Running Bear's September 2025 Coffee Shop

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Wednesday morning! It's 55°F and partly cloudy.

Have a great day!

 

[troyphoto]

I have a co-worker who has a red Swingline stapler. He gets PO'ed when I call him Milton!

I've got a red Swingline stapler. Bought it at Sams Club when I was outfitting my Photography Business. I've still never seen the movie.

My wife took over the Red Swingline when she set up her work from home office. I know better to call her Milton.

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps and those with staplers, red or not.

It's Troy (Not Milton) again.

I'm halfway through watching Wednesday (of the Addams family) Season 2. It's OK.
Problem: Season one fit a specific genre: Young Adult Paranormal Academy Mystery/Thriller. It's an established book genre with tropes and norms. The writing team, production, and cast did extremely well in that genre.

Season two looked like it was going to follow a similar format. But, the mystery is over half-way through, and there are huge complications. It's swung to setting up a horror/thriller genre, but it tried to be a mystery/thriller through part one.

The cast and character development are all excellent. But I seriously question the plotting and writing of the season. It looks like they're counting on big names like Lady GaGa and Joanna Lumley to pull the sub-par plotting along. By adding Pugsly and his plot arc (minor spoiler, he gets a zombie as a pet), they have some good foundation for plotting, but I feel like they got caught in a trap with that arc and took the easy way out. Adding the zombie made them kill off a lot of interesting characters in part 1.

We'll see if I like the second half.

Dinner last night was yummy, but not one I want a lot of. Wife took a pork butt and carved it down into smaller sections. She got the bag of "cubed Pork" out of the freezer and said she wanted pork kabobs. OK...

But it wasn't really cubed. She tried to save a lot of the meat near the bone that was more strips than cubes. I tried to make them work on the skewers.

marinated in Teriyaki sauce, and grilled with pineapple chunks. The foil package is Cinnamon Honey baked apples. Wife made corn bread to go with it.

Our last gasp of summer begins today. Will probably have to close up the house and turn the AC back on for the next week.

 

[traiNscale]

@bnsf971 thank you for the long NO answer did like it hehehe.
and i have to say, it was just a idea. but the version with, one loco this and one loco that way is also fine for me.
i should have enough locos to create this

and not "needing" a turntable is also cost saving and space
thnx

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

63° and clear, high of 82° later.

Not much going on in my world yet today.

 

[TLOC]

I

You are correct, I have imposed a spending ban on myself.

But... This is a Christmas car, special exemptions to Christmas stuff. My world, my rules,


Catchers often make great coaches. But I wouldn't give up on him yet, He hasn't reached 30 yet. One good offensive season and as a catcher he would be finically set for life, if he isn't already. Another $10-$20 million wouldn't hurt.

It is a hard road. Professional athletes literally eat, sleep, and live their sport 24/7/365. A player must truly love his sport to make that kind of commitment. Otherwise, it will get old quick.

I coached many young players, some were phenoms. A rare few, even I thought they had a chance, but not one made it past AA baseball. My advice was to aim for high school, then college and go from there. An education has a long shelf life.

Young players can change drastically in a couple of years. Some start out as stars and fade; others keep getting better. Some start out at the bottom and suddenly blossom into stars. You never know for sure.

If your grandson has a true love for his sport, help him pursue his dream. Encourage him as long as that love remains. One thing all great players have is a love for their sport. No one has found a way to measure heart and desire.

I encourage him to have fun playing.

I watched a NHL player grow from a Mite (around age 5) to a should be NHL Hall of Famer. Joe Pavelski grew up and played hockey and golf about 25 miles south of us in Steven Point, Wi. when we lived “up North”. I scored many games between his St. Pt teams and my son’s Mosinee teams. I never thought watching him grow Joe would be a great player, yes good but not great. He didn’t do any 1 thing great but did everything very good but he had a drive that no one could match in Central and Northern Wi. So maybe that was his greatness! You’d watch the game and nothing stood out until you looked at the score sheet and realized he had 3 goals and 4 assists and his team beat ours. He quietly dominated. It was that way from the 1st game as a youth player till high school. When he went to the university of Wisconsin and played one year they won the NCAA championship. He was a leader too. I’ve seen lots of great youth players burn out from the sport they played and where the sport outgrew them.

