Running Bear's October 2025 Coffee Shop

[migalyto]

Good evening all.
In 2009 I met an elderly lady named Liesbeth who came to our village. We began talking and she told me the story of her parents during WW2. Her father was in the Resistance in the Netherlands. Her mother wrote notes of the time under German Occupation.

With encouragement from a number of people, Liesbeth has written a book.
I received a signed copy from her. A book I treasure.

Bet that is going to be a fascinating book to read.

Love all the first hand account writings of the people that lived through WWII.

 

[Kusojiji]

bent the axle shafts

Wow, good find! Yeah, sometimes you gotta wonder where they went to school at. Brokanics School of Backyard Maintenance.

I have never measured for out of round... yet.

 

[truckdad]

I’m thinkin a pinion bearing going bad in the differential. Draining the oil is the first and cheapest in the process. Use a paint filter to see what comes out.

 

[Boris]

Good evening. It gets harder to keep up with everyone in the forum. Seems I'm always 4 pages back.

Watched the Islanders beat Edmonton 4-2 on the Island...This as the National game on ESPN+ Since I upgraded to the ESPN Unlimited streaming I get everything offered on ESPN channels, (and ABC TV Sports), except games subject to local blackout.

I begin Physical Therapy on the 21st of this month. This week I have been doing range of motion home exercises and limited weight training. (8, 10, and 15 lb dumbbells).

I consider it progress when I can do mundane tasks, such as changing a toilet seat. Couldn't do much of anything before the spine surgery. God has been good to me.

Later!

 

[Bruette]

Black olives are great in spaghetti.

I love them on Pizza, never had them in spaghetti.

Beautiful views.

I agree!

Might be off-topic,

Extraordinarily little is off topic in Running Bear's Coffee shop

Daily Mail's article about Sir Rod Stewart's model railroad.

Very cool indeed!

Here's the actual link to the current article:
Rod Stewart's Model Railroad

Thank you for making it easy.

I found out I owe $2,083.00.

That is never good, I'm sorry to read that.

I will be using Turbo Tax next year.

Regardless of how you access the Turbo Tax Software, online, download or the DVD it is an uncomplicated process. I use the option to have it walk me through everything step by step. If I can do it, I know you can. I like the DVD version, but they may eliminate that.

I don't wait for the last minute because you can get caught in some minor glitches that will hold you up if you file electronically. They have an online database of frequently asked questions that can bail you out if necessary. This year it was a zero in a schedule C work sheet that held me up. Once I deleted the zero it went perfectly. I got the answer from the online database of frequently asked questions.

Artificial intelligence is another useful resource for questions but beware of AI hallucinations. "Trust but verify."

Self Employment taxes are social security taxes and Medicare taxes. Since you’re not a wage or salary earner at all company that splits it with you you get to pay not only your own side but what a company normal pays as well for you.

You schooled me on that some time ago. Now I understand why my Social Security statement said I would get so much!

In your case I would start with the tires

I was thinking the same thing. Always start with the easiest things.

"road force" balanced.

That is something new to me. I was going to recommend a dynamic balance. There is always something new and better.

Good evening. It gets harder to keep up with everyone in the forum. Seems I'm always 4 pages back.

That makes two of us!

God has been good to me.

The wonder of the Grace of God is that we don't have to earn it or even deserve it. Like you I recognize it, and I am grateful for it.

 

[Bruette]

Good morning Everybody!

Two postseason MLB games and an NFL game. Of course I will start with the baseball games!

We don't know if we will work for Amazon yet. I'm not working for Amazon unless they "show me the money!"

Play Ball!

Enjoy your day Everybody!

 

[Kusojiji]

I owed almost $4K last tax cycle, which took me by surprise since I had retired in Aug. I figured 1/3 the year of eating cup o'noodles would have put me in a lower bracket. I cranked up my W-4 for my govt retirement pay to try to balance that out this year, but I'm thinking (hoping) that it bounces the other way by a lot. It'll be a couple of cycles of ping pong before I get it close to zero or owe very little. But then it'll change...

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Friday morning! It's 48°F and clear.

Have a great day!

​

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 68.

 

[NorthBrit]

THOUGHT FOR TODAY
“The expert in anything was once a beginner.” Helen Hayes

 

[migalyto]

Good morning all!

Happy Friday!

Currently 55F heading up to an unseasonable 80F. Should be a pretty nice day.

Not much on the agenda today. A few things this morning and my daughter gets her lower braces installed this afternoon.
She is off school today for Parent Teacher conferences.

Volleyball last night was a win, Unanimous decision was to stop at Culvers for dinner. I tried something new. I had the
Tenderloin sandwich which I had never had there before. It was actually pretty good and I would get it again. Highlight
as always is the round of after dinner Concrete Mixers!

Should be able to get to the basement tonight to run trains.

Have a safe day everyone!

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

39° under clear skies this morning with a predicted high of 62°. Ironically, that 62° is the same temperature that the thermostat is reading right now for indoor temp. As much as I hate to do it it seems like the inevitable switching on of the heat pump will be coming soon.

BBL

 

[migalyto]

Anyone have fond memories of cracking a shin/knee on one of these....Ouch!

 

[migalyto]

As much as I hate to do it it seems like the inevitable switching on of the heat pump will be coming soon.

Reminds me, I need to call for my winter inspection.

