Coffee Pot #12 December 2011 5+ years and going strong and its for all to chat. Plenty of coffee and ice tea for all. Come and join us and chat.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

It's 67° and mostly sunny. The high will be 69° and it will be sunny and pleasant.

This has been a busy day for me. First thing this morning I got a call from my father. He needed help getting a sofa and some huge bags of women's clothes loaded so they could be taken to the outreach ministries in town. The bags were so big and heavy it took both of us to pick up one! We wrestled four of those to the front door then used a wheelbarrow to get them to the truck. The wheelbarrow had to be pulled up a couple of steps from the patio to the walk. I think I surprised my father when I picked up the front of the wheelbarrow with my left arm so the wheel cleared the steps. He was pulling it backward. Getting the sofa out was fun. It was in the den and had to be turned on it's end and pushed around a 180° corner through the hall into my fathers study. From there it had to be lifted overhead to get it past the printer and computer tables (huge steel and fiberglass monstrosities we got for nothing from the army) and my fathers huge L-shaped steelcase desk (bought it from AT&T for $50), then between the desk and several enormous five foot tall filing cabinets. Finally got it to the front door where is was once again flipped up on it's end and maneuvered through the door. From there it had to be carried fifty+ feet up the front walk to the truck he was using. My nephew (my fathers grandson) was supposed to have fixed a problem on my fathers truck way before now but hasn't done it for this or that reason. Mostly because he's having too much fun with his friends. So naturally my fathers truck wouldn't start. No problem. He grabbed his grandsons truck despite some complaints. My fathers response? You didn't have mine mine fixed when you said you would. Now I can use yours today or you can use it to move your stuff out of my trailer. Which is it going to be? The answer to that was simple! We put some miles on that truck today. When we got to the Helping Hands Ministries there were two women there who were going to take the bags of clothes off the truck. Yeah! Right! My father and I got them down on the street then the youngest of the two tried carrying one on her own. She ALMOST succeeded! I told my father we better not$1****$2that young lady off. She could probably sweep the sidewalk with both of us! I got back home about an hour ago and I feel like I wrestled with a gorilla.

Well, I got my Mystery Machine van today. What I consider HO Scale and what Aurora considers HO Scale are two different things altogether. This thing is massive! Even larger than 1/64. It looks more akin to a monster truck Mystery Machine! So, that's what I'll use it as. How does Ezra Johnson have fun? He drives a semi sized Mystery Machine!

I washed the resin vehicles castings and took them outside for a coating of spray of gray primer. Later I'll start on painting them.

[Anonymous]

Dennis,

               Yes, they sequence from the center of the car out.  I'd say that they were the best thing that I've bought, but I say that about everything that I get from American Muscle.

Jack,

            I took it out this morning, then I washed it once I got back.  It was only 39 degrees though, so I am still cold.

Regarding the Decapod, the marker lights aren't that big of an issue.  I'll get it fixed, but it runs fine as is.

Here is a nice cold start clip of the new Macs:

watch?v= HuSkdXmOKE&feature=youtu.be

 

 

[Stourbridge Lion]

submmbob

Stourbridge and Laz - thanks for the video links! Cool locomotives! Love the tender (or would that be Love me Tender...) on the #12.

Bob / All:  Did you notice that the tender spends half it's run playing engine, see Video II of III .  There is no Wye / Turntable on the GTL, so on the downhill run the tender is leading the train followed by the engine going backwards.

[Train Master]

Jeff: Nice monster type Mystery Machine!

 

Good evening sports fans!

I know what you guys are thinking! What did I get for Christmas. It is a short list but a pricey one.

New shoes. Just a pair of good running shoes, none of that Air Jordan stuff for me. 

New clothes. 2 packs of socks, 2 packs underwear, 2 packs T shirts, 7 pairs of pants, 10 pullover shirts, 6 button down shirts.

New tires for my truck!

Walmart gift cards! 3 of them! $75 each!

2 sheets of 4x8 3/4" plywood and a ton of 2x4's, 1x6's, 1x4's, enough screws and nails to put the world back together, more ez track to go with what I already have.

