Running Bear's March 2026 Coffee Shop

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Good day all..........

Mid 60s here in my area. I ran AC all last week but had to warm things up a bit yesterday and today. Supposed to warm up into the mid 80s next week with a 20 to 50 percent of rain each day. Was supposed to rain yesterday but just a sprinkle for about 5 minutes was it. Other than the snow and ice we had back in January for a few days, we have only had one rain day and it wasn't much. Stock ponds around here are way low and some dry. Farmers and ranchers are having a tough go. I'm guessing the hay yield this year will be low also unless the rains come.

I'm gonna try to get my Walthers cattle pen finished today. I might put a couple of Accurail kits together. I also have a caboose that needs a tool box so I might get around to that. I would sure like to finish something. I'm waiting on a spare parts 2-8-0 loco so I can finish the Bachmann project I have.

I have set next week up as my "school" time to learn FreeCAD so I can begin using the 3D printer.

So many things to do and so little time it seems. Being single means I have to do all things around the house and those things never end.

Train show this weekend in Dallas but tickets are $20.00 per day and with the price of gas I figured I would come out better if I just bought something online if I got the urge to spend a few bucks. Fact is, I have more crap than I need right now.
Its a 370 mile round trip to Big D and back for me.

Thats it for me.

John
 
The new sight pusher that arrived a bit ago worked effortlessly. Old XS Sights slid right out and new XS Sights slid right in.
It took all of about 45 minutes after oiling up threads and running all of the adjustment screws to the stops and back.

The sights co-witness perfectly. It is exactly what I was looking for. I won't get to zero it for at least a week.

Note the new white outline. This was cut from thin card stock and CA was used to attach it. It also has a light coat of CA over the top to protect it. No one makes a set of European white outline night sights that fit the PDP or Glock sight cut. Bummer. This is the same sight picture on my Walther P99 and P99QA, except they are regular height standard sights.

PDP001.jpg
PDP002.jpg
 


RhB Michael said:
Not really a fan of that style. Much prefer the Euro outline on the rear. Not very popular here except with Glock, and I'm not even sure they still use it for firearms made in the US.
Click to expand...
The figure 8 seem to be very quick for target acquisition in the dark. Luckily they make all sorts so everyone can have the ones they like. Most of mine have the factory three dot style which I don’t particularly like. I’d have to check my latest ones I added after market sights to. I don’t remember what they were.
 
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Good evening all, got up to a blistering 62F today, but sunny. Very slow at work, slow time of the tear for us, so they are cutting back hours for all the part-timers til it picks back up. Mutter, mutter... Anyway a quiet night here, just gonna watch some old TV shows and maybe do a little hobby work.
@migalyto Vaya con Dios! Have a great trip.
@RhB Michael congrats on the new sight pusher, the new sights look nice. I am used to the 3 dot ones myself, the last set I put on a Sig had a green dot with fiber optic around it with orange rear sight dots. I kind of like it.
 
For the record, I was clothed when I watched this vid.
you'll understand that comment if you watch the video.

I did manage to get a lava lamp to explode once. Left a huge mess on the ceiling. I had to pull the texture off, kilz the crap out of the area, then retexture.

I was clothed then, too. Don't get any strange ideas.

Now I want another lava lamp (or Astros)... who still has one?
 
troyphoto said:
For the record, I was clothed when I watched this vid.
you'll understand that comment if you watch the video.

I did manage to get a lava lamp to explode once. Left a huge mess on the ceiling. I had to pull the texture off, kilz the crap out of the area, then retexture.

I was clothed then, too. Don't get any strange ideas.

Now I want another lava lamp (or Astros)... who still has one?
Click to expand...
An Astro Lamp/Lava lamp is one thing I’ve never owned. One of my coworkers has one sitting on his tool box. It does work—or did a couple of weeks ago, which is the last time I took notice of it.
 


troyphoto said:
For the record, I was clothed when I watched this vid.
you'll understand that comment if you watch the video.

I did manage to get a lava lamp to explode once. Left a huge mess on the ceiling. I had to pull the texture off, kilz the crap out of the area, then retexture.

I was clothed then, too. Don't get any strange ideas.

Now I want another lava lamp (or Astros)... who still has one?
Click to expand...
IMG_6364.png
 
Well howdy there internet ghouls and zombies,

It's your necromancer in residence Troy again...

Spent a little time running my dystopian theme through Claude, my new AI buddy. We're having a good conversation about what themes and modelling opportunities I'm considering.

Things like my hometown of Goshen IN, formerly known for it's Friday Night Cruises with the teens in their muscle cars... or what passed for them in the day. that's a prime modelling opportunity for zombie drivers, Amish driving buggies with ghoulish horses....

But how does one paint a nighttime back drop?

I asked Claude for help...

Great creative choice — a nighttime setting will dramatically enhance the zombie apocalypse atmosphere, and flat black would kill all the visual interest. A good night sky backdrop has tremendous depth and subtlety. Here's the TLDR version:


Practical Sequence:


  1. Base coat the entire backdrop in your deep blue-violet
  2. Work in atmospheric variation while wet — slightly lighter near horizon, darker upper sky
  3. Add the sodium vapor horizon glow in amber once dry
  4. Add any fire glow areas
  5. Cloud masses
  6. Cloud edge highlighting
  7. Stars last, after everything else is dry


The overall effect you're aiming for is a sky that feels luminous rather than dark

Back to me again:

I believe it's time to do some basement reorganization. After some sleeping on the idea, I've come to the conclusion that I don't need my gaming table. In the four years I've had it, I've played zero games on it. Instead, it's storage for overflow. It's current state:

game table.jpg

Under the carpet layer is a sanded one side piece of half-inch ply. Not birch, but decent quality. I could rip that down the middle and have enough for 12 ft of 24 inch deep hobby desk. Hmmmm....?

