COFFEE POT #12 December 2010 for all to take a drink and chat. 5+ years and going. Plenty of coffee but also Christmas cookies and grits along with egg nogg and sweet ice tea.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cold 22 degrees. Going up to 30 today with cloudy skies.

Today is a busy day. I have an errand to run and some chores to do. Relax this afternoon. Maybe run  trains for awhile.

Dining car is here for the usual breakfast.

Y'all have a great Tuesday.

Chuck

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning...

It has been awhile since I was last on this site...I was waylaid by a heart attack back in April and now I had a defibrillator put in me so that I am not going to get cardiac arrest...which my arrythmia so nicely provided me when i had my heart attack I now have a check up for the defibrillator to do ...as well as my diabetic stuff --- so, keep good care of your body!! It is the only one you have!!

Our weather today is kinda sunny/cloudy with the ever popular chance of little tiny snowflurries--and we'll no doubt see them too

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Sunny & 28 here in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Did not get up at 0319 hrs for the eclipse.  Couldn't find a live chicken to sacrifice anyhow...

blownout cylinder - Glad you are ok now.

laz/dougnotta - The layout has been a nice "greeting card" to the GlenArm community.  Amazingly, it is the older gals that have been coming in to oogle over it.  Stories of their fathers setting up trains for Christmas have been shared, as well as a few tears.  Lots of folks wanna see it back next year...but not everyone...

[sir james I]

Good Morning

overcast and 25

I didn't get up either, seen em b fore. Got to go grocery shopping, the cupboards are bare from the cookie baking saturday. Eggs and sausage gravy over biscuits this am.

Merry Christmas.....S.J.

[RockIsland52]

Good Mornin' Ya'll From Snowy Cape Ann Taxachussetts,

Was hoping for a glimpse of the lunar eclipse but the overcast skies wacked that idea.  Fife.....your hired!    Sweet layout you made for your wife. And all of that was from a little of this and a little of that pulled out of your overstock?!?

Major technical difficulties encountered last night with the Christmas tree.  If I am elected President, I promise to implement a total importation ban on those freakin' white lights that turn what should be an enjoyable holiday decorating activity into a total unadulterated nightmare.  Had tested each strand prior to installation which gave the appearance of progress, then it all went down hill. Took a couple of hours to totally iron out, finally had success by swapping out old strands with new ones.  I am tempted to throw the lights out each year and start with new ones. 

Had our first snowfall yesterday, quite late for us.  4 inches here and 6-12 on Cape Cod.  Snow showers continue.

DougM.....is it possible that the Bears will score a first round bye?  Or that they could play the Patriots for all of the marbles?  Fife may have something to say about that.  The Bears' success may present me with a real moral dilemma, who to root for in the big one.  On an unrelated note, while I have a great deal of respect for what Brett Favre has achieved in his career, his concussion last night may finally put an end the circus he created with his neverending string of retirements.

Blownout Cylinder........glad to hear you are on the mend.  Serious stuff.

Gotta run, later gang.

Jack.

[dwiemer]

Good morning everyone.  Has been a tough day/night.  Long day with a number of ups and downs.  While most times, our outcomes are very good(well above Nat'l avg), but sometimes, things just go down that are beyond our control...more evidence we answer to a higher authority. 

Jack, funny you should mention that...we have spoken of building a large addition to the house.  We shall see.  Right now, there is a lot to maintain, so to add the 800sq.ft. we are looking at may be put off to another day.

Both kids are sick, but daughter is much worse than son.  Will be taking her to the pediatrician in less than an hour.  Just something we all have to deal with.  At least the kids will not be missing school.  Kids are resilient, so I expect a quick recovery.  Want everyone healthy by Christmas.

Gotta run.  May each of you have a blessed day.
Dennis

[dbaker48]

Good Morning,

Thanks for the rafts and preservers!  I don't recall ever seing this much rain here.  We are up to 6", and suppose to be worse the next 2 days!  Ray is getting even more than I am, but all the run off that they don't control comes right down to me.  The flood control channel behind us is 3/4 full, but there are white caps and the water is moving FAST.  Looks like a Class 4 or 5 White Water Rafting adventure.  And the wind is suppose to be picking up as well.  Forecast shows moisture stretching all the way from California to Asia, that's something.  Major concern when this stuff gets over the Rockies, this is going to be bad as far as winter storms on the rest of the country.  (Bob could be stuck on the mountain, probably the only dry one around.)