18 Bachmann freight cars, 1 caboose - painted, not lettered.

2 Bachmann gp9 locos, DCC. I can run them with my old Bachmann DCC controller.

I have no idea who got the train stuff and wood. My mom and dad are not saying a word about it. All they say is I have plenty of time to worry about college. I need to have some fun first.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Thanks David. It's the wrong size but I'm making do with it the best I can.

 

Got the vehicle castings primered. They look like they all just came out of the first stage at the paint shop. Next step will be to hit them with the latex paint of which I have many, many colors.

[sir james I]

Good Evening

36 now, wet snow today but nothing on the ground.  We spent most of the morning out, I put the groceries away and then goofed off. Banilla is ready but I'm gonna pass again tonight. Almost back to my average 187. TTFN...S.J.

[KRM]

  

Hi All,

Still fighting off Chief’s Yankee sinus curse but at least I know the fight between the Con-feds and Yankees ended over 150 years ago and……. they lost. But they can keep trying if they can’t get over it. Never have been able to understand that but then we won.       I am now sure this sickness it is not the crud from Dennis.     Just kidding Chief.

I may feel better in a day or two if the voodoo burns off and the meds kick in.

Jack, I may have the answer!  

I took wife with me today shopping for layout stuff and I won the Lotto or burnt myself bad because she spent more on the layout than I did. We drove 23 miles west to Menards and Hobby Lobby and Menards had nothing left. Hobby Lobby did have some things and I got out for under $50.00

So she said lets go to Menards in Morris, so off we go 36 miles east to Menards and they still had stuff there. All this to spend a $25 gift card from my daughter. Well wifey falls in love with a nice LEMAX Cheese Factory that was 50% off and only cost $17.50 so we had to have it. I told her I would give her one corner of the table to put it on. See attached picture. NOW she wants to go back tomorrow and get the Menards Mill so I can put it next to the fishing pond whenever I get that done. She even offered to buy lunch if I take her back tomorrow to get it. What is with this???       

Jim Probe. Neat lights, they are the same as I had on my 1969 Shelby GT 350 back in the day. Good luck on the job hunt.

David, I want your Santa next year!

Have a great night All!

 Kev.

 Here is Sandra's new joy.

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Kev,

           Thanks.  I couldn't decide if I wanted these lights or the smoked version, but I think these go better with a dark color like Redfire.

Bob,

            When you install the liquid conversion kit, leave the cloth sleeve off the heater.  They char and cause the failure that I mentioned earlier.

I pulled the boiler on the Decapod to check thing out.  It is either blown bulbs or a blown board.  From what I understand neither are available since it was made in 08.  Back to the dealer it will go.  Not acceptable for a piece that is practically brand new IMHO.

I'd be lying if I said that I haven't had thoughts of putting it in the GL and torching the whole thing.

[ChiefEagles]

KRM

  

Hi All,

Still fighting off Chief’s Yankee sinus curse but at least I know the fight between the Con-feds and Yankees ended over 150 years ago and……. they lost. But they can keep trying if they can’t get over it. Never have been able to understand that but then we won.       I am now sure this sickness it is not the crud from Dennis.     Just kidding Chief.

 Kev.

 

And we are getting even every day. 

Gone hunting.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cloudy 41 degrees. Going up to 48 today with a chance of rain. We don't need any more rain.

Today is a busy day. Wife is grocery shopping. I am doing a few chores and working on a project. We will be busy most of the day. Maybe I can catch a short nap later.

Buckeye & LAZ...... TGIF

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Friday.

Chuck

[RockIsland52]

Good Mornin' Y'all From Overcast But Warming Taxachusetts,

The winds finally died down and a cold front missed us to the North and West where the temperatures are in single digits.  High 20s here, up 15 from 24 hours earlier according to my outdoor thermometer.  We are supposed to get single digits by early next week.  No snow, but that will eventually come as it usually does.

David..........tell your folks I am up for immediate adoption.    What a haul you got for Christmas!!!

