Running Bear's September 2022 Coffee Shop

[OBTC 1909]

Good morning all! 66 heading for a humid 79 with a chance of rain later. Was feeling a lot better yesterday, so I went outside and got a few things done without overdoing. Got back inside just before we got a sudden heavy rain that lasted a while. Spent the rest of the day getting all the assignments for my math class for this week done. I generally fear math LOL but so far it's going ok. I know it's going to keep getting harder and harder.

Tomorrow I have to give my first speech in speech class. I have my outline done need to practice a bit. Maybe this evening...

Back to work this morning. I've got a lot to do and will probably stay pretty busy all day, which is good. Hope you all have a great day!

 

[troyphoto]

Just water today Flo... gotta go see the vampire in a bite err bit.

Creatinine levels were a tad high, so I've been drinking enough water to solve the issues in Las Vegas New Mexico (one of their reservoirs got all sludged up after a wildfire and monsoon sent the grey carbon sludge flowing into it.

But first, I'm off to get some Amish donuts for the post-vampire breakfast. Wife wants a maple frosted one. I'll stick with the chocolate frosted, but both are good.

I'll see about a pic if I don't eat it too quickly.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 71° right now. Staying in the low 90's most of the week. Perfect fall weather and it's still summer.

Another busy day yesterday on the SFW estate. Split and stacked firewood until the dew evaporated enough to mow the south side of the yard and the area over the lateral lines. All that's left is the "back 40" on the west side next to my hayfield. Then I start the rotation over but probably not until Thursday. Today is weedeating day. I wound two reels of line yesterday in preparation. The tomatoes in the garden are taking a break right now. It is a jungle and I need to prune some of the plants back. Hope to get to that today or tomorrow.

Thanks for all of the likes and comments regarding my progress; Tom O, OB Ken, Mikey, Gary, Hughie, Christian, Chad, James, Tom, Chet, Curt, Patrick, Louis, George, Sherrel, Guy.

I accomplished a lot (to me) out in the train shed yesterday. I decided to put a foundation under the Pikestuff store. I chose Evergreen .125" x .125" styrene strips which raised the structure by about a scale foot.

I'll paint it a concrete color later today. Note that I also added the downspouts which was a rather simple task.
Most of my time was spent in the upgrade project area. Before.

I continued the simple green of the backdrop, added brown earth color to the plywood, and added 24" of tarpaper (roofing felt to some) for a road in the area.

In the end, I made the road a scale 18' wide, just a tad wider than the original plan. Next step whether it be today or just next, is to paint a few rudimentary trees on the backdrop, paint a concrete parking area here, and add ground cover to the RR ROW. On the workbench, I have to apply decals to the overhead sign that I painted yesterday. On the workbench I will add a front porch and there's two more downspouts for the front part of the building and some possible additional detail parts for the roof.
Then I can move to the 7-11 next door, and stripe the road.

Louis - The Ryobai battery powered mower is self-propelled, so weight isn't necessarily a factor. The speed is adjustable as well. Even on the slowest setting, I sometimes feel like I am jogging instead of walking.
Hughie - I have not built any kits from RS Laser. You have convinced me not to purchase any with all of the trouble that you are having. You are doing a fine job despite all of the difficulties.
Tom O - Soda sales were all last week! My wife doesn't like to eat steak, but devours all other kinds of beef. That's a great price for tenderloin. I have noticed beef prices are beginning to inch down a little. Pork has remained low but poultry is outrageous.
OB Ken - Good luck with the speech. I was always terrible until I had to start giving presentations at work after being promoted to manager. Outlines helped me immensely.

OK Pink Floyd fans, today is Roger Waters' birthday. He's 79 today and is still performing live shows.
Everyone have a great Tuesday.

 

[logandsawman]

Good morning all,

We are at 58° headed for 83. It was in the 40's when I got up, turned on the furnace for a few minutes. I ended up working on the slab prep work for the Car Port, which I completed this spring. Waiting on building up the account a little before pouring the slab, so I shoveled about 20 wheelbarrow loads of sand/gravel/rocks that was the material there. Not sore whatsoever, surprisingly, but I took many breaks, and I think the firewood splitting/hauling had hardened me up some.

