Running Bear's July 2025 Coffee Shop

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Wow.. Uh...

I'm in Richardson Plano at a Marriott atm. Dunno what they put in their supposed "Long Island ice teas's", but damn. It's been a while since I've been this lit, and I only had two!

Stopped at the Discount Model Train place in Addison on the way in. That was an expensive stop. Nice place that, and thanks to @santafewillie for the rec!

Funeral tomorrow, then home, then maybe I'll post about my latest acquisitions. For now, I need to sleep to make the funeral tomorrow, then home so I can make a doctor's appointment the next day...

I think I'm getting repetitive, which is probably a bad sign.

Night folks!
 
I would expect nothing less from someone who lives in the tech world. It's your industry and life. I get it. I've nothing, but respect for you guys.
Which is why I presented my question to the experts on our forum.

As always, they didn't disappoint me!

I think you are gonna end up spending a lot of time and money you don't have to spend if you start swapping out motherboards. I would just say DON'T go that way unless you really have to.
Another great answer, thank you!
There is a way to get Win 10 updates for an additional year, though it means some hoops to jump through.
I won't/can't jump for anything anymore.
My advice is got to the latest releases. Get windows 11 Amateur, if you don't want to spend the bucks for Pro. But, keep up to date.
I agree with that!
Just use them with W10.

After all I have learned from our experts I will put those Windows 10 Desktops on a shelf and let my son do with them as he sees fit. I'll shelve our Windows 10 laptops with the Desktops. Long ago I gave up the idea of even considering upgrading or repairing laptops. If nothing else, I'll let my son take them all to Baltimore City's Electronic Recyling Center and be done with it.

Those Desktops and Laptops are redundant. I just bought my wife a new Desktop with Windows 11, she has a laptop with Windows 11. I have a Windows 11 desktop, and I am looking for a "deal" on a Windows 11 laptop for me. Down the road I will need a computer for my train room/playpen in the attic, but that can wait until I'm ready to set it up. The train room/playpen has been in a holding pattern for years. Anything I buy or upgrade now may be out of date by the time I need it.

Rather than nickel and diming extending the life of old stuff I will buy my grandson a new gaming Desktop at Costco. What's another $4k to $5k? It will be simple and easy. I'll even leave the unboxing and setup for him to do. If he wants to swap it with his computer in his room at his mom's house, he can do that too. That will be the end of my adventure in computers for now. Sometimes it pays to cut your losses by not throwing good money down a hole only to need to do it again sooner rather than later.

The moral of my story; life changes, I must learn to change with it. At one time our house was like Grand Central. I was able to accommodate anyone who needed to use a computer. Now it's an empty nest, all but a ghost town. I no longer need a computer or two in every room.

Instead of worrying about stuff that collects dust I can focus on more important things. Like MLB, the NFL season will begin soon. I'll use my "good days" to knock things off the to-do list and God willing get to my Attic so I can play with my Lionel trains!

I've finally learned to adjust my spending on groceries. I need to apply that thought across the board.

Thank you Everybody! I can't tell you how much I appreciate my train friends, you guys are brilliant!
 
Well, there are stats for each unit/creature from the game designer. Most games like this now have an app, so we can keep our army list on our phone or table. Click the little eyeball next to a term, and the app will define the term or special rule for you.

View attachment 233752
M is MOVE = 7" per action
V is what number we roll (or less, eg 1 or 2) when we shoot the blast cannons to score a hit.
C is what number we roll when we fight in melee to score a hit
A is Attacks or how many dice we roll in melee combat attempting to score a hit.
W is how many wounds the critter has (or if it's a regiment, how many wounds each stand of dudes has).
R is the resolve... that is the morale...
D is the Defense of the creature (basically his armor rating)
E is Evasion. My Hellbringer Drake is big and slow, but nimble. If someone punches hard enough armor doesn't matter, he can attempt to dodge it instead.

This game reverses the die rolls. LOW is GOOD on the dice. BUT that means the stats look great to those used to HIGH is good.

These stats can and do change. Three times a year, this company does some minor tweaks to each faction (and the core rules of the game). They're trying to achieve balance and parity between each of the 9 factions in the game. And this faction is in the hot seat for a total makeover in Sept. Those stats will probably change. And for good reason. There are currently three units in my army that are sitting a shelf because the stats vs the points they cost (The Hellbringer is 200 pts - upper right in the pic)...

I'm sure that's clear as mud. But, like stats in Baseball, it's fun for those who understand the game.
It makes sense to me. It must be my days with D&D and Avalon Hill's Magic Realm coming back to me. It helped that you did an excellent job of explaining it.

I thought your creations were unique. I should have realized there was something like a "Monster Manual". They are none the less unique in how you build and paint them, but they are based on creatures in the game. That also makes sense to me.

As always, thank you, I enjoy these posts, keep them coming! 😁 I'd tag along with you to the game store, (I do shower daily, 🤪 sometimes twice.) but Indiana is a long way from Baltimore. Your posts are the next best thing, thanks again!

I hope all is well with your cat buddy. Please keep us posted.
 
Well, howdy there internet peeps and those who don't cheat at Golf...

It's Troy again.

Up a bit later today. This week my brain is wanting to stay up later, and get up later. We'll see if I keep going with the sun, or if it's a fluke.

