Running Bear's September 2022 Coffee Shop

[MikeInHubCity]

Ok, there's a "we need a bigger moon" aka "rear end" aka "back end of the caboose" joke in there somewhere, but I'm not gonna touch it with a ten foot pole. Not without coffee anyway, and not even th-en[d].

==========================

Meanwhile...if I DO plant this "What are you listening to right now?" thread (as far as I can tell, no admins have yet contacted me to warn me off)...
...should I start it off with a "train song?" "Last Train to Clarksville"...or "Love on a Real Train"...or...something else?

This is actually a pretty small forum, as far as numbers go (we have 1,000 or so members over in my sim-racing forum, and probably a hundred or so who look in or contribute to that thread)....

It might be cause more trouble than it's worth here. I'm likely to throw in anything from Percy Faith and his Orchestra; to Bert Kaempfert and HIS Orchestra; to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass; to Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66; to Three Dog Night; to Yes; to Chicago; to Elton John;...to John Denver;...to the Beach Boys; to The Police; to Earth Wind and Fire; to Stevie Wonder; to......................Disco....................; to Rick James; to The The.

It could be Techno; maudlin...chicks (our ladies sing some good stuff, IMO)...

...pretty much anything, anywhere, and any time. And, IMO, videos (typically off Youtube) might even be the motivators (I'm thinking of one right now, in fact).

I probably wouldn't throw in any [C]rap*, which,IMO, isn't worth even the digital tape it's recorded on...but you never know. I also favor instrumental jazz...and the Charlie Brown Christmas Album (of course); so I might throw up all sorts of stuff.

[* the only rap I can even remember anyway is Vincent Price on Michael Jackson's "Thriller."]

If this seems acceptable, then maybe I--or someone else--should do it.

===============

If not, then holler. Loudly. Now.

[I'll pass the Donuts. On Me]

Any last thoughts? Yay or Nay?

Willie- on my phone, I have a separate playlist for train-themed songs. I have “Last Train To Clarksville”, People Get Ready(Jeff Beck/Rod Stewart cover), Orange Blossom Special(covered by the late Johnny Cash), City of New Orleans(Willie Nelson) & Wabadh Cannonball(Doc Watson). I will have to pass on the donuts. I had a cranberry orange muffin this morning, so that’s about the limit on my carbs for today. Making Shepherds Pie (w/ cauliflower mash) for supper tonight. Baking in 2 separate dishes, so that I can sub peppers in place of the carrots & peas in mine. I’ve got the weight trending in the right direction again(Monday, I dropped 15 pounds in 4 weeks), so I want to try & stay on the low-carb course. I don’t have a scale at home. I’m content weighing in at my concussion doc’s office every 4 weeks, so that I don’t obsess over a number.

 

[logandsawman]

And now the rest of the story.

77° and sunny, with low humidity, after a morning low of 54°. The hot muggy air blew out after Midnight. The heavy rain never materialized. Next three days will be fantastic. I start a round of Physical Therapy for my back on Friday. Looking forward to it.

Willie: Great photos of the aircraft. The only thing better than a museum is an air show. Best one I ever saw was at NAS Pensacola. The B-52 is awesome. There are squadrons of them still flying.

Social Security? Other than going to an office for a replacement card. The only employer I had under SS, was the Army, and That was only 6 years of my life. The Fire Department back in the 70s, was strictly a Municipal pension system, for Retirement benefit, and healthcare. I didn't stay there long enough to become vested. The 42 years of the Railroad Retirement System was a blessing I never anticipated until I started collecting. The payroll tax was higher than SS, and we did pay into Medicare. But we are eligible for full retirement at age 60. I was getting to the point, where I could no longer put up with the daily grind. I doubt I would have made it to 66 or what ever my Full SS year was. The wife had to wait 3½ years for her share, but they applied credits for her SS quarters. My 401(k), kept us solvent during that 3½ year period, although it was decimated by the great Goldman Sachs Recession of 2008-2010. (My timing is always wrong). Hindsight says I should have kept working until 62 or perhaps 65, but working 11 to 12 hours per day, in addition to a 90" multi-mode commute each way was wearing thin. RR has it's own quirks, but is a great system, if you can live long enough to collect.

Finished the Steroid this morning. Maybe I'll sleep better tonight.