Kevin........hope you are feeling better.  Ya shoulda held on to that Shelby!!!!!

Chief......a lot of "A hunting we will go" but no cigar.  What's with that?

Jeffrey........I read your post and had to take some pain meds after reading it.  I HATE moving furniture!

Later, gang.

Jack

[submmbob]

Waiting for another observer so we can start collecting photons again.

Been flying around the mini R/C helicopter now and then. That thing sure is amazing. I think it's about O Scale in size. May have to get a flat car for it

JimT - thanks for the tip on the smoke unit. Will give it a try. Bummer on the Decopod though, but definitely take it back if you are not happy w/ it.

Chief - good luck w/ the hunt. They are all over the mountain right now, hunters that is. I'm sure the deer are on the next mountain...

May tinker w/ another old radio in my spare time. Like cars, I have too many

Bob

[Stourbridge Lion]

Good Morning CTT Fans!

It's currently 34F and Sunny heading for near 60F.  Another long weekend ahead and then the long gray winter months from there   Time to head to that "W" thing that pays the bills...

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

  27 here and another cold one.  They say going to be 46 but they said that yesterday and all we hit was 32.  Went out with flintlock yesterday and low and behold saw 14 deer in a field I was a hunting.  Problem was they were over a hundred yards away.  Nice big buck with all those does.  Oh well gonna try same field again today.  Hopefully I'll be in the right place?

DENNIS your killling me with the deer stories.  BIG CONGA for the nurses kido.

SPMAN, yep that TICKLE guy is a reak doozy.  I was thinking the same thing when he broke his ribs and when the worm fell out the back end of the truck.

Ran trains for about an hour and a half last nite, NO PILE UPs!!!

CHUCK & BUCKEYE, TGIF!!!!!!

Stay frosty,

laz57

[sir james I]

Good morning

36 degrees, rain later they say.

Chief: 1 more day  and it will be time for a new pot. Ya have to keep reminding him.

Chuck you gave us a scare this year, glad your still with us and hope you will be for many more.

Down to 187, I will partake of Christmas goodies again but at a slower pace....S.J.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 43° and mostly sunny. Foggy this morning. The high will be 68°.

I got a first coat of latex paint on most of the vehicle castings last night. Today I'll do the same with the remaining castings then get started on painting in details like grilles, lights and windows. Last will come a layer of weathering and rust.

No outside activity is scheduled for today. I'm still hurting from yesterday. That was some serious work for me and I hate moving furniture. As RockIsland52 said, I had to take some pain killers after reading it again. Guess I was a bit too graphic.

[ChiefEagles]

Hello from the deer stand. Sunny with a slight breeze. Warming fast. Beautiful day God has made. Extra quite as in middle of a couple of hundred acres of woods. No squirrels as nothing but pines that were thinned this past spring. One average doe came by. Was an easy shot but held off the temptation. Got the M14 today. Hope all is well with all. BTW: a few bugs and flies. Not like the frozen tundra of MI. Later

[KRM]

sir james I

 Down to 187, I will partake of Christmas goodies again but at a slower pace....S.J.

SJ you got me beat by 3# , How tall are you?  

Cold, Damp, and rain,  42 Degrees, goes right to the bone.

Got to go back to Menards so wifey can get the Mards mill she wants and I can get the free lunch. After that just going to relxa and try to shed this sinus thingy.

Jim Probe, I think you made the right choice in tail lights, they look good.

Jack, Yeah I know, I shoulda held on to that Shelby. 

LAZ, is today Friday????? 

Jeffrey, better relax today. 

Chief, OUCH!!!  

Later, You all be good.

