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Good morning.

It's 78 and clear. The high today will be in the upper 90's and it will be partly cloudy.

Got the grass mowed yesterday. I started around 7:30 am and finished before 11 am. Today will be an easier day to deal with (Murphy's gonna jump on me for sure now). I don't really have anything planned for today so I'll probably get some laundry done. My nephew is putting a new engine and transmission in his Jeep. He said he'd have it in by midnight. I'll go by and have a look.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 7/12/2009

Heat Index: 83°F
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 73°F

So Far Today
High: 81°F
Low: 78°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph NNE

Today High: 95 Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 90s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 75 Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the mid 70s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm18/forum-2/P6040427.jpg
 
Good morning folks.

It was a beautiful day yesterday. Picture perfect summer day if you ask me. The wife and I went to play a little tennis last night. It was quite a comical sight I'll tell you that!

Today we're going to a Twins/White Sox game at the dome in Minneapolis. We had to go to one more game there before they start using their new outdoor park next year. New park without a retractable roof! What idiots! Haven't they been to Minnesota in April or October?:eek: Oh well, I'm sure the new stadium will make the team more competitive.:rolleyes:

I learned a little thing yesterday about paint surfaces. Every other time I've spray painted a kit I've used primer as paint. Well, this time I had to use a satin in order to get the color I wanted. When it came time to give the painted kit a black paint and alcohol wash, it didn't turn out too well.:o The wash spotted as it dried and looks like crap. Now I have to decide what to do about it. I'm thinking of dull coating it and washing it again. These buildings will need to be pretty dirty anyway. We'll ee how it turns out.

Today will be a fun, yet worthless day. I hope you all have a good one too.
 
Morning Gang!
Tony, yeah Ken just got an NCE radio system,, I've got extra throttles, we can have cornfield meets from the pool!:rolleyes:
Bill Tidler! Glad to see ya again, we miss the girls!!:D
Well, I'm gonna try to nstall some new tunes in the truck today, Wife got me a new Kenwood AM/FM CD player for the Ranger. Time to toss the clunky old tape player!!!
catch y'all later!
 


Good Mornin'

We's be getting sun today with the afternoon being a mix of sun/cloud and a high of 22C. Tonight we be seeing a low of 7C with tomorrow being the same as today but 21C for a high.

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Chris Our provincial unemployment rate sits at 9% with London at 10.5%. Only St Catherines and Windsor are worse off here:eek::eek::mad: All due to the auto sector swallowing some nasty pills recently:eek::mad: Now, the next sector will be all the little businesses that worked in and around the auto sector up here. EEERRGH!! So our province is going to see about the same problems---less tax revenue and more social issues:eek:

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Anyhooooo---today we are going to find more tiny things that go missing in my trainroom-----more truck/wheelsets and the like

So. Have a Good one----such as one can find in these WEIRD times:rolleyes:
 
Screwjack said:
Right now I am just playing around with how I want my bench work to look and lay.
Click to expand...

Your track plan should suggest how your benchwork should look, not the other way around.........unless you have some special situation that makes the benchwork a tricky situation, and then some final adjustments still might need to be made. Can I suggest a bit of light reading to start with.....sort of get the creative juices flowing? Check out this site: http://www.chipengelmann.com/trains/beginnersguide.html
 
Good day all. Need a bit of Joe here, Flo.

Still on the boat. This SATCOM deal really is the cat's meow. Speaking of cat,s meow, has anyone seen the cat you guys turpentined at that one party? I didn't know house cats could run as fast as their cousins, the cheetah!!!!

I was reading that the unemployment rate ONLY raised by 500K last month. Could it be that all the jobs are finally gone and that there aren't that many left? And what about the people who have had their benefits cease? Are they included in that number? I would venture to say that our unemployment rate is closer to 12% than the number our current regime is giving us. Of course, the truth might just cause mass hysteria.

The Feds think we are stupid and cannot figure out that they are lying to us. Manipulating numbers used to be my job. I can make the worst scenario look like a windfall of good news. Just add a few "good" numbers here, and delete a few of the "bad" ones there..... it's all in the data that you wish to use and the way you wish to describe them. (You can have your soapbox back now. I found an old beer case....empty, unfortunately)

Bob
 
vato loco said:
Florida is going down the same road as Cally!:mad: Pasco county already has 10% unemployment and the rest of the state is a hairs breath away from it! and it don't help when your states sen. Bill Nelson is sqeeking about pet snake bans, sea turtle issues, and how many scoops of Icecream should go on a waffle cone....... when he needs to be addressing $$ issues! Jim man this state is gone nut's! trust me Florida Ain't better off than Kalifornia!
Click to expand...