Talk about bad timing, I graduated from college in 1980, purchased my first land same year and was paying 16% interest on a bank note which I purchased the bare land with. Being 22 years old, I had no clue about the big picture, just this is how much I have and this is how much I need.

That was the midst of the monumental inflation boom, when my wages were far behind prices...

Now as I ready for retirement, we are witnessing the next biggest inflation boom, when incomes do not match prices but fall below.

Mike: way to go on the weight trend!

Dave LASM

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Today was spent setting up the book fair. Moh says I'm not needed there until Monday. Tomorrow I plan on painting the new fascia boards and after they dry mounting them on the layout.

Joe- Thanks for the background info. I didn't realize you had worked for the PRR. Finally received my Keystone today.

Dave- Nice layout shot.

TomO- That is some excellent looking ground cover.

Willie- That's a expensive day, but it sounds fun. Great plane photos.

Guy- Nice selection of cars.

Chad- Nice progress on the house.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[TLOC]

Afternoon All,

Today was spent setting up the book fair. Moh says I'm not needed there until Monday. Tomorrow I plan on painting the new fascia boards and after they dry mounting them on the layout.

Joe- Thanks for the background info. I didn't realize you had worked for the PRR. Finally received my Keystone today.

Dave- Nice layout shot.

TomO- That is some excellent looking ground cover.

Willie- That's a expensive day, but it sounds fun. Great plane photos.

Guy- Nice selection of cars.

Chad- Nice progress on the house.

I hope everyone has a good night.

Curt, thanks for the compliment

 

[TLOC]

Good Morning!

Today will be a winterizing the yard day! I don't want to have to worry about doing that over the coming hunting season.

TomO - I am very impressed with the layout work you are accomplishing. Well done, indeed! It looks fantastic!

DaveB - I always enjoy the layout photos you post, from both the old and new layouts.

Willie - Aircraft museums are among my favorite in the museum world. You took some nice photos in the one you visited. Thanks for posting those.

I've received more Oxford vehicles in the mail. Needed them like a hole in the head, but, I'm still glad I ordered them. Going to just leave these in the plastic boxes; thinking maybe gifts for the grandsons.
View attachment 151785
When the postman came to the door, he wanted another $15.00. Apparantly, Canada Post has raised their delivery fee again. Mail Order seems to becoming a thing of the past.

Gotta go. The wife has already started the jobs, and is hollaring for me.
Have a great day!

Thank you Guy! Always great to read a compliment and I truly appreciate it

 

[TLOC]

Tom, your scenery is to be envied!

Shopping, Rug? Ironic you would mention that. Wife just made a huge purchase of a new rug, I resisted for months but gave in (resistance is futile)

Spent way more than I wanted and I know the rug will be replaced in 5 years maybe since she has to replace everything. Shopping with wife, always a terrible idea as I am like an arrow hitting the target square on and wife like the scattergun that hits a ton of stuff, much of it unintentional, results in a huge headache.

subject change: (rant) funny how things can only get done with workers, yet corporate put a layer of "managers" in there. Makes it a little like the workers are some type of wild beast and will do nothing without the whip and chair. However, with only managers, nothing gets done? Yet workers alone can accomplish any task. Where did this notion come from that managers cannot also work. I realize this is not everywhere, but is the case in many of the places I have been. One exception is the oil field, where in my experience everyone worked.

I wonder if the first managers weren't the relatives of the owners?

Three very dejected women came down into the train room about 40 minutes ago. No matter what I am in the middle of I always stop for my wife. Turns out they found 2 rugs in the 5 shops they stopped at. But, the price while breath taking wasn’t the problem per the beloved spouse, it was delivery. 18 months! I inadvertently laughed and my daughter goes, I told you he wouldn’t understand. Wrong, but I said so did you order either of them and she said no. For the down payment they wanted 75% of the cost.

They just left for 2 more places that sell “Persian” rugs, like I was supposed to be impressed or shocked or something! I have no clue what they were looking at, Irish, Mexican, American aren’t rugs all the same?

G/D has a Fall Softball league game for Special Needs where she played this Summer. Terry tells me we are one of the sponsors for the Fall League. 7PM under the lights. I knew we were impressed with the organization but until a few minutes ago unaware we where that impressed.

