It's another beautiful morning on the Great Plains. 35 degrees to start the day, birds by the thousands along the trail, a good two-mile walk, a great breakfast of sausage and eggs, a second large cup of coffee, and another full day of retirement to enjoy. This is much better than I deserve.
Steven, I hope you had a good time at your prom. I'm so old I remember very little of my prom, but I know you and your suit are much better-looking than the geeky guy in my prom picture.
I'll second (or third, fourth, or fifth) the idea of saving, especially when one is younger. When I started work, educators were allowed to have money put into a Tax Sheltered Annuity. This was before there even was such a thing as an IRA or 401K. That let me save money that is still untouched, but will be used in the next several years.
TF, I agree with Ed and Dave. You did a great job on the stucco. Like Ed, I once tried to patch a textured ceiling. I worked and worked at it, but it never did match. Most people never notice, but even 15 years later I notice it every time I walk through that room.
Brent, I'm jealous. When I try to get rid of old stuff, my wife has a fit. Our basement is so full we could open a second-hand store. Of course, her old stuff is different than my old stuff. My stuff is worth keeping!
Be sure to read Kevin's posts of his coast-to-coast journey, visiting train stores and seeing this country's great scenery.
I hope everyone has a great day.
York1 John
cudakenOne of the rerson I bought a all brick house was because I never need to have it painted?
Tuck pointhing and sealing... : )
Our buildings are 100+ years old, some bricks are in good contition, othere sless so, especially the ones that we made ourselves. Tuckpointing is a frequent evolution, not as often as painting but still not main-free.
roar
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Track fiddler What do you think guys? I could use a pat on the back TF
What do you think guys? I could use a pat on the back
TF
My advice is to avoid stucco at all costs, unless you're absolutely, positively, certain that the person doing it knows what he/she's doing.
Around he there are many large stucco covered 2-story colonial homes, only a few years old, where the stucco is failing. Something to do with improper installation around windows resulting in moisture behind the stucco. Homeowners insurance doesn't seem to cover that, so the occupants are stuck with the bill. I'm hearing 60 to 80 thousand dollars to do the corrective surgery.
Whale, there is stucco and then there is the plastic stuff that looks like stucco.
We got the plastic sort of stuff... Snow drifts pile up against the stuff, and then freezes to it. Then the drift pulls away fropm the wal and the pseudo-stucco pulls off.
So it has bee patched many times and so our slype has three different colors on it. It was suppoosed to be repainted, but that has not happened yet.
ROAR
maxmanSomething to do with improper installation around windows resulting in moisture behind the stucco.
While doing home inspections, I've seen a lot of it. Bad installion, and maintainence issues can cause a mess.
EIFS (exterior insulation and finish system), is moisture resistant, not moisture proof, and maintanince is a huge issue.
https://www.eima.com/eifs
The particle board, (or plywood) used as the wall sheating during home constuction, will completely rot away, in time, if moisture issues aren't corrected, and the proper maintainence done.
You don't see it, until mold issues show up on the inside. Then it's way too late.
Commercial buildings use it with good success, but they usually are buildt with metal studs, and the correct sheeting used underneath the EIFS. A totally different system than a house.
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewiWhile doing home inspections, I've seen a lot of it. Bad installion, and maintainence issues can cause a mess.
One of my ex-wives (I forget which one) was an architect and one or more of the contractors she worked with was always specifying Dryvit exterior finishes.
https://thestuccoguy.com/what-is-dryvit-stucco/
When I saw what it was and how it was applied I thought "this aint' going to last long in the wet, freezing climate around the Great Lakes area"...
Sure enough, it didn't take long before the outer finish was peeling off, sometimes in huge chunks, leaving a green-colored foam board exposed underneath.
I'll bet some building inspectors got hoodwinked in allowing this stuff to be used to such a great extent. It really seemed to be popular for finishing off retail stores and shopping malls, which today, in their abandoned states, look awful.
Hope everyone is doing well
Cheers, Ed
Afternoon all, not a cloud in the sky (at least where I am) and 15c.
Sold the slide for $150.00, that's more than we paid for it. Had a stampede of people wanting it, I should have asked for more.
