Running Bear's October 2025 Coffee Shop

[ctclibby]

Good Morning All!

42F @ 85% and partly. 50F and rain later.

Ok, so y'all help me out here. The NBA betting fiasco. I understand betting on win/lose +-points, but it sounds like betting is also done on a specific player: points scored and such. What difference would it make to how long the player is in the game? That get bet on too? As you can read, I am not a better in this venue...

L8r

 

[Bruette]

I am not a better in this venue...

I am not a gambler either, except for the lottery, the poor man's retirement plan.

That get bet on too?

They bet on almost anything. I haven't heard of betting on minutes played, but I wouldn't be surprised.

What difference would it make to how long the player is in the game?

The NBA is a star driven league. Take a player like Lebron James out of the lineup and the Lakers are far more likely to underperform. Fewer points scored, and or more points allowed.

 

[ctclibby]

The NBA is a star driven league. Take a player like Lebron James out of the lineup and the Lakers are far more likely to underperform. Fewer points scored, and or more points allowed.

So if that is the case, everybody on the team almost has to be in on the scheme; even with bench depth and 'any given Sunday' theory. I guess the 'Star Driven' part is one of the reasons I don't care about NBA. I suspect that the other leagues will be in consideration for this too. Gonna be/is nasty!

L8r

 

[Bruette]

Gonna be/is nasty!

I agree!

I don't care about NBA.

I've been steadily losing interest in the NBA over the years. I understand with only five players on the court stars have more of an impact.

I don't get the lack of effort on defense. It does get better in the playoffs. Which means the fans are ripped off paying full price for an inferior product during the 82-game regular season. With the average price of a regular season NBA ticket being approximately $94 the fans deserve more of an effort.

 

[AirbrushNo5]

Train-Spotting again today… Rossio Stn. Lisbon

 

[Texas Hobo]

Good Morning All!

42F @ 85% and partly. 50F and rain later.

Ok, so y'all help me out here. The NBA betting fiasco. I understand betting on win/lose +-points, but it sounds like betting is also done on a specific player: points scored and such. What difference would it make to how long the player is in the game? That get bet on too? As you can read, I am not a better in this venue...

L8r

They were not only accused of cheating at basketball, but steering people into rigged poker games. The table, using infra red, could read the cards. As far as basketball, they would tell bettors when a certain player wasn't feeling well or might sit out. Having this info before it is made public and the odds change would be the benefit.

 

[Bruette]

 

[chadbag]

Here is an interesting video on a new low cost regional railway operating on Poland (based on Czechia).

@KriegslokBR52

 

[westtexjohn]

Train-Spotting again today… Rossio Stn. Lisbon

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What grand architecture here. The wide open space that is what makes a train station. Love the ornate steel work and the semi random placed floor tiles.
Thanks for posting....John

 

[santafewillie]

Good Afternoon All. "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Arrived home safely about 2:30. Unloaded, unpacked, and took a nap! Successful and enjoyable trip. Today's journey from West Monroe LA to home was a bit tougher than all of the other legs of the trip both going and coming. As expected, we encountered rain, sometimes heavy, between Ruston LA and about 15 miles east of Shreveport. The journey through Shreveport was challenging due to an 8 mile single-lane roadway; with just a 10' wide lane between concrete "Jersey Barriers" all of the way. Despite 3 signs telling trucks to take the loop around the city, and 3 more telling all trucks to exit at the "drop-dead" point, there was an 18-wheeler ahead of us that barely fit...barreling along at 15 mph above the posted speed limit. Our comments to each other were along the lines of "I wonder if he can read English?" Upon passing him after the detour, we decided that he couldn't. Looked like an immigrant to us. Not necessarily illegal, Latin American drivers are common around here and adjoining states. Wished we had known about the detour, we could have come back on the southern route instead.
Right now it is a cool 73° and cloudy with some sprinkles in the vicinity. I noted on the radar that it is currently raining heavily in the Dallas area that we came through a couple of hours ago. My rain gauge has 4.5" in it; not sure when it fell but it all soaked in. I haven't gone out to see if there's anything in my pond yet.
I just downloaded 324 pictures from the camera, mostly from the model railroading museums that we visited. And for Louis, I did get a couple of "girlie" pictures. I do need to sort through them later, as more importantly, right now I need to visit the citizens on my layout.

OK for now, I am headed out to the train shed for some unwinding time.

 

[troyphoto]

Well howdy there all you wound-up people, and those in looser states

It's Troy again

Had our Giordano's Parmesan crust pizza for lunch. We have leftovers for dinner tomorrow evening.

got my projects mostly done this afternoon while the wife was out communing with her inner tree sprite while walking in the nature preserve. She said it was a day for the Dept of Corrections inmates to come out and clean up the area. Said she saw one inmate in his orange jumpsuit walking with a female guard. The dude has his arm around the guard's waist as they walked. Ahhhh.... Jailhouse love...