Spent time in the Train Room, repaired an KLine operating billboard, a Steelers water tank, electrified a Christmas Tree for Towne Centre.  Been doing some research on a PS-1, 4 truck shay.  Friend of mine has one and recently a drive shaft broke.  The operators manual says its O-42 compatible, but it was on a O-42 layout and had just come off a curve and going bact straight and stopped in its tracks.  Interesting that all the Shays built since which are 3 trucks are O-72 for 3 rail, and O-44 for 2 rail.  I think the track is too tight for this guy.

Have the national news on, and even though we are getting drenched, they make it a lot worse than actual.  "Thousands of people without electricity"?  All of the telecasts are from the perimeter around LA at the base of the mountains and undeveloped sparsley wooded national parks.  Makes NEWS though.  There are a handful of situations where trees have fallen on private property.  I am sure the mudslides are coming though with the ground as saturated as it is.  By the way, just saw a map and the weather is headed toward Vegas, then Salt Lake.  That's where the flooding is going to be bad, good place to avoid.

RT, havn't seen "hide nor hair" of any of the neighbor girls, think they must be hibernating.

BlowOut - Glad to hear your health is improving, keep up the good work!

Hope everyone has a great day, think I will work on an AF Water Tank I have.  See if I can get the spout to work.

Take Care

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

Dennis, you and your staff do the best you can.  As long as you can look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that for all the patients in your care, you will be ok.  Sometimes He has purposes for outcomes we cannot understand.  It was about five years ago this time of year I had my "snowblower manicure".  At the time, there was a lot of pain (and I still have flashbacks to that day), but there were many positives that arose from that incident. 

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[AF53]

Sunny and 37 at exit 77 this morning.

Been running trains every night under the tree the past few nights with my sons Lionel surrounded by my dads '53 American Flyer.

Jack - Every year I hear stories of people struggling with thier lights. Seems to me that with me staying with the old C7 lights all these years has been a wise choice.

Blownout - You're so right, we all should reconsider what we eat and when to exercise.

Fife - If I knew you wanted to sacrifice something I would have sent you my son's 2 new birds from his room! They are WAY too noisy in the morning!

Hope everyone has a good day,

Ray

[dbaker48]

Dennis,

Just a thought, I have always admired those of you in the medical profession for having to get by all the emotional issues you have to deal with, and not let them affect you.  And especially this time of the year, when the "natural" aspects of life just seem even more intensified.  Just remember ALL the many people who have you and your staff have been able to help.  God Bless!

[rtraincollector]

Blowout cyclinder welcome to the club. I haven't had a heart attack Thank goodnes but I go into lower difibrillation so I have a difibrillator in me since 2006. at first they checked it every 6 months now its every 3 months. I guess in a year or so it will be monthly.

Hey all at work today. talk to you all later

[sir james I]

Every year after christmas I buy new lites for next to nothing. Any old string that doesn't work gets replaced. I do check and keep the bulbs....S.j.

[SPMan]

Good morning all,  Rain was light this morning but it is starting to pick up now.  Paper says one more day of this and then sunny skies predicted for Thursday through Saturday.  I'm looking forward to that.  Have not been in garage to run trains for about three days now.  Went in briefly last night and it smelled like mildew but it is actually dry.  Hope my rails are not rusting.

Dennis, ditto on the comments by D. Baker.  Sometimes all you can do is turn it over to the Great Physician.  I'm sure you know that.

Chief, good luck on catching the intruders with your high tech upgrade with cameras etc.  If you find out who it is, you can send them a letter saying "YOUR PICTURES ARE READY".

Watched a few minutes of Bears/Vikings game last night and thought I would see some snow.  It looked like a light dusting on the field unless that was water.  Guess they don't show much, if anything of half time entertainment.  All the time is used by talking heads, yada yada yada.

Next door neighbor has a roof leak.  He was up there yesterday in the rain along with neighbor on the other side putting plastic sheeting over roof.  Not a lot of fun!  We used to have those problems but finally got a great roofer who fixed it once and for all.  Not cheap but worth it.  Prior to that we had some guy look at it.  He was called Dr. Roof.  Said he could always find leaks.  I don't think he could find  his backside with both hands.

