Happy Thanksgiving albeit late.....
Got Dad out of the hospital after 12 days and feasted on Saturday. Long 2 weeks it seemed. He's good, just tired. Too young at 83, still gets around quite well.
Went to Greenburg's and dropped off my K Line GG1 for a tuneup and an upgrade to TMCC. Bought a National Dairy car and Lionel Beltway caboose for $30.
Might drop the hammer on a Williams Blue Comet next week. Beautiful piece, just don't like the sounds.....TMCC upgrade later?
Fife - congas on the grandson!!
Geeezz missed a lot, sorry, Good to see DonB and SP-Man up and at 'em.
Buckeye at York? Seems like I GOTTA go now....
Gotta get back at it, work suck, but I'm not retiring anytime soon...more like never...
Rich (or the Devil) in JERSEY......lol
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
Good afternoon from a sunny 56°F Southern Ohio,
We had a busy weekend. Saturday morning the boys and I worked cleaning up leaves and moving a brush/fire wood pile. We had Thanksgiving dinner with some of my bride’s family Saturday, then I went to assist at Mass, then to the basketball previews then home help finish cleaning up. Sunday assisted at two Masses then the girls and some of their friends went with me to the annual train show. Pretty much the same displays as before and I talked with the coordinator of the train show and he wanted to know when I’ll be setting up again and I said this coming year things should slow down at least a little and I can put up the All Aboard layout. I did buy a couple of tables to set it up on so it would be easy setup. Devoting a whole Saturday and ½ a Sunday is a choice I need to make.
After the train show we put up the Christmas tree. The previous owners of the house left a really nice 10 foot tree when they moved and we are using it as our Christmas tree. Our original tree was looking a little long in the tooth. All the kids and their friends helped and we finished about 10 pm last night. Tonight I’ll stage the Christmas set-up stuff and maybe set up the Hallmark ornament truck tree, and maybe one of the several nativities we set up. One of my favorite nativities is the one that I had and used for as long as I can remember. It is a paper mache set from Germany made in the early 1950’s.
May God bless
Jim
Evening all!
Overall not a good day today. Lots of issues cropped up with a couple of retail web site/cust service (NOT) issues, daughter (who we go way out of our way to help) blew me off on a vehicle swap (I was helping her get some service done to her car - I needed my vehicle back), an issue with Kalmbach cust service re a USPS destroyed issue of Classic Trains (they will no longer answer the phone, all computer voice response or web based - and their web site nor voice system do not refer to issues by Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter which is the way they label their CT issues, so one has to guess at the issue date), capped off by idiots at United Health Care Medicare RX card support. To date I have received a 1 inch thick pile of indecipherable crap to read for just the Medicare RX plan. Why can't they provide a 1-2 page summary with references to the details if you want to read it. Then I cut my hand open with a Phillips bit disassembling some shelves. Argh! Hopefully tomorrow is better. At least the weather was really nice!
Regards, Roy
Good God Roy, I could of gave you a heads up on UHC. Cat had them for years and the only thing they were good at was sucking and screwing the people they were to cover. I can't understand why AARP is in bed with those people. Oh wait,,,,money. Run like hell from anything UHC! Wife is still stuck with them and will be for 7 more years till she hits 65. I just open my wallet and bleed.
As for CTT,,, again,, all about money not service. When leaders only look at a job for one or two years, bet the costumers get the short end. JMHO. And BTW,,, it ain't about You!!!!! Heal up soon.
Take a day off tomorrow.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Keg, no issues here in TX with UHC. I had them for over 15 yrs and they and BXBS were the best ins we had. The issue is the CS folks in India have no idea what materials I am being sent or why. As of today I have received the Walgreens RX card 3 different times now in a month with no explanation why they keep sending another card identical to the last. There is no explanation of the process Nor what to expect.
