Running Bear's May 2023 Coffee Shop.

[ctclibby]

Good Morning All. Mostly cloudy and 64° here. Thunderstorm overnight between 0200 and 0300 left me 0.5" in the gauge, also woke me up. There's thundershowers all around right now, north in OK, SW of Fort Worth, south of Dallas, and out further west between Abilene and Wichita Falls. None appear severe right now. Chances here go up to 80% around noon and it's in the forecast for the next five days. Highs around 80°, so it will be muggy the whole time. Not unusual for May which is normally our wettest month.

The weekly grocery trek, delayed by one day, went OK yesterday. Gasoline in town was back up to $3.15/gal. We went flower shopping but my wife couldn't find what she was looking for.

Meanwhile when I got home, the brown Santa (UPS guy), had left me a package.
View attachment 168257
I really just wamted to get additional lenses for the one that I already had, but the price wasn't bad and I now have two with different strengths in each one. I used the 2x one for painting some figures yesterday.
Elsewhere out in the train shed, i added the additional fencing, a tree, some details, and another couple of vehicles to that scene that I have been working on; the one with Cooter's Liquor and the BBQ food trailer.
View attachment 168258
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Next I will add some smaller trees, primarily over on the billboard side and who knows what other details that I can come up with.

Troy - I learned to drive before those outside side view mirrors were standard on cars, so I still turn my head and look over my shoulder in addition to using the mirrors.
Mike CGW - Great to read about your wife.
Todd - Lots of appliances have had chips for years. When we bought a new washing machine a few years ago, we found that it is also wifi enabled if you want. My son has a wood pellet grill that he can control over his cell phone. He demo'd it for us once when we were visiting and totally burned the meat!

Stevie Wonder is 73 today. Bet he didn't see that coming.
Everybody have a great day.

Willie: Nice pix!

Ya, chips in things for *years* although way back when it was for the units operation ... not all the bells and whistles of now days. I also have a Trager with wifi that I don't use. You can burn meat dang fast with it if you are not on top of things; especially the way I cook beef. Preheat to 500, 4 minutes on one side, 3 minutes on the other. That is for 3/4" ribeye though. Pork is a little easier although it is easy to get it too dry. Now if the things would flip the meat at a time determined by me, that would be another story.

As far as the other appliances that are ...um... enabled - we turn off all the stuff we don't need if possible. Don't want the washer and/or dryer talking to the freezer now do we? Or even worse, the freezer telling the heating system that it is too hot! Years ago I had a Patagonian who would mimic the telephone ring - what a PITA. Can you just imagine the bird telling you that dryer is done in the dryer voice? Not!

Later

And I forgot .. got 4 of those visors a year or so ago. Now they are all over the house and train cave. Price was a no-brainer so I pulled the trigger.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Started out this morning with a walk at 71F and humid. Getting to the low 90's again. We got another 1/2" of rain in the middle of the night. Spent about an hour doing maintenance on the pool then some inside chores. MOH texted me that she and daughter were walking around Downtown Disney which I'm sure means $$$$. Oh well, you can't take it with you.

Willie- I still don't like power windows and locks on my vehicles. I can only wear the opti-visor for about 30 minutes before I develop a headache.

Swal/Troy- I have a shower chair with a back that has adjustable legs that I use for under layout wiring. It has helped my back and knees tremendously.

Mike- Great news.

David- Nice detailing on the MRR.

Joe- Nice photo and interesting info.

Karl- My favorite rock band and one of my favorite songs from them.

Christian- In between the arrows on the outside loop with that little bend may be a derailment issue. It almost looks like a shallow S turn. I would test it with everything you own several times in both directions before making it permanent.

Louis- I wonder if all those passengers fit onto that trolley? Both my Dad and daughter have a Equinox and really like them but I don't like the driver's seat. It sit's too low for me.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[Bruette]

Louis- I wonder if all those passengers fit onto that trolley? Both my Dad and daughter have a Equinox and really like them but I don't like the driver's seat. It sit's too low for me.