Doug, we are getting more rain up here than you apparently.

Looks like two Ray's are posting lately.  American Flyer (AF) Ray and me.  That's why I put the SP after my name so you will know which is which.

later,

Ray (SPMan)

[RockIsland52]

sir james I

Every year after christmas I buy new lites for next to nothing. Any old string that doesn't work gets replaced. I do check and keep the bulbs....S.j.

SJ.....no one out my way ever has leftovers on the plain white miniature ones with the green wire (regular, not LED....or is it LCD?).  This morning I went to Walmart, Kmart, Home Depot, Target, and finally scored some at a CVS pharmacy today of all places.....and these were just the 50 light strings.  Bought the last of them.  Target floor person said they ran out of these 3-4 weeks ago!  They had some colored lights, but not the white ones the wifey HAS TO HAVE.

I have 7 strings of 100 ready for the after-Christmas trash, just in case I have to go an a seek and repair mission.

Jack.

[fifedog]

RockIsland -  Thanks for the kudos.  Getting some good responses from the patrons.  With the advent of newer (or should we say, outside) "AVENUE" style shopping centers, the window display could be back en-vogue.  The idea is to get folks to stop and look.

As far as football, the road to Dallas is probably thru NewEngland.  I don't see DuhBears dancing past their first round.

dbaker - ...and some fool(s) will try to raft down that trough.  And get themselves in trouble, and Gage and DeSoto will have to pluck them out.

[navyjack]

hello guys we got 12 inches of snow.  they cleaned it up good this time.  we had a guy plow out our driveway, and he was done in no time. getting my christmas cars and lionel docksider this week.  will get gigi her vw for her birthday which comes week after christmas. it is a chick car for sure, imagine white with gold metalic, with two tone latte interior.  has rose vase on the dash.  navyjack 

[navyjack]

hello guys we got 12 inches of snow.  they cleaned it up good this time.  we had a guy plow out our driveway, and he was done in no time. getting my christmas cars and lionel docksider this week.  will get gigi her vw for her birthday which comes week after christmas. it is a chick car for sure, imagine white with gold metalic, with two tone latte interior.  has rose vase on the dash.  navyjack 

[dougdagrump]

Fife, Your last comment made me chuckle. Swift water rescue teams have already been busy down here, give you three guesses as to the "country of origin" of those rescued.

Also since the "other half" was going to be out and about early this morning I switched-on the local news for road advisories. During "normal" days the CHP in SD averages 50 accidents during a 24hr period, 6am-6am. At 6:20 am this morning they had already passed 40. It would just boggle the mind as to what would happen should we ever get a snowfall here.  

[Anonymous]

Hey Jack - BATTON DOWN THE HATCHES!!!!

Piers said (Dec 13th): "The midwest has already had tremendous snow deluges around 10-12 December but 'You ain't seen nothing yet' compared with what is going to hit NE USA including New York State in the period 25-31st December. This is likely to be one of the most significant snowfall/blizzard periods in NE & East USA for decades".

 

[navyjack]

hey i dont know why my post went on twice.  i didnt do it on purpose. i just wanted to tell you i dont know what happened.  it is pretty outside, but kind of overcast.  i hope that the storm misses the east.  thank god they are used to dealing with it here.  after christmas i am going to try to have my 14 year old grandson cut some thin plywood so i can come up with a 3by 5 tabletop on top of a lite weight folding table.  i will then make a simple layout with o27 track with maybe a spur, and i will load it up with plasticville.  i have a k-line 120 watt transformer with whistle and bellcontrol, and at least i can run short engines.  my grandson will get a kick out of it also.  it should be light enough for my caregiver to move away from the side of my bed.   i think there is an industrial rail atlantic in my future.  navyjack

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening.

My Christmas Village right now is under seige by a certain little one name of Springzilla...

 

[sir james I]

Good Evening

stayed cloudy but hit 32, wow

Springzilla is visiting the little people. Well we got some groceries, more people in the store than usual but I didn't see much christmas buying. As for lites and decorations the stores here have so much, a lot of it is at 50% off already. Banilla, rootbeer and christmas cookies for all on the thingy ride tonite...S.J.