Bad news about Kalmbach phone service. It was always a polite lady that answered the phone and all would be fixed in just a couple minutes. Another one step forward and two back.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Good evening all,
Interesting news about Kalmbach customer service. I renew every 3 years so I do not deal with them much. Could be different the next time I call. Quiet day at work and I do not have to drive tomorrow. Weather was really good for a walk today. Finally came up with a temporary workaround on a computer issue at home. Glad to see so many people posting again. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Good Evening,
Had some pretty good luck today. I had commented about an issue I was having with the Big Boy. So after getting some information I went after it....Sequence of events;
If I would have looked closely at the begining I would have been able to resolve the whole thing in 2 minutes or less! All in All I'm Happy.
Rich (Anjdevil), Prayers for your dad. I agree with you re the Blue Comet
Jim, You need to post a picture of the Christmas Tree, and the truck, sounds like a very good weekend.
Roy, Sounds like a day you would like to forget. The good news is at least you didn't have to work today.
Kev, All insurance companies seem to be a PIA today. I have the VA, and its the best care I've ever had.
SJ, I agree, I have always had good service with them. Hope it doesn't change.
Hope I didn't bore you all with the lengthy post. But sure was glad tofind such an easy fix. BTW, GGG sure does a great job repairing stuff. Only bad thing is he is located in Virginia.
Take Care and Be Safe.
Don
Kev, looks like quite a trophy for a 12 year old. Bet he was happy.
Ray
SPMan
Don, glad you got the big boy going again. That sounds like a nightmare taking one apart. I spent about a year trying to get an MTH 4-8-4 going. Finally sent it to MTH. They fixed it but they were sloppy on a few things. At least it runs now.
Dennis, glad you found a friend. We have a fillipino community at our church. They are lovely people. My son used to date one of them in college. She would have made a good DIL but she married somebody else. They were very caring when my wife passed.
Morning all!
Another sunny day, cooler, 50 right now. Possible shower this evening as a front moves through.
Don - good story and you kept the suspense until the end! Toy train repair mystery writer!
Goood to be hearing regularly from Dennis and Ray!
An issue with the Kalmbach response system - it does not send you an email (you have to use it to identify yourself in the on-line system) to verify that you contacted them (like all the other similar systems I use) and what you contacted them about so you have no idea if they are really going to act on it. All one gets is a generic web page that 'thanks you for contacting them'. On the voice system there is no case # given for tracking. So you have nothing to use as proof you contacted them on a certain date.
So hopefully in the next couple of weeks a replacement mag shows up and if not I will probably not remember it until the next issue shows up...then I will wonder what happened to the last issue.
Aloha. Warmer today! Doesn't seem like holiday weather. Pulled the trigger on my first clockwork train set by Hornby (No. 20 goods train) for the bride to give me for Christmas. Can't wait! Hope today is better, Roy. DonB - don't forget to look for the tiny missing screw on the layout!
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
SPMan Kev, looks like quite a trophy for a 12 year old. Bet he was happy. Ray
Ray, that is Bank's grand son in the picture in my post. Sorry .
53 and windy with overcast skies will get to 60 then back to more like late November over night and tomorrow but still above average for here. I will take it!
Had to order a new tire for the log splitter yesterday to replace the one my neighbor Brian drove the tire spoon through the bead on trying to dismount it. $49.00 mounted is not bad. It was hard to get because it is a 13" rim from a early 60s 6 cylinder mustang / Falcon.
Caught the cat and did his flea stuff,,, now he is ,,
Posted my Classic Trains missing issue over on the CT forum plus sent it to the CT editor who responded very quickly on the forum and via email. They will replace the issue (never any doubt on that - the issue was the process) and he looped in the Cust Svc Mgr to look into the problems I ran into. He noted some other subscribers had run into similar problems.
Dennis - that would have scared the el out of me too! Glad there was no serious impact!
Busy morning at work. Not so much this afternoon. Took swings down tonight. Talked to Lucas. Only pizza wife can eat right now is Pizza Hut so they have to travel some to get it. She is doing better. Weather was great for a walk today. Roy, glad to hear you will get your destroyed issue. Has anybody gotten the January CTT yet? Usually here by now. Probably will get that and MR and TRAINS all on the same day. I hope everyone has a good day.
