Running Bear's March 2026 Coffee Shop

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Yesterday I made the Costco run, and was casually shopping for once since the crowd was still light.

Found this in one of the aisles:

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That's my favorite kind of girl scout cookies. But this is granola, not a cookie... so I cautiously bought a bag.

Smokey coconut hits, with a bit of chocolate, some carmelized sugar on a lot of nuts. It's actually pretty good once I got over the "It's NOT the same as the cookies!"

1/3rd of a cup is 130 calories.
Troy I've been hungry ever since I went on that 7day fast. That fast wrecked my eating habits. I wish I had some of those Coconut Carmel's right now. Swal
 
Looks like HO Adv has tripped somebody else's radar, as well, judging from the other posts in the thread.
In the author space we're getting a lot of email spam coming in, that is so very well written, it has strong AI vibes. These are often from "Famous Authors" who have gmail addresses, book clubs that look like they exist, and again, the organizers have a gmail address, etc... I've got three different email account urls attached to my author business (pennames and publishing imprint) so when I get two or three of the same email from the same person in an hour, each to a different email addy of mine, I know it's a scam.

The idea of getting into a forum or facebook group and making interesting posts (probably AI written) for a while to get past post approval thresholds, seems like a logical next step for the scammers/spammers to attack.
 


Well, another rainy day today. I had to run the heater as the room didn't warm up at all. Kept busy with printing up an OO scale C53 (think Toby) and once I get the actual dimensions, will start designing the mounts for the power bogy. Will be going with the brass bogy that I had bought earlier and placed in my diesel shunter. This thing runs awesome and has quieted down immensely. Or I'll decom my old C53 and use the Kato P42 motor bogy. Not really sure yet.
Walthers wasted no time
Man, I don't need one but now I want one!!
 
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good morning all

- airport is up
- temp is around 2 celcius
- when i was leaving my house at 6am it was snowing... well i mean its still march

yesterday i went to a modelshop that will close down next year. so many shops are closing, but iam starting my own haha. mayba a good time to open one, because there is less competition, but maybe also there is not really a market thats why they close ;)

anyway, i wanted to show you something. the guy asked me if i would take over a product for my shop. and i saw it once live. and now i have some at home.

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those are 1:87 scale stone walls (they produce many different styles). those are "real" stones, not like the cheap shit from Nock or all the others doing just a bit of styrofoam :). they are out of something they use in dentist stuff he told me. they look really great, and the good thing? they are on some kind of matt. you can cut it, bend it do what ever you want.

i have to say, when i first saw them on a picture i was not impressed, but now that i see the product in person i have to say thats great. and they are not even that expensive.

and i also got myself a cutting board.

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this was expensive, but its almost EPIC quality. and will be used for all my future wood or styren projects :)

wish you all a great day.

cheers
Marco
 


Good morning all!

Currently 51F with overcast skies. High they say will be close to 80F. Some scattered rain showers later this evening.

My routine dental cleaning went fine yesterday. No issues found and hopefully no return visit for 6 months. I do have to
run out and grab a haircut at some point today. Im sure there are other things Im not thinking a bout at the moment.

Have a safe day everyone!
 
Morning all,

66° and clear with a record high of 94° predicted for later. Our current "low" is just above the average high for the date and our old record high for today is 83°. Our high of 88° yesterday broke the old record of 84° as well. Friday, we're supposed to hit 62° for the high as a "cold" front moves in. Then back in the 80's next week. Crazy.

BBL
 
Well howdy there internet boomers of one kind or another

it's Gen Jones Troy again

In the words of Lt Commander Ivanova: Boom today. There is always a boom.

Here's what the regional weather service said about our area for tonight:

Boom.jpg


I'm in the "Fort Wayne" part almost dead center (in the orange)

Wife wants to go hit Italian for dinner. We'll see when it's time to leave. Maybe? Depends on if Hail or other wild weather is on the way.

In MIL news, nothing much except more worry. The NP at the Cardiologist office took forever to respond with a "we've received your message"... next time they call instead of using the MyChart messaging app. So they're still waiting on someone to advise.

The independent living retirement home has a nurse practitioner come through a few times a week, so MIL got a visit yesterday. Problem is MIL's short term memory is really slipping. She couldn't remember her pill regimen for the the Lasix. So the NP told her to add a half-pill three times a week.... but that what she's doing because she mis-remembered.... So the girls are trying to convince Mom to take an EXTRA half pill the other three days of the week - That's what Sadie (The NP) wanted, extra pills over what you're taking now.