I have no idea how many passengers can fit into a typical trolley.

You may be able to adjust the seat height. I have the optional seats. I set mine as high as it goes. I like being able to see as much as possible, and it makes it easier to get out. Even as tall as I am I still have headroom.

 

[Bruette]

MLB Gameday: Pirates 0, Orioles 2 Final Score (05/13/2023)

Follow MLB results with FREE box scores, pitch-by-pitch strikezone info, and Statcast data for Pirates vs. Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards

www.mlb.com

 

[westtexjohn]

I still remember when a car came with a radio, heater and white wall tires. An analog AM-FM radio was an option on some makes and models.
Dad had a 1961 Plymouth Fury. It was an ugly duck but would outrun the headlights. I got my license in 1963 and Dad sold the car in 1964 as I managed to get 11 speeding tickets in about a years time. Things were a little different back in those days. My license was not suspended but for the next year I could not get any tickets or would loose my license for a year. My next car was a 1948, 2 door Mercury coupe with a 1952 flathead engine. I managed to go seven years without another ticket. The old Merc was no match for the Plymouth......a good thing for me.

Have a great day......John

 

[kbkchooch]

I still remember when a car came with a radio, heater and white wall tires. An analog AM-FM radio was an option on some makes and models.
Dad had a 1961 Plymouth Fury. It was an ugly duck but would outrun the headlights. I got my license in 1963 and Dad sold the car in 1964 as I managed to get 11 speeding tickets in about a years time. Things were a little different back in those days. My license was not suspended but for the next year I could not get any tickets or would loose my license for a year. My next car was a 1948, 2 door Mercury coupe with a 1952 flathead engine. I managed to go seven years without another ticket. The old Merc was no match for the Plymouth......a good thing for me.

Have a great day......John

I can relate, my 1st car was a 1969 Mustang, didn't take long for tickets to find me.

 

[kbkchooch]

Got some more benchwork done today. The return loop and the end of the peninsula. 28" radius curve, the center spline is in, still have to add some more spline supports , then more holes to drill for harness access, gotta order more spline so I can get back to the main layout.....sooo much to do!

Flo, I need a few cold ones!

 

[bnsf971]

I can relate, my 1st car was a 1969 Mustang, didn't take long for tickets to find me.
View attachment 168288

Mine was similar to this, something very few people have even seen.

 

[Boris]

MLB Gameday: Pirates 0, Orioles 2 Final Score (05/13/2023)

Follow MLB results with FREE box scores, pitch-by-pitch strikezone info, and Statcast data for Pirates vs. Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards

www.mlb.com

Final score Birds 2,Pirates 0. Seattle remained alive in the West, beat the Dallas Stars 6-3. In case you missed it, last evening, Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated by Florida in OT 3-2. Leafs haven't won a cup since 1967...

 

[wombat457]

it's time to put my slippers on and make something happen.

Breakfast maybe??

 

[Texas Hobo]

Mine was a 55 Chevy Bel-Air in 1964

 

[Texas Hobo]

Yesterday I purchased a Visa gift card and tried to order a couple of Bar Mills kits from Fifer Hobbies but couldn't get the order placed. Went to Hobblylinc and placed the order. This morning's email had Hobbylinc stating there was an issue with the card. A call to Vanilla and I find the card had already been used. Within maybe 30 minutes from purchasing the card, some low life sob had used the card. So now I have to wait till that transaction is complete before I can file as a fraudulent purchase. It pisses me off, I save money to make a purchase and some axx hxxe steals it.

 

[wombat457]

@Texas Hobo

Welcome to the wonderful world of the internet ...

When I read you had an issue with Mike (Fifers) I was a bit surprised as I buy a lot from them without an issue so there had to be an explanation. I can't think of a better one than what happened. Hope this Vanilla mob come to the party and refund you your loss though. I know I would be going back to the store you bought the card from and making mention of what happened. It is quite possible, as it was used within 1/2 an hour of you buying it, the culprit is possibly the person who sold it to you.

