2008 [PART 2] and the Coffee Pot is still on and now 4 years old. Here we gather as friends with trains. Sweet ice tea too.

[sir james I]

GOOD MORNING,

Sunny and warm this morning, no plans for the day except to meet daughter for a late lunch. I have some MPC berks that I have not run in a long time so I'm thinking lube, test run and box. High value in a book means nothing when there are no buyers. To much to chose from these days. I hope all is well where ever you are....S.J.

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Morning

Looks like another beautiful day.

Philly - Prayers being sent

Chuck - Glad your leg is doing better

Mike - Too much meddling, sports are games, should stay that way

Dennis - Happy Annaversery!!!!

For me, homework, and cut grass.  Got distracted by the CTT yesterday and did not get my paper done.

May God bless

Jim

 

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is another beautiful day. Sunny. Going up to 82 degrees.

I am getting around better with the walker. Pain is less. I wish I could get to the basement, to run trains. Maybe in a few days.

I hope all you Guys are well and running trains.

Dining car was here and left for " points West ". Enjoy.

Y'all have a great Wednesday.

Chuck

[Buckeye Riveter]

Beautiful day in Buckeyeland.

Big traffic jam on the Outerbelt this morning.  Apparently a pedestrian was hit. 

Jack....Did you learn anything?

Mike C....High school atheltic boards are at the top rung of the old boy's network.  BTW, when are you going to tell us how you really feel?

 

[jonadel]

Mike C.--

There is not enough bandwidth on this forum to tell all of you how I really feel, so I won't. I started teaching 41 years ago and not much has changed. Kids are kids, parents are parents, administrators are administrators, except for Mitch--he's the BEST because he plays with electric trains and is just a big kid :) like the rest of us.

[edw]

Sure the Chief is really busy with the new digs. Maybe he will turn it into a camp, we may all might have to consider relocating there, the way the news is going.

Do you mean like a commune for aging Hippies?

[jonadel]

The REAL Big Boy is 40 miles north of us as I type............. I see a road trip tomorrow.

[dougdagrump]

Sure the Chief is really busy with the new digs. Maybe he will turn it into a camp, we may all might have to consider relocating there, the way the news is going.

Do you mean like a commune for aging Hippies?

No, not a commune for old Hippies just a bunch of old Trainheads. I can see it now, fighting over DCS, TMCC, steam or diesel and who gets to push the whistle/horn button.

[sir james I]

GOOD EVENING

We still have the old battle of Lionel verses Flyer to settle as well.

A great 82 today, we are good till Sunday then we  are looking at 60s next week. My wife and I met our daughter for a late lunch today, glad I had food in front of me because the entire time all I heard was talk about the boys. At least I had something to do. No train running today, got to enjoy this weather while we can. Oh no call from the Drs office, they were suppose to call after the blood results today. Banilla is ready so fire away..S.J.

[jefelectric]

Hi Guys,

An 81 year old lady was killed in a traffic accident yesterday afternoon on the road between the TCA museum and the PA RR museum.  She was a passenger in one of the vehicles involved.

On a brighter note, I finally finished my under layout storage shelves.  Here are a couple of pics.

 

 

 

 

This is the back side of the layout.  So most visitors will not see the shelves.  Intended to store trains when I change what is being run.

[dwiemer]

I am TIRED!!!!!!!!!  Need rest.  Anyway, took all day to get the scheduled cases done.  At least everything went well, but I missed getting to go to my son's parent-teacher conference.  Bride went and the teacher had all good things to say about him.  He is on accellorated program.  Also wants to keep him challenged so he stays interested.  Glad to hear about it, just wish I'd been there.

Also got paged by SWMBO to tell me that they had some interviews on the movie on TV and Again, I was too busy to catch them.  Looking forward to movie night.  We bought 8 tickets for the Friday opening and gave away the other six.  We arranged for a baby sitter for the kids and looks like we'll be having a date.  For those with young kids, probably not a good idea to bring them.  For teens and above, it should be fine.

Chief, I saw that they will be playing the movie at 3 theaters in Raleigh.  I hope you can take one of them in.

