Good Morning,
Still cool here. It is -15F with a -38 windchill. Looked up a minute ago and saw the Piliated woodpecker landing on the suet log.
Kevin, sounds like you had an eventful trip. Thanks for posting.
John, better late than never for travel. Our trips were all planned by my wife in meticulous detail. Our first big one was to France and Italy back in 1988. We stayed in small hotels and in those days it meant writing letters for reservations. Luckily she majored in French Lit so that wasn't a problem. We also took a course in Italian before the trip which came in very handy especially in restaurants. Italian waiters tended to ignore unless addressed in Italian. If you wanted the bill you had to ask for it, in Italian.
I did run the S3 yesterday. What a nice little loco, now one of my favourites.
No plans for today. I wiĺl only go out to re-fill the bird feeders. There will be a lot of traffic with this cold weather.
Coffee cup is empty so will rectify that.
CN Charlie
BroadwayLionMy Mother was, nd my brother is a Presbyterian Deacon. Of course I was a presbyterian too,
Hi Brother Lion! I was the only American Baptist kid (That I know of) that went to first grade at St. Mary's Roman Catholic School in Canandaigua, NY! I was absolutely terrified of the Nuns that taught there, at least at first...... Sister Agnes Paula was actually a wonderful, sweet lady, but I was still terrified of her (at first)... LOL
I was a month too young to go to first grade in the public school and my Father (the Teacher) didn't think HIS kids needed no Kiddy Garden. That was for kids with "problems" and he didn't want sitting around at home when I should be in school! My Dad was wrong about that, but I got a new perspective on the world at St. Mary's.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
hon30critterThat sounds like a very interesting trip despite the occassional negative experiences. Thanks for sharing!
gmpullmanDespite your hits-n-misses, Kevin, I'm glad you had an overall OK time and got back safely.
CNCharlieKevin, sounds like you had an eventful trip. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the comments guys.
It was a quick trip, but it was a lot of fun to go somewhere again.
We also stopped at a butcher shop in Georgia that is one of my favorites. I bought Sirloins, RibEyes, and ten pounds of hot smoked sausage.
We had the Sirloins last night, and they were so tender and flavorful. I just cannot find good meats in Florida like this.
We will have the RibEyes tonight.
This was the best find at the train show:
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
The red circle is around two white metal vehicle kits. I cannot be 100% sure, but I am thinking these are by Scale Structures Limited. The kits are very high quality, and they were just $1.00 each!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good morning, diners. Bacon, eggs, and black coffee, Flo.
Kevin, that sounds like a nice trip, in spite of some of the weather. I'm amazed the train show didn't do that well on Sunday. Maybe a Saturday one-day show will be the future.
This is one of those nice winter days when there is nothing to do but to stay inside and relax. It snowed and the windchill is 25°F below zero. Even taking Daisy the Dachshund outside is easy -- she goes and immediately wants back in the house. No dawdling smelling the air or animal tracks.
While this isn't an unusual paint scheme, I sure love the new Union Pacific look. I know UP isn't really a favorite for modelers, but they are a huge presence in our state.
York1 John
Good afternoon Diners. A large coffee and blueberry muffin please, Chloe.
It has been a busy day with different things to attend to. Hopefully I can now take it a little easier.
Kevin. That looks a good haul you have there. The model shows here at present are big ones. Booking months ahead is preferable and means being away from home all weekend. The challenge for me is I have to look after Dawn, so I like to go to a local show. There is none at the moment. Hopefully soon.
What with Charlie and York1John on about the temperature below 0F, I am shivering at such thoughts. How do you survive?
My new passport has arrived. Dawn's hasn't. Should I book a cruise as a solo passenger?
Time to run a few trains.
Stay Safe Everyone.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
NorthBritWhat with Charlie and York1John on about the temperature below 0F, I am shivering at such thoughts. How do you survive?
"We're havin' a Heat Wave..... Tropical heat Wave"!