Spent the morning gardening and going to the landscaping store. I hate gardening, I only like to ride the John Deere, the rest you can have thank you very much. I need to get a yard of lava rock but the wife could not decide what colour she wanted so we came back empty handed or should I say empty trucked.
TF the stucco job looks top notch I would hire you any day. I amazed my self blending in repairs to a couple of spackle ceilings, even I can't tell where the repair was.
Glad you are enjoying working at the Y Steven. Even better is hearing you have your bike back on the road. The babes like guys that are in shape, even I get chased still. I must say that when I look at women that are supposed to be my age I find it hard to believe they are not a whole lot older. My wife looks younger than she is so it all works for me.
I am currently talking with the kid in Ottawa. He has a two-hour break between exams today and is in the cafe having brain food and looking at the river. This is his view he sent.
FB is really pretty cool the way we can keep in touch with family. It would be awful just getting a letter once a month. The kid is ready to come home, he is exhausted. He has worked incredibly hard this year and has straight "A"s for his effort. He was asked to join a panel discussion on global affairs earlier even though he dropped those courses, he impresses with his knowledge of constitutional law and he gets asked to participate in panels where that is relevant.
Time to go pick up my daughter from school. Think I'll take my 19-year-old truck. All the owners of the Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins get nervous when they see me heading their way. Glad I am not in their league. I hate the one-upmanship that tends to go on there. It's like the Beverly hillbillies rolling on to the school grounds when I show up. We can pay the tuition but that's it.
All the best to all.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Thanks for all the positive reinforcement, and the T-shirt. I would wear that. Instead of Judas Priest, I would be Irish Priest I would be afraid I'd start on fire putting it on though
Brent I saw a black Lamborghini Countach in Stillwater on Saturday. Those cars are freaky. Definitely my favorite car in high school, maybe it still is. I tapped Judy on the shoulder and said "wow" do you see that. She did.
I'm not a fancy lad. I'll never have one. I'm going to dust off the Mustang here pretty soon. That's more my speed.
Looked through last week's WPF catching up on the forum here. Always great stuff to see. Still looking good guys
Anonymous, Ulrich, Tinplate Toddler, The man who started it all. We miss you. I know you must have a lot on your plate, but I hope you can stop by We left the Railroad Lantern on for you
Yes there are strict guidelines to follow in construction. If they are not followed correctly, things go south quickly. I read all your construction observations and what you guys had to say. I could relate to them perfectly.
You would not believe the crap I have seen over the years. Very sad,.... job security I guess. There are craftsmen and contractors that care about what they do. More commonly there are the hacks, the world's full of them.
Flashing, counter flashing, simply basic water intrusion prevention. I remember when I was 18 years old. My carpentry instructor told the class you need to learn to think like water.
I think like water. I care about what I do. Everyone I work for, I treat their home like it's my own. A summed up rule that applies to everything. My Dad taught me this rule when I was very young. That's how I roll.
Track Fiddler
Eveing Diners
Flo, give the gang and I a and leave a stein outside for Ulrich.
Just wanted to stop by to let you all know I am still on the sunny side of the ground.
Ken
I hate Rust
Glad you're on the Sunny Side Ken, kind of like you, a little. 6 foot under is a reality we're all going to face.
Just not today. Your doing good kid. Keep up the good work
You know.... I got to ask you guys. I'm a little concerned here. I refer to him as cocky Ed.
I think some of you know who I'm talking about. He was cocky. Sometimes he pissed you off but sometimes he was really funny the way he did it in his words. I always liked cocky Ed.
He wasn't as good as the current Ed here of course but he was good enough. We have to look after our brethren. His call number if I do recall had a j and a 7 in it. It was all numbers and letters.
What happened to cocky Ed. I liked that guy and I have to say I miss him.
