Running Bear's September 2022 Coffee Shop

[ctclibby]

Good evening. It's clear and 85.
I'm staying at home this holiday weekend, and away from the ID10Ts on the road. In years past, when we stayed home instead of traveling somewhere, my wife and I would take advantage of the time to view a movie, or catch up on a tv series we both liked. Deciding to continue that tradition, I clicked on the television, and scrolled through the channel selections and suggested shows to watch.
"Suggested for You:
To Dance With the White Dog".

Gee...Thanks...

Being a truck driver --- ID10T's change to FID10T's, and we are not necessarily talking about the little 4 wheelers. Stay safe!

 

[ctclibby]

Good afternoon. Been absent again for a few days. I did get a hold of the surgeons office and have rescheduled the operation for Sept 21. I have to make a few other appointments and a pre-surgery Covid test. What a bunch of crap. Guess I'll be typing one handed. That doesn't sound good as I have a hard time with two hands.

Went over to visit a friend in Idaho yesterday and to meet the dachshund that I may adopt in the future. Still warm but the future forecast is finally showing some reasonable temps next week.

I noticed a few posts about the price of auto parts, especially the luxury vehicles, BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover and such. I was blown away last week about the price of Wiper Blades for my 1972 Chevy truck. Used to replace the pair for under $10. Was $35 bucks for the basic blade. Holy crap! The truck hadn't been used on the road for years. I just moved it a few feet to mow under it. The blade part of the blades were non existant and al that was left was the rubber part that mounted on the metal part of the blade frame. Fot the most part, the parts aren't near as expensive as new cars. Probably more steel in the box than an entire new truck. I can open the hood and work on it.

James -I am so sorry to hear about your sister.

Curt - Like the photos. Looking forward top see how the new layout is coming along.

Todd - I stayed away from screwing around with my truck. It is a heavy duty 3/4 ton as they did not make 1 ton pickups back then. I had to break down and change the rims because nobody wanted to work on split rims any more. Stayed with as close as I could get to the old 7.50/16 tires. That truck worked. had a slide in camper on it that we used when the kids were young and hauled a lot of fire wood in it. Cut logs to 10 foot long until I was over the cab and then16 foot over the cab. @ cords a trip. Can't see the lift kits and knobby tires. I did a lot of side hilling in the mountains and wanted the center of gravity as low as possible. The ground clearance isn't any more than the axles or differential.

Willie - Like the photos as usual. I have the original merchants row. Wish plastic was available when I got it.

Sherrel - Go to a shop for the A/C. You need it where you are. Had to laugh when the guy from the Cali utilities was wanting people to cut down of their electrical usage and not to charge their EV's.

Chad - That train room is really coming along. Now all you have to do is to put a house on the basement to keep it dry.

Patrick - I am happy to not have a lawn to mow any more. I have hear people whining about having to mow a small lawn in a subdivision lot. Mowed 2 acres for 45 years. Probably could have gone to the east coast and back.

Ken - Trying to sell a vehicle to a car dealership is a laugh. You described exactly what they'll do for an estimate. A band of thieves.

Alan - Liked that video. Those PA units are sweet. Modeling passenger trains can be a lot more expensive. Saw where some of the Northern Pacific passenger cars from Walthers were on Ebay for twice if not more that original retail. I would like to put them up for sale but they are in an unopened moving box in one of my closets.

My NASCAR race is under a rain delay but should restart soon.

Here are more photos from that archives.

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later

Ya I usually keep the CoG down as far as possible. Alas, not going out on side hills and such, pretty much keep to the roads/trails as much as possible. Love your old layout pix! Should be home Oct sometime - will let you know.

 

[Alcomotive]

All right, the brisket flat has been on three hours, smoked with Pecan wood. Temperature is 161°, shooting for 185°-190°. The bark looks good and I just wrapped it in aluminum foil for the remainder of it's cooking time, about 2.5-3 hours more. Of course I stopped putting Pecan on the fire about 45 minutes ago, since the foil negates the usefulness. Added more chunk charcoal to continue the heat at 275°. Should have taken an "in progress" picture, but my wife already thinks I am crazy; besides the camera is out in the train shed and I never think of using the phone! Phones are for talking to other people, cameras are for taking pictures. I am old fashioned!!! In the interim, I just finished making some homemade coleslaw using cabbage and red onions from the garden. Cabbage keeps a long time in the fridge; I picked it in May. Onions as I posted earlier keep in the heat in the shed until temperatures are consistently in the 60's Carrots and Red Bell Pepper came from Kroger. I'll be making sauteed asparagus to go with it.

When I lived in Arkansas and hunted ducks in Stuttgart AR. We would smoke all of our duck meat with pecan branches. So tasty!

