Running Bear's May 2025 Coffee Shop

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Good Morning All. Happy Memorial Day. Cloudy here at 64° right now. Thunderstorms started just past midnight last night and just stopped about 0600. I had to get up and close the window as I was getting an unexpected cold shower. The rain gauge has 2.1" in it this morning, and the forecast is for additional thunderstorms this evening, although not as heavy. We're under a flash flood warning around rivers and creeks today. Mid-70's today and low-80's all of this week for highs.

The rain kinda cancelled out all of my effort to pump the old water off the top of the pool cover yesterday. I didn't quite complete it anyway and now have to do it all over again. I did get the bedroom window A/C installed in the house without incident or without hurting myself; it's the only one that I take out for the winter and it's the only one that I can lift by myself. I did some other yardwork, but mostly just took it easy yesterday.

I had no specific plans for today, as the original forecast called for this rain to have hit today instead of last night. I'll patrol the yard for downed branches and other debris since there were some good winds overnight. But that will be tricky depending on where there might still be standing water. It runs off slower when the grass/weeds are as lush as they are now.

I did visit the train shed for a very brief time yesterday, but didn't stay due to the temperature out there being in the 90's, since the A/C stopped cooling. It will be a lot more tolerable today and the rest of the week until my SIL and grandson come up Saturday and help me install a new one. I'll be looking online today at my choices for a replacement before heading into town to get one later in the week. There's a Lowes, 2 Home Depots and Sam's Club that all sell them. I'm sure that all will deliver but I don't yet know their delivery schedules or costs if any. Since I am going to upgrade to a 240v unit, I'll also have to get a breaker and probably an outlet to match whatever plug is on the unit.

Tom O - Glad that the wedding went off better than you were expecting.
Kusojiji - The A/C is definitely not iced up. Yes it is fortunate that I am looking at cooler than normal weather for the next week or so.
Tom (Cambria) - Nice yard display for Memorial Day.

Rocker Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac (and solo) is 77 today. John Wayne was born on this day in 1907.
Everyone have a wonderful Memorial Day, and do what suits you to honor those who gave their lives for this great (again) country.
 
Good morning from Pasadena where you cannot see the mountains in the morning because what I call foggy they call June Gloom. It will burn off. 60f degrees heading into the high 70’s and may cross 80’s.

The daughter and family left at 5:50 this morning to return the rental and check in for a 8:15 flight. They were at the gate at 6:52 because there was no traffic the SIL said anywhere including the rental return. We are switching hotels today to be a couple blocks away (walkable) from my sister’s place. The son and girlfriend will drive us to the other hotel this morning as checkout here is 10am. The other place Pasadena Hotel and Pool will let us check in before noon. The son has a flight at 7pm.

The Huntington Gardens were great. The pictures on the phone I have not transferred to the IPadPro yet. Thanks Troy for confirming that would be a great choice.

Dinner out last night was an adventure, ridiculous, amusing and also slightly insulting! There were 12 of us and we had reservations through contacts the son has. We got there in 3 vehicles and valet was $15 each vehicle. Strike 1 but fine. Got in the building told them who I was and was told at least 90 minutes behind if we WANTED to still stay. strike 2! Just then my sister showed up with her sister in law and the SIL’s daughter in law all changed. The daughter in law is the actress I mentioned the other day. Seated within a few minutes with all of a sudden a good table. I was then asked (quietly) who was paying and I said I was. I was asked for a card and the waiter told me since it was not a black or gold card he needed to run it first to verify! Now I’m steamed but controlled (barely). (Foul tip) Told waiter I never knew credit cards meant anything but payment! His comment and loud enough for the other end of the table to hear was, we need to see if it will clear! The son made a phone call to his friend and a few minutes later one of the managers came over to apologize and served on the house 3 bottles of a California champagne. I know it’s not allowed to be called champagne but I saw no French police at dinner yesterday. Dinner was good but not the $$$ good that was charged. Small portions but I can say we’ve eaten in Malibu with no need ever to go back.

