Elliot´s Trackside Diner February 2011

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Flo just a decaf for me right now...  I'll go sit in the back booth and try to get warm. 

So did I hear that kid right?  Something about Stupid Bowl Sunday and a Super English Assignment???  Huh?  Oh.......  (Other way around...)  Gotta get these things cleaned again.  Doing funny things with my ears.

Never did get down to the train room today.  No sooner got home from running some errands when I see a message on the phone.  Said something like "rivabdmabkv gratdnjaknv this evanmdfo for Pack 6 at dhlsbm"  Called back and found it was a reminder that Pack 6 (of which I am commissioner) was holding its Pine Wood Derby tonight and I should be there at 5:30.  So i read email did some checking here at the forum, changed my clothes and headed down for the Pinewood Derby..... Got there a few minutes late to find the leaders grumbling that the old electronics on the timer was not working right.  One of the guys said that it did the same thing last year....  Well Duh!  Electronics don't tend to fix themselves by sitting in somebodies garage for another year.  I did figure out the problem is in the antique unit itself and it wasn't going to be timing the cars tonight.  So I suggested we do it the old fashioned way of having double elimination and a couple of old pharts be judges at the end of the track.  Gave me something to do as well.  The track wasn't co-operating either which I pronounced to be a problem of construction and the lack of an easement at the curve at the bottom of the track (See, all THAT w*rk on the Civil Certificate came in handy after all!).  Not only THAT, but the sections didn't line up perfectly creating some interesting launching of kids pinewood derby cars into the air and flying somewhere other than the finish line.........  However........  everybody still seemed to have fun.  In fact after the contest was over several of the cubs had races to see whose car could be launched the farthest off the bad spots in the track.  Main thing is they all agreed we were having fun!

I took off after helping consume some birthday cake and ice cream and singing the birthday song very loud and sillily as it was the 29th. birthday (again) of the lady who is the committee chair.  Pack meetings are always fun!

Jeffrey, I see the weather people have been teasing you folks down there again...  I went to the grocery store this afternoon and there was all kinds of bread on the shelves and lots of cases of milk in the cooler.  I didn't take a look at the beer section though....(didn't dare)  Up here in the North we know what you need to stock up on!  We don't have those silly type panics around here.  THAT is one of the Southern phenomenons (THAT meaning South of Binghamton, NY).

A friend of mine from the Chicago area sent me this...  Check it out.  About half way down the page are some train photos.  Many of these would make wonderful scenes on layouts of the 1930s and early 1940s.  These are some very early color photos (mostly color slides).  Enjoy!

Gloom and Doom..... Gloom and Doom........

[edit] Girls just put it on my tab, I'll settle up later.  Order up folks!  Looks like I have the top of  the page.

Later!

73

[tcwright973]

Ray, thanks for posting those great photos.  I really enjoyed them.

Tom

[der5997]

Good evening Diners. Rub A535 for me tonight after the time it took to clear out from the storm. Put a fan heater blowing on the carburetor of the snow blower for half an hour before trying to start it - one push of the starter and it roared to life. Music to my ears, I can tell you. Broke a shear pin (large gravel in the driveway, I've gone through a box of those pins over the years. Slows things down no end. On the subject of snow, did you se that northern Mexico had snow yesterday? I wonder how Ed is getting on - he's about half way through the orange harvest IIRC.Had a reply to my email to Jerry today. He's on medication for the lung condition.  His present computer is like real slow. A relative is lining up a faster one for him, and he hopes to drop by more often once he has that. For now he spends some time in a N Scale Community Forum. (Didn't say what the link was there with computer speeds, but maybe there isn't one.)

 

Ray: Thanks for the extra musical knowledge. I've bookmarked that, and will get back to it, but not today, of that I'm certain.