Chris, Don't get all happy like you are priveleged to be in a wacko state. Things are bad all over, just look at Maryland, a.k.a Absurdistan. We have Governor O'Malley (Owe-Malley) who admits there are not enough jobs in the state, yet proclaims the state a "sanctuary state" for illegals. Free medical, free education, no taxes, and subsidised housing for everyone who is NOT supposed to be here, paid for by those of us who cannot leave! HE also wants to give drivers licenses out to all illegals of driving age! Why? Cuz the state now does voter registration via the drivers license! Talk about putting a stranglehold on the opposing parties!:eek: I like living here, but I wonder how long I can afford to do so!:confused:

On the bright side, and I can hardly believe this myself, but our county just enacted a new statute. We are a fairly rural county, with hundreds of acres of land locked into farmland preservation plans. There will always be farms in those locations and each year, more acreage gets commited to this program. Knowing this, now when you purchase a home in Carroll county, in addition to the bajillion forms, you also sign a statement saying that you will not complaint to the county, the state, or any local community association about the odors emitted from normal farming practices in your area. It basicly says that you are buying a house near a farm, it's going to smell, and you will have to deal with it yourself! I love it!!! Hey all you transplants! If ya dont like the smells of cows and hogs, go back to the city so you can smell the busses!!!:D......oh, and don't complaint with your mouth full! :D:rolleyes:
 
Ahhhhhh, the smell of a pig farm in the morning..... Or better yet, on one of those HOT July-August days with no wind or the wind blowing directly to your house from the farm. Sure doesn't smell like bacon then does it? Just opens the sinuses right up!!!!

Bob
 
Good afternoon;

Pretty heated today. Chance of storms and the Endeavour launch tonight at 7:13. I don't know if I will try to photo it from the house, as it can be visible, or not, depending on conditions.

Yesterday, I completed the crossing gradients for one of my signature RR crossings for LEGO, in the westbound direction. Also I got the gist and feel managed with corresponding landscaping and one crossing signal assembled. Just like D/Ling, you have to install, and I will install the corresponding electronics to wire up the crossing into the old Mindstorms way (computer controlled). In reality the crossing has 8 gates, though I will cut that to 4.

Today, to be constructed will be another building on the opposite side of the road in my diorama. The existing little layout I have will be cleared to allow a test track and installation of 2 to 3 dioramas.
 
kbkchooch said:
Chris, Don't get all happy like you are priveleged to be in a wacko state. Things are bad all over, just look at Maryland, a.k.a Absurdistan. We have Governor O'Malley (Owe-Malley) who admits there are not enough jobs in the state, yet proclaims the state a "sanctuary state" for illegals. Free medical, free education, no taxes, and subsidised housing for everyone who is NOT supposed to be here, paid for by those of us who cannot leave! HE also wants to give drivers licenses out to all illegals of driving age! Why? Cuz the state now does voter registration via the drivers license! Talk about putting a stranglehold on the opposing parties!:eek: I like living here, but I wonder how long I can afford to do so!:confused:

On the bright side, and I can hardly believe this myself, but our county just enacted a new statute. We are a fairly rural county, with hundreds of acres of land locked into farmland preservation plans. There will always be farms in those locations and each year, more acreage gets commited to this program. Knowing this, now when you purchase a home in Carroll county, in addition to the bajillion forms, you also sign a statement saying that you will not complaint to the county, the state, or any local community association about the odors emitted from normal farming practices in your area. It basicly says that you are buying a house near a farm, it's going to smell, and you will have to deal with it yourself! I love it!!! Hey all you transplants! If ya dont like the smells of cows and hogs, go back to the city so you can smell the busses!!!:D......oh, and don't complaint with your mouth full! :D:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Tell ya what, Let's pit each others Wacko's in a Caged death match! who evers wacko nut case team of wack jobs looses......That State wins!:D:D:D and if it is a draw or we have survivors left, we throw the cage of survivors in to the deepest part of the ocean and both states win!:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D God that sounds fun, we can make this a world contest!
 


vato loco said:
Tell ya what, Let's pit each others Wacko's in a Caged death match! who evers wacko nut case team of wack jobs looses......That State wins!:D:D:D and if it is a draw or we have survivors left, we throw the cage of survivors in to the deepest part of the ocean and both states win!:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D God that sounds fun, we can make this a world contest!
Click to expand...

I hate to tell ya this, but not only does this idiot think he's a rock star, but he also works out.
images

I kinda wish he was an old Ted Kennedy type, and would just vapor lock in office!
 
Afternoon, everyone.

Yep, for all the troubles in other states, at least they don't have to deal with the Governator. I'm pretty sure he'd win a cage match though. :cool:

Bob, the unemployment rate is really worse than you've depicted since it doesn't count the underemployed. The average work week fell to 31 hours last month, the worst since 1938. If you count all of them, the real unemployment rate is about 15%. As you say, the feds are not going to release accurate numbers and they will lie to us about it. Consumer confidence is a good example. It has risen for the last five months until this month but every single month, they revised the consumer confidence figures down for the previous month. Either there's a decimal point broken on the calculator or they deliberately overstate consumer confidence for the current month while revising the previous month to the real figure, when everyone has already forgotten that number. We are moving closer and closer to a state managed economy and, for that to work, the state has to manage the numbers. For example, the Chinese stock market just hit a new high for the past 52 weeks. Does anyone believe the Chinese economy is really doing that well compared to the rest of the world? Of course not, but, when the state controls the numbers, they can make them come out any way they want.

