So glad you're back Chief! Stay strong man!
Surprise. Last Wednesday week, went to ER coughing up lots of blood. Stayed in hospital until this Wed. evening. Radiation burnt my throat during all this mess. Had a surprise pneumonia. Was so deep they had to run a tube down lung and wash it out. On supplemental O2 as normal breathing is 88 to 89 blood ox. They want 90 and above. Wifey stretched a 50' O2 line to office. Now I can get to PC. Laptop in Train Box.
Back to the recliner.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
TGIFPrayers for Da Chief After work, made phone calls to all the prospective 2nd Assistant Fire Marshall applicants for a short talk at our next County Association meeting.Fired up the road runner and headed to cruise night to be with Jenni and her Charger SE 440. The ol' 383 ran great with a new set of Champions blowing up that nice cool air/fuel mixture.Afterwards, she treated me to Chinese dinner and watched the last of the Yankee game ( Yankees WIN!!) and a video of her High School Graduation - 29 years ago yesterday.Home before midnight.FINALLY will move tables back to where they belong, Jenni will get her mortgage refi done. Then more discussion of the wedding plans80s today, 90 and more humid tomorrow - hope to get my friends '69 Super Bee running on all 8.
Good job on the ants, Kev. We had a problem with them, the exterminator came out and we still had a few, until I sprayed the bathroom, under the toilet and around the cabinets and they are ALL gone now......
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
Hi you two!
Well day two with NO ants to be found, I think I got it.
I did see a small antifreeze leak under the XUV since the heater install and found a loose hose clamp, so I tighten that up and all is good.
Weather has been very nice but that ends today going back into the 90s again. Hot for us.
Heading out to Princeton about 40 miles away in an hour to pick up the Mantle clock I had to have the movement changed in. Go figure Caterpillar gives you a gift for 35 years of service that don't last.
We get the grand-dog tomorrow till Sunday because the kids are going out of town tomorrow and the grand son has All Star ball games on Saturday.
Dennis, thanks for the reminder, I got a tire with a slow leak I need to air up on the Ranger.
Prayers for the Chief and anyone else that needs them.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Good morning all!
Hey Dennis! - I posted yesterday!!!
Went over to Daughter and SILs house for a while yesterday - an electrician was installing a new circuit breaker panel. The house had one of the Federal Electric "house-a-fire" panels from 1977 when house was built. Famous story about the millions of these things out there with circuit breakers that do not trip on a ground fault/overload. They knew this when they purchased the house and the replacement was planned for. I was checking that they were installing additional grounding bars to current code. Took the entire day. While in process we learned the previous owners had 2 ft (!) of additional insulation blown into the attic. Nice. The house stayed cool all day even though it was 188 outside.
Prayers for the Chief!
Regards, Roy
Morning folks!
Super sunny and already HOT. Yesterday was not as bad as thought - only hit 167...today - about 167....
Got the El Cam dash installed (minus the radio and AC controls) yesterday - looks very good. I will have to do some fiddling with it for final fit - but all the mounting holes except two on the upper dash (by the windshield) lined up. I think I have some of the wiring harness in the wrong position which is preventing it from sitting without some strain. This would be a bear of a project had the windshield been in place. Dropped the instrument pod in and turned it over a couple times. Lotta burned out dash and courtesy bulbs to replace. At this point I am going to take a break as I need to back away from it for a few weeks, do some other stuff.
Kev - yeah - bitcoin mining would require more power plants that take about 5-10 yrs to build.
Very nice here, cool and low Humidity but to change by weeks end?
Just trying to enjoy whe we have when we have it.
wrmcclellan 12,000 MW of generation is off line - some due to ongoing repairs from the Big Freeze and...wait for it...new repairs related to the extreme heat. If one pays attention to the news organizations 'flyovers' of the power plants during the Big Freeze and from last night of our Big Heat (uh - normal for us), one clearly sees rusting structures that are clearly from years of neglect and deferred maintenance. If the exterior is poorly maintained it is safe to assume the critical operating gear is poorly maintained. A product of our broken open market and unscrupulous operators 'squeezing' every last dime out of an aging facility.