 Kev

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Went to my parents place to take their mail to them. My mother was unhappy with the way the new couch is sitting. Not anything that requires a move, just raise on end. Here's the problem. The room was at one time a two car garage. Drainage was handled by sloping the floor to the front left corner. In 1972 my father and I poured a new concrete footing under the front of the foundation then closed the garage in and built it into a private library. It's my mothers favorite room in the entire house. Sixteen rooms and she likes that one best. OK. The floor tilt thing is fine for a garage, not for a room as it makes the furniture slightly higher at one end. Under each leg of the couch is a three inch high concrete block with a brick on top. The bricks were laid flat. There are seven such block/brick stacks as this is a sectional. L-shaped couch for those who aren't familiar with what a sectional is. I had to squeeze into a fifteen inch space at the low end (a real trick for someone who weighs 245 pounds) on my left side, plant my left elbow against the floor and lift that darned heavy beast with my left hand until I had my arm vertical. Using my right hand I turned the front brick onto it's side. Now came the fun part. Getting to the brick at the back! I tried to reach around my left arm but that wasn't working. I had to push my right arm in between my face and my left arm to reach the back brick. I had my fingertips just an inch away and couldn't go any farther. OK. Now I had to pull my right arm back then try to crawl a little further into that narrow gap. That was putting a bind on my left shoulder so I pushed my left elbow ahead a little farther. This caused the couch to start going the other way as my arm is now at an angle. So now I had get my right arm against the bottom of the big red monster (couch) and push it up so I could move my left hand and get my arm vertical again. It was at this moment that a garden spider decided I bore investigation and proceeded to crawl up the side of my face! Well hell! Here I have both arms involved, a spider is crawling up my face and I have no way to get rid of the dang thing. It's now up under my nose tickling my mustache when the need to get rid of the spider took care of itself. I sneezed! The spider was blown somewhere into the middle of next week and the end of the couch jumped up two inches and came crashing back down onto my left hand. Great! Now my wrist hurts! Being I can only feel a little heat, some pressure and bone pain in both my hands I knew something was going on bone-wise. Now I tried the between the face and arm reach again and was able to grab the brick and turn it on it's side. OK. That was done! Now I had to extricate myself from the tight space. Did I ever mention I'm claustrophobic? I got out of there and sitting up I checked out the damage to my wrist. It was just a case of two bones being forced against each other at the extreme edge of the joint and no permanent damage was done. I had just started the involved process of getting back to a standing position when my mother said she wanted the couch centered with the windows. I told her very flatly no. I then left before she could think of something else for me to do.

In other news, my Accurail DT&I covered hopper came in. I picked it up for $10 on Ebay. It's nice when somebody else is paying for that as long as I keep it within reason. The car has three damage points. One stirrup is bent, one stirrup is gone, the ladders and railings at one end are gone. Exactly as it was pictured on Ebay. A photo of it is below:

[RockIsland52]

Kevin.....you, SJ, and RaySP are masochists.  Don't weigh yourself until St. Patrick's day and you'll feel and look a whole lot better.  A few pounds make you look healthy.    

Jeffrey.........what an adventure!    You are a saint for doing all that monkeying around with your Mom's furniture.  If we ever come looking for you over at your Mom's place and have trouble finding you, we'll be sure to check under the sectional first.  That's where you will be trapped, fighting off the spiders with your teeth and your moustache. 

Later, gang.

Jack

PS:  The wifey has me helping with the housecleaning.    We will have a houseful tomorrow night; then the daughter, SIL, and both grandchildren will be spending the night.  It has just occured to me that if I did a crummy job cleaning she wouldn't even think of conscripting me in the first place. 

[dougdagrump]

Afternoon Dudes & Dudettes,

Visited the eye doc this morning, good news/not so bad news type of visit. The good news is that the Macular Degeneration hasn't progressed that bad and he doesn't believe a cataract surgery would be detrimental to overall results. Eye surgery consult scheduled for March, the long wait is the pits.

No museum today due to eye dilation, will be running on New Years Day. The usual crew will be there with spouses for dinner and a bit of bubbly.

Hope the New Year will be good to all !

  

[SPMan]

Good afternoon all,  We're still baby sitting the cockateal bird for a couple more days.  He was out of the cage for three hours this morning and afternoon.  Seemed satisfied after we put him back in the cage.  He sqawks a lot even when he's out of the cage.  He has plenty of food and water.  Just wants to play I guess.

