Mornin' everyone!
Flo, I need lots of dark roast regular coffee this morning. I think I have run clean out of adrenaline this morning...... Better have a bran muffin to go along with the coffee. I'll be at the Rivet Counter.
The sun is shining for the moment outside and it is a nice Fall day. Temperature is 55°F with a high around 60°F this afternoon. The forecast says, "Mostly cloudy". Still going to be a very pleasant day.
Thank you all for the congratulations and kind comments. I think it was JR that asked if they gave me any suggestions to improve the work. Actually during the chat we had after the judging they were still asking me questions on how I did certain things and what materials I used. I took that to be a good sign that they didn't really find any areas of concern. The low score on the backdrop I have to assume came from the fact that the style of backdrop changes. One section is painted on the wall (concrete) and the panels are 1/8" masonite panels. The joints between the masonite panels and the screws holding them together also show. I like using the masonite as it can be bent easily, but I haven't figured out how to hide the seams...... There is also a steel pole that was part of the construction of the house along the wall that was left exposed. I have tried not to post photos of the pole or the transition. You can the problem areas in this photo. The backdrop on the left is the masonite, the pole is in the center, and the concrete wall is on the right. It looks worse in real life........
You can see the seam between the masonite panels easily in this old shot. This is not in the area judged, but it gives a clear look at a problem:
Flip and Barry, I always used to tell my Scouts that one "Oh Crap (stronger word may be substituted...) wipes out a hundred "atta boys"!
OK, I yakked long enough. I think I'll get started on a few ought to get dones...
Later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
Blazzin hmm This mornings topic .. if anyone cares to give an idea. I have a Model Station. Completed built and USED. On top of the roof is a big 'splat' of white. Well of course its got to come off. Any ideas of how to approach this? Like start with water and see if it comes off? Then what if it doesn't. Ugh
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Mornin, coffee and a sweet roll please. Been raining again and I'm kinda glad I'm not farming this year. Feels sorry for some of them though. Busy winterizing and getting things straightened up before the weather turns bad. So not much MR being done.
Garry- Funny Buffalo story. Brenda and I used to go through the drive thru zoo by Springfield, Mo when we would go to Branson every year. I can sure identify with the laughs and some of the "uncivilized" yet funny things they do. Your story reminds me of once when a small Buffalo (what is it with Bison?) relieved himself of, well, his solid waste, in the middle of the road. Now, if that wasn't bad enough, whatever the poor thing had been eating didn't agree with him because solid isn't exactly the best choice of adjectives. We were driving a small car and were able to steer through the ever decreasing section of clean road. However the Cadillac behind us was not so lucky. By the way, when a Buffalo has a digestive problem, it also creates a truly memorable smell. We laughed for a long time thinking about the Cadillac and it's new found smell.
Barry- My apologies. I surely should not have, in any way, put you even in the same sentence as Pie-a- Pault. Why what was I thinking?
Sue- Yep, that's what happens. A perectly running train will derail on two occasions. When left unattended, and when observed by guests. Fact of MR.
Jerry- That reminds me. I've heard the term "Clear Channel" used before (seems like years) and just assumed it was just a selling point such as "look how thick our sauce is". But now you've used it not trying to sell your radio station. What does Clear Channel mean?
Ray- YAAAAAAY!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! I knew you'd get it but you just never know how people will see things. Now, how about a piece of Petra's strudel to celebrate.
After many years of "supervising" I agree with JR's way of dealing with the workers. However, I've sure met my fair share of those above me who were just like the one PC had to deal with. Most times it was them repeating something someone above them went on about and then come storming to me because they just got less than "ole buddied" by their boss. You know waste runs downhill. Many times I would just sit there and look at them. Then calmly say, "you finished? Wanna here how it really is or do you just want to play tough boss some more, but I don't really have all day to sit here and listen to you babble on about something you don‘t know anything about." Most times that worked. Other times it just smacked there ego enough to send them into super duper defense mode and, of course, it was on then.
