Running Bear's November 2022 Coffee Shop

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Morning all,

Currently 60° and cloudy and supposed to remain that way all day. Temp to 72° later with possibility of some rain. Bottom falls out later in the week as highs in the low to mid 40's by Friday and through the weekend. Definitely need to get the snow machine out of the shed and into the garage this weekend. That said, I also have to get the yard mowed as well. Hopefully for the last time.

I had to change my 3 days off during the short week of Thanksgiving. I was going to get 9 days and only burn 3 days of vacation. out of town daughter and her husband are needing to go out of town the following week, daughter for 3 days and SIL for 2 days, but don't know which ones they'll overlap yet, and since both girls are in school\preschool they have to be at home, so...Yes, I'm still using vacation days to watch grandkids. 🤣
I'll actually get 11 days as I'll still have Thanksgiving and the following day off and then start a week. 11 days total instead of 9. Boss is happy I'm clearing some days off the books in time to earn more.

On a side note: Gas jumped $0.25 overnight. Figures as I was going to wait to fill up until this evening, but turned around, filled up at the local Dillons, as they haven't raised yet (won't until 7:00a), and walked in the door 5 minutes before I needed to be here. Saved $3.00, so I can get a Powerball ticket later if no one wins when they draw sometime this morning. Drawing delayed as some states couldn't apply the sales in time. 2 billion dollars is a big draw...and I do have 1 ticket for last nights\todays draw. Shoot already at work....🤣🤣🤣

Troy: Would loved to have seen the lunar eclipse, but it was hiding.

George: Hope the wife is OK.

Terri and Willie: Besides old stories, MSN likes to link to subscription news service providers as well. Really annoying.
 
Good morning all,

Election day and I will be voting after work today, wife is an election judge so I make my own supper tonight, oatmeal. I like oatmeal otherwise would not be eating it.

Watch: in the oil field, jewelry of any kind (incl. watches) not recommended. I never wore one logging either for same reasons. Not as good as Todd but usually have a pretty good internal clock.

Got this pic at the Duluth train museum, an early electric train (built 1915). Unbelievably clean in the inside, I have pics of that, too.

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I took numerous prototype pics for future reference.

My Samsung 12 holds lots of pics, my main problem with it is file sizes are pretty big and not sure that I can change that setting on this cheap phone. I download the best ones to computer then put on a thumb drive, not slave to any web service that way.

This scene I completed over the weekend, a new group of trees and this guy reading the same book on like 3 different layouts:

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A couple trees are huge, my layout is set 1900-1939 so lots of old growth still around at that time

Then here is another shot with my fake water spray:

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Will be back later today as well since will be in the office all day today

by the way, gas here is 3.54 to 3.74 per gallon. No moon since cloudy this morning.

Dave LASM
 
Good morning from crispy So. Central Wisconsin. 34f degrees heading to low 50’s but the wind is at 7 gusting to 15. A good day for modeling indoors. Today will be better then yesterday that for the most part though long was actually enjoyable.

Terry and I met either in the office or near every staff members work station. Gave out the year end sharing bonus for the fiscal year ending 9/30. Told them there would be no Christmas party this December and that they will have a new owner of the stables as of 2/1/2023. We did not terminate the 2 stable lead people after listening to them but did put them on probation and gave a reduced year end sharing bonus with the agreement they shut up and do their jobs and they would get the other 1/2 in January.

I did terminate the lead staffer of the landscaping/woodlot crew with a 90 day severance and no year end sharing bonus. He was the 1st interview of the morning. The second was the wife of the property manager but we did give her 6 months severance and her year end sharing bonus. I have a feeling in 6 months or so she may come back looking for a job. Basically an innonence caught up in a mess her hubby caused. He got terminated and then escorted off premises by a security company we hired for the purpose. Security brought back his company vehicles after he emptied them of personal items. Unfortunately he had to be paid the balance of his contract till June of 2023. Fired for cause, we had to in writing describe the cause, as per the contract agreement. Wisconsin is a no cause state or fire at will for terminations but his contract had the cause clause in it. There was no end of year or Christmas checks for him, but he did ask for them. His only comment really other then the money was let him tell his wife. He almost lost it when he was told we already told her when we terminated her. He plead her case but …

The 4th person was seen outside next to a feed trough. Was very happy with her job, the news and the check as were the rest of the staff. The final arrangement for the sale of the stables have begun. The lady going to finish her schooling for her USA Veterinarian license in January will take over 2/1/2023. She was with us to talk to every stable staff member but not at the terminations.

Trains, I got some bench work in last night on the water treatment Lime Vessel I received yesterday for the paper mill. Fixed a chip, sanded it down and then cleaned the vessel up with warm water and soap using a toothbrush. It’s ready to be primed today. I have enough wire cut for almost 250 various sized trees. During the Oiler/Capitals NHL game I started twisting trunks together.