I went outside a few minutes ago to see what the storm left at my house. There is a 1/4" of ice covering everything. Spead a couple scoops of rock salt on that which needs rock salt, and started the heater and defosting elements in the Tesla. In a few minutes I was able to push the ice off the car and the porch and driveway are pretty much ice free now..... Just another Beautiful day here in the Finger Lakes.
I do need to get out and buy a couple items (Milk and eggs, most notably) but that will wait 'till later this afternoon I think.
Kevin: Thanks for your trip report. Bummer that Sunday was a waste in terms of selling stuff. We have a couple of really good meat markets in Dodge City; we enjoy NY strips, rib eyes, filets, and hamburger, too. Locally sourced; one of the shops processes their own steers.
CN Charlie: I guess we are having a heat wave; woke up to 5 degrees; and wind chill of negative 16. Won't get better until this weekend.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I had the Rib Eye for dinner tonight.
Tomorrow I am making Red Beans & Rice with half of the sausage.
I just found out my old friend Chris passed away yesterday. He had been battling cancer for a couple of years.
Ten years ago we were as close as brothers. Then he got married and moved to Naples, and I rarely saw him.
He was only 52.
Good times at my model building desk:
Just a few years ago at a train show:
He never smoked, rarely drank, ate healthy, and worked outdoors most of his life. He was in very good shape.
So sad.
SeeYou190I just found out my old friend Chris passed away yesterday. He had been battling cancer for a couple of years. Ten years ago we were as close as brothers. Then he got married and moved to Naples, and I rarely saw him. He was only 52.
I'm sorry to hear about your friend.
Years ago there was a popular saying that went around -- Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
I heard someone say that that saying was exactly wrong. We should be thinking -- Today is the last day of my life. It's a reminder to live every precious day as if it's our last.
Hi Kevin,
Sorry about the loss of your friend.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
York1I'm sorry to hear about your friend.
hon30critterSorry about the loss of your friend.
This is a rough one for me.
We spent many, many weekend days just hanging out in my hobby room all day long. It is a rare person that you can spend that much time with and always enjoy their company.
Even though we only saw each other a few times in recent years, any time we were together it was just like old times.
He was one of the funniest people I ever met, and one the few that got my sense of humor.
His stories of how "he invented" the I-Pod are some of the funniest I have ever heard. His "parenting advice" when my girls were teenagers was absolutely rib-splitting it was so funny.
Truely sorry to hear of your loss, Kevin. All of a sudden I recall some lines from Robert Frost that I came across when I was a high school idealist:
And so it is with true friends as well. Arms around you from all your buds in the diner.
John
Kevin,
I'm sorry to hear about your friend. It will get easier. Perhaps a tribute to him makes it onto your layout once you can begin building.
Mike
It is both sad — and a rude awakening — to realize just how many friends and family have passed. I remember my mother who lived to 92, lamenting just that. I think back to my coworkers, friends and family and the sad reality is that there sure are alot more that are gone than are still with us.
All we can hold on to are the fond memories.
Be glad you have those photos and memories to look back on, Kevin.
Best wishes, Ed
Kevin. Sorry to hear of the passing of your friend. As Ed says, "Be glad of those photos and memories."
Cherish his memory and let it live on.
Good morning, diners. Just coffee, Chloe.
Ugh...another morning of getting up and scooping snow. I'm going to try to remember these days in July when it's 105.
Wednesday I talked to one of the teachers who was sitting ahead of me in church. I can't believe how much I don't miss my job. I didn't dislike my job, but I sure like all the time and freedom I have now.
I'm not sure what this is or where it is.
Colorful locomotive waiting on the track by Ciddi iyi1i, on Flickr
Have a great day, everyone.
Kevin: Sorry to hear of the passing of your friend. I assume that he had a son that you can mentor to help his memories alive.
I just got an email from Ulrich identifying the locomotive in my last post!
He said that it is a "Russian-built class TEM2 Diesel-electric engine delivered to Poland in the late 1970s".