Had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, now I'm savoring my dark roast Guatemala Antigua coffee. Been trying to cut back coffee consumption due to acid reflux. Down to one half-pot per day. Perhaps less.

I saw a piece on The Guardian where a columnist went to savoring ONE cup of coffee per day. She claims health benefits, but doesn't go into science behind it. Just that she had a mental shift about drinking a lot of coffee.


Me, I'll stick to my 3 or 4 cups a day.
 


It makes sense to me. It must be my days with D&D and Avalon Hill's Magic Realm coming back to me. It helped that you did an excellent job of explaining it.

I thought your creations were unique. I should have realized there was something like a "Monster Manual". They are none the less unique in how you build and paint them, but they are based on creatures in the game. That also makes sense to me.

As always, thank you, I enjoy these posts, keep them coming! 😁 I'd tag along with you to the game store, (I do shower daily, 🤪 sometimes twice.) but Indiana is a long way from Baltimore. Your posts are the next best thing, thanks again!

I hope all is well with your cat buddy. Please keep us posted.
The game actually has a rather unique activation sequence.

Most games are U-go, I-go. We each do all of our units actions and combat in our turn.

Not this game. Each unit has a card with it's logo on it. At the start of the turn each player secretly arranges their hand in order. Unit X goes, then Unit L, then Unit B, etc. You try to figure out what your opponent is likely to do, and build your strategy to counter, or just do your own thing.

Then we roll off, who ever wins that die roll choses which player goes first. Reveal the top card of your stack. No changing the order. Reveal it and that unit activates. then the next player goes, then back to the first. Alternating activations in the order you pre-selected.

That makes the game fun and interesting. There are a few armies that get special powers. The Spartan-themed force may take one card a turn and put it to the side when drawn. They choose when in their go to activate that instead of drawing the next card. Another force inspired by Japanese feudal myths groups characters by their "type" and you activate any of that type which has not activated.

If you really need a fix, I'm sure Baltimore has a game store or two where they play it. But, you don't need a hobby to compete with trains and baseball.
 
Good morning all!

A mostly cloudy, windy start to the day. Currently its 74F heading up to a high of 90F Not sure what its going to do today. It sure looks like it could rain but none in the forecast. This should be our last hot day for a few days anyway. Looks like after today it will cool down back to decent, less humid temperatures.

Have a few light household chores to accomplish today.

In the train room yesterday and last night I continued on the mountain slope that I updated in my build thread.

Other than that, not much else going on.

Have a safe day everyone!
 
Good morning from Wisconsin. A light overnight rain, 97% humidity 72f degrees heading to a possible 90 later today. Very similar to the last week or so. I am on the south deck as I type this. The decking is wet and I didn’t dry off the table top next to my chair but it’s all good. There is a slight breeze making it ok to spend some time out here.

Today. I will walk again on the machine to nowhere. Then the shower, food for both breakfast and lunch around 11. The movie today at the theater is the Fantastic 4 at 1:45. I have no interest in the movie but Terry wants out of the house, she loves their popcorn and it’s close to Michael’s where I do want to go today. Besides we have back row seats and it’s great to play being young again! Later at 7:15pm the granddaughter plays softball if they don’t cancel because of the heat. The Miracle League of Dane County plays on a beautiful artificial rubber based field. Field temperatures will be hotter than the air. Because these are kids with special needs the organizers are extra careful.

When I am home I am guessing I won’t be outside much. I received a new diesel yesterday for my fictional Wisconsin Interstate. I will start the weathering process on it and 2 other roster mates. Today at least masking!

The times for the slot car races at the grandson’s house Wednesday start at 2, pizza and hamburgers at roughly 5 and final races around 7pm. There will be 16 racers aged 9 to 14 there and 4 confirmed grandparents to be race stewards and chaperons. The SIL will also be there. So far 4 parents have said they will show up to spectate and help with the food. For an event organized 2.5 weeks ago by 2 kids 11 years old and 2 that are 12 they are doing a bang up job. 3 of the 4 buddies have been friends and soccer/hockey teammates for years. The 4th is a buddette and she’s a cutey with an attitude and she is definitely an organizer with mad computer skills. She joined the group in May. Even the grandson admits without her help things would not be this smooth. They will all be in the same middle school and 6th grade together in September. The grandson and his Crew with my advice and oversight did get the troublesome slot cars fixed yesterday. Instead of the normal voltage the cars operate on we run the cars at 10 to make the speeds more realistic. Found the voltage sweet spot for all the cars at 11.5 volts. Like DCC trains, DCC slot cars react to different voltages.

I have been researching lately creating my own fleet of box cars for my fictional Wisconsin Interstate and my Wisconsin River Valley and Terminal RR. Paper mills use lots of box cars and that is my biggest shipper on the WRV&T RR. 5 to 10 of each of the Plate F high cubes for each railroad. I am not sure though I want to put in the effort of stripping, painting, adding decals and weathering them though.

Stay cool
 
What are they gonna call this company. Norfolk Pacific? Union Southern? Can't call it Southern Pacific right? Union Norfolk sounds weird.
May BFR? (big freakin railroad?)
How about NorfPac? NorPac kinda like the fallen flag.... Of course, NorfPac would probably morph to NurfPac, but I digress. Imagine either with 'speed lettering'...

Welp, had my fun for the day.

L8r
 


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