Yes the belt is crossed in the second pic.  That was done for a couple of reasons.  1. You have to make sure the machine is running the correct direction, so some belts were crossed to do that.  2. One reason they liked to cross the belts, as we always did on the farm running belt equipment, was to increase to adhesion on the drive. 

My memory of those belts (some of those things were quite long) is of the crossed ones - on farm machinery like thrashers - and in factories. Didn't know about the reasons, they were just part of the way things were! And speaking of the ways things were, great photo series from your friend. I'll send it to Dick, he keeps sending neat stuff like that to me!

 

Todd:

Der- How about a picture during the summer. Just to warm me up.

there's this, which is topical, and tropical!

and this which is just tropical  

Oh! You meant the Trains! THAT's tropical and trainy...somewhere under that mass of humanity is a train, I think!

 

Wolfgang:

The leading engine RSD 15 from LifeLike with Quantum sound, second engine RS 11 from Atlas/Kato. I've painted them both in WT scheme.

Thanks, it was the lead that caught my eye. I would not be at all surprised if the loco I had was in fact modeled after an RS rather than a GP, and mislabeled by the manufacturer. It's a good many years ago now.

 

Lee:

Me and the guys went to the animal shelter and asked to adopt the largest, meanest cat they had.  The shelter was skeptical, but we got the meanest thing they had on 4 paws. No mice, no snakes, no frogs, no sea gulls, squirrels, rabbits, heck fish swimming by took a wide berth....

..., and a good plan! The mice in question here were field mice too.  Your solution has a noble history. The "Crystal Palace" a cast iron and glass enormity built for The Great Exhibition of 1851 became infested with sparrows. HRM Queen Victoria asked the advice of Lord Wellington on ridding the place of them. His reply was terse and practical "Sparrow hawks 'Mam."

 

Barry:

JohnDer:  That asphalt tank trailer that you built awhile back...did you use a jig for that? I'm thinking of trying my hands at something along that line now...

...no, it was "freehand" so to speak. However, I do have a blow-by-blow photo account of the construction I could send you as a list of urls in a PM, if that would help. The body of the thing is a half section of ABS domestic water pipe.

 

Ken:

 John Watched all 3 videos ( but not the second part of the series ) and they where pretty good.

  Yes, the BBC do some interesting stuff. I plan to watch the whole lot sometime. They do spin things out a bit too much though...like repeated shots of the narrator's high heeled boots walking through the library. I remember that Ashmolean museum from when I was at school in the same city. (but the north end - industrial, near the Morris Motor works.)

 

Jeff:

And a ruder bunch of people you couldn't ask for.

There's a reason they're that way! http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?v=hd6UnzkUSU Enjoy!

 

CA Ken: (We've added another Ken in your absence, so now we have to differentiate! back, great to see you. That's terrible about the business and your wife's job - I'm sure Ulrich would really understand. (BTW, folks, where is Ulrich recently - hope his health hasn't taken a purler.)  That is one beautiful dog!  Does your economic hiccup nix the mrr? I admire your cheerful outlook, now THAT's Sunny California!

 

BobK: Well it just gets better! Old timers dropping by like a regular home-coming!

 

Rob:

Discussed how to proceed with finishing the hospital and the chicken house. Will need to add even more foundation for the latter. So much for all the neat rockwork I'd done in that area.

What's she going to be raising, Cornish Rock Hens?

 

It's tomorrow here already! Goodnight all, and God Bless. Prayers for all inn need of Healing, Comfort, Prosperity and Peace.

 

 

 

[Cederstrand]

Who cares if it's midnight here, a plate of tacos, please.

Glad to hear Jerry is OK. Would like to find out which N group he's visiting?

Lots accomplished in the train room tonight. Mostly good stuff.

Discovered the derail problem is coming from one of wife's circus cars. The coupler is hanging low, so the air hose is catching on a switch. Not sure how to fix that?

After finishing a sign post for her animated Sinclair sign, discovered the tape/elecric connections had come apart. Sign is dead.  Hopefully the company sells just the signs or does repairs!?! Not up for buying another entire unit. Argh!!!