I look forward to watching my grandson play but I have no illusions he’ll play as a pro. I would like to see him though play in college

 

[TLOC]

Good morning. Wow had to catch up on 3 pages to get here. We are a prolific group.

Heading out at 8am for a work session 45 minutes north of me. My 2 cohorts are out of town so this is a solo trip. Roadbed is on today’s worksheet

I was unable to connect with Terry yesterday or late last night. The cell phone just rings. I looked at the WeatherChannel app and while it looks like Hurricane Kiko is now just Tropical Storm Kiko I do not know when it was downgraded or if it really stayed East of Maui. She’ll contact me when she can…

56f degrees now heading to a wet 74 later. It looks like we had some overnight rain. 80’s start back on Sunday per the guessing apps

Enjoy your day

 

[Marlin39]

I

I encourage him to have fun playing.

I watched a NHL player grow from a Mite (around age 5) to a should be NHL Hall of Famer. Joe Pavelski grew up and played hockey and golf about 25 miles south of us in Steven Point, Wi. when we lived “up North”. I scored many games between his St. Pt teams and my son’s Mosinee teams. I never thought watching him grow Joe would be a great player, yes good but not great. He didn’t do any 1 thing great but did everything very good but he had a drive that no one could match in Central and Northern Wi. So maybe that was his greatness! You’d watch the game and nothing stood out until you looked at the score sheet and realized he had 3 goals and 4 assists and his team beat ours. He quietly dominated. It was that way from the 1st game as a youth player till high school. When he went to the university of Wisconsin and played one year they won the NCAA championship. He was a leader too. I’ve seen lots of great youth players burn out from the sport they played and where the sport outgrew them.

I look forward to watching my grandson play but I have no illusions he’ll play as a pro. I would like to see him though play in college

The Schultz brothers wrestled at the same time I did, locally, in high school. The younger brother, Mark, was one year behind me and thankfully in a lower weight class. He went undefeated. You could not beat him. I watched him several times in regional tournaments. Physically he wasn't impressive, but he was a true technician. He didn't just dominate opponents, he made it look effortless. We all knew both Dave and Mark would be Olympic champions one day. Unfortunately Dupont killed Dave (Fox Catcher movie) and Mark went on to MMA, Black belt in BJJ, head coach at BYU, etc.

 

[Bruette]

I blew a "C" note on just two cars from Lombards last week and really did not need to spend more dough but $h*t happens.

Don't I know it! But I'm always happy when the stuff arrives.

i had to lay new steps up the deck and sand, paint and clear coat the deck itself:

Splendid work Mack and as always, thank you for the photos!

Just some useless info to share.

Imagine how short this thread might be if only useful information was posted.

The last time I applied for a job, I told the guy I would work for free for one week. If he wanted to hire me after that, then he would have to pay me.

You reminded me of the last man I hired. He was applying for the job of road service tire man. He said, "I'll work for minimum wage for the first week, after that I expect to be paid fair". One week later he was near the top of the union scale, he was that good.

So keep the prayers, good vibes, god thoughts coming,

We are with you all the way!

I'm considering starting a thread wherein I lay it out.

I think that is a great idea!

it could be argued all this would be better placed on a personal website, which I just won't have for some time yet.

Nothing says you can't start the thread and later transfer it to your website.

I'm halfway through watching Wednesday (of the Addams family) Season 2. It's OK.

Oh, no! My wife and I were looking forward to watching that,

I encourage him to have fun playing.

Perfect!

I look forward to watching my grandson play but I have no illusions he’ll play as a pro. I would like to see him though play in college

He may even earn a scholarship, nothing wrong with that. You are doing a fantastic job granddad. I wish I had met more grandparents and parents like you when I was coaching.

 

[Boris]

Good morning from the murky Jersey Shore, where we are enjoying fog and drizzle with temperatures remaining in the 60s.

I hope to develop enough ambition to return to the train room today.

I spent yesterday evening watching baseball, alternating between the Orioles - Pirates, and the nationals - Marlins games. Also ran games are fun as prospects are trying to win a permanent position on next years roster, while old guard players show they are still worth their pay.

