Running Bear's March 2023 Coffee Shop

[Jaz avalley]

Furnace update:

A few weeks ago, I posted about teh furnace in our guest house. It was 50 years old (I'm sure some of the guts werte newer) and died.

It's an old house, hand built in 1970, and originally only had a wood burning stove. in 1973, he added on, and installed an oil fueled furnace. It finally gave up the ghost 50 years later. The timing was terrible, because all this happened about 4 weeks ago, and we have a friend moving in this Friday.

Got a quote for a new furnace from the local HVAC/Plumbing folks who advertise heavily on the radio... These are the same folks who had to ask where the water shutoff was when they came to repair a leaky pipe... I said: "It's right there on the wall next to pressure tank... where you would expect it."

Anyway, the quote was for a little over $8,000, and included a new chimney liner, which they said was about $1,000 of the $8,000.

A couple years prior, I asked a service tech what it would cost tpo replace teh furnace, and his guess was around $6,000, so I thought perhaps the quote wasn't too high...

Then I startted talking to friends who had friends who knew people, and I end up with a slightly used furnace, installed for $2,350. Actually, I was quoted $2,000, but I was so happy, I gave them an extra $350.

The furnace I got was about 10 years old, but was only installed in a house for a few months. The homeowner decided he wanted all electric... So this thing sat in a warehouse for about 8 years, having only been used a few months. They replaced the pump, just in case, and tested it, and it works perfectly. They finished the install last night. Awesome! I put new CO detectors in the house, just to be sure we have no leaky fumes... No alarms, no exhaust smell... warm air coming out of the registers...

Oh, forgot to mention that the new pump they put in increases the efficiency of the furnace to the same specs as the ones being sold today.

I'm so grateful to have friends who have friends who know people!

Win win.

 

[Jaz avalley]

To be completely transparent, I was more a coward than a bully. I didn't like the way my friends treated others, but was afraid they would turn on me if I didn't play along.

I was more calculated, in my year upto 11 years old in my class was a girl who was a bully she even scared the boys, ( which when you considered she was not big or muscly but actually attractive but she had a gypsy background and was very aggressive, she would literally jump on boys and pummel them, and I made friends with her, which took some patience, after that I was usually safe from her - unless her younger sister stirred the pot
as a geeky kid with nhs glasses, her friendship had advantages and she benefited because I often helped her with schoolwork, she could read write but struggled. She was decent at mental arithmetic which makes sense (the teachers liked the friendship as it smoothed her edges on occasion, and as a child I was good natured and somewhat fussy (those traits probably have stuck with me, I always have to explain things to the enth degree even when even I know the person I am talking to is falling asleep bored senseless LOL.

edit my other half as someone else said was seen as a bully as he often defended weaker kids especially one friend with a speech impediment.

 

[Boris]

Interesting how our childhoods have repercussions so late in the game.

Troy: Yeah, who would have thought that repercussions would span a lifetime.

Todd, Jazz and JeffH: Not for nothing, this is a great forum. Not only do we have some excellent modelers on board, but a diverse group of nice people who manage to interact on so many different topics. What we don't have here, are arrogant know it alls who are very condescending and dismissive. That's the difference. Not every topic or discussion interests me, which is why most of my attention and most of my posts are in the coffee shop.

 

[Texas Hobo]

I was always one of the larger kids in class, so not many picked on me. I did have to defend a friend who was un-coordinated, wore coke bottle thick glasses and stuttered. Oddly it was Lionel trains that was our common bond.
This forum is the only social media I use and the diner the only place. As you read through the day to day posts, you get a glimpse into the lives of the folks here. Think about it, from grocery treks to major surgery, it is all shared here. While I've never met anyone here, and chances are I won't, I feel like we are all friends.

 

[migalyto]

Heard from Sherrel via E-Mail. He's ok, will post later today, Pacific time. Good to hear he's ok.

Awesome news! I also see Tony hasn't been around most of this week either. Hope all is well with him too.

 

[migalyto]

Interesting how our childhoods have repercussions so late in the game.

I think the older and wiser we get the more it seems to resonate. At least with me I'm more conscious with my past wrongdoings.

 

[migalyto]

Good afternoon everyone.

Another late day check in for me. I had to be over at my Sister-in -laws to let in and babysit the refrigerator repair guy. I guess its one of the pitfalls of being semi-retired, and having most of your mornings free,

I did take in most of the Cubs game Vs the Brewers. It was good to have Baseball on again!

Later we are going out to celebrate the Nephews Birthday with Thursday night wings, and onion rings at the local bar.

Have a great night everyone!

 

[Smudge617]

Awesome news! I also see Tony hasn't been around most of this week either. Hope all is well with him too.

Spoke to Tony earlier in the week, told me he had some family stuff that would keep him busy for a few days.

 

[migalyto]

Spoke to Tony earlier in the week, told me he had some family stuff that would keep him busy for a few days.