Track Fiddler,
My Father was a Journeyman Carpenter. He started training in 1922, his instructor was 70 at the time. I picked up some of the trade from him over the years--old school. At the end of the day he would break out his saw vise, saw set, and three sided files, and I learned how to keep my saws sharp to make clean cuts. There was no such thing as a "pre-hung" door or window, we made them. Power tools were an unknown item, until I started as a helper with some of the boat builders here on the Island. Dad had come close to loosing his left arm when he was knocked into a running table saw by another worker, and infection set in--this was way before the advent of antibiotics. The doctor treating him at the time drew a line around his upper arm, and told Dad, "that if the red lines reach this point, we are going to amputate your arm." After that, Dad had an unreasonable fear of power tools, to the extent that he never had a skill saw until he was 63 years of age, I bought it for him--the first time he used it, he had to rip a 12 foot piece of 3X5 dry spruce. If it had been pine he probably would have used his hand rip saw.
The one thing he stressed when we did a job, was that anything we built was our signature. He would tell me," Son, when you build anything, that is your signature as a craftsman--do you want somone fourty years from now looking at that and saying, "who built that piece of crap?" I believe it is called Pride. When I see some of the construction today I want to sit on the curb and weep.
We both made excellent incomes re-doing what others had done, often on new construcion. This was in addition to our 40 hour per week vocations.
We were amazed at times at some of the items that we found, especially in new construction. I do have empathy for your statement.
herrinchoker
Track fiddlerWhat happened to cocky Ed. I liked that guy and I have to say I miss him.
His last post as 7j43k was at the "Trains" Magazine forum 27 days ago. I think he was just a little more of a straight-forward kind of guy. He was very knowledgeable, for sure.
Sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to keep up with the "people roster" here but some folks prefer their privacy, and that's OK, too. There used to be a Grampy's Trains" that posted some great photos of his PRR layout here but he hasn't been around for a year or-so.
I'm planning to leave written instructions for my wife to make a post here if there's still an internet, when the time arrives that I'm no longer able to. I mean, this is kind of our extended family and we do have quite a bit of "sweat equity" invested here.
Century_Englewood by Edmund, on Flickr
The Century at Englewood, Ill. 1966.
Anyone with time on their hands may enjoy this informative site:
https://chicagology.com/
Have a great day, everyone!
Regards, Ed
gmpullmanI came across this little guy during my walk today: Bittern-4 by Edmund, on Flickr Pretty sure it is an American Bittern Green Heron! He was fishing by the shore of the pond.
Neat sighting Ed! Good pictures too.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
It's raining this morning in Nebraska. I had to walk in the field house today, which is not as enjoyable as outside.
I saw that Kevin was in my part of the country yesterday. Most people refer to us as "flyover country". We just laugh about it because we know those people won't be moving here and messing things up.
Years ago when we moved to Nebraska from New Orleans, it took my daughters and me a while to adjust to no people, no seafood, and no Mardi Gras. But within several weeks, we loved it. My wife loved it the first day we were here.
We actually complain now when we sit at our stoplight and there is more than one car ahead of us.
Since I can't work outside, I will have to force myself to work on the layout. I'm ready to start on installing windows on my N Scale gas station. I'm cutting those out of clear polystyrene, but I'm not sure if I can get them to fit correctly. Part of the adventure!
Howdy .....
We were in Nashville last couple of days.... We celebrated my wife's birthday in downtown Nashville Tuesday evening .... We stayed at a 4 1/2 star hotel. We had champaign and birthday cupcakes in the room. .... In the daytime Tuesday and daytime yesterday, we visted Shelley's Mom in Long Term Care. With other family members, we met with the doctor yesterday. Sadly, it does not look like her Mom will be able to recover her mental capabilities. Basically, it is not a good prognosis.
Good to see the Diner is active with many interersting discussions.
Below is a Burlington switcher in Chicago.
Have a good day, everybody.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good Afternoon, Crew! It's mild but cloudy with some rain in the forecast for my part of NE Ohio. Today's a lazy day and I'm going to do some reading. Here's a shot of Santa Fe and GMO E8s pulling long-haul passenger trains at the Joliet Union Station in 1972. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Russ
Modeling the early '50s Erie in Paterson, NJ. Here's the link to my railroad postcard collection: https://railroadpostcards.blogspot.com/
York1 We actually complain now when we sit at our stoplight and there is more than one car ahead of us.
I know how ya feel, I am from WAY upstate NY, and currently I am seeing more traffic in Detroit than I have seen in my life. Took the people mover today, photos coming soon.