Mentioned the card incident to my brother on the phone last night. He said you really should be carrying a black card. Told him he’s out of f…ing touch! Said for over 50 years I have had credit cards and never once was anyone concerned about the color of the card I gave them. It’s no longer a issue for me as I will never go back or recommend the place.

Lots of devastation from the fires along the PCH and within Malibu.

Just a lazy day today going to be spent with my sister. If she wants to do anything we will figure it out.

Have a wonderful day
 


santafewillie said:
Good Morning All. Happy Memorial Day. Cloudy here at 64° right now. Thunderstorms started just past midnight last night and just stopped about 0600. I had to get up and close the window as I was getting an unexpected cold shower. The rain gauge has 2.1" in it this morning, and the forecast is for additional thunderstorms this evening, although not as heavy. We're under a flash flood warning around rivers and creeks today. Mid-70's today and low-80's all of this week for highs.

The rain kinda cancelled out all of my effort to pump the old water off the top of the pool cover yesterday. I didn't quite complete it anyway and now have to do it all over again. I did get the bedroom window A/C installed in the house without incident or without hurting myself; it's the only one that I take out for the winter and it's the only one that I can lift by myself. I did some other yardwork, but mostly just took it easy yesterday.

I had no specific plans for today, as the original forecast called for this rain to have hit today instead of last night. I'll patrol the yard for downed branches and other debris since there were some good winds overnight. But that will be tricky depending on where there might still be standing water. It runs off slower when the grass/weeds are as lush as they are now.

I did visit the train shed for a very brief time yesterday, but didn't stay due to the temperature out there being in the 90's, since the A/C stopped cooling. It will be a lot more tolerable today and the rest of the week until my SIL and grandson come up Saturday and help me install a new one. I'll be looking online today at my choices for a replacement before heading into town to get one later in the week. There's a Lowes, 2 Home Depots and Sam's Club that all sell them. I'm sure that all will deliver but I don't yet know their delivery schedules or costs if any. Since I am going to upgrade to a 240v unit, I'll also have to get a breaker and probably an outlet to match whatever plug is on the unit.

Tom O - Glad that the wedding went off better than you were expecting.
Kusojiji - The A/C is definitely not iced up. Yes it is fortunate that I am looking at cooler than normal weather for the next week or so.
Tom (Cambria) - Nice yard display for Memorial Day.

Rocker Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac (and solo) is 77 today. John Wayne was born on this day in 1907.
Everyone have a wonderful Memorial Day, and do what suits you to honor those who gave their lives for this great (again) country.
Click to expand...
Thanks Willie! The whole thing actually went well. The behind the scene drama was interesting but handled. I have not gotten that emotional at an event since our daughter’s wedding and possibly mom’s funeral Mass. My niece has always been like a second daughter.

A grand time
 
TLOC said:
Dinner out last night was an adventure, ridiculous, amusing and also slightly insulting! There were 12 of us and we had reservations through contacts the son has. We got there in 3 vehicles and valet was $15 each vehicle. Strike 1 but fine. Got in the building told them who I was and was told at least 90 minutes behind if we WANTED to still stay. strike 2! Just then my sister showed up with her sister in law and the SIL’s daughter in law all changed. The daughter in law is the actress I mentioned the other day. Seated within a few minutes with all of a sudden a good table. I was then asked (quietly) who was paying and I said I was. I was asked for a card and the waiter told me since it was not a black or gold card he needed to run it first to verify! Now I’m steamed but controlled (barely). (Foul tip) Told waiter I never knew credit cards meant anything but payment! His comment and loud enough for the other end of the table to hear was, we need to see if it will clear! The son made a phone call to his friend and a few minutes later one of the managers came over to apologize and served on the house 3 bottles of a California champagne. I know it’s not allowed to be called champagne but I saw no French police at dinner yesterday. Dinner was good but not the $$$ good that was charged. Small portions but I can say we’ve eaten in Malibu with no need ever to go back.
Click to expand...
This is one of the reasons we're not going back to Santa Barbara. Southern Cal, at least the wealthy coastal enclaves, have changed for the worse.
The hotel we stated at was not even one of the big name places and we were charged $32 per night for self parking. Our average breakfast, anywhere in town (SB or Goleta), was $45-$60 (food, tax, & tip). It wasn't just the tourist parts of SB, but everywhere. I'm just happy to have lived there when it was still a fun beach town.