Dave, thanks for the rug story.

Dave, no need to be envious. The thing I find exciting about scenery is how messy I can get and how easy it cleans up. Since I model an area of Wisconsin I spent from 1976 to 2014 in I still have some pictures, Google Earth and the memory of it isn’t too far gone. Besides, unless people have been there and the colors are not crazy who will say anything?

Back to the peace of the weathering bench

 

[D&J RailRoad]

The "Free" money from SS. I have a cousin about the same age. She has been through the mill of marriages. She's worked off and on over the years. Never really put anything away. Gotta have the nicest and the latest of stuff. She had been single for a while when she turned 62 and decided to retire and collect SS. Started getting her monthly check of $600 some odd bucks then had to move in with her younger sister. After about a year of that she realized she can't make ends meet and she began reaching out to family members to help make ends meet. Get a job is all I could tell her. She eventually did find a low paying secretarial part time job. Didn't like it but reality began to sink in. That free money is all you're gonna get, for the rest of your life. Increases will be minimal, but your purchase power will forever loss ground.
It seems the notion for many is to take the money early because they will have collected more of it in the long run instead of a larger more sustaining check if they could wait a few years.
Now, I'm the bad person for drawing a larger check.

 

[santafewillie]

The "Free" money from SS. I have a cousin about the same age. She has been through the mill of marriages. She's worked off and on over the years. Never really put anything away. Gotta have the nicest and the latest of stuff. She had been single for a while when she turned 62 and decided to retire and collect SS. Started getting her monthly check of $600 some odd bucks then had to move in with her younger sister. After about a year of that she realized she can't make ends meet and she began reaching out to family members to help make ends meet. Get a job is all I could tell her. She eventually did find a low paying secretarial part time job. Didn't like it but reality began to sink in. That free money is all you're gonna get, for the rest of your life. Increases will be minimal, but your purchase power will forever loss ground.
It seems the notion for many is to take the money early because they will have collected more of it in the long run instead of a larger more sustaining check if they could wait a few years.
Now, I'm the bad person for drawing a larger check.

Sad situation. I know of several people in the same situation and that's why they are still working at 72, 73, or 76 years of age. You have to plan ahead. In the situation that your cousin is in, she's never going to do much better in her lifetime unless she marries a sugar daddy. The SS is never going to improve enough to allow her to shed the part time low wage job, no matter how many years that she contributes. In some states like Mississippi, the maximum SS payout per year may allow a living, but not a comfortable one. If you didn't save or don't have a good pension, you aren't going to make it.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning everyone or afternoon or evening depending where you reside in this world.

I apologize for the silence as I am still processing my loss of my baby sister. We had the wake on Friday evening on September 9th and then the funeral on Saturday the September 10th. One day be for the 11th when my mother lost her sister to 9/11, my Aunt Barbara.

I ended up doing the eulogy for my sister. I chose to do this as no one else in my family could do it nor did I trust anyone else to do it. The eulogy lasted about between 7 and 10 minutes. I think everyone appreciated it. It went well even though it was difficult to contain some of my emotions.

As the days go by and I move forward in life I am reminded of my sister and that my family has suffered an unspeakable loss. I know life goes on. I have yet to truly grieve but currently I am holding a lot of emotions inside. I am dealing with her estate and tending to her 3 boys she left behind and making sure we cover all aspects of the estate. The oldest boy goes back to Nova Scotia tomorrow to college at St. Francis Xavier University for his Masters. The middle boy left yesterday to go back to Champlain University up at Plattsburgh NY. He graduates in December with his bachelors degree in creative advertising and marketing of some sorts, not sure of the specifics. The youngest, a Marine leaves Friday back to base in San Diego CA.

My last and remaining sibling, older sister leaves to go back to the UK on Friday morning. She will be going to the funeral processions for Queen Elizabeth as well. The irony here is my baby sister's name is Elizabeth although she passed on the 30th of August her obituary was posted in the paper the same day Queen Elizabeth passed and hit the front page of the newspapers.

I am left with these words that I used in closing of my sisters eulogy...

"There are some people in life that make you laugh a little louder, smile a little bigger and live just a little better..."



Peace,
James

James, if you mentioned this before I must have missed it. My sincere condolences on the loss of your sister. I can't imagine your pain.

