Good morning all,
Went to hospital outpatient department with wife to get her blood test this morning. Ran into a lady whom we haven't seen since she was a little girl. Took me a while but I finally recognized who she was. We had a nice chat.
Son wants to help me put up Christmas outdoor lights today.
Found a short in one of the few Gargraves switches still left on my layout. Thought I would have to replace but figured out that the movable part of the points were shorting out on the third rail above them. Fixed with a piece of electrical tape for insulation. I had some shims under the points but it was forcing the points to come in contact with the third rail. Put it all back like original. Don't remember now why I shimmed it in the first place. Probably because points were riding too low. Seems OK now though.
D. Baker, the meeting with your friends at Knotts sounds like fun. Reminds me of years ago a group of guys I knew about who were live steam operators. They would take some track and set up around the operators house at Summit in Cajon Pass when there was a train order office there. Then they would run their steam engines all day while the real railroad passed by in front of them on the U.P. and Santa Fe. This was a long time before they built the palmdale culoff. Another group of railfans get together once a year at "Winter Rail" in Sacramento to swap stories and show slide shows of trains.
later,
Ray
SPMan
All repaired. Bypass hose had been "snatched a loose" by the part of the belt that came apart. Got free coolant system flush, new coolant, new belt [original Toyota this time] and complete wash job. Per repair/service facility, CARQUEST is footing the full bill.
Later.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
dbaker48 Good Evening, Everything well out here, staying inside, getting cold here! Suppose to get to the 50's tonight and maybe only get up to 65 tomorrow. If it isn't too bad will try to make it to therapy tomorrow morning.
Good Evening,
Everything well out here, staying inside, getting cold here! Suppose to get to the 50's tonight and maybe only get up to 65 tomorrow. If it isn't too bad will try to make it to therapy tomorrow morning.
All the way down to 50? Boo Hoo. You've been living in CA way to long.
Here at the Toy Train Museum today, but leaving at noon, My computer wont connect to the data files on the library master computer. Did all I can do without screwing something up.
Everyone try to stay warm when the cold wave hits, even the guys in Southern California.
John
Aloha from a warm and foggy Chicago where it is supposed to get even warmer later today before the temps crash. I will take advantage by heading up to see the Field's (um Macy's) windows and the big tree and Kristkindel market near city hall around lunchtime. Then the temps crash tonight and through the weekend.Banks, hope your wife's recovery goes smoothly.Rich, I know what you mean about having your daughter far away.Mike C, I am excited to hear about the SG layout changes.Don, that sounds like a fun gathering.Joe, I hear you. My inlaws with a brand new computer love Win8. It's tougher to play with on an older machine without a touchscreen.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Morning all. What a day!!!!!! Started off with a bang. Cranked 4 Runner and loaded dogs for groomer. 4 Runner has new serpentine belt put on by my local service center. Heard a loud clicking noise yesterday evening and stopped by the center. Belt had a bad place on it. Well, it shredded going out of the driveway. Didn't notice until steam was coming out behind vehicle. Stopped. Part of belt still on and part wrapped around fan shaft. Obviously hit a hose and knocked it off or cut it. Antifreeze all over engine. They sent wrecker and Wifey came and took dogs to groomer. Messed up our schedules. Of course service center is all apologetic. They will loose money on this deal. Bet they only get reimbursed for belt and not all the towing. additional labor and etc.
Got several appointments and then reception this evening. Cloudy and warm. Suppose to have a low of 62 Friday AM and high of 72. Then that Yankee cold air hits and rain Sat. and Sun. and cold temps. There goes the Christmas Parade by the Chamber.
Good Morning from Blueberryhill........
Good Morning, Joe......
It is a cloudy 44 degrees. Going up to 60 today with cloudy skies.
Today is a busy day. I have a big errand to run, early. The usual chores when I get home. Then, lunch and a nice nap.
Usual breakfast on the dining car.
Y'all have a great Wednesday.
Chuck
Mornin' boys. Cloudy and 39 here in the Mid-Atlantic region. Finished construction of the North Pole set up, now I need to wire same today for all the houses and accessories. Should have taken pics, just get too involved that I forget.
Konbanwa and Ohayo Chuck,
The wife and I both have a little crud right now, so I opted to work from home today to help her with the youngest and other house chores that needed to be finished. We’re feeling better now and I have a large pot of beef stew on the stove we’ll enjoy for dinner. My assistant coach will have to run flag football practice tonight; I’m glad I have a capable assistant coach. I’m hoping for some more Christmas train running after dinner.
