Running Bear's September 2026 Coffee Shop

[RhB Michael]

Thanks to all for the anniversary congrats. It's had its ups and downs, but we made it through. Especially proud of our kids. All with college degrees (one with a Masters), no jail time that we know of, all happily married, all raising families with the oldest grandson in his second year of college; and most importantly, none moved back home after venturing out on their own!!!

Congratulations to the both of you on what sounds like a wonderful life together.

 

[DeaconKC]

@santafewillie Congratulations!

 

[Kusojiji]

Site's back up, enough for me to get my licks in.

Last time I been to chic-fill-eh? was in Virginia in the mid 80s. Wasn't impressed as it looked more like dried up pigeon or some small bird. Didn't taste like much.

 

[Kusojiji]

all have a diesel in the consist.

I have seen some without, such as this video showing both instances. I think for the most part, the steamer pulls in one direction and then gets dragged back to the starting point if they don't have a turn table or aren't making a loop. I guess its up to the sichiashun.

In this video, around half way through, I thought that the last car in the C11 171 train was a diesel in disguise, but it is a power generator for services.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Thursday morning, Coffee Shop! Its 66°F (19°C) and foggy

Have a great day!

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

I have seen some without, such as this video showing both instances. I think for the most part, the steamer pulls in one direction and then gets dragged back to the starting point if they don't have a turn table or aren't making a loop. I guess its up to the sichiashun.
In this video, around half way through, I thought that the last car in the C11 171 train was a diesel in disguise, but it is a power generator for services.

Google says:

Why a Diesel Accompanies the Big Boy

• • Dynamic Braking: The diesel locomotive uses dynamic braking to slow the train down safely on steep downward grades. This prevents extreme heat and wear on the custom-made, expensive brake shoes of the historic steam engine.
  • Positive Train Control (PTC): Modern mainlines require electronic safety and signaling tech known as PTC. The computer hardware for this system is housed inside the trailing diesel unit and connected to the Big Boy.
  • Missing Infrastructure: Historic water towers and coaling stations no longer exist along modern tracks. The diesel helps pull the train efficiently and reduces the frequency of emergency fuel or water stops.
  • Train Line Support: The diesel's air compressor maintains steady brake pipe pressure for the entire modern passenger consist, preventing accidental emergency stops. It also supplies Head End Power (HEP) for air conditioning and lighting in passenger cars.

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps and those with air power in your caboose

It's Troy again

Firmly ensconced on the couch today. Having a decent day sciatica wise. Not sure if it's from the extra celobrix yesterday, or if the nerve is behaving a bit better. We'll see.

I could stand at the sink and pour the half-pot of coffee from the glass carafe into the thermal pitcher for the basement this morning. But I forgot to put the creamer in the pitcher. So another trip upstairs and back again. That did enough to wake the nerve.

Need to go shopping for groceries and a chuck roast. If I can find one at the grocery, then I don't have to run to Costco, and can just Instant cart the order I need (chocolates, macadamia nuts, and laundry stuff).

Very little hobby stuff is getting done. I can sit at the hobby desk long enough to make two little dudes for the Conquest game. Then the hip starts barking.

I stood long enough to pull the push pins and T-pins out of the roadbed on the layout, but that made the nerve in the leg start burning. So there won't be work on the layout for a while. What I need to do requires standing. Even the barstool I have digs in at the wrong places after a minute. So no progress there.

Other than groceries, and a couple of little dudes for the game, not sure what the day will bring.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

70° under partly cloudy skies clouds are expected to move in and give us some rain this afternoon. High temp around 85.

Another 12 hour day yesterday, but I did manage to stay awake until about 8:30 or so before I passed out in the recliner. I’ll be glad when next week is here and I can get to a more reasonable schedule.

BBL

 

[migalyto]

Good morning all!

Partly cloudy and 65F this morning. Going to stay partly cloudy most of the day with the high around 80F.

Usual stuff around the house this morning. Have a volleyball game tonight at home.

Not much else going on at the moment.

Have a safe day everyone!

 

[Kusojiji]

air power in your caboose

That the result of too much pork and beans?

 

[Kusojiji]

I got a call from the hospital today in response to my message about getting a different pain killer. I asked if my PCM was still there and she said that he had already transferred. No wonder I wasn't getting anything back from him! I wish they would let me know when this happens as there is no way for me to find out.

Anyway, I have an appt on Monday to talk to a new doc, so I made some notes on what I had been taking before and their effects. I am also scheduled to do a full lab tomorrow as part of my annual, so I have to fast for 8 hours, meaning no coffee... hooyah!

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from a chilled but not chill Wisconsin. 54f degrees now heading to 78. It’s overcast and gloomy looking but sunshine and clear skies are predicted for this afternoon.

Popeyes chicken I have not had yet. “Bite back” does that mean spicy or crunchy?

It’s getting closer to November and the commercials on my YouTube feed now are mostly political attack ads or the latest medical prescription to cure what ails you or perform better! The political stuff though has not featured an ad for a candidate yet, they are always attack ads against either one running for governor and against one special Congressman. Usually from outside the state! I guess data centers are a huge deal this political season, one candidate is for and the other against! It used to be the large transmission power lines, now it’s data centers…

I try to stay away from mainstream media and the networks Terry watches but politics are the money maker for sure on the streaming places! Oh well

No modeling yesterday unless I count some research. I was heading by myself to a work session this morning but I woke because of a nasty headache and those because of my past health issues can be dangerous to me. Took the triptan based pills I rarely take for only (thankfully) the 2nd time this year. When they kick in I can’t drive and soon I will be laying down in the darkened bedroom. Though it’s migraine medicine mine are not migraines. Getting old is an adventure

Be well

 

[troyphoto]

Back from the grocery. Chuck roast was buy one reg price, get one half off. Saved almost $10 on $45 worth of meat. The math is off because of the weight differences in the two I purchased I got the two largest cuts, but one was 10 oz heavier than the other. So the discount applied to the smaller.

