The Coffee Shop (a place to chat) Est. 2004

[SilverSpike]

Ryan: I'll take some pictures and E-mail them to one of you that has gotten the picture posting down and has High Speed connection. That is another reason that I don't post pics. It takes forever to send them.

My shop is already full and the work area in the basement is very cluttered. I guess I'd better get back to cleaning the basement out. Oh, I've got to clean out the up-stairs in the barn so I'll have a place to put the stuff from the basement. One thing leads to another.

Sure enough! Send me the photos and I can post them for you anytime!

Now it just hit me! How the heck did you get a basement built in Texas?

[LSWrr]

I live in the snow belt here in NE Ohio, I get snow days all the time, however I still have to go to work in it :(

A basement in Texas, very rare indeed! I was stationed in Corpus Christi for 3 years and I spoke to my neighbor about my house in Ohio and had to explain to him what a basement was.

Lee

[dansapo]

I live in the snow belt here in NE Ohio, I get snow days all the time, however I still have to go to work in it :( A basement in Texas, very rare indeed! I was stationed in Corpus Christi for 3 years and I spoke to my neighbor about my house in Ohio and had to explain to him what a basement was. Lee

Good evening everyone
Lee
Hear ya loud and clear on the snow.I cant imagine not having a basement.Where else would we run our trains!

[rtraincollector]

I wanted to build one here but was told they never seen one under a modural home before also they said they don't have many here as the land is to wet . LOL

Picked up my 6 southern Passenger cars today.  There going top look great behind my 3 U-36-B's guess need to get a couple of boxcars to go with it. 

That'll be down the road a bit.

Have good evening all

[james saunders]

Hello, Strangers!

I thought i'd pop in and say G'day before people start to worry about me! I have ALOT of reading to catch up on, something like 25 pages!


Oz

[bjdukert]

Hey Duke, you awake over there? How about joining me for some dessert since I missed the main meals today!

Ryan Boy,here I am trying to take a nap in the corner and I get woke up,but that’s ok if it’s for DESSERT!!!!! So how about a nice big Rootbeer float and some pie,maybe like apple,chocolate silk,or you as a chef could probably come up with something just as good.

Talk to you later

Duke

[LSWrr]

Oh yes they build basements under modular homes all the time. A little tricky setting the house on top, but I've seen it done several areas in Ohio.

[rtraincollector]

Knew I could get lee stuck with the bill 2 times in a row if I did it right.

 

I'll have a big slice of cherry cheese cake chole and a large diet pepsi

[NeO6874]

I live in the snow belt here in NE Ohio, I get snow days all the time, however I still have to go to work in it :( A basement in Texas, very rare indeed! I was stationed in Corpus Christi for 3 years and I spoke to my neighbor about my house in Ohio and had to explain to him what a basement was. Lee

Good evening everyone
Lee
Hear ya loud and clear on the snow.I cant imagine not having a basement.Where else would we run our trains!

I blame Lake Erie... there's always too much snow when you don't want it, and never enough when you *do* want it...

It had better not snow too terribly on/around the 15th of Dec though... last day of Finals and then a month off until the spring term begins... not to mention its the next meeting of the LNMRR club... (and Dan - I know about the build day(s) on the 1st/2nd...)

Lee - I know you've been asking me about it, have you gotten any better info from Dan or Tom?

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone, I'm back after being in a turkey comma for a few days(HA<HA). I'm glad I'm in New Hampshire and not Washington 'cause I'm sure not ready for the white stuff yet.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I'll take the steak and onions.

In case you're wondering, here's the weather.

Leesville, LA  71446      11/28/2006

Wind Chill:  68°F
Humidity:  88%
Dew Point:  64°F
 
So Far Today
High:  76°F
Low:  61°F
Rain:  0.15"
Rain Rate:  N/A"/h
Gust:  17mph SSW
 
Low: 65 °F

Tonight  Low: 65    Decreasing clouds. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows in the mid 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph. 
 
Wednesday  High: 72    Patchy fog in the morning. Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 70s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph. 
 