 

[bnsf971]

Good evening.
I left w*rk early today. I had an accident at work yesterday, and broke my left ring finger. It throbbed and hurt last night, continuing into today. We know nothing can really be done about it, other than watching for signs of infection.
So, I ordered a month's worth of groceries, and picked them up on the way home. With the impending strike, it would probably be a good idea for anybody that doesn't have that amount stockpiled, to do so. With the way the "supply chain" has been, with shortages anyway, I didn't want to take chances on not having the basics, like bread and drinks. I'm also filling up the 3 gas cans, just in case. If everything turns brown starting Friday, I'll at least have supplies and fuel for at least two weeks of fuel, and a month's worth of food.

 

[chadbag]

Day 1 of gravel slinging is done. They got most of the house. Just one front room area, a small strip outside the under garage main area, and the cold storage and "vault room" under the front entry way left to do. The guy thinks just one more truck should do it. They'll clean up all the footings etc tomorrow when done. They are pretty good at this and did a lot of cleanup and smoothing out and were quite conscientious in their work.

The first three pics show what was done (mostly -- some under garage area was done but is not shown). Two of the pics show the same gravel field from opposite ends.

There was one minor "problem". The far long under-garage area was quite far from where they were parked with the truck and because it is a "narrow" roomt at around 9-10 feet it was hard to get an angle to drop the gravel in. They did a good job not-withstanding, but at the farthest away end they had an angle on the gravel that couldn't avoid impacting the rear wall. So like a sandblaster that uses 3/4" rough gravel instead of sand. So a small part of the foam wall got "damaged" and turned into a moon scape or popcorn bucket about 1/2" or a little more deep in the foam. Not really a problem. The black strips you see in the pic that wefre exposed are the every-8-inches strips that you can screw into and that hold the web that holds the two sides of the block together. This is 1/2" below the foam surface IIRC. This is below grade and on the inside foam, which doesn't have as much insulating purpose as the outside of the wall, and this is just where a wood working room is. I'll probably just try and clean out any sand and dirt that got embedded and just put the wallboard over it. Maybe I'll spray some low expansion foam on it as they put the wallboard up and just put the wallboard over the wet foam so that it just fills in the nooks and crannies. Not a big deal.

Similar "damage" but no where near as extensive -- more just a light surface "blasting" effect happened around the far wall at the very bottom. It didn't really do more than put very shallow dents up a foot or two form the footing as the gravel hit and bounced up (they were not dumping it on the wall like the under garage bit in the pictures, but just random bounces). You can kind of see it on the back wall in the very first pic. Just kind of lighter color as the weathering of the last year was worn off.

They did have a few bigger rocks in their gravel stream and I have one wall with a 3-5" rock embedded in the foam . I'll pop it out and foam the hole...

 

[kbkchooch]

Chad
Dont worry about the rock damage, just cover it with a mountain on the layout! You are filling this whole area with trains,, right??

 

[bnsf971]

 

[chadbag]

Chad
Dont worry about the rock damage, just cover it with a mountain on the layout! You are filling this whole area with trains,, right??

I'm not quite that lucky. Though there is a large room above the main garage so dedicated. I'll post pics when we get that far...

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang,

65° and dark with increasing amounts of light toward morning high expected of 80°
BBL

 

[OBTC 1909]

Good morning all! 53 headed for 83 today. The weather prognosticator says there's fog outside but right now it's too dark to tell from looking out the window. Very busy week going on at work plus work for the two classes I'm taking. The math class is stressing me out because I've always been terrible at math. Trying not to be cranky but it's been stressful trying to get through this week's assignments. Two meetings on tap today at work plus all the usual work. Hope you all have a great day!

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Greetings track gang and those who make trees, lay ground cover, and build facades.
FLO, sure hope that Mel has the coffee going this morning - my night was a restless one and lots of coffee needed - just leave the pot - please.

Got a check from the IRS yesterday for $230.00 - No explanation with it!
I couldn't figure it out why until I mentioned it to my neighbor. I don't know how he remembers these type of things, but he went into his house and came back out a few minutes later showing me a newspaper article explaining that the IRS was refunding everyone any late filing fees and penalties for the years of 2019-2020 because they were so far backed up in processing returns. I was late last year with my filing and had paid the late fee with the return. Any time I receive even a dollar back from them - I am a happy camper.