Hello there,
spent the day yesterday sitting in son's field hoping for a Buck to walk by. Didn't happen. Saw only a squirrel, several pair of Cardinals and I watched a mouse make several trips from field to woods.
Today I moved the neighbor ladies leaves and took the sucker off the Gravely and put it away til next year.
Later I made the gutter cleaning extension fit my new leaf blower and got all the high gutters done.
Tomorrow I'll do the low gutters and I'll be almost ready for winter.
This evening I had my annual eye exam. Every thing looks good. Only a sign of aging. Barely detectable cateracts forming on both eyes.
Off to bed.
Prayers for those in need.
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
Please let me know if my posts are too long or wordy, no problem.
Spent most of the day in the train room, didn't accomplish a lot, but spent a lot of time cleaning and straitening stuff out.
I decided to use a modified computer power supply for lighting buildings and led type lighting. One power supply and I eliminate all the wal-worts. Cost for power supply and adapter output board about $13, and a lot less wiring. The power supply only has DC output coming of it. And, I have a couple of accessories that require 12vac, (Lionel Hobby Store). So wired that up to the track power. Everything has been working well. Then I noticed the hobby shop seemed to be going off very eratically. Checked the connections and wiring, everything seemed good. Sometimes it would go off and stay off for an hour or more, other times just a few minutes. I began to wonder if something was getting too hot internally, or an internal circuit breaker. That just didn't seem feasible. Then tonight I found out why it was so erratic. The track power that is closest to the shop that I used is from a siding, and I have a toggle switch to turn that siding on or off. Also, IF I have a short on that siding the DCS turns the power off to it. Sooo, whenever I shorted the track the shop went off and stayed off until I would recycle the DCS system. Talk about feeling dumb, so now I've rerouted the power for 12vac accessories to a dedicated leg off the transformer, problem solved.
Then had another problem, a different track segment was dead, troubleshooting that I found one jumper wire I made, when I crimped the connector on the wire, I didn't get the conductor just the insulation. What a PIA, but a easy fix.
The good news is all the switches AND the non-derail functions are working great!
Kay is having a Christmas Bunco party here Friday night and wants the layout looking as good as possible. So trying to get all the building lit. Will need to show her how to turn the layout on, and I will have a couple of trains setting on the track with the lights on. (I won't be here to help her, going to Vegas to him Chris look for an apartment.)
Ray, I remember when you were having the work done on that engine, it was a real horror story. I was really lucky with my engine.
Roy, Glad to hear the CTT issue got resolved, I kinda thought it would have. Especially that they are going to "look" at the process, you may have helped all of us.
Doug, I believe the "lost" screw that I had in my "jar" was the one I found last week. It is so small, I knew I wouldn't find what it went to, just glad I put it in the "jar".
Kev, If you need any more 13" rims and tires, let me know. I have 4 already mounted that has been sitting up in my garage for probably 10 years, they were on the El Camino.
Dennis, I havn't hit one of those (yet), close a number of times. Always been concerned they get caught under the car and catch on fire.
Mike C, I think you and I posted about the same time last night. Anyway, what do you think is going to happen with Danica since she doesn't have a ride in Nascar anymore? Maybe go back to Formula, or start a family? And again tonight, checked for new posts before I submitted this one. Hope Lucas' wife is doing better soon.
Banks, Got our "winterizing" done as well, cleaned the pool filter, checked the gutters, and, and, and, guess that was all. Watch out with the cateracts, I had a couple of small ones for years, last year at this time they told me they were still small. Then in March they wanted to schedule me for cataract surgery ASAP. I was surprised, they ended up correcting an astigmitism in my left eye with the cataract lense at the same time. I now see better than I ever have. And, don't need glasses anymore, except for reading.
Thats it for me for the day. If anyone feels my posts are too long, please send me a message or something.
Take Care and Be Safe!
Well had a nice post lined out and Apple Safari crashed as usual in the middle of it - so will just say Good Morning all!
Don - keep 'em coming!
Mike C - got my Jan CTT yesterday.
Good morning,
Cooler today, 40 heading to 50 with sun, no wind. Chased leaves all day yesterday and the Oaks still have some to go. Otherwise about done.