12,000 MW of generation is off line - some due to ongoing repairs from the Big Freeze and...wait for it...new repairs related to the extreme heat. If one pays attention to the news organizations 'flyovers' of the power plants during the Big Freeze and from last night of our Big Heat (uh - normal for us), one clearly sees rusting structures that are clearly from years of neglect and deferred maintenance. If the exterior is poorly maintained it is safe to assume the critical operating gear is poorly maintained. A product of our broken open market and unscrupulous operators 'squeezing' every last dime out of an aging facility.
Roy, you said it, and why is deregulation such a good thing??? CEOs and bookkeepers should not be allowed to run the country!!!! Now your Gov is asking for the Bitcoin mining industry to come to TX. from China like you got the power to feed that!!!! You get what you allow I guess. Heck I hate IL but it ain't that nuts,,, but close.
Good morning team!
Sunny and guess what - HOT! To be 196 in the shade today - and - the Texess power grid is under stress...
Everyone here - inc all journalists/broadcasters - bought into our feckless governors/legislature's rhetoric and 'drank the kool-aid', believing the recent 'changes' to our state power coordinator (which also owns the transmission lines/transformer sub-stations) - Oncor - would address the power generation/delivery issues highlighted by the Big Freeze outages. Well shuffling an organization with no authority to enforce rules they make or levy fines into the same organization that has to make more rules with no authority to enforce/levy fines fixes...wait for it...nothing (no surprise there, eh?).
Annnnd - there is a big high pressure dome over west Texess where all the wind generation is located...wait for it...which does not generate much energy with little to no wind. There is also a lotta solar generation in west Texess that shuts down as the sun goes down (geee - that kinda happens every day).
Soooo - rolling blackouts may be incurred, but...wait for it...as happened during the Big Freeze, Oncor's aging switchgear (again more deferred maintenance/upgrades - some of this stuff is 40-50 yrs old) that controls rolling blackouts will likely fail in the high heat as it did during the extreme cold.
Got the two items on the El Cam dash completed yesterday - (1) the glove box door aligned and latching - (2) fabricated an adapter plate from sheet brass for the instrument pod connector/plug and got it properly located/screwed to the associated dash area. This took quite a bit of fitting/grinding. These two items took all afternoon. The front decorative trim bezel is all that is left. Son plans to help me install it this afternoon. This may turn into a 'session' since some trimming may be required to actually get all the mounting holes lined up and the wiring harness to hang in the new hangers I fabricated.
Continued prayers for the Chief!
Mornin' boys and girls. Sunny and mild along the Patterson Creek cut-off. Last night was thunder-boomers, which meant a train running session to sooth FifeMax. There were some pile-ups, mainly due to "jumpy" pony trucks, and a "touchy" AF E-unit. Also, noticed the tri-plane had fallen from the sky, and into the timber trestle. Should have taken a pic, but was in no mood.
Might not hear from me for a bit, as visiting with Fifepup and his fiancé a few nights. Again, if you want a SPF, best get to-it (as Banks would say).
Continued for Chief.
Definitely praying for the Chief.
Prayers and best wishes for The Chief!
Stay strong sir! Stay strong!
Thanks for the news, Don.
for Chief.
Don, thanks for the up-date. Poor Chief, kick em when their up, kick em when their down, hang in their my friend!
Cooled way down here and the air is dry, pleasant for a change, 77 degrees. Cut the dusty grass around the house.
No dead or live ants today in the basement!!!!
Of four tree services that said they would come out to quote, none have showed up as of today??? Guess they have plenty of work. One neighbor told me a guy he talked to quoted him at $300.00 per hour, T&M???? My be better to just let the trees hit the house, pay the ins decuctible of 1K and pocket the rest.
Thank you Don! Prayers for the Chief!
Hit 99 here yesterday - a bit unusual as it was 164 in the shade...
