Running Bear's September 2026 Coffee Shop

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Well, we went out for dinner tonight to our local Pizza Hut. The bunch "working" there couldn't find their butts with both hands and a road map. Two of them were texting like mad and had NO idea anything was going on. One [our waitress] was either brand new and untrained or dumber than a bag of hammers [or both]. Then they had computer problems. At least the pizza was okay, but wow, we may not be back. Sad, I hate to see any business go under, but this place is begging to.
Anyway, today was much cooler, only getting to 83 with rain last night well into this morning. Nice break but it is supposed to start heating up again tomorrow.
 
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I just tried to look up the complaint form for Pizza Hut. Guess what? The US ones don't want to hear it as I didn't find anything for the US. Pizza Hut UK, IN, AU, SN all had a form. I guess you can't hurt anybody's feelings in the US. That's too bad as I'd hate for the franchise to lose customers as a result of poor supervision and a loss of reputation.
 


Macaroni and caccio e pepe finished. Came out pretty good. I used a blender to mix the cheese, pepper and starch mixture. Wife asked if we had an immersion blender as cleaning the regular blender was going to be a pain for such a small load. So, I'll be shopping for an immersion blender. Was thinking of one anyway.

I thought I screwed up as I put the cheese mixture in immediately after I took the macaroni out of the water. But, it mixed well anyway without turning into a ball of cheese and macaroni.
 
Good morning, Everybody!

@santafewillie Thank you for the heads up about the Lionel thread, I've enjoyed it.

I'm sorry for not participating more in the coffee shop. I am happy to report that I have been showing signs of recovery, slow but sure, thank God.

Ive been busy with September baseball. I have been trying to find the secret to the Brewer's success. These guys play baseball at its purest; good pitching, defense and smart ABs. With a mixture of station to station and power, whichever and the situation and of course the pitcher dictates.

I was listening to an Orioles broadcast when Jim Palmer told of a conversation he had with Brewers' manager Pat Murphy where Pat said, "If you can't hit a ground ball to the opposite field you can't play for the Brewers" That pretty much says it all.

That's all for now, enjoy your day!
 
Good Morning All!
52F @ 74% bright stars.

Ran out of sleep about an hour ago, no clue to the why part.

Yesterday brought back a ton of [bad] memories, we were both glued to the TV watching the 9/11 remembrance. Still almost cried even 25 years later. I was up 25 years ago bout 0500 and happened to turn on the boob tube and was listening to the morning news. Heard them say something about a plane hitting a building in NY. What? Now I was watching. Maria & I were not living together then, so I tried calling her - nope, too early for her. Did not know what to do with myself, so grabbed my bag phone and went to the only local establishment that was open that early. Bartender and I both were fixed to the tv and we both had tears running. The world pretty much stopped, the normal cars at that time on Broadway ( Everett ) were very sparse. Finally got ahold of Maria and went to her place. Nothing but bad news.

They were talking yesterday about everybody in the USofA became New Yorker's. Had not really thought about it, but we did and were. Y'all did see DamnMoni and AOC giggling during the reading of the names? PoS's. Enough of that - hope you all made it through the day in good shape!

We are pretty much back to normal ( what ever that is ); Propane Tankless, new Faucet and uWave is working as advertised; although the Faucet is the dreaded 'water saver' type and on top of that, me thinks that cold water gets mixed in with the hot water anyway even if hot is on all the way. Am I glad someone is watching out for me? NOT!

I wonder if Songbirds get pissed because Hummingbirds do not know the words?

L8r
 


everybody in the USofA became New Yorker
You know, I never thought of that. How true.

Yep, a lot changed for better or worse. TSA, I agree with the premise, but not the execution. Some of them little minions get into their power trip and do things that are uncalled for. I don't know if they do background, psych evaluations on these people or not. At the beginning, it was a rush job and poor, if any, training.

Yep POS'. Can't believe it.
 
Good morning gang!

63° under cloudy skies, temps in the low 80 later with late day rain.

Stuck at work today again til 2. Yes Willie, they are getting me back for my recent illness/time off. It's bad enough that they canned the department head the same day I was hospitalised, and have yet to hire a replacement. Our old manager was semi-retired and has come back full time in the interim, and my normal partner in crime was on a much needed vacation this week. I should by 2 pm today have logged a 54 hour week. I keep tellin myself, 1 year, 4 months and 16 days til it's over!

BBL
 
Good morning to the Crew. Home in Wisconsin looking forward to another beautiful day. 64f degrees now and 81 later. Almost a duplicate of the last 3 days.