Banks, I am sure glad we put guttergards on this house when we built it. I have never had to clean a gutter in ten years. The were costly but worth it the way this place sits in the wood.
Don, I did not know El Caminos used 13" rims?
Best do something.
BTW Last night just for the heck of it I added a bridge to the upper level. It just sits on the top and can be moved any place there is enough straight track.
Aloha. Sunny and colder today but still lovely for this time of year. I love your posts, DonB! I enjoy hearing about everything from everyone, especially the layout. I had cataracts too - and got them taken care of -- now I have 'implants' (not Those kind of implants ) Roy, Safari drives me crazy...
DonB - Did you write a post?
60 ish today and 55 tomorrow -
Really need to get the attic done and start laying permanent track - I have a temp track layout on the carpeted floor up there.
Just checking in.....
today I finished the low gutters and managed to try and ambush a deer. No luck on the deer but I did get a couple of questions on my Redneck gutter cleaner
I used 3" PVC sewer pipe. On my old blower I had to soften the pipe by heating and make it fit the blower outlet. On the new one the bell end fit well enough all I had to do is secure with duct tape.
on the top I used a street ell and a 90. The 90 I modified by softening with heat to form a nozzel. I put everything together with self drilling screws so it can be adjusted as needed.
To reach my highest gutter I used 23 feet of pipe. A word of caution make it blow almost straight down. It has a suprising amount of thrust with 20 feet of leverage. Been cleaning my gutters with this for 4 or 5 years
Time for bed
Prayers for those in need
Wow. End of November already. It has been forever since I've visited the 'Pot.
The last month or six weeks has been really tough. Three trips to Michigan - one week because of mom's health issues, one week for vacation, then back four days later to plan and exciute mom's funeral. Back at work this week, finally returning to a 'normal' routine, I finally realize how exhausted I am. Think I am starting to greeve and heal.
On the bright side, we hosted Thanksgiving dinner. My sister was in from Wyoming, my niece and her family from Ohio, and my nephew and his family from Michigan. It has been probably 12 or 15 years since we have hosted a family gathering like that. We really enjoyed it.
On the train front, we ran a kids day at the KATY depot in mid-October. Probably had 2 dozen kids come through. We had a Thomas the Train layout that the kids could run, a table with Brio wooden trains set up, and I had two loops of O gage for demonstration, with kind of a Halloween theme. Was a mix of about 1/2 postwar, and 1/2 modern including my Harry Potter train. As usual the Moe & Joe lumber car was a hit and got a good workout by the kids - both big and little. The post war barrel loader was well received, too. One girl was marching the barrels up the ramp with intermittant button presses, trying to dump one into the gondola as it went by. I didn't hollar, 'cause that is the sort of thing I would have done when I was her age.
We've got the Polar Express themed kids program at the Depot coming up in a couple of weeks. Hot chocolate, cookies, craft projects, Sannta, and my Polar Express layout will be featured.
Think I'm going to pull the trigger on the CTT anneversary boxcar and the Menards armed caboose.
All for now. Hopefully, I'll have time to stop by more often in the future.
Don B, love reading your posts! Banks, ingenuous gutter cleaner. Roy, got the CTT today. I cannot remember what everybody wrote today, but it is good to hear from more of you. Work was very quiet today. Tomorrow should be busier. Weather still good. Supposed to rain Thursday. May go see Coco tomorrow night. I hope everyone has a good day.
Good Evening All,
Gosh where has November gone, wow! This year is rapidly coming to an end! Did a few chores today in preparation for Kay's Bunco party, then some time in the train room. Ran a few trains, and like the new configuration. Will take some time to have the switches memorized. When I assign the switch numbers, I usually start from where the trains depart the "engine yard" and join the main track. That switch is #1, then I just go sequentially until I complete all the switches on that track. Then continue on with the secondary track and sidings. I name the switch relative to a physical characteristic, whether it is a track feature or a room feature. (Dinning Room Window, Kitchen window, etc.). But enjoyed the operating.
