Running Bear's July 2025 Coffee Shop

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Like the end of a conversation, the end of the line.

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By the Loch, calm and peaceful.

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Good Morning All!
55F @78% cloudy

Even though ima day late the 4th went off very quiet. Started raining about 2100 which here is just after dark. This was probably a good thing as it still is pretty dry here. There were not any loud boom/bangs in our neighborhood and not that many crackers. Some were firing weapons as you can do that from your covered back porch without getting wet. No st00pid injuries; only a few citizen pull-overs heard on the scanner. Dogs/Cats did not freak out, mostly laid on the floor around our recliners. Heard some distant stuff last night which stopped about 2130 or so. Suspect a few tonight as people don't want to store stuff in the house.

L8r
 
Good morning all!

Finally got some rain last night. We really needed it! Currently 72F heading up to 81F later. The front has come through and
a little cooler weather this week will prevail. A few stray possible showers possible this morning.

Have a few things to accomplish today, we shall see if any of them get done. Not feeling very motivated
this morning. We will see after another couple cups of coffee.

Have a safe day everyone!
 
Good morning to all even the jokesters. A miserable weather start to a So. Central Wisconsin Sunday morning. Light rain with a temperature of 72f degrees heading to the high 70’s. We should have the light rain till about noon when the skies supposedly clear up. I am not brave enough yet this morning to check out the rain gauge

Not really sure what I might do today. At 10:30ish the granddaughter is coming home and will overnight with us while her brother and parents stay another day and night at the lake. Harper loves the water but a pontoon boat with a bunch of people she can’t handle. Since it’s about 12 miles north of us her dad will be bring her home this morning. Maybe the movies for Harper and Terry this afternoon but I see Terry has her instructions out on making a blueberry crumble cake the G/D loves.

Trains! Yesterday I pulled out an old book from Lance Mindheim about creating scenery on a shelf layout. Got about 30 pages in when I lost interest. I have all the books he has written. The nice thing about Lance is he offers ideas but doesn’t say this is the way. If I do anything at the bench it will be some weathering. I did have a client contact me via text with a video from the FB page River Point Station Modelers. Showed a few of the trucks with flashing LED’s. Asked if I could do one for him. While interesting to see and they would make a great addition to a scene I said not really. I think it’s more I’m not interested not that I couldn’t. But this morning I was on YouTube looking to see how it’s done as I have plenty of trucks

Enjoy the day
 
Good morning all,

Beautiful 60, sunny, breezy in Sandstone mn. Was 86 and uncomfortable yesterday, however I managed to get some decals on my warehouse bldg and finish up a couple details.

Internet was so slow yesterday I gave up on it. Today it is fine and dandy.

Fireworks ended at 11 pm, they were only 1/4 mile away but...yawn...I guess I don't get it anymore.

Church then maybe th Mermaid Cafe in Askov.

Trains around 4 pm

Dave LASM
 


Good Morning All. Cloudy and 74°, with rain falling nearby but not here yet. This ongoing rainy condition is remnants of tropical storm Barry that hit Mexico in late June. Moisture was sent into Texas and there hasn't been any system strong enough to move it out. This is the same weather system that devastated South Central Texas on Thursday/Friday. It has lost most of it's intensity while moving north to us though, just leading to mist and sprinkling. High today may reach 84°. Extended outlook calls for this cooler than normal weather to remain with us for another week or more. Our average high temperature for this time of year is 95°.

The rainy conditions here have limited the time that I need for mowing, which is nice in a way, but will lead to thicker, heavier growth when it dries out! In the meantime though, I still picked a few Tomatoes and another pair of Yellow Squash yesterday. I also had enough of a break from the seeming endless sprinkles to do the burn trash.
Not sure what today will bring other than Mass this morning. While I managed to fire up the grill Friday, I couldn't yesterday and this evening looks iffy.:(

Out in the train shed yesterday, I resumed and finished cleaning the track in my targeted quadrant. Of course when I was done, I had to test-run some trains. Structure inspection is next.

Troy - Don't know whether or not it helps your novel, but debutante balls in Texas usually feature line dancing.
Tom O - Glad to read that your son is safe. Sadly, the local news reports that there were warnings issued by the NWS on Thursday, but the intensity of the storms wasn't realized until they actually hit.
Joe - Yes, the firework laws are very convoluted in many states. In Texas, most fireworks are legal but local jurisdictions can have ordinances banning their use in their cities. State law allows them to be sold for ten days prior to New Years and 4th of July, but individual counties can authorize sales for other holidays like Memorial Day, Texas Independence Day, San Jacinto Day and others. In addition, within 100 miles of the Mexican border, they can be sold for Cinco de Mayo.

Former President George W Bush is 79 today. Is that political???
Everyone have a great Sunday.
 
