Afternoon, Folks!
What started out as a nice and bright day, has now turned into a gray and wet nuisance. It´s still too hot for my taste, but with that ra*n coming down right now, it´s steaming outside. I feel like being in India during the monsoon.
I am still in a somewhat low mood. I am pondering of selling whatever remains of my model railroading activity as I won´t be able to do anything. The mini layout my friend put togethet for me is just entertaining for a few minutes and there is no way I can finish it by adding scenery and detail. The proceeds will have to go into a new computer, as my old notebook is slowly dying.
Being able to connect to the outside world is of more value to me than being able to let a train run around a loop.
Zoe, as supper time is coming up here, I´ll just have a mug o´coffee, please.
CU all!
Jut found this video showing the event I attended last Saturday:
Good afternoon, everybody .
I just returned from Alabama where we celebrated my mother's 96th birthday. It was good to have a family get together. My mother still plays the piano very well. In addition to AL family members,others were there from NC and MI. ... While there, we went to the Cvil Rights Museum in Birmingham. Interesting. I recall some of the events in the news in the 1960's pertaining to civil rights. It is across the street from the well known 16th Avenue Baptist Church. ... I think we can be thankful for progress since the 1960's... Then I'll say no more to refrain from politics.
Looks like you Diners have been very busy, and I hope to catch up on your posts.
I am anxious to get back to my model railroad too.
Cheers ...
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Hi guys
just dropping in
have a bit of a problem, kind of . I have another place that wants me to come work for them, straight days and no weekends at all. Plus it will be more money so am really thinking about it
Evenin' folks!
Janie, a cup or three of Peruvian French Roast Decaf would be great right now.
Turned out to be fairly sunny for most of the day after the clouds burned off this morning. I tackled a small fold up table here by the computer today for cleaning up. It had several deep stacks of papers that needed to be filed (still have a lot of the filing to do) from the last 2 years or so for the MLK Committee, the convention, and a stack of papers left over from last years tax return. The tax stuff has mostly gotten down cellar to where I keep everything on file for 7 years. the MLK banking stuff has been opened sorted into piles by year and will be further dealt with tomorrow. Oh, I still had a bunch of magazine stuff to get sorted and put away still on tyhe dining room table. Did that first and then tackled the mess on the fold up table next to the computer. I also managed to go outside and weed the rock garden in the front lawn. By the end of the week the house may actually be more or less clean. In the meantime I am tired.
I did manage to check out the layout when I was down cellar.... That too needs som major cleanup...
Garry, 96 years old! How wonderful. Hope the whole family had a great celebration.... I bet the piano music was beautiful!
Have a great night!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Good Morning, Folks!
It´s rather early, but I had a heck of a time to catch some sleep this night. It´s just to hot and stuffy inside and leaving the windows open means inviting trouble. I´s not burglars I am afraid of, but we los of bats in our neighborhood who might want to settle down in our flat.
All windows are open now to let some of the fresh morning air in. The day will be a hot one again -
Garry - 96? Wow! Petra´s Grandmother barely missed the 100 and the oldest lady in town just died recently at 109! How the world has changed since she was born! She lived all her life in our community and in 1906, there were no cars here, not even electricity or telephone. The town had a population of just 300, now it´s 25,000.
Zoe, a breakfast bagel and coffee in an IV bag, please - just to help me keep my eyes open.
CUL!
Evening Dinners
Flo, Beer Please
Work Front Was Caboose. All so got my commission report. Yap that sad face cover that, and July had started out so great!
I am Off Wednesday and my wife wants to do something fun. Guess she just not understand that I am working 6 days a week and need fix a 88 foot long fence?
Bought a new shovel, pick ax and work gloves on the way home tonight. Guess I will be doing something Fun on my day off, moving gravel so I can make room (I Hope ) for the new fence post.
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Ahhhh! The work week is over. Indulging a little bit...but want to keep a somewhat clear head. Need some sleep. Got to go to the vet tomorrow and take my feline friend for his 3-4 month steroid shot. He has some very strange allergic condition for the last few years that makes him nasty sick. I want my ole (14 y.o. ) buddy back. He's definitely worth it.
Thursday I'm going out for another railfanning session...but this time early. Leave home 7-8 AM and go up into the Truckee River Canyon. Might have talked a truck driving friend into going. Want to do some more low res vids and high res stills. I need a new camera. No OT...where to get the money? I ask myself.
Well...at least I can get good stills...7.1 mp.
