Good Evening Diners,
Brunhilda, I'll have an Earl Grey tea with cream and honey, please.
Mr. B: I agree with JohnBoy. Even though I'm sure that you're a very experienced rider, all it takes is one slip. Besides, YOH will really appreciate it.
right now I'm sitting in front of the TV and this I heart country festival is on. We have very limited channel choices. Wow! Has country changed or what?! One band has a drummer with a spiked Mohawk and they're pretty much playing rock with a twang! That's neither good nor bad, just different. Back around 1990 the labels pretty much cleaned house and dropped most of their established acts, and brought in some young up and comers like Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw. Well, you know the rest.
BTW for all of the guitar players who are also MRRs, I just found out about a Duo of Flamenco based players from Mexico City. They've been around awhile, but I just found out about them. Vinnie, does mentioning their name constitute free advertising? Anyway, it's a guy and a girl and they are terrific.
Sure hope Ulrich is ok.
Still haven't made it over to LHS to get some parts, but we'll get there soon.
i hope everyone is OK and safe.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Evening Dinners
Flo, please and keep them coming.
Gary Glad the photo helped with your coal cars. One of these days I would love to see your layout in person!
Want to guess who did not show up for work again today? If you guessed Dave you are correct! He should have been at our St Charles store at 10:00 AM, did not show or call. We are called his mobile and home phone, no answer. At 2:30 PM his wife called and asked "Is Dave there"? Told here no and we are worried. Asked me "What should I do"? Told her to call the police's and see if he had been in a wreck.
I then told her "You really need to have him see a Neurologist, there is something wrong! Funny, at this point she said I was breaking up and she could not understand me and she would call right back on the land line.
Hum, she could hear me just fine till I said Neurologist, then she could not hear me? Plus caller ID showed it was her land line and not Daves cell phone as she was leading me to believe! Half a hour later she called back and said Dave's van / death mobile had broke down and she was going to pick him up and where did he work Thursday? I smell a rat I thinks.
1 I know the route Dave would take to the St Charles store, even if he forgot his cell phone the most it would take to walk to a phone would be 1 hour, not 4 and a half hours.
2 Is normal days off now is Tuesday and Wednesday. This week he should have worked in St Charles and I pointed that out to him Monday and gave him a copy of the schedule, so why would his wife asked where he worked Thursday?
3 As soon as I said Neurologist she could not hear me?
Here is what I am 99% sure happened.
1 He forgot he was not off today!
2 Around 2:00 Pm they played there messages.
3 Came up with this lie as a cover story.
4 While he was in the hospital for 4 day's he was seen by a Neurologist and they know he has dementia but will not tell us.I can understand to a point, he is afraid of lossing his job, but the way things are going he will not keep it no matter how much Nancy likes him!
May 28th is my 39th Anniversary I think! I have a hard time counting over 30! I should be of Thursday, but there is the Dave factor involed.
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Hi diners,
Long time. I didn't feel like talking the past week about the same problems.
Talk to you guys tomorrow.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good Morning Diners,
Flo, I'll have a gigante cup of coffee with bunches of cream, please.
Ken: Wow! The continuing saga of Dave. I sure hope he gets more help. From what you describe, it would've been better if he had just fessed up and had been apologetic about it. IF that is indeed what happened. If I was his employer, I would have keenly assessed his attitude when he came in. People are much more likely to forgive something that a person can't help like a chronic illness.
Is this store in St. Charles, MO? Because there is also a St. Charles, IL, which is not too far from me. St. Charles, MO is kind of a neat little town, with the historic shopping district and all. At least it used to be. Haven't been there in over 10 years.
Love to chat more, but gotta go to work.
I hope everyone is OK and safe.
GOOD MORNING!
Not much to say back still payingl for the weekend.
Have some errands to run, about all.
Here is today's word:
-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.