Tom: We enjoyed the Doc Martin series as well. We grilled steaks over the fire Saturday eve, had them with Corn on the Cob. We shared a Sirloin, which was both tender and tasty. The 16 ounce steak (we cut it in half) was only a bit over $6.00. I couldn't believe it, must be all those beef living in the drought stricken areas going to the market.

Mikey: I am getting close to whittling down some of my excess stock

Patrick: I did not get much relaxing in, although I tried. I am going through therapy now so we have to talk about lots of stuff I would rather bury, which I did, but now it has to come out. Yuk.

Willie: I split wood Saturday morning. That is the type of therapy I enjoy. Unlike the kind that requires lots of talking.

Ken OBTC : good luck on the speech.

I worked some on the layout, got the bottom coat of the scenery down, also added a building and tweaked a scene:

The water will be next, it will require some more painting. All the ground cover is down between the Freight house and Wyoming depot. The bare area behind tracks, in back, will be some buildings that have not been built, so won't do anything there except maybe put down gravel.

back later
Dave LASM

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Things kinda slow this morning? Everyone must have had a pretty good holiday weekend - sure hope they did.
A quicky this morning - It was 103 yesterday, 102 forecast for today, and the record this date was 112 in 2020. Skies are still basically clear with some high scattered cirrus.
The Truck A/C is pitiful - Going to have to take it in and see what is the matter, or just go out early in the morning or late in the evening. Getting the Freon kit was a waste of money $76 dollars. The pressures are in the green band and the compressor is cycling as it should, but the amount of cooling is miniscule. The fault Has to be somewhere else?

Once a week I am supposed to take a pill to help replinsh something in my bones - doctors say they may be prone to breaking? Anyway, supposed to drink a pint of water with the pill and nothing else for 30 minutes (that's the part I hate) I want my coffee first thing in the morning and that's that!
OK - 30 min are up - heading downstairs for the coffee machine.

 

[TLOC]

Love all your freight cars TLOC. Once I get all these house projects done, I plan on doing the same thing this winter. Creating some nice-looking rolling stock.
George

Thank you George. It helps keep me busy and somewhat sane!

 

[Boris]

Good morning. This morning was filled with the sound of school buses starting at 0630. Presently, we are having light rain and 73°. There is a 90% chance of the rain continuing down from 100%, in last night's forecast.

 

[TLOC]

Good Morning All. Clear and 71° right now. Staying in the low 90's most of the week. Perfect fall weather and it's still summer.

Another busy day yesterday on the SFW estate. Split and stacked firewood until the dew evaporated enough to mow the south side of the yard and the area over the lateral lines. All that's left is the "back 40" on the west side next to my hayfield. Then I start the rotation over but probably not until Thursday. Today is weedeating day. I wound two reels of line yesterday in preparation. The tomatoes in the garden are taking a break right now. It is a jungle and I need to prune some of the plants back. Hope to get to that today or tomorrow.

Thanks for all of the likes and comments regarding my progress; Tom O, OB Ken, Mikey, Gary, Hughie, Christian, Chad, James, Tom, Chet, Curt, Patrick, Louis, George, Sherrel, Guy.

I accomplished a lot (to me) out in the train shed yesterday. I decided to put a foundation under the Pikestuff store. I chose Evergreen .125" x .125" styrene strips which raised the structure by about a scale foot.View attachment 151407
I'll paint it a concrete color later today. Note that I also added the downspouts which was a rather simple task.
Most of my time was spent in the upgrade project area. Before.
View attachment 151408
I continued the simple green of the backdrop, added brown earth color to the plywood, and added 24" of tarpaper (roofing felt to some) for a road in the area.
View attachment 151409
In the end, I made the road a scale 18' wide, just a tad wider than the original plan. Next step whether it be today or just next, is to paint a few rudimentary trees on the backdrop, paint a concrete parking area here, and add ground cover to the RR ROW. On the workbench, I have to apply decals to the overhead sign that I painted yesterday. On the workbench I will add a front porch and there's two more downspouts for the front part of the building and some possible additional detail parts for the roof.
Then I can move to the 7-11 next door, and stripe the road.

