Running Bear's July 2025 Coffee Shop

[logandsawman]

Good afternoon,

A pleasant 75 outside, nicest day of the week. If it wasn't for the khaze/smoke. I spent the morning cutting out some brush and cleaning up around the wood pile, worked on a model railroad video a little more and edited it this afternoon. All the locomotives ran very well.

The movie was a lot of fun to make and was a good test for my trackwork.

This is our night sky a couple nights ago. Had a hard time getting the full effect of the red, but you get the general idea:

Dave LASM

 

[Kusojiji]

I met that guy while issueing building permits last year. He showed me his tractors and antique road building equipment while I was doing the final inspection. (I worked for the County at the time)

He has lots of really cool stuff. His actual physical buildings are in a small town called Kerrick, about 20 miles NE on Hinckley.

I could see myself with that hobby, given the necessary financial means.

The permit for that red barn? First time I saw one of his videos was when he picked up the engine block for his rebuild that he calls swamp angel. I just saw some guy moving the block from the flat bed to his pick up by himself. My thought was "I'm a little teapot...".

Yeah, quite pricey and you really have to have a lot of stuff handed down to start. I like the detail that he goes into and the fact that he makes his own jig to fit the requirements that he figures out in his head.

But, I stopped watching when he went fully into the members only stuff. It was annoying. He explained why he started and how u-tube was causing him to do it, but other people don't do it.

 

[troyphoto]

Mai Tai tonight. Trying some new (to me) rums

Made my own Orgeat and Demerara Simple Syrup.

I added about two oz of Pineapple Juice since we were out of Kiwi/Mango juice (my go to extender juice for mai tais). I prefer the Kiwi or Mango.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Evening. The norther has hit and the temperature has dropped to 84°. I hear thunder, but the NWS hasn't posted anything about rain. But!!!

It is as close as a mile away to the SE and about 8 miles North. It has been closer.

We sure could use some of this rain, as it hasn't rained here since June 15, six weeks ago. Maybe!!!

 

[Kusojiji]

To add to the festivities of the week, we have an incoming typhoon. Hope it makes that right turn as it is guessed to do. Wife already took as many mini-tomatoes off. We had already tied as many of the branches to stakes for support. Cucumber plant just completed a spurt of fruit so nows a good time to get ravaged as any.

We could use the rain. and I need to wash my car...

 

[Kusojiji]

Just a quick visit

Thank you gentlemen for the kind thoughts and prayers for our grandson.
He was in theatre today. A large ulcer next to an artery was found. He has lost a lot of blood and his stats etc. are all very low.

With cancer running through our family (Dawn and I went through all this when our son had the Big C 25 years ago) the Surgeon is aware that there may be tumours as well.

Hoping tomorrow will bring positive results.

I am hoping that the doctors fix it quickly and that he recovers quickly. Thoughts are with you.

 

[Marlin39]

One day I will to reduce the intensity of my workouts. I came home from the gym yesterday and took a shower. When I got out I had "spider webs" in the vision of my left eye. I figured they were just a lot of floaters or soap or something benign that would go away. They didn't.

They were still there this morning so I went to an Ophthalmologist. Oh joy! I have a small hemorrhage in the back of the eye and "possibly" a minor retinal tear. I need to cut back on the strenuous & heavy stuff for a couple of weeks. It "should" heal quickly, but I have an appointment with a retina specialist in 2 weeks just to be safe.

Retirement wasn't supposed to be like this.

 

[Bruette]

I went to an Ophthalmologist. Oh joy! I have a small hemorrhage in the back of the eye and "possibly" a minor retinal tear.

I'm glad to hear you went to the Doctor. I'm sorry to hear about the eye injury. I hope it is minimal and heals quickly.

One day I will to reduce the intensity of my workouts.

You are not alone. You are experiencing something every athlete goes through. Struggling to realize or hesitant to admit age is catching up with us.

I feel for you my friend, it can be a difficult transition. I felt the same watching Tom Brady go through it. Others wondered why, many couldn't understand. I knew it wasn't money, fame, fortune or even pride. It was simply who he was and had been for most of his life.

You don't have to give it up completely, just slow down. The older we get the more suspectable we become to injuries, and the longer injuries take to heal. The longer you put it off the more the risk of injury grows. I haven't told you anything you didn't already know.

