Coffee Pot #4 April 2012 8 years [April 1 is Anniv.] and going strong and its for all to chat. Plenty of coffee and sweet ice tea for all. Come and join us and chat. GRITS for the Yankees.

[blownout cylinder]

Stourbridge Lion

 

fifedog:

 

New crewmember "showed up" yesterday morning!  Fifepops has nick-named her Bunny.

 

 

CONGRADS!!!!!!!

Great news!!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Got some news on my mother today. She was asking for a BLT for lunch today. So she's doing a bit better today.

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

It is still mild in SE Indiana but that will change overnight.  Anjdevil2, that is an idea.  NJ would be closer than Houston although I hold out hope someday it would be back at IMS.  If you do get a chance to go, do so.  While the 500 is still dearest to me, there is nothing quite like the sights and sounds of F-1.

Keep on training,.

Mike C. from Indiana

[blownout cylinder]

 jeffrey-wimberly:

 

Got some news on my mother today. She was asking for a BLT for lunch today. So she's doing a bit better.

 

 

That is good to hear!! We got her on our church's prayer list as well...

Good evening.

Been a tad busy here tonight...got involved with a discussion about how to go about redoing the Thompson Mill yard and rewire project with a neighbour...going to have fun with this project..it may keep my mind occupied ...I'm off for a couple of months leave...all paid of course....

[sir james I]

52 but the wind make's it fell much colder.

Fife, congrats on the baby bunny, Hope mom and baby are doing well.

WE had leftovers tonight but all we brought home was a ham bone for soup. 1 day leftovers is enough. I'm gonna catch the Tardis later, no Banilla, I'm full.....S.J.

[Demay]

Ohayō,

I have a few minutes to post during my lunch break.  I went to renew my Japanese Compensatory Insurance this morning but I found out this car is not due until next year.  It is required every two years and it is pretty expensive; around $500 for his car.  This is a requirement here and is in addition to regular insurance and the road tax (annual).  The road tax is due this month and will probably cost around $200.  The weather is fantastic and the older boy’s baseball team I am coaching has its first practice tonight.  It’s Spring Break week here so I already know about three kids will not be there tonight as their families are on vacation. 

Blownout – I’m sorry about your recent losses.

AF Ray and Jack – Exactly, I’m not worried about the 0-3 start.  The Yankees are beating the O’s right now.  I believe the Sox will still be competitive – even though I hope they aren’t. 

Kev – Nathaniel is in my prayers. 

Jeffrey – I’m glad to hear that about your mother.

RT – The last I saw Wallyworld was taking a hiatus from the forum in protest to what he believed was a lack of tinplate coverage in CTT. 

Sayonara,

Joe

[dwiemer]

Good evening everyone.  Tired, been a long day, but at least I am off call.  Thanks guys for the kind thoughts.  It does get to you a bit.  I just hate how casual so many people are towards life...it is a precious thing that goes all too quickly.

Congratulations Fifepop!  I am sure she is a darling.  Now, I know you won't spoil her too much now, yeah right!  I can imagine you at your son's cleaning a weapon when her date comes to pick her up in about sixteen years.

Blown Cylinder, sorry for the loss.  Will pray for peace and comfort for family and friends.

Rich, some of the guys sent me messages about the Philly fire.  Tough thing.  They are no strangers to LODDS, we went to the funeral services when they lost six brothers back a bunch of years ago.  It was great to see all the guys from the IAFF who had also been in Hackensack when we lost some guys, but it is sad to have such occasions to meet.

Well, I have a couple of big cases in the morning.  Hope to check in after.  May God bless Y'all!

Dennis

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time to call it a night. I painted the trucks of my H24-66 this morning and liked the effect so much I did the same with my two SDP40F's. Now if you look at the two locos you'll see they're different in several very important aspects. The most obvious is the trucks.

505A has Flexicoil C2L C-C trucks.


505B has A1A-A1A Blomberg trucks.


Good night.