Yesterday we had plans and the volleyball tickets to watch the Badgers play against the current NCAA champions Texas A&M Aggies in College Station. We decided based on the weather forecast to cancel the whole trip, sold the tickets to the VB games for 9/11 and 9/13 against Texas in Austin. Terry just cannot breathe easily enough to handle the heat and humidity. At 7pm game time in College Station it was 94f degrees with a dew point of 71 degrees. It was 97 in Austin. We definitely made the right call. Watched the game on TV. 5 sets with the Badgers winning. On Sunday the Badgers and Texas will be on ESPN.

Skipping a OPS Session on the layout I am helping build and currently doing trees for. We were going to be gone but since we r home I thought about going but decided, nope staying around the house.

Yesterday under the trees between the daughter’s place and where we are staying I almost had a heart attack! On the chair with the feet up on the IPadPro a woman said hello! Now we are 1600’ of driveway from the County Rd out front and maybe .75 miles from another County Rd plus we are in the middle of nowhere. I asked if she was ok , did she need help? No she was out running/walking and saw the driveway hoping it would join up with the other County Rd. I said she was on private property of a vineyard, farm and horses. She said yeah she saw the private property signs! Told her to go back the way she came! Not a happy person after that and there is no connection to the other road. I went to Michael’s a while later and yep the signs at the entrance to the driveway were still standing.

The son called Thursday night and told us he and the girlfriend were flying up to see us. Because we cancelled coming to them they would come visit us. Plus the g/f finally closed a huge deal she’s been working on for almost 2 years. She needs a break to decompress from Texas and business. He texted me about 20 minutes ago they dropped her mom and sister off last night in Tulsa and were planning to take off by 7:15 this morning. He’ll call on approach for us to pick them up at the airport. They may join us as we go up to Door County Wisconsin on Wednesday for 3 days.

Enjoy your day
 
Made some buta kakuni with the pork belly today. Buta - pig, kakuni is shoyu, mirin (sweet rice wine), cooking sake, and brown sugar. Boil the pork belly for 2 hours with ginger and green onion, then boil with the sauce for an hour. Came out super soft and tasty. The pork belly I bought had a lot of meat.

I had 2 pieces, but the rest of the family about cleared it.
 
Well howdy there internet peeps and those missing Piglet.

I might have found his daddy

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That’s the main course for tomorrow’s family reunion on the wife’s side.

Looks like a good 10 hours to go…

Applewood chunks providing the smoke.

Evidently, I’ve been snoring a lot. For the last three mornings, I’ve awoken with the wife sleeping on the couch. Tonight I’ll try to stay up later, so she can get to sleep first. Evidently that lets her ignore me instead of my chainsaw keeping her from sleeping. If I don’t do so, I’ll soon be the one sleeping on the couch.
 
69°F/69°F this morning, same as yesterday morning. Today will be warmer at 89°F with higher dewpoint than now. I should be closing up the house by noon at the latest for a blast od A/C.

More misery in store for the coming week with highs in the upper 90°s.

Nothing else happening here today. Have a safe day.

Servus!
 


Good Morning All. Clear and 74° at my little spot in North Central Texas. Forecast is for 101°, but that's what yesterdays was and it reached 105° instead. A few more days like this in the forecast, maybe a cool front next Friday night??? Rain? Maybe next month.
At 46 triple-digit days this year, we're nowhere near the record of 2011 with 71, but we have broken the September record with 9 days so far. Previous record was 2023 with 8. That year had 55 days of triple-digits in total. Historical average is just 20 days a year.

Hauled and stacked firewood yesterday, without needing a Tylenol. Even split a couple more logs. Did burn trash since there was a dew and no wind; and a bunch of other minor outdoor tasks before noon. Looks like more of the same today.

Out in the train shed yesterday, it was a mix of running trains and adding a little more ground cover. I really didn't spend as much time out there as I normally would since the pool was beckoning early!

Bill - Love looking at your breakfasts, but no way I would eat most of them. OK, I might pick the bacon or sausage out but most have too much sugar/carbs for me.
Tom O - A 49 car autorack job huh! That should get the imagination flowing trying to get every one different.
Sorry to read that you couldn't make it down here to enjoy our weather; but Terry's health takes priority.
Troy -
Evidently, I’ve been snoring a lot. For the last three mornings, I’ve awoken with the wife sleeping on the couch. Tonight I’ll try to stay up later, so she can get to sleep first. Evidently that lets her ignore me instead of my chainsaw keeping her from sleeping. If I don’t do so, I’ll soon be the one sleeping on the couch.
Just to add to all of your existing issues, it may be time for a sleep study to determine if you have apnea and need a CPAP mask! I think that most insurance plans cover them regardless of age. I also believe that anyone who has a sleep study is diagnosed with apnea regardless.

Late drummer/lyricist Neil Peart of Rush, was born on this day in 1952. He wrote my most favorite lyric of all time from the song "Freewill"; "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice".

Everyone have a super Saturday and a safe weekend.
 




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