Gentlemen, I appreciate the thought, but you give my mountain-bike riding too much credit. Yes, there was a time when I would take a chairlift up the mountain at Sunday River and ride down, but these days I confine myself to the gentle path that is the former Billerica and Bedford Railroad. It's a popular and well-traveled route, and I have plenty of company from other bikers, folks out for a stroll and dog-walkers. Cell phone service is fine, too. And yes, I always wear a helmet.
I did get out for a ride yesterday, even though it was in the mid-80s and pretty uncomfortable. With my own self-generated wind chill factor, I was just fine. I even rode along with a young woman (to me, "young women" often have adult children) who told me about another scenic woods trail that I didn't know was open to bikes, so I'll have to check that out. I scolded her gently for not wearing a helmet.
I'm on "hot standby" to play hockey tonight, but I won't know for sure until a half hour before I have to leave for the rink. Oh, the things us goalies will do for each other.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, can I get a refill for my Marrakesh Express Dark Roast Coffee, Please?
Been a busy morning already... I was just about ready to get in the shower when my son stopped in to hook up my little trailer and get a load of firewood! We can get about half a face cord in the little trailer so it will take about 4 trips. He filled out the required paperwork to carry with him. Right at that time the contractor showed up with a pickup load of red oak cut to size and nicely planed for me to stain and Varnish (polyurethane). I should be able to get most of it ready for him over the weekend, I hope.
Today is the day I also HAVE to get the article written for the Region Newsletter.... No excuses! Has to get done. Also need to go grocery shopping and see if I can get the chives ready to transplant... Someday I might even get back to model railroading.... I hope!
I do hope that Ulrich is OK... Miss him stopping in for breakfast here.
Later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
MisterB: Have you considered riding with a RoadID? I have been riding with one for a number of years and it was invaluable during my recent incursion with a parking car. Because of my injury, I was not able to speak very well, and the good Samaritans helping were able to call my wife using the information on the RoadID tag. One other thing I have added to my bag when I go mountain biking--a whistle. I figure if I end up off the trail, in a ravine or such, I can use the whistle to get attention.
Richard
Good Afternoon,
A drizzly day here with a high of about 65F but only 55 tomorrow. We are doing indoor stuff today but hopefully can get back to the planting tomorrow. A good day today to run trains and that is what I shall do as soon as I finish this.
Ride On, you are so right about a whistle. I carry one with us when we are on game drives in Africa. If you are hurt you should be able to blow a whistle and the sound will carry a lot farther than a shout. Also shouting at an elephant doesn't get much response except to annoy it and the last thing you want to do is annoy an elephant. They have been known to turn over a Land Rover. When near them, guides usually keep the engine running so as to make a quick escape.
On our last trip to Botswana this past April, we were exploring the channels in Okovango Delta in a boat, about a 20' flat bottomed aluminum afair, and pulled up on a small island for the morning tea break. The guide got out of the boat to see if it was all clear and as it appeared so, he and the boatman got out the little table, tea stuff, etc. My wife wanted to have a 'bush break' so the guide said to just go behind a nearby termite mound. She went there and was just starting to 'get down to business' when she noticed a grey shape behind her. She thought it was me and said she wasn't done yet but the shape got a lot bigger. It was an elephant so she hustled out of there pronto. A few minutes later 2 elephants sauntered out of the bush and pretended we weren't there. Luckily there wasn't a baby with them or they wouldn't have been so calm. You can only hear the breaking of branches when an elephant moves in the bush as they are otherwise virtually silent on their feet.
Well, my coffee and that Pacific is waiting so I'd best fire up the pumps and move it to the head of a short passenger train waiting at the station. It is hauling my Rovos Rail coach which I guess looks a little odd but hey, my railway, etc.
CN Charlie
Good afternoon.
Where is Ulrich.
CN Charlie ... Sounds like interesting travels. Glad you told us a little baout it. Feel free to tell more if you can.
Richard ... Good advice. Are you mostly recovered from the injury ?
Ray .... What is the article you are writing about ?