[Brutus]

Big congratulations, Fifedog!  Prayers and hope all are well!

Prayers for sick loved ones and friends.  Also praying for your friend, Blownout.

Back to work today - yeah, very glad to have the family back home and everyone doing pretty well.  Looking forward to the York Trip.  John, sorry you won't make it on Friday - hope to see you at the show though, you were my sponsor to TCA a few years ago!

We had a warm day today, but now it will get colder and highs in the 60s etc.  I need to mow the lawn again, but didn't feel like doing it on Easter like my neighbors.  That just doesn't seem right to me.

TARDIS is ready, so let's get a move on guys!

[submmbob]

Hello all

A balmy 43 degrees right now on the hill. And no, Jack, I don't wear long underwear. Never cared for the stuff. Just pull on the Carhartt's if it starts to get really bad.

Jeffrey - good to hear you mom is doing better. SJ would be proud of her lunch choice.

Blownout - sorry to hear about your losses and continued prayers for your friend.

SPRay - glad to hear your wife is on the mend and it was nothing serious.

Kev - you might try HobbyTownUSA on the connector. I heard it was similar to some of the RC hookups. I had a brief glance the last time I was at the store in my area, but I was pressed for time and they have quite a bunch to look thru. Will keep checking the surplus at my local electronic supply store in the meantime.

OK, now for day two of my stint on the USS Iowa:

Back to the ship around 8AM. Coffee and morning briefing and assignments. Quite a few volunteers there on Saturday. Remember those annoying blocked off passageways I was referring to yesterday? Well, Luke and I's job was to remove those. Chase down our tools stored in the bow and return some to the crew working in the galley removing the scullery equipment and off we go. We were working w/ another volunteer for a few hours as well. The passageway combings were plated over w/ sheetmetal for the dehumidification zones. First we had to strip off the caulking and then grind off the spot welds. This was a two man operation for sure since you needed one person to hold the metal as it came loose and to provide a fire watch w/ an extinguisher on the other side. This of course involved more of the floating 3-dimensional crossword puzzle as you had to go up and over and around to find the other side of the hatchway. When we finally got these removed we had a clear run on the main deck thru to aft, and there was much rejoicing. We did the same w/ a few passageways up on the 01 level. Here we were in "officer's country" and a lowly E-4 like myself felt a bit out of place. We did get to see the bridge and armored conning tower though. We weren't allowed to take any pictures of the interior of the ship, but here is an exterior shot of the bridge from the port side:

The armored conning tower is a pretty small place and where the ship was steered from. Unlike many other ships even the bridge was fairly confined. Most of the important areas are within the armored citadel protecting the turrets, magazines, and machinery.  I also got to see one of the primary radio rooms and talk to a volunteer who was former Navy radio operator. For an old electronics nut like me I was in Heaven!  Here's my buddy Luke at the stern on one of our forays to find tools:

In the afternoon we started working on a plated over hatch thru the 3rd deck into the citadel above the propulsion spaces. 6" armor here, good thing the plating we had to remove wasn't nearly this thick We later got a tour of the forward distillation and emergency generator space. One of the crew working for the Pacific Battleship Center was assigned to the ship in the 80's and this was his duty station. At one point we were standing on top of the tank decks pretty much at the lowest portion of the ship. We were looking at the two six cylinder diesels that provided emergency power. They were actually ALCO switcher units (I, of course, approved:). Alco had hoped to sell a bunch to the Navy, but in the end they only provided sets for two of the ships. While we were in this space the tanker in the background in the next photo steamed passed us on the way to the dock. Whoah!! I guess we really are below water...

So far the ship only has ship to shore power. No plumbing hookups. For  a couple months they had no power either and anything below decks had to be done w/ generator lighting or flashlights. For facilties we had portable toilets on the dock. I found this particularly amusing as at long last I was able live out Otis Redding's lyrics:

"I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay, wastin' time..."