Wednesday Night  Low: 65    Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

[inch53]

Some things to ponder

1. The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.
2. Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail.
3. If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all.
4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.
5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.
6. How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?
7. Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.
8. Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks?
9. Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job.
10. No one has more driving ambition than the boy who wants to buy a car.
11. There are no new sins; the old ones just get more publicity.
12. There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 AM. It could be a right number.
13. Think about this..., No one ever says "It's only a game." when his team is winning.
14. I've reached the age where the happy hour is a nap.
15. Be careful reading the fine print. There's no way you're going to like it.
16. The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.
17. Do you realize that in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of OLD LADIES running around with tattoos? (And RAP music will be the Golden Oldies!)
18. Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Corvette than in a Yugo.
19. After a certain age, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you are probably dead.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang:

Ryan: I’ll try and get some pictures and send them to you. Having been born and raised in Milwaukee Wisconsin I could not see building a house without a basement. After being turned down by several contractors with dire warnings of damp and wet. We decided to build the house ourselves. That’s the long story. The short one is first you dig a hole.

Anyway the basement is dry and only got wet once when a pipe broke. Of course the pipe was right over the layout.

Hey Jeff: That steak looks real good. I’ll have one with a glass of Merlot and coffee. Sorry Lee I just couldn’t resist.

The weather man just said that the cold is going to be early and by Thursday we could have some white stuff on the ground. I’m off Thursday so let it come.

Hi Lisa: Have a steak on Lee. Good to have you back.

Well it’s bed time. Good Night All

[grayfox1119]

Good evening everyone, damp, and heavy fog all day today, at times the visability was down to 100 feet. Tomorrow it is supposed to get warmer, then hit near 70F before taking the plunge over the weekend down to the 30's, but still no snow.

MIKE: those sure are nice pictures .......such a beautiful time of day.

I just saw the temps out west on the 11pm news, International Falls, Montana.... -18F!!! Now that is getting cold!!!! Get ready all you guys west of the Appalachian Mtns, the big chill is plunging south!!!

JEFF: I hear it may snow in Louisianna when the cold front hits there....maybe no school for David !!!

Ok, time for bed, have to go to CT tomorrow,

[wetidlerjr]

GOOD MORNING! from Indiana.

11-29-2006

[dansapo]

Evening Gang:

Ryan: I’ll try and get some pictures and send them to you. Having been born and raised in Milwaukee Wisconsin I could not see building a house without a basement. After being turned down by several contractors with dire warnings of damp and wet. We decided to build the house ourselves. That’s the long story. The short one is first you dig a hole.

Anyway the basement is dry and only got wet once when a pipe broke. Of course the pipe was right over the layout.

Hey Jeff: That steak looks real good. I’ll have one with a glass of Merlot and coffee. Sorry Lee I just couldn’t resist.

The weather man just said that the cold is going to be early and by Thursday we could have some white stuff on the ground. I’m off Thursday so let it come.

Hi Lisa: Have a steak on Lee. Good to have you back.

Well it’s bed time. Good Night All

Unless your in a area is at sea level. Have these contractors ever used footer drains or a sump pump?
  Good morning everyone
Regular coffee with bacon n egg on a roll Cloe
Yet another day above 60, rain coming today but who cares.NO SNOW but its coming!

[pcarrell]

Well, I don't know if you guys noticed, but I wasn't around much yesterday.  I had a birthday party to attend to.  My daughter turned 16 yesterday!  We had about 30 people over to the house, many for the first time.  We had enough food to feed an army!  She got everything she wanted and more.  A great time was had by all.

Well, yesterday was a beautiful day here, but today's not looking quite so good.  See for yourself..........

(Both of these graphics are live and update constantly!  Is this too cool or what!)

Big changes are in store for Indiana as we head through the next several days. An arctic cold front will move through the state Thursday producing a band of heavy rain. I am very concerned with flooding developing across the region late Thursday and Friday as the computer models are indicating as much as 2" to 3" of rain. This combined with a saturated ground could produce flash flooding in some areas.
 
Low pressure will ride up along the front Thursday night into Friday. Rain will change to freezing rain and sleet late Thuursday night and then to all snow by Friday morning. Friday morning's rush hour could be a real mess. Right now, the heaviest snow band should fall from St. Louis into central Illinois and northwest Indiana. 6" to 10" of snow is possible in this band. Central Indiana could see a few inches of snow by Friday afternoon. I will continue to monitor this storm as a slight shift in the track makes all the difference in snowfall totals!

Guess winter is coming to Indiana finally, huh?

[SilverSpike]

Good Morning!

Well, since Lee has the honors, how about a big Chili Cheese Omelet with a side of chili cheese home fried potatoes, Chloe! (Yep, they prepare these at the Camellia Grill in New Orleans) Only 2,000 calories to boot!