Many aren't as lucky as Tom Brady. He was fortunate to avoid serious injuries that never fully heal. Johnny Unitas was not so fortunate. When I met Johnny, his hands were so riddled with arthritis, he had to insert the pen into his crippled right hand with his left hand to hold it and sign his name. He was only in his mid-forties.

 

[Kusojiji]

One day I will to reduce the intensity of my workouts. I came home from the gym yesterday and took a shower. When I got out I had "spider webs" in the vision of my left eye. I figured they were just a lot of floaters or soap or something benign that would go away. They didn't.

They were still there this morning so I went to an Ophthalmologist. Oh joy! I have a small hemorrhage in the back of the eye and "possibly" a minor retinal tear. I need to cut back on the strenuous & heavy stuff for a couple of weeks. It "should" heal quickly, but I have an appointment with a retina specialist in 2 weeks just to be safe.

Retirement wasn't supposed to be like this.

You squeeze your eyes under strain? I used to tell my buddies to keep their eyes open. Didn't want their eyeballs to pop out their ears.

Wife kept getting on me for lifting heavy all the time. I loved the thrill of it and the pump. When you can't get the soap on the wash cloth, then you know you had a good one. But, now in constant pain. So I guess she was right...

Hope that it gets fixed quickly so you can resume.

 

[Bruette]

I could no longer resist buying that MTH Premier Conrail Bicentennial GG1 I've been watching on eBay.

I found this to go with my new (to me) Conrail GG1. I have dozens of options for O-Scale rolling stock, but I didn’t have an O-Scale Conrail caboose.

I couldn’t run a traditional scale caboose. I had to have an O-Scale Caboose to run with an O-Scale locomotive like the GG1. When it comes to O-Scale, close enough is not good enough, not for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love my traditional scale trains, they are all fun and games. But O-Scale is serious stuff. God help me I’m starting to sound like a rivet-counter.

MTH Premier O-Scale Conrail Extended Vision Caboose. MTH 20-91012

At least I limited my break from my self-imposed spending freeze to one day. And I saved myself well over $3000 by not buying the Lionel Legacy O-Scale versions on eBay. At least that is what I keep telling myself. Even though I really wanted the Lionel versions. I missed out when the Lionel versions were available at retailers and I refuse to let an eBay reseller make close to $1500 profit on me.

 

[troyphoto]

Rabbit Rabbit

Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those with tight cabooses

It's Troy again.

My night of bachelorhood is complete. Wife should be returning today.

It's 57° F-degrees, so I opened the windows, and turned off the AC. Then I checked the Air Quality... It's just barely in the red zone. Between Steel Dynamics plant to the west of town (our weather usually blows West to East, and the Canadian smoke, it's going to be smoggy for a while. I'll keep the windows open for a few hours, then run the AC to knock down any 2.5 particulate in the house.

Right now I'm sitting next to the air cleaner in the basement, so I'm not worried about it.

WeatherBug says mid-70s for a couple of days, then mid to low 80s for the rest of week. If the AQ behaves better, I should be able to get some chores done this week.

Just ordered new grill burners for the gas grill. Got five years out the last set. And the drip pan in the bottom of the grill is NASTY! I'm not looking forward to cleaning it. Note to self, cover it in aluminium foil this time to make clean up easier.

 

[Kusojiji]

I was trying to find my tiki cup to show Troy for his mai tai, but couldn't find it. Instead, found this:

 

[troyphoto]

Hmmm.... this place is still open. Terry must be sleeping still.

 

[Bruette]

Hmmm.... this place is still open. Terry must be sleeping still.

Hook us up Troy, open the new joint

 

[Kusojiji]

Ah, that's right! I keep forgetting about this. Maybe after the complaints, I mean constructive feedback, he's going with Hawaii time... haha

 

[Kusojiji]

Tell Masahara-San what you’re trying to do. He’ll make sure you get the right parts.

I wrote to Tokonami-san and he replied with way more info than I had anticipated. He actually installed the kit in one of his models to prove that it would work or not. Man, way above and beyond! He sent me pics of the install.

I placed an order for a Kato HO D51 with him and have to go to the post office to pay for it. I wrote a quick blurb and had usoft translate it. I sent it to him and he added/corrected it.