Good Mornin', Ya'll, from Snowy Taxachusetts,
The snow from points West reached us around 5am, and the puppy announced its arrival with cries for a pit stop. As much as it is a pain to get up that early and take the dog out, it is a whole lot better than the alternative. Packed up some yellow snow and fresh #2 delivery and shipped one box off to Roseyville. The second box is sitting outside because I don't have the address for Eagles' Nest. Today's snow accumulation is expected to reach the 6 inch range, not too bad except all of the cities and towns have already blown their snow removal budgets and the street crews are expectedly missing in action. Annual snowfall in these parts is already beyond our annual average of 42 inches with two months left in the snow season. Made a run last night to pick up some of life's essentials before the snow hit.......beer and chips.
Dennis.....apologies if my post on socialized medicine wasn't clear. My point was that too much of the cost of health care in this country is tied up in underutilized capital assets, unnecessary administrative expenses, defenses against our litigious society, and administration-mandated defensive medicine protocols. I used to read Medical Economics. About 20 years ago there was a series on health care costs accrued during the last 90 days of a patient's life. The conclusion was this: in many respects, we had developed the technical ability to prolong death and therefore deny patients some semblance of personal dignity at the end. Hence the notarized DNR (Do Not Revive/Rescusitate) instructions many have left with their/our loved ones. There is a virtually unlimited demand for health care and limited resources to pay for it. A lethal catch 22.
Fife.....I always enjoy your layout pics (auto carrier thread). Thank you. On another subject, when you ask folks how they managed to see the bad road conditions and then try to defy them, thereby hitting other cars, telephone poles, the concrete jersey barriers, and then rolling their vehicle over, what excuses do they give you? As evidenced up my way by high number of crashes reported on this morning's news, experience with driving in snow and ice seems to be of no value. So much for radically improved tire technology, all wheel drive, traction control, abs, and vehicle dynamic controls. All that seems to have done is double the cost of our cars but has had little impact on safety and personal responsibility
Don......glad to hear all went well with the wife's visit to the Doctor. You did remember the Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia and the Pepperidge Farm cookies, didn't you? My wife eats them, strictly for medicinal purposes mind you.
DougDG......you hit the nail on the head. The wife's snow shovelling the other night of our deck WAS for the dog. This has always been a task delegated to PFC RockIsland52, coupled with threats if the outcome did not pass post task inspection.
MikeC.....I hope the "beer cans on your front lawn" comment brought a smile to your face, however brief. Life can be overwhelming at times, and I hoped a dose of it might help you. Prayers, brother.
JimSP.....you suggested I do something nice for the wife. So I took your advice and cooked dinner last night. I'm not sure that worked. Don't know if that was an appreciative smile on her face or a grimmace at the dinner prospects which sat on the plate before her.
Jon......re the Surf anniversary affair, we can't wait for you to post pics of yourself in a poodle skirt, leather jacket, and riding boots.
Rich.....at the risk of being redundant, we're all pulling for you in this difficult time and have nothing but hope for the best for you and yours. Hang in there. Prayers.
Chief.....I need the address of the Lake house to send you that very special gift. The exported from me/imported by you yellow snow with brown accents will really dress up your place.
Lee......so many of us share in your worry over the job situation. The MA. solution to our dilapidated road situation and the concurrent bugetary issues to resolve it apparently lies in a 2-pronged, strip my wallet clean attack. The MA. State legislature proposes yet another significant hike in tolls and bridge/tunnel fees as well as a $.27 per gallon hike in the gasoline tax. Talk about kicking people while they are down! Unemploment here has hit 6.9%. On an unrelated note, your visit to to help out your parents out with a few things brought back some fond memories for me. No parents left to help, so I have to find peace that I was there for them when they were around.
Brutus......hope your little one is back to full speed.
Mitch......prayers that the wife is holding up after the loss of Grandma. I did not have the luxury of time with my grandparents, lost the last one when I was 13.
Laz......I get sore and tired just reading your posts. Doesn't snow removal count as exercise for you? Re the new snowblower, what did you get?
GregM.....prayers that this prospect works out for you. Patience and persistence is the order of the day.
Kurt.....was thinking of you last night and wondered if you have found the right military school for the little one yet? Unfortunatley for you, they don't take them that young, but it's ok to plan ahead.