Doug M. – I know there are people who do not like Windows 8, but I like it. It’s great on the tablet and I also use it on my home laptop. I don’t even miss the “start” button. That layout is neat.
Banks – I’m glad the wife has enough sick-leave to cover her recovery time.
Chief – I like your new avatar. Is that the most recent progress?
Sayonara,
Joe
Found out additional therapy has been authorized for both leg and shoulder. I SURE WILL BE GLAD WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER! SURE GETTING TIRED OF ALL THIS !
The guys at Knotts have an annual "Foam Fest Event", they get together talk trains stuff, watch DVDs, and play with different scales. (Guys bring an oval of track, and it gets set up and run. So the event is Wednesday nite (today), so it should be fun. It is the second one I've attended, last one was at my place.
Spent the day trying to find the right balance between elevation, ice packs, and exercise, leg hasn't been real cooperative today.
Have a good one, and stay healthy.
Don
cheapclassics "saucy wench" Have everything ordered for her for Christmas now. Hopefully all will make it here on time. Mike C. from Indiana
"saucy wench" Have everything ordered for her for Christmas now. Hopefully all will make it here on time.
Mike C. from Indiana
Good evening all,
Good day at work. Busy day as well. Worked a little on standard gauge layout tonight. Will have to a straight piece in half to make everything work, but the "saucy wench" approved it. Have everything ordered for her for Christmas now. Hopefully all will make it here on time. May get to scrimmage tomorrow night with high school soccer kids. That will be fun. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Back from dinner at Applebee's. Wifey paid [gift card]. Then we went shopping. Got SIL taken care of for Christmas. Also her cousin whose birthday party is Sat. night [big pig picking and some real moonshine will be there]. Got him a remote control helicopter [he will be 50]. Story behind the helicopter is, every time we got to one of these family gatherings, he says, "I heard the helicopter bring the Mayor and the First Lady."
lion88roar Chief - you're going hunting at night?
Chief - you're going hunting at night?
anjdevil2 Chief, Thanks for the boost. I miss my Princess. She was not happy when she got back. A change MAY be in order but that is in the future as she really enjoys her job. She will be getting the Reliant when it is done.
Chief, Thanks for the boost. I miss my Princess. She was not happy when she got back. A change MAY be in order but that is in the future as she really enjoys her job. She will be getting the Reliant when it is done.
Rich, you are a great Dad. You deserve it.
Later
Banks - Sorry to hear about Mrs Banks' wrist... OUCH!Ray - He loves her, but he is more worried that she won't be able to cook! Sorry Banks, couldn't resist! Chief - you're going hunting at night?
https://brentsandsusanspicutures.shutterfly.com/
Got some good news from my niece in Florida this morning. She has finally found a reasonable dentist that you wouldn't be afraid to go to in order to get my sister some new dentures. I am helping her do this so I will deal with them directly. She is going in tomorrow for evaluation.
Banks, glad your wife got fixed up with the cast. Sorry she has to miss so much work.
V8 Dennis, I feel your (computer) pain. I get the same thing sometimes on my old computer. I need a new one with more capacity.
Cold weather predicted here for later in the week with temps going down to just above freezing at night. Very unusual for here. Chief is having a heat wave and we are freezing. Figure that out. Maybe Buckeye's snow canon is pointed the wrong way.
Hey guys, quick check in here....busy
Really had a fun time at the FD display until the PE dropped on the concrete. a little patience and a wood dowel and it's like new...sans paint.
Beautiful day out here, too bad I have to work :(
Not much else just working hard and getting stressed....
back soonest!
I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.I am the venom in your skin --- Breaking Benjamin
Banks, sorry no deer. Will probably go Thursday night and hunt Friday.
Hello all,A quick check inNo deer yesterday, I spent a couple hours taking Mrs to the Ortho Doc. They removed the splint applied by Med Express and added a nice Purple cast. The good news is its a clean break. Bad news is it would take very little to make it much worse. Doc said she'll be off 6 to 8 weeks. (she does have enough sick days accumulated to cover it)Best get busy. I'll try to catch up tonightPrayers for those in need
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
Morning. Sunny and real warm. been snoozing and watching Trains and Locomotives DVR'd on RFDTV which is now RURALTV per TWC.
Now for a long walk.
Lazy day. Run errands later.
