Good Evening from the Jersey Shore:
Roy, Glad that your son is getting better.
RT, Hope that you retrieve your car without a hassle. My post office sent a package of our's back when we were on vacation and we had a hold on the mail. Good luck with the GI.
Rich, I hope that everything works out for you. I can name 5 guys on the top of my head with the same problem. Must be an "Epidemic".
Chief, Have fun at the lake house and don't work too hard. I am sure you have plenty to do.
John
Roy - good news on the Boy, hope things continue in the right direction and he's up and around soon!
Worked today, and it was only in the 80's tonight (heat index around 90) so I trimmed since my son was at boxing, then filled in a hole along the driveway and planted grass, fixed a drain and added like 40 feet of black drain tube to it, and then cleared out some crap under the deck and mowed and trimmed under there - then I took a shower and got on here
Hey - also got my preordered halloween blood tankers from Trainz today - I bought two of them!
Nice talks with RT, SJ and Charlie tonight. Tardis is ready too - so let's hit it! (Don - be right there!)
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
ChiefEaglesAMEN!!!!! In fact Ioway is about to drown.
Chief--your sense of humor continues to amaze me, perhaps you would like to share your lack of respect with the folks in two towns that have lost hundreds of thousands of $$$ of personal belongings in the last 24 hours. Give it a rest.
Jon
So many roads, so little time.
SJ.......root beer AND banilla? Count me in, but I am in my pajamas! Hope the a/c is working tonight.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Sunny and cooler today - only in the 80's.
The guys down from the corporate offices in Michigan are commenting on the heat. Our answer - its not hot yet, the temperature still only has two digits.
Found another possible 200 series Alco on the e-bay for my hacky chop project. I'll try to snipe it as the auction closes.
About all for now.
Morning all. Quick stop on way back to work and the final few days of filming. Has been long and taken me away from family too much, but the end is near. Roy, glad your son is OK. Didn't see post about what was being done, but glad things are well. I will try to check in later.God Bless,Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Good monring all,
IIABSDISEI with temps in the 80s (cooler and less humid). We won last night 2-1, but I gave up the tying goal at the time it occurred. Cannot keep up with the younger players anymore. Grandson from second daughter will be here this weekend. Could be interesting. US Soccer tomorrow against Ghana on ABC at 2:30 Eastern. I had the regular fare on the dining car. TBIL anytime. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on trainng,
Mike C. from Indiana
Good Morning from Blueberryhill....
It is a foggy 68 degrees. Going up to 84 today with sunshine.
Today is an easy day. I have the usual chores to do and then I will go to the Fitness Center to work out. Bike, walking and the weight machine are on the schedule. Thank goodness, the place is AC'd. Then, the rest of the day will be relaxing.
Dining car is here with a Cheerios breakfast.
Buckeye..Happy Vacation
Y'all have a great Friday.
Chuck
TGIF!! For SURE!!!
Morning guys...Another HOT one on tap here. 96F today, butn index at 11. And the countdown begins....
7 Days until Vacation!!!!
I'm off on Monday for Harley's Million Mile Monday. The HOG club is riding to Beaufort, SC for lunch. it's all sceanic back roads. Just me, my fellow riders, the road and my Sporty...I hope it makes it....
Thanks for the well wishes, guys. Like Fife said, it's been brewing for a while. I'll be off to Jersey Thursday night, spend a week and clear my head. Tough choices are about to be made, but, that's life sometimes...
for Roy's boy (sorry I missed that), Mrs SJ, Fifepup and anyone one else I've missed...prayers for all our intentions.
Not much on the train front with all the drama at work and home. Barely have time to turn the layout lights on.
Well, I'm slammed for end of month, but I'll check back later!
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
Good Mornin' Ya'll (for Pat and the Chief) From Recovering Taxachusetts,
We had quite a storm yeasterday that stretched from Long Island to Maine. 250,000 electric customers lost power. Winds nearly hit 80 miles an hour in spots. State of Emergency in Bridgeport CT about 180 miles South of here. MA was not spared. So the wife decided, when the front was moving in, to take a drive to NH for dog training. If you can explain the logic to me, I'd appreciate it. Yes, we went and drove through the middle of the mess dodging several multi car accidents on the trip up.