Snow turned to sleet. There's a little layer of ice built up, but nothing like some of y'all have been seeing.

Have a good night all.

Rob 

[Anonymous]

KEITH - you´re back! Man, you got me worried! I am so sad to hear that you lost your business in the wake of the economic crisis - that´s no fun, I can tell! There is only one positive thing about being down - the only way is up!

Good Morning Folks,

were are right now being hit by the remnants of weather that dumped all the snow onto some of you. It is blowing much warmer weather to our shores, with lotsa rain and wind speeds of more than 125 mph - no fun to stay outside.

Chloe, just a coffee for me, please.

Not really much planned for the day, other than relax. The lung issue turned out to be a reminder of my cracked ribs, but nothing to worry about.

I have not placed my order for the track I need to continue working on my mini-modules, so there ain´t much I can do. It´ll be a little over a week till Petra´s birthday, so, after having waited so long, those few days will not hurt much.

No news from the bank yet - I am really edgy now.

Now that Keith is back, how about the other MIA´s? Jim has not been in lately...

Stay safe!

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

Keith, welcome back.

 

Bob, Welcome back, I highly recommend Norton 360 or Norton Internet Security.  It will clean things up and keep your computer clean.  Some people don’t care for it, but I’ve had all sorts of things blocked by it including those websites that try to take over you machine.  Heck Norton (Symantec) invented most of the original DOS applications we still use today; Defrag, Disk Scan…

 

Rob, didn’t Al Gore invent model railroading and cold arctic winds?  The trip pin is low? You need a set of trip pin pliers, couple height gage, and some non-conducting washers.  Kaydee sells all of the above…

 

Ken, tell me more about these motors…

 

I found some cool links…

 

The B&O modeler;

 

http://borhs.org/ModelerMag/index.html

 

And this, it’s an interactive picture, click on a rail car in the yard and learn all about it…

 

http://www.steamfreightcars.com/gallery/shot%20of%20mo/shotofmoapr02.html

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning...

JohnDer: I'll be watching for it...

My ISP was having issues last night apparently...I ended up off a few forums when it went out...found out earlier this morning...emergency construction destruction at the other end of our street...again...

So..this morning will be sunny with a few cloudy periods and a high of 22F...we're having a heat wave...tropical heatwave...

Today will be one of doing a lot of stuff in my trainroom as well as getting some pics of it...as i progress a little more....

Flo, I'll have a breakfast bagel and a large tub of rawcaffeine please...I'll be at the RC for a bit..uummm---why is that pie catapault sitting in the corner?   

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 30° and icy. Today's high is supposed to be 38° with some snow and ice. The low tonight is said to be heading for 20° or less. Chance for precipitation: 10% rain, 60% snow, 40% ice.

Well the weather line says a lot. The ground outside is coated with ice. I went out and took a look around. Heard the ice crunching underfoot. Good thing I'm not going anywhere as the van has a good coating of ice on it. With no heat (therefore no defrosters) the only way to get the ice off the windshield would be to scrape it off. I almost didn't get back inside my trailer. I didn't notice it on the way out but the front steps are also covered in ice. After some very careful placement of my feet I got back inside then I heavily salted the steps and since I had the salt out I refilled the salt shaker. We'll see how effective sea salt is on ice. The nice thing is that the ice will melt off later. The bad thing is there's more on the way if you listen to the weather guessers there's a good chance of snow. However I wouldn't bet on the snow but I don't doubt that the area could be covered in ice no later than tomorrow morning. Do I have any plans for doing anything outside? Not on your life. With my bum feet I'm no good at winter sports. My nephew already has plans to break out the ATV and an old truck bed liner.

[Robby P.]

 Gooooood morning.  Pretty cold this morning, and 1-2 inches of snow tomorrow morning.

 Not much planned for today.  The normal Friday stuff I guess.