Tomorrow, is another somber day, twenty four years later, there are more questions than answers. My memories of the day are still vivid. Never Forget this Happened.

 

[troyphoto]

Oh, no! My wife and I were looking forward to watching that,

I'm watching from a technical aspect, you can just watch for enjoyment ... it's not BAD, but it's different than season one. Expect a change in how the plot moves compared to season 1.

 

[ctclibby]

@bnsf971 thank you for the long NO answer did like it hehehe.
and i have to say, it was just a idea. but the version with, one loco this and one loco that way is also fine for me.
i should have enough locos to create this

and not "needing" a turntable is also cost saving and space
thnx

Welp, two of the major yards near me still have TT's. Parkwater/Yardley Spokane and Missoula. Think Interbay in Seattle still has one, but haven't checked lately. TT's were created as a 'space saver'; can you imagine the fanout of 40 loco stalls? To help justify one, just add an Steam Excursion/Dinner train. Lots of logistic problems with that, but could keep you busy for awhile.

L8r

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 61°, no change in the forecast; sunny, dry and mid-90's for the next 10 days.

Thanks for all of the well wishes on our anniversary yesterday. Wife didn't want to go out for dinner until I get my other hearing aid back, as she doesn't want to yell at me in a restaurant! So I made tacos since she likes Mexican food better than anything else.

Took the Accura in to the repair shop yesterday for what I intended to be a simple job of getting the rear hatch working properly. My wife then read off a list of other stuff that she wanted fixed. Some of it is really petty since it's a 12 year old vehicle whose main function these days is a back-up vehicle. So what was originally a $250 job is likely to come close to $1K. And they still haven't heard the noise that she complained about...I think that it is a weatherseal around one of the doors. Noise only occurs at speeds above 45 mph, and I can't hear it even with my hearing aids in!
Later I climbed back on the tractor and mowed for another 45 minutes. Also put up all of the pool maintenance equipment, but left the ladder in just in case. All that's left to mow today is the North side around the train shed and currently empty pond.

The first car that I owned was a blue '61 VW Beetle, bought in 1972 for $400. I commuted in that 100 miles a day until 1978. The previous owner had left 4-50# weights behind the back seat to provide more traction. The most interesting engineering was the windshield washer fluid. The tank was connected by a hose to the spare tire to provide pressure!

Out in the train shed yesterday, I continued my fruitless search for the missing sanding sticks. Found some more detail parts stashed away that will be consolidated with the ones found Monday. Found some structures that I knew about but have never found a place to put them on the layout. They had resided on the old one previously. One is a cardstock Swift packing plant that I wish I had a spot for. I did manage to cull out enough junk to fill a Walmart bag, so the search wasn't wasted totally. Today I am going to run some more trains while I still think about my next project. On the computer side of things, I have now caught up with entering maintenance records into the database through May 2025. Still have 15 new freight cars to enter.

Jaz -

Talk about by the skin of your teeth, seriously lucky to still be here to celebrate.
So glad you and your wife and close neighbours are alive sad for those not too far who were not so lucky also pleased the layout managed to squeak through mostly wow just Wow!

It was an experience that I do not wish to repeat. Interestingly though, of the 11 homes (2 unoccupied) in our enclave of 75 acres, mine and one other were totally undamaged. The other was within 100' of the two completely destroyed homes. Both of the untouched homes are in a NE/SW orientation, while all of the others are/were in a straight N/S or E/W orientation. One of the neighbors noticed this and replaced their totaled out home with a new double-wide and placed it in the NE/SW position. My demolished barn was N/S and was just 120' away from the house.
Marlin - One year my Sweet Potato vines grew in excess of 20'. Many of the tubers themselves were the size of regular footballs! Couldn't bake them whole, so we ate a lot of Sweet Potato Pie, cubed and roasted potatoes and other recipes that didn't require baking them whole.
Mac - Looks like you've been busy, both on the road and at home.
Jay - I run all of my diesels in pairs, with one facing in each direction, as is customary for western US railroads.

Everyone have a wonderful Wednesday.

 

[Marlin39]

DeaconKC (Kevin) is going to be the proud owner of this S&W Triple Lock, 1st Model, DOM 1913, .44 special, with a fairly uncommon 5" barrel.