............
Loceomotive engineers whistle while they work.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Flo, please.
Not much of a Anniversary this year. Neither my wife or I felt that great today, it was the 39th year and I have been with her 42 years.
Did some need running and took Sparkie The Rocket Dog for his yearly shots. He sure does not like our Vet! As soon as Dr Davis walks into the room, Sparkie wants out of there!
Wife wanted BBQ tonight for our Anniversary. Made us each a T-Bone, some chicken and barts. Just about done so I am out of here.
Ken
Heartland Division CB&QRichard ... Good advice. Are you mostly recovered from the injury ?
I am, mostly. (Thanks for asking!) The only thing left is speech therapy. I have limited volume and my mid-range cracks like an adolescent schoolboy. I have vocal exercises I do twice a day and every indication is that in a few weeks I will be back to where I was before the accident.
Good Evening,
Garry, I tried out those MicroMark side sprue cutters and they are really great. I was able to cut the brake assembly on a PK2 kit with no problems. Sure wish I had a pair for all those other kits I have built but better late than never. If you have more kits to do with small parts do yourself a favour and get a pair.
I will post more on our trip but right now it is coffee time so will sign off for tonight.
CN Charlie ... Thanks for commenting. I had no problems with the brake assembly on my P2K stock car. I was able to remove it from the sprue and install it okay. However the grab irons were too fragile after they were off of the sprue. It was hard to install them without breaking them. So, I made grab irons from brass wire, and that was much easier.
Richard ... Glad your injury is improving.
Evenin' folks!
Janie, I'll have a cold glass of lemonade for a change tonight. Thank you dear!
Heartland Division CB&QRay .... What is the article you are writing about ?
Ah.... Guess I should have specified, maybe. And here I thought you were all mind readers... The article is the mandatory one about statistics and other goodies for the convention two weekends ago. That will end most of my official responsibilities except for tuning in several bills to the treasurer, sending out a whole lot of thank you cards, and planning a couple get togethers for the committee to just sit around and enjoy some qualioty time together (maybe get over to see the layouts we didn't get to see at the convention). It will appear in the Niagara Frontier Region newsletter, the Flimsy. I think I will forgo the usual news from the division that I am supposed to write for each newsletter this time.... (Published 4 times a year).
I have a large pile of oak boards sitting in my living room and down celler. These are being stained with a light Oak staian and will get a couple coats of polyurethane before being installed next week in the living room. the contractor will be here Monday or Tuesday to paint the room and then install the oak trim. Guess I know what I will be spending my time doing for the next few days.... I did find that my decade plus old can of satin poyurethane has dried up, so tomorrow I will be heading downtown to an old fashioned local hardware store to get a new gallon of the stuff. I told my contractor when I gave him the color for the paint that I got the color strips down there, and siad while I don't care where he gets the paint from, I personally like to do business with the locally owned old fashioned store. The kid gave me a big grin and nodded his head. We think a bit alike.... I think the guy who owns it may be a relative of his anyway.
My so from Chicago will be here next week so we can spend the rest of the $$$ in the Tesla fund for furniture and curtains.
Have a great night, stay safe, and be blessed!
Hey diners,
I been looking at DCC systems and components to see what I have to buy.
We might have the swamp cooler ready for water on Sunday if the leaks stops. I told them two months ago. Now I'm for garage disposal to get replaced also, because of the crack. I placed a bucket underneath to catch the water.
My sister came home last week and left yesterday. She came home to see her friend Jasmine get married lasted Thrusday. Basically it was another sleep at home vacation for her. Sadly family members wanted to talk and see each other but nothing happened.
Summer has arrived in force here in Arizona. The high today is forecast to be 102, 105 tomorrow, and 106 on Sunday. I know it is a dry heat (about 10-15% humidity during the hotest part of the day), but I once heard a great reply to the comment, "But it's a dry heat;" "So is my oven, but I wouldn't want to live in there either." Don't get me wrong, there are few places I would rather live, but the summers can be a bear. One of the consequences of the heat is my daily bike rides move to the early mornings. Because we don't observe daylight savings time, it is light enough to ride by 5:00am. At that time, the temperature is still in the low to mid 70's.