Hope everyone is doing well.  I hope to get some train time in this weekend.  As it is, I can hardly stay awake long enough to check out the forum these days.

God Bless,

Dennis

 

[Buckeye Riveter]

Long, long day.  A very good friend of mine for the last 22 years has terminal cancer and is expected not to live over a year.  It started in his colon, spread to his liver and is now on his lungs.  Never smoked. This is the second time I've had a good friend head down this path.  I have been here before, and I am going there again.  He is 57 years old.   

Sorry to be so down. 

Chuck....If you are not taking care of yourself, I'm coming out there and kick your butt.  You too, Wes! Then for good measure I might call the Chief and give him hell about his health and how he shouldn't drive himself to exhaustion.   All of you, take care of yourself and make sure you get the pain in the butt tests at the doctor.

[Brutus]

John - great job on those shelves!

Dennis - Happy Anniversary and my best to your beautiful wife! 

No trains today, but I too mowed the lawn (front and sides).  Tardis is ready, I'll be right over Jim.

ps - sorry Buckeye, we posted over each other.  Prayers for you and your friend and his family.    Also for Chuck and Wes and all the rest of us in need.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Buckeye...sorry to hear about your friend. Keep strong for him.

I am taking good care of myself. Trying not to overdo the therapy.

Chuck

[jefelectric]

Thanks Jim.

Happy Anniversary Dennis.

Wife mowed the grass today. 

Buckeye, Sorry to hear about your friend.  That has to be tough.

Chuck, Take care of yourself, don't try to get to the basement to soon.

Wes, Take care also.

I missed a couple of days here and things took a turn for the worse.  Although it has been quieter with the Chief at the Lake House.

[Wes Whitmore]

Buckeye - I feel for you and your friend.  It's never easy.

Chuck - I have some Vicadin if you need it! 

Went to work yesterday, felt great when I left the house.  Knee was much larger and stiff when I got home.  Sitting in that chair has set my progress back a little.  I'm taking the next two days off to catch up on my icing, and PT.  Not sitting in the "leg bender" for 6 hours a day really makes the leg tight.  It needs to get loose for York!

Wes

[dbaker48]

Good Evening

Buckeye, Really sorry to hear about your friend.  I've been down that road as well, very unpleasant journey.  I know I felt really worthless.  Thank God for Hospice, they truly are Angels on Earth!!!!  Best wishes for your and the family.

John, Those shelves look great, now I have a bunch I will be happy to send you, then as the overflow continues, I will continue the testing for you.  I'll be waiting for the Triplex that's shipping next month.  They really do look good!!

Chuck and Wes,  Don't push it too fast, glad to see some recovery coming your way!

I did get the Legacy working again, and then reconfigured my power distribution systems.  The only bad thing is, the Transient Voltage Suppressors (TVS) arrives tomorrow.  So will have to work them back in, but there being installed between the track and the TIU, so its not rework.  Bob Nelson had suggested installing them on each of the TIU outputs, AND installing them in the engines as well.  That way you AND any guests engines are protected on YOUR layout.  Then if you take your own engines elsewhere, they are protected there as well.  So will see about that with a couple of older engines before I attempt it on the more expensive ones.  BTW they only cost $.58 each, so I got a handful just to offset the shipping.

Hope everyone has  a great day tomorrow!!

[RockIsland52]

Pleased to report my middle boy's GF broke up with him last night - a week before the big homecoming dance. I feel sorry for him but am thrilled this'll be one less distraction in his difficult H.S. transition. No more dating 'til he's older. Mike C, we have similar idiocy here too.

DougM......The real reason that the math test had been forgotten until the 11th hour!  Four decades ago when I embarked on high school my father (rip) used to drive me nuts with:  "Son.....there are three main reasons why guys don't do better in school.  Girls, cars, and beer."  Need to say a prayer tonight and let him know he's finally on to something.

