Running Bear's May 2025 Coffee Shop

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Well, howdy there internet peeps and those with unexpected lawn ornaments.

It's Troy again.

Slept 10 p to 4:40am local time. got up for cup of yogurt. A few days of my old breakfast routine, and all of the traveller digestion issues should pass, so to speak.

Interesting news item. I'm wondering if I can work something like this into the background of my layout? 3-D Print up the nose of the ship and the cabin, but have the rest be a photo on the backdrop? Hmmmm

Screenshot 2025-05-23 at 5.16.29 AM.png


 
troyphoto said:
Tie your laces so they're loose at the top. Double knot the bunny ears.

Slip ons with a bit of effort. I occasionally have to raise a foot to get the heel/ankle to wrap correctly. But I've been doing that for ages.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the problem is that then the shoe is loose on the foot somewhat and I get blisters . I'll have to play with it as I tried doing it tight except the last two sets of eyelets/lace catcher thingy (the show has both regular eyelets and those curved lace holder things at the top)... But the string tension spreads so that the lower part slowly loosens up some and then the whole shoe is a little loose and I get more blisters...

Being old and fat anything is "hard" that makes me have to bend over and dork around with the shoes without a place to sit down. And that's hard in Japan sometimes to find -- place to sit down. All homes are "no shoes" and there is a sunken part of the entry where you take your shoes off. Ie the door opens and you all in to a small part and then step up onto the main floor without shoes. And like most things in Japan, it is space conscious -- ie narrow and not deep so not a lot of room.

on a mostly different note, I've been looking at how things are built in the home. Hallway is narrow as are stairs. Most Japanese homes that I've seen are multi story with small footprint as land is valuable. The walls seem to be some sort of drywall type thing and the outside corners are the rounded sort and you can see the special "bead" used to make it nice and rounded. They don't have code that requires the ends of a stairway bannister to be turned into the wall. Lots of wallpaper. Not as many outlets in a room as tends to be code in the US but I have not really measured so maybe it is. It's just interesting, now that I've "built" a house, to see how things are different. Not claiming one side or the other is better.

You almost never find garages in Japan but lots of car ports. @Kusojiji will explain why. But often they have an automatic gate to close off the car port so you can't easily steal the car and all the car ports are covered (which I guess makes it a carport vs just a parking space).

And for those who complain about people who back into parking spaces -- everyone in Japan backs in at public spaces. You have to really search to find the odd guy who pulls into a space in public. In fact most public parking lots of small tire stops placed so you can back in until you hit them and know when to stop. And most of the parking lots I've been in at malls, Costco, etc. have a wider space between the rows (on the inside -- not the driving side) so that both people can open their trunks/hatches easily when both are backed in. It's very efficient.
 


This was supper tonight.

IMG_8055.jpeg

It’s a cold soup (since it’s summer). Reimen. It had kimchi and cucumbers thinly sliced and some pork and an egg. I added some hot sauce they had for it (wasn’t that hot). We also had some squid (raw and cooked) and Gyoza (Japanese pot stickers).

The reimen was interesting. I’ve had Asian cold soup but this was the first with this sort of wheat based noodles, which were quite chewy and good. This version is a specialty of some place (I think they said Iwata but am not sure) and they reminded me of Korean style noodles.

Need to work a few hours and go to bed to be on a Japanese schedule. I seem to have forgotten my portable disk I wanted to bring with the laptop. It’s not a disaster since I made sure all the code I was working on had been uploaded to the online “git repository” I use so I could download it again but I had hoped to use the portable disk since the code already there and also doesn’t take up space on the main laptop storage. But I was able to download and get it working anyway. I had disconnected the disk from my main desktop at home so I need to find it when we get home. Hopefully it’s in the bedroom or on the kitchen island. I’d hate to permanently lose it.

I guess we’re getting up early and driving to a much bigger mall called Nishinomiya Gardens. It’s a bit further away and they want to get there by 9am since it’s Saturday and will be crowded. Also supposed to rain. More shopping with the women folk. I’ll bring my neck wallet this time so I can go look at stuff myself. Not sure there is anything else planned for tomorrow.

Monday we’re flying to Tokyo and spending a few days there. My wife’s other sister is in Yokohama and we’ll see here. Wednesday I’ll have part of the day for myself in Tokyo as the wife and daughter and other SisIL are going to a hair place and some other things. I want to hit a gachapon place in Akihabara we always top at (capsule toy store — that’s all they sell). I need a few more desk toys. And maybe some train stores there. I have a lunch appointment with a guy from Taiwan who now lives in Tokyo for work. I met him and his workmates 10 years ago at the Apple Developer Conference (WWDC 2015) in San Francisco. There were a few of the guys butv2 of them we hung out with after meeting them and I went in 2017 and visited them in Taiwan. We chat by email or Facebook every once in a while. So I’ll meet him for lunch. So I am excited by that.

