Good Evening
Well the rain we were hoping for disappeared somewhere between Chicago and Detroit. It never got here..83 right now.
I am going out for awhile but Brutus knows where the key is, although he tends to be forgetful sometimes. So help yourself to the banilla but not the trains....S.J.
"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
Afternoon all,
I'm watching two of the kids today, the third is going for a doctor visit. It is the oldest girl and she cannot seem to shake a Unarary Track Infection that just keeps coming back.
The kids "helped" me work on the truck this morning. A mouse chewed through the hose for the winshield washer. The repair involved removing one of the batteries to get to the washer resorvior, then a trip to Ace Hardware. Just finished lunch and after lunch settles we'll work in the yard.
Check back later
May God bless
Jim
Not much going on today for me. I had to run to the bank and post office this morning to get a money order. I finally found a stock cd player for the Probe that came out of a 96 GT. The owner upgraded to an aftermarket deck, so I bought his original that he removed. I spent last night fixing some rust on top of the radiator support and polishing the front valve cover. If the guys who rebuilt the transmission didn't leave the car outside with the hood off, I wouldn't have to do this. I still haven't started any benchwork, but I don't feel like doing that during summer anyway. I might go fishing later.
Aloha. A bit late checking in due to the normal office hysteria that is associated with a few key people calling in sick. Those Chicago buildings diorama were 'rapid protoyped' in about 20 hours! The modeling house had to work up schematics in Google Sketch-up because they didn't exist. Brent, sponsors abounded so I'll bet it was expensive. Brutus, great work on Thomas. Here's today's office view - that's the main Chicago library.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Morning all!
Brutus: Great Job! Thanks for sharing.
Patrick: Prayers for your health.
Jon & Rich: Thanks for the e-mails!
Working around the house today! Taught 4-yo to throw frisbee yesterday! She's good at it too, but afraid to catch it...it keeps hitting her in the shins. Today we'll put her shin guards on that she never used.
New battery in the Barbie 4x4 we received from neighbors. Kids ran it all day long, and went around the block in it. 4-yo said she needs a kid motorcycle... I reminded her we paid as much as 2-video games for the 4x4 battery, and she needs to ride her bike w/o training wheels first. I bought a 2-hour charger as well. Normally it takes 18-hours to fully charge the battery...not very practical.
Sorry to hear about the zoo funding. They cut the Detroit Institute of Arts funding here awhile ago, and it was picked-up by private citizens.
Kurt
Good Morning
Sunny now but rain expected coming from the west. After that we are in the clear. No plans today, first day in over a week, maybe some train running. I have my mind on an NYC ABA that has not had a workout for some time now. Have a great day.
S.J.
Got cauth in the rain too, felt like needles hittin my chest (had the full face helmet on).
Try to not get caught in hail, needles in the chest would be much more pleasant
Lots of lawn work to get done today before I leave early tomorrow for a lovely weekend on the back roads of Wisconsin with about 150 of my good friends I think the gettin' ready is the hardest part, always one more thing to do The forecast is great, cool temps with low humidity, YES! Fife you should pull the ship up to Lake Peppin---lots of great sailing there, I really enjoy hanging around the harbor in Lake City if we lived a little closer to that harbor .............
Time to get busy.
Jon
So many roads, so little time.
Mornin’ guys!
Really slammed here at the Auto Palace. Due to cost over-runs, I have to backtrack our costs and document them. It really was an accounting error on out vendors’ part(s), but I guess I have to pay the price. Geez, you’d think they’d want to get paid in a timely manner!
I was cleaning the train room and found a plastic storage box with a bunch of PW rolling stock I had forgotten I had put away. And I have a bunch more laying around, and more I haven’t seen yet (in boxes). If and when I move to the bigger room, I’m gonna have to make sure it’s either stored or displayed. Separated the Marx stuff I got and the Lionel. I am contemplating selling off the Marx, but not sure yet.
I drew out a small rail yard using a 72 degree switchable wye and 1 (each) left and right switches, which would give me 4 storage tracks. Pieced it together on the floor and it looks pretty good.
Jon & Kurt – was out riding Saturday and stopped by the BIG HD center in town, almost got a ’98 Fat Boy, but the financing number just weren’t in my area code. Would have been nice, but I like my payments right now (just not my seat...). Got 44 MPG on the ‘ol Sporty and I wasn’t even trying!!