Mid 80s and sunny today. Putting final adjustments on the kiddie pool (12' diameter and 28" deep) for the two granddaughter birthday/cookout/pool party tomorrow. 50 invited and just one grill. Already have one friend picked out to do the grilling......delegation is the name of the game. Weather looks to be sunny and mid 80s. I've got 7 coolers cleaned and at the ready, including one of those 154 quart giants. A Disney Princess (Jasmine?) will be making a guest appearance, over the top, but it was the daughter and wife's idea. What ever happened to a simple family meal with a b-day cake for the celebration?
Jon......I don't know what to say about the weather you have been having. Prayers for those who are suffering from the losses.
Chuck......sounds like you are getting quite the workout. You da man!
Rich......vacation? With you and Fife out at the same time, civil unrest is sure to follow.
Dennis.....with the filming coming to an end in the near future, maybe you will have time for us patients.
MikeC.....old age and guile will beat youth and speed every time. Years ago when I was in my 30s a buddy of mine and I played doubles tennis once a week against two guys that were double our age. They were not quick, but they always had position, were like playing against a brick wall......the ball always came back, and in play. They kept us scrambling. Played just about every week for a year. Jack and Dave's record at the end of the year..... 1-51. We finally beat those old geezers, showed them!
SJ......you have a little more than a month to start hiding all of those train related purchases before the wife sees them and realizes what you have been doing. Either stash them or make up some great explanation: "Had these since we traded in the 1985 station wagon!" Make sure you check under the bed for dirty socks and underwear, hopefully yours.
DougM......the trial of the ex-Illinois governor Blago is quite the circus. Some higher ups in the Dem party may be exposed in the process. Seems like one of the qualifications for being the Illinois governor is a tendency to get indicted and jailed eventually.
Spanky must be out dancing with that knee of his.
SuzyQ seems to have confiscated all of Brent's access to a pc and dropped the hammer on the 4 season room project. No rest for the wicked.
Later, gang.
Jack,
Brent is around. I emailed him concerning a PS3 issue, and from his replies, I get the feeling that he has a lot going on at the moment.
Roy,
Hope your son is doing better. I missed what happened when I posted yesterday.
I was going to post last night, but I was too busy checking out the PS3. Blows the 360 out of the water IMHO. My only regret is trading all of my PSP stuff to a certain game store only to find out after I got home that I took a huge loss. Not happy with myself. Need to go back to Best Buy to get the replacement plan, GT 5 Prologue, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.
I put the Royal Blue on the layout the other day, and it is my new favorite now. Runs and smokes great. One of the 16Bs buzzes loudly when the handle isn't locked down, so I'll have to check that out.
RockIsland52 SuzyQ seems to have confiscated all of Brent's access to a pc and dropped the hammer on the 4 season room project. No rest for the wicked.
Morning all!
Again thanks for the kind thoughts for my son. For those that missed my original post, he had some minor elective surgery Wed and all is well!
Cloudy here. Enough T-Storms entered our area yesterday to pull temps down to a balmy 94! Some T-Storms here today - but we have not seen a drop. The soil is so dry here that I have areas around my house that have sunk 2-3 inches - I am pouring water on it to some effect. Thank heavens for the foundation piers we had installed a few years ago. House foundation is now resting in soil that is 6 - 12 feet down where moisture stays a bit more consistent (for now). The term "soil" is a loose one. The ground here is a nasty clay that can expand and contract a tremendous amount based on water content.
Meetings all morning so busy day today. Then lunch with the missus!
Have a great day all!
Regards, Roy
Aloha from a sunny Chicago. Should be a busy and productive day without an afternoon t'storm for once. Worked on a few projects around the house yesterday (towel rod torn off the kid's bathroom no one bothered to tell me about, clogged gas vents on the grill, that sort of stuff) Then decided to flip everything and go to the beach for a few hours yesterday. It was a good decision. Roy, glad you're son is on the mend. I don't know how the homes survive with the weather variables in your part of the Lone Star State. Brutus, stop working so hard in this heat. You are embarrassing me in my idleness. Jack, ex-governor Blago is a clown hence the circus atmosphere. Haven't seen this many tv cameras since the trial of ex-governer Ryan. I sense a pattern. Glad you are OK with the storms. Lots of trees flattened and power out in my old homestead in Conn. Mike C, looking forward to today's games and tomorrow's big one. Experience beats Youth eventually, right? (I hope so). Brent, glad the adoption paperwork is moving forward. Rich, prayers...