 

[wombat457]

Mine was a 55 Chevy Bel-Air in 1964
View attachment 168291

Back in the days when Cars WERE Cars and made to last ...

 

[chadbag]

Good Afternoon All. Partly sunny and 86°.
Returned from the grocery trek a bit after noon, it was my first real drive in the new vehicle. OK I guess, it should ride well for a 2020 vehicle with only 22,000 miles on it.
RANT: No wonder newer cars cost so much. This thing has way more computers, cameras, bells and whistles on it than any qualified driver needs. OK, I am an old fashioned guy who learned to drive by paying attention to the road, not by being surrounded by flashing displays and "driving aids". This thing has a display in the center of the dashboard with lines showing the lanes, from cameras mounted somewhere! If you stray over a line or are just changing lanes, the steering wheel automatically vibrates! I know if I am in my lane, I don't need the car to tell me.

I bet it isn't just vibrating, but nudging you back into your lane. Our Volvo had that and the VW also has it. If you stray out of your lane it should nudge you back in -- not auto driving but an assistance if you fall asleep or are distracted and leave your lane. The car will nudge you8 back in and the vibration also should wake you up or get your attention.

Another camera is scanning the side of the road and there is a speed limit sign displayed there that changes as soon as you change to a higher or lower limit. Next to it is a display for STOP signs that the camera reads. I didn't go through anywhere with a yield sign but I suspect that it would show up as well. I guess that the orange lights on the outside side view mirrors might be handy indicating someone in the "blind spot", but isn't that the purpose of those mirrors anyway?

Our last few cars have had the blind spot indicator lights -- my Audi, the Volvo (RIP), and the Jetta all have it. Most people don't adjust their mirrors correctly and so still have a pretty sizable blind spot. I have mine adjusted to get rid of most of it. I don't really pay much attention to the blind spot indicators but do like them as once or twice they've alerted me when I was needing to quickly react to something that someone was there and my quick glance may not have picked them up (needing to react and change lanes quickly). (The Volvo was a 2017 we got on Sweden delivery and in 2019 an idiot pulled out and ran into it and totaled it).

On the rear-view mirror is a display showing what direction you're going in, north south etc.

That is for the female driver. Men seem to know inherently where N S E W are etc but I've yet to meet a woman driver who has a clue about the directions and where they lie in the real world. That sort of thing in the mirror has been around a long time.

I guess that is handy to someone who is directional-challenged, but is it really needed. Then there is the touch-screen up on the center of the dashboard that shows and controls literally hundreds of things. First of all, I can't look at it without taking my eyes off the road.

Yes this touch screen fascination in cars is dumb and has gone way over board. Touch screens are nice when your stopped and have to change settings in the car but when driving, anything you need to control should have a real button or switch and be usable without your eyes leaving the road. The wife's Jetta has a touch screen but has buttons for important things like A/C and air circulation and stuff.

Secondly, it is actually out of my reach so it does no good anyway! Plus I can't really read some of the characters. Then we come to the radio and the climate control system. Both can be controlled by knobs and buttons in the usual places. But both can also be controlled by using the touch screen, by using buttons and controls on the steering wheel, and another touch pad on the center console between the shift control and the arm rest! Four places each!

So that kind of makes sense. My Audi doesn't have a touch screen but there is a master knob in the center console that controls stuff and there are also controls in the steering wheel for the radio etc. The wife's Jetta also has controls in the wheel for the radio or media plus on the dashboard where you would expect.

Forget the cruise control which I never use anyway even though I have had it on cars back 15 years ago. It can be set for certain spacing between you and the car in front and will brake if you get too close. I don't know if the brake lights come on to warn the following driver.

yeah they do -- the brakes stopping you, if applied by the system to a certain level will light up the brake light. Very minor speed adjustments won't. . It is adaptive cruise control or ACC. The Volvo had it and the Jetta has an even better version of it. I like it as it will stop you if the go in front stops you and will also keep you a constant distance behind the guy in front (unless he speeds up past your max). I like to set it on the highway or freeway. I test it sometimes on a state highway that has a light every mile or so and it will completely stop the car at the light if the guy in front stops. Its a back up safety thing. I still normally stop myself but if someone cuts me off and slows down the car can react faster than I can.

