Running Bear's July 2022 Coffee Shop

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James Fennimore Cooper one of my favorite authors I have read most of his works The Last of the Mohicans, The Deerslayer, The Pathfinder, The Pioneers and the Prairie. I have yet to read the Spy, Red Rover and Leatherstocking Tales.

I also read a lot of if not most of the following authors books; Zane Grey, Louis L'amour, Jim Kjelgaard, and Ernest Hemmingway.

Louis L'amour is one my favorite western writers. Particularity the Sacketts series.

I would love to see Sam Elliot and Tom Selleck do one more western together at their o'l age......

The TV series 1883 I am enjoying thus far with Sam Elliot in the 1st season.

Good stuff!
Zane Grey - another of my favorites. I have read over 50 of his books. Also Lamour. I have lists of the books read so when I go looking I can give precedence to the unfamiliar titles.
 


dang dude!
Well I have taken a bunch of train trips. Empire Builder 2 times Zeypher and Capital limited. One of those was in the ingcattle car. Never fails that there seems to be one old lady who is a smoker and just about the time you are nodding off to sleep she starts coughing, or a dude who takes a shower once every 6 months whether he needs it or not. With a sleeper your meals are included. And the privacy is worth it.

Mike
 
There have been many great sports broadcasters. Vin Scully has to right at or near the top.
My favorite was Chuck Thompson, voice of the Orioles and the Baltimore Colts. He was more than a broadcaster, he was a teacher as well.
My favorite national broadcasting team was Jack Buck and Hank Stram. For many years these two did the Monday Night Football games for CBS radio. I would turn the sound down on the TV and listen to the radio.
"Humble" Howard Cosell was too much of a know it all for me. He was best doing boxing, but was often flat wrong when doing football. I remember him saying, young Terry Bradshaw (later to be owner of four Superbowl rings) did not have the intelligence to win in the NFL. Cosell was even worse covering baseball. Despite my opinion he was voted Americas greatest TV broadcaster. America does love an obnoxious, mean spirited showoff. Even if he is a fool.
Mel Allen was another legend. I never knew him as a baseball play by play announcer. I came to know him through the weekly TV show "This Week in Baseball" "How about that!?"
Jon Miller is another great one. I could go on and on.
I need to mention Solomon Wilcots. He was my favorite modern football broadcaster. No one understood the game better. He left CBS and has yet to return to NFL broadcasting. I miss you Solomon!
 
Anybody have a recommendation for a person to do some custom paint jobs on N scale locomotives?

I've been searching for N scale locomotives decorated in Ohio Central, but the only thing I have found is an Atlas Alco C420, which I have. There is a pre-order for an Intermountain SD40T-2, but word has it they are nowhere near ready to produce those.

So... I'm thinking I may have a couple locomotives repainted in Ohio Central. Decals are available too. I'm not into being all prototypically correct... I need want a switcher and a long-haul loco custom painted and decaled (if that's a word).

Anyone here have any leads?
 
That trip (The Empire Builder) is on my bucket list as well. Originally a Great Northern Route.
We took the Empire Builder from St. Paul to Glacier for my wife's 50th bday. Spent 6 nights in Glacier park, stayed in cabins at 2 separate locations. Rented a car while there but could have gotten by simply using the shuttle service. That was about 16 years ago but seems like just a couple years passed since then. It was a great trip, our best vacation. Wife did not want to go back because we saw lots of Grizzly bears. Saw one pretty close on a hiking trail. We hiked a different trail every day.

On return trip we got a free upgrade to a sleeper which was nice but I felt cramped cause ended up in the top bunk. There were other sleepers that weren't bunks.

I took empire builder several times also while working the oil field in 2012. Due to freight traffic we experienced frequent delays and one time train was 8 hours behind schedule. Also, the rate was a lot higher during tourist season.

Dave
 
The 92nd MLB All Star game did not disappoint! At least not for fans like me that enjoy seeing the pitchers dominant the game.

I can't wait to watch the replay! I would have watched it today, but the heat wore me down. I was done by 10:30 am. The 90% humidity did me in. Worry not, all I needed was rest and I got plenty of that. I feel normal again. At least normal for me at this stage in my life.
I won't be turning any double plays anytime soon. On the other hand, I have not turned or even started one in almost 30 years any way!