Later, gang. Got to take some ibuprofen in anticipation of the snow shovelling and snowblowing impact I am sure to suffer this afternoon.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
JACK,
Traded in my old Cub Cadet riding mower/snowblower attachment, for a troy bilt snowblower. Chech it out...
http://www.troybilt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_14102_10122_55007_-1
This is what I have, it works great even has built in hand warmers. I didn't need them was quite balmy at 28 degrees. Glad I got rid of the old CUB, because it was a real chore putting on snow blower and heavy. But the good thing about the old Cub was sitting down. Oh well I need the exercise?
laz57
I am at work and we are on minimum staffing. It has been quite a morning responding to equipment failures with only a handful of folks. The weather coming in to work was not too bad but the roads from what we hear are really getting bad and the ice forming on trees is pulling down power lines.
It may be a long day
May God bless
Jim
Cleared the snow, it has left the area headed east. two inchs maybe.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Snow is done. Only about four inches.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
STILL Snowing, over 12" have fallen on top of the 15" we already had!
I am a person with a very active inner child. This is why my wife loves me so. Willoughby, Ohio - the home of the CP & E RR. OTTS Founder www.spankybird.shutterfly.com
For my fellow Nawtherna's - I'm more than willing to ship this weather to you no charge, just ask ....
I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.I am the venom in your skin --- Breaking Benjamin
I don't even want to think about that much snow .... had about 3-4 " with freezing rain on top of it here in Maryland . Could have ice skated to the mail box ... bones won't take a fall like that anymore ... oh lord ... come on spring ! Spankybird ... do you still have that beautiful parrot/bird ? Lord it's beautiful .
Hey Laz ... build yourself a litlle saucky or whatever they're called or spelled . I had on on the back of a Gravely mower once ... in fact had 2 and gave one away . They're simple to build though .
Spanky, you aren't under the bridge are you?
It is still snowing and I just finished third time shoveling the driveway. I think some blew back in this time though. Road has not been scraped yet.
Took some pictures so when Karen and I pack our few remaining belongings and head to warmer temperatures we can look back fondly on what we left behind.
Buckeye, that is sad news indeed, sorry. I hope the rest of you can deal with the ice, the only thing worse than ice is an F4 tornado like we had last May or perhaps a hurricane.
Jack--I'd take that pic for you tonight at the Surf (this is the actual 50 yr. date) but it's sold out plus Chief wouldn't loan me his blond wig
Jon
So many roads, so little time.
It looks like the Forum is working now.
Still have a lot of snow and ice. But we have heat.
Evening all
Just got home from work. The roads are not too bad. Just slick in spots.
Kurt - I opened the box from Buckeye, nice car. There is a lot of detail on the O cars.
Well I am going to fix supper then relax a bit.
No its not, just erased my thread. we will get blamed again instead of the problem getting fixed.
Ok I'll try again, two inch's of snow, then sunshine, got taxes done.
Banilla is waiting.
Snow on them Yankees. mess with their minds and erase their posts.
Well, back from my meetings [finally]. Dinner one was OK but way out in the Triangle. Heavy rains here and exceptionally warm. Suppose to have tomorrow off adn no Town meetings. Now for some popcorn. Later.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Well, made it to work - big mess yesterday and last night, but it wasn't too bad this morning. Had another 5 inches on top of the driveway to clear off, so I just did my side so I could go to work. My wife tried to use the snow blower around lunch time, but it kept quiting? I think it was a combination of having the choke set wrong and trying to eat too wide of a stripe. She wanted to be done sooner, so just plowed into it - had to restart. Did it again, etc. Finally she sent the kids out with shovels, lol! No trains today, but did learn about some Marx stuff from Sir James. Also passed a couple emails with Doug today. Tardis is ready and scope is on, I'll swing by and get you guys in a couple minutes.
Huh - they just cancelled school again tomorrow? I guess they are using the old side-roads aren't clear excuse. Then these teachers will all be going boo-hoo in June when they are still working. Gonna snow again Monday, so then what? Oh well, have to call the boss and see what can be done about this as wife has to work at least part of a day tomorrow.
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Brutus--
Many teachers are signed up for college classes in the summer to keep working across the salary schedule or to re certify so they need to be done with their teaching responsibilities as I've never known a university to delay starting classes. Many teachers also have a 2nd job in the summer to make ends meet. Do you think parents enjoy changing summer vacation plans because school goes longer, boo hoo. Parents are always the first to gripe.
Chief The Merciless wrote......Snow on them Yankees. mess with their minds and erase their posts.