"NO. THAT'S NOT WHAT SADIE TOLD ME!"

MOM!

My mother-in-law is VERY stubborn when it comes to medical stuff. Never mind one daughter is a nurse and the other is a Med Lab Tech. Their opinions aren't worth anything. Well, until it comes to money, then my wife has to be at every financial planning meeting. MIL still makes decisions, but listens to my wife on how to handle her money.

In other news, if you're not following my layout thread, I believe I hit demolition day. I gave it a good second guess last night after catching up my N-Scale magazine. The last issue included how to theme and model US military in different areas. Perfect! That's what I need for the zombie appocalypse! Gotta have a military complex trying to fight them. And I know where to find a bunch of military STLs from the 1980s.

Now, do I have room to put such a base on a single deck? This may decided if I want to keep the lower deck...

So I got up and figured out where on the lower and upper decks it could go. Then I reached back inbetween the decks to see how easy it would be to do the actual scenicing in the bend where I'd want it on the lower level (which doesn't have much planned, but it would go in the far back corner to keep that area low maintenance.

Yeah... the way I pull back muscles, or pop the piriformis or get sciatica... I do not want to spend the effort to get between the decks for scenery work. The advice to remember my physical state was astute. Once done the lower level would be pretty. Getting it that way may be more medical problems than I want to deal with.

Doing the removal to save as much scrap as possible will take the weekend. I'll post pics on the layout thread.
 
Good morning Crew from Wisconsin. 47f degrees now 62 later. The possibility of severe T-storms is west and moving Northeast so per the 24 hour radar machine it shall miss us.

I had a meeting last night with 2 folks from one of the state’s biggest land developers. I knew what they wanted going in but to see folks skip the dance after just a couple minutes and get to the point was refreshing. I don’t need a song and dance as I knew who they were and I asked if they were authorized to buy? Underwhelming but refreshing. They have 3 projects of about 500 total acres going right now within 5 miles of me, all mixed used. They want my recent purchase before I get County and town approvals. I asked why they didn’t buy it themselves when it was available through the realtor. Honesty is also a rare thing in these type of meetings but they said one of the principles refuses to deal with that particular real estate company. Told them final approval was granted by the County on Monday and I’m surprised they didn’t know that. Also the Town has never differed with the County commission that we could find. So I expect full approval at the next Town Board meeting. Because someone on their side screwed up they couldn’t make an approved offer to buy. I left them with a $$$ amount if they want to talk before we start digging. That will keep the thrill of real estate cursing through my veins for awhile

Enjoy the day
 
66°F here this morning. Looking for 93°F on Opening Day. I was able to leave the windows open last night, but it never did hit the 80°F they said we'd see. More like 75°F at the high. I was debating about the windows being open all night, but it was still 76°F inside when I came down at 0700.

Good morning on this Opening Day!

Have to pick up a script for my eyes later, and I think I'll run by the package store for a few bottles of Bitburger for the back yard this afternoon.

Have a great day! Servus!
 
Good Morning All. Partly cloudy and 65°. Like others here, my weather is quite erratic for the next few days, although no severe storms like Troy is expecting. High today of 87°, tomorrow and Saturday in the low-60's. Looks like maybe another fire in the heater both nights. North winds tomorrow will be pretty severe, 20+mph.

The neck sonogram yesterday went OK, I guess. The tech isn't allowed to tell me anything, but she didn't run out of the room looking for the doctor! Something about carotid artery. It's been 5 or 6 years since the last scan...not sure why the doctor ordered this one yet?
Afterwards, I pulled weeds and Johnson Grass in the area of the garden where I am going to plant Tomatoes. Tilling it just chops up the roots and then you get a tenfold increase in the number of stalks.

