK to shoot as long as you do so safely.

Our property is smack dab in the middle of a township that merged with a village to form an incorporated city. They did so to protect farm land from being annexed by the sprawling suburbs of Columbus (Ohio), and also to protect from all the warehouses and distribution centers popping up all over the place around here.

The entire township area that got merged with the village to form a city is zoned agricultural, and it is not lawful to create any new parcels of land that are lass than 10 acres. So it would take a change in zoning before anyone could build a "subdivision" type neighborhood anywhere near our property. I'm almost 60, so I hope to be able to enjoy this piece of land for many years to come, and plan to shoot in my back yard, fish in my front yard, and occasionally go back into the woods in the vary back.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

I am slow, not stupid. For the other half, hotel rooms seem to be the trigger. Why do you think we drive around the country? Like I wrote, I’m not stupid.

well Blow me down! Didn't think I was stupid, but certainly seem dense at times!
TomO, yes - that worked last birthday. I think a reservation is in the near future.

 

[JeffH]

Regarding Lasix (Furosemide), or any diuretic, for that matter)...

They help your body get rid of excess fluids, and by doing so, lowers your blood pressure. So they are beneficial in that regard.

They can be very hard on your kidneys, however, so long-term use comes with a need to monitor kidney and Liver functions.

Weight loss is an obvious side effect, but is temporary. Stop using the drug, and the fluids will likely build back up unless the root cause is corrected. In many cases, the root cause is the natural progression of heart disease. So shedding excess weight, and exercise is the best way to slow down the buildup of excess fluids in your body. And, of course, reduce sodium consumption.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang
Fell asleep early last night, let the dog out at 6:00, fed her breakfast and crawled back in bed and since wifey and I are both off today there was some he-in and she-in going on. Still now I’m sitting on the bed typing on my phone, so call me late if you must.

I plan on finishing Mondays flooring project of installing trim molding, plus finishing a section of spline subroadbed to use in helping me to visualize just where benchwork will need to go as the layout bends around the room.
BBL with pictures.

Tomorrow we travel to pick up a new dog to go with our Border Collie since she’s been lonely since Bud’s passing.

Time for my meds, including HCZT, aka the breakfast of champions, (no blue pills) wife is clattering pans in the kitchen.

L8ter!!!!

 

[logandsawman]

Good morning all,

It is 67° in east central Minnesota, heading for 77. Sun is out, pretty clouds this morning, only saw 3 cars on my first 50 miles of driving today, a record low I think.

In High School back in 1973 a Wrestler overdid it on the water pills. Took his mom's to help loose weight. He died in his sleep, crystalized his kidneys, they said. Stuff can be dangerous.

I experimented a little last night on trying to blend in the fake grass mat with the landscaping, working around the Wyoming water tank (not attached yet)

This is the slide out section on the left side of the seam. Thought I would add some rocks and sand first:

Must have to add some ground foam, too, some of the watered down glue shows up, this pic taken the next day after glue is dried.

It will be a challenge getting the fake grass in this slide out to look natural.

More later, Dave LASM

 

[JeffH]

Time for my meds, including HCZT, aka the breakfast of champions, (no blue pills) wife is clattering pans in the kitchen.

L8ter!!!!

Hydrochlorothiazide is a better diuretic for daily use than lasix...something to do with potassium, I think

 

[McLeod]

Good Morning!
We just caught the northern edge of that major storm overnight. There was a-lot of rain spit out in a very short time, along with a good light show and the accompanying thunder. Today, we are back into the fog, but, it looks like the sun is going to shine.

I'm going to cut the lawn today, and do my other chores so I can have the weekend for modelling. The wife works all weekend.

The only photos I have today, are of an aggregate train leaving town last evening. I was first in line, stopped at the gates.
Photos taken through a truck windshield are always boring and crappy, but, it's all I got today.
One ET44AC pulling with another pushing, and about 100 3-bay open hoppers in between them. Headed east to Edmonton:

Willie - I like the web on the window, but, the webs stretched across the street need to go.

DaveB - I like the rocks. Maybe I'll go out sometime today and fill a small bucket with sand/gravel to work on my own layout.
I'm not sure about the looks of the grass mat, but, I'm betting it will fit when you're finished dressing it up. Is that a material specific for the purpose, or is it a rug?


Have a great day, everyone!