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Good Morning
Sun and 80s, thats not considered hot, we love the 80s.
PJs are fine for the tardis, heck we've pick up a few in their boxers. They have to sit facing the wall though or behind the bar. I think everybody has power back on after wednesday nites storm, there were two small tornados not one. Its a beautiful friday morn and its also our eat out day so I'll think on it awhile....TTFN....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
Good Morning from the Jesey Shore, Sunny with the temps to 89.
I am really getting used to these 4, 10hr days.
Time to cut the grass, and split another truck load of wood. I do 1 load at a time and I am not soar as if I tried doing it all, lol. Fishing tomorrow morning. Maintenance and running the trains tonight.
Prayers and thoughts for all of those in need.
Afternoon all, Been busy at work and at home. Getting the camper out of winter shutdown and checking out all the systems in the evenings the past few days. All was good except one of the jacks to raise and lower the camper on the truck was not working. Turned out to be a bad motor. It will not be replaced in time for the trip but I can operate it manually now.
Also I received the Ruger GP100 I won at auction. Very nice gun. I tore it down last night and polishing the stainless finish back to new. A few more hours and it will be as good as I judge it needs to be. Then a through cleaning the time to punch holes in paper.
PRayers for all and especially those mentioned,
May God bless
Jim
Good morning all, I just made contact with a first cousin I haven't seen in over 30 years. We have been burning up the computers with E mail. Says he might be out here on business in the Fall and we can get together. Good to hear from him.
Had our little Thursday night get together yesterday. Pretty hot in the garage but we opened a window and turned on a big fan. It cooled down pretty fast. One friend brought some video of his recently aquired 1950 Oldsmobile which he bought on E bay. It will be in a car show tomorrow. He also had some video of his trip to the Nevada Northern Railroad and pictures of steam engines. They allow people to rent a steam engine up there for a price and be an engineer for the day. Friend says they tried to make it to Glacier National Park but the roads got snowed in so had to come back home.
Dbaker, glad your new computer service is working out. I tried to go with FIOS from Verizon but ran into problems so we cancelled. Sounds like Chris is having entirely too much fun in Vegas.
Ground breaking ceremony for Gold Line Extension between Pasadena and Azusa will be tomorrow in Arcadia. The new extension will be close enough for me to ride it. I live in the next town down the line (Glendora) but don't think I will live long enough to see the line get to my town. It's ironic that all they are doing is putting back something we already had (Pacific Electric big red cars) years ago. Of course now it probably cost 100 times what the original did. This is progress.
Have a good week end all,
Ray
SPMan
Good Afternoon from the Jersey Shore,
2:30 and breaking for lunch. Been busy today, cut my grass and a neighbor's incliuding trimming, power washed the front porch, my son came home from the last day of school, snow make up day and we split and stacked a truck load of wood. After lunch it is time to paint the front porch wicker chairs and then dinner and a few beers.
DJ Spanky, I hope you get your power back soon. How long was it out when you lived in Wayne, NJ? I guess the #1 electric company for reliability in North America is not too bad. Just Kidding. It can be a real mess trying to restore power from storm damage. Have patience and don't take it out on the crews. They don't want to see you out either.
Afternoon all cut grass this morning. Been giving nieghbors tomatoes and even taken some into work to give out to many for wife and I. and we only have 3 plants one cherry tomatoes and 2 normal size tomatoes.
hope all have a good weekend off today but have to work tomorrow and sunday
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Just a quick splash and go,
Brent.......thanks for the update, especially the upcoming additions to the family. You and Susan must be thrilled. Hope you are mending ok.
Spanky......I will say a little prayer for your Dad, for you, and for your family. Tomorrow will be a celebration of your Dad's life. Sounds like more meals by candlelight for you.
DougM.....the other stuff can wait. Beach time, sounds good. Don't they sell wire brushes to clean out the inside of gas tubes on the grill? The guts of my grill are still functioning well but corrosion is taking its toll. Temp gauge died again.....third one.
Ray......I need to hunt down my cousins too. It has been eons since we touched base with one another.
Don.....I have been procrastinating about bundling all of my devices as well. I have a mish mosh of vendors. Verizon has been my cellular carrier for 14 years and my local phone carrier for longer. Comcast and its predecessors for internet and cable TV. Problem is, my service with my providers has been so trouble free I hesitate to switch. And the internet speed has been great.