Bob

 

 

[krapug1]

Morning All:

As some of you may have heard we have a horrible wild fire burning in the Long Island Pine Barrens.

Before I left work yesterday some of the horse stables put out alerts for anyone with trailers to help them move their livestock, which was heard.

A few homes have been lost already, we send our thoughts and prayers out to all the firefighters, most of whom are volunteers.

http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2012/04/31312/county-executive-will-give-wildfire-update-at-915-a-m-tuesday/

 

Ken

 

 

 

 

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

  Back to school again.  Only 38 dayz to go.

BLOWNOUT, Prayers for you and your friend.

KEN, maybe burn out the DEVIL in the PINE BARRENS there?

Stay frosty,

laz57

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a sunny 38 degrees. Going up to 60 today with sunshine.

Today is a busy day. I have chores and wife is grocery shopping. Not much else new here. Maybe a nap after lunch.

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Tuesday.

Chuck

[rtraincollector]

Morning all

Bob great info on the refit of the Iowa

B.O. sorry to hear of your friend on the other forum. Hope your other friend improves to the point to go home soon.

Off today not a lot going on just relaxing have 2 packages I have to get out but thats about it.

time to make some breakfast guess it Will be ham eggs and cheese on biscuits seeing I have all this ham left lol.

[Anonymous]

Mornin' Fellas

A bit frosty this AM in MD. Supposed to get to 63 today. 30% chance of rain tomorrow... I need to get the fertilizer on the yard so I need it to rain 2 - 3 days after... I would like to get it down this weekend, we'll see. I really don't want to have to water the lawn if I don't have to.

Went to Pittsburgh for Easter weekend. Had a good time. Christina seemed to enjoy herself (she was the center of attention for most of the time).

Was able to get down to the trainroom yesterday and get some more work done on the mountains. I started a - Part II thread. The more I look at them I am inclined to do some modification work on the ceiling tiles above the upper tunnel portal. Thinking of cutting the left side at a shallow angle, just seems a bit to square, and possibly cut the left approach to the upper tunnel portal back some - maybe make the step effect a bit more dramatic? I hope to get to work on the left upper tunnel portal area tonight and get some more work done on the mountain base as well. Have to review my York list and possibly modify it some... Hard to believe it is next week!!

[RockIsland52]

Jeff.........that was most encouraging news about your Mom.  Prayers continue.  If SJ were in charge of the hospital kitchen, he would have had the Chief fly in some fresh tomatoes for her sandwhich.  Hang in there!  You KNOW how he hates the storebought ones that have the consistency and taste of a major league baseball.

Blownout......[angel] for the friend you lost, and his family too.  I hope the other one has turned the corner on his issues..

RaySP.......you must be relieved that your wifey's escapade was short, benign and also provided a postitive heart exan to boot.

Fife.......you are blessed.   Re your need for a larger yatchet to accomodate the growing crew (and us).....something between 45 and 50 feet would be appropriate.   In the short run, the little one can supervise.

RT.......re my avatar with Maximus wearing the bunny ears, I have to drop a dime on my wife, it was all her idea.   This type of activity does have a canine training value.  The dog must trust the owners and tolerate what is asked.  That includes food refusal until the owner provides it, standing quietly for exam during a vet visit, or ignoring other nearby dogs going ballistic toward him, in tight quarters or outside on the street..  Maximus was the only dog in training class last month who wore his St. Patrick's day outfit the entire training class of a dozen "dressed up" dogs and won the "prize" of a free training lesson.

Later, gang.

Jack        

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Got a phonecall from friend's wife..he is doing a lot better this morning..she is up there and we are going up there this afternoon!! Great news there!

We sent condolences to the musician friend's family...the children are going to be looked after by their one aunt there....both play as well so the studio he set up is probably going to go with them to the new house..aunt thinks it should stay with them...still don't have a clue as to what happened with him though...

Today, besides visiting I'll be working on my layout and hopefully get some of it done...hah! Like that is going to happen!!

Have a great day!!!