Keith- Yup, like Chris said the dogs understand many words, phrases, (which they aren't suppose to be able to do), emotions, and what's good to eat. Our 3 ½ year old Chocolate Lab Missy's favorite word is "GO" which she has absolutely no problem distinguishing from "No" like she is supposed to. No means stop doing it and go means we get to go someplace and believe you me she likes the word go. Unless I say "I've got to go" then she just lays down and looks sad, hoping for the best. We didn't pick Missy either. We just kept her over night because the ones who owned her couldn't keep her and we were taking her to a friends house in the country the next day to stay with them and their dogs until she could find a home. Weird, when we were going to load her up the next morning and take her out there, she wandered from room to room and looked in the door of every room in the house,sat down in the living room and had this sad, sad, sad look on her face and just looked around the room as if she knew it was the last time she'd see it and wanted to remember every detail about the best place she'd ever been and was sad to have to leave and so wanted to stay. Needless to say, she never left. That was a little over 3 yrs ago. She's only been to the friends house to visit "Aunt Viki". I'd give my last bite of food to that dog
Have a Great Day!!!
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
I assume the building to be made of plastic, so why not try warm water, a drop of detergent and a soft brush? If this (see, Chris, how I try to avoid THAT word?) does not work, is it possible to paint the roof?
Keith - G gauge seagull on peak of roof?
"oh hi Choe. I'll cop of cuffee" "We never talk Chloe"
hmm This mornings topic .. if anyone cares to give an idea. I have a Model Station. Completed built and USED. On top of the roof is a big 'splat' of white. Well of course its got to come off. Any ideas of how to approach this? Like start with water and see if it comes off? Then what if it doesn't. Ugh
Keith
fec153 The thousand and one things I do right NO one remembers- The one thing I do wrong , NO one forgets. Flip
The thousand and one things I do right NO one remembers- The one thing I do wrong , NO one forgets.
Flip
In the era of the huge bonuses a new comment is now heard at times----
"Maximal work for Minimal pay is the inverse of Minimal work for Maximal pay"----and we are not being Polly Tickle here---
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
The thousand and one things I do right NOone remembers- The one thing I do wrong , NOone forgets.
Granted I do occasionally throw a "wobbly" but those are usually non person specific. I try real hard to praise in public and correct in private. Most boss bees know good help is hard to find. J.R.
Good morning. It's 55 and cloudy. The high is expected to be in the mid 60's and there will be rain.Today will pretty much be a repeat of yesterday with the exception that the Vernon Home Health nurse is coming in around noon to replace the dressings on my foot and my central line.
Philip: I feel your pain there. I had to put up with it when I was working for a nationwide (not the company) insurance brokerage. One year it was so bad that I put a sign up in my office that said 'Doing a good job around here is like wetting your pants in a dark suit - It gives you a warm feeling but nobody notices', The boss laid off after that and found somebody else to pick on.
Good morning. Its kinda dull today, and I think rain is coming in.
Well one work day down, four to go!! I hope to get some more layout work done.....Hopefully.
Ray.......Might be late, but congrats!!
Jerry......I thought your layout was HO scale.
Barry.....Must be a purring cat morning. I have "hannibal" below me, just purring away.
Phillip.......The normal people that have a clue, normally isn't the boss.
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Philip - there are a few basic facts of life which you have to accept to make life easier for you:
I used to tell my staff always "I am the boss, that´s why!"
Just take it easy - the guy just wanted to put the squeeze on you and see how you react!
Sue: You should know by now that train rooms by their very nature are dust magnets. If there's any stray dust in the house you can pretty much bet on where it'll end up.