Foggy ride into work this morning, but made it in on time by miracle only.

Had some lab work done last week and still waiting on the results, seems like a long time to wait for test results though. I originally went in to the doc for my annual checkup and also because I was waking up with headaches every morning. Turns out it might be because of Splenda, the sugar substitute has been known to cause severe headaches. We started using it about 8 months ago and now we are cutting out Splenda, my headaches are not as severe or frequent now. Anyone else use Splenda and had any side effects from its use?

 And now for my next act:

I made a 2 gallon batch of Turkey Vegetable Soup last night. Three guesses as to where most of the ingredients came from and the first three don’t count! So, soups on me for lunch today! Goes good with crackers too!

Hey, Ed, if you want the recipe, happy to send it along!

Hey Duke, you awake over there? How about joining me for some dessert since I missed the main meals today!

Ryan Boy,here I am trying to take a nap in the corner and I get woke up,but that’s ok if it’s for DESSERT!!!!! So how about a nice big Rootbeer float and some pie,maybe like apple,chocolate silk,or you as a chef could probably come up with something just as good.

Talk to you later

Duke

Duke - so, so sorry to wake you out of the quiet slumber from over in the corner! But hey, Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie with whipped cream sounds good eh! BTW, I made two of them for Thanksgiving, ate one and froze the other, saving it for later.

And for those of us without basements we have converted attics or a spare bedroom for our train rooms. Some even use garages for their layout, go figure.

Inch, I like the 19 statements of wisdom! Some things you can learn, but you can’t teach experience!

Paul, some things are just done better yourself and your experience proves that one again. First you dig a hole eh! Now that is one DIY project I have not tried as of yet.

Welcome back Lisa! I see that the Whistle Stop has been getting some business lately.

Philip, neither hide nor hair of you at all yesterday. Glad to hear the BD party went well and please give your daughter our regards for a Very Happy Sweet Sixteen Birthday!

Cheers,

Ryan

[grayfox1119]

Good morning guys and gals, another dreary, foggy day here today, but changes are on the way as depicted in PC's radar image of upper midwest. New England won't get this until Friday, but it will come in with fury when it does.

RYAN: Get ready, NC will get some wild weather too, this cold front means business.

Here is some info that might help some of you guys with your Computers running slow. It is taken from CNET:

Tweaking the Registry and more
In this lesson you’ll get into the nitty-gritty with the Windows Registry–the heart of the operating system, and a place full of ways to squeeze some more speed from your computer.

The Registry stores all sorts of information about your system in what are called “keys.” A key might describe how Windows handles a particular type of file, or how it manages memory, and many other things. You get into the Registry by clicking Start, choosing Run, and entering regedit in the box that appears. Then welcome to the Registry, perhaps the most intimidating part of Windows. Here you can make all sorts of internal changes to the way Windows operates.


Note:
Changes made to the Registry will not take effect until you restart Windows.




ALERT:
Be very cautious editing the Windows Registry. Changes made here can completely disable your computer if they’re done incorrectly. We recommend that you follow the instructions below very carefully, and encourage you to back up your data files before proceeding.



Saving your configuration
Before you do anything else, set up a System Restore Point. That tells Windows to save everything about your current configuration, so if something goes awry you can tell it to revert back to that point—kind of like a big “undo” button.

To set a Restore Point:

Click Start and choose either Programs or All Programs.
Go to Accessories, then System Tools, and choose System Restore.
On the welcome screen, you’ll be asked whether you want to restore or create a restore point. Choose Create a Restore Point.
Name it something you’ll remember, such as “Before CNET Changes.”
Click Create.
Now if something doesn’t work, you can repeat these steps and choose “Restore” instead, to return to the status you just saved.
That done, let’s tweak.

The first things you’ll see are the five main sections of the Registry’s entries. They have cryptic names: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, and so on. Next to each of those five sections is a small plus sign. Click that to view that section’s subsections. Note that you can end up going several levels deep before getting to the key you want to change. The standard way to point to a key is to list the various levels separated by slashes. For example, if you see:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Control Panel / Desktop

it means you should click the plus sign next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER, then the plus sign next to Control Panel, then look for Desktop.

Make your menus load faster

For your first trip to the Registry, we’ll do something simple: Make your menus work faster.