Good Evnin', Ya'll, from Soon-To-Be Icebound RockIsland52,
I think the Forum is on its last legs. I got the OOOOPS timeout about 15 times when I tried to get into the CTT Forums topics section, booted me right off the net. Then when I tried to open a thread or page, kept getting booted off as well. Now that I'm in, I see a scarcity of Pot posts or any others for that matter, so I guess Bob Kelleher is not picking on me.
We got 6 more inches of snow today, putting me at 50" for the season. Someone deposited a shower curtain on the street somewhere, and the snowplows deposited it under a wall of snow and ice at the end of my driveway, hidden from view. When my snowblower "found" it, the fight was on. What a tangled mess around the blades. Fortunately for me, the sheer pin didn't let go, and after an hour I was able to clear that up.
But by that time the snowfall had turned to a steady downpour and the driveway had turned to the heaviest slush. My trusty snowblower was slinging water and the slush! By the time I finished, there was a pond at the end of the driveway, storm drains in the street clogged and the rain water had nowhere to go. I was soaked to the skin. And now the temps are falling. War with the ice is next.
Wife got around ok in the snow with the new UHP all-season Bridgestone Potenzas I put on her car, so it looks like I may not have to put dedicated snow tires on her vehicle.
Laz.......thanks for the Troybuilt link. Your snowblower has handwarmers?!?! How do those work? What's the horsepower?
I'm off to find the bottle of Aleve and then to bed.
Yeah Jon, you are right I know. I have sisters who are teachers and friends who are teachers and they were so excited and couldn't wait for that first flake to hit the ground. I was glad to be off a day myself. They have built in snow days, so they can get an additional 5 or 6 days off a year. So, the very first snow, like 1/4 inch, school is called off. They do that a couple times, in November and December. Well, around here we get our real Winter weather later and generally have an ice or snow storm about mid-March. Year after year the real weather hits, that those days were designed to "cover down", and it's a roll of the dice as to whether those days will be enough.
However, one friend who is a teacher at our kids' school is already worried and letting us know about it. No, she's not taking any courses this Summer. It's a pattern. She was so happy to have days off earlier when there really was not an excuse other than everybody wanted a snow day, and laughed at our worry about taking days off to cover the kids, so it is hard to feel sorry for her. This is a specific case and my post earlier was too generic and I can feel that it lead to some misunderstanding.
Too, I worry about the kids who are depending on that school for a nice hot breakfast, a good lunch, and structured time; abandoned to stay at home too young and unprepaired and unprotected by parents who don't care as much as some of us do or can't reschedule their annual leave as easily -- especially in the current economy.
So, my thought was not complete in my prior post and if I offended you or other teachers (Mitch, Laz, etc) then I apologize for that offense. This was really me boo-hooing about a specific person and while the pattern does extend to some others, it is certainly not all.
My wife and I will split the shift tomorrow and cover our kids' day off. We're lucky we can do it, that's for sure.
Peace.
Ps - technically, I was the 2nd to gripe. And the 4th
RockIsland52 Chief The Merciless wrote......Snow on them Yankees. mess with their minds and erase their posts. Good Evnin', Ya'll, from Soon-To-Be Icebound RockIsland52, I think the Forum is on its last legs. I got the OOOOPS timeout about 15 times when I tried to get into the CTT Forums topics section, booted me right off the net. Then when I tried to open a thread or page, kept getting booted off as well. Now that I'm in, I see a scarcity of Pot posts or any others for that matter, so I guess Bob Kelleher is not picking on me. We got 6 more inches of snow today, putting me at 50" for the season. Someone deposited a shower curtain on the street somewhere, and the snowplows deposited it under a wall of snow and ice at the end of my driveway, hidden from view. When my snowblower "found" it, the fight was on. What a tangled mess around the blades. Fortunately for me, the sheer pin didn't let go, and after an hour I was able to clear that up. But by that time the snowfall had turned to a steady downpour and the driveway had turned to the heaviest slush. My trusty snowblower was slinging water and the slush! By the time I finished, there was a pond at the end of the driveway, storm drains in the street clogged and the rain water had nowhere to go. I was soaked to the skin. And now the temps are falling. War with the ice is next. Wife got around ok in the snow with the new UHP all-season Bridgestone Potenzas I put on her car, so it looks like I may not have to put dedicated snow tires on her vehicle. Laz.......thanks for the Troybuilt link. Your snowblower has handwarmers?!?! How do those work? What's the horsepower? I'm off to find the bottle of Aleve and then to bed. Jack
Thank you Lord. Prayers answered. I always want to return the favor [for the boxes he shipped]. Good night. Lucy and I have been reclinerizing.