Be safe in this heat Everybody!

P.S. Can you believe I can still remember that last double play? I filled in at third base as my third basemen took his turn in batting practice. As we would often do I let the boys play out any hits they got. They would run the bases until we got 3 outs or they scored.
The batter hit a one hopper to my right. I backhanded it (look what I got!) Turned and threw to second. My second basemen in text book fashion crossed the base touching the bag with his left foot as he went by. He planted his right foot and fired a perfect throw to the outstretched first base men's glove. A truly great play for my 7 year old second basemen. That is why I remembered that play. My part was mundane, but his was outstanding, especially for his age!
I wasn't long after I was relegated to coaching from the bench. My health just would not permit me to do anything else. Now I'm out of the game completely and I miss it dearly.
My talent peaked at 17. Injuries took away any chance I had to play at a higher level. I accepted the fact I was a "never was". I managed to play on for almost another 10 years. Not for the $50/game I got paid. I played purely for the love of the game. Many guys in semi-pro ball keep the dream of playing professionally, I never did. I knew I was just playing out my last bit of fun in sports.
To be honest what I miss the most is coaching those kids. There is nothing more rewarding than to see a kid do something they never thought they could. I had every kind of kid. Great athletes to what some would call geeks. All I saw were kids trying to do their best. I made sure everybody had fun, regardless of talent.
Many of those " geeks" surprised some people. One even earned his way onto the all star team. He could not catch a cold, but the boy could hit! He was a doubles machine! If he had any speed at all he would have hit a few homeruns.
 
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Afternoon All,

Just back from IKEA 😢. My hips are aching. We're having swedish meat balls for supper:D. The only thing I accomplished today in the train room was mounting the inside lights and glue the floor so the light issue should be fixed. I may not get to the train room tomorrow since I got the 47mm star tip attachment to take the seat belt control mechanism off, and Dad want's his room rearranged.

Joe- Nice photo.

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TomO- I totally agree with your history statement. There is so much ignorance about history out there. I'm sure "being connected" has a lot to do with the kids general lack of past events. Very nice job on the forklift.

Willie- Nice job on the interior. I didn't realize the kit was that large.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Longest train ride I ever took was in early 1990 from Stockholm to Göppingen Germany (home and HQ of Märklin). About 24 hours total time.

I was living at my parents' house and working for a computer company and finishing my degree with night school (which I ended up finishing by a leave of absence and a last year of full time school and then one last class in a summer term a year later but that is another story).

I'd been to Germany in HS with the German class for a month long exchange and now it was my sister's turn. I had picked her up after school and she mentioned to me that they'd had to get their payments in for the German trip airfare as it was the last day of $200 round trip (from Boston) fares. I didn't go home but went straight to the travel agent. I was indeed able to get a round trip for about $200 for a 3 week trip to Germany/Europe. I worked out the time off with the boss later as there was no time to do so beforehand.

I bought a 3 week Eurail pass (1st class).

While there I wold spend a few days visiting people I know then several days going city to city, sleeping on the trains at night. I worked my way around Germany, with a few hours in France and a couple days in Switzerland. I spent a day in Copenhagen, a day in Oslo, and a couple days in Stockholm, with a side ferry trip to Helsinki. I knew some people in Stockholm so had a home base to work from.

When leaving Stockholm to go back to Germany, I had a "Couchette" car reservation from Stockholm to Hamburg over night, then switched to a new train from Hamburg to Stuttgart, and then another train from Stuttgart to Göppingen, in the vicinity of which the family I had stayed with in HS lived and I was going to visit a few days.

A "Couchette" car was a light sleeping car. A regular (2nd class) compartment coach that had fold down bunks for sleeping. Ie, not a full on sleeper car with in-built beds. Each compartment had 6 people and two regular bench type seats (segmented so each person could adjust) facing each other. Above them on each side there were two fold down bunks so all 6 could have a place to sleep. I ended up in a compartment with some Swedes and some Germans who worked in Sweden. We had a good conversation until around 11pm or something and we decided it was time for sleeping so we folded down the "couchettes" and went to sleep. Around 6am we woke up and put everything back and around 7am (IIRC) we rolled into Hamburg.