This was part of the collection I consulted on and it was going to be posted on Gunbroker, but the owner was kind enough to let Kevin have rights of first refusal before it was listed.

 

[migalyto]

Good morning all!

Happy Hump day!

The cool air has left the area starting today. Currently 70F heading up to a high of 83F. The heat will build slowlt over the
next few days. I thought we were done with the 90s but it looks like a change in the forecast from yesterday has us in the low
90s for most of the next week. Looks like the house will get closed back up and the A/C will be back on. Thinking I was a bit
hasty on closing the pool down 2 weeks ago.

I have my bi-annual dental appointment later this morning, and finishing up a load of laundry. I have already ran to CVS and
picked up the prescriptions. Been busy this morning.

Hope to return to the train room tonight. I haven't done much for a week or so now.

Have a safe day everyone!

 

[Jaz avalley]

There are times in life when you just want stick a post or marker in the ground and say to the world " I was here...today." As if the world cares.
But some of your online friends might, and I count myself grateful that some of you are here...and might. To which I borrow from Robin Williams and his character Andrew...and say "Thank you for your kindness."

I had a sad epiphany about two montbs ago now in which I suddenly knew...with utter certainty...that my long-dreamt of pipe dream model railroad waa never going to be built. Given that it's an ambitious project it's not a shock, but the idea behind it was that it outlive me--as a museum/club--and that just isn't going to happen after all I don't think.

That sad reality faced, I still like to think the (ambitious) premise still has some merit and worth, so I'm considering starting a thread wherein I lay it out. It's a combination personal family history, real-railroad history, imaginary railroad history, designed to intermesh and create an "alternate universe," in which my road is a major part.
It's more ambitious than was Allan McCleland's V&O in scope, so you either buy into it or you don't.
I can, of course start a reasonable thread...but it could be argued all this would be better placed on a personal website, which I just won't have for some time yet.
True...but I also feel an urgency to get some of down somehow.
Any thoughts welcome, for or against.

I think that’s a brilliant idea to share insight and give someone the chance to take the baton

 

[Jaz avalley]

I have found the cleverest way to annoy the sxxxt out of people who don’t like us, the caveat it works if they are basically nice people,

anyway a club we are members of has a habit over the years of falling into smaller ‘enclaves ‘ usually aligning people by similar specific interest inside a wider hobby ,then a member of one falls out with someone in another and despite you personally doing nothing to some people you are suddenly enemy number one….so….

Go out of your way to be really nice to the ‘enemy’ hold a door open when their hands are full, offer them a cuppa, be overly friendly beyond polite so they cannot twist it in any way….it totally kills some people. ….sniggers….oh that feeling of pure smugness as you see the hesitation in them to not say thank you to not be polite in return
Can be a bit tiring smiling permenantly but hey I still have all my teeth and they are fairly white improves the skin tone under your chin stops sagging so bonus
L M A O

 

[Iron Horseman]

Ive done it again. I bought another Lionel Christmas Car. This one is extra special to me.
View attachment 237701
The Lionel Night Before Christmas Illuminated Boxcar. SKU: 2228140

Night Before Christmas Illuminated Boxcar

Manufacturer of model trains and accessories in O and standard gauges.

www.lionel.com

For many years when my youngest grandson lived with us, I would read the book The Night Before Christmas to him on Christmas Eve before tucking him in bed. When his little brother was born, I sent him a book from Amazon for him to read to his brother. I still have the original.

I love the paint scheme, I hate the trucks. Those look like they are from a 50 year old sand cast mold.

 

[DeaconKC]

And YES to Marlin for helping me out! I had to part with another Triple Lock some years ago and getting this one set up is wonderful. Heading out to work in a few minutes, already been to the dentist this AM and a good checkup. && here right now and gorgeous but will go to 90 today. May God bless you all today.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good day all!

Went to work this morning, stayed about 3 hours before the feverish feelings came back, went home and hid under a pile of blankets for a bit. I just can't seem to shake this bug! Now the ears are sore and there is a slight ringing all the time.

I must be sick, I have a bunch of pre-painted ready to install detail parts and decoder for a Stewart F7 sitting on the workbench, and no inclination to do anything about it!