 I will pop back in later.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee please, I’m on a fast clock this morn. Thanks.

Boy, this monitor is getting harder to see certain things. Next chance I'll have to get one will be Saturday or Sunday. Ah well, it'll make a new one seem soooo much nicer.

Today:

I forgot I have to get the start up cash for the book sale and soup and chili luncheon for the Church tomorrow, so I must do that first thing, then head to Mom’s apartment because my sister and BIL are to be there this morning and go thru Mom’s stuff to see what she wants. He also says he has tomorrow off too so if they need another day they have it. I have to w**k tonight, but I suppose leaving them there for a little while til Brenda gets there will be ok. I don’t know why I’m concerned with them being there, aside from the fact I don’t really trust her (sad to say). I mean leeegally, the contents at this point are all hers anyway so if she took everything in the apartment it would be perfectly legal. And, of course, peachy keen fine-a-rooney-o with me. Problem is we haven’t had a chance to pack and remove my nieces stuff so my sister, I’m sure, would spend her time digging through what her daughter has picked and if she saw something she wanted…….well, let’s just say my sister has a…..unusual way of justifying her actions. Yeah, that’s about the nicest way to put it.

Didn’t get a chance to look at all the pictures or videos, but I must say Ray, I really like the pictures you linked to. To see pictures of that long ago (not really THAT long ago) in color really changes the perspective to me. I vary rarely ever see anything in color past say the early sixties. Black & White pictures tend to give me a “not real” feel. If you know what I mean. I’m so used to seeing things and pictures in color, that anything B&W just seems…..can’t explain it. Color really gives me the feel of what it was like back then and I can, I guess….identify? Make sense?

Oh well really getting off on a siding here. I best shut ‘er down and get a movin.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

　

Mostly sunny, with a high near 24. Wind chill values between -3 and -13. Southwest wind between 9 and 11 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 15. Southwest wind around 9 mph.

[TMarsh]

Now why does it do that? Rearrange the paragraph the font, and size of text etc. The above post did NOT look like that when I was preparing the post nor did it look like that when I clicked the Post button. This isn't the first time it's done this, it has done it several times, but I usually go back and edit it.

Wierd.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

This gives you an idea of the ice problem we have here.

The ice on the windshield is nearly a 1/4" thick.

By the way, the sea salt worked wonders on the steps. No ice on them now.

[GMTRacing]

Good morning All,

   10F but the sun is trying to get out. Second day a crew is shovelling the roof of the shop as more snow is on the way and we were getting close to the max load the steel trusses are designed for. It'll cost a bunch but it's better for the landlord to get the roof cleared than get a new building. I'll have a regular to go please.

   Good to see Keith and Bob pop in to visit. Sorry to hear about the business going bad for Keith but I was getting worried something had happened health wise.

   On the MR front, got the layout room in drop cloth now so I can do the blue for the walls without destroying everything in sight. Unfortunately I also covered the boxes I have to access for Lee so that will be another day or so.

   I use the McHenry couplers on the trucks of the IHC/Rivarossi cars on the musuem display layout only because nothing else w..ks. I agree with Garry that the Kaydees are better, but they just won't allow the cars to go around the tight radius curves of the layout. It's all a compromise for shows where we bring the layout like the Amherst weekend and I only use the cars there. We had to open the portals as well to clear the rolling stock.

   For my own stuff, I use the Kaydee couplers as they are more durable and less hassle than the others. The 89' passenger cars are a challenge no matter what and are the primary reason I scrapped the layout before last. They just don't look believable on 24" radius curves.

    Time to get to w..k. I'll catch y'all later.  J.R.

[bogp40]

Just a quick stop for a coffe, cream and sugar please.