[ChiefEagles]

Evening all.  Busy day and then company for dinner.  Chilly here.  Got to run as Polar Express is on TV.  Did here today that the final count of the census shows that all states grew in population but MI.  That I can understand.

Later

[sir james I]

With unemployement still over 12% and they don't count those that no long can get benefits, the loss does not suprise me.

[dwiemer]

Thanks for the kind thoughts guys.  That is why I didn't go into pediatric heart surgery....that will break your heart on a all too frequent basis.  While we have less than 1% mortality, they have a much higher one with the complex nature of congenital defect repair.

Don and Doug, we were blessed with two inches of rain this weekend and were happy to get it.  The farms really need it as do my peach trees.  I sure would not want the excess you guys got though.  Regarding the fools who go out and play in such conditions, I have been exposed to a lot of severe conditions when I was with the fire department....not a fan of going into bad conditions if I don't have to.  Like driving in snow...I know how, but I'd rather not do it.

Daughter has the flu and strep throat.  24 hours on some strong antibiotics should take care of it, but we will have to see.  At least the fever has broken.  Son seems to be better, but we must be vigilant to keep him healthy.  Seems any time you get them together with the other kids at church or school, they are going to get something this time of year.

Chief, hope you are able to get that delinquent arrested soon.  Seems to be a lot of trouble.

God Bless,
Dennis

[MichRR714]

Hi Guys...

In the final countdown now...have most of the gifts wrapped and the wife has passed the menu past me. 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas with your families. 

Hopefully Santa will bring us all a train or two!

 

[Anonymous]

Chief,

            I forgot to check the guide to see when the Polar Express was on.  I did watch Miracle on 34th Street on TCM twice a few nights ago though.  The colorized version was first followed by the original.

Dennis,

                 I hope your kids get well in time for Christmas. 

Brent,

            Did you get your Christmas layout done?

I am closer to getting the Christmas layout done, and things should be up and running tomorrow morning.  Spent my day off yesterday scrapping the 18B and fixing the 30B.  Everything works, but the left throttle gets hung up due to some damage to the case that needs to be smoothed out.  I might put it in the trunk and work on it during my lunch break to save time.

BTW, Holiday Affair will be on TCM Friday morning, however I forget exactly what time.

[ChiefEagles]

Did not make a lot of the Polar Express.  Lucy woke me up wanting to go out.  The cat had gone out earlier and was waiting to come in.  Long day as Lucy got me up at 4 AM to go out.  Well, at 4:30 I heard something bumping.  Finn was playing with one of Wifey's Santas.   Got him straight and was wide awake.  Sat in recliner and snoozed until coffee pot came on.  Then sipped coffee until time to get ready to take Burg to Vet's for bath day.  Left Vet's and went to meeting in Raleigh.  Lasted hour longer than planned.  Back to Town Hall for a few.  Picked up Savage Goldwing [had come in at gun store].  Home to clean it and put in safe.  Rush to get Burg and back to do some cleaning in house.  Company for dinner.  CRASH   Got a "drop by" tonight [Wed] from 6 tp 8.  More cleaning to do.  Listen to Wifey do nervious fits until it starts.

Good night all.

[8ntruck]

Cloudy and mid 40's today.  The KC stations are talking up a winter storm that is supposed to start with freezing rain and deteriorate from there.

Blownout - every town needs a mascot!  Our cats think that the cresh we set up during advent needs to have a real cat in in it.

Chief - we've had a couple of groups of visitiors at our house in the last week or so.  Cleaning and nervous fits seem to be universal this time of year.

Wife had her first PT session today.  Went well.  The therapist is suprised at the progress she has made to date.  Her bum knee will limit progress though.

Some Lionel stuff is supposed to have arrived at the LHS today.  Have to visit tomorrow and see what it is.  I'm thinking maybe it is the ACF stock cars and the Coca Cola Christmas boxcar I have on order.

Only got about 1/2 ton O work to do in my remaining day at work this year.  Might not have to pick and choose as much as I thought.

All for now.

 

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

It is  cloudy and dry in SE Indiana.  Getting ready for next blast of Snohio later this week.  Work went well yesterday.  Will wrap things up today and be able to enjoy the season. I had the regular fare on the dining car for breakfast before sending it on to "Points East".  TBIL anytime tonnight.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana