Running Bear's October 2026 Coffee Shop

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Nicki is finally able to walk without a walker, but still cannot drive until the surgeon gives her the ok. I had to take her in to get an implant post screwed into her jaw yesterday. That poor girl isn't getting any breaks.

I have 100% empathy & sympathy to anyone that has to act to as a caregiver, be it for a spouse or family member. Over the last 6 weeks I have really found out how much she does around the house. Doing my duties and her duties as well as taking her to all the Dr visits & PT is exhausting, but I just power through it.

Then there is my 93yo mom.....I received a text yesterday from ADT that there is an alarm event at her house. I know it's one of three things....a break-in, an exterior door that wasn't fully closed and blew open, or she didn't enter the correct code when she got home. I call her....no answer. I text her....no response. Now my BP is busting sky high. I finally get a call from her and I ask is everything ok? Of course everything is ok. She went to lunch with her friends, spoke with my brother (his b'day was 10/6), etc. I finally stopped her and said I had a text from ADT about an alarm event. She tells me it was nothing. She put the wrong code in and it took a minute or two to remember it.

As soon as Nicki is cleared we're running away to the coast for a few days.

With all that's been going on I decided to distract myself. I had a boxcar that wasn't in the era I model, so I decided to try weathering with nothing, but oils. It came out pretty good. Not TomO pretty good, but for my first full oil job I'm happy.

View attachment 274962View attachment 274963
Great news about Nikki and the walker. I hope the implant goes well! Yeah she needs a good break. I’d run that Reading box car, well done
 
Willie- Your condo probably did you a big favor canceling your reservations.
The Birmingham weather guessers are showing hurricane landfall about on top of Gulf Shores around midnight Friday.
Most businesses will be boarded up today for 112 mph winds and 7 to 12 inches of rain along the coast.

Saturday, the Birmingham area looks for 50 mph gusts and 3 inches of rain.
I may not make a trip to the club room in downtown Birmingham.
 


Good morning Crew from a non hurricane affected Wisconsin. Like Mike down in Illinois our Autumn weather continues to be wonderful. The trees have definitely commenced the color changing. 43f degrees now 70 later and still shorts weather.

Last night at 6:30 I stopped at the rink to watch I thought the Bantam tryouts (38 players). These kids were divided into 2 groups of 18. They played an opposing group from another association. 2 games of 50 combined time clock stopping only for goals and penalties. Interesting to watch both groups play. Turns out the grandson was not part of this group of 38 players. He was moved along with his best friend up to the AA tryouts of 20 players for a shot at the final 4 of 15 spots per his dad when I finally found him at the rink when I asked where they were. They were in the other rink next door. They were playing another association in the same type of game I started watching. He played well as did his friend. The friend has definitely said he wants to make this team and you could tell the effort from him was there. The grandson would rather play with his friends but they now know the 3rd part of the 3 buds plus the budette was not going to be AA or A. The buddette is already named the A goalie. I told him just go play and have fun tonight and the coaches will decide. But all 4 of them are aware they probably won’t play on the same team. The best friend has definitely said he wants to make this team and you could tell the effort from him was there. But his issue is he is super skinny but a fine player. The grandson to me played well but not inspired though his posted stats online last night showed 4 assists and 3 were the primary ones. The grandson would rather play with his friends but they now know the 3rd part of the 3 buds plus the goalie buddette was not going to be AA or A. The buddette is already named the A goalie. I told him just go play and have fun tonight and the coaches will decide. But all 4 of them are aware they probably won’t play on the same team. His tryout team plays at 4:30 this afternoon and again at 9. Only the high school coaching staff is handling the evaluations for this level. There are 9 players who are freshmen in high school that have been told there is no room this season for them on the high school teams and to stay at the Bantam level. Like I’ve written before hockey here in Dane County is super competitive

Yesterday I went north to Baraboo and was close to Devils Lake State Park outside of the Wisconsin Dells. I skirt the roads to the park entrance and the tree colors in the bright sun were gorgeous. Though I’m about 1/2 miles from the entrance the roads back to my friend’s place is totally wooded. This is always a good time to take a scenic ride. Depending on the news at Terry’s oncologist appointment today we may take our every other year drive along the Great River Road along the Mississippi River. With the river as a backdrop and the Autumn colors on bright sunshine it’s a heck of a ride. We are packed for a possible over nighter or just a long drive .

My mission at the friends layout was to cover the plaster cloth with a layer of Scuptamold that I have not used in years. I prefer Celluclay and took my 20# bag along just in case along with my Arcylics to add color to the mix. I left them in the car as he just opened a 100# box of Scuptamold and wanted me to use up his craftsman brand paints. I mixed up a bunch of his colors into a UP of Michigan earth color and it looked good. The problem turned out I needed 3 more batches of Scuptamold and of course more of the paint colors I had just used up. Some of his Craftsman brand ( from Michael’s I think) were many decades old from when he 1st started painting. So we have an eccentric mix of colors that if anything is chipped will not showing glaring white of plaster. Some pictures below.