Louis - The Ryobai battery powered mower is self-propelled, so weight isn't necessarily a factor. The speed is adjustable as well. Even on the slowest setting, I sometimes feel like I am jogging instead of walking.
Hughie - I have not built any kits from RS Laser. You have convinced me not to purchase any with all of the trouble that you are having. You are doing a fine job despite all of the difficulties.
Tom O - Soda sales were all last week! My wife doesn't like to eat steak, but devours all other kinds of beef. That's a great price for tenderloin. I have noticed beef prices are beginning to inch down a little. Pork has remained low but poultry is outrageous.
OB Ken - Good luck with the speech. I was always terrible until I had to start giving presentations at work after being promoted to manager. Outlines helped me immensely.

OK Pink Floyd fans, today is Roger Waters' birthday. He's 79 today and is still performing live shows.
Everyone have a great Tuesday.

Willie,

I was just hoping for a sale yesterday on soda. The sales were ok last week but still weren’t as good as the regular pricing earlier this year. Not only are the chicken prices high they are not well stocked unless you want a whole chicken. Fish has been all over the map but the shrimp is still trending upward! Terry will eat all types of fish, many that I don’t enjoy. So unless it’s an enjoyable one we both eat she will eat it and I will do shrimp. So, so many ways to make great shrimp! Like pizza, I could eat it every day. Terry would prefer anything but beef unless it’s tenderloin. She rarely eats steak because during college she waitressed at a Country Club and the free meal was 90% of the time steak or a sandwich!

I will throw the Pink Floyd tunes on in the train room today

 

[JeffH]

The weather held out just enough to take advantage of a day on the water with my kids (they are adults) and dogs. Indian Lake in Ohio has become overrun with an invasive aquatic plant. About 30% of the lake is covered in a grassy mats that get hung up un your outdrive and make it difficult, if not impossible, to maneuver. Good thing you could see the areas to avoid. They have been treating it now for a couple weeks and they are making progress. I hear it has really hurt the local economy.

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from densely foggy So. Central Wisconsin or at least our house. The traffic guy is reporting the heavy fog SW of Madison on the morning TV traffic reports and that’s us. Just a few miles north though he says it’s fine.

The travel plans for today have been altered. About 8 last night we were informed our seats went to corporate folks and we were off the plane. Next plane is Thursday and we said yes to that.

Spent a great deal of yesterday in the train room and enjoyed it. Ended up last night just switching out the paper mill.

enjoy the day

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Ended up with no fun summer activities done this weekend. Instead, made progress on the current house project which is to redo our bedroom closet.

Plan was to remove the wire-type organizer from master closet and install it into the closet in the office which adjoins our master BR and is almost the same size.

So dau came over Sunday after church. She and wifeykins shifted stuff out of our master closet, the closet in our office/bedroom adjoining the master, and another closet.

The disassembly/reassembly went pretty easy. Only had to cut down one shelf by 3/4 inch to make it fit. I did use the laser level that I actually bought for laying track. Man, that thing is downright handy.. Where has it been all my life? I was able to use its magnetic 'clips' to secure it to a metal bookshelf in the office, and then adjust the height and trace the line. Easy-peasy!

Monday. I ended up staying awake from 0230 onward thinking about the next phase of the project. Don't you hate that?????

Next phase was to install a wall electrical outlet in the master closet. That will be to power the LED tape-strip lights which I will stick to the door frame to light the closet. I tested that theory on Sunday whilst disassembly in progress, and it works great. In face, dau wants it for her closet! Nothing like getting rewarded for good work done by getting more work to do, eh?! Anyway, after coffee, went to breakfast and then Home Despot. Bought the electrical items and a new tool, and cedar sheathing for inside the closet. The tool? A Rigid battery powered reciprocating saw. I have a corded one, which is a monster. but wanted the battery one for this and another phase of the project, which is to install an electric fireplace in our bedroom wall. That will require a fair bit of drywall and stud cutting for which the cordless recip saw will be perfect. Nice little tool and takes the same battery as my Rigid drill-driver tools.