Next Thursday we fly to Sapporo. Amongst other things we’ll see my son for lunch and grocery shopping (for things they don’t usually splurge on) while there. More on that when we go. When we get back from Sapporo we’ll have a little over a week here in Kobe area and we’ll hit up more shopping (LOL) and hopefully do some day trips to go see things. There is a model train store here in Kobe I want to visit. The owner is really a great guy. I’ve ordered from him before (online for shipping to me in the U.S.) and last time I was here I stopped and saw his store. I also want to go to this “Super Kids Land” store in Osaka. They have one whole floor dedicated to model railroads and they have good prices. I e dropped a lot there on previous trips. With my job problems I won’t be buying much but still want to do the rounds and look at stuff. I’ll probably get some containers for my container cars.

this is some snacks I got. Two boxes for 100 yen. That’s around 70 cents. That was at Daiso, the 100 yen store. They’re pretty good for an off brand.


IMG_8054.jpeg
 
Good morning all!

Happy Friday!

Currently 49F with mostly cloudy skies. High is supposed to reach 69F, so a little warmer than the past few days.

Laundry, and mowing are on the agenda for this morning. We will see if anything else gets done beyond that.

I ordered all my pool chemicals last night. I ended up getting a new batch of chlorine. I think the tablets I bought
a few years ago have lost their punch. I fought algae at the end of the season last year for some reason. I have
never had an algae problem, so I suspect the chlorine must have a shelf life. I only bought a small batch this time
and not a 35 pound bucket. Hopefully better luck this year.

Have a safe day everyone.
 
chadbag said:
This was supper tonight.

View attachment 220038

It’s a cold soup (since it’s summer). Reimen. It had kimchi and cucumbers thinly sliced and some pork and an egg. I added some hot sauce they had for it (wasn’t that hot). We also had some squid (raw and cooked) and Gyoza (Japanese pot stickers).

The reimen was interesting. I’ve had Asian cold soup but this was the first with this sort of wheat based noodles, which were quite chewy and good. This version is a specialty of some place (I think they said Iwata but am not sure) and they reminded me of Korean style noodles.

Need to work a few hours and go to bed to be on a Japanese schedule. I seem to have forgotten my portable disk I wanted to bring with the laptop. It’s not a disaster since I made sure all the code I was working on had been uploaded to the online “git repository” I use so I could download it again but I had hoped to use the portable disk since the code already there and also doesn’t take up space on the main laptop storage. But I was able to download and get it working anyway. I had disconnected the disk from my main desktop at home so I need to find it when we get home. Hopefully it’s in the bedroom or on the kitchen island. I’d hate to permanently lose it.

I guess we’re getting up early and driving to a much bigger mall called Nishinomiya Gardens. It’s a bit further away and they want to get there by 9am since it’s Saturday and will be crowded. Also supposed to rain. More shopping with the women folk. I’ll bring my neck wallet this time so I can go look at stuff myself. Not sure there is anything else planned for tomorrow.

Monday we’re flying to Tokyo and spending a few days there. My wife’s other sister is in Yokohama and we’ll see here. Wednesday I’ll have part of the day for myself in Tokyo as the wife and daughter and other SisIL are going to a hair place and some other things. I want to hit a gachapon place in Akihabara we always top at (capsule toy store — that’s all they sell). I need a few more desk toys. And maybe some train stores there. I have a lunch appointment with a guy from Taiwan who now lives in Tokyo for work. I met him and his workmates 10 years ago at the Apple Developer Conference (WWDC 2015) in San Francisco. There were a few of the guys butv2 of them we hung out with after meeting them and I went in 2017 and visited them in Taiwan. We chat by email or Facebook every once in a while. So I’ll meet him for lunch. So I am excited by that.

Next Thursday we fly to Sapporo. Amongst other things we’ll see my son for lunch and grocery shopping (for things they don’t usually splurge on) while there. More on that when we go. When we get back from Sapporo we’ll have a little over a week here in Kobe area and we’ll hit up more shopping (LOL) and hopefully do some day trips to go see things. There is a model train store here in Kobe I want to visit. The owner is really a great guy. I’ve ordered from him before (online for shipping to me in the U.S.) and last time I was here I stopped and saw his store. I also want to go to this “Super Kids Land” store in Osaka. They have one whole floor dedicated to model railroads and they have good prices. I e dropped a lot there on previous trips. With my job problems I won’t be buying much but still want to do the rounds and look at stuff. I’ll probably get some containers for my container cars.

this is some snacks I got. Two boxes for 100 yen. That’s around 70 cents. That was at Daiso, the 100 yen store. They’re pretty good for an off brand.


View attachment 220039
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the photos and sharing your trip with us.

Very interesting reading about a much different culture that I really have no idea about, so learning
some new things along the way.
 
Good morning gang!!

54° under cloudy skies. No rain today just cloudy with a high of 63°. I got snookered into working today with us being short staffed, with the promise of being off Tuesday.
Boss will be here soon, he stopped to pick up scrapple, egg, and cheese sandwiches for he and I.

Chadbag I've got 3 words for you, Sketchers slip ons. I live in them! Super comfy and easy to put on!