I am surprised that it doesn't print out a report card at the conclusion of the trip indicating how often you exceeded the speed limit or turned without using a turn signal! Then turning off the engine and opening the door. Everything moves! Steering wheel moves and seats move. The person in the back seat needs to watch where their knees are!

That is strange.

Heated and air conditioned seats are a nice touch, but I will probably never remember to use that feature. The fold-in outside mirrors when you lock the car by touch are nice since they do indicate that the car is locked; I cannot hear the locking sound. The foot thingy under the rear bumper to open the back hatch might work for someone who won't lose their balance while carrying packages, but not me.
I guess that the technology is just passing this old fart by, but it sure is making cars expensive and probably a lot harder and expensive to repair.
END OF RANT.

I wish my mirrors folded. Would make parking in my garage easier as well as be less likely to get damaged in a parking lot. Most cars in Japan have the feature (no matter the make) and it makes parking lots a lot easier to walk through when weaving through the parked cars. Everyone in Japan backs into parking spaces so probably makes it less likely you'll take the neighbors mirror off I wanted that feature on my Audi but you had to have the Prestige trim at the time and no dealer had Prestige trims in stock except one I found in California and one in Arkansas or Louisiana or somewhere in that neck of the woods.


Sorry, Willie, to make such a long reply to your rant. I loved it and couldn't help myself. Japanese cars especially have all sorts of gizmos and buttons and displays as they love their tech.

 

[chadbag]

Thank God this doesn't do that either. We once had a rental car that did and I figured out that if you just held the brake pedal enough to hold the car, and not push it all of the way down, it wouldn't turn off.

I lie that feature. It actually saves a real amount of gas. My Audi is especially good since it also has the electric drive so it can start you off immediately in EV mode and just turn the gas engine on as you speed up. It will turn the gas engine off on the highway when I coast like down a gradual incline. Saving gas saves me money!

Our Volvo and Jetta both had the feature of turning the engine off at lights etc but you could turn it off. I leave it on personally but I get why some people don't like it.

 

[chadbag]

It is annoying and I dipont see how it’s a gas saver.

I don't remember the details as I just skimmed the article but there was an article the other day in some news site that claimed a study showed that the feature saves a real amount of gas over the cars lifetime and societally with a lot of cars doing it.

ALl cars I've had that have the feature allow you to turn it off.

 

[chadbag]

Not for nothing, Willie, since all these driving aids were incorporated, the number of vehicles crashing into the back of standing emergency vehicles has drastically increased. The emergency vehicles have more reflective stripes and warning lights than ever, so what"s the excuse?

That's just the Tesla idiots who think the cars drive themselves.

 

[wombat457]

@santafewillie

I am surprised that it doesn't print out a report card at the conclusion of the trip indicating how often you exceeded the speed limit or turned without using a turn signal!

Give it time Willie - some moron with nothing better to do will introduce it into cars. And if you fail (by their standards) they'll lock you out of the car for a month.

Instead of putting all this techo rubbish in cars to distract people - they should have mandatory Cell Phone Blockers and Wi Fi Blockers installed instead - which are activated as soon as you start the car and remain on until you switch it off. That'd stop idiot damn 17 year old girls who shouldn't have a licence from using their phones while driving and then slamming into the back of people, destroying a vintage Corvette and thinking that saying I'm sorry and shedding a few crocodile tears everything would be okay!!!!!

Of course if they didn't permit immature and irresponsible children to drive - that'd be a damn good start too,

 

[chadbag]

I am guilty, I use the backup camera

I use it all the time too, but I also make sure I look out the rear window in the mirror and also use the side mirrors. I made sure to teach my son to use his mirrors as I said his first car probably wouldn't have the camera and he needed to learn how to drive safely. The camera is a nice to have but you should be able to drive without. And his first (and still only) car, my dad's old Honda Fit from 2007, after my dad stopped driving, doesn't have a camera.