Where is Ulrich ?
Angelob6660 .. WHat brands of DCC are you looking at? ... I am pleased with MRC wireless here.
Dennis V8 ... Have a good trip to Oregon.
Richard. ... Sounds hot. We are waiting until Fall to go to AZ.
Ray .... Sounds like lot of staining. We have a small hardware stire we patronize here also.
Bear ... At he moment I can't ee your videos. Adobe made changes, and it is not working in this Imac.
Richard - Geez that is HOT ! I thought being in the 90s here was bad.
Hello Ulrich, Garry, V8Vega AND ALL ....
Not much to report railway wise. Oredered some more N&W coal cars and another engine or two still in the moving mode. We are out but lots of unpacking to do, fixing and sprucing up the old home and repairing teh new to us home ( already fixed an AC problem and replaced a garage door open and some shower heads ) then hopefully it will be on to the train room for the future YGW empire.
Gotta get back to work. Have 7 houses starting, four being framed and two getting finals phewww!! Keeps me running !
TTYL
YGW
Hey Garry the brand of DCC systems I was looking at were the Digitrax.
After eating two fortune cookies I found two model railroading tips.
Look closely at your surroundings, and Now is the time to go ahead and pursue that love interest.
Love interest may not be talking about trains but it might, to start that project.
Friday already? How time flies when you're not working and you DVR all your TV shows.
Nice day out today. Mrs. Beasley is having a tooth taken out today, just as I did a month or so ago. Her appointment was at 2, and the plan was for me to take her over and pick her up, because she doesn't deal with these things well. So, I rearranged my day and went for my bike ride in the morning, ate lunch and showered. At a few minutes before two, she announces that she's going to drive herself over and won't need me after all.
It will be hot tomorrow, so I'll probably take the mountain bike out and try to stay in the woods. I was told about another off-road trail that I might ride down to. It will be a bit of a ride, but I'm trying to push myself to ride longer anyway, so it should be fun. This one's not an old railroad bed, but rather the old "battle road" that the Minutemen walked on their fateful encounter in 1775.
Mr. B. ... Sounds like an historic trail.
YGW .... I probably never told you, but I do have an N&W 2-8-8-2. It is the old AHM model, and it sits on a display shelf with a nicely detailed N&W caboose (Atlas model). There are 3 N&W coal hopper and 1 Virgian coal hopper too.
Angel0b6660 ... Digitraxx is a good brand. Nothing wrong with them.
Mr B
i also might have to have a tooth removed next week. I have had a terrible tooth ache for a few days know and made a appointment for Tuesday. I don't know if it will have to be pulled or filled. All I know is that it hurts a lot,lol
i am taking painkillers to help with the pain for the next few days, I like your wife am not a fan of the dentist at all.
Janie, I could sure use a cup of decaf right now.... Ah. how about I have a tall glass of lemonade instead? Too warm for a hot decaf. What? Iced decaf? Yuck!!! Lemonade would be fine.
Garry, I have 13 of the 22 oak boards stained as of now, and 5 have gotten their first coat of satin polyurethane. They will get their second and final coat tomorrow morning and then I'll put them aside and do another 5 with their first coat of polyurethane. I would have more done already but I don't have a lot of room in the workshiop down cellar to put them to dry. I do have the paint booth running to get the fumes out of the house.
I got the article sent out to the editor at noon today. Couple of the committee members caught a few errors in spelling, etc. before it got sent. The English Teacher in me hates to send anything off with improper English or misspelled words. Yes, I was almost certified to be an English Teacher in addition to my certification in Music.