[KRM]

Sorry guys I fell behind on the pot this weekend. Have had a lot going on.

Sunny and cool today . Working from home to regain my sanity.

Fifepops, congratulations on the new crew member. Before you know it you will need a bigger sailing ship to hold all of the crew.

RI Jack, I got to give it to you and your wife’s training of your pup. I can’t believe he did not bite your arm off for those Bunny ears.

Blownout cyl, sorry for the loss of your mate. 

Brutus good to know your back under lock and key. 

Submmbob, Thanks I will check out the hobby store that does all the RC stuff in Joilet. May get one there.

Your ship project is amassing keep up the posts.

Ken, Prayers go out to all in harms way and those fighting those fires. 

Jeffery. Hope for you mom’s continued improvement.

Where is the Chief?

Have a great day all,

Kev.

 

[cnw1995]

Aloha. Coooold today, Very dry here too.  Fire warnings out by us. Hopefully the Sox will beat the Tribe again today! Good news about your mom, Jeffrey,

Laz, thanks for the explanation of what happens to the Lokie's fire after working-hours. I was always wondering.
Rich, what is MVA? Moving Vehicle Accident I would guess...
Brutus, hope you and Chewy are behaving in your bachelor pad. 

[sir james I]

39, cloudy, and it's going to stay that way. No sno though, most of it has melted. Store bought tomatoes are totally useless and tasteless. Yet granny buy's them for her salad cause they "look colorful". I probably won't get a real BLT till July. No plans for today BUT one week from now we should be east bound on the Ohio Turnpike......S.J.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

sir james I

Store bought tomatoes are totally useless and tasteless. Yet granny buy's them for her salad cause they "look colorful".

Store bought tomatoes. UGH! Look good, firm, pack well, bounce like tennis balls, taste like cardboard.

 

Good morning. It's 67° and partly cloudy. The high will be 85° and there's a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms.

I don't know what was going on last night but I was quite dizzy for a while not to mention disoriented. I feel OK now. I have no idea about what I'm going to do today. Maybe I'll paint the trucks on the GP9 Frankenlocos as a start.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning.  Pretty day but 30 mph winds later.  Red flag day.  Remember fly with pilot buddy in L19 down east on days like today looking for fires.  Bumpy ride but fun.  Next Yankee cold coming.   Why you Yanks can't keep your misery to your selves.

Had good stay at lake house.  Worked on yard the whole time though.

Headed east to the farm and check cameras.  Friend Fred was going [set it up for him] and now he has to run the "school bus" [pick up Granddaughters at two different schools].   Sent me message that he was head of household and put his foot down.  What time leaving.  Short message right after that.  Debbie [his wife] has to work late so cancel my trip.   Now we know who the boss is. 

Calling the lady who has my camera.  Where are my photos?

Sounds like Bunny is the new boss in Fifedom.

Later.

[anjdevil2]

Mornin' Guys,

Quick run through, coffee in hand, as i escort the Princess to college.  We did laps around the high school last night to get her used to the manual tranny in the Pulsar.

Doug - Motor Vehicle Accident

MikeC - the "arena" where the F1 race is about an hour North of me.  Mostly on the Palasades, where the vistas of Manhattan will provide a scenic backdrop to the festivities.  If I can get up there with mass transit, I will certainly make my best effort.  After all, what self respecting American of Italian decent wouldn't pull for FERRARI?

Jeff - good news indeed! 

Dennis - yes, the Philly guys have had their share.  BTW, I have an article about your guys in HFD, if you could e-mail me your mailing address, I'll send it along.

As many of you, had left overs from Easter dinner, which was wonderful...again! Same on tap tonight as well.  No problems with that!!

OK, I'm off.  Work from1 to 6, so I'll try to check in then.

[Stourbridge Lion]

Good Morning CTTFans!

It's 42F right now heading towards 70's with a chance of Thunder Storms coming in so maybe rain, maybe lightning which could spark more fires.   Looks to be one of those years again...