Been debating on going to Orlando for the BIG train show, not sure I want to drive 2 hours each way....there are BIKE things to do locally.
See ya inna bit!Rich
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
Mornin' boys. Sunny & 63 here in the Mid-Atlantic region. Legs a little stiff after 3 1/2 hours directing traffic at our busiest intersection due to a power failure. Younger guys needed relief...
cnw1995 - No wunder I can't find any grey leggos...
Good morning all,
It is cloudy and rain is on the way in SE Indiana. I practiced with "my" soccer girls and did weights at the YMCA. Ran the Alaskan docksider for the grandkids and did some outside activities with them. These two combined are not nearly demanding in terms of energy as the other grandson alone. Last game of the regular season tonight, weather permitting. I had the regular fare on the dining car for breakfast. Beacon is lit, but the weather may be rough so the stabilizers better get full power on the Tardis tonight. Do not want Don's neighbor to fall and hurt herself. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Brutus I need to find some narrower gauge stranded wire and redo the tether I guess.
Brutus, looks good. For tethers try going to a hobby shop that has RC airplane supplies. I've found the harnesses used for servos, etc. work well.
Mornin' Fellas.Thanks for all the replies on the kid front. It is nice to have a group of friends who share their experiences and not pass judgement.Fife - it may be a huge project, but it would be cool! LOL!Doug - I wonder how much they spent building that model... makes one wonder...Jack - I'm really looking forward to completing the sunroom and screened porch. I've been going over the plans and I think I've found a couple areas for improvement, will discuss with the carpenter when he is comes out today or tomorrow. Got started last night by removing a section of retaining wall that was used as a 4" high flower bed around the deck. I'm not sure I'll be able to reuse any of the stones because they used construction adheasive to bond the rows together (these are really small landscaping stones). I may try to chip the adheasive away and just stack the stones, then when I do the hardscaping replace them all with nicer stones.So next weekend I should be able to use my garage stall for the first time in 2 months!
Had a little fun on the shopping spree. Not much auto or train stuff but got some more things to use around the house. The few garden tools that have either worn out or been given away over the years. Finally decided to replace my dad's old antique shop vac. Now needs hose # 3 anyway and someone who borrowed it cut the ground off and the cord is wearing out anyway. Normally I would fix all this, but I figure after spending more on it than a new one the motor would prob finally give out.
More lab work back today that they did last time I was in. Nothing, nada, zip. And even though peanut butter is on the doc ok'd list it's apparently not and I even have the all natural stuff. Seems to set me off a bit each time I eat it. The group that schedules the class seems to be having communications issues. Alas. I'll call the doc tomorrow and see where we go from here. I did hear from the hospital than Visit #1 is now settled financially. I just had to pay the copays for the ER visits, so I can't complain there. Visit #2 is still in process. No ambulance rides that time, but I'm sure the angiogram wasn't cheap.
Brutus - Looking good! If I ever get into TMCC thought it might be fun to try installing it in some of the older equipment. Would be an interesting blend of electronics and antiques. Wouldn't really want to put it into something pristine, but most of my stuff is either fairly common and average condition. Let us know what you decide on the whistle.
Hope all the mods to the Tardis don't send it to Ludicrous Speed (for those Spaceballs fans out there)
Bob
Tucson, AZ (aka the Ol' Pueblo)
Home of the Mt. Graham & Arizona Eastern Boiler Shops
Evening all from beautiful Southern Ohio
It was beautiful today! I tool this week off and helped Fr. Matt pack up Sunday and leave and helped our “new” priest Fr. Joe unload yesterday and today. I am looking forward to developing a new relationship with him as we will be working very closely together.
I have been working with the grandkids to ride a two wheeler. They are doing good. No blood yet!
DougM – That little visitor looks even smaller next to G gauge!
Fife – I can identify. An added perk I never thought of when we got the truck camper is you don’t have to buy tags! That is $38 a year for . . . . trains!
Brent – Brother in law adopted a little boy and he is a true blessing and may God bless his natural mother for not taking the easy way out.
Way to go Brutus, you dud it. Another nice day so I cut the grass as rain is expected tomorrow. Banilla for the Tardis crew and off we go. You know that could be paint as I took a break and it is real easy to comb. Maybe I dozed off...S.J.