Start regedit (see above).
Navigate to the following key by clicking the plus signs next to the name of each level:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Control Panel
Click “Desktop.” A list of entries will appear on the right side.
Double-click “MenuShowDelay” and change the Value data to 0.
Click OK.
Free up memory from closed programs

When you shut down a program, Windows will often keep part of it in memory even if it’s not being used. Called dynamic link libraries (DLLs), they take up memory and sometimes cause other problems. You can change a Registry key to prevent Windows from doing this.

Start regedit, following the instructions in this lesson.
Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion
Under CurrentVersion, right-click on Explorer, then choose New->Key.
In the box that appears (”New Key #1″), change the name to AlwaysUnloadDLL.
Hit Enter. On the right side, double-click the word (Default).
For the value data, enter 1.
Click OK.
Close regedit (unless you want to tweak some more).
Speed program startup
Windows can be set to load information about some applications to make them start up faster by changing how much work a program called the Prefetcher does.

Using regedit (instructions above), navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlSet / Control / Session Manager / Memory Management / PrefetchParameters

When you click PrefetchParameters, the right side of the editor will display a list of entries.
Double-click “Enable Prefetcher” and change the value data to 5 (in decimal, not hexadecimal).
Click OK.
Close regedit.
Reduce Windows’ workload
If you have many folders and subfolders, every time you access one, Windows will spend a lot of time updating the “last accessed” time for that folder and all its sub-folders. Stopping that process will buy you some time.

Using regedit (see instructions above), navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet / Control
Under Control, right-click on FileSystem, then choose New, then DWORD Value.
Replace “New Value #1″ with NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate and hit Enter.
Double-click NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate and change the Value data to 1.
Click OK.
Improve Swapfile performance
Many programs use a lot of memory, and if you run more than one or two at once, Windows might run out of RAM. In that case, it will start using a section of your hard disk called the “swapfile” to store information. It’s a lot slower than RAM, but it beats not being able to run a program. But sometimes Windows uses the swapfile before it has to. This tweak will tell it to wait ‘till the last moment before doing that.

Click Start, then Run.
Enter msconfig in the box.
Click on the System.ini tab.
Click the plus sign next to 386enh.
Click New, then type “ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1″ in the box that appears.
Click OK.

I would advise you to PRINT this info, and SAVE it for future use ( or maybe now if you have a PC that is running slow. The very first thing that I would do however, is to make sure that you have enough RAM ( Random Access Memory ) in you computer. If you have 128mb, that is BARE BONES!!!! Get more RAM!!! I would advise you to have 512mb MINIMUM!!! If you can afford me, or have a PC that can take more, GET MORE! I have 1gb, and will some add another 1gb. SWAP FILES really slows down the computer because it has to store program files that are currently running on the Hard Drive ( Drive "C" and/or "D" ). Retrieving files from the Hard Drive/s is really slow compared to files right there in active memory (RAM).

There will be a TEST at noontime in the back of the CS, so eat lunch early, study this lesson, if you pass, you get Strawberry-Rhubarb pie ala mode ( that is if DUKE doesn't eat it all first ).

See you all at lunch,

[NeO6874]

I have 2GB o' RAM... but it's not enough, too bad my computer doesn't have any more room in it...

[Paul W. Beverung]

Dansapo: I guess that they never thought of that. We put on 2 coats of motor mix and 3 coats of asphalt. We also laid a French drain all around and lead that to a sump with a pump. It hasn'e leaked a bit. Now we are also on high ground with good drainage all around so that helps too.

I'm at work again so I'd better get back to it.

See you all later.

[Hoople]

Hey guys,

 

Big snowstorm coming in today. It's supposed to dump 3-6".

 

I got another snowday today

 

I guess I'll have the usaul.

 

 

Well, whats new?

 

Nothing much over here other than lots of snow and ice.

 

I'll stick around a bit.

Mark

[sunsetbeachry]

HI ALL  !!!!!!

Today is wed. 1in of SNOW on sat and 34deg.  Snow came on sat night and we have not been out of house since then. This is the 3rd time in the 35 years that we have been here.  What is a snow shovel???????????? Tomorrow it is to be 50 and 35. Almost tempting to go outside.... If you have seen the weather channel they have shown pictures of the beach here with SNOW on the sand  and that has only happened twice in same amount of time and we only live 2 blocks from the beach...................

Everybody is fine and warm, Kathy is sleeping and we are both getting cabin fever.