Well, time to head off to work again. Boss had a "meeting" yesterday with everyone and announced an increase in my duties......AGAIN! Then he tried to give examples of why my duties needed increased. He said we were failing as a department, and gave two specific examples of "problems" that should not have been. Ya know, it would be great if before someone goes off on a rant, if they had a clue what in the world they were talking about. He said that one problem had taken 8 days to fix and had cost the company money, not made money. When he was done, I asked him how he figured it was 8 days when the problem was reported to us on a Monday and was resolved by Wednesday of the same week, and the company with the problem was in what is considered a remote location, which is why it took even that long. Then I asked how he figured we hadn't made money when, due to my diligence and resorcefulness, I got the job completed for $200 cost (normally it would have cost us $280) and we got a signed by the customer work order agreeing to pay $801.60. I'm pretty sure thats a money maker! Maybe he's using the new math, I don't know. Then, his other example, he said I didn't need to roll a tech to fix, but since I did, we didn't make money. He said it was a Central Office (off premise) problem. I asked him how he figured it was a CO problem when the phones on site rang, they just droppped the call due to a customer supplied and, unbeknownst to us, customer hooked up, faulty answering machine (who uses those for a business any more?). The machine would pick up after one ring, wait a second, then drop the call. It was an on site problem, and a strange one at that, not a CO problem. There was no way we could have guessed that it was a faulty answering machine, but it clearly was NOT a CO problem, thats for sure. It didn't even look like one! Not only that, but again, the customer asked us to come out and signed a work order agreeing to pay $145, our standard 1 hour rate.........how did we not make money again? Our tech was there for 10 minutes, got paid for our 1 hour minimum, $145, and was out the door to his next job. Sounds like we made money to me! Again, maybe it's the new math?
I wish that before people go around shooting their mouth off, that they HAD A CLUE!
Sorry for the rant.......
Oh well, offf to work!
Good Afternoon, all of you!
Yesterday was a bad day and the night was not much better. I felt as if someone had beaten me up. It is a little improved today. Did some w*rk in the yard, moving about a ton of leaves out. The landlord called this morning, the contract is on its way to us, but the guy also needs approval that he can rent it to us - what a weird world!
Ray - CONGRATULATION !!! There is more than a dozen reason why you can be proud of your achievement!
Sue - Train rooms are just like Pig Pen of the Peanuts - it takes less than a second to go from clean & tidy back to "normal" .
Zoe, just some coffee for me, I´ ll be at the window and see who is dropping by:
Have a good day!
gear-jammer I did a little tidying in the trainroom today. Will it never end?
I kinda doubt that------
Good Morning
Got the day to try and do the above myself----and do you think that I'm looking forward to this? Not particularly--
Our weatherguessers had us with sunny skies for today---well, NOT---we got a rainy kind of morning--it 40%'ed on us and we are now told that it will be dull dul dull instead We'll have the pattern of one sunny day then we'll pay for that one day with several rainy, dull days in a row---
'Spring' has decided that now is his cuddling time---he's busy schmoozing everything up here and purring away here---
Chloe, I'll just have some toast/jam and a bucket of coffee please---I'll be at the corner booth watching the trains go through the yard----
Good Morning All,
43 and damp with the high in the mid 50's and rain on and off all day. I'll have a regular and a blueberry donut please Zoe.
Got the youngests' Festiva fixed Saturday (dropped electrode #1 plug, timing belt, motor mount, muffler, etc. Runs better now. VSCCA board meeting Sunday all day so not much progress on the house though the CFO did get the kitchen backsplash done and grouted and I got the clean-up done when I got home. Yesterday was switch plates and the shop is the shop. Lots to do and get organized as we start the winter job lists.
Ray - congrats - not that we had any doubts you'd get the merit award. Funny how the judging works with better grades on your weak suit and lower grades where you though you'd aced it. Do they let you know what they saw and where there was in their opinion, room for improvment? Constructive criticism can be hard to give (and take), but if used correctly can be valuable. I just don't know based on the photos you've posted where you could have improved.
Keith - we had a few tremors when I lived in Hanford, but the most were when I was stationed in the Phillipines and we had one or two a week mostly of the rolling thunder variety. Not severe, but just about like when you're about to fall off your board. Okinawa also had a lot of minor quakes but those were more like jolts, not real movement.
Jerry - wow you've done a lot with a little space ! I didn't know about the movable fiddle yard but it has to be a huge help when you run traffic through the layout.
Sue - we never finish building so we never finish cleaning. When i finally get to it, I'd like to keep my next layout neater and will try a rolling toolbox/table to see if I can keep all the construction stuff off the layout. Might save the hour long search for the knife I knew I just had in my hand
Gotta run - lots to do again and the water light in the diesel dually keeps coming on so I need to trace that as well today. Catch ya later, J.R.
Insomnia got the best of me last night. May as well have my morning coffee early.
***Sue, No, it will Never End.
Have a good day all.
Rob
Just a hot cider before heading to bed.
