Running Bear's September 2025 Coffee Shop

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Espeefan congrats on the retirement.
Chad still gonna keep praying for you.
Wild day today, got to work and then got a message my Niece in Law had her appendix rupture and was being taken to surgery. Anyway she is doing okay now but they have a drain tube in and will be keeping her til Monday. LadyC wound up helping take care of the kids today and made them lunch and dinner here at the house. Then she had to take them to their school's open house. Little Mollie [4yo] just wanted to sit on my lap when they got back from school. Dad got home about 730, he of course is wiped out. So i would imagine we will have kids on hand for the next couple of days.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch..or gunstore today a really horribly sad Smith & Wesson revolver came into the store and I bought it as a parts gun. It went to Britain during WW2 under Lend Lease, then came back here, probably in the 50s. Anyway then it had it's cylinder bored out to accept .38 Specials [it was originally in .38 S&W] then had the barrel cut from 5" to 2" and a new front sight put on. No grips and a broken mainspring. Well it already has "new" grips and the spring ordered.
View attachment 238317

Do you have a shot of the British proof marks on the frame?
 
There have been a lot of changes, successes and milestones here in the forums of late, and I would just like to say I've read about a lot of them...and I want to offer my best expression of happiness for so many of you. I HOPE you know who you are.
I'm just swamped and can barely focus at the end of a day here. I've been in the last couple nights, yes, but otherwise I simply fall over with exhaustion at night.

Mom died April 2, we laid her to rest on the 19th, and had a celebration of life and her art--she was a professional artist who sold something on the order of 2,500 paintings during her career. My nephew and my sister put that together, and it was a success.
And then the neighbors...who knew she had died...decided that would be a good time to escalate their frustrations about "junk" to the local authorities. Yes, one of my younger brothers did "stage" a number of building materials on this property before taking them up to his own mountain home project...but he died of cancer. The stuff sat here for years in the high grass without problems, even when those newest neighbors moved in. But they decided now was the time to push it. So I was swamped dealing with that and with dead limbs which had stacked up too over a couple of years due to not having a legal tow vehicle (emissions).

I have a great friend...closest thing I have to a brother...who saved the day. He had a great plan, gave his time and effort and we got it all done.
But while all THIS was going on, the house I used to live in was being repeatedly burglarized--about ten times now--and they eventually did manage to steal my (dead because of a collapsed cooling system) Porsche 911 Cabriolet. The car had been dead in a narrow garage for two years, and I had been working through the sequence of jacking it up, getting onto platforms (called "skates" I gather in the tow business) and turned to get it out of the garage.

Well this gang...and it IS a gang...were better at it, and the car ended up 140 miles away, discovered to be stolen. I have it back, punched out lock and all, and now have the difficulty of getting the cooling system sealed up, but not being able to test it because the locks are destroyed. Or doing it the other way round. The repair shops here are sympathetic, but they also disagree on the correct way forward because the immobilizer system requires the car be linked to servers in Germany to even begin to rebuild the ignition system. A conundrum.

And then on top of all that, I'm trying to move the shards of my own destroyed life--everything I owned that hasn't been sold by now on Facebook (a lot of it was) to a storage unit. At the same time I'm trying to move many of mom's things to the same unit in order to have property valuations for tax purposes. We are right up against the deadlines, and the outcome is in doubt.

So I'm not sleeping well...or much. Thus I DO appreciate a chance to come in here and vent/rant once in a while. I will be forever grateful, thank you all.

It's a real s**t show, and a mouse s**t show on top of that. At both properties. The burglars left everything wide open for about five days before I even realized they were there at all...got all the keys...and I walked in that day to find a naked Hispanic woman sleeping in my bed. She said her friend Jose had just left.

If you are following national news you might realize this is about the same time the Venezualan prison gang Tren de Aragua was making a name for itself having taken over (with automatic weapons) an apartment building in Aurora CO (a Denver suburb). There was reason to believe this was the same bunch, so even if I was a gun owner, I'm told I would have been outgunned. Serious perps, these.

I don't even go to the property after dark now, but I'm charged, at the same time with securing it. These guys have been using it to burglarize others too in the same area. Stowing stolen items on my property before moving them out, etc....