JimSP....when is the camping trip again?
JimmyT......don't sweat the small stuff. The Royal Blue makes up for the rest.
SJ.....I too don't mind temps in the 80s. We hit 91 yesterday. With the a/c getting a workout, the next electric bill will be depressing.
Hudson.....didn't the Jersey Shore get clipped by the storm yeasterday?
I wish I could put the loss in the small stuff category, but $350 doesn't fit to me. What was I thinking when I traded all that stuff? I have no idea. That was the second biggest mistake I've ever made.
Good Evening
A beautiful day in the 80s, spent some time outside doing nothing and took granny out for supper. I'm ready for some banilla and the thingy now...S.J.
Evening all!
With the potential T-Storms in the area all day and some breeze - it only hit low 90s and was quite pleasant today. It tried to rain and sprinkled at my house for about 30 minutes - but the ground was so warm the sidewalks never got wet. Weird to see rain coming down and the sidewalks and pool deck were still dry.
Repaired the pool sweep today. These little robotic water pressure powered units run all over the pool and up the pool walls randomly and take a lot of grief out of having to brush the pool. But they are expensive and they start breaking down every couple of years. The good news is the manufacturer uses the exact same bearings through the entire unit (but there are 10 of them at $14 each - these special bearings have plastic races and stainless ball bearings). The other good point is moving parts are a minimum - the gears (3) and water turbine wheel (1) all that moves except for the 3 wheels. However it is a classic nickel and dime operation. By the time one purchases a turbine wheel replacement, 4 bearings, an O ring, fiber cog drive belts (2), replacement air ballast bulb, etc., one easily hits $100. But $100 compared to $500 for a new one is cheap comparatively. And $100 every couple of years beats once a week brushing the entire pool (takes about 30-45 minutes). Almost forgot - have to replace the booster pump that drives the pool sweep about every 8 years ($400). One thing for sure - the pool was a godsend when the kids were younger - but I will never own another one now they are within a couple of years of being out of the house for good.
On another pool note. All the rage now is to replace your fresh water pool chlorination method (add chlorine tablets to a floater once a week plus a high chlorine shock once a week) with a salt water chlorine generator. This means converting a fresh water pool to a salt water pool. The conversion costs a couple of thousand and is supposed to solve all ones problems. A buddy of mine leaned on me real hard to convert (since he would get a referal fee from his dealer) and I resisted. He has since found out he has to replace the platinum element in the chlorine generator every year at $700 a crack, and tons of salt a couple times a year, and he still has to shock the pool. He has not saved a dime and may be spending more annually than me.
Lends credence to the old notion that if someone is working really hard to sell you something there must be a catch.
Have a great evening all!
Good Evening from the JerseyShore, 66, clear and calm winds. Tomorrow in the 90's and thunder storms tomorrow night.
Jack, We had no rain at all yesterday. Just very hot and humid.
Trains ran great tonight. Time for a shower, bed and fishing tomorrow. We leave at 5:30.
Thoughts and prayers for all in need.
Sunny and about 90 today.
Have to go into work for some time tomorrow. Trying to recover from all of the setbacks we've been fighting most of the week. - Mama said there'll be days like that!
If the rain holds off tomorrow, we'll be racing. More set up changes made to loosen the car up a little.
Still watching that 200 series Alco on e-bay. By the bid list, it looks like a couple of others are too.
TGIF. Watching disaster movies with my wife, eating popcorn, drinking diet cola spiked with 'shine.
All for now.
Made it north tonight with the family. Word from the woods is momma bear had 5 cubs this year. I will try to get some pics.
Not sure what the plans are for the weekend. I think I'll just make it up as I go..
Charlie a.k.a. MichiganRailRoad714 (Charter Member TTC)
It is a cloudy 68 degrees. Sun is trying to break out. Going up to 85 today with a chance of rain , later.
Today is an easy day. The usual chores and then, I will relax. PT went well yesterday. A little achy today. Maybe I will run trains this afternoon.
Dining car is here with the usual breakfast.
Y'all have a great Saturday.
green97probe Jack, I wish I could put the loss in the small stuff category, but $350 doesn't fit to me. What was I thinking when I traded all that stuff? I have no idea. That was the second biggest mistake I've ever made.
Don't worry. As you get older the $350 mistakes become the little ones.
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