I did a little tidying in the trainroom today. Will it never end?
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Well its bed time, 3:00am comes fasssssssst!!!
Rob.........I bought it like that. Just weathered it up some to make it look better. I think it will look better once the scene is done.
Grilled chicken with mashed potatoes & beans, please.
***Ray, CONGRATS!
***Keith, nice looking family mambers there. Siberians have the most beautiful eyes.
***Robby, neat use of a caboose. Was that a scratch, kit, or kitbash?
Ray,
Congratulations and a hearty "Well Done." All that work has paid off and now you can relax a little. So pass that FGLK mug down here and let me fill it up with this nice Riesling I picked up down at Prejean's Winery. Here's to you...
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Good afternoon, Chloe? Double cheeseburger basket with a large Coke please 'n thank-you...yep, at the RC if there's any room left, I see RAY's celebration is in full-swing!
Speaking of... hey RAY: CONGRATULATIONS! Glad the judging went well.
KEITH: You're 100% right Pally: you don't pick the animal, it picks you. When I first met Rerun, he was in a little playpen with some other pups. His twin sister Sally was a bit shy, but Rerun came right over to me. I picked him up, looked at those big puppy eyes... next thing I knew, I was filling out the adoption papers. There is a bond, I can't explain it... He's the master of non-verbal communication. It's darn-near telepathic at times. He'll look at me, and I'll understand what he's "saying." I can read him so well, it's almost a little frightening. I got him from the small animals program at the community college the wife and I were both w**king at. I got there kinda late during their adoption fair, so there weren't many pups left. I'm always amazed Rerun was still there, and didn't get snatched up much sooner. Kit keeps saying "he was waiting for his Daddy (me) to come and get him." Yep...I'm a doggy daddy, I guess....
BlazzinMy wife and I have to be careful what you say. "Are you getting hungry?" All three dogs heads lift up.
Thanks to those of you who commented on Kit's obviously not a man appearance and her incredible tallent. I've passed the comments on to her, made her blush. She w**ks as a graphic designer, but her passion/dream is to write and illustrate childrens' books. She's w**king on one of her own. Actually, it got shot down several times, but the last shoot-down was from the publisher of Pirate's Alphabet, who ended up asking her if she'd be willing to illustrate it. Funny how things w**k in the art/publishing business.
In my own case, THAT editor is very happy with what I turned in for this week... I'm a little shocked. I didn't think it was THAT great, even thought I'd be in for a bit of a chewing... and she's clucking away in a very happy manner. It's like RAY was saying: what you think is great gets a lower rating than what you thought wasn't so great. Happens to me all the time with THAT editor...
Chris
The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!
Yeah Barry, that one was a dilly. A real roller. I was asleep in bed.. and all I wanted to do.. was go back to sleep. But it just kept going on~ And then, even when I did start to go back to sleep the after shocks.. kept me rolling around for the next 30 mins. I always laugh at the movie.. L.A. Story.. written by Steve Martin.. there is an earthquake going on .. at lunch time.. and all the native Californians.. just keep talking like nothing is going on.. while this gal from England doesn't know what to do.. like hide under the table. I'll take the earth quakes anyday over a tornado. As the indians would put it .. 'Big Medicine'
Honest ***
Yo! Jerry.. lol.. so thats your name.. I always saw the name Cox. I've seen the name Jerry mentioned, ah.. but now~ I can place the face with the name. Wow, 27 years eh.. so God gave you one of those 'Radio Voices' ... I was never so fortunate. I could never make an anonymous phone car.. people would just .. 'So whats up Keith?" Yeah~ a radio DJ.. I thought so.. it just had to be. I knew it .. you and Joe.. the life of the party. Now as for me, nothing too much different than yourself, growing up in a small town. As far as my layout is concerned.. its N scale and I'm trying to add as much of my childhood into this as possible .. quite a list. I've started building my layout as of March 1st.. my 2nd and last one. The other was N scale and my son and I built it .. well over 20 years ago. I just like N scale.. for what I want.. and hope to get.. well its very simple. I really don't want all the wiring and fancy stuff. Even the lighting I'm planning on using will be 'fiber optic' and the source shall be..if possible.. shall be some Malibu outdoor lighting.. Solar