Then needed to connect a few more lights, so todays dilemma was drilling through a terminal strip on the underside of the layout! Was trying to avoid some framing, and it was in a blind area. Nevertheless, got one of the jumper wires on the strip. Turned out it was a 3.5v buss line, easy to fix, and no real harm done.
Also received the MTH 2018 Vol 1 catalog today. Don't know why but just did.
All in All, had a good day.
Roy, Heard on the news some significant virus on Apple products today, hope it hasn't affected you.
Kev, I think I was wrong, the El Camino has 14" wheels. I put some of the guttergards on my in-laws house, they have huge Pine trees in the parkway, and get a ton of needles every fall. The guttergards prevent them from getting into the gutter, what a time saver! Sure like the looks of your layout!
Doug, I will keep posting, just don't want to bore you all. Glad you didn't get the other implants. That would have been uncomfortable.
Anjdevil, Yep, I put a post up last night, It appears at the bottom of page 8 on my screen. How big is the attic layout going to be?
Banks, That is one heck of a "gutter blower" ! I am impressed with the nozzle that really looks great. Think you would need a shoulder harness for the blower, especially with 23 feet of pipe. I could just see you hovering abouve ground if you pointed it in the wrong direction.
8ntruck, Sorry to hear about your Mom, at least she's in a better place. And its ALWAYS extremely tough loosing someone this time of the year. Sure sounds like you had a great kids day! It really says a lot for the durability built into a lot of the post war stuff! To go through how many generations and still be around. Enjoyed reading your post, lots of things going on, and you certainly have been busy!
Mike C, Enjoy your posts as well, keep the movie reviews coming!
Take Care All and Stay Healthy !
Good evening all, I finally decorated the Christmas Tree that my son put up for me on the week end. Puttering around in the garage got a nasty gouge on my ring finger. Bled a lot and could not put a band aid on it between my fingers. Finally got some liquid bandage and that worked. After that I stabed another finger with an ice pick. Not too bad. I'm afraid to do anything now. Went to emergency room yesterday for a hip problem. Turns out it is a sprained ligament. They gave me some pain medicine and from what they told me it didn't sound too dangerous. Then I read the paper work that came with it. You have to be very careful with it or you could become addicted they say. I don't need that. They hand out this stuff like candy. The medicine was overkill for what I needed. Will speak to my regular doctor about it when I see him. Made a big pot of spaghetti yesterday and have eaten a lot of it. Going out to eat tomorrow at guess where? Spaghetti Eddies. I think I'll order eggplant parmasean or something like that or something not spaghetti. Have a good week,
Morning all. Chilly but warming fast. Going to Lowes by way of BoJangles. Yard decorated for Christmas.
Have a good one.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Sunny, 50, amd headed to 69 today.
8n - so sorry about your mother's passing . Nice about the family gathering! Helps the healing. We were so busy (for months) when each of my folks passed I seemed to miss the grieving. When my best friends folks passed, that triggered me and it was a good thing. I knew his folks well, and not being responsible for the family and arrangements, it allowed me to focus and reflect on my parents also.
Don B - you missed the implied 'wink, wink' in Anj's response to your 'posts'!
Banks - those pics gave me some ideas! Jet pack!
DougM - 'implants'
Kev - the layout is looking great! Good idea with the bridge.
MikeC - the Jan CTT is a good one. I was disappointed that the unique Clarke family layout (for once not a rectangle, free flowing, and appears nicely detailed) only had 5 photos published. Wish CTT would follow the old rule "a picture is worth a thousand words" and cut the pablum verbiage. If not enough photos for layout 'A', then cut the verbiage and add more photos of another...
Ray - like you I seem to keep impaling my hands on projects. Just as one injury heals another occurs. It is aggravating. And I try to be really careful. Yet...
Did first of 4 doc visits yesterday. Dealing with some 'issues', the worst of which is bad ringing in the right ear (have dealt with this all my life, but got worse this summer), some dizziness in the am (low BP), and culminating with a physical scheduled Dec 28th.
8ntruck - on the passing of Mom...
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