You could guess from all this that I'm rather a strong supporter of ICE and what they are doing...and you'd be right.
 
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Wasn't the SW99 the same mechanism as the P99 but in a SW designed grip? And made here to avoid some import issues?

It was essentially the same firearm. S&W made the slide, barrel and internals. Walther manufactured the frame in Germany. This happened when S&W became Walther's importer after Interarms folded.

S&W also manufactured a sub-standard PPK and PPK/S under license from Walther. A business move I can't believe Walther continued as long as they did after the shoddy build quality of the PPK and PPK/S was revealed by numerous customers and a recall that affected the entire run to that date.
 


Not sure why it came to mind, but another favorite film: "About Time." You have to buy into the premise to enjoy it, that premise being that the men in the family can travel backward in time through a rather simple process of clenching fists in a dark place--don't I wish it were that easy?

It's a film about family and life. And death too, and the narrator makes the point: There are some days you want to live over and over again...and there are other days you only want to go through once.

But sometimes too, and on a day like 9/11 you DO want to go through it again to remember the pain and the sorrow and the hurt...and the importance of all of those. To which I say: "Yes, let us remember it every year."
 
appreciate a chance to come in here and vent/rant once in a while. I will be forever grateful, thank you all.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you. While I am not happy to hear about your troubles, I am happy to listen. The best thing about this forum is the members. These people really are sincere when they say they care about you.

I only wish I had some words of wisdom. All I can say is, be safe and stay positive. And take diligent care of yourself!
 
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Good morning, Everybody!

Life is a constant grind. We are often at the mercy of circumstances beyond our control.

My philosophy is to do my best and let God worry about the rest.

Even though life can set you back sometimes, you must keep on keeping on.

And never forget you are not alone.
 
That's the problem. I really don't have transferable skills. It's not like someone managed projects in X industry and can move to Y industry. Software is pretty specific set of skills and I'd basically be a junior if I moved to a different area.

The problem is industry wide right now. Everyone on the team who got laid off is still looking as far as I know. And everywhere I look people seem to be seeing the same. Hiring is broken. Companies want the 150% unicorn candidate and keep re-posting the same job over and over and I'm sure they've interviewed a bunch of people who could do the job and a few years ago would have been hired. They tell you "we've decided to go with another candidate or other candidates more aligned with the team's needs" and then they re-post, and re-post, and re-post. It's dumb.

And the rise of AI is such that recruiters overly rely on it which means lots of qualified people get overlooked and also there are services that will spam every open position for you with your resume whether it applies or not to the job so the hiring side also gets a flood of applications, many or even most of which are junk, and that gums things up.