BBL
 
The size of the house depends on the size of the land, depending on your city, Where I live, the house is limited to 80% of the land. Garages, if connected to the house, counts against that 80%. Balconies also. So, I have a carport for two cars and a balcony for hanging laundry only.

Walking around the neighborhood, I've seen some I beam structures over the parking lot. I'm wondering if I can build a structure over the parking area. Since it is separate from the house, I wonder... need a train room.
 


kbkchooch said:
Sketchers slip ons.
Click to expand...
I'm a Sketchers fan myself. I wear the Go Max Athletic Slip-on Walking Shoe

I like these because they have good arch support and fit tighter than other slip-on shoes. But I do have to sit down and use two hands to put them on. The benefits to me are the arch support, no inserts needed, they fit tight, no sore feet from walking. And I don't have to tie them. My hands struggle to tie shoes. I've been wearing a version of this shoe for over seven years.
 
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Good Morning All. Mostly cloudy and 65°, still nice and cool here. Probably will hit 90° later on though. Rain still expected on Monday and much of next week.

Yesterday's grocery trek didn't go as well as usual, store was out of more than the normal number of items. None critical though, so I didn't go elsewhere to find them. Then it sprinkled just about the time that I was going to finish the mowing, so that got delayed until today. Instead, I went through and cleaned out some tornado debris in the only part of the destroyed barn that still had any semblance of roof left on it. Then it sprinkled again!
Today is all of the outdoor stuff that got delayed from yesterday, after the dishwasher. I miss not having the kids at home to do some of those mundane chores that I have to do now!:(

Out in the train shed yesterday, I just did freight car maintenance. I had found my list of cars that still had McHenry couplers on them, and set about changing them to KD #148's. I also installed KD #146 extended couplers on four ScaleTrains engines that had snow plows on them. It took a while to search out some of those cars, some of which were parked on obscure sidings and staging yard tracks.

Louis - While I still do the oil changes and brakes on my vehicles, I see it coming to an end soon. I did the brakes on our Accura 4 years ago, but we're putting less than 8000 miles/year on it now, so probably not again. I'll do the oil before the end of the month and see how that goes. The Lexus has free maintenance for another year and a half, so that decision won't be made any time soon.
Marlin - If I recall, the Walther's supplied decal for the Sunrise Feed Mill, doesn't fit on any of the walls; it's too big! I renamed mine as well.
1748003161512.jpeg

1748003187159.jpeg

Mike - I switched to liquid chlorine a few years ago. Much less expensive and for me, it works better because I have more control. Downside is that I have to test every 2-3 days. In an emergency though, you can always dump a gallon of Chlorox in as a substitute. It's less concentrated but is the same stuff.
Chad - Around here, almost all owners of those large crew cab pick up trucks back into parking spaces. I don't know why though. It's especially annoying when they do it in front of a business establishment using the raised sidewalk as a tire stop. You have to dodge around 3' of truck bed and an extra 18" of bumper and extended trailer hitch. Otherwise, they would extend out into the parking lot. In this area, a four-door extended bed pick up is the "family car" for many.

Everyone have a great Friday and a wonderful long weekend.
 
Good Morning. Happy Friday! Still cold and murky, but the sun is trying to make an appearance.

Today is the start of the First BENNY weekend of the Summer Season, at the Jersey Shore. TV News was running around the different resort towns, interviewing merchants and their prospects for the summer season. First reminder was that Gas prices jumped from $2.96/gal to $3.15/gal.

Enjoy the Weekend!
 
Good morning,

A sunny and calm morning in eastcentral MN. The birds are singing!

Plan on doing some mowing later this am, then work in the garden, seeds are being sown for many veggies right now here.

Need to make more signs for the layout this afternoon, marking the blocks and switches.

Later,

Dave LASM
 
Good morning from the desert of Las Vegas. Heading to LA this morning. Good couple of meals the last 2 nights. No trains, no gambling, no shows just a friendly not hurried family get together. It’s been awhile since we’ve gathered at my brother’s.

Tonight is the rehearsal dinner for the Saturday’s wedding. Turns out the rehearsal is like a block from the hotel we are staying at and 2 blocks from my sister’s in Pasadena. Easy and no vehicles needed. The drinkers in the family will enjoy that.

The flight out of Middleton, Wi. started like the trip from hell. The plane coming in hit a Sandhill Crane on landing and sucked it through one of the engines. All sort of stories from the flight crew but finally we got off 4 hours late with another plane and all was safe.

The only thing today after we check in will be my pilgrim to the Original Whistle Stop in Pasadena. It’s an old fashion shop that reminds me of the youthful visits to Trost Hobbies on 63rd Street in Chicago. Lots of brass behind the glass cabinets, probably the best book section I have been to in a hobby shop. Always a very welcoming real greeting when you walk in the door

Be well
 
@santafewillie I can still do oil changes on my equinox, those are easy on that car. Brakes can be a "can of worms" you are never sure of what you will find. Replacing pads is simple enough. Rebuilding a caliper might be too much for my hands. Fortunately, I still have my old friend Marty. Although Marty is a few years older than me. Watching him walking into the shop yesterday I can see age is creeping up on him too.
 


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