We have a few Americans who live in the village. They have a firework display for the 4th. It lasts about half an hour.

Dancing. I think I have mentioned it previously. Not sure, so I shall tell (again). ----
My cousin Margaret asked me to go to dancing classes with her. At ten years of age (or so) I wasn't interested, but she cajoled me along. I thought I would be dancing with Margaret as my partner, but no.

I was partnered with a young girl of nine years of age. To be honest, Helen was a wonderful dancer and she taught me well. I love to dance a waltz to this day. My daughter had dance lessons when she married and we both teach my granddaughters. When my daughter visits sometimes we take hold of each other and dance around the room.
 
santafewillie said:
Good Morning All. Cloudy and 74°, with rain falling nearby but not here yet. This ongoing rainy condition is remnants of tropical storm Barry that hit Mexico in late June. Moisture was sent into Texas and there hasn't been any system strong enough to move it out. This is the same weather system that devastated South Central Texas on Thursday/Friday. It has lost most of it's intensity while moving north to us though, just leading to mist and sprinkling. High today may reach 84°. Extended outlook calls for this cooler than normal weather to remain with us for another week or more. Our average high temperature for this time of year is 95°.

The rainy conditions here have limited the time that I need for mowing, which is nice in a way, but will lead to thicker, heavier growth when it dries out! In the meantime though, I still picked a few Tomatoes and another pair of Yellow Squash yesterday. I also had enough of a break from the seeming endless sprinkles to do the burn trash.
Not sure what today will bring other than Mass this morning. While I managed to fire up the grill Friday, I couldn't yesterday and this evening looks iffy.:(

Out in the train shed yesterday, I resumed and finished cleaning the track in my targeted quadrant. Of course when I was done, I had to test-run some trains. Structure inspection is next.

Troy - Don't know whether or not it helps your novel, but debutante balls in Texas usually feature line dancing.
Tom O - Glad to read that your son is safe. Sadly, the local news reports that there were warnings issued by the NWS on Thursday, but the intensity of the storms wasn't realized until they actually hit.
Joe - Yes, the firework laws are very convoluted in many states. In Texas, most fireworks are legal but local jurisdictions can have ordinances banning their use in their cities. State law allows them to be sold for ten days prior to New Years and 4th of July, but individual counties can authorize sales for other holidays like Memorial Day, Texas Independence Day, San Jacinto Day and others. In addition, within 100 miles of the Mexican border, they can be sold for Cinco de Mayo.

Former President George W Bush is 79 today. Is that political???
Everyone have a great Sunday.
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Nope birthdays shouldn’t be considered politics. Even visiting his library and museum isn’t political and is highly recommended.
 
Good morning, all! I wish I could write a macro, "Houston, hot and humid with a 20% chance of rain." I could hit a short-cut key and be done. The Fourth here was quieter than past years. I suppose, like me they are getting older and would rather go to bed on time. The community I live in, it's illegal to shoot fireworks. I think the local police and county sheriff turn a blind eye on the Fourth and on New Years.
The floods in the Hill Country are heart breaking. 27 young girls and still missing. Maybe there will be a couple of miracles.

No agenda today, so we'll see what shakes out.

STAY SAFE
LATER
 
A question for you N scalers.

I have a 2'x3' and a 1'x3' diorama base. I'm thinking of toying with an N scale layout, for fun and frustration, but ideally more fun. I have seen a lot of layouts built with Kato Unitrack. Is it really that simple and DCC friendly to put down? I hated working with the tiny rail connectors and fragile switches when I tried N about 10 years ago. I still remember getting rail joiners sliced into my fingers.
 
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Marlin39 said:
A question for you N scalers.

I have a 2'x3' and a 1'x3' diorama base. I'm thinking of toying with an N scale layout, for fun and frustration, but ideally more fun. I have seen a lot of layouts built with Kato Unitrack. Is it really that simple and DCC friendly to put down? I hated the dealing with the tiny rail connectors and fragile switches when I tried N about 10 years ago. I still remember getting rail joiners sliced into my fingers.
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I used Unitrack on my first N scale layout and nothing could of been easier. I even laid a loop of it out for my first Ho scale layout when I made the switch. It will be bulletproof out of the box. With something that small, you wont need a ton of feeders and complicated wiring. Run a bus down the center and connect everything to that. As for rail joiners. It just snaps together and pulls apart and how they are made there cant be kinks on curves.

There are lots of videos out there on hacks when using it, and how to paint and ballast to make it look as good as flex track.

If you are patient, it can be had for a great price used on the secondary market. Its pretty durable so I wouldnt be afraid to buy
it used. You can always replace the unijoiners easily if that becomes necessary. They have insulated ones as well.

Yes it does play well with DCC.
 
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