Anyway, I'm not trying to complain (too much). I just wanted to report back on the events of earlier this week that I had solicited the good waves for.
This happened to us once, the other half had a good job he could work remotely from so we moved away from a built up area to a village and two month in IT financials collapsed his company went bust his pension went south, we had a new mortgage, thankfully a lot of savings and he took 9 months to get a job that was in the same field.
I said take something else, but he said he was gritting his teeth and waiting, he got a job at his level but it was more local away from the city and took a pay cut, losing almost 20 percent. Luckily for us our savings had held out, and the new income despite being a big cut was offset by his lower travel bills and shorter journey. a few years in he took a job and extra hour away, so 2 hours extra per day, but his pay went back up, he got a good car allowance and travel allowance per mile. He no longer had to wear really expensive suits after the first move. and this company was eventually bought out allowing him to keep his position his pay grade, and allowed him to work from home 3/4 weeks but with overseas travel on the 4 week. That and the usual yearly business on performance left us in a really good position.
But the stress at times of the unknown was considerable.
Because when we moved the job loss was a scary situation, we cut down all bills, once he had a new job, we over paid on the mortgage at every point. Some friends and family were like oh you should buy a new car, new furniture, go expensive holidays, and we just threw everything at the mortgage every chance we had, and set up a buffer zone in case of a repeat. Paying off the mortgage years early was a relief.
We then used the buffer zone to buy a car cash, and no mortgage no car loan we just bought stuff when we had the cash. Occasionally it meant waiting, or not buying a better quality furniture product, or doing a do it yourself repair project rather than getting in a contractor.
but we are now in a good position,
Meantime your in the 6 months grim position where a lot of any buffer has been eaten away (i thought you were in work looking to move) I assume you looked at short contracts, and have done all the appropriate belt tightening, so all I can offer is platitudes. Which basically was my previous uniformed post on this subject - so apologies because I know just how scary this is.
I just hope that someone gives you that important chance. The fact that other former workmates are in the same position means there’s more competition than you need :(
I won’t offer more platitudes. your clearly chasing the work, please feel free to vent when needed because my husband had that with me and I had that with him from my wife position, (not turning on each other was an important coping mechanism)and 10 years before the above incident we had a home repossessed when mortgage interest went from 5% to 15% plus a 2% penalty so 17% because we were behind, I got pregnant as the price hikes started and had no 2 year maternity cover, I even offered a termination, but he was Catholic and that was never going to sit well he said it would have destroyed our marriage. We lost the home, kept the high ground and had our eldest. The worst thing was friends I say ‘friends’ in a loose context because we rang one friend who had a company and once he said he had lost his job that friend could not get off the phone fast enough - we always assumed he thought my husband was going to ask him for a job. (the could have just said sorry not possible atm but we were not chasing him for work!) But it is in such times you find out who your friends are.
no platitudes, just I hope something turns up.
Meantime if you need to vent I am sure the people here will be supportive.
I remember the lost my job, travelling long distance to a shitty job, lost my wife, lost the rented home we lived in forever, had to move a long way. Life can be really shitty :(
I hope you have someone in real life that can let you vent :(

Sorry such a long post.
 
There have been a lot of changes, successes and milestones here in the forums of late, and I would just like to say I've read about a lot of them...and I want to offer my best expression of happiness for so many of you. I HOPE you know who you are.
I'm just swamped and can barely focus at the end of a day here. I've been in the last couple nights, yes, but otherwise I simply fall over with exhaustion at night.

Mom died April 2, we laid her to rest on the 19th, and had a celebration of life and her art--she was a professional artist who sold something on the order of 2,500 paintings during her career. My nephew and my sister put that together, and it was a success.
And then the neighbors...who knew she had died...decided that would be a good time to escalate their frustrations about "junk" to the local authorities. Yes, one of my younger brothers did "stage" a number of building materials on this property before taking them up to his own mountain home project...but he died of cancer. The stuff sat here for years in the high grass without problems, even when those newest neighbors moved in. But they decided now was the time to push it. So I was swamped dealing with that and with dead limbs which had stacked up too over a couple of years due to not having a legal tow vehicle (emissions).

I have a great friend...closest thing I have to a brother...who saved the day. He had a great plan, gave his time and effort and we got it all done.
But while all THIS was going on, the house I used to live in was being repeatedly burglarized--about ten times now--and they eventually did manage to steal my (dead because of a collapsed cooling system) Porsche 911 Cabriolet. The car had been dead in a narrow garage for two years, and I had been working through the sequence of jacking it up, getting onto platforms (called "skates" I gather in the tow business) and turned to get it out of the garage.

Well this gang...and it IS a gang...were better at it, and the car ended up 140 miles away, discovered to be stolen. I have it back, punched out lock and all, and now have the difficulty of getting the cooling system sealed up, but not being able to test it because the locks are destroyed. Or doing it the other way round. The repair shops here are sympathetic, but they also disagree on the correct way forward because the immobilizer system requires the car be linked to servers in Germany to even begin to rebuild the ignition system. A conundrum.

And then on top of all that, I'm trying to move the shards of my own destroyed life--everything I owned that hasn't been sold by now on Facebook (a lot of it was) to a storage unit. At the same time I'm trying to move many of mom's things to the same unit in order to have property valuations for tax purposes. We are right up against the deadlines, and the outcome is in doubt.

So I'm not sleeping well...or much. Thus I DO appreciate a chance to come in here and vent/rant once in a while. I will be forever grateful, thank you all.