I guess that I have lost sight of the "big picture" as I heard on the news yesterday that THOUSANDS of IRS employees were delinquent in filing and payment of taxes.
Boy, You win some money at the CRAP TABLE and they are right there for collection; how the hell can they not even collect from their own employees?

Sinuses wont stop running this morning - must be what awakened me this time of morning. Here's todays forecast: Low clouds and fog early, becoming sunny and breezy, high of about 78°F. (A cool 64 outside at the moment)

FLO I'll be back a little later for breakfast!

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Yeah, they are calling those tax checks, "Rebates". Isn't that wonderful? Kinda makes those high gas prices, inflation, shortages, etc, fade away.

Well, still have my pickup truck in the driveway. I thought my daughter was going to buy it but she stood down on the idea last night. I have it listed on auto trader and so far, only 16 scammers have showed interest in stealing it. I think I'll play along with the next one and ask the county sheriff to be here when they arrive to pick it up. Attempted auto theft might get them a $50 fine. I think I'll take the truck to CarMax today and see what they might offer for it.

I've exhausted my patience in trying to resolve the signal issues with my Barrett Hill turnout touch pads. I think I'll just remove them all and go back to the mechanical momentary push buttons.

I applied for membership in a model railroad club south of me near Richmond, VA. I will be up for membership vote the second Saturday of Oct. I'm thinkin I might offer them a layout tour and op session here on the 1st of Oct. That's just two weeks away. I think I can have things in shape by then.

Looks like the rail strike has been avoided. A deal was reached last night. Most parties are happy with the results. Railfans are packing a lunch for the day to go sit track side.

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

Into the office a bit later as the wife was off today and tomorrow, trying to burn a few of the days she earned before they close down. So I experimented with getting up at 5:00a instead of 3:30a. My actual hours are 6:30a to 4p M-Th and 6:30a to 10:30a on Fridays. I was in about 6:10 instead of my usual 5:50. Would have been nice If I hadn't had to get up to pee at 3:25 this morning. Still got everything I usually do done and to work on time. I think the schedule will work and I feel a little bit more rested this morning.

Currently 70° and clear going for a high of 95° once again. They were talking on the weather that we may have some more triple digit temps early next week...FUN!

Sounds like the RR strike has been averted. We'll see. Funny they keep talking about gas prices dropping, Wichita area took a $0.29 cent hike this week ($3.30 to $3.59). What's up with that?

BBL

 

[ctclibby]

Yeah, they are calling those tax checks, "Rebates". Isn't that wonderful? Kinda makes those high gas prices, inflation, shortages, etc, fade away.

Well, still have my pickup truck in the driveway. I thought my daughter was going to buy it but she stood down on the idea last night. I have it listed on auto trader and so far, only 16 scammers have showed interest in stealing it. I think I'll play along with the next one and ask the county sheriff to be here when they arrive to pick it up. Attempted auto theft might get them a $50 fine. I think I'll take the truck to CarMax today and see what they might offer for it.

I've exhausted my patience in trying to resolve the signal issues with my Barrett Hill turnout touch pads. I think I'll just remove them all and go back to the mechanical momentary push buttons.

I applied for membership in a model railroad club south of me near Richmond, VA. I will be up for membership vote the second Saturday of Oct. I'm thinkin I might offer them a layout tour and op session here on the 1st of Oct. That's just two weeks away. I think I can have things in shape by then.

Looks like the rail strike has been avoided. A deal was reached last night. Most parties are happy with the results. Railfans are packing a lunch for the day to go sit track side.

Scammers are a joy aren't they? I do not remember seeing your pickup info posted here. What ya got? We need something to haul hay, lumber and such. Tough to get a 4x8 sheet of ply into an Edge.

Those "Touch Toggles" are nifty. I looked at doing pretty much the same as you, but decided to skip as my goal is to reduce layout wiring and went straight to software controlled touch screens; phone for local switching, mouse and big displays for dispatch.

You have a big layout. Maybe you should get the club to join you? Kidding aside, clubs can be fun when they actually get down to operating vs a weekly bull session. You will add a ton of wisdom to the place.

Later