Thanks for that information, Ulrich! Normally there is a short description on most Flickr photos, but I didn't see one for this photo. Ulrich was kind enough to send me the identification.
Eh? Those are not Russian Couplers! And isnt Poland on the European Guage?
Tiger just wanted to noe!
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
In Santa Apolonia Railway Station, Lisbon, Portugal.
Same class of locomotive. Three different liveries. In fact I never saw two the same.
SAM_0938 by David Harrison, on Flickr
York1 John,
Good to hear from Ulrich, if only second hand. It's apparent that if he can't appear in the diner, at least he's planted a bug there. And so we'll offer a joint "guten tag!".
Attuvian1 John
TEM 2 info.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEM2
Hi Everyone,
Dropping in to say hello.
John: The UP loco looks fine to me, but then, I grew up in UP country so I'm biased. You're right about UP being popular in Nebraska. The railroad practically built the state! Well, there's also the Cornhuskers football team, but we'll let that one be.
Yesterday, the kitchen sink faucet that we have had problems with, finally gave up the ghost as it were and I had to replace it. Trying to get the old faucet off was a problem with all the gunk collected in it. But, I finally got it done last night. If anybody ever replaces their kitchen or bath cabinets, always get "butt door" sink bases. That means there's no center stile (used primarily on partial overlay doors). Full overlay doors normally don't have this problem. Now I know first hand why plumbers like them. I was resembling a pretzel while trying to remove the old faucet and install the new one. Hopefully, the new faucet will last awhile.
Nothing MRR to report.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
York1Wednesday I talked to one of the teachers who was sitting ahead of me in church. I can't believe how much I don't miss my job. I didn't dislike my job, but I sure like all the time and freedom I have now.
So... What did you teach? I managed to get out when NYS decided to cull the higher paid (think almost livable income) teachers with a major buy-out. I was 51 years old at the time. Found out I qualified with only a few days left to apply. Came home from Boy Scout Camp (orders from the camp director who was also retiring...), called NYS Retirement System and was told, Yes I qualify. Spent about 15 minutes typing up my retirement letter and drove over to the mail office and turned in one cpory and made the secretary sign and date the other copy as proof it was turned in on time, walked out the door (flicked the school a nasty salute), and never looked back! The buy-out gave me 7 years extra credit! Not a hard decision to make.
Given what I see going on in many schools around here at the moment, I am very glad to be retired.
howmusSo... What did you teach?
I started as a seventh grade teacher, but spent most of my career as a school principal. While principal, I also had some time teaching an 8th grade Algebra 1 class. It's good for a principal to keep his hand in daily teaching so he doesn't get too insulated in an office.
Being a principal was actually pretty easy. The hardest part of my job was walking down the hallways, asking kids where they were supposed to be.
(I wish I had taught a geometry class. Maybe I would have finally learned how to correctly figure out angles for my layout bridges. By that split infinitive, you can see I didn't teach English.)
York1(I wish I had taught a geometry class. Maybe I would have finally learned how to correctly figure out angles for my layout bridges.)
I was a music teacher, but we did a lot of good numbers!
Dawn was a Senior Lecturer at our local College. She helped so many students to get jobs. So much so, she received many, many thank you letters from them.
The college began a theme of wanting younger lecturers, so made life difficult for the older lecturers. (Dawn being one of them.) She was having nothing of it. She saw the Principal. Threw down a colour pencil and said "Colour me gone." and walked out.
It was the best thing she did.
The college has lost so much standing now. It used to be the place to attend. Not now.
NorthBritThe college began a theme of wanting younger lecturers, so made life difficult for the older lecturers. (Dawn being one of them.) She was having nothing of it. She saw the Principal. Threw down a colour pencil and said "Colour me gone." and walked out.
That's too bad. The older, experienced teachers are almost (almost) always the best. The problem in most schools is they can hire a beginning teacher at half the salary as an experienced one, and when budget time comes around, money almost always wins out over good teaching.