 

[Alcomotive]

I want to thank everyone for their condolences and prayers as it is greatly appreciated. It's 1:30 am and I am unable to sleep so I thought to pop in here.

My heart aches for my nephews. It was a very hard thing for me to do...... to tell them that their mother is gone and passed away. One of the most difficult things I had to do in my life. I have not been able to grieve yet as there is so much to do to keep things going and together. The amount of people my sister knew is overwhelming. She was a school teacher for 30 plus years. To go so earlly at 51 years is just nuts I cannot get myself to believe this has happened yet. All the arrangements for the funeral is made for next Friday and Saturday. We are working on setting up a scholarship fund in her name instead of flowers etc... All those students she taught over the years and parents she knew....unreal!

As her big brother it does make me proud of who she was but I am still at a lost as my nephews are. Mom and dad are really having a tough time. Ya know how it is with daddy's little girl....

Anyways I will try to come back later when I have sleepless nites like this. Still trying to make sense of all this.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 67.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

The; cycle of life James. We only have a short time in this world. Some pass early in life, others live old to where every day is a physical challenge to just get out of bed. Other's suffer an unexpected fate that will be noted in the family tree for many, many generations. It's important that the quality of her being is noted as well and in an even greater significance than her passing.

 

[beiland]

All right, the brisket flat has been on three hours, smoked with Pecan wood. Temperature is 161°, shooting for 185°-190°. The bark looks good and I just wrapped it in aluminum foil for the remainder of it's cooking time, about 2.5-3 hours more. Of course I stopped putting Pecan on the fire about 45 minutes ago, since the foil negates the usefulness. Added more chunk charcoal to continue the heat at 275°. Should have taken an "in progress" picture, but my wife already thinks I am crazy; besides the camera is out in the train shed and I never think of using the phone! Phones are for talking to other people, cameras are for taking pictures. I am old fashioned!!! In the interim, I just finished making some homemade coleslaw using cabbage and red onions from the garden. Cabbage keeps a long time in the fridge; I picked it in May. Onions as I posted earlier keep in the heat in the shed until temperatures are consistently in the 60's Carrots and Red Bell Pepper came from Kroger. I'll be making sauteed asparagus to go with it.

Can I come to dinner/lunch,...sounds delish

 

[TLOC]

I want to thank everyone for their condolences and prayers as it is greatly appreciated. It's 1:30 am and I am unable to sleep so I thought to pop in here.

My heart aches for my nephews. It was a very hard thing for me to do...... to tell them that their mother is gone and passed away. One of the most difficult things I had to do in my life. I have not been able to grieve yet as there is so much to do to keep things going and together. The amount of people my sister knew is overwhelming. She was a school teacher for 30 plus years. To go so earlly at 51 years is just nuts I cannot get myself to believe this has happened yet. All the arrangements for the funeral is made for next Friday and Saturday. We are working on setting up a scholarship fund in her name instead of flowers etc... All those students she taught over the years and parents she knew....unreal!

As her big brother it does make me proud of who she was but I am still at a lost as my nephews are. Mom and dad are really having a tough time. Ya know how it is with daddy's little girl....

Anyways I will try to come back later when I have sleepless nites like this. Still trying to make sense of all this.

James, as I have written here and direct to you I am beyond words.

My siblings are still here and our biggest worries have turned into not seeing each other as much as we used to. At worst for us was every 2-3 months. But we still get on that phone and talk. It’s now been almost a year.

The sudden loss that you, her son’s and mom and dad have experienced are shattering and my heart goes out to you all. Words cannot always express how we feel towards one another so it’s absolutely a must we enjoy liFe as best we can. Remember her in her best moments and through the eyes of the nephews. As you mentioned they will miss her the most and need the most help.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning.....A cloudy 69 with 94% humidity. It's like walking into a wall going outside. Rain later today but you can get wet from the inside out. The garden is down to the peppers and tomatoes and the tomatoes are just about done.

 

[TLOC]

Good chilled morning from inside the south facing windows of the pool deck. It’s 54 now and was 51f degrees when I got ready to walk outside at 5:30. 2 miles done in 40 minutes as for some reason it all seemed uphill. The anchor was not along as she was out in the stables already. I got back and did some 15 minutes of easy laps in the pool and then a great shower.

Today at one it’s back to the UW Fieldhouse to enjoy the Volleyball.