Might go back to using 35mm. Got a complete (and more) outfit. Just...where to get film processed with the supplemental CD-ROM. Any ideas?
Well...the eyelids are getting real heavy.
Take care everyone
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
JeremyB Hi guys just dropping in have a bit of a problem, kind of . I have another place that wants me to come work for them, straight days and no weekends at all. Plus it will be more money so am really thinking about it
It must be nice to have such a problem!!!
GOod luck with your decision,but I think more hours, days, weekdays, more $$ would be a simple choice, but if you don't enjoy it, then it wouldn't be the place/job for you!
MOH has applied for an internal transfer to a new job requiring full time days M-F too. Here's hoping MOH gets it!
Best of luck to you Jeremy!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
GM, MEN!
Wednesday, August 5th, 2015!
Good Morning, again!
Today´s PT was cancelled shortly before I had to leave my home for it. It´s too hot for a "workout", so I am glad I don´t have to go. I also caught hardly any sleep last night, so I will use the extra "free" time to get a little rest!
Galaxy - keeping my fingers crossed that YOH will get the new job!
Yesterday´s ra*n did not bring any refreshment. It´s steaming outside. I am afraid it won´t be a pleasant day.
Sir Madog Good Morning, again! Galaxy - keeping my fingers crossed that YOH will get the new job!
Thanks Herr Ulrich!
Here's hoping! We'd be in a great better position when it comes to getting a house on the property.
SO, we are hoping!
Oh,HErr Ulrich und Petra, Look for something in the mail {or the "post"} from the USA.
later
Thanks for the kind words galaxy I appreciate it
One more subway tunnel before I go on vaction today. Dickinson --> MLPS --> Alentown -----> Rent Car ---> Hotel Room etc.
Be my most expensive vacation ever since my parents are now in assisted living and so I cannot sponge off of them. But I do have some money for side trips to NYC, so more pictures will happen.
I'll have a 'pute, with me, but not *my* puter so I'll not have access to my photos except what if I know the file name, since they are all on my web server.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Safe trip, Br Elias, Godspeed.
Good morning.
It is a rain day here.
Lion ... Have a nice vacation.
More later.
Happy Model Railroading .
Mornin' Garry. Mornin' Brother Elias, Morning "G". Mornin' to everyone here in the diner!
Zoe, I'll have a couple sour cream glazed donuts to go along with a large pot of dark roast coffee this morning. Yes, Marrakesh Express in the R&GV RR Mug would be nice.
Lion do have a great trip to see your parents and other family. I remember when my Mother was in assisted living care. It was hard to see the downward spiral she was in. She had mid stage dementia and didn't always recognize me as her son. One time she said, "Oh, you grew a beard!" I reminded her that I had worn a beard for many years. She then argued with me and told me I did not as she would have noticed it!!! Hope your parents are doing well and enjoying where they are!
I will be doing more cleaning up and putting away today. Will be out and around as well. Have to get a couple Rx refills at the pharmacy. Tomorrow the track light should be installed. I am still waiting for the plumber to get back to me about the outside faucet and a couple other thing needing to be done. He did return my call and left a message saying he would call me again, but hasn't. if all goes well, I plan to restart some work on the layout later today.
Currently 69°F outside with a high of 75°F later this afternoon. Mostly sunny with some big fluffy white clouds in the sky here in the Finger Lakes Region today.
Good Evening!
What a day! Too hot, too humid to feel well. We had to get our water meter exchanged, so I had to clear our storage cabinet (it´s to small to be called a room) for the guy doing the exchange to be able to reach the old meter. The air was so sticky in there I could not do the job. I nearly fainted in the attempt, so I had to give up. The "water man" was kind enough to jump in for me - for a generous tip.
I heard it on the radio - there will be a LION on the loose in Pennsylvania! Have a nice and safe trip and may you meet your elders in good health!
Petra is calling for supper - CU latest tomorrow!
Hello all.
Well we settle the old house today and tomorrow we pay off the new house. So Lunch is on me !
Mark - LOL At first I thought you had to go see a vet and not your cat
Ken - I thought with the changes and not having to share sales your comision would pick up. Watched the video yesterday. Pretty nice. My step sone for in the mtn division - The "Frozen chosen" .
Jeremy B - what is there to think about ? M-F More $ ! JUMP , MAKE THE MOVE...
Galaxy - Osculate - Hmmm I think I will Osculate with my better half this evening , no your house would not be to small to work on. I went to a friends house and fixed their latch on the side door. Thats small.