Prayers to all that get this mess next because it is HE** on earth, this is one reason we moved out here to get away from SNOW...........................................

Hope all are well. Back to reading some back pages...............Chuck and Kathy

[Anonymous]

where are my jokes?

[bjdukert]

ate one and froze the other

Ryan All by yourself????

you get Strawberry-Rhubarb pie ala mode ( that is if DUKE doesn't eat it all first ).

Dick All I can say is uuuummmm uuuummmm GOOD!!!! I hope Lorraine is the one that will make it  

Talk to you later

Duke

[JimRCGMO]

Afternoon, Chloe - I’ll have one of those rootbeer floats, please.

Thanks, Lee! You’ve got to watch out about hitting the top of the page, though - PC will get jealous with you! Do you have that short of a Christmas card list, or how’d you get the envelopes done that quickly?

Ryan, I second your comments on other places for the layout. Heck, we dedicated MRR’ers will find a place to put the layout tracks just about anywhere! Mine’s currently down the middle of my living room! (I don’t have a couch, so it’s where that might go; working toward having it in one end of my bedroom eventually - one-bedroom apartment)

Nice sunrise pics, Inch. You get some nice views out your way.

Duke, I didn't want to wake you up, but we let Ryan do it. I was taught not to wake sleeping dogs (or Duke).

Anyone heard from sNoah in a while? He might be busy with end of the semester classwork, I guess.

PC, wish your birthday young lady a from us. So, did you get her a Moped, or the Corvette she was eyeing?

Jeff - If you get snow down there, I’ll be amazed (not to speak of how much snow we’ll probably be getting if you get some snow!). They’re not even talking snow for sure here, though the counties north of us (toward St. Louis) are predicted to get a bit. But then again, the weatherguessers have been known to mess up the forecast, right?

Uh, Dick, I use a Macintosh, so I’ll be skipping that registry test today, but can I have some apple pie a la mode anyway? I do have a couple of utility programs that I can run for the daily/weekly/monthly maintenance on my drive. But I’m not wild with my (third, second of this size) Toshiba drive - it's making noises. I backed it up last night and may re-format it if I need to. If it gives me trouble, I may just replace it with a Hitachi Travelstar instead.

Uh, Chuck & Kathy, I’ll let Dick or DerJohn explain the finer points of a snow shovel to you - I’m sure they have much more experience with it than I do...

Hoople, just wait - bet you’ll find yourself with cabin fever after another week stuck inside (workin’ on the layout or not)! Of course, maybe you could make some money for MRR stuff shoveling other folks’ driveways/sidewalks, etc.

If any of Flip’s MRR tapes out there have western RR’s (or model railroading tips) on them, would someone add me on the list after you get done? Thanks!

Good to see you back in the Shop again, OzJim - we were about to send out the hounds to track you down. What’cha been up to lately? Anything new on your RR’ing?

Ordered that Dremel variable chuck to hold the small drill bits. Had one club member suggest I could put the drill bit in the pin vise, and then put the pin vise in the cordless drill’s chuck. Bit of a kludge, but it might work in the meantime while I’m waiting for the chuck to arrive. I also picked up a couple of the Athearn 2893 covered hoppers that the LHS owner had at the meeting Monday night (Cotton Belt - his former employer).

Still haven’t got out my Christmas preparations. Need to clear the space for my little tree, too. I do have almost got all that weight gain from Turkey Day trimmed down (eating smaller portions, not snacking much at all, etc.). Couple of pounds more to lose (to get back to where I was, but still want to lose more of the largess around my middle).

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Cox 47]

Good Afternoon All....Cloudy and warm here today but starting to rain looks like snow coming in...I'll have a steak burger, onion rings and a root beer float please Thanks....Took everything off the layout and finnished ballasting all done now except a small section on the interchange track in front..Thursday I hope to get ground cover in back of layout I want to see how much I can get done by Sunday then close it up as the CEO wants to put the Christmas tree there...operation will shut down till New Years...but I plan to build some buildings...Well I'll set here and nurse my root beer float and see who comes in...You all have a good evening....Jerry

[Cox 47]

Well looks like I'm buying order up and enjoy....Jerry

[Anonymous]

oh boy surf & turf time!

how are you all doing? Just got done switching some cars on the layout.

see ya

[pcarrell]

PC, wish your birthday young lady a from us. So, did you get her a Moped, or the Corvette she was eyeing?

Niether, but she did get her permit, so look out!