Coffee Pot #9 SEPTEMBER 2012 SIX 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

[ChiefEagles]

Morning.  Cloudy and chilly.  More big rain last night [actually very early this AM].  2" or more.

Spanky, prayers for Tyler.  You also have UNC and Duke that are great state of the art hospitals.  Wake Med and Rex [part of UNC] have great cancer centers.  We are praying it is not cancer.  If so, majority of the people survive now.  God bless.

Bob, you and RT are running neck and neck for the "Pot's" comedian of the year award.

Flu shot at Dr's office middle of the afternoon and then Regional Transportation meeting til 6.  Frankie's birthday dinner after that.

Hope the "boys" north of me did not have bad storms and any damage.

Have a good one.

 

[RockIsland52]

Good Mornin’ Y’all From Overcast Cape Ann Taxachusetts, 

Last night after midnight the worst of yesterday’s weather hit here, the second front for the day.  We had opened the windows after dinner to cool things down and enjoy some fresh air.  The 11 o’clock news led off with the prediction we would be hit with the second front just after midnight with winds gusting to 60mph and an overan  inch of rain.  Points 60 miles West of us were already reporting up to 3 inches of rain, localized flooding, downed trees, and power outages. 

So on my way to bed I thought it would be a good idea to pop my head into the other room to remind the wifey to close the window next to her when she finished shopping on the net.  “It’s really blowing out there!” she remarked and then went back to her browsing.  She joined me in bed about 30 minutes later.  While I was laying there in the dark trying to fall asleep a little birdie kept whispering in my ear “Get up and check to make sure all of the windows are closed.”   You guessed it.  She had left that Westward-facing window just as it was, wide open.  

Chief.......no damage from the storm in my neck of the woods, thankfully.  Was glad to hear you are OK.  We did get tornado watches on and off here as well but nothing worse than 60mph wind gusts. 

Banks........glad to hear your Mom’s follow-up visit with the Docs went well last week.  

HudsonJohn......hope all of your Mom’s testing last week went well. 

V8 Dennis.....how old was that tire you had to replace?  I suspect age and the California heat was too much for it.  Lucky thing you discovered the issue when you did.  You may want to have the other 3 checked.....it gets pretty dicey trying to drive a car on the rims.  

RT.......sounds like the peppers and onions won out this past weekend over the installation of your new flooring.  

LAZ......re dogs and rain, they can get to smelling pretty gamey when they get wet.  Some folks wipe their dogs down with scented dryer sheets to kill the odor while others like my wife use a scented grooming spray and a brush to work it in.  The Chief?  He just drops his pups off at the doggie salon and picks them up later. 

Jeffrey........I think you are beating a dead horse with that old riding mower of your Dad’s.  Replacing the idler pulley and starter relay doesn't get you anything when the (too expensive to repair/replace) transmission is ready to go.  Saving your foot is most important.   Hope the new batteries in your Mom’s power chair do the trick.  Was the chair sitting unused and uncharged for a while? 

SJ........it sounds like you and the wifey had a nice road trip to parts North there in Michigan.  Hope the weather cooperated for you.  Personally, I find driving out on the open road with the wife relaxing, until she starts back seat driving.  

Bob......I would think that a VW bus in decent condition would attract some interest.  I’ll bet it moves quicker than you may think as long as folks know it’s on the block.  There is nothing worse than the opacity machine going down when you operate a telescope, especially AFTER YOU worked on it.  

BOC..........re the garden gremlins, chipmunks? 

AF Ray..........I can understand your consternation with the Yankees.  The Wild Card in the American League for the playoffs is still up for grabs.

DonB........with all of that CA heat recently and working so close to those boilers, I would have thought you would have lost quite a few pounds in the process = no beer belly.

KEV.......George and Maximus could make a great hunting team.

JoeyD.......are you having any luck bribing the inspectors?

Rich........I think that the new Dodge Dart you are talking about is assembled at the Belvidere IL plant North of Kev and West of DougM.  A godsend for the jobs of the UAW workers there.

Gotta run.  Later, gang!

Jack

[sir james I]

Oh my a bad week here. So sad.

Wes, Spanky, and Murphy, sorry to read of your loss. Here's hoping Tyler is doing better.

Winter has arrived woke up to a cold house and 44 degrees outside.

Bob, good one, enjoy the turkey.

Kevin, yes we spent 6 days in the UP, no fall colors yet but the Casinos were open anyway..:)

Doug M. I'm gonna miss Rudy's sad sack face.......S.J.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

RockIsland52

Jeffrey........I think you are beating a dead horse with that old riding mower of your Dad’s.  Replacing the idler pulley and starter relay doesn't get you anything when the (too expensive to repair/replace) transmission is ready to go. 