Karl, our county in California passed a right to farm ordinance years ago when all the people moving out from the city complained because cow poop smells. That was one of the few things our board of supervisors did that actually made sense. Otherwise, they spent money on things like tunnels for turtles to get to the beach during mating season. Turns out turtles don't like tunnels so they still kept crossing the highway and getting run over. The tunnel was engineered on a slope to make it easier for the turtles to waddle their way to the beach. During our first heavy rainstorm, the turtle tunnel backup with debris and washed out the highway. It cost $200,000 to build the tunnel and $350,000 to fix the road. Now, we have people the county pays to sit out there during mating season and carry the turtles across the highway. :eek: That's one of the things they are thinking about cutting since our budget is shot but the turtle lovers are having a fit. Asking the turtle lovers to pay for the turtle shuttle service didn't go over so well. :D

BB, sounds like some pretty complicated stuff for Lego trains. I had enough trouble getting two gates to work on my crossing. :)

Tony, Phillip has some good advice ( Hi, Phillip) on how to plan. I built my benchwork first and then came up with a track plan that fit. The layout looks good but it has many operational flaws. If I didn't have so much time and money invested in it, I would seriously consider ripping it out and starting again. Learn to plan for how your railroad will work first and what you want it to and then build you benchwork around it. You will be much happier in the long run.

Corey, that whole outdoor stadium concept in the Twin Cities doesn't make a lot of sense. As far as the pain issue, I always dullcote before I do weathering. Gives washes something to bite into and stick in the little details. Satin paint is really bad about turning into a ski slope when it comes to washes.

It's hot and humid here today with some thunderstorms starting to pop up so maybe we'll get some more rain. Looks like some real good chances tomorrow so maybe the lawn will only be 25% brown. ;) Going to finish the downtown repairs today and then finish the traffic light wiring. Let's see, the common goes to the positive bus and the traffic light wiring has to go all the way back to the negative terminals on the switches, and then the positive has to go from the terminal strip to the positive terminals in the switches...I think. I did a temporary hook up with alligator clips last night and nothing started on fire so I think I've got it now. :D
 
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UP2CSX said:
Afternoon, everyone.

Yep, for all the troubles in other states, at least they don't have to deal with the Governator. I'm pretty sure he'd win a cage match though. :cool:

:D
Click to expand...

I don't know how he would be able to keep from sinking into the Deep Deep Ocean with that big heavy cage on top of him:D! Arnold Felps he ain't!LOLs:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
 
It's a hot one here today. The outside temp is 99. Factor in the index and we're talking 107. There's a hot sidewalk here. Anybody care for fried eggs?
 
Hello

Just got back from going downtown to see Sunfest in Victoria Pk. Good crowd. Low humidity so the guitar players weren't constantly fiddling---do I hate humidity when playing guitar? GRRRR:mad::mad::mad: Can you tell not very happy?:rolleyes: Anyways, still a lot of people buying craft stuff---ran into a friend of ours who makes stainglass windows and the like---she only had 2 pieces that were not sold yet! She came down with about 125 pieces!! Lotsa bucks there!!:D:D:D:D

Anyhoooo

Chris You mean that they TRUST the Operation Payback people with a swingblade?!?!:eek::eek::eek:
 


pcarrell said:
Your track plan should suggest how your benchwork should look, not the other way around.........unless you have some special situation that makes the benchwork a tricky situation, and then some final adjustments still might need to be made. Can I suggest a bit of light reading to start with.....sort of get the creative juices flowing? Check out this site: http://www.chipengelmann.com/trains/beginnersguide.html
Click to expand...

Phillip; Nothing special in my basement, other than where I want to put the bench work. I can either have a wall in one side or on two sides, that is about my only decision. Thanks for the link I actually stumbled across that page before. There is some good info there and I am sure I will use some of it.

Right now the only thing I know for sure is I want to make room for a nice yard and I would like some mountains with a coal mine possibly. Also, I would like to work in a wooden trestle just because I think they are cool:D

UP2CSX said:
Tony, Phillip has some good advice ( Hi, Phillip) on how to plan. I built my benchwork first and then came up with a track plan that fit. The layout looks good but it has many operational flaws. If I didn't have so much time and money invested in it, I would seriously consider ripping it out and starting again. Learn to plan for how your railroad will work first and what you want it to and then build you benchwork around it. You will be much happier in the long run.
Click to expand...

Jim; Sounds like maybe I should listen and learn:D Thanks for the advice...
 
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