Harrison
Homeschooler living In upstate NY a.k.a Northern NY.
Modeling the D&H in 1978.
Route of the famous "Montreal Limited"
My YouTube
Evening folks,
Another New Yorker here,
I was born in Jersey but my parents lived in NY, my dad was born in the Bronx, spent half his childhood there before his family moved to the burbs in Garnerville, Rockland County, NY my sister (half sister) still lives in Rockland County with her fiance Jon.
LETS GO METS!!!
Gimme somma that NYC thin crust pizza!
I've long since been transplanted to the Bayou State which I truly enjoy living in, I couldn't handle the snow, to dreary.
TF, Lambos are pretty freaky, I've never been drawn to those extremely exotic autos, about as exotic I'd get would be a Ferrari 308 GTS or a 288 GTO the Omologata (homologated) version of the 308.
Back to Lambos though, I recently discovered theres not one but TWO hiding out in Slaughter which is the next town over from me, they are parked inside of a racing trailer parked next to the old bank, one is lime green, the other is white.
That's the old bank.
And heres my lovely workplace
The Americana YMCA, which is the newest of the nine Baton Rouge area YMCAs. Its located in the Americana neighborhood (subdivision) in Zachary, heres an example of the homes they are building here.
They have about 50 homes built not to mention the apartment/condos in the front, they are planning to build an additional 87 homes!
That's this one neighborhood, they are currently building in almost a dozen subdivisions in Zachary, a few here at the west end, two to the east and three or four north of town.
Today I rode three miles in 25 minutes on my bike, not too bad. I'm considering picking up kayaking as an upper body workout, I'm not really one to go to the gym but riding a bike or kayaking is a workout while doing something leisurely.
Well that's all for now.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Flo, give the gang and I a Ed a Crown Royal and leave a stein outside for Ulrich.
Not much to type about because I told it all to Ed over the phone! I would guess we talked for about a hour and enjoy it. While we talked about trains, we have other things in common and that was the majority of what we talked about.
Trains are running great so later Ken
Raccoons in the attic!
Yep, we got a lot in common, Ken Thanks for the Crown, mighty tasty.
Here's a photo of the Y-3 (HH1 on the PRR) we talked about:
PRR_HH1b by Edmund, on Flickr
PRR_HH1d_sm1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Thanks for commenting on my lucky grab shots of the green herron, Dave
Well, Young Steven hasn't had time to link any music videos here for a while so let me fill in with a rousing Sousa number to get you guys up-n-marching on this Friday morning. (Love those piccolos — In tune, too)
I hope you have a good audio system connected to your computer
gmpullman Yep, we got a lot in common, Ken Thanks for the Crown, mighty tasty.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrainEd, are you an Old Fashioned fan?
Well, a Manhattan was my first drink at age 10! Right in front of my mother and father, too!
But, yes, I sure like the occasional Rye Old Fashioned, too. IIRC they are just a tad sweeter with some simple syrup added?
I do like to add bitters in many of my cocktails, too.
Here's lookin' at ya'.
gmpullman richhotrain Ed, are you an Old Fashioned fan? Well, a Manhattan was my first drink at age 10! Right in front of my mother and father, too! But, yes, I sure like the occasional Rye Old Fashioned, too. IIRC they are just a tad sweeter with some simple syrup added? I do like to add bitters in many of my cocktails, too. Here's lookin' at ya'. Cheers, Ed
richhotrain Ed, are you an Old Fashioned fan?
Always open to suggestions, Rich
Thanks, Ed
Thanks Ed for that Friday morning wake up march!
Sousa's sister, Mary Elizabeth, was my Great Granddad's 2nd wife. Their daughter, Katheryn, used to partack in family reunions at Grandpa's farm.
It was somewhat of a family bragging point, being related to JPS, but some family research revealed the "rest of the story". No actual "blood" relation.
Crown hey! I like the Black.
Fish fry Friday! Actually, we usually bake it. Tonight, it's walleye.
Tunnel on subway of LION. Note resistors across track gaps. These allo trains to pick up speed departing the stations. These are both downtown tracks.
Two Levels? Why stop at only two levels... THIS is a SUBWAY layout.
Somebody say LION?