Running Bear's June 2024 Coffee Shop

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TLOC said:
I refuse to have the smart LED bulbs that can be programmed with Alexa, Siri or whatever device you name as the light controller in the house. The son and my brother though have every thing in their houses that can be programmed setup into those inferno devices
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Our electric company offered a promotion to get a Nest thermostat for the house for a very low price, and they'd give me a few cents off a month for having it installed and online. Well, after I got it and installed it and programmed it, I discovered the electric company was the ones that were telling it what to do, and my settings and preferences were mere suggestions. After the fifth day in a row that my wife was at home sweltering because the thermostat overrode her settings and left the a/c off because it was a high demand time, that Nest got yanked off the wall, and my old programmable thermostat was reinstalled.
Never again.
 


Good Morning!

My hair is permanently formed straight back, due to the high winds we've had for a week. But, I do like the wind tan.

Somehow, a forest fire started just 1km outside town. No threat to me, as the winds were blowing it in an easterly direction.
They had the local airforce out battling that blaze, along with the volunteer fire-fighters on the ground:
AirTanker_05-31-2024 (1).JPG

AirTanker_05-31-2024 (2).JPG

Not great photos. I have trouble holding the camera steady.
I believe they have that fire under control. It did make for a nice little airshow.
Flying those little air-tractors must be the best job in the world. Kinda like being a fighter pilot, with no-one shooting back at you.

Willie - Good to hear everything is ok with you. Tough to hear children were killed; very sad.
TomO - If you're getting lots of rain, I'll bet things are green in you're area.
Bill - A fine photo, this morning. I really like the photo variety you post.
Hughie - I've seen displays of deliberate model train wrecking in the past. It's sad that some can't do anything about their mental health.

Today, it's walk the dog, mow mine and the neighbours lawn, and then perhaps some layout time. I'm still trying to get that bridge across the river, and put the last spike in the layout.

Have a wonderful day!
 
Good morning all!

Its June already! This year is screaming by, as they all do anymore.

Its raining again in Northern Illinois. At least there is not much left to do outside this weekend. The pool is all read, about the only thing left is to add some algaecide. I didn't have any left from last year, so Amazon says it will be here today.

Have a safe day everyone!
 
santafewillie said:
Roof over the train shed was completed yesterday; I have gotten most of the debris out of the pool. No rest for the weary.
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We are so happy to hear the good news. Angela has been asking for updates. Your roofers are true Texans!

You be careful not to overwork yourself, little by little it will all get done. Don't add injury to the natural disaster. We worry about you.

santafewillie said:
Wife cajoled me for going to bed while it was still daylight last night, but that's the norm for me from June through August.
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You can tell Arlene I go to bed every day by 5pm, she can laugh at me instead. 😁

santafewillie said:
While this is a setback, all is somewhat easily fixed, much will need nothing. I haven't turned on the power yet, but I don't expect any issues there either.
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We are so happy to hear this!

santafewillie said:
Most importantly, despite widespread damage around me in our small 70 acre enclave, no one was hurt. There were 7 deaths just a few miles east and I have read that there are over 100 injuries.
Read more here.
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Our first thoughts were thanking God you are both okay and your home was spared.

After reading the story... Thank God you are okay. Our prayers are with the families that were not so lucky.

I'm sorry it took me so long to say anything. I initially posted we were glad you are okay, but I had not said anything since. I didn't know what to say, but you were in our thoughts every day.

Nowhere is safe from natural disasters. Even in mild Maryland we had widespread flooding in 2003 from tropical storm Isabel, Agness is 1972.

In 2011 we had a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, in Maryland! The Basilica was severely damaged. My neighbor collected Knickknacks, over half of them fell off the shelves and broke.

Nowhere is safe from natural disasters. Who suffers the worst seems random.

Thanks for the updates you old buzzard! 🤪 We love you.
 
We have a Fisher, who pass through our back yard!

I couldn't believe my eyes, but my wife has now seen it too! We had no idea what it was. We had never seen one before. I had to check with the Maryland Department of Natural Recourses (DNR).
1717250569309.png

Fisher (Martes pennanti)​

Description & Range:​

Fishers are a dark brown-black color. They have a long body characteristic of the weasel family in addition to a bushy tail and short legs. Fishers are large members of the weasel family. The males are typically between 36 to 40 inches while females are 30 to 36 inches. Male fishers can weigh up to 12 pounds while females can get up to 8 pounds.