Now the fun part. On the back side of the master closet, is an outlet serving the office. So easy to take power from there and run it to the new outlet in the closet. Except, that outlet is switched at a 3x wall switch. IOW, the wall switch has three separate switches. Top for that outlet, middle for ceiling fan on/off, and bottom for ceiling fan light on/off. Again, no biggie. Plan was to take that 3x switch and replace it with a 2x switch and just connect the two leads for the outlet.

Except that 3x switch was wired quite surprisingly! Baffled me and the hardware store guy I showed the picture to, thinking I needed a different duplex wall switch. Only thing for it was trial and error. Black is 'always' hot supply, right? So connected that to the orange wire which was on the back of the switch for the outlet. Nothing. Huh?

Well, through trial and error, and at least eleven trips up and down the stairs to the breaker box. Somehow 'yellow' is hot. Black from the wall was actually the supply to the light, green powered the fan, and as said, the orange powered the outlet. Gotta love old houses (this one built in the early 60s). Some previous schmuck added that ceiling fan and did some creative wiring to get it going. <Sigh> One of these nights, about 0200am, I'm going to start thinking about where that blasted yellow hot lead comes from . . . .

After that, measured and drilled a test hole. Nailed the outlet first time! That felt good. Shifted over a bit and up a bit and traced the outlet box and cut the hole for the box with aforementioned new cordless recip saw (always good to let the wife-unit see that you use the new tool!). Yep, I could have done it almost as easy with a hand drywall saw, but let's not quibble about details, shall we? Ran the short wires, tested, installed the box and buttoned all up. Done and done!

Ah, now to install the cedar sheathing. Except here is where I could use a tech consult, if anybody still reading:

Cedar is 4 inch wide 8 foot long, 1/4 in. thick tongue and groove. Instructions say to put it in the space open to air for at least 72 hours to acclimate (expand/contract). Then - - they say to seal all sides before installing. No small investment of time and money.

So my Q is: Can I install the cedar without sealing? Plan was to install it and then stain/seal it in place. Are those boards really going to expand/contract that much?

Opinions welcome.

No train work of late - - but trains run last week, which was fun. Blessings to all and thanks for the read and replies! Please be sure to quote so I get a notice of your reply. Can't read every post anymore and don't want to miss your titbit of wisdom.

Steve J

 

[kbkchooch]

Hiya gang!
13 pages in 6 days,, yeah y'all been busy.
No time in the basement or the garage last week, honey-do stuff, dead hot water heater, replacing the cat converters on the kiddos truck at work after hours, I finally picked up a 1x4 off the stack last night and put it in its place.

Sherril, You are gonna beat me to 100 and a half!

L8ter!

 

[rgeiter]

This is the look you get from our shop cat “Boots”, when you give the other shop cat more attention. Actually they are Amusement Park cats since they never get near the shop. They are well loved and very spoiled.

 

[bnsf971]

Things kinda slow this morning? Everyone must have had a pretty good holiday weekend - sure hope they did.
A quicky this morning - It was 103 yesterday, 102 forecast for today, and the record this date was 112 in 2020. Skies are still basically clear with some high scattered cirrus.
The Truck A/C is pitiful - Going to have to take it in and see what is the matter, or just go out early in the morning or late in the evening. Getting the Freon kit was a waste of money $76 dollars. The pressures are in the green band and the compressor is cycling as it should, but the amount of cooling is miniscule. The fault Has to be somewhere else?

Once a week I am supposed to take a pill to help replinsh something in my bones - doctors say they may be prone to breaking? Anyway, supposed to drink a pint of water with the pill and nothing else for 30 minutes (that's the part I hate) I want my coffee first thing in the morning and that's that!
OK - 30 min are up - heading downstairs for the coffee machine.

If pressures are both where they should be, your problem is elsewhere.
If you can figure out how to do it, block off the flow of water to the heater. If the valve or door is not closing all the way, it can cause "blah" performance from the a/c, because some hot air is mixing with the cold air.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Sherrel, perhaps the air ducts aren't closing as they should. You're getting outside air instead of the cool air.
Could be just a simple flap somewhere in the dashboard.