Well I have a full time job the next few months. I have to watch over the property. One of the landscape staff did ask if she could apply for the job. We are going to talk this morning…

enjoy the day
 


Good morning, from a place that is sub-zero for the next few days. -4F (-20C) outside right now, and only expected to cool off a-bit.
The blizzard is finally dying out leaving more snow to shovel in her wake.
No sense in going outside to look at the moon, cause it ain't there.

NYC George - I'm really sorry to hear the wife fell and was hurt. As others have said, it's best to call the ambulance, because they have the proper equipment and know what to do. If the US is like here, though, you'll be billed for the ambulance service.
Toboggans come in handy for transporting hurt people down the stairs, if you own one.

DaveB - I'm going to try the cotton ball technique to make white-water, if I ever get that bridge built. Perhaps a combination of cotton and silicone.
I'll probably use Mod-Podge for the water. - Thanks for the idea.

The only photos I have today are from the archives of the past summer.
A heavily weathered SD40-2W, with the complimentary poles and overhead wires that I can't get rid of without faking the photo.
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CN 5281_SD40-2W_03-30-2022 (2).JPG


It looks like she'll be a long, hard winter, and auto-focus cameras always have issues with the cold. Not always easy to get good photos in the snow, and I don't feel like struggling through the snowpack anyway. So, I'm thinking the photo count might be decreasing this year.
I've already got lots of photos of the average locomotive that comes our way. Might not see many more, other than archived photos, until something new and exciting comes up here.
If I see locomotives in a different colour, other than the usual CN, I always take the time to stop and click away.

Time to get dressed at get outside. The dog knows it's forest time, and I can hear a snow shovel calling my name.

Have a great day!
 
Good Morning All. Cloudy and 68° on this warmer than average morning. Too cloudy overnight to see the eclipse at all. Still warm for a couple more days, although without much sun.

Election day today. Go out and vote if you haven't already done so. A bit of irony here; in Texas as I am sure in many other states, you cannot wear a tee shirt or badge with the gubernatorial candidates name on it at a polling location; or any other politician who is on the ballot. BUT you can wear Trump or Biden apparel because their names are not on the ballot. However only election judges or peace officers are allowed to openly carry a handgun at a polling location.

So besides voting this morning, I have to pick up my wife this afternoon from her "girls weekend" in Florida. Back before the hurricane.

Random musings:
Like some others here, I have never worn a wristwatch. But I can always estimate the time to within 10 minutes or so. I also learned to tell time by the position of the sun while I was in the Boy Scouts many years ago, even to the point of the varying seasons. Now, time doesn't really matter much any more except numerous medical appointments.
My cats always lived in the barn and didn't need a litter box. Never went in the barn either that I could tell.
I have no comments on phones or bombs. Yet!

Out in the train shed yesterday, I completed assembly of the last loading platform. I need to touch up some sprue attachment points and then take all four and paint them. I need to make all of the bases a concrete color, but I won't do that until I determine if I will keep the dark green that they came in.
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The piping is another thing? Here's a look at the various ways all of the useless piping that came with the kit can be attached.
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None really fits unless you are mounting it overhead, it does clear the tankers though. It is a scale 23' over the railhead.
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An interesting extra with the kit is the decal sheet.
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Note that there is not any surface on the entire model where any of these will fit, except flat on the walkway surface!!! They will have to be mounted on small rectangles of scrap styrene and fastened somewhere. Simply cutting them out to use will not work as they will curl.

Louis - Foxconn makes Apple phones and they are based in Taiwan. But they do it at factories in China, India and other places. But most come from China. Foxconn is the largest private employer in the People's Republic of China, quite an interesting political situation.
Patrick - Condolences on the family deaths.
Guy - Sherrel is doing well. He has recovered fully from his September surgery. He's just taking a break from the forum for now. I spoke with him for about 30 minutes yesterday. He is kind of wound up about politics right now, both locally and nationally.
Walther's kits - As many issues that there are with them, without them our layouts would be nothing but a mostly bare piece of plywood. They are the main manufacturer of "train sized" industries. I can't scratchbuild everything.
Dave B - I like challenges and Walther's kits are always a challenge. See previous comment.
Curt - I am not fond of the color of the platforms, but I have not made any decision on what color they should be. From what I have observed, they don't really get weathered much out in the field. I am using them to load Ethanol which isn't oily and grimy.
George - I hope that your wife is OK. Call the EMT's to get her out of the house safely. Don't take a chance.
Mikey - Oxford makes a lot of pickup trucks at a reasonable price, they're less than $10 each at my LHS which is a discounter.