Jack

[John Bakeer]

Good morning all,

IIABSDISEI and MSGLA (short for "my" soccer girls lost again, figure I might as well acronym it before the season ends).  The score was 2-1 and the boys lost 1-0.  Heart breakers both.  The real heart break comes in the following rant:

 

The Brazilian exchange student I have been tutoring in soccer has been told she can not play in any more games by the "Idiots Hampering Sports Anytime Anywhere" otherwise known as the IHSAA.  They have some stupid rule that overseas students who have completed their home high school program cannot play sports here.  I guess they are afraid our high schools will import thousands of soccer players or other sports players to win ball games.  This is particularly galling in this instance because 1) she never played the game before, 2) she only plays on the JV team, 3) the games do not even count as "real" JV games because they are not the length of time prescribed in the rules by the above mentioned mindless faceless (please feel free to substitute other words starting with the same letters) bureaucrats.  I really can't see why the school does not let her play anyway as what is the worse the a------s can do, have us forfeit all of our non-existent wins??????    A couple of years ago the boys team was awarded a win after one of the teams they lost to had a couple of academically ineligible players, but that was a varsity team.  Whatever happened to the idea of sport being for the kids?????  This just p----s me off big time.  I realize in the grand scheme of things this is just a little bump in the road compared to some of the issues facing some of the people on the pot, but d--n it, here was a kid having the opportunity to do something she was not encouraged to do in her own country and then having the door slammed in her face.  It just creates a vacuum that's all.  Finally suppose the "idiots" were right and schools did "import" or "recruit" other talent.  How long would tax-paying local parents tolerate their kids being "ousted" from teams?  They might accept one or two "ringers" but not an entire squad of "hired guns" winning a title.

End of rant (tell us, Mike, how do you really feel?)

I had the usual fare on the dining car.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

Just like our phutti [soccer/football], all the teams are made up with foreigners, the England team has four foreign players.

Where's it all going?

[mitchelr]

I am TIRED!!!!!!!!!  Need rest. 

As it is, I can hardly stay awake long enough to check out the forum these days.

Dennis - I feel your pain.  Between evening activities at the new school and all the other stuff that live brings.  We have been going full throttle since May.  Tonight is the last of the evening meetings this week (there were 3).  ONly one next week.  The following week is an R &R week the Mrs. decided we are not taking Skyline Drive to the Blue Ridge PArkway, now she is checking out beach houses.   We shall see. I really need some time off.  The jaw is giving me fits the last two days after oral surgery.  Go back to Dr. Friday hope all is well.

There is not enough bandwidth on this forum to tell all of you how I really feel, so I won't. I started teaching 41 years ago and not much has changed. Kids are kids, parents are parents, administrators are administrators, except for Mitch--he's the BEST because he plays with electric trains and is just a big kid :) like the rest of us.

Jon - Thanks for the compliment.  I really need to play trains soon.  Right now the garage is a mess and the little train closet floor is being used as storage.  Can't even get in the door.  I am ashamed to admit that I haven't even run a train since Father's Day.  But what the heck, I have been busy for a good cause.

Prayers to PhillyKnight, Chuck and Wes and others I may have forgotten. Wes get that leg better before York (and be sure to wear your most comfortable shoes).

Take care,

Mitch

[RockIsland52]

No sleep.  After my last post I almost made it to bed.  I spent the night in the emergency room with the wife.  Kidney stones.  Not fun for her, and there was nothing I could do but hold her hand and wait........  Pain level as she described to the Doc when he asked: worse than childbirth.

Later,

Jack

[laz 57]

HI GIZ,

   Cool here today at 54 and to get a BIG STORM from NC.  Lots o rain?  Well got the Jeep all packed up ready to go tomorrow all I need to put in is the cooler of OL MIL and my clothes.  Can't wait, FISH ON!!!!

  All have a good one,

laz57

 

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

IIABSDISEI and MSGLA 8-0.  The sad part is that the score represented a "morale victory".  I will be happier if we ever get a "real" one.  Prayers and thoughts going out to all who need them and from the sounds of the recent posts, many such items are needed.  Buckeye, especially thinking of you.  Losing one friend that way is tough.  Two is two too many.  Good to hear from Reggie in another thread.  Spent the rest of the evening with the grandson.  Can't have too much time with him.  One of these days I am going write an entire post in acronyms.  For example, IHTUFOTDCFB is "I had the usual fare on the dining car for breakfast" and IHEHAGD is "I hope everyone has a good day".