From Hamburg to Stuttgart I was in a 1st class compartment with an older couple (so only half full). We had nice conversation. That trip lasted all morning and around 4pm got to Stuttgart. Then a commuter rail type train out to Göppingen. From leaving Stockholm to arriving in Göppingen was about 24 hours, and about 1 hour layover in each of Hamburg and Stuttgart.

Longest train ride I've been on. It was more than long enough and not something I'd want to do again, though the company ws good and it was fun as a young guy.

Longest ride in Japan was probably around 5-6 hours at a stretch. Probably the bullet train from Tokyo to Aomori. Lots of 3 hour Osaka -- Tokyo rides.

Actually the non Shinkansen ride in Hokkaido from Hakodate to Sapporo was 4 hours and felt pretty long, though it was during the day and it goes right along the beach/coast in many places so you look out your window right on the ocean and was pretty cool. The Nampu train to Kochi on Shikoku was more than 4 1/2 hours. There were many pretty areas there too along coasts and over bridges.
 
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Just back from IKEA 😢

My son wanted to drive over there yesterday to buy a pillow so I told him we'd go together as I wanted to look at the kitchen stuff and wanted to eat at their restaurant. But I ended up in a work meeting and then 90 minutes or more with the bank and insurance companies and by the time I was ready to go he didn't want to go, so we didn't go :( No meatballs for me. (He did go himself today and got his king size pillow but I didn't go as I had stuff for work to do).
 
Growing up in NY, we lived one block from the Long Island Railroad engine yard at Morris Park. Steam locos were being phased out, but there were many still being used and serviced at the yard. Across from the yard was a city park called Smokey Park. A lot of soot settled in the large ball field. So as a nod to Smokey Park (now called Phil Rizzuto Park) I added it to my layout. Guy no ice cream truck, but will a pushcart do?



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STAY SAFE

LATER
 
Good afternoon from about 2 miles out from Port Washington, Wi. on the Lake called Michigan. Terry’s best friend has a boat and moors it at a marina down in Kenosha, Wi. where I met her Saturday. She left our place Tuesday morning to her boat she pretty much stays on June to Labor Day. Around noon today Terry gets a call “where r u guys”? Terry tells her where we were. That’s good come out to the deck and look at the docks next to the parking lot. There she was standing on her boat deck waving. It’s about 80 miles on the water from here to Kenosha that she left at 5:30 this morning. We are just drifting along and the girls are fishing, well Pat is Terry is drinking a beer with a line dragging behind the boat.

History, is something that needs to be stressed to kids in schools and those guys in Washington DC. So many mistakes could be avoided by studying the past. I wanted to teach and besides the BA in Education I also majored in American history. My MBA though is nothing related to what I studied in College. When we drive to Austin from Wisconsin through Memphis and New Orleans we always have stopped at one or more War of Northern Aggression museums or battlefields. I have been all over the South on driving trips and we stop at Civil War places of interest. All the years I studied American history and especially the Civil War I guess I was only getting the Northern version of the event.

looking west to Port Washington, Wi.

we were still at the dock
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enjoy the rest of your day
 
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Good Afternoon!

Back from fishing adventures, for now. We did have some success:
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50cm in British, 19-1/2 inches in English:
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The wife did alright, as well:
LovettFishFight_07-20-2022.JPG


However, I win the day for the smallest and the biggest. So she gets to clean the fish.

Missed a couple days, so I've just been skimming through the pages when time permits. I'll try and catch up later.

Have a good evening!
 
I finally made my choice. T-Mobile made me an offer I could not refuse.

I ordered the new Samsung S22 Ultra and it's only costing me $16.67/month for 24 months with zero interest! I love to use other companies money!

I weighed all the options.
Apple has a significantly faster processor.
Samsung has more ram, 12GB. Apple is still faster because it processor is extremely efficient with ram.
The deciding factor was Samsung's amazing camera setup that comes with the S22 Ultra. Now I have to learn to actually take pictures!
I could have gotten a deal on the new top of the line apple. I'm just to old to try new tricks.
 


My longest train ride.

Baltimore, actually Middle River, Martin airport station to Union Station, Washington DC. and back again. I was ridding along with my oldest daughter as she returned to the University of Maryland.
Mine was NJT from Hamilton(Trenton suburb) to Penn Station in midtown Manhattan(about a 90 minute ride), for visits to my aunt & uncle on the Upper West Side.
 
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