It's a real s**t show, and a mouse s**t show on top of that. At both properties. The burglars left everything wide open for about five days before I even realized they were there at all...got all the keys...and I walked in that day to find a naked Hispanic woman sleeping in my bed. She said her friend Jose had just left.

If you are following national news you might realize this is about the same time the Venezualan prison gang Tren de Aragua was making a name for itself having taken over (with automatic weapons) an apartment building in Aurora CO (a Denver suburb). There was reason to believe this was the same bunch, so even if I was a gun owner, I'm told I would have been outgunned. Serious perps, these.

I don't even go to the property after dark now, but I'm charged, at the same time with securing it. These guys have been using it to burglarize others too in the same area. Stowing stolen items on my property before moving them out, etc....

You could guess from all this that I'm rather a strong supporter of ICE and what they are doing...and you'd be right.
Ouch ouch ouch, losing a mum is always mega stressful, but losing a brother has to be double scary, left to fix the mess under such scary circumstance way beyond my remit. trying to hold something together (the Porche) becomes symbolic. That friend earned the term. no wonder sleep is effected. I cannot offer anything useful in the way of advice or even a been there done that understand what you’re going through.
I hope that you are able to get enough closure with the property and shitty neighbours who somehow must think you can just magically sort it out to be able to distance yourself from it (the shit show - excuse my language) and cope with the loss of loved ones, and get some peace :(

This is the best part of this forum (not coming back and seeing peoples suffering) the coffee shop and so many of the long standing members (who do not just dissapear…coughs) offering a place for people to let out a little steam when life is throwing so much junk at them. This is honestly the only place where I have seen an actual community at play remotely.
Best wishes for the issues to continue to be broken down into manageable parts. Am so sorry for your losses. glad there was some celebration of your mums existence. Passing without anyone caring would be more tragic in my opinion. you care so much because there was meaning to their life and in a way that gives meaning to you too, you cared, you care.
I hope the Porche becomes a symbol of overcoming, but it you have to let it go, you clearly gave it a good chance.
I hope you get enough of a break to just sleep peacefully. Talking of which - feel free to slap me - try real lavender under your pillow some people say it is really calming.
 


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Good Saturday morning! It's 61°F and mostly clear.:cool:
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Have a great day! ;)
 
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Wow @Jaz avalley, you sure went through a lot. Glad everything worked out by being steadfast and having support. I'm especially glad that you didn't go through with the termination as that may have been hard to deal with later. I have waking nightmares about stuff still.

You are on-spot about this thread. It is definitely unique. The folks here are mature enough to share trials and tribulations, along with the ranting, and do not offer criticism, only support. What I haven't seen so far, is any real disagreements. Everyone here knows when it is time to bite ones tongue.

I made two posts that I deleted after thinking about it for a while. I'm a little bit transparent, you see (read) what I feel at the moment. No filter, no haze, just clear plastic wrap, so I have to check myself once in a while. (sometimes influenced by 94 octane).

Thank you very much for your above posts. It brings hope and inspiration to me at least.

Ranting authorized (so far :) )
 
They say muscle fatigue and a lot of other health related issues are tied to diet. The number one cause of cancer is processed meats. (Deli meats) full of all kinds of stuff your body stores as belly fat because it doesn't know what to do with it. 2nd sugar it fuels the cancer. Back when I worked on commercial building construction, we renovated a food testing lab. They had all kinds of tests going on to see how long a product would last on a shelf. Every day they would add a card to how many days it's been since being shelved. After a month or two they have people in testing how the product tasted. My doctor tells me not to eat this stuff, it will kill you, so I don't. Watch what you're eating it makes a big different in your health. Swal
 
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Well, howdy there internet peeps and those with real coffee

It's troy again.

My coffee is a disappointment.

I mentioned that an Internet personality I follow (Father Nathan Monk - a retired former Orthodox priest that is very political online in ways you won't expect) got a deal to have a brand's special roast of coffee named after him. I could tell reading the description that it wasn't one I'd like, but I wanted to support him and what he does. Figured I'd give it away, but haven't found anyone who's into the fruity-notes coffee profile he wanted.