Tonight I went out and used my little electric rototiller on a couple of the raised garden beds. Tomorrow I will head over to a Mennonite Garden Center close by to see if they have any plants I need left. By midweek I need to have everything planted. My son from Chicago will be arriving on Sunday so I will need to do a bit of house cleaning too. He is easily grossed out by a messy house. His older brother can live in complete squallor and be just fine. I'm sort of the middle of those two extremes....
I passed up a chance to do an operating session this morning. Would have loved to be there for it, but there was no way I can get the oak finished in time to get the living room completely finished while son #2 is here if I went to Rochester for most of the day.
Still 82°F outside at the moment so the air conditioned house feels good. Interesting since the reconstruction and insulating the living room, my gas usage for May this year is half what it was last year, and I am a few kWh behind last year at the moment for electric production but the net metering is 32 kWh ahead of last year.... Hmmmmmm??? I have sent 169kWh more out to the grid than I used from the grid for the month.
Hi diners, a tall cold ice tea sounds good. Very busy week as contractor finally showed up to do proper step flashing on our dormer side walls. They also replaced the deteriorated bottom four clapboards on both sides of dormer and added a proper trim board to cover the step flashing. They got a subcontractor to replace gutters as I have been trying to get new 6 inch gutters for six years. Talked to the sub on and off for the past six years and he has always said he was interested in the job but had a big backlog of roofing jobs. The sub and my neighbor are best friends. Since I wanted the downspouts moved to the opposite side of house, I have been installing new gutter drains to the street. Rented a 60 lb electric jackhammer to break up sidewalk and curb for drain installation. The jackhammer was a work out. Dug 27 ft trench from street to house today. Have 38 feet more to get to the back downspout. Starting to feel like I am getting back into shape. I guess one can still do physical work even as old as I am.
Getting another hockey fix tonight.
Jim
Flo, Beer Please
UP 831 Store I was talking about is St Charles Mo. Where do you live in ILL. I live in Maryville ILL.
Dave was at my store yesterday, how could I tell?
1 A under futon drawer was broken
2 Grandfather clock I just bulit was knocked over and busted
3 Wrong mattress was given to a customer of mine, even after she told Dave she did not think it was the right one!
Dave did not show up for work today again at our St Charles Mo store again today. His wife called Paul the GM and Ronda answered the cell phone. (Ronda also works for us) She told Ronda "He was so weak our son had to help him up the stairs and into a chair. All he does is stare into spaces and is unresponsive, what should I do?" Ronda said "Call 911 FAST!"
Allso found out Dave's wife drove him to work yesterday and stayed all day with him then she drove him home. Called my customer that Dave gave the wrong mattress to and asked how did he seem? Said he was very slow and slured his speech.
Even Nancy, his sole defender told me today "I think he has dementia or Alzheimer's. He should be at my store Saturday, we will see? I sure hope not, rather he is in a hospital!
Hi Guys,
just on my way to bed, I can sleep in tomorrow as I have the week end off.
Been thinking alot lately about all our missing in action fellas, and a name came to me that I haven't thought of for awhile and that is Lee Soule. Has anyone any news on him? Lrt us all know what you know of him now.
I remember that he got married and all seemed to be going well and then it was as if he fell off the planet. I always enjoyed his posts and the stories he told aboout the various bridges he had to examine to make sure they were up to spec.
Night All, and Sleep Well.
Johnboy out.....................later Gators
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
I finally finished watching Hell's Kitchen that I missed in the last 3 weeks.
It's been a lazy Friday for today. I watched a few videos of MRVP, designing an updated track plan. But I'm stuck on telephone poles and scenery and wandering about adding a small town or just leave it.
I'm basically over thinking it too much. I'm trying to make it perfect.
I was thinking about my 1957 NYC layout with the small industrial terminal, and also thinking of moving it into the early 1960s. Since Atlas it coming out with 2 century green XMs.
Also my Penn Central layout in 1969. Its basically hard to keep my head on straight when thinking about train sets.