We haven't needed ours yet, but I have clicked it on just to make sure it would run.

 

[santafewillie]

Tax guy says everybody that has done my taxes for the last ten years were incorrect. My opinion is they just took a different route in my tax calculations. There is more than one route to figuring taxes. Just look at some large corporations that make money hand over fist but pay NO taxes at the end of the year. It is all in the way they "pencil whipped" the info. Tax guy says they are all committing fraud.

John - If possible, I would seek out the previous preparer and tell them that they were accused of committing fraud. They might possibly review what the new guy prepared for you to clear their name; and assist in filing an amended return if the new guy is wrong. If the new guy is right, then the newly filed return will trigger the IRS computer to look at past returns and you might be liable for additional taxes and penalties.

 

[Bruette]

THOUGHT FOR TODAY
“The expert in anything was once a beginner.” Helen Hayes

David, I love these thoughts for the day. This one has inspired me.

Any man who never says, "I don't know" is dishonest.

Any man who never admits when he is wrong is a fool consumed by arrogance.

The humble are not diminished; they are blessed with wisdom and worthy of admiration.

"God opposes the proud, but he accords his favor to the humble."

"For everyone who raises himself up will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be raised up."

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps and those who know how to spell "Quonset"

It's Troy again.

Found an interesting vid on the tubes of yu... I wondered about these things, but didn't realize they had a fascinating story that began on Dec 7, 1941, and took inspiration from the Brits. It's an interesting 47 min vid. Doesn't move fast, but if you model WW2 era, it's got a lot of backstory about what you might be moving by rail, or constructing for scenery.

In other news, this weekend is the calm before the storm. Wife wants to go get new shoes for our November trip to Vegas. She'll be staying with friends in Henderson. I'll be on the strip at Horseshoe casino for the Author Convention.

But the weekend between now and our Nov 1 trip, I've got to run a tournament at a local game convention. I'm hoping I don't have to, but registrations is just below the cutoff for cancelling. One more person signing up and I'll have to run it.

Today is laundry day, and the last warm day for a while. So I should probably clean the Litter Robot for the cat. Been talking about doing so but the weather hasn't cooperated with me. I like warm sunny days. I hose it out, use the vinegar to clean the rubber liner and the plastic parts. Then set it in the sun to dry.

Currently 40° F with an expected high in the lower 70s. Rain coming in tomorrow evening into Sunday. Then cooler with highs in the upper 50s.

I'll probably turn on the furnace today, just to burn the summer crud off the heat exchanger.

 

[chadbag]

It’s 40F. I’m hoping to go back to sleep for an hour or 90 min but right now it’s not working.

I turned on the heat last night. The house was 67F and slowly headed down and I didn’t want an upset family. Happy wife happy life.

Since it’s not too cold out yet it won’t need a lot of inputs to keep it at 70F on the thermostat. Once real winter comes then it will have to run a little more to offset the losses through the greater differential. The heat pump ran 4 hours over night being it back up to 70F. I suspect it will run less to keep it there while we’re still having October weather. We’ll see.

Back in the old house I tried not to turn on the heat until Nov 1 no matter what. It was more expensive to run. Kept it at 68F during the day and 60F over night. And we kept the blinds open to get as much thermal heating.

The weather app says sunny or partly sunny with a day or two of partly cloudy for the next week. 60s and a day at 70 for the highs except today. 58 today. Lows in the low 40s. It may be a degree or two cooler where I’m at compared to where they’re forecasting for in town.

 

[NorthBrit]

Well, howdy there internet peeps and those who know how to spell "Quonset"

It's Troy again.

Found an interesting vid on the tubes of yu... I wondered about these things, but didn't realize they had a fascinating story that began on Dec 7, 1941, and took inspiration from the Brits. It's an interesting 47 min vid. Doesn't move fast, but if you model WW2 era, it's got a lot of backstory about what you might be moving by rail, or constructing for scenery.

When I lived with my grandparents we had a Anderson Shelter. (You could say a smaller version of a 'Quonset'. Ours was delivered in March 1939) There was a three tiered bunk beds on one side, another bed high up on the other. Blankets were always on the beds as on the nights of any raids grandmother and her daughters stayed in them throughout until daylight. Provisions were in boxes incase of longer raids.

The Anderson Shelter was still where it was built, in the 1960s when grandmother and grandfather moved to another property. It was used as a storeroom after the war.

 

[westtexjohn]

What kind of truck and how many miles?

Truck is a 2007 Chevy Classic, WT1500, short bed, with right at 150,000 miles.....mid sized V8 with automatic trans. Runs like a top and uses about 1 qt of oil in 9000 miles. I use Mobile One Full Synthetic and change oil and filter every 10 thousand miles.
Mechanic has checked all front end components (wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc). U-joints are OK. U-joint was my best guess for problem but not so. New tires were put on about 6 months ago but I had the vibration with the old tires. New tires were balanced at tire shop and my mechanic had taken my truck to local tire shop and had balance checked.....all were OK. Vibration does not occur when brakes are depressed, just that window of speed between 55 and 65 mph. I feel sure the mechanic checked the balance weight on the drive shaft, but if that weight has come off, the vibration should persist and get worse above 65 mph.
The mechanic is determined to find the cause but is running out of ideas.

It seems my issues are never simple.