[Anonymous]

Fife - forgot my Congrats on the newest member of Fifedom! Like you needed another reason to be busy!

[rtraincollector]

lionroar88

Fife - forgot my Congrats on the newest member of Fifedom! Like you needed another reason to be busy!

Me Too congrats Fife

Spent most of the morning working on a couple of trains seeing a screw to hold the motor in one of the PA's fell out and hit the floor took me a moment to realize where it came from. Then set up my PA's/PB's for a M U series set up. A-B-B-A also had some grinding sounding from one of the PA's took shell off it went away put shell back on it was there again took shell off again looked couldn't see anything took motor out looked lubed put back together no noise put shell on again still some noise took shell off again looked even at inside of shell no marks nothing look out of place  ran again no noise put shell back on no noise who knows so now will have to watch that engine.

Not much going on did hear from wallyworld he seems to be doing okay said he was battling some cancer and he got banned form the forum's but not sure if for ever or just a period because of posting a link to another forum. But was ale to get my message thru ctt and reply to it.

[cheapclassics]

Good afternoon all,

IIABSDISEI with temps in the 40s.   I like Arby's Onion Rings, but I am afraid they do not like me anymore.  Rather long day yesterday, but a good night's sleep appears to have corrected everything.  Did get some dead tree limbs pruned last night.  When the tornado came thru last year, why it did not take down apple tree, I will never know.  That is one tree I will never replace.  I have cussed that tree more than all the others combined.  Tonight Glee is back on and so is Ringer.  Hopefully some good TV watching.  I had streusel again on the dining car for breakfast.  TBIL after the shows.  Fifedog, congrats on the newest additon.  Did you post any pictures yet?  If you did, I missed them.  Glad to hear all are doing well.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Banks]

Hello all

Easter went well here. Seems like all had a good one.

Probe, depending on funds I may try to make the Fort Pitt Division show.

Fife congrats on the newest addition.

I just sent Phish a PM Hope all is well with him.

Lots needs done around home. Spend Saturday working on pasture fence. It's high tensile and one corner and a gate needs rebuilt. Got the hard part done. Borrowed a post hole digger. 

York is still a good possibility.

SS Fund calls

Prayers for those in need

[RockIsland52]

KRM

Sorry guys I fell behind on the pot this weekend. Have had a lot going on.

........RI Jack, I got to give it to you and your wife’s training of your pup. I can’t believe he did not bite your arm off for those Bunny ears. .......

Have a great day all,

Kev.

 

 

KEV and RT.......   When one has a dog, one that will be mixing and mingling with all manner of people, at home or on the street, and real-life situations, one can assume nothing.  You have to pick a dog that is compatible with your family's lifestyle, your level of experience, your living surroundings, and your capacity($ and time) to assimilate the pup safely into your life. 

Pam and I made some huge mistakes early on in this regard.  About 13 years and three dogs ago we went out and got a rescued dog (and breed) of unknown background and breeding that was way too much dog for us to handle......because we thought the dog looked neat.   Duh!!!!!!!!!  We needed a Lassie but got  Kujo/King Cong.   

A common refrain we hear from so many folks up who arrive for the first time at training, with dogs from 4 pounds to 200+ pounds, regardless of breed, especially if the dog decided to take a chunk out of the owner, a family member, a friend, the pizza delivery guy, or another dog, is this:  "My dog "never" did that before.  He bit my (fill in the blank)."   

One guy showed up in class a year or so ago with a smaller 20 poundish rescued dog that had bitten him several times, and on three of thr occasions the dog's bite wounds required stitches!!!  That dog also ate all manner of dogs, regardless of breed, size, color, sex, or demeanor. 

Own a larger breed dog, and the damage and carnage that dog can do very quickly rises.  Choose to own a guard or protection breed like a German Shepherd or a Doberman, then the natural, inbred protection genes and instincts start coming into play.