charged.. with the small solar panel right next to the sliding glass door... and at night I won't have to worry about something being left on. They'll just get dimmer and dimmer.. "lights out". I'll go with manuel throws as well. I can reach just about everything. I'm probably go off the deep end .. but with N scale .. and such a long layout.. I'll probably have 4 transformers.. lol.. two sets up.. and two different sets going down. And if possible.. separate transformers for the yards. Yeah.. I know.. I've got a lot to learn. Oh BTW .. all our 3 kids have moved out.. and we're in a empty 4 bedroom house. No grand kids. And no marriages either. They just left us with 6 cats and 3 dogs. What can I say? I'm an animal lover~
This is a pic of my Siberian Husky.. My son's dog, that picked me. The other.. well we got the Husky a baby after we got her fixed. In fact we got her a Siamese kitten too. She raised them.. just like any other mother would.. here's living proof.. mother and step daughter. This little one.. tried so hard so raise her tail like a Husky, after a year.. she got the muscles to do it. So she struts around looking like a Husky. She was my daughters dog, that picked my son. My kids didn't understand.. you don't pick the animal.. the animal chooses you! One other thing.. after having cats all my life.. well I knew cats were smart.. but let me tell ya.. with Dogs.. well they are extremely smart. I didn't know they understood so much. My wife and I have to be careful what you say. "Are you getting hungry?" All three dogs heads lift up.. hmm?
Afternoon all. Chloe, I'll take a bacon cheeseburger and a RBF, thanks.
howmusThe news is.......... I received a Merit Award score of 96 (out of a possible 125). A minimum score of 87.5 needed to qualify for the Merit Award, so........ I made it!
Keith, don't get too many ideas from that game! Garry, that story is pretty funny! You got lucky there...
Not much to talk about from me, so I guess I'll just go hang at the RC and do some homew**k
Chloe, I'll take another RBF, and some Apple Pie. Come to think of it, maybe that should be added to the "List of Forbidden Words," maybe P**? Maybe this way Barry's catapult will make less frequent visits to the diner...And get Ray anything he wants; just tack it on my tab.
My Model Railroad: Tri State RailMy Photos on Flickr: FlickrMy Videos on Youtube: YoutubeMy Photos on RRPA: RR Picture Archives
howmus What did intrigue me was that the scores in the areas that I thought were my strongest were lower than I expected and some scores where I didn't think my w**k was as good as it could be were very high.
Ray: Congratulations on getting that Merit Award!!!!
As for the scores being where they are that sounds like what Heidi(my potter sister) always has issues with---her "accidents" sell faster than her "good stuff" and what she thinks is yucky ends up being the stuff art dealers get from her---and sell higher Me---I just go with the flow, man
Keith: That Sylmar comment was from me---I was in CA when that Sylmar 'quake occured. There was a street down a block from where I was at the time that basically telescoped----it was definitely something I won't forget. I was biking around on some trails up there and was knocked off the bike that time. I think there was a firestation up on Tujunga Canyon Rd(?) that actually had a pumper leave tread marks about a foot off the ground on the wall of the station. At that time a friend of mine that I was living with said some guy at the U.S.G.S. claimed that vertical accelleration was around 1G at the time for that to happen
Good afternoon folks!
The sun is still shining here in the Finger Lakes. The visitors have done the judging, looked over the paperwork, checked out the paperwork, and left.....
The news is.......... I received a Merit Award score of 96 (out of a possible 125). A minimum score of 87.5 needed to qualify for the Merit Award, so........ I made it! Now I have to get all the rest of the paperwork signed and off to the regional AP chair for his OK. He then sends it to National, they check everything over, and if all is well, I recieve the certificate. What did intrigue me was that the scores in the areas that I thought were my strongest were lower than I expected and some scores where I didn't think my w**k was as good as it could be were very high. All three gentlemen were very complimentary and came back upstairs with several questions about what I used and how I did some of the scenery. Two of the three are Master Model Railroaders. One of them models "n" scale and has done some of the most fantastic scenery I have ever seen. Anywhere!
So.... That should explain the big grin on my face as I sit here munching away on some of that Apple Cakes and sipping my dark roast coffee at the Rivet Counter!