Fishers were almost extirpated (locally extinct) from Maryland in the 1850s due to loss of much of its forested habitat. Fishers have made a tremendous comeback in Maryland and now occupy much of western Maryland.

We live in southeast Baltimore city! Ours must be a male, I estimated it at close to twenty pounds. We hope he has a mate.

After sending DNR an email to report the sighting they tell me they are rare but have been seen in backyards in the suburbs around the city. They are harmless to humans unless cornered or provoked. We simply watch, it is a beautiful creature! He is a blessing, thank God.
 


Bruette said:
We have a Fisher, who pass through our back yard!

I couldn't believe my eyes, but my wife has now seen it too! We had no idea what it was. We had never seen one before. I had to check with the Maryland Department of Natural Recourses (DNR).
View attachment 190783

Fisher (Martes pennanti)​

Description & Range:​

Fishers are a dark brown-black color. They have a long body characteristic of the weasel family in addition to a bushy tail and short legs. Fishers are large members of the weasel family. The males are typically between 36 to 40 inches while females are 30 to 36 inches. Male fishers can weigh up to 12 pounds while females can get up to 8 pounds.

Fishers were almost extirpated (locally extinct) from Maryland in the 1850s due to loss of much of its forested habitat. Fishers have made a tremendous comeback in Maryland and now occupy much of western Maryland.

We live in southeast Baltimore city! Ours must be a male, I estimated it at close to twenty pounds. We hope he has a mate.

After sending DNR an email to report the sighting they tell me they are rare but have been seen in backyards in the suburbs around the city. They are harmless to humans unless cornered or provoked. We simply watch, it is a beautiful creature! He is a blessing, thank God.
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I bet that is a great sight too see!

I have never heard of one either till your post. Thanks for sharing!
 
Morning folks

43, mostly sun, with a forecast high of 71. For me, it doesn't get much better than that. A stint with a Mexican dragline is in the day's queue. Time to get the irrigation back on line and I suspect there may be a few yards of gravel in the intake after Wednesday's flush.

The lawn "mowing" sort of went ok yesterday, only got stuck 3 times. I really need to pull that #**##* interlock out of the seat so I still have power while pushing it. In the big picture, I need a 4x4 lawnmower.

Good to hear the damage is somewhat minimal Willie.

There are probably fishers around here but I have yet to see one. Pine martins are present. Pretty cute unless perhaps you happen to be a squirrel.

Once upon a time long ago, I purchased three of the Mantua 2-6-6-2 kits with big plans and they have been collecting dust ever since in partially assembled states. Those all were re-motored with Canon can motors and the intent was to build one as a tender version and the other two with side tanks. The apparent prototype for that model appears to be the second Booth Kelly mallet but the fuel bunker on the model is about half the correct size and most of the tank mallets were a lot smaller than that rendition. Mantua could have made a great model of Rayonier's 38, 14, or 120 with just the proper cab and a tender. But then Mantua always played pretty loose with anything resembling prototype. I actually did a bit of whittling one one of those yesterday.
 
Grizzled said:
Morning folks

43, mostly sun, with a forecast high of 71. For me, it doesn't get much better than that. A stint with a Mexican dragline is in the day's queue. Time to get the irrigation back on line and I suspect there may be a few yards of gravel in the intake after Wednesday's flush.

The lawn "mowing" sort of went ok yesterday, only got stuck 3 times. I really need to pull that #**##* interlock out of the seat so I still have power while pushing it. In the big picture, I need a 4x4 lawnmower.

Good to hear the damage is somewhat minimal Willie.

There are probably fishers around here but I have yet to see one. Pine martins are present. Pretty cute unless perhaps you happen to be a squirrel.

Once upon a time long ago, I purchased three of the Mantua 2-6-6-2 kits with big plans and they have been collecting dust ever since in partially assembled states. Those all were re-motored with Canon can motors and the intent was to build one as a tender version and the other two with side tanks. The apparent prototype for that model appears to be the second Booth Kelly mallet but the fuel bunker on the model is about half the correct size and most of the tank mallets were a lot smaller than that rendition. Mantua could have made a great model of Rayonier's 38, 14, or 120 with just the proper cab and a tender. But then Mantua always played pretty loose with anything resembling prototype. I actually did a bit of whittling one one of those yesterday.
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While traveling in Washington i came to Snoqualmie, there are two mallets there which resemble the Mantua 2-6-6-2:
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The other one looks in better shape and is standing behind the station building. The water tender is apparently later build when the mallet was converted from a tank locomotive:
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