It comes down to the dog's differentiation, deference, and finally trust.  When the dog has the differentiation and deference pieces down, that marks the point at which the dog has trust in his handler and in his surroundings, at home or on the street. 

When one owns a dog, any size or breed of dog (including mixed breeds), one has to make sure through  professional evaluations (veterinarian/medical and behavioral) that the dog is confident, stable, and can be respecting.  The owner also has to know the breed's inclinations, train toward the desireable traits, and train against the undesireable ones.  Too many people pick a dog or a breed of dog for all of the wrong reasons, issues then ensue, and the dog winds up in a shelter, a rescue, or is euthanized.

You are ideally looking from a safety standpoint for the pup's ability to differentiate between a passive stranger (or dog), an overly-excited friendly stranger (or dog), and an outright threat from a person (or dog) who means you or your dog no good.  The same goes for rougher dog play (and dogs play rough), whether it be play with another dog or play with a humanoid on two legs.  I cannot have my 75 pound dog jumping on people or knocking down the grandchildren like they were bowling pins.  Nor can I have him unintentionally injuring a smaller dog during play.  

And with deference, the dog must learn to defer all decisions to the handler-owners, especially the ones that involve the dog's use of their teeth.  Even if the threat is very real and imminent, the dog must look to the owner for the decision, not take matters into their own paws/mouth/teeth. 

The guy I mentioned above in paragraph 3?  The right trainer (mine) had that handler and his dog straightened out in relatively short order.  You wouldn't believe the positive transformation in his dog who now mixes and mingles in safety.  The dog no longer worries about the larger dogs (survival mode) or the dogs with an "attitude".  Nor does the dog look at people on two legs (giants in his mind) as a threat to him.   He was reprogrammed as you will  to differentiate properly. 

The training brought the dog's confidence level way up (and stress/suspicion levels down), confidence that the owner would make all of the right decisions and would protect him under any and all circumstances.   Despite what all of the dog's previous experience in life had been, he now defers all decisions to the owner, trusting that the owner will handle matters and keep everything safe.

Now that I have put everyone to sleep........

Jack

[SPMan]

Good morning all,

Fife, congratulations on the new addition.  Welcome aboard Bunny!

Bob, neat photos of the Iowa.  Thank you.

Jack, that poor dog of yours is long suffering having to put up with those bunny ears.

Jeffrey, glad to hear of any improvement on your mom.  Get her the best tomatoes and bacon you can find.

Chief, refresh my memory on L19.  Can't quite remember what that was.  I remember a PT19 but that was a two seater one fore and one aft, open cockpit, training plane with low wing.  Saw one take off once in hurricane force wind.  Was barely making headway and looked like a hover craft.  After turning downwind, he took of like a shot.  I was in the C.A.P. for a while as a kid.  We had an L4J Piper but that was more like a cub.  Got a few lessons on it.

Got some bad news about my oldest friend yesterday.  His wife called and said he had been put on the hospice program now.  He has been in the hospital with a couple of close calls since the beginning of the year.  He is in advance stages of C.O.P.D which he has had for about 10 years now.  For the past several years he has been on oxygen  24/7.  He and I have been pals since 1971.  He used to be in the circus when he was young and was part of the Great Wallenda High Wire Troop for about three years. They were famous for the seven man pyramid.  He set up a lower wire about 10 ft off the ground in his back yard and taught me and his daughter to walk the wire and even do three person pyramids with a shoulder bar between the two guys and the daughter on top.  She could do a headstand on the bar while we held her stopped in the middlie of the wire. He rode a bicycle and did some other tricks as well.  I gave  up working with him when I went to work for the railroad.  We were just about to quit anyway and he gave the rigging to some young circus performers.  He was also a train collector and Lionel repair man.  He was the one who introduced me to three rail  O gauge and got me started by collecting all the trains I wanted but never got when I was a kid.  Since then, I have evolved into more scale modern trains.  I am going to see him on Thursday if he is up to it.  I'm afraid his time is not long.

later,

Ray