I have been noticing a light red tint in my urine today which is worrisome.  I have increased my water intake but no change so far.  I had this once before several months ago and went for a urinalysis test which revealed nothing.  These things always happen on a weekend or worse, holiday week end.  I'm not having any pain so I think I will hold off on going to the emergency room unless it gets worse.  It might be from something in my diet but I don't know what.  I am taking dieuretics twice a week and today is one of those days.  It makes you go more often.

Friend of mine has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.  He went for a screening on Wednesday and is still waiting for results.  We hope and pray for a good outcome.

My son cleaned the pool filter yesterday, thankfully and everything is going well out there now.

Looking forward to Alaska Gold on TV tonight to see if the miners find any more gold or if they just give us more interviews.

later,

Ray

[sir james I]

Good Evening

41 and raining.

Kev I'm shrinking. Now about 5' 9 1/2". Old age man.

We went out for a late lunch, stopped at one store and came home. I'm still laying off the banilla, which I love, but it will be ready for the guys. Root beer or chocolate syrup w/peanuts? Catch you guys tonight...S.J.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Did some more work on some junk cars today. I painted them with some nice flat latex colors then touched up the chrome with some satin nickel. After they've had a while to dry I'll start on the job of rusting them up.

[AF53]

37 and nice and cool now at exit 77 in beautiful Bayville NJ!

Came home a bit early today using what's left of my vacation hours for the year.  Today my 24 year old son bought his first shotgun. He's had a bow for a couple of years now and see's a bit of action and goes out as often as possible. I think one of the most pleasant parts of hunting is the peace and quiet you get while just waiting in the stand.

Going to work tomorrow for hopefully not more than 6 hours as our special project is starting to wind down. Then over to the inlaws for the annual New Years Eve party. Just some family fun poker and a few 's.  

SJ - I couldn't agree with you more about Chuck. It was an amazing year for him.

Chief - I hope your cell phone is on silent!

Hope everyone has a pleasant evening!

Later,

Ray

 

 

 

[Demay]

Ohayō (O-hi-o for Chuck),

We went to IKEA yesterday.  The drive time was only 1 1/2 hours each way which is great for here.  We found all the shelves we needed and the wife found a couple pieces of storage furniture she needed.  We came home and ordered pizza and then I assembled her two pieces of furniture.  I was pretty exhausted and called it an early night.  Today, I need to finish some schoolwork and maybe hang a couple shelves.  We are not New Year's Eve partiers so we will probably have a quiet night.

Dougdagrump - I sent you a PM.

SP Ray - I hope everything is alright; that would concern me. 

Sayonara,

Joe

[Papadiesel]

Hi All,

A belated blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! The family is fine.

Only two tracks around the tree this year. Six of the eight grandchildren still enjoy it.

Prayers for all especially for those "IN HARMS WAY!"

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

It was cloudy but warm in SE Indiana today with temps in the 50s.  Finally, after some more sad news, some good news reached the household today.  First, the sad news yesterday was that I learned a good friend and a co-worker (indirectly) passed away in June.  The Christmas card we sent was returned with a date of death marked on it.  I will be so glad that 2011 is almost over.  Now for the good news.  As most of the longtimers know, our son Lucas has not had the best of lives so far.  High school and college has been a struggle for him from different perspectives.  We got his semester grades today and they were a 2.962!!!!   Granted, normally that is nothing to brag about, but that was his best semester ever in college and it helps him retain some scholarships he could have lost.  I called him today to tell him I was so proud of him.  I told him that ranked up there this year with Ed and SFR winning at Kentucky.  It was a good day.   I had cereal and streusel on the dining car for breakfast before sending it on to "Points East".  TBIL and I can drive.  I will be doing victory rolls in the Tardis tonight so all the passengers better fasten their seat belts and keep their seats and tray tables in their upright and locked positions.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[AF53]

SPRay - Sorry I missed your post, good luck with your situation. I hope, if the need comes for this to be diagnosed again, maybe they will find the cause?

Ray