Well, I also ordered a bag of their dark roast that sounded yummy.

IT... IS...NOT....DARK

it might be roasted, but it's not dark. And I don't care for medium roast coffee.

This will be the last pot from that bag. I even added sweetner to cover up the taste.

Going back to my favorite Guatemalan antigua dark roast from Volcanica Coffee. I just got four bags of it in.

UGH... I think I'll go make a fresh pot of the good stuff.
 
Well, howdy there internet peeps and those with real coffee

It's troy again.

My coffee is a disappointment.

I mentioned that an Internet personality I follow (Father Nathan Monk - a retired former Orthodox priest that is very political online in ways you won't expect) got a deal to have a brand's special roast of coffee named after him. I could tell reading the description that it wasn't one I'd like, but I wanted to support him and what he does. Figured I'd give it away, but haven't found anyone who's into the fruity-notes coffee profile he wanted.

Well, I also ordered a bag of their dark roast that sounded yummy.

IT... IS...NOT....DARK

it might be roasted, but it's not dark. And I don't care for medium roast coffee.

This will be the last pot from that bag. I even added sweetner to cover up the taste.

Going back to my favorite Guatemalan antigua dark roast from Volcanica Coffee. I just got four bags of it in.

UGH... I think I'll go make a fresh pot of the good stuff.
Here's a pic to show the difference.
coffee.jpg

My tried and true dark roast on the left. New guy on the right.

one of those is not a dark roast despite what it says on the label.

I now have a fresh pot of the left, and the right will be given away to someone who likes 3rd wave medium roasts
 
one of those is not a dark roast despite what it says on the label.
Once upon a time, I worked for Western Auto, selling parts. A product line we sold after Sears bought us was a line of shock absorbers, called Gas Charged Heavy Duty shocks.
They were not gas charged, and they were anything but heavy duty. "Gas Charged Heavy Duty" was the brand name.

If you look closely at your label, it says it is a dark roast blend. The "blend" can be 99% medium roast, and 1% dark roast.
 
Once upon a time, I worked for Western Auto, selling parts. A product line we sold after Sears bought us was a line of shock absorbers, called Gas Charged Heavy Duty shocks.
They were not gas charged, and they were anything but heavy duty. "Gas Charged Heavy Duty" was the brand name.

If you look closely at your label, it says it is a dark roast blend. The "blend" can be 99% medium roast, and 1% dark roast.
That's their only "dark roast" anything.

So I'll be passing on the coffee brand. Pity. I like their branding, just not their coffee.

The label also lists "Sunshine" and "Puppy Kisses"
I prefer to sit in the shade, and hate dog slobber.

Live and learn
 
Good morning from a pretty wet Wisconsin. It rained around 4:15am. It was heavy and accompanied by some very loud thunder and plenty of bright close by lightning. I thought briefly of heading to my chair in the train room with a blanket and a pillow. But I was stubborn and laid there listening to the weather. I have not been out to the rain gauge yet.

My sister, wife and the brother’s g/f are in Pasadena. No idea what their next plan is. Terry should be home the 18th for our anniversary

Today the grandson has some hockey but no soccer. Every year he has played in a 3-3 tournament. They play 1/2 the sheet of ice, the goalies are supplied by the organizers. He’s guaranteed 3 games today. It’s a charity thing and they draw players from all over the state plus a few teams from Iowa. It’s a good fun way to kick off the season.

A couple OPS sessions for this week have been cancelled opening up the schedule for some work sessions. One of the layout owners has ALS and needs a chair lift to get to his layout. The lift he said died while he was 1/2 way up the stairs Thursday. The lift company promised to come out Friday but cancelled as the technician called in sick. He is unable to climb the stairs so until the lift is fixed next week the Tuesday sessions he was planning are cancelled. The other this week is due to illness.

What would happen if the world logged off social media for a week? What an interesting question

Have a great day
 


I like Black Rifle Freedom Roast, which is between med and dark roast. What I like about it is that it doesn't go sweet when it cools. I heard that Mickey D's coffee was good, but when I tried it and it cooled down, it changed quite a bit and I didn't like it.

I drink coffee low and slow...
 
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