Whip it, beat it, curse it till it can't go no more. We don't get a replacement til it's dead. That's my father. He once kept an old vacuum cleaner because it still picked up dirt. Didn't matter that you couldn't get parts or bags for the darn thing or that it only ran for five minutes at a time. The point was it worked even if only for five minutes. Sound like anybody you know? Ebeneezer Scrooge perhaps?

RockIsland52

   Hope the new batteries in your Mom’s power chair do the trick.  Was the chair sitting unused and uncharged for a while? 

Since they got it over a year ago. It was only charged once that I know of.

RockIsland52

Saving your foot is most important.

At this point the best I can do is keep it from getting infected. Someday I may be able to find an affordable way to get it removed. No doctor around here will do it on Medicaid as they all want to get rich withing ten years. My foot doctor says I could get it done in Shreveport but he can't come up with any names. The time for it isn't now. There's too much going on that requires me to have some mobility. Getting into and out of my home with crutches is next to impossible and using them inside there's just no space. An amputation site needs to heal before any prosthetic device can be attached and that takes time. The physical therapy required to learn to use said device also takes time. It also takes money. With the economy the way it is who knows what kind of insurance, if any, will be available to cover it.

[Hudson#685]

Lunch time:

SJ summed it up as being a back week on the Pot.

Mom is going for pre-admission testing tomorrow.

Prayers for Wes and his family.

Spanky: Sorry for the loss of your Mom. Prayers for Tyler and think POSITIVE.

Chief: The storm hit hard. More OT to add to the SS treasury and my pension and 401K. Well said about your Mom and life.

AF53, Ray: Thanks for letting out the family secret about my Howdy Doody PJs.

Laz: 72 Days to go.

Everyone have a Great Day.

John

[KRM]

V8Vega

 Whats with the pirate talk? On the Fiero forum they had changed every topic title to pirate talk.

 Dennis, Per DougM,

Aloha. . A beauty of a day again today. Which of course is Talk Like A Pirate Day. 

[ChiefEagles]

sir james I

 

Winter has arrived woke up to a cold house and --44 degrees outside.

.......S.J.

Hope the dogs are in shape to get you around.

[Anonymous]

Afternoon fellas

Prayers for Wes and his boys

Prayers for DJ, Tyler, and their family

Jeffery - don't want your foot to turn into a political debate, but my Dr friends have told me many Drs are turning away Medicaid and Medicare patients because the Fed's reimbursement amounts are not sufficient to cover their costs - so they lose money on about 80% of those claims. Just sayin' most Drs aren't in it to get rich, and no one I know would do anything that would pretty much gaurantee them to become poor.

My mother was informed a few weeks ago that she is set to retire in April - not her choosing, she wanted to work for a year or two more. She's been with the company for 30 years and there doesn't seem to be room for her any longer. Just sad. She is taking it pretty tough because she is feeling unwanted, which I don't think is the case as she works for the owner... What bothers me is so many employers don't seem to really understand what their employees do. In my mother's case there is so much that she does that is non-repetitive and how do you cross-train someone on something you do maybe once every 3 months? There isn't enough time to get that person efficient or proficient on that task. This is why I have always preached that you need to have cross-coverage on assignments - don't rely on one person do to specific tasks, make sure you have at least 2 people who are capable of doing things.

Had an orthodontic appt this morning as I lost my invisiline retainer. They found a tooth loose and this requires a different retainer to fix, then after the tooth is stable and in alignment they will put a wire behind my lower teeth to keep them in place and in alignment... ugh... but at least I won't have any teeth just falling out any time soon!

Christina continues to grow and learn every day. Last night we were getting ready for bed when she pointed at her new Nittany Lion  and said 'Kittie' She then patted her knee like I do to get our cat to come visit (this never works), when I handed the lion to her she squeeled and gave it a kiss. Oh - bath time is now an adventure! She has learned how to 'climb' so she now tried to climb into and out of the tub. She is just like TheQ in that she THINKS she can do anything... She likes to push her play chairs and our kitchen chairs around the kitchen so she can climb onto them to get 'higher' to see what is on the counter... and yes she has fallen and bumped her head and she has a few cuts and bruises too. I told TheQ last night that we may need to get a helmet for her... I cannot repeat TheQ's response on this forum... well not many forums that I could post that on!!!

The storms quieted down last night after The Chief went to bed... now what does that tell you?