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G'morning. 54°F out there at 0745.

I'm starting to resume my sleep pattern I had before all of my medical problems started. Waking up around 0630-0645 after turning in at 2300. Seems to be enough sleep. I only had one nap yesterday afternoon for about 30 minutes, so things are improving.

Grilled hamburgers and brats turned out great the other day. Finishing up the burgers today and the brats tomorrow. Then by Sunday, chicken and brats will get thrown on the grill. I might even have a beer while doing it.

Last full day of the latest antibiotic. One capsule tomorrow morning and I'll be done unless something else comes up.

Nothing happening here today. I might sit outside and watch Willow run and play. The hummingbirds all seem to have left for the season. I haven't seen one now in five days. I guess I'll take down the feeder and give it a wash.

Have a safe Thursday.

Servus!
 
Howdi all

well i have too much time at work for other "work". so i was talking to chatgpt again :D
i asked if its possible with a nice curve to go with my modular track build for my new version of my H0 Layout (my actual will be teared down). it came up with the following:

H0_L_Kurve_PECO_R5.png


i have to say i like it. and i think this will work.
the idea is the following:

IMG_3068.JPEG


that means, those are the two modules both 100x50cm are the corner sections.
the straight tracks will cross each other ( i have a building on a shelf for exactly this).
and will be not in use when in my layout room. both will connect over the curve. this should work (will test when iam rdy).

but i think this will also mean, my 6 axles are to big. so they have to stay in the "shed" or (boxes). but my 4 axles should work fine over this curve. also my boxcars. to the bottom "south" i should have space for at least one full module. to the "west" i should have space for at least 3 modules. that means i think i can add 2 industries, and do some switching. but also there will be space for scenery.

(i hope this works out how i have it in mind) ahahaha :D

Cheers
Marco
 
Howdi all

well i have too much time at work for other "work". so i was talking to chatgpt again :D
i asked if its possible with a nice curve to go with my modular track build for my new version of my H0 Layout (my actual will be teared down). it came up with the following:

View attachment 275041

i have to say i like it. and i think this will work.
the idea is the following:

View attachment 275042

that means, those are the two modules both 100x50cm are the corner sections.
the straight tracks will cross each other ( i have a building on a shelf for exactly this).
and will be not in use when in my layout room. both will connect over the curve. this should work (will test when iam rdy).

but i think this will also mean, my 6 axles are to big. so they have to stay in the "shed" or (boxes). but my 4 axles should work fine over this curve. also my boxcars. to the bottom "south" i should have space for at least one full module. to the "west" i should have space for at least 3 modules. that means i think i can add 2 industries, and do some switching. but also there will be space for scenery.

(i hope this works out how i have it in mind) ahahaha :D

Cheers
Marco
Those will look good. Definitely a scene where 4 axles diesels will look best. Now ask ChatGPT to create the finished scene for you
 


Good Morning All. Clear and 78° here in Texas City, Again, not where I expected to be this morning when I left home yesterday.

Yesterday's drive went well until we got into the greater Houston area; specifically in LaPorte, SE of Houston where we bypassed Houston rush hour traffic. It was still faster despite an accident that had the whole road closed...GPS led us on an interesting bypass, but it worked. I ended up driving for 11 hours yesterday, minus the usual restroom and lunch stops. I had originally planned to not drive for over 8 hours, but things changed on the fly. There's not really any good stopover points between Lafayette LA and the Houston area. There's Lake Charles or Beaumont, but neither are appealing. Headed today to Galveston to some kind of Hilton resort place, where my wife negotiated an early check-in, since Galveston is only about 20 minutes away from here. We'll stay there for a few days. Today will be spent decompressing and greeting daughter and family. Tomorrow we will visit the Galveston Railroad Museum, a combination or real railcars and model railroad layouts. Saturday, we will return to Texas City to visit the Texas City Museum, which I documented a few years ago. While the museum is open 5 days, the model railroad section is only open on Saturday. It has the largest N scale layout that I have ever seen. It also has a wonderfully animated N scale one as well as at least one HO and a couple of other layouts. It occupies all of the second floor of the museum.
The current plan is to drive home on Sunday, a trip of maybe 5.5 hours, traveling the entire length of IH45 from Galveston to Dallas where we'll switch over to IH35 for the remainder of the trip. With that trip, I will have hit all 5 of the major Interstate highways (those 2-digit ones ending in either 0 or 5) in Texas. Did IH35, IH30, IH20 and IH10 yesterday, with IH45 this Sunday.

Ate supper last night at Texas Roadhouse here in Texas City, a unique experience as it was the quietest TR that we've ever been in, despite being full and having four nearby birthday celebrations! If you've ever been to one, you know what I mean.