Glad to hear the wedding went well without any real blood or tears.
 
Welp, back from the family road trip.

Sis was happy for the smoked pork. Said she had to pull rank over daughter #2 to come get it. Didn't know I was that good on the grill.

Her daughter #1 is still to risky for another surgery. The docs are gambling they can stay ahead of the infection caused by the bowel blowout, while the splice in the intestines heals enough to let her start taking a liquid diet, and then get back in for the additional repairs. Ugh!

Did stop to see mom's grave today.

500787610_9926904147376670_8796553805404038905_n.jpg


And we stopped at Ritters for lunch, and Ice Cream. Since there are two Ritters, and two WalMarts in the town, the near the cemetary and Mom's old apartment is referred to (by her grandkids) as "Grandma's Ritters" so they know which side of town to be on.

501212153_18498472804035711_5128627838689617959_n.jpg


I got a mixer with XTRA COOKIE DOUGH, because that's what Mom would have told me to get. Wife had a mixer with oreo cookies.

TOM O: If you get anywhere close to Santa Monica, the Earth Wind and Flour restaurant has good pizza with gooey levels of cheese. And lots of pasta dishes. The only other place I'd suggest a visit to is the Santa Monica pier for some ocean time. IF you can hit one of their walking tours, lots of great stories. Or, fly your favorite friendly former docent (me!) out and I'll bring my book of historical photos, and give you a two hour tour of the place. 😜
 


Good afternoon all!

Turned out to be a picture perfect weather day today. Temps are right now 70F. It was really nice working
outside all morning into mid afternoon. Today was get the pool ready day. Topped off the water and added
shock. Got the filter filled with the new sand and added my shock. I also got out all the lawn furniture and got
that all situated. Now if we could get some warm weather! Looks like we will start getting that next week with
mid to upper 80s. About the only thing left to do is purchase a new solar cover. The one we had for many
years started coming apart in Aug last year.

There is Memorial day activities uptown tonight with a bunch of food trucks. I think we are going up there later
for dinner, and see what's going on.

basement to do something with trains later. Not sure what that will be but I've started getting more active
with the hobby as of late.

Have a great rest of your day everyone!
 
I'm currently installing Windows on my laptop for the fifth time today. It all started when three apps on the computer had stopped working, and wanted an updated version from Microsoft Store. That's when I discovered the store had stopped working, and was not updating apps acquired through there. My other computer was able to do everything store-related with no trouble. And down the rabbit hole I went.
The advice from MS and others, after a bunch of troubleshooting, was to reinstall Windows. So, I've been going through a gradual escalation of installing Windows, from their "repair in place" to "local install", and now "cloud reinstall", while removing everything from the computer's storage. I'm really not happy right now, but at least I haven't lost any data. I can just reload everything from a backup--IF the thing works this time. My last resort is going to be installing Windows using a USB drive.
 
Marlin39 said:
Troy,
Here's some of my son's Warhammer stuff. His painting and modeling skills have improved a lot. I wish I still had steady hands like his.

View attachment 220325
View attachment 220326
View attachment 220327
Click to expand...
Very cool.

Warhammer 40K was not a game I ever got into, but it is the gateway drug for so much of the hobby. From there, many players go into other games, and other genres including historicals.

I just 3D Printed a mess of historical American Civil War Iron Brigade. Eventually, I'll need to print up some ACW Rebels to paint. But I want to get the 19th Indiana and their buddies done first.
 
troyphoto said:
Welp, back from the family road trip.