[SPMan]

Good morning all,

Spanky, condolences on the loss of your mom.  Prayers for Tyler

I'm sorry to report that Chris Vega, the young Glendora, California high school student with Lukemia that I mentioned a few days ago, has lost his battle after several months of fighting it.  He had everything that could be done to save him and lots of prayers but it was not meant to be.  He passed away on Monday I just learned this morning.  He was the grandson of good friends of ours at church.  He was on the high school track team and was a senior.  He did graduate but was unable to walk with his class at the commencement.  However his classmates and teachers brought his diploma to the hospital.  Our prayers go out to his family.

My old quartz railroad watch gave up the ghost according to my jeweler.  He said it had some rust inside and he would probably have to replace the works.  I will just retire it and keep it for a memory of my time on the railroad and have put my new quartz watch which I have been saving in service.

Weather cooling down a little and hopefully will be better next week.  I'm looking forward to getting the trains running again in the garage/trainrom.

Jack, no appology needed for the pride you have for Maximus.  I have learned something about dobies from you and feel a little better about them now.  However the jury is still out on Pit Bulls.  Not my favorite.

Jeffrey, hope you can eventually get a resolution with the foot problem.  I know it's hard to think of putting yourself out of action for a while when others are depending on you.

Prayers for all of you with suffering and needs.

Ray

 

 

[submmbob]

Hello all

Wasn't too cold last night on the mountain, only 47 deg. Nice day today. Did let the bat out BTW.

Thoughts and prayers for Wes, Mike, DJ, Tyler, and the family of SPRay's friend.

Was SJ in the UP? I thought the old Soo line ran trains up there....

Jeffrey - how about converting your mom's chair to an electric riding mower?Sounds like something they would do on Handyman's Corner on the Red/Green Show.

Kev - my dad's first new car was a '61 four door Corvair, hence my interest in Corvairs. The family never had one after I was born, but dad would always talk about it. Will have to send you a pic of one of the guy's cars in the club. He just restored a 60 4 dr.

Jack - I hope the bus sells quickly. I wont have a place for it after the move and I'm tired of looking at it.

Chief - here's SJ getting his place ready for winter:

Bob

[blownout cylinder]

Good Afternoon

mmmmm...looking kind of busy in here today, I see....

Got some more gardening done this morning...and, of course, now I can has all kinds of modelling fun.....

mmmmm...I need some more coupler springs again....

[RockIsland52]

RaySP......prayers for Chis, the grandson of your friends.  I can't imagine the pain and sorrow the entire family has gone through only to lose him.  He was too young.  

Thank you for your kind words about Maximus.  With breeds we are not sure of, it still comes down to poor breeding and irresponsible dog owners.  We didn't have these problems with Pit Bulls back through the decades, not until they became the dog du jour of the gang bangers, drug dealers, thugs, and folks who engage in dog fighting.  The animal shelters are loaded with Pit Bulls they can't place.  Yet the back yard breeders keep cranking them out.  On a breed basis, I am fairly certain Pit Bulls are the most owned dog in the U.S. and have been for several years.  The Center For Disease Control tracks such stats, as well as dog bite statistics and death by dog statistics if you are interested.  The Doberman has faded well out of the limelight badlight.  

Jack

[KRM]

submmbob

Hello all

  Kev - my dad's first new car was a '61 four door Corvair, hence my interest in Corvairs. The family never had one after I was born, but dad would always talk about it. Will have to send you a pic of one of the guy's cars in the club. He just restored a 60 4 dr.

 

Bob , I would like to see that. My 1960 Corvair was a red 4 door with an auto trans with a lever on the dash to shift it. The thing had ,,,,get this,,,, a GAS fired heater in the front trunk just below the windshield and ABOVE the gas tank. Like they said "Unsafe at any speed" 

SP Ray, prayers for your friends and Chris's family, Way to young.

 Shake & Bake Don, I sent you a PM. I am using ACC power from the ZW  to run the gates. Same transformer that is running the trains on the track.  I have built and installed 4 sections of insulated track in front and behind the gates I want to activate. Do you wire both front and rear insulated tracks to the gate the same way? Turning it on early and shutting it off late? BTW I am only using only 1 gate at each crossing because they are on the edge of the table and the road disapears. thanks for the help on this.

[rtraincollector]

Evening all not a lot going on tonight. Today has been a better day not so much rush rush lol. Well befor its all over I'm sure I'm going to be dead by the hands of WOMBO I won a Bachman G scale set nib basicly was set up one christmas and really ran only a couple of times. Then I won a C&O freight set from the late 90's I think Both of which I will probably turn around and resell as got them at almost give away prices. Well told you all I returned the C&NW Because of differences anyway I have turned around and got the NYC frieght set that had the GP-9 in it all new in box only missing the cab1 controll that came with that set trying to get you to buy the base and get into tmcc as this is one of the first models of tmcc this is in original set box and then all the cars and the engine are in original boxes in the set box. I also won 26 sections of Gargraves track which I need was used for displaying trains exactly what I plan to do with it lol

Wes Sorry for your loss

prayers also for all who need them.