Patio is cleaned up, grills repositioned for the winter, and did a cleaning burn on the kamado grill to get the pork grease burned off the racks.

Put up a couple of shelves in the garage for my BBQ accessories:

The cabinetry was already there.

And I worked on my army display board for over the cart. Here it is screwed together while the glue dries:

I still need to add some stop-blocks underneath it to keep it from sliding back. Also, need to take it outside for a good sanding since it's OSB. Then I can give it some paint.

After all of that, we hit 5-Guys for burgers. First time in about 15 to 20 years of going to the chain that I ever got an undercooked smashburger. It was pink inside, and the bun was saturated with pink grease. Took it back and got a properly cooked one a few minutes later. I figure the burger flipper got one flipped a column too far and thought it had been on longer.

Going to the game store to play a game in the morning. This one was planned, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

[TLOC]

Good Morning All. Cloudy and 60° here in West Monroe LA. Back home it's also cloudy but 64°. Should be in the mid-70's by the time that we get there. Flash flood watch has been lifted back home, but one has been issued for the area between here and Shreveport. Best that I can tell, around 3" of rain fell at home. The rain gauge at the Weather Underground station around the corner, obviously failed as it shows 0". Brief glimpses of the radar there indicated otherwise. I'll know this afternoon.
We'll be driving through this storm system most likely when we're in the Shreveport area. I would prefer to be on the Texas side of the border when we encounter it because that 150 mile stretch of highway was all repaved over the last two years, and is completed. The Louisiana side of IH-20 is OK, but there are some rough spots and I don't know about drainage here.
I'm ready to go but my wife isn't ready yet. When I stay in a hotel, I don't unpack, she moves in! I'm headed down to the complimentary breakfast in a couple of minutes; so I have to go now.
Everybody have a safe and great Saturday.

Terry is the same. Empties her suitcase and moves in. Me, open my backpack on the luggage stand , put my travel meds and toiletries kit in the bathroom. How hard is that? For her though it’s an adventure

 

[Kusojiji]

The carriage you saw look something like this

I would love to have that in HO. Looks like my Kumoha 40.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

I feel your pain! I have a teenage daughter added to the mix. I end up hauling it all up and most of it don't get used.

, oh crap, my mouth would not shut up...

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Here is an interesting video on a new low cost regional railway operating on Poland (based on Czechia).

@KriegslokBR52

If you ever get a chance to visit Poland and see the railways, you will not be disappointed. There's stuff still running that was built in the 1960s. So all the way to the latest plastic-fantastic makes it for a large variety.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Just got back from Baltimore area and the teain show. Went with about $25 to spend, sold some stuff and came back with $85, that's after buying very...cheaply. this 0 gauge plastic Rivarossi model was basically a steal at $10. I'd like to see if i cam make metal wheel rims for the drivers.

One of the many layouts was that of a typical American city in 1940s-1950s era. The car barn presented beautiful variety:

I also found "The BEE LINE" magazine strictly for Reading Railroad fans. The particular issue completely devoted to G class 4-6-2 pacifics built by Reading.

One of my dream projects, G3:

 

[Gary B]

Well howdy there all you wound-up people, and those in looser states

It's Troy again

Had our Giordano's Parmesan crust pizza for lunch. We have leftovers for dinner tomorrow evening.

1976 my bride and I set up our first apartment overlooking the original storefront Giodano's pizza parlor. We ate our first Giodano's deep dish on the floor of an empty third floor walk-up. A few months later they were voted the best pizza in Chicago, a BIG deal in this pizza loving town. The rest is history. This last March, my bride and I, our two sons and their brides and SIL, celebrated my 70th birthday at a much nicer Giodano's. The deep dish is still great but the ones we ate 50 years ago from that little then family ran storefront were even better.
.

 

[DeaconKC]

Good evening all, hit a high of only 71 today with rain all day. Quiet day at the store, especially compared to yesterday. Picked up pizza on the way home for our G'niece's 17th birthday and had a full house. Fun with games and laughter. Found out a friend of ours fell and broke her hip this evening and will get it replaced tomorrow.

 

[RhB Michael]

Here is an interesting video on a new low cost regional railway operating on Poland (based on Czechia).

@KriegslokBR52

I thought that rail line had been running for at least 15 years.

 

[Boris]

Good evening. I'm a bit behind in my participation here again.

Fall is here, with high temps in upper 50s and lows in mid to upper 30s.

Footnote to the Sports betting controversy: According to a commentator of a program on Sirius XM ch91 (NHL), gambling grew from 20 Billion/year in 2000 to 79 Billion/year in 2024. These numbers include casinos, race tracks and other gambling, not just sports gambling...