KOT (Keep on Training),

Mike C. from Indiana 

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Good Morning from beautiful Southern Ohio,

Cool and sunny.  Last day off then start my 7 straight 12 hr shifts.  Bleh!  Hopefully finish paper today for class.

John - Great looking shelves.  Neat idea to put the space under the layout to work.

Dennis - Are they going to be showing the movie anywhere around Portsmouth O.

Buckeye - Prayers for your friend, and you too.

Chuck - I am glad you are feeling better.  What caused the leg to act up in the first place?

Wes - Be careful and just because you feel better don't violate what the docs say, it may void the warranty!

Jack - Oh wow!  Prayers for the bride.

Laz - Have a great time.

Mike C - After working for the government regulated industry for almost 32 years the acronyms become part of the language.

May God bless all and especially those with special needs!

Jim

[sir james I]

Good morning all,

Buckeye sorry about your friend. Sadly over the years I  have seen so many  souls leave this earth because of cancer, I lost count years ago. I would rather die today than live two more years with cancer.

We have another beautiful morning going to 81, I guess that means its a good grass cutting day. But I will wait and let the dew dry first. Right now everything is wet. Not much news from the store, they get a few packages from the brown truck once in a while but no big shipments from either of the two big guys.

I am going to enjoy todays sunshine I hope all of you have the same. Although I do remember seeing that the east coast could have rain today....S.J.

[RockIsland52]

Good mornin', ya'll, from clear and crisp NE Taxachussetts.  4-6 inches of rain on the way so grass mowing, like others, is now on the top of the "to do" list.  Been hitting the low 40s the last few nights and the mid 60s in the daytime.  Trees starting to do their Fall performance.  Wherever did the Summer go?  I had the furnace checked, annual thing, so we're set to go.    Every year I try to delay actually using it until October but not sure we'll make it that long this year.  And the snowblower is next on the "to do" maintainence list.

To Chuck, Wes, SPMan, and the Chief.....hope you continue on the mend.  Dennis might suggest that you start following the Doctor's instructions.  This isn't like trains where you can toss the operators' manual and press buttons until you get your whistle working.  Wonder if Chief's leg fell off.

Buckeye.....I learned a lot, but I just can't remember what.  Rocks are kinda slow on the learning curve.  Retention worse.  Seriously, prayers for your long time buddy, makes me think of just how lucky I am.  Sir James' post made me think long and hard about how I had put off that first colonoscopy.  We see it all around us, but we think it will never happen to us.

Philly.....your post was sad and sobering.  Prayers.  Wearing a badge in today's day and age is like wearing a target.

John Jet....love the under-the-board train storage for quick access, space saving, aesthetics, AND semi-protection from the elements.  Looks like finely finished furniture.  Thank you for the pictures.  How on the Lord's green earth did you get the wife to mow the lawn?  Write a book on the topic and get rich quick!

MikeC.....all you need to do now is pass on some of your "fire" to the kids that DO have an opportunity and good fortune to play.  When rules meant to level the (soccer) playing field run amuck.  The difficulty of considering exceptions is time consuming and opens up a whole other can of worms for a school and conference administration.  We ran into that in my neck of the woods when there was no boys soccer team at a local school and a male student wanted clearance to play on the girls squad.  He was no ringer.  Just a young boy who wanted the opportunity to play and compete.  Kid loses.

Mitch.....when you finally take a well-deserved vacation break, make sure you give those holding down the fort in your absence your cell phone number so you can be reached in case of emergency.  Just remember to give them the wrong number.  The issues won't bring down civilization in your absence, and someone else might get a new found appreciation for what it is like to walk in your shoes for a change.

Dennis.....happy belated anniversary!  This "event" is sacrosanct with women.  Sometimes when life keeps throwing too many curve balls my way, I celebrate something twice, the second time when least expected.  The unexpected sometimes is appreciated more than the expected, though I have to remind myself not to go to the well too many times.  With little ones at home it is worse, and spontaneity has a tendency to take a back seat.

Sir James....lunch with the daughter, great idea.  I should make the time do that too. 

ANJ/Rich......how's the ignition issue with the HD working out?  Was also wondering how Mopar Restoration South, Inc., was coming along.