Howmus - What is a Muskmellon ? You all have Mennonites up there ? I will never forget one day drivving down a local road and here rounds a corner a very large John Deere tractor with Dual wheels that looked 12' tall and way up in the cab was this little guy whop looked about ten years old driving that thing. I was amazed.
Mr. B. I thought diabetics couldnt drink beers ? Are you following dr. orders ?
Missed posting here yesterday. Excavators back on site and as usual they bring a LOT of Drama with them. That sorry joker will drop a dime on to my boss quicker than a NY minute. Today we had a discusiion about that. I informed him two can play that game and he had better knock it off. I really dislike and dont trust that poor excuse for a human. Then some how I hurt my shoulder. Ice it last night but still sore.
Just found out one of my good friends is running for MER director of the NMRA. If he gets the votes I think he will do well. At least he gets my vote.
Friday wont be on here. Going to see the heart docs.
TTYL
YGW
yougottawantaHowmus - What is a Muskmellon ? You all have Mennonites up there ? I will never forget one day drivving down a local road and here rounds a corner a very large John Deere tractor with Dual wheels that looked 12' tall and way up in the cab was this little guy whop looked about ten years old driving that thing. I was amazed.
OK, Muskmellon is another name for a Cantalope. Mennonites.... Most people call "Old School Mennonites" Amish. The horse and buggy people going to church on Sunday Morning, riding bicycles on the roadside, and today running all kinds of small local businesses. They bought up and "saved" many of the farms around here in the Finger lakes area. Took completely worn out soils from "modern" chemical overload farming and used old school farming methods to bring back more natural soil fertility and have some of the highest per acre production around here now. Last spring I saw a Mennonite (Amish) farmer plowing a field next to the road with a team of 6 huge Percheron Horses drawing a 6 bottom plow! Didn't have my camera with me.... Drat. Those horses were having fun! They leaned into the load and just walked away with all that. All the farmer was doing was talking to them and telling them what he wanted and they leaned into the load!
I was driving the farm tractor (Ford 8N) a month before my 5th. birthday. By the time I was 6 I had driven several Alice Chalmers (B and WD 45's), the neighbors John Deere A and B, and a few others. Was driving 4 ton axle Chevy trucks by the age of 7 and my Cousin Don Howard's Brockway Semi trucks (in the fields helping with haying) by 10. When I see the kids handling farm tractors, I rest easy that Dad has probably taught them to be very safe in the handling of the equipment like I was. That training was part of my becoming a caring and responsible human being.....
Don't mind me. I will just be resting here in the back corner. Had to get up at 3:20am EDT to catch my 5:30am flight home from Connecticut. (That's right, 12:20 am on my Arizona clock.) My employer is managing travel expenses with a microscope. The only way not to spend 5+ hours wedged into a coach middle seat was to take the early morning flight. I wonder what ever happened to the "respect for the individual" as a company core value. I could go on, but..........
Richard
Flo, Please
Over all not a bad day off. Watched TV with Sparkie The Rocket Dog. Took my Town Car in to have the rear air bags removed and have coil springs installed. Cheaper than fixing the air ride. Did some other running then worked on the fence some.
Fence Front I am some what incorage by today. I started to shovel out some of the gravel from the down side of the fence the gravel is not sliding down. Not that this will be a easy job, but so far it looks hopefull.
YGW Far as commssions going up with me working more hours. I work against what is called a Draw. If I make more by working over time I have to sell more which is fine excpet the store / company fell flat on it face the second half of the month.
Far as the Fence I did get the pictures taken and I will be sending them Friday if not sooner. Glad you enjoyed the veido.
Jeremy Far as the new job, be carefull what you wish for. If it the same kind of job doing the samething I would go for it. But, I remember how tickled I was I got the job I thought I wanted at NTB. I was ready to chew my arm off to get the heck Caboose out of there!
Ulrich I really enjoyed the scale model video you posted.
Evening all!
Flo a cold one if you please.
Hope all are well health wise.
Pretty decent day here weather wise. The wife and I hiked part of the Allegheny Trail today and came across the old West Newton Station. The trail is part of the "Rails to Trails" system and this section was part of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie. There was also a very neat piece of sculpture of a life sized man made completly out of old railway spikes lifted from the old tracks nearby. After a light lunch and watching at least four CSX mixed freights thundering along the double tracks across the river we headed home and I continued working on some of my structure kits.
Well I hope everyone has a great evening!