 

[NYC_George]

OK Pink Floyd fans, today is Roger Waters' birthday. He's 79 today and is still performing live shows.
Everyone have a great Tuesday.

I'm not sure why but there seems to be no Pink Floyd concerts ever on AXS TV. Just about everyone else has been on there but no Pink Flyod. Anyone know why?

Has anyone ever downloaded songs form the 7 Digtal site. If so let me know what you think? In the past I've bought most of my songs from Amazon for around a dollar but now they seem to have a very few songs to download this way anymore. I wanted to add a few Bob Seger songs. For some reason I like the song Fire Lake. I'm now getting all my downloaded songs burned to CD's for my golf / beach trip to Myrtle next week. Tha includes songs from Pink Floyd, Foreigner, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles. Bad Company, The Cars, AC/DC , Journey, The Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Dire Straits. ZZ Top, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin, Billy Idol, Stely Dan, Aero Smith, The Doobie Brothers. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx and others. It's a 13 hour trip so I'll need them all.
George

 

[NYC_George]

 

[santafewillie]

I'm not sure why but there seems to be no Pink Floyd concerts ever on AXS TV. Just about everyone else has been on there but no Pink Flyod. Anyone know why?

Has anyone ever downloaded songs form the 7 Digtal site. If so let me know what you think? In the past I've bought most of my songs from Amazon for around a dollar but now they seem to have a very few songs to download this way anymore. I wanted to add a few Bob Seger songs. For some reason I like the song Fire Lake. I'm now getting all my downloaded songs burned to CD's for my golf / beach trip to Myrtle next week. Tha includes songs from Pink Floyd, Foreigner, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles. Bad Company, The Cars, AC/DC , Journey, The Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Dire Straits. ZZ Top, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin, Billy Idol, Stely Dan, Aero Smith, The Doobie Brothers. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx and others. It's a 13 hour trip so I'll need them all.
George

Great selection of artists you're using.
Regarding AXS TV - It probably has something to do with licensing rights. I don't know since I haven't ever watched AXS TV.

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet people. It's Troy again.

Vampire left me some blood and I had my Amish donut post draw... sucks waiting until 8:30 for coffee when I was up at 4am.

Blue cup is coffee... the black one is water. Pic was taken post-stick.

Then back home to brush the chompers and off to the Dentist. He's got a cadre of hygienists, and they rotate you through, slotting whichever is available for your time, unless I request one. Got the VERY chatty semi-retired girl today. The only problem is she cannot work and chat at the same time. So she was 15 min over our hour-long slot by the time my teeth were done and checked.

the good thing, other than a clean bill of health for the teeth, was my dentist is also my sweets dealer. His brother is an apiarist.

So I purchase his brother's locally harvested bee barf while I'm there. Helps a LOT with the sniffles from pollen allergies.

OK, to the hobby store and Michaels. Let's see what kind of silly er hobby stuff I can spend money on.

 

[JeffH]

I'm not sure why but there seems to be no Pink Floyd concerts ever on AXS TV. Just about everyone else has been on there but no Pink Flyod. Anyone know why?

Has anyone ever downloaded songs form the 7 Digtal site. If so let me know what you think? In the past I've bought most of my songs from Amazon for around a dollar but now they seem to have a very few songs to download this way anymore. I wanted to add a few Bob Seger songs. For some reason I like the song Fire Lake. I'm now getting all my downloaded songs burned to CD's for my golf / beach trip to Myrtle next week. Tha includes songs from Pink Floyd, Foreigner, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles. Bad Company, The Cars, AC/DC , Journey, The Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Dire Straits. ZZ Top, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin, Billy Idol, Stely Dan, Aero Smith, The Doobie Brothers. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx and others. It's a 13 hour trip so I'll need them all.
George

I'm a fan of Spotify. It's a monthly fee, but well worth it in my book.

I see you mention Dire Straits. I'm a huge fan, and love their more obscure stuff. Mark Knopfler is an amazing guitarist. His guitar can be so hauntingly aching.