Again, go out and vote.
Everybody have a great day and I expect that all of my candidates win.
 
Morning folks!

I will be heading out to do my civic duty and VOTE shortly after this post.

I finally tore apart my old laptop to retrieve the hard drive and get all of my pictures and other data from it. It was deemed a great success! I was able to get it all! I may salvage a few more items/parts to use later. This dinosaur was 16 years old and it died on me 2 years ago. I have been putting off dealing with this until recent as I wanted to get pictures of my baby sister who recently passed on August 30th. Anyways the chore was done and I am very pleased. Everything was also backed up on my SSD system as well so we are good to go! The hard drive that was in the laptop was a Western Digital but not a SSD. I used a device called Unitek. It's a IDE & SATA Drive adapter. I got it from Amazon cheap and it worked great!



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Anyways with that out of the way I can breathe easy knowing I was able to retrieve all of the data.

Today I am working from home and will get a few hours in later this afternoon. I am going to go VOTE. I gotta also check the lotto to see what numbers hit if any lol.

A beautiful day and nice and sunny!


TomO has another 2-bay hopper for me I gotta close out the deal with him later today. I really enjoy his works of art.

Ya'll have a good day! Go VOTE please if you reside here legally in the US.
 
Well,

I get the feeling someone is trying to tell me something. For the 3rd time in the last 5 draws, I hit the Powerball. Hit a week ago Saturday, lost on last Monday's draw, hit on last Wednesday's draw, forgot to get one on Saturday, and hit on last night's draw. After I cash it in and get a ticket for tomorrow night, I'm $2 ahead. They say the average big dollar lottery winner loses everything in 5 years when they take the cash option. Cash option is $1 billion. I'm up for the challenge of loosing $1 billion in 5 years!!!! 🤣

I only buy 1 $2 ticket at a time as that's all I need to win. Wonder which state got hacked?
 
Since I've been up since 4am, it's time for a nap.

But, before I kick the recliner back, if you're heading out to vote today, please remember:

Be nice to the poll judges/workers (those inside the polling place). They've got a very long day today. And there is bound to be some arse who knows better than them.

That's as close to poly tics as I'm getting here. Do your duty and be nice.

OK, Nap Time!
 
Well, we dodged a bullet. My sister had turned away to leave but the door had not swung all the way closed, so she heard mom fall. But for that bit of luck, it's likely she would have died of exposure, as she fell on the enclosed porch, but was not all the way back inside the house. Unclear to me right now if she would have been able to call for help, either, as I forgot to even ask if she had her phone with her (as she should). We were just too busy getting her safely planted and comfortable for the night.
Amazingly, she's getting around fine, albeit very carefully, and says her nose hurts. No bruising, so I don't think is anything to worry about there.
Lessons learned certainly include making sure she is safely inside before leaving. I always do that, but my sister hadn't made a point of it. She certainly will from now on.

There are obviously bigger questions to be answered, as our current arrangement nearly failed us.
 
Orban is not the same man who led Hungary out of the Eastern bloc. Seems to me he is using some of Putin's playbook to keep control of his power and position.

That is as close to the political line I will come. Probably too far, but I did not want to ignore you Jaz.
Well the old saying usually holds…
power corrupts, and absolute powers corrupts absolutel…..
shame because I did admire hi at one time,
here in the uk as gobaly a successful politician will grand get is kids in on the act same as Hollywood,same as anywhere, sad but true people have a lot of trouble giving up power.
 


Good Morning All!
24F and partly, 4in of white on ground.

Been kinda watching the various voting places around the country via News and it sure does not look like many people are getting out. Don't know if that is a good thing or not?

Have errands to do after this post is done:
Dump - got smelly stuff so that will be first. Can't put it outside cuz bears like it too much.
Vote
Store

Then the fun part. We had a power bump day before and one of the ceiling fans developed a 'tick'. Happens once a revolution. Gonna drag it down and disassemble to see what I can see. This fan is one of the spendy ones; have another almost like it JIC.

Willie and Dave: Trucking for those years really screwed up my internal clock. All I cared about during that time was if it was either Light or Dark and that was pretty easy to determine. Sure we had to know the time to make our pickup/delivery but usually not an issue as we strived to be early by an hour or more. Most of the time I knew the current date, but no clue on what day it was. Back in '86 took the summer off and we drove from the Seattle area to Anchorage fishing our way up. Some place in Yukon Territory a woman came up to us pretty frantic and asked what time is was. Looked at her and told her 'July'. Did not float her boat, took a couple of steps back and pondered. After a few seconds, I guessed the time - it really didn't matter as it was daylight 21 hours or so then. Got back in our vehicles and I missed time by 15 mins!. Geesh.

All that haven't, please go vote!

Later
 
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