Mikey - Batten down.

I need to progress now and shower before the check-out time. Everybody have a great Thursday, or whatever day it is...I have already lost track.
 
I just received a notification from My Care Corner that I have yet another prescription for yet a different antibiotic for this damned UTI.

This is really getting old. This one is for 500mg of LevoFLOXacin. I have no idea how long I'll be on this. I'll find out in a few minutes when I go and pick it up at the apothecary.

EDIT: 7 days. One each day until finished. This had better be it, or the law is going to become involved.
 
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well tom you wanted this:

View attachment 275045

thats the third attempt. and i told chatgpt he can do better ahahaha. i also told him the scene should be in the USA. dont know how it came up with this german late 80ies vibe :D
ChatGPG does its own thing unless you are extremely specific. Even then it gets locked into some that sometimes you have to delete and start over. The paid version is better reacting to your commands than the free version is but not much better.

German vibe or not I like the image. Have fun with it
 
One of the future scenes for the W & UM model railroad. Currently we are working on the entrance way reverse curves as the opening scenes to the layout room. See this mornings 1st post with pictures. This scene should start sometime in 1/2027.

The following is created by ChatGPT to give me dimensions needed
04BAD855-3063-42CE-8A1F-1F1D58E54E0B.png
to build this section of Agate Falls located in Michigan’s upper peninsula.

This piece 18” x 72” with a 12” drop will be built entirely at my workbench, transported and dropped into the current frame work. It is crucial we have the dimensions right. The layout must remain operational until the day we cut the current framework and drop this in place

The trees for this location are not my responsibility
 
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I just received a notification from My Care Corner that I have yet another prescription for yet a different antibiotic for this damned UTI.

This is really getting old. This one is for 500mg of LevoFLOXacin. I have no idea how long I'll be on this. I'll find out in a few minutes when I go and pick it up at the apothecary.

EDIT: 7 days. One each day until finished. This had better be it, or the law is going to become involved.
Michael,
That is in the same class as Cipro.....used when no other antibiotic has been effective in treating a UTI. Both are also used to treat Anthrax and stubborn bacterial infections. I'm sure you've already looked up all the possible side effects. My wife can't take Cipro because it caused diarrhea shortly after the first dose for a UTI.

Best of luck to you. UTI's are always an issue with catheters.
 
One of the future scenes for the W & UM model railroad. Currently we are working on the entrance way reverse curves as the opening scenes to the layout room. See this mornings 1st post with pictures. This scene should start sometime in 1/2027.

The following is created by ChatGPT to give me dimensions neededView attachment 275047 to build this section of Agate Falls located in Michigan’s upper peninsula.

This piece 18” x 72” with a 12” drop will be built entirely at my workbench, transported and dropped into the current frame work. It is crucial we have the dimensions right. The layout must remain operational until the day we cut the current framework and drop this in place

The trees for this location are not my responsibility
Quite the project! That will keep you busy for most of the next several months.
 
Michael,
That is in the same class as Cipro.....used when no other antibiotic has been effective in treating a UTI. Both are also used to treat Anthrax and stubborn bacterial infections. I'm sure you've already looked up all the possible side effects. My wife can't take Cipro because it caused diarrhea shortly after the first dose when she had a UTI.

Best of luck to you. UTI's are always an issue with catheters.

Just before this script came over the app, I had called my doctor's office and asked if they were going to schedule another urinalysis for this first round of antibiotics I'm finishing up today.

I didn't think they would prescribe another antibiotic without checking to see if the first one was effective. I would really like to see another urinalysis before starting this new one. But, maybe this was the plan all along and she just didn't tell me. I don't like surprises much, and the doctor is going to have a big surprise himself if this keeps up.
 
Just before this script came over the app, I had called my doctor's office and asked if they were going to schedule another urinalysis for this first round of antibiotics I'm finishing up today.

I didn't think they would prescribe another antibiotic without checking to see if the first one was effective. I would really like to see another urinalysis before starting this new one. But, maybe this was the plan all along and she just didn't tell me. I don't like surprises much, and the doctor is going to have a big surprise himself if this keeps up.

I’d let them know that any bills related to the bladder knick are their responsibility. Not your job to pay for their screwups.
 
TomO, quite the project there. I am wondering if it might not be more effective visually to have just 2 or 3 larger falls than the series of smaller ones.
Marco, that is gonna look really sharp, there are many places in the US where two railroads crossed that had joint stations, perhaps that could be used there too.
Willie, you guys enjoy your altered trip and be careful. Are you sure those weren't zombies in the TR?
My Missus has ordered me some new goodies for the train porch. A nice desk and some more storage bins. It will really let me get better organized and have a dedicated place to work on projects instead of the kitchen table. I am planning to have a semi-permanent test track for both HO and N scale which will allow programming as well on the desk. They are supposed to arrive today or tomorrow.
 






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