Today is the weekly grocery trek, my 4th excursion from home this week. I'm beginning to get very impatient with the poor drivers that now seem to populate this area. If 18-wheelers are passing you on the right, maybe you're going too slow for the left lane...65mph in a 75mph zone doesn't cut it. And those concrete barriers on the sides of the road in the construction zones just seem to terrorize some folks. But I digress, rant over.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I fiddled with the layout of my blank canvas. While looking at that LH corner, I thought about resurrecting an old LifeLike structure of a general store. It's in sad shape, having been on three layouts over the last 30 years.
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Kinda cleaned it up a bit at the workbench and stuck it in place.It still needs some work rehabbing it.
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I'll look at it for a few days before deciding. Meanwhile I re-placed all of the other structures, with a few substitutions to see how I liked them.
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I have room for one more in the lower right of the last picture, but I have to clear out the scenery supplies (ballast, glue etc) before sticking something there. I have 3 other structures already built that would work. As you can see, the backdrop poster is still there, but it is definitely coming out...just doesn't fit the scene. No big deal, since it was given to me when I bought part of an estate sale years ago. No sentimental value.

Chad -
Cheese Whiz has its place
Yeah, pranks when we were in college!
Tom O - Already packed? You're way ahead of Mike!
Bill - Breakfast looks good this morning.

A few "old folks" are celebrating birthday's today. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is 78, Diana Ross of the Supremes is 82 and perennial rich politician Nancy Pelosi is 86.

Everyone have a great Thursday.
 
Good Morning All. Partly cloudy and 65°. Like others here, my weather is quite erratic for the next few days, although no severe storms like Troy is expecting. High today of 87°, tomorrow and Saturday in the low-60's. Looks like maybe another fire in the heater both nights. North winds tomorrow will be pretty severe, 20+mph.

The neck sonogram yesterday went OK, I guess. The tech isn't allowed to tell me anything, but she didn't run out of the room looking for the doctor! Something about carotid artery. It's been 5 or 6 years since the last scan...not sure why the doctor ordered this one yet?
Afterwards, I pulled weeds and Johnson Grass in the area of the garden where I am going to plant Tomatoes. Tilling it just chops up the roots and then you get a tenfold increase in the number of stalks.

Today is the weekly grocery trek, my 4th excursion from home this week. I'm beginning to get very impatient with the poor drivers that now seem to populate this area. If 18-wheelers are passing you on the right, maybe you're going too slow for the left lane...65mph in a 75mph zone doesn't cut it. And those concrete barriers on the sides of the road in the construction zones just seem to terrorize some folks. But I digress, rant over.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I fiddled with the layout of my blank canvas. While looking at that LH corner, I thought about resurrecting an old LifeLike structure of a general store. It's in sad shape, having been on three layouts over the last 30 years. View attachment 261329
View attachment 261330
View attachment 261331
View attachment 261332
Kinda cleaned it up a bit at the workbench and stuck it in place.It still needs some work rehabbing it.
View attachment 261333
I'll look at it for a few days before deciding. Meanwhile I re-placed all of the other structures, with a few substitutions to see how I liked them.
View attachment 261334
View attachment 261335
I have room for one more in the lower right of the last picture, but I have to clear out the scenery supplies (ballast, glue etc) before sticking something there. I have 3 other structures already built that would work. As you can see, the backdrop poster is still there, but it is definitely coming out...just doesn't fit the scene. No big deal, since it was given to me when I bought part of an estate sale years ago. No sentimental value.

Chad -

Yeah, pranks when we were in college!
Tom O - Already packed? You're way ahead of Mike!
Bill - Breakfast looks good this morning.

A few "old folks" are celebrating birthday's today. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is 78, Diana Ross of the Supremes is 82 and perennial rich politician Nancy Pelosi is 86.

Everyone have a great Thursday.
Aren't all politicians perennially rich after a stint or two in the administration, insider trading being what it is...?

You're right on that Lifelike building. It seems out of place compared to the building prep and weathering you do now to the structure. That one is screaming for some "beat me up and weather me" touches to match the state of the signs on it.
 


Good morning gang!

47° under cloudy skies, with a high expected today of 74°.

Marco, please tell us more about those walls, like dimensions, cost, is it easy to trim?

BBL

i can tell you a bit more:

Dimension of one "sheet" is: 500x140mm not exactly but its in this size more or less.
Prize is around 20$ for one sheet

its easy to cut with a hobbyknife or you also can cut it with a scissor.
--
atm i dont have them in my shop. so the prize is not final, and i cant tell you when they will arrive, because iam still in the talks. but when the deal is sealed i can tell you a bit more. there are also several different types. and there is also a possibility to get some of them in N scale. hope that answers some of your questions.
 
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