Bob - good deal on the hardware store certs, love gift certs to hardware stores
Doug - How cool! I think you once posted a pic of that section of the railroad from the top of a nearby building? Still have that pic? I used to have it as my background pic at work
Jack - DMV was quick and painless
Well, I finished Thomas, although I had the motor wires backwards - took 5 minutes to fix that. Here is a pic of the installed and complete board:
The tether is not too stiff now, but I had to remove the wire for the whistle trigger. I need to find some narrower gauge stranded wire and redo the tether I guess. With the 4 wires alone, it works fine though. I got an email from ERR with instructions for this whistle, so I might upgrade the upgrade, mayeb this weekend? In the meantime, I set it up as engine 2 and played with it and my A5 on the same loop of track for a while today - good fun! Here is a demo of the engine running:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXTlu7B-fLs
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Dennis--
Any chance of progress pics? As you know, construction phase is my favorite part of the hobby.
Doug, perhaps you can get that set up for the layout! That would be way cool to run some track around such structures.
Jack, I'm with Chief, only I have a "quiet" 22 that has caused a lot of squirrels to subcome to lead poisoning in the last week, about 14 have done so. Has been interesting in that the other day, we had a Cooper's Hawk and two Turkey Vultures spar off over a carcass. Hawk won. Also, had a falcon visit today.
Brent, We too have adopted....it's a great thing. Funny, so many of the question issues just aren't there when it is all said and done. We have a biological child as well and love them both the same. I commented to my wife about being amazed that from the two of us, our son was born, but followed with the fact that neither of us can imagine life without our daughter. Adoptions take some time and LOTS of paperwork. Well worth it, but you may want to do some serious looking into things as it will be awhile. Also, many couples going through the same issues you and Susie Q are will adopt and soon afterwards, get a "surprise". We have some friends who tried the fertility thing for 10 years. Then adopted from China and within a year, were pregnant. Now they have 2 biological kids and another on the way. This seems to happen alot.
OK, so right now I have dueling banjos in my ears (on the iTouch), but how appropriate that it would come up while posting here.
Have spent the last two days doing a lot of soldering on the layout. I have 20 fastrack switches that I am running wires to and doing the control panel. Also ran power to each switch so I can run them off another power source. My back will never be the same.
Well, better go, but I hope that everyone has a blessed day.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Doug--
Shouldn't that river be green? Oh, wait a minute---it must not be St. Paddy's day
Hmmm, I have some burrowing chipmunks too below the front stoop. We have a little game - I fill in their holes, they dig them out again. There's some good ideas here. Jack, this benighted state not only hasn't figured out its $11b deficiti but raised all sorts of weird taxes for a road-spending bill. from $10 to $30 for a license; $70 to $100 for a plate renewal; raised taxes on things as varied as wine and dandruff shampoo! The Cubs might go into bankruptcy to help the sale - they're hung up on overvalued broadcast rights. Look what I visited at lunch. See the North Western tracks? Big display on unfunded frieght rail improvements. Bob, good news about the hardware store.
Can't wait for the Tardis ride tonight. My turn to drive, Bob has the nitrogen and Jack has dismissed my two strikes. Buckle up tight boys!.
Chief - we are on our way.
Pat
RFD-TV --- Rural America's most important network!
Another sunny and hot one here in the Ol' Pueblo. Not a whole lot of rain though. May have to drag out the hose again later.
Happy Birthday Charlie!
Brutus - took a look at your SPF pics of the Thomas conversion. Looks pretty neat. Hopefully your young friend will be reassured by his reappearance!
Pat - I can get you liquid nitrogen if you just want to try over-clocking main chip:)
Jack - thanks for the words or encouragement. My doc has been with me for 12 years and knows the animal fairly well. Has certainly been an adjustment as I've never really dealt w/ anything like this before. Forgot that the Merrimack River was in MA. Was, of course, the namesake river of the famous frigate that the guy's down Chief's way got hold of. Have several books on the subject and would love to make an operating model of the Monitor's side-lever engine. Anyone seen the new museum display?
Well the hardware store is going to let me use those out of date gift certificates. Fred wants me to use 'em ASAP so I'm off pretty soon for a little spending spree at Ace.