Thanks for the update.

 

[Smudge617]

What we don't have here, are arrogant know it alls who are very condescending and dismissive.

Have to disagree with that, you obviously missed a few posts recently where that is exactly what happened.

I believe the posts have now been deleted and the member warned.

I will not be drawn into discussing who, what or why, either publicly or privately.

I'm just letting you guys know.

This is a fantastic forum and I love the threads (even the ones I'm not really interested in), I find them amusing, entertaining and very informative, the creativity is astounding as is the work on everyone's layout, and has inspired me to try harder and better my own feeble attempts.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

What we don't have here, are arrogant know it alls who are very condescending and dismissive.

Thanks for talking about me specifically!
Actually, I am not smart enough or talented enough to be that way.

 

[bnsf971]

Well, Fedrex misdelivered another package to me. I hope whoever got it enjoys it. So far, they are batting .500...

 

[Boris]

Thanks for talking about me specifically!
Actually, I am not smart enough or talented enough to be that way.

You? Naaa! We really don't have anyone that bad here. I was thinking of the cliques on a certain paper magazine's forum, those on a forum once operated by a manufacturer, and one that is mostly O Hi-rail oriented where they are really opinionated. We do occasionally "lose it", but over all we are quite civil here, although we do have our moments.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good evening fellow Ferroequinologists!

Yes we do get along quite well here don't we. I never understood the "keyboard warriors" that you meet on some of the other forums, or FB for that matter. I do think they were, for the most part, some of the bullies we dealt with as kids. I was blessed as a youth, with a sharp tongue and a fast set of feet. Yeah, that's me, summer of 1979 working in the dunking booth at the VFD carnival. I pissed a lot of guys off that week, but it was all in fun!

Train related, I got another shipment of spline, another 200 linear feet. Weatherman calls for a rainy weekend. Perfect!!

More Steam!

Nite all!

 

[Texas Hobo]

Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!

 

[NYC_George]

Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!

Fairy tales can come true ' It can happen to you If you're young at heart.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 62.
My knee woke me up an hour ago, I finally gave in and got up.

 

[BigGRacing]

Have to disagree with that, you obviously missed a few posts recently where that is exactly what happened.

I believe the posts have now been deleted and the member warned.

I will not be drawn into discussing who, what or why, either publicly or privately.

I'm just letting you guys know.

This is a fantastic forum and I love the threads (even the ones I'm not really interested in), I find them amusing, entertaining and very informative, the creativity is astounding as is the work on everyone's layout, and has inspired me to try harder and better my own feeble attempts.

Well said on the creativity Smudge!

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet people.

It's Troy again....

Woke up at 4:30ish... coffee is made and on. Catching up with the news online.

My book should be coming in from the editor in the next couple of days. Then it's typo time! She actually corrects almost all of the errors. After that, she highlights confusing parts. Then I have to fix those. Sometimes it's a tweak, sometimes it's rewriting or adding sentences.

That's where the typos come in.

In a disappointing move, I thought I could set up a cart on my website, and sell ebooks and audiobooks direct to consumers. Found a service that hosts and manages the shopping cart side. And another that integrates with them to push the files out afterward. They'll even take care of collecting VAT (taxes) for UK and Europe, then filing and paying those.

But US Sales tax for the states.... Ummm.... they'll collect it and send it to me. If memory serves, there are 42 US states who want their cut from anything I sell to their residents. Including ebook and audiobook files.

Ummm... that's 42 monthly, quarterly, or annual forms I have to fill out. Most are online, but a few require paper copies. And once yuu're in their reporting system, it can be a nightmare to get out. Helped a friend wind down a trucking company, and the paperwork for a few of the states took a CPA to unwind. BUT - I'm NOT numbers or forms oriented.

If you're tuned into the Meyers-Briggs personality tests, I'm an INFP. I laughed the first time I read someone writing with those personality models in mind. She wrote something like...

Note to INFPs... we're going to cover the data and math behind applying this theory in understanding the best advertising practices... skip ahead several pages to the next block of italicized text. You can rejoin us there....

Yep. That's me. Numbers and maths make me start skipping. I was good on math until middle school. Once it started getting into algebra my brain wanted nothing to do with the concepts.

So... the better part of sanity requires I keep outsourcing the selling of books to aggregator storefronts like Barnes & Noble, Ama*zon, Kobo etc.

 

[NorthBrit]

Good morning all. Still cold and wet here in the U.K. Border Region.

Yep. That's me. Numbers and maths make me start skipping. I was good on math until middle school. Once it started getting into algebra my brain wanted nothing to do with the concepts.

I am a bit like that with form filling questionairres.

Like receiving a request to answer a couple of questions "Only take a couple of minutes."
I answer a question and before you know there is a another and another and ------ all linked to the first.
You know the couple of minutes have well passed and your still on question 1.
Now I do not bother.


Dubai

Rowland Emett Creations

David