Well just noticed low water presure went outside about 100 yards away theres a big spout of water going the main city water line broke again ( second time in this area in about a year ) So that means for the next week we will have a boil water advisory after they fix it.

Well you all have a good night talk to you all later

[submmbob]

Kev - this guy's car is red too, but I don't know if it has the powerglide trans of the stick shift. My '65 has the powerglide as well.

Yeah, the whole idea of a gas heater is kind of scary, but I've heard if they were well maintained they worked well. The DC-3 used one that burned aviation gas in the cabin  VW buses used to have them years ago as well. Since air-cooled engine heat works off the exhaust manifold, in some colder climates I imagine the gas heaters were a must. On longer trips the stock heat works fine, but with short trips and defrosting the windshield it was a challenge. As least GM got smart and put in a booster fan on the Corvairs rather than just run off the engine cooling fan like VW's.

Bob

P.S. Found another decent deal on a Magma ore car, so now I'll have a nice little ore train

[jeffrey-wimberly]

submmbob

Jeffrey - how about converting your mom's chair to an electric riding mower?Sounds like something they would do on Handyman's Corner on the Red/Green Show.

Somehow I don't think she'd sit still for that. That might be a good way of finding out how far she can throw a toaster. Of course that also depends on the type of toaster. Kitchen or Cylon?

[hscsltb]

Chief, just some high winds last night and a little rain. Survived with no damage at home or work.Just a few leaves and sticks to pick up.

[dougdagrump]

Evenin' All.

Boy, it sure is tough to log in tonite.

Wes, Prayers going out for you and your family, most of us are laocted some distance away from you but we would be honored to be considered extended family to help out in any way that we can. Even if it is just someone to talk with via phone or e-mail, may God Bless.

DJ, Prayers for your Mom's passing. Prayers also for your little one, soon home safe & sound.

After making a trio of halloween flatcars I was once again reminded why I am glad I am not a "modeler". Painting by hand, no spray cans, is a pain when one has slightly shakey hands. Give me a rattle can and I'm good to go. I'll see if I can get a few photos up on SPF this weekend.

Well gotta run.

Later all.

 

[sir james I]

We had sun today and 66, but also had a chilly wind. So I will try and cut the grass tomorrow. Maybe, perhaps. I had Butter Pecan ice cream tonight and granny had jello. There is plenty of banilla though for the thingy crew.....S.J.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

dougdagrump

Painting by hand, no spray cans, is a pain when one has slightly shakey hands. Give me a rattle can and I'm good to go.

I'm a firm believer in the rattle can myself.

*

Looks like  I finally broke 20,000 on the post count!

*

Never did get around to mowing the grass today. My father came up with other things to do. Got a new keyboard for my computer. The old one has been slowly dying for about a year. My new one is a Delux K7018 Executive Standard. Also got a new mouse for the computer I have at my parents place. The old one died last week. The place I got the stuff is going out of business so I got a really good deal on them. $16 total.

I got a little work done on the old tractor this morning. Looks like it's gonna be a two man job.

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

[8ntruck]

Sunny and low 70's today.  One of those great fall days that I really enjoy - too bad I had to work.

Prayers for healing and losses.  Seems like there has been a lot of need for that lately.

Got a notice from Lionel that my All Hallow's Eve tender is on its way back.  It will be interesting to see what they found.

There is an art fair downtown this weekend.  My wife is involved with the Fine Arts Council kids activities.  That means by default, I am too.  Mostly lift & tote type activities.

All for now.

[KRM]

WOW just watched a great show on PBS, Cheap Trick in concert. 2012... The wife said Humm,,,I think I am getting old, look at those guys. . I told her close your eyes and listen and it will be the same as ever.

BTW DougM, what channel are you watching DR. Who on?? And is it the new ones or the old ones I used to watch back in the 70s when you had to be high to watch them?? Yeah been there and done that ,,,,,SO what??? it was the 70s funny how what we all did we now don't want our kids to do. Just like every generation. Yeah I am no

Night guys.

[ChiefEagles]

Back from Frankie's B'day dinner.  I paid for all of it.  Wasn't free this time.

Loved my Corvairs.

Off to bed.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

KRM

what channel are you watching DR. Who on?? And is it the new ones or the old ones

I watch it on BBCAmerica, channel 135 on Dish Network down here. It's the newer ones.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening...