Hope everyone has a good day!
Charlie
Good Mornin' Ya'll From Still-Sunny Taxachusetts,
What a difference a few days of sunshine do for the positive psyche after about 6 weeks of overcast and rainy weather. Our temps are finally approaching the normal highs of 82 for this time of year. Spent late yesterday afternoon and early evening assembling a new kiddie pool for the 5 year old granddaughter. About 13 feet in diameter and 29" deep, complete with filter and ladder. In one respect it seems like such a waste; she (and her friends) only hopped in the old one about 4 times last summer because the weather and (water) temps were not cooperating. The weather has been worse this Summer. But the kids always have a riot when they are in there. The responsibilities of grandparenthood are great, greater if your daughter and SIL have no place to erect this type of stuff.
I have been duly informed that the headcount for the 5 y/o granddaughter's 6th b-day party at my place could exceed 60 including adults, family, and friends. One grill isn't going to cut it, so I have a problem to resolve. I volunteered setting (back) up the 12' x 12' gazebo in the yard for shade and shelter from the elements, but I got outvoted by wife and daughter. They seem to think a larger, rented circus tent complete with a hired crew to assemble and disassemble would be more suitable. This is one of those things where an opposing viewpoint (mine) is not only futile but fodder for future "you are a stick in the mud" observations that continue well into our 80's, or until dementia and forgetfulness take hold. I shudder to think what the granddaughters' birthday parties will further morph into in the future. I said that last year at this time. When I was a kid........but I digress.
Wes.......long time no read. A redundant but sincere congratulations on your new digs. There is so much to like and enjoy about this place (from your pics). Your comment about finding room in your garage struck home. My garage, like my basememt, is filled with the kids junk and is evidence of my wife's refusal to throw anything out. I'm lucky to fit two cars in the garage for the winter. I was recently successful in getting one of my son's old, long-since defunct junkers hauled away to the bone yard. One to go. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Bob.....hang in there with the erratic blood sugar and bp tests. Think of your body as a revered classic Ferrari that requires the experience and patience af an exceptional medical mechanic to get it and keep it cranking on all 12 cylinders. Sounds like you might have stumbled into the right mechanic.
Chief/JimmyT/DougDG......re the chipmunks solution, I can just picture my wife coming home to see the front porch blown clean off the house. I do know that Chief's .17 solution utilized within my residential city limits would probably be followed by an unscheduled trip to the local police station. And I would have to bribe my wife with some more "funding for shoes" to get her to bail me out.
Charlie....... In the words of Jack Nicholson, yes, in some ways this is as good as it gets. In other ways no. Have a good one!
DougDG........I'd swap some of the a/c costs with you if you could get us folks in the NE some sustainable real summer weather.
Brutus.......re your trip to the DMV. Due to the MA budgetary crisis, our state politicos are cutting state funding to two local zoos by 2/3, without which the zoos cannot survive. The politicos are also shutting down several local DMV facilities. The citizenry can now go zooless and drive a ways on rotten roads, burn up vacation days and gas, and stand in long lines to get some of simplest of motor vehicle and drivers licensing tasks done that cannot be done on-line. The State finally had the DMV mess here fixed, but these Beacon Hill knuckleheads seem hell bent on breaking what works, again. With few exceptions, they can NEVER seem to bring themselves to attack true waste in government spending. I do not like to complain about how things are without offering a solution that is better than the status quo. IMHO, term limits on political office. Some may say that the best and the brightest would never be attracted to public office if there were term limits. So how is the lack of term limits been working out for us? It never has. As a business consultant to big business, I found that the largest impediments to corporate success are short term thinking (operating plans that focus on an annual earnings per share and stock price/stockholders), political infighting, and fear of job loss. So the best and the brightest just hunker down, shut up, hang on to their seats for economic survival, and nothing constructive or strategic gets done.
MikeC.......your comment about the upcoming 3 day visit from your granddaughter put a smile on my face to start the day.
DougM......way to go!!!! Time is the one priceless gift that we can give to our children and the one thing they will cherish forever. Re your layout rearrangement toward a less linear configuration..... those straight runs, while easier to construct to maximize running distances, can get pretty monotonous. I look at Fife's, Brent's project, and Berk765's latest take on "more curves are better" approach and have to agree. Even Dave Smith on a 9' x 5' table works in differing heights and curves to hold the imagination. Re the bug population, we too have a bumper crop of mosquitoes this year. The Chicago Cubs filing for bankruptcy? What is that all about?