Aloha. Grey but warmer today. Boy, Dennis, I would sure be happy with a winter in the 50s here (but I know what you mean if you are used to 70s). I had a long church meeting last night, but a nice discussion with the youngest about adding more dinosaurs to the layout. Joe, I should've guessed it was the base! That's a nice tablet. Windows 8.1 frustrates my UI preferences. I'll be keeping our unit on Win7 as long as possible. I found a nice program that restores the start button Isn't this a neat layout? http://goo.gl/SVH1Vt
Good Morning from Blueberryhill...........
Good Morning, Joe............
It is a foggy 40 degrees. Going up to 53 today with some sunshine.
Today is a busy day. Wife is grocery shopping and I am doing chores. I will be busy putting away groceries and then, lunch. A nap for sure.
Dining car has Cheerios for breakfast.
Y'all have a great Tuesday.
Today’s workday consisted of a couple of meetings which turned out to be short – that’s always nice. The rest of the day was quite productive. This evening I need to chauffeur the princess to volleyball practice and then round up some dinner. Sometime tonight I’ll run the Nutcracker Route train which will make it three nights in a row of train running. It may be a simple oval, but it is still fun.
Doug M. – The Japanese do not have Black Friday events, the base exchange (department store) certainly does. I have a Surface RT with Windows 8.1 RT. So far it has exceeded my expectations.
Busy day at work. Got the Polar Express set up around the tree. Got the bottle brush tree in the attic set up with lights. May work on back porch standard gauge layout tomorrow. I hope everyone has a good day.
Morning. Partly cloudy and real warm. 70's by Thursday.
Busy day. County Commissioners, Christmas tree lighting and then Town Board.
Tomorrow is suppose to be a day off.
Fifey, funny.
Have a great week all.
V8Vega It might have achieved the forcast 78 today if you stood in the sun in the early afternoon.Pick Your Part has a 1/2 price sale every month, if there is a holiday its that weekend. I went yesterday and got that top of the rear seat I wanted for my 87 Prelude. Probably my last chance as there getting rare now. The seat folds down for long items in the trunk and there is a seperate piece that is the top of the seat, mine and most are sun damaged this one is like new. These cars are going to scrap so destroying things to get the part you want is no problem, I pried up the plastic panels near the seat top and found two bolts that held it on. I did bend it a little trying to figure out how to get it off but I'm sure I can straighten it. I once clamped a pair of vicegrips on a Fiero side window and gave it a good yank breaking it to smitterens to get to the bolts that held the side mirror on.I also got Idle Air Valve if this dosen't fix my Preludes idle I will take it to my mechanic. I stuck this in my pants, I have no problem at all stealing from Pick Your Part as I have shopped there for years and have many many stories of getting ripped off, their prices can be absurd and maybe you went to a lot of trouble to get something so you pay even at half price day.I also have spent a lot of money because its half price day and maybe I can use something in the future so I get it and never use it.I could have got a wheel for my Prelude with a good tire but aluminum wheels are kind of expensive even on half price day and my car came with a space saver spare and I again my never use it so I decided not too.I aked the guy as you pay to enter is this a good place to look for women? Pick Your Part is a very tiring place, I'm glad I only go once in a while now.
It might have achieved the forcast 78 today if you stood in the sun in the early afternoon.Pick Your Part has a 1/2 price sale every month, if there is a holiday its that weekend. I went yesterday and got that top of the rear seat I wanted for my 87 Prelude. Probably my last chance as there getting rare now. The seat folds down for long items in the trunk and there is a seperate piece that is the top of the seat, mine and most are sun damaged this one is like new. These cars are going to scrap so destroying things to get the part you want is no problem, I pried up the plastic panels near the seat top and found two bolts that held it on. I did bend it a little trying to figure out how to get it off but I'm sure I can straighten it. I once clamped a pair of vicegrips on a Fiero side window and gave it a good yank breaking it to smitterens to get to the bolts that held the side mirror on.I also got Idle Air Valve if this dosen't fix my Preludes idle I will take it to my mechanic. I stuck this in my pants, I have no problem at all stealing from Pick Your Part as I have shopped there for years and have many many stories of getting ripped off, their prices can be absurd and maybe you went to a lot of trouble to get something so you pay even at half price day.I also have spent a lot of money because its half price day and maybe I can use something in the future so I get it and never use it.I could have got a wheel for my Prelude with a good tire but aluminum wheels are kind of expensive even on half price day and my car came with a space saver spare and I again my never use it so I decided not too.I aked the guy as you pay to enter is this a good place to look for women?