I don't have to decide now, but there is a real estate issue interfering. I've negotiated trackage rights...
benchwork.jpg


The aisle between the orange and green sections is where my Teeter table currently sits. I can't lose the teeter table. I use it daily. But I don't want it there.

The orange section is new benchwork. Somewhat. The part along the top was there. The peninsula off it is new. That backs up against the crew lounge. Which I'll need to rearrange somewhat. I'd be robbing a foot from the lounge area in that I can't recline the recliner for napping. I might swap the recliner and couch. I'll think on it.

But what to do with the teeter table?

Lose the gaming table and reconfigure the hobby area, and I could get both the Teeter and the treadmill situated better and out of the way.

Lots of thinking going on here. If you see smoke, that may be why.
:p
 
troyphoto said:
Well howdy there internet ghouls and zombies,

It's your necromancer in residence Troy again...

Spent a little time running my dystopian theme through Claude, my new AI buddy. We're having a good conversation about what themes and modelling opportunities I'm considering.

Things like my hometown of Goshen IN, formerly known for it's Friday Night Cruises with the teens in their muscle cars... or what passed for them in the day. that's a prime modelling opportunity for zombie drivers, Amish driving buggies with ghoulish horses....

But how does one paint a nighttime back drop?

I asked Claude for help...

Great creative choice — a nighttime setting will dramatically enhance the zombie apocalypse atmosphere, and flat black would kill all the visual interest. A good night sky backdrop has tremendous depth and subtlety. Here's the TLDR version:


Practical Sequence:


  1. Base coat the entire backdrop in your deep blue-violet
  2. Work in atmospheric variation while wet — slightly lighter near horizon, darker upper sky
  3. Add the sodium vapor horizon glow in amber once dry
  4. Add any fire glow areas
  5. Cloud masses
  6. Cloud edge highlighting
  7. Stars last, after everything else is dry


The overall effect you're aiming for is a sky that feels luminous rather than dark

Back to me again:

I believe it's time to do some basement reorganization. After some sleeping on the idea, I've come to the conclusion that I don't need my gaming table. In the four years I've had it, I've played zero games on it. Instead, it's storage for overflow. It's current state:

View attachment 261542
Under the carpet layer is a sanded one side piece of half-inch ply. Not birch, but decent quality. I could rip that down the middle and have enough for 12 ft of 24 inch deep hobby desk. Hmmmm....?

I don't have to decide now, but there is a real estate issue interfering. I've negotiated trackage rights...
View attachment 261543

The aisle between the orange and green sections is where my Teeter table currently sits. I can't lose the teeter table. I use it daily. But I don't want it there.

The orange section is new benchwork. Somewhat. The part along the top was there. The peninsula off it is new. That backs up against the crew lounge. Which I'll need to rearrange somewhat. I'd be robbing a foot from the lounge area in that I can't recline the recliner for napping. I might swap the recliner and couch. I'll think on it.

But what to do with the teeter table?

Lose the gaming table and reconfigure the hobby area, and I could get both the Teeter and the treadmill situated better and out of the way.

Lots of thinking going on here. If you see smoke, that may be why.
:p
Click to expand...
Where is the 24” deep work bench going and how long will it be. My main bench is under a portion of my layout. It’s 24” deep x 7’ long and currently above it is my plastics extrusion plant and a mainline. I can isolate 4’ of main to use as my programming track and I do!
 


Good Morning all,

Palm/Passion Sunday and the start to Holy Week. Two funerals last week was a trying schedule. My beautiful bride has had a bad cold/flu and was kind enough to share, so been fighting that off as well.

As I said, I have all the new track laid so now it is wiring time. I took out the old PSX circuit breakers, and replaced the two with PSXX and added a third. Way over kill for my li'l layout, but I wanted 'em. I am also wiring in manual reset switches which are NC momentary PBs. I actually had a good idea for a change, and decided that those reset switches would be a right pain. Always on the wrong side of the table, if you know what I mean. So i decided to install switches next to each of the three throttle stations. I can run them in series. So spent much of yesterday working on that.

There was no way on God's Green Earth I was leaving my house yesterday with all the craziness of the Twin Cities.

So as with most projects, that which should have taken an hour or two took all day. I quit about 4 as I had run out of steam and joined the wife watching brainless TV. I got the new circuit breakers installed and wired, and physically installed the reset buttons. Today I hope to wire all the reset PBs and maybe run the bus for the industrial park. I sure do want to get trains running on those new industry spurs!

Very long readings today as my LCMS observes this day as Passion Sunday. Long readings so short sermon so as to get reasonobly on time to let the church which follows us set up. They are Anglicans and have been very good as a tenant church.

Time to get ready - - Cheers all! We get two days of Spring here and then winter for the next week and a half!

Steve J
 
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