Watching the grandkids yesterday, especially the grounded from any screens grandson was a hoot. Immediately we hit the slot track, not as big as his so it was brief, maybe 20 minutes and he didn’t like the fact grandpa beat him pretty handily. Onto the trains and he looked at me and said ”Poppa, this is too slow.” I agreed. So, he went up to see what grandmom and his sister were doing. Came back all excited, we are going riding, come on! Out to the stables and we went for a relaxing though somewhat brisk horse ride. I checked later it was mid 60’s when we were riding. He did have permission to watch the Badger football game that his mom and dad were at that. So we turned that on for the second half around 7:30PM. He lasted till 8 when he and grandma played a couple games of Clue. It’s a board game I have never played. After listening to the 2 of them play 2 games, I don’t ever want to play it. We did have a very good day with the grandkids. The original plan was they were going to sleep here but their dog needed to be let out. So we went over to let Crosby out after dinner and stayed. Crosby and the granddaughter and then the grandson and his sister together

Not really sure what to do until it is time to leave for Volleyball. I did start drilling the styrene to add the personnel doors to my warehouse facade yesterday but didn’t get very far with the kids here.

But I will find something to occupy my time!

enjoy the day

 

[santafewillie]

Can I come to dinner/lunch,...sounds delish

Leftovers today in five hours.

 

[santafewillie]

I want to thank everyone for their condolences and prayers as it is greatly appreciated. It's 1:30 am and I am unable to sleep so I thought to pop in here.

My heart aches for my nephews. It was a very hard thing for me to do...... to tell them that their mother is gone and passed away. One of the most difficult things I had to do in my life. I have not been able to grieve yet as there is so much to do to keep things going and together. The amount of people my sister knew is overwhelming. She was a school teacher for 30 plus years. To go so earlly at 51 years is just nuts I cannot get myself to believe this has happened yet. All the arrangements for the funeral is made for next Friday and Saturday. We are working on setting up a scholarship fund in her name instead of flowers etc... All those students she taught over the years and parents she knew....unreal!

As her big brother it does make me proud of who she was but I am still at a lost as my nephews are. Mom and dad are really having a tough time. Ya know how it is with daddy's little girl....

Anyways I will try to come back later when I have sleepless nites like this. Still trying to make sense of all this.

As one who lost my younger brother in January, I can feel your pain in a great way. He was a little older at 59, but the sadness was still there. As we did with Jim, celebrate the departed's life which you are obviously doing with the scholarship. In my case, my brother had no kids so there wasn't that grief to deal with.
Ken summed it up rather well earlier this morning.

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those wishing they were at Willie's for dinner last night.

the real question: Is Willie's Brisket better than Aaron Franklin's?

It's Troy again. Foot is still having issues, but the up and down limits are narrowing. The bad days aren't as bad.

going to a friend's house to game with little toy soldiers later today. So I need to knock out about 5,000 words. Which is a lot. But I'm past introducing all but one character. After that, I just let them get their shenanigans going and see where that takes us.

We're also heading out to our local cheese-dip dealer later. Those familiar with Midwest's version of Tex-Mex will understand. Those out west in the US ... just pretend it's poor-unenlightened man's Guacamole.

Ok, back to wording the real words.

 

[Bruette]

James, the good people of this forum as always here for you.

May God be with you all.

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

Already busy this morning. Dogs out, fed and back in the houses, breakfast made (scrambled eggs with ham and cheese and raisin toast as I didn't feel like omelets again), kitchen cleaned up, weed eater fixed and about to load the limbs to take to the limb yard.

It was 59° very comfortable degrees this morning going for a high of 85°. Was 97° yesterday, so I'm trying to stay cool.

BBL

Forgot to add, told the grandkids to watch and see if the could see any buffalo when they get near Mt. Rushmore. Was told last night I was wrong as they didn't see any. This morning the wife gets a call that they saw a sign saying not to annoy the buffalo, and almost immediately saw 2. Guess grandpa knows something...

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Morning Railroad Fans: Yesterday was 101f for a high - TODAY we are looking for a brisk Mostly sunny and hot. Afternoon breezes, high of about 105°F
It is 79f out there at the moment, so that is a fore-bearer of higher temps.

Made an appoint with mechanic to have the A/C in the P/U serviced, but he said he couldn't do it until the 9th. G-Son has not brought the car back - today the spouse said - so on the way home from mailing a package to the Son - I stopped at O'reilly's and sitting on a rack just inside the door was A/C service stuff. I asked the counter person if that stuff really works, and he said only if you follow the directions ... so I bought a can home with me and followed the directions to the "T". It did help a little, but it is still not as cold as it should be; now I have a decision to meke - do I live with what I have, or risk a "new" compressor - which I think may be at fault -- can they bypass, or leak internally where the freon is not all getting where it is supposed to be? Some if you mechanical people give me a hint! I really don't want the expense right now of the cost to replace it - if that's the reason.