We had a busy day here...all kinds of stuff done, including some deck repairs....dang deer.......Audrey went out the back door and said deer tried to run through the railing..it was on the backdeck when Audrey opened the door..scared the poor thing...

Anyways...off to 

[submmbob]

Hello all

Another day spent up in the loft. Nothing like 5 floors of stairs @ 10,500 ft. Got my exercise today. Spent the day swabbing the deck. Since our steel floors are painted gray, it reminded me of working on the USS Iowa last spring. Clean enough to eat up there now

Also got some time to practice my machining skills. It had been a while. Had a lot of fun making chips. And now I have two small blocks so I can move the carousel around for cleaning tomorrow.

Yes, I certainly love my Corvairs. Can't wait 'til the van is running again. Will be soon w/ the move. Hopefully after this weekend, the car will have a correctly adjusted float on the left carb and repacked front bearings. Getting ready for a little trip SE of town for a retreat. Should have the parts for the motorcycle and get it started and out the door. Then I can see where I was with the van after that project got sidetracked.

Time to find dinner and a pillow.

Bob

[dbaker48]

Good Evening!

Lots and Lots to comment/post about.....

Most difficult is Wes's situation.  Most of the time we don't appreciate how well things are going, and we loose perspective on the really important issues.  I have so much empathy for Wes and his boys.  DougDG hit it on the head, we are all part of the "extended family".  Hope we can help you get through this difficult time.

Sorry to hear about Chris as well, sounds like a really fine young man.

On a happier note, it was truly awesome the way Maximus (Jack's dog) responded to the Great Dane.  Would love to see how well he is trained.  Wish people had more consideration on how they treat their pets.  Many times it seems the pet has more sense than the owner has.  Two days ago saw a person walking a Pit Bull through Knott's!  I was shocked couldn't believe it was allowed in with all the children.

Knott's had another exciting day today.  For the second time in as many weeks the Windseeker Ride stalled.  The ride is one of the major attractions for the park, (except the railroad of course),   The guest were stranded in their seats for 3 hours at 350 feet high, legs dangling.  Made all the local news.  I was operating the Goose at the time and in no time there were 5 helicopters hovering overhead getting the scoop.  They finally got them down by using a hand crank.  As the employees of the Railroad are in the Ride Maintenance Department, I was listening to all the radio chatter during the fiasco.  BTW, the dept mgr was let go this past Sunday, he had been there 38 years!  Conjecture is dept being over budge, high ride downtime, and fiasco with the Windseeker.

Operating the Goose has been great!  It is a LOT cooler, and much easier to operate!  Also have had fun explaing the history to guests.  Will take the camera in tomorrow and see about doing a recording of a cab urn.

Bob's layout will resume next week.  He''s been putzing around doing various small tasks.  Wouldn't mind if he made significant progress but will wait and see.

Kev, Remember just to leave that isolated section of outside rail isolated for the the length of track or sections of track where you want the signal bridge to operate at.  You dont need to do anything special for the lsignal ight to go back to the off position when the train passes through the section of you want it on for, and then when it crosses over to the next block of track the signal will revert to the off position.

Think that's about all I'm good for, for tonight.  Going to be pushing the Goose around again tomorrow.

Later

[Demay]

Konbanwa,

The inspectors finished today and they provided us a short out-brief.  We passed, but we will not know our official rating until the middle of October.  We had some minor deficiencies but we knew of them already.  Since the office did well preparing for the inspection, the Director and I decided to give everyone tomorrow off.   A few of us from the office will spend tomorrow morning on the golf course.  Tonight we are having pizza for dinner and just relaxing.

Jack – No bribes were necessary this time.

Brent – 30 years with one company is an extremely long time nowadays.  I hope she is able to come to terms with it quickly and enjoy retirement.  Also, our youngest is all over the place now.  I don’t mind his fearless desire to climb except when it’s in the tub – that scares me to death.  We fixed that though by having him shower with me at night.  We have a large shower stall and he can play with quite a few toys while we’re in there and he is always in my sight.

I’ll be praying for the Vega family and all of our other mentioned needs. 

Sayonara,

Joe

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning...

Got 'dem ol' Raining Kinda Day Blues Again Mama...raining and a little bit cool out there...only 46F out there right now  going for a supposed high of 64F..in the rain....well....maybe...

Got a few things need done this morning then it is off to LHS to see about getting a new pinvise...so that the other one will show up.....

Anyways...have a good day!!

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a cold 40 degrees. Going up to 76 today with sunshine.

Today is a busy day. Wife is grocery shopping. I have a few chores to do and a project to work on. Then, we put all the groceries away. Lunch and a nap are on the schedule.

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Thursday.

Chuck