Fife.......a school buddy of mine who lives outside of Mentor Ohio lives just 5 minutes from his boat's mooring on Lake Erie. He, the wife, and the kids would make evening dinner and a cruise onto Lake Erie (weather permitting) a part of the daily routine. Really maxed out the use of the boat, albeit a power boat. Same with some friends of ours here in MA. They have two power boats. The 27' one they trailer back and forth to a public launch 100 yards from their house right onto the Merrimac river. Their second one, a 21' Grady White, is moored in Manchester Harbor, the next town north of me on the Atlantic. Marine forecasts are the order of the day for their use of that one. They had a third, a sailboat, but gave up on the effort required to sail and the dependence on the wind, sold it. And finally, another school buddy of mine lives right on the water (Lake Michigan) in Traverse City MI. So many choices and so little time.
Pat......the first two strikes against you don't count because the incidents were part of a highly scientific social experiment, right?
SirJames.......looking at your avatar, is that paint on your head from last weekend's painting escapades?
Later, gang.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Good Morning :
Actually it is a great morning, going to the mid 80's and LOW humidity. It's been a great summer.
Chief - The "Rodenator" mentioned by Doug appears to be the same one shown on RFD-TV. It shows eliminating rodents in a corn field. I can't see that small rodents would be a problem in the fields, especially when the thing costs $2,000.00 - $3,000.00. I have to question if it really works on larger animals such as ground hogs, badgers, foxes and coyotes as they claim.
Charlie.
Bob - Liquid helium, Hmmm. Sounds like it would work. RT could take us from Alaska to Main in under 2 seconds. Need to check with Brutus first - the Tartis is his baby.
Mike - I had to behave myself last night, I already have two strikes on me this year!
Brutus - Happy to drive tonight. This time I promise to keep it safe and sane.
Today's Wise Farmer's Saying:
Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.
cnw1995 - I totally understand "non-linear". When I develop a track plan, one of the main goals is to abolish as much straight tangent of track as possible. To me, a long sweeping curve of O-72 or larger is more pleasing than two straight 36 sections.
Slept in until 8 AM
Happy Birthday Charlie! Congrats on the Legacy and glad your daughter's eye is getting better - that scared me when I saw the pics!
Just chilling out with Chewy today. Need to run to the DMV since I'm off and maybe pic up a piece of brass or something to I can make a holder for the Run/Pgm switch on Annie. Will get Thomas running I hope - my friend's daughter, Ceci, shed a little crocodile tear because I "killed" Thomas I have been told! Gotta get with the resurrecting part now.
BTW - some chipmunks burrowed under my sister's patio and into a crawlspace under their kitchen. Rain water followed the burrows and then flooded their basement. It cost them a lot of money to get it all fixed! Whenever I see a tunnel in my yard, I get that mole poison out that comes in a cone shaped yellow container - works like a charm.
Mornin' boys. Hey - CAKE! --->MichRR! Delightful and 66 here in the Mid-Atlantic region. I can't remember a more pleasant July.
RockIsland - We bought our HUNTER 27 mid-May. Since then, we've been practicing sailing when we can, and buying lots of goodies to make her pretty.
88 - That engineering feet would be more ambitious than the SUEZ canal. I'll just settle for the 20 min jaunt around the beltway.
Lawson Farms - Having a boat is like owning your own piece of waterfront property...without the fear of eventual storm-surge...or bigger fear of MD property tax assessments...!
Aloha all. Nice day last eve. Took the youngest to the local park after I got home where he played until dark, Boy, the skeeters are bad. Then after he went to bed, re-arranged the innermost loop to be a little curvier - I now have 4 main lines - I've been running the 520 with a short freight on the new one. The innermost loop has a half-loop-sized passing siding for Thomas that I wanted to make more non-linear if that makes sense - around the church and parallel to the Baker Field runway. Here's a photo from my new phone-camera - notice the S-gauge visitor.
Charlie!
Brent & Susie
for everyone else
SLAMMMED at work - just checkin' in to make sure youse giz are ok
see ya later...!
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