Pick Your Part is a very tiring place, I'm glad I only go once in a while now.
Dennis,
Even the independent yards around here are the same way. I went through the trouble to remove a complete throttlebody from a 97 Probe base only got get a sky high price quote when I took it to the office.
The throttlebody and complete air intake with Vaf sensor on the 96 Probe in the other section unbolted itself and grew legs. Large toolbags are your friend.
With the prices that they pay people for complete cars ($150 for a running and mostly complete 91 Probe GL), I don't feel bad either.
Jim
Aloha and happy December. Lots to catch up on!Ray, happy belated anniversary to you and your wife. 54 is a great milestone.Brent, thought of you when I had a chance this weekend for a solo sit-down with my 23 year old daughter, talking about life and work and love, as she tries to set up her post-college life in Ann Arbor. DonB, glad you are getting around!Joe, so they have Black Friday in Japan? Sounds like a nice pick-up of that Surface tablet. Hope it was the latest ver. Chief, I love that light-up picture. It will look cool in The Box.Banks, hope your wife is recovering swiftly.We had a nice holiday with both older kids able to come home. We had a great meal with my brother and his family in their tiny house in Chicago. Watched the parade seemingly all day as the local digital channel kept repeating it. Got in a little shopping online and worked a bit too.
Brent,
Thanks for the help with that project. Hoping it works out. Finally, someone else who also think Tomlin needs to go.
Mornin' FellasBusy weekend! Watched Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with the family Thursday AM, then spent the afternoon with Susan's Family at her Aunt and Uncle's house. Then attended the football game with my BiL Thursday PM. Was disappointed with the outcome, but after the childish antics of our Head Coach I was pleased. IMHO I hope The Steelers don't win another game until that childish thug is fired, and he can help his pathetic excuse of an Offensive Coordinator pack his house as well! Ravens fans need to learn some class though. I don't give a rats rear-end who gets hurt, but when someone is laying motionless on the field you do NOT laugh and say "They need to show that hit on the jumbotron!", nor do you chant "Hey Hey Hey Goodbye as the injured player walks off the field." That kind of behavior has always made me sick!Friday we put the trees up (not decorated), and let me just say there is one 2yo little girl who is beyond excited for Christmas! Saturday was more cleaning, some shopping, visit with FiL, and watching more football. Glad PSU beat Wisconsin, and disappointed that Saban didn't let his team play, his conservative play calling cost them that game. Before going to see FiL we stopped at the Ellicott City Volunteer Fire Dept's train garden. All had a great time and Christina was less than pleased when we left (we were there for almost 45 minutes!). Yesterday I put up the outside lights (will need to get new lights next year as there were quite a few dead areas in a few strands). Hope to get at least one tree decorated tonight, then the other tomorrow, or tomorrow and Wednesday if we go see Santa tonight.Taking the day off on Friday to go to Delaware to do Christmas shopping with Susan. Daycare is having a 'parents night out' that evening so we don't need to rush home (happy about that). Susan has to proctor exams on Saturday so thinking about taking the kids to the Timonium Train Show...
Good Morning , Joe...........
It is a cloudy 38 degrees. Going up to 50 today.
Today is a busy day. I have an early errand to run and the usual chores. Some phone calls to make. Lunch and a nap, later.
Y'all have a great Monday.
Banks - Tell Mrs Banks good luck with the wrist. Collie fracture?
Mornin' boys. rt ---> For a moment I got the image of a 12-pointer driving a Jeep Wrangler with Chief hogtied on the hood... Clear and 39 here in the Mid-Atlantic region. More work on the North Pole layout before work this evening.
Took Wifey and Grandson to YORK yesterday for the big toy show. This year's edition left something to be desired. Walked over to the Train show (separate entity, separate admission) and found all kinds of Fifey kinda stuff. Picked up 2 Dept 56 buildings for North Pole, and a newly reconditioned LW to power same. I just love the retro look and feel of this transformer. Funny, it seems with every tech geegaw that comes around, I keep going backwards in my 3rail endeavors...
We then visited Glen Rock train display, and as we were leaving, here comes NCRR #17. We saw Santa hop on board, and we chased this little General back to Shrewsbury. The boy loved it.
SCOTUS will shoot down NC (and any other similar legislation) in the immediate future....
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