 

[Marlin39]

I received a call about 5:30 last night that they were kicking Nicki out of the "hotel". I had a 2 hour notice to retrieve her which was more than enough time to get into Portland during later half of rush hour.

Peace and harmony have returned to our household. My BP this morning was 128/62 and my pulse was 47. My anxiety has definitely gone away. I still needed to help her in and out of the shower, but that's just temporary as the leg heals. She's limited to 2ltrs of liquid per day and has to ingest a urea/sodium product for several weeks to ensure that her sodium level is stabilized.

It's almost train season and I am planning on combining two 1'x3' diorama bases for a switching layout. I'm going to go minimalist and only use 2 turnouts.

 

[RhB Michael]

That's great news about Nicki. Good for you too that your vitals are returning to about normal.

A rainy morning here, on and off. It was dry when I woke, but the second the back door close it started showering again. The cold front was supposed to come through overnight, but as usual, they couldn't read what the Magic 8-ball was telling them so it's still 72°F/72°F. The temp is OK, but the dewpoint tells me nothing came through overnight. It looks like early Autumn, but not feeling it yet.

Nothing planned today again except soaking' up that retirement.

Have a safe day.

Servus!

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 75° morning. High temperature today might not reach 100° after reaching 105° yesterday. And get this! They have added a 60% chance of thunderstorms this afternoon!

The AWOL lumberjack appeared yesterday to finish the job, and get paid. He showed up while I was splitting firewood from some of the large trunks that his crew felled last week. I now have a lot of firewood to move around. About 40% from already felled trees that is ready to burn this winter, the rest (still green) for next winter.
Wife decided that meatloaf at home for our anniversary was the choice over going out to eat. She made it.
Grocery trek today, the list happens to be long. I don't think that my wife is going, so it will be a shorter trip than normal. Post office and drugstore on the way home.

Out in the train shed yesterday, it was ground cover all over. I filled in the gap on the north (RR-wise) between the Import car dealership and Joe's Radio (a CB specialty place from the 70's). I graveled about 70% of the area around the Garage and did ground foam along the side of some tracks. Can't proceed in this area until I determine the exact space that the Garage graveling area is going to be; so I can determine the placement of the pizza place next door.

Tom O - Regarding the trolls:

Currently has 50 active trolls in the US but has installed 68. Because they are recycled materials they eventually deconstruct. It must be an “artist’s” word for fall apart.

IMO some artwork is meant to be temporary. I consider some of the meals that I prepare to be artwork, that is only there until they are consumed. However I don't think that the troll in Austin was meant to be as temporary as it was. The arson investigation into the fire that destroyed it (Malin) after 26 months is still ongoing.
I grew up in an era where nothing was open on Sunday here in Texas, so Chick-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby don't bother me at all.
Get well quickly.
Mikey - Healing from an injury is taking much longer for me now as well. Maybe the body's way of telling us to slow down...
Troy - In my lifetime, I have had 3-MRI's (that I remember), and none of them cost a dime. Two were done with my employer insurance and one done under Medicare (with my own supplemental). All were ordered by my Primary care guy, who knows his way around insurance and Medicare very well.

Lots of musical birthdays today, all still alive for a change. Danny Hutton, vocalist for Three Dog Night is 84 today. Guitarist for Aerosmith Joe Perry is 76. Lesser known but important are long time drummer for Jethro Tull, Barrie Barlow, is 77 today; Jose Feliciano is 81, and drummer for the Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart, Art Tripp is 82.

Everybody have a great Thursday.

 

[troyphoto]

A friend from the state of Texas posted this.
Be careful all of you in the state.

 

[westtexjohn]

I thought I would share this interview of jurors on the Clancy case from the Babylon Bee :

Have a great day....John

1. Juror #1: "It just seemed so wrong to judge someone on her worst day. What about the majority of days where she didn't strangle her kids?"
2. Juror #2: "I just went by Jesus's words, you know, where he said 'judge not' and then he just stopped talking and said nothing more."
3. Juror #3: "SHE WAS SAD! SHE COULDN'T HELP IT! SCREW ALL MEN I HATE MY FATHER AAAAA!!!"
4. Juror #4: "Oh, that was the Lindsay Clancy case?! I was in the wrong courtroom the whole time!"
5. Juror #5: "Huurrrrr-durrrrr. Hurrrrrr."
6. Juror #6: "Obviously she committed murder, but my wife told me I can't vote guilty or hang out with my friends or pee standing up."
7. Juror #7: "That's chowdah! Chowdah!"
8. Juror #8: "What I wouldn't give to strangle that man who held out."
9. Juror #9: "As an abortion doctor, I'm still not seeing the problem here."
10. Juror #10: "I am Groot." (Groot was on the jury, apparently)
11. Juror #11: "That was a hidden camera show, right? Like, there's no way all these people are this insane."
12. Juror #12: "THE BAD MAN WOULDN'T SAY NOT GUILTY PURELY BECAUSE LINDSAY KILLED HER KIDS! WHERE IS MY WINE MY PRECIOUS WINE?!"

 

[santafewillie]

It's a shame that the forum seems to be behaving this afternoon, and I have nothing to post.

 

[DeaconKC]

Good afternoon folks, 92 here today, supposed to only be in the 80s tomorrow. Spent a chunk of today doing early video classes for the Bible Institute as we will miss two of them traveling. Lawn got mowed this AM and my Missus went to run errands. So a quiet spot in the day. David, great news on your wife coming home.
You guys have a great day,