OK Chief....Enough with the snohio already. I have seen enough snow and ice to last me a lifetime. I hate snow days because it messes up schedules, quarterly assessments, report card distribution, and the calendar, etc. Today we have 2 hour delay mainly to give custodians and maintenance time to de-ice the parking lots and sidewalks. Being in a new building they won't let us use ice melt or salt on the "green" sidewalks, so our custodians have to scrape up the snow/ice as best they can and then lay down barn grit so no one slips and breaks their keester.
Have been posting much but have not been having any problems with the server as yet. Probably because I am on way early in the AM.
Take care,
Mitch
Bob Mitchell Gettysburg, PA TCA # 98-47956 LCCA# RM22839
A bit of a late start this morning. Got a BIG case, should be on bypass for better than 6 hours...arghh. Anyway, I too had attempted to post last night and got the "OOPS" message. Just logged out.
Had a bit of an interesting day yesterday. Got done early, so I went and picked wife up, then daughter. We did some shopping at WalMart (found some military vehicles in 1/48th). Anyway, while we were in the store, someone found a woman dead in her car in the lot. Little bit of excitement around the whole deal. Think some kind of crime as the way she was found and she was 56. Don't know much more, but I am sure the details will follow soon.
Got my CTT yesterday. Looks to be a good issue. Looks like I need to pick up some "Glue Dots". Shows that even people from Ohio can come up with a good thing...... Just kidding. Good idea Buckeye.
Well, gotta run. Hope everyone has a blessed day.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
HI GYZ,
19 here and icy. Gotta 2 hr. delay. Yea! Did my 2 miles this morning on treadmill, then I painted the apron going around my minning operation. Going to put clear plastic on sides tonite.
Have a safe one,
Stay FROSTY,
BRUTUS,
I'm with you those rotten teachers! They are never happy. Always complaining.
Mornin' boys. CRUSTY and 25 here in the Mid-Atlantic region. Ice skated the trash out to the curb last night (Russion judge gave me a 4.5 ...)
dwiemer - Any jeeps...?
RockIsland - Velocity succumbs to a low coefficient of friction. Rarely do I need to ask folks how they wound up in a ditch, over a hydrant, or on their roof. The skidmarks and impressions are more reliable story tellers. What I do like to find out is what their destinations were. I can tolerate the folks that are trying to get to or from work, or the hospital (even the Methadone clinic...I'm digressing here). I have a hard time "suffering" the fool who wants to venture out to BLOCKBUSTER, or Mcdonalds, or needs a lottery ticket.
Good morning all,
It is cloudy and cold in SE Indiana, but the roads are clear (at least the interstates). Surface roads in Indy are a bit dicey, but made it to work ok. I ran the 10E with the freight cars with no pileups last night. Watched "Lost". Tried to go to YMCA, but they closed at 5 PM when the weather was good and the roads clear on Wednesday and kept it open Tuesday night when it was freezing rain. Go figure. Wednesday was open gym night so they did not have any extra revenue activities going on. Hmmmm... Spent part of Wednesday shoveling out sidewalks, which was not too bad and driving up and down the alley to make sure we could get out ok. I had bran muffins on the dining car this morning for breakfast. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Raining HEAVILY today, too bad it ain't SnOHIO!!! Boy oh boy would the locals be crazed!!! Much ponding and of course all the wackos are out. Seems no one here knows how to drive in the RAIN, much less the sunny days!!
Cooked a nice stew beef with rice last night, making Chicken Alfredo tonight. I think this will be an early night, these 0500 revilles are getting to me. By the time I'm in bed it's after 10. I'll get to sleep late Saturday (0830) then go to the train store. I think I'll take next Saturday off, I need a break.
I'm gonna start getting the Hot Wheels out and sorting them. Time to liquidate and clean out. The move is on hold for now, which is both surprising and dissapointing, I just found a great place by the POOL for less than $700/month. Therapist is in my corner.
More later from a soggy FLA!
Good Morning all:
sir james - Taxes done? You must be getting money back.
No posting problems here. But then, we in Virginia, and the South generally, live charmed lives. What say you Chief?
Ran across a train book I had in the 50's and thought I would post interesting (at least to me) facts of the day. Today's Animals and the Rails story:
Dining-car stewards use to save scraps for animals that regularly met the train and demand lunch. One day a goat boarded the dining car, had his snack, and got off at the next station, and took another train home. Officials of the railroad finally gave him a metal pass to wear around his neck.
Until next time .....
Patrick L
RFD-TV --- Rural America's most important network!
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