JAMES - There is no way that we can understand "why" things happen the way they do. I cannot begin to understand what feelings you and the family are going through at this time; all I can say is that the pain will lessen over time. I lost a daughter a few years ago - they said due to complications from pneumonia - that was a rough patch, but now I look back on all the smiling times in her life.
I am truly sorry that you are having to deal with this, hang in there!

I better quit yapping and go downstairs and refill the cup!
Later ...

 

[Bruette]

The birds hit five homeruns yesterday and won 8-1 vs the A's.
The A's have one of the worst records in the American League, but I never underestimate any MLB team. The Nationals beat the New York Mets yesterday. That proves my point. We can make predictions, but we still must play the games.

 

[McLeod]

Good Morning!

There were record breaking temperatures here in the north, over the past couple of days. It didn't feel uncomfortably warm, though. This was due to all the smoke in the air, which had a blocking effect on the sun's rays. There's a 20 hectare forest fire burning in Jasper, that's causing all the grief.
This week sometime, we're supposed to be dropping down into the 50F range. That should cool things off.

I had intended to spend this Labour Day weekend on the layout. That idea got seriously interrupted by my neighbours, who had U-Haul trailer wiring problems that I was asked to repair. They couldn't move the trailer up to Grande Prairie until they had lights.
Now, I'm hoping I'll get the next couple of days to work on layout, but, I think the G-kids are coming over for a visit at some point. Any massive amount of layout progress might just have to wait until snow. Hunting season starts on the 17th, and I intend to fill the freezer.

Here's some photo's of another tank car, which carries hydrogen peroxide used in the paper making industry. I took photos all down the barrel of this tank car, so every word could be read close-up. I maintain files on most of the railcar types that pass through my area.
These are four of the fifteen photos I took of this particular tank car:

Well, I find myself struggling for words at this time.
Perhaps I'll get on with what my wife calls 'the morning ceremony'; shower, breakfast, and feed and walk the dog.

Then, I can spend some time in my world, where I find comfort.
Have a great day!

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 70° on this cool Sunday morning. Well, cool for us, not near the 54° that Tom O is experiencing. Looking at the revised 10 day forecast, it appears that we will get to use the pool for at least another week. Much better than that forecast last week that called for 10 days of rain!

Supper was great last night, the brisket flat came out well, although I thought that it was a bit dry. All in all, my wife thought it was great for a first time with this particular cut of meat. I think that I should start it with a slightly higher temperature and wrap it in the foil about 45 minutes sooner.
Tonight it's pork chops, an easy 10 minute grilling. As usual with them, I will grill some sausage or brats on the side for later meals, rather than waste a good fire; one of the drawbacks of using charcoal. Of course in my opinion, gas cannot come close to the flavor of charcoal.

I did get part of the front yard mowed yesterday until the mower deck quit working. The belt is there and routed OK, and the mechanism for starting it is functioning. Something is wrong with the center blade, but I just didn't feel like investigating any further so I parked the tractor and will look later this morning. Either there's an obstruction like clumped grass clippings lodged in there, or the spindle is frozen. That spindle is just a year old, so I am hoping for the obstruction. I just knew that I was jinxed!

Thanks as always for the likes and comments; Gary, Patrick, Joe, Louis, Hughie, Tom O, Alan, Rick, Mikey, Guy, Smudge, Tom, Chet, James.

I made some progress out in the train shed yesterday. Glued some of the walls together on the retail store.

Painted the front wall and added the windows.

I cut the roof pieces to length.

Remember that parts of this kit are from another kit so modifications must be made.
Assembled roof.

Louis - I haven't decided whether or not I like my new electric mower that I use for those hard to reach places that the tractor won't fit. Mine is a battery powered Ryobai so I don't have to be concerned with the cord. It does not do what is advertised which is run for 45 minutes or do 3/4 acre on a single full charge. Not that I would plan on using it for that much anyway. It also seems to be made for "fairway" height grass and gets bogged down in some of the rougher areas of my yard.
Chet - Best wishes on the upcoming shoulder surgery. I hope it goes as well as the first one. is this going to be a reverse one like the other?
Those original Merchant's Row kits from Magnuson made from resin were real tough.
Sherrel - That's our June-early July weather that you're getting now.
Joe - I saw your governor on TV this morning. He looked really hung-over!

Everybody have a great Sunday.

 

[bnsf971]

Hello Happy (und unhappy) Members, I'm back on the right track (hope so) !
Due to my total computer incompetence (and also because I'm French, I guess), I completely and permanently blocked my account "Longvallon" . So I created a new account. With a new username, of course !
As usual, a wonderful French sunrise:

View attachment 151225

And now, fire at will !

If you accidentally nuke your account again, instead of creating yet another user name that will probably get you bounced by the Spam cops, click the “contact us” button on the bottom of nearly any page on the forum, and ask for help.