JohnBakeer.....it is somewhat comforting to hear that the composition of  "foreign" soccer players on one's team on your side of the Pond is no different than ours.  It's like there is an unwritten rule that ones' elegibility is contingent on a birth certificate from somewhere else.

MPZ........congratulations on the new train venue..........house.  You sound pumped.  We needed that good news from you.

Laz.....what do you do with the fish after you catch them?  Laz to fish: "I'm gonna gut you, boy!"  (Nicholas Cage in The Rock)  Best belated wishes for a stellar time.  Need a trailer for the Old Mils?  Usually when I go on vacation with the wife I can get everything in the car on the front end.  Back end is quite a different story.  Wife considered leaving me behind in the White Mountains of NH on the last trip so she could get all of her treasures home safe and sound.  Surprise!  I wasn't considered one of the treasures, though I cannot for the life of me figure out why. 

Fife.....two weeks of vacation, the only true way to unwind.  And October.  Perfect.  At least one of us knows how to do it right.  I need to realize how much time is required to truly recharge the batteries and screw my head back on straight.  The world will still be there whenever we return.

DougDG......"Trainheads," loved the term you coined.  Does that make us all groupies?

DougM.....our children's definition of "breakup" is quite different than ours.  Have faith that by Monday there will probably be some sort of "reconciliation."  And the distraction from school responsibilities will return unabated if not increased in intensity.

To steal from Dennis and others, May God bless.

Jack

[laz 57]

HI GIZ again,

  BUCKEYE sorry to hear about  your friend.  Thats why I run.

  JELECTRIC, nice shelf system you'd get an A+ from me.

  JACK, we throw all the fish back.  We take a few pics then release them.  The GAME WARDENS up there fine the living H*** out of you.  If one is illegally hooked and you take it $150.  If your caught trying to snag a fish $150.  Its a big money maker up there all be it fun but you gotta watch yourself.

  laz57 

[cnw1995]

Morning all. Sunny here. Walked the youngest to school.

Prayers for Jack's wife!  Happy belated anniversary to Dennis and  his bride. Great job on the shelving, John.

Condolences to Buckeye. I haven't had this experience yet... 

Jack, I am so silly to have thought teens would be 'easier' to parent than the youngsters.

What sort of license do you need to fish in your state? Here in IL, I need something for everyone, even if the kiddos are standing around mostly - if they might touch a rod.

[phillyreading]

Afternoon guys,

Cooling off some this weekend here in south Florida, going into upper 60's overnight and mid 80's during the day, also had some rain lately.

Had to fix a water pipe the other night as it came apart at the connections, looked like the glue didn't hold good on the PVC joint. Disturbed the PVC pipe as I was pulling up some weeds and then I heard a pop and water gushing out of a pipe. Got the pipe fixed within 15 minutes, it was the sprinkler system water supply and hose for front yard.

Ran two MTH DSC engines together on tuesday, worked good. Only problem was after I seperated the two engines getting the remote to work correctly and start up each engine again. The remote acted like it didn't want to work with one of the engines it just controlled.

Lee F.

[dwiemer]

Good Afternoon everyone.  Had a early case today and then some paperwork.  It was hard to stay focused for too long.  At least I finished relatively early.  Temps are certainly cooler here.  Was about 60 this morning and about 80 right now.  A welcome break.  Today is bride's birthday, so we will head out to dinner at a fancy place.  While it can be financially tough to have anniversary right next to birthday, it works for remembering these things....which can be even more expensive if you forget one!

Well, the movie comes out tomorrow.  I am looking forward to it as it was a lot of work and seems so long ago.  Finally, it comes out and we get to relax...till the next one.  While we don't get any enrichment off it, it is wonderful to put something together that will impact people in a positive way.

Jim, if you go to the web site, they have a list of theaters.  While you may not have your specific town listed, most are not too far from a theater in a neighboring town.  The web site's at:  http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

I hear that Kirk Cameron is going to be on Dr. Phil today, talking about the movie.  I don't get network TV (we have satallite), but may find it on one of the stations.  Never seen his program.

Anyway, hope to catch y'all later.

Dennis