Sis was happy for the smoked pork. Said she had to pull rank over daughter #2 to come get it. Didn't know I was that good on the grill.

Her daughter #1 is still to risky for another surgery. The docs are gambling they can stay ahead of the infection caused by the bowel blowout, while the splice in the intestines heals enough to let her start taking a liquid diet, and then get back in for the additional repairs. Ugh!

Did stop to see mom's grave today.

View attachment 220321

And we stopped at Ritters for lunch, and Ice Cream. Since there are two Ritters, and two WalMarts in the town, the near the cemetary and Mom's old apartment is referred to (by her grandkids) as "Grandma's Ritters" so they know which side of town to be on.

View attachment 220322

I got a mixer with XTRA COOKIE DOUGH, because that's what Mom would have told me to get. Wife had a mixer with oreo cookies.

TOM O: If you get anywhere close to Santa Monica, the Earth Wind and Flour restaurant has good pizza with gooey levels of cheese. And lots of pasta dishes. The only other place I'd suggest a visit to is the Santa Monica pier for some ocean time. IF you can hit one of their walking tours, lots of great stories. Or, fly your favorite friendly former docent (me!) out and I'll bring my book of historical photos, and give you a two hour tour of the place. 😜
Click to expand...
Thanks again for Huntington Gardens

The son just sent a picture of him and the girlfriend
IMG_6664.jpeg


at Santa Monica beach, relaxing before trekking to LAX to go back

As for a flight out here. I’d say after airline tickets for 8, 3 rooms for 5 nights at a stupid $$$ but nice hotel, 3 more nights for Terry and me, plus a big $$$ meal I’ll never forget, I’m tapped out until next month for more airline tickets. It would be nice to have a private tour guide next time in Mid June!
 
Good evening. It's 83 and mostly dark.
I finally got the laptop working properly, after executing the nuclear option. I downloaded Windows on a USB drive, wiped all data off the drive in the laptop, and installed windows. There was data somewhere that was corrupted, and kept copying itself to all the repairs and reinstalls, and the only way I could get rid of it, without going over everything line-by-line, was the new install. And then, of course, even though I asked MS to include the drivers for this specific laptop, it just performed a generic install, and I had to go on a search and destroy mission for wifi drivers so I could reinstall everything else.
But, it's working now.
 
Yeah, I hate Windows, but haven't found a good replacement yet. I thought about Mac, but don't want to pay twice as much for the same thing. And software, and applications, and whatever. Tried linux, but too steep of a learning curve, and software, and applications and whatever...

Glad you made it through!
 
Good Evening All. Currently 68° and cloudy. It's been an overcast day all day. Then a surprise very, very loud thunderclap at about 3:15. Obviously lightning struck really close by. From then, we had a constant rumbling for 6 hours without any rain,, until 9:15 and it actually started. But it wasn't even enough to get the inside of my rain gauge wet! Lasted maybe 10 minutes and has now stopped. Really didn't need any more than we got this morning anyway.
I was intending to grill burgers tonight for our traditional Memorial Day supper, but surprise, I couldn't find any ground beef in the freezer. Quite unusual for us as we always buy too much. So I had to make baby back ribs instead! I have no problem with making that our new tradition.
OK, it's past my bedtime so I'll bid you a farewell. Good Night All.
 
Good evening from the traveling circus. I can’t wait for Wednesday to get out of California!

Pasadena’s nice but the restaurant scene is nuts. Around 4 we decided Italian for dinner. Maybe 2 blocks away is a favorite of my sister’s. With her walker she can she says easily walk it. I called about 4:15 for reservations and really to make sure it was open for 5:30 (way too early for T and T). We get over there and they are locking the doors, not enough business tonight! They say go to the other location about 4 blocks away. My sister says no that location is not as good!!!

2 blocks past my sister’s condo the opposite way we came is another favorite! We walk over there and have a good decent meal.
 


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