Got the dash all together and all parts installed for fitting/trimming. Will have to make another special bracket for the wiring harness "plug" that the instrument pod "plugs" into (makes it easy to remove the pod for service - well - except getting the speedo cable loose...) as the repro dash shell is over 1/4" thick and all the hardware for the dash, inc the wiring plug wing clips, requires a 1/8" thick max. This repro dash has required a lot of custom fitting/fiddling/etc. I also still have the 'fit' of the glove box door to mess with. Finally there is the decorative fake wood grain plastic bezel that goes from the upper middle to the far passenger side that contains the center and passenger AC vents, vehicle logo, etc. - it snaps in but all the tabs broke off - this can be worked on after install - may have to punt and use some nice screws to reinstall it.
Becky - yeah - not sure why we had to endure 30 min of post-tennis match celebration in a foreign language...the NASCAR All-Star shootout was good/interesting!
Good Morning,
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I just got a call from the Chief this morning. He is in the hospital with Pnuemonia! Went to the ER last Thursday as a result of coughing up blood, they kept him and was initially concerned it may have been cancer related and found out he had Pnuemonia in the left lung. So of course they are monitoring him very closely and monitoring his blood/oxygen levels. Of course his radiation treatments have been suspended for the near term. He told me he would probably be there for a couple of more days.
His attitude is very positive, but isn't feeling very well, and tires quickly. Definitly could use all the prayers and thoughts.
As I receive anymore information I will definetly share it.
Best to all and Take Care and Stay Safe!
Don
Mornin' boys and girls. Clearing and 63 along the Patterson Creek cut-off. May mow the lawn later on after the dampness dissipates (look at me using big words). Didn't like the disjointed format of the Nascar All-Star race last night, at all. Didn't get any frantic calls from the Chapter guys, so I'm guessing their N-scale display ran smoothly.
If you like watching trains on youtube, check out RBP Trains. Young fellow has a pleasant style, and the segments are edited well. If you like a little European flair, check out Mouldy Raspberry, great scenery in an attic loft layout (OO). And for your midweek fix, check out Laz's Whistle Stop Wednesday (pgwadd).
wrmcclellanGood day for racing - Detroit Indy race!
Not if you got stuck watching tennis till the race was more than half over!
Same me, different spelling!
Afternoon folks!
Hot hot hot - sittin' outside at 2 pm? - not not not!
Work continues on the dash assembly - installing all panels/bezels/components (i.e. radio/ac control/ac duct adapters/speaker grills to ensure it goes together - might get done this afternoon - test fit tomorrow?
Dennis - this is not a restoration - this is to have it not look like a junkyard dawg!
Good day for racing - NHRA, Indy Car, NASCAR - excellent end to the Detroit Indy race!
Happy Sunday all! I hope everyone is doing well. Have a great week.
Mornin' boys. and 70 in the Potomac Highlands. Was gonna head up to the chapter museum, but no. Need to stay home and comfort FifeMax; maybe run some trains for him (calms his nerves). Just finished vacuuming the den, and even moved the sectional. Missed my mouth a few times, apparently...
Worked yesterday on the Potomac Eagle. We got word of a famous globetrotting Ohio dignitary's upcoming visit, so the staff has been hard at work polishing and cleansing.
Got my CTT, and really love the look of the Lionel Western Pacific GS. At 2 grand, will have to admire it from afar. Didn't receive the last CTT, as prob lost in the mail. Nothing in the can for SPF as well.
Kind of quiet here? Summertime?
Only one dead ant in the basement this morning.
Still dry here but pop ups have been hitting everywhere but here. Had to run the AC in the shed yesterday to do anything out there, way better today.
Not much else.
Prayers for you all in need.
Good morning/afternoon all!
Started out the morning with T-Storms and rain - now sun is out - to make sure it gets super-hooomid! 90's today with a heat index of 310! It's a hooomid heat!
Dash brackets are painted - as it is enamel paint it needs to cure for a few more hours - wiring harness hangers painted and installed. Test fitted the instrument pod - realigned the pod double-ended, keyed bolt/nuts that I did not notice previously (good catch). This is taking longer than I wish but I am fixing multiple mounting pads that I did not realize initially...ie. the ash tray was an option - and it has its own light in a special housing that requires a custom hole in the bottom under the radio/AC controls.