Happy modeling all!
Don
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that both engines have failed, and we will be stuck here for some time. The good news is that you decided to take the train and not fly."
Good Evening Diners,
Brunhilda, I'll have a glass of whatever passes for wine, please.
Galaxy: I like the quote from Balzac. Boy, is that ever true.
Ray: A six bottom plow?! How many horses were hitched up to it? My uncle's old Case 830 had all it could handle with a 4 Bottom plow.
Ken: Love the grey Challenger pic. Where was that?
Not much happening MRRwise, although tomorrow Afternoon I'm planning a short visit to LHS. Hope to pick up a few detail parts.
I hope everyone is OK and safe.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Janie, I'll have a cup of decaf if you please....
up831Ray: A six bottom plow?! How many horses were hitched up to it? My uncle's old Case 830 had all it could handle with a 4 Bottom plow.
Well... There were definately 6 work horses pulling hard! May have only been 5 plows and I'm sure they weren't 14" either. LOL But it was a whole lot more than the size of the 3, 12"ers we had behind our Ford 861 Powermaster back when I was a kid. They sure weren't plowing at the speed of the monster Stieger that was used on Torry Farms when I worked there one summer..... But watching those horses plowing that field was still a site!
I have been slowly cleaning, sorting, recycling, trashing, and putting away all kinds of stuff that should have been dealt with months ago. The dining room office almost looks clean at the moment. Spent way too much time trying to find my old Zip drive. I managed to unearth a pile of Zip media that goes back to when I was teaching. They have everything from my gradebooks to lesson plans, and some business records as well. I had the USB drive for them a few months back and it doesn't work with my newish iMac, but may work with my old laptop. I doubt there is anything that I will ever really need on the media, but it would be nice to save it in another format anyway....
I think I shall clean the kitties litter box and head out to bed. The electrician is coming tomorrow morning to install the track lighting.
Have a great night. Prayers for all in need!
hey all
spent most of the day talking with the real estate agent, MOH has had an eye on a 2.7 acre property around the corner...but teh REA looked into it, it has too many strikes against it. The property in the back opposite our side is on FEMA old flood map and on the revised/updated map after 2011 flooding, so that is one strike. hte other is it is deep "L" shaped lot with 50' road frontage, apparnetly the town of VEstal says it is zoned rural residential, which means it must have 240' of road frontage...a little short, so it would need a variance from the exisiting owner to build. Plus the other boardering properties on our side have apparntly "appropriated" parts of the lot for their sheds..hmmm...and a few other things point to it probably NOT being a property for us.
so we see the otehr property on Friday at 11Am to wak it. .42 acres is easier o take care of anyway.
that and I was looking at humdreds of home plans, modulars and stick buitl..
that last part is down the road, but no sense in NOT looking at it now....
have a great nights rest!
Good Morning!
Another hot day and no rfreshment in sight! PT was a short one today, as the room is too hot as well.
Zoe, I´ll have a nice and cool RBF, please - maybe that will make me feel a little more comfortable!
Galaxy - .42 acre is just about three times the size of my former property. Even the rather small plot we had meant an awful lot of work to keep it ship shape. The front yard was covered with bark and lots of rhododendrons, lots of flower beds and a "water feature" in the rest. Half of the ground was lawn, and, believe me, grass is the most unrewarding and expensive plant in a yard. If it were just the mowing - that´s still OK, but scarifying, weeding, fertilizing three times a year, cleaning the leaves from it in Fall - yuck! Petra wanted to have something like an English lawn, but we never made it.
As Ken liked the model railroad videos I posted earlier - here is another one:
Reto Sager from Switzerland has built certainly the best Bernina Line layout there is. He is closely modelling prototype locations, but see for yourself! Should I have posted this video earlier - it´s worth a second look!
Have a good one!
Ulrich: we believe in letting the weeds fall where they may, as they stay green instead of scorched grass! so "grass fertilizing and such" is not quite in our vocabulary. BUT what IS; is 'grass cycling' or "mulching the grass", provides suppposedly 1/3 to 1/5 the "fertilizer your lawn needs"....The mower , with mulching abilities,, does the work and one never has to rake the lawn either. My father fusses, fixes and fiddles with his lawn, mows it twice a week religiously, and has scorched lawn every year.
We will either get a ride on tractor we can keep locked in the garage, or have someone mow it until we get a house and live on there.
I certainly wish we had more moeny, to get a house now, but alas...
now we can build our little English Tudor charmer...