DJSpankyWhere ya going, Mt. Airy Lodge? For those unaware, that was the place that advertised here in NJ in the last 70's, early 80's for weekend getaways where you could get a room with a heart shaped pool.
Ooooooohhhhh yeahhhhhhh, I remember those ads! Some others might remember with THIS reaction:
Anyway, Mount Airy Lodge is long closed now, I remember reading an article about the auction of the assets, including the heart-shaped tubs. The reporter asked a woman who purchased one "Aren't you just a little concerned about what might have happened in that tub?"
Her answer? "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing a little bleach won't take care of!"
Whoops, looks like I was mistaken!
https://www.nj.com/life-and-culture/g66l-2019/05/cf575aabf85351/the-beautiful-mount-airy-lodge-is-now-a-casino-and-resort-and-i-might-like-it-better-than-ac.html
Hey folks, if you haven't watched the recent video post "Visiting The O Gauge Layout of Corey Ward" do so! It's great! I watched it twice!
Good morning!
Cloudy and hoooomid - 90 today - 240 heat index
Spent yesterday working on the new dash. The thickness of the new molding is twice that of the original (a good thing) but that means few to none of the stamped panel U-nuts fit (a bad thing). Existing ones allow 1/8" panel thickness and the new dash requires at least 1/4" - which are scarce/hard to find. Took a lot of time to test fit all the trim panels to make sure they fit and not under pressure (37 yr old plastic trim panels crack easily under pressure). Had to do some grinding here and there. Now I am priming/painting all the underdash metal mounting hardware to minimize it rusting again. Also having to fabricate some small hangers for the wiring harness as the original had barbs woven into the harness that plugged (basically permanently) into holes in the rear of the dash. The repro dash has the pads but not the proper holes for the barbs - and all but one of the barbs broke when I pulled them.
Mornin' boys and girls. Wet and 65 along the Patterson Creek cut-off. Just got back from PT (heel Spurs). Got all the yard work done yesterday, before the skies opened up. Calling for flash-flooding across the region. Wifey wants to go grocery shopping today.
Pennytrains - Accessible MRI is the proper search term. Two places highlighted in Snohizo.
anjdevil2Becky a- you got this, sista!!
I'm gonna find me an OPEN MRI machine!
Thanks Roy!
Wayne
Wayne - Yes. Keep using it until it quits working. Iron/etc will settle out. Non-Toxic. Biodegradable. Uses a chelating chemical process vs acid (like vinegar). For me it worked as advertised. Like some of the pics in the link below. Amazing.
https://evapo-rust.com/evapo-rust/
I think it would work great for removing rust from steel lanterns. My brackets were stamped steel. I have seen it remove rust from cast iron in YT videos.
Always test on a similar part before doing something that may be irreplacable.
Roy, Evaporust sounds interesting. Can it be re-used, that is put it in a bucket, let it do its thing, then pour it back into the container for future use? It sounds like something I can use for some railroad lantern restorations.
Morning all!
Partly sunny and will be HOT and MUGGY! Summertime!
Well Doc visit went well - I am where I am supposed to be - but doc told me in response to some of the painful side effects I am dealing with that it will be a year to 18 months before I heal up from the radiation treatments. Was not really wanting to hear that - but knew it in the back of my mind. Oh well...
Bought some Evaporust at Harbor Freight to soak some very rusty dash mounting brackets. Wowzers! Worked great and brackets look like new after a 4 hr soak. Had seen Evaporust used by several Youtubers for tool and machine rescue/rebuilds and decided to try it out. $30 for a gallon but well worth it vs wire wheeling stuff and it gets into crevices a wire wheel or brush will never reach. Had tried some of the other methods using household stuff like vinegar, but the results were not as good and it takes a very long time for a mediocre result compared to the Evaporust. Next time I have a rusty toy train part I will give it a try.
Kev - congrats on the GS making the all-star team!
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