Lee,  Tried all sorts of ungrade to Norton, downloads to AVG, Macafee forget it. The ESET NOD 32 was to be my last salvation. This trojan or multiple viruses, won't evn allow a 100% download of any software. The downloads alway fail even in safemode. I can generall tell when it stats to get highjacked as even my task bare will change/ flash and change to white w/ black weird font. Really want to get a Mac/apple laptop and be done w/ all this crap.

Jeff,  This ice has been horrendous, My Dodge van has been encrusted with "ICE" so bad that after 1/2 hour of working on a door the gaskets even got ripped off on some. I need to gain access to all doors just to try to get my tools out of it. South of Boston keeps getting hit w/ these 'Nor easters and dumping freezing rain on top of 10-12" of snow. If you don't move it it turns to cement.....

Should go, don't want to stay on too long w/ this decreped device.

Have a great day, hope to get back on to say Hi to others later..

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe I'll have a short stack of Buckwheat Pancakes and a pot of dark roast coffee this morning.

The sun is a shinin' to welcome the day.  Currently 22°F outside and going up to 27° later this afternoon.  Tomorrow we should have few flurries, but the high may break the freezing point for the first time in several days.  THAT should clear off the roofs around here...

Going to be a busy day.  Going to try to get a hair cut (hmmm, maybe get them all cut) then do some banking for the MLK Committee.  I need to be over at my son's house to watch the granddaughters for a while when he goes to work, then put on my class A uniform for Scouts and go to calling hours for an old friend.  Should be a very large group of Scouters attending. 

Oh got this in an email earlier today.  Some of you should get one of these to clear your driveways: Snowplow

Later!

73

[BRAKIE]

Good Morning All!

Not much to report from the land of Buckeyes on this cold Friday morn other then 40 more days till spring-unless you live in Bucyrus and thanks to Lake Erie then Spring will arrive in mid April. How I've come to hate this area and can't move for several reasons so,I'm stuck in here.  Now if you live the Southern part of the state expect warmer weather next month.No modeling yesterday since I had a doctor's appointment in Mansfield and did some shopping afterwards.

I shall have a cup and look over the forum.

Have a good'un!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

 

Howdy

Ray wants buckwheat pancakes. Buc wheat pancakes coming up!

Bob K .... Great to see you here! Are you still active with that wonderful club layout?  

I hear Jerry is on an N guage frum. Hope he's doing well. Alos, it wuld be nice if he siopped by in the DIner in order for us to "have a good one".

I worked on the scrap yard some more. It now has an auto parts businees in teh forrgound. The owner races an old Ford that is in the photo. I added other details in teh scrap yard, too.

 

 

[Cederstrand]

Extra strong coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please.

***Lee, sounds like a lot fo stuff/work, but guess it's something that will need to be pursued.

***Garry, really like that scene. The one downside to it, is now I see how much more work should be done on the wife's layout.

***Jeffrey, had the same ice layer here from last nights freezing rain and sleet. Looks like rain outside here presently,which should help melt it.

Proclamation: I will start work on my own (N) layout by months end. Wife was thinking of adding a backdrop of the smokey mountains to her table layout, but that would block the view of my future layout. Sooo, perhaps if I make some adjustments in my plan, we can use that for a backdrop instead.

Have a good day all. Rob

[GMTRacing]

Very nice Garry. THAT'S starting to look like the scrap yards we all know and love.  J.R.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

JR and Rob .. Thanks. Actaully, I was going to post this overview picture. The auto parts shop was a box car, and now looks a little like a redneck caboose. Adding the old Ford stock car was fun.

[Robby P.]

 Lunch time!!

 Got a call from "wally world", and that I passed the drug and back ground check.  I've never failed one, due to I don't break the law and I've never done any drugs...NEVER.    Now the day I said that at a police interview, boy did the one detective yell at  me.  "If you are hired I will investigate that, you NEVER did any drugs".    Orientation is tomorrow morning, just when it will be snowing.  That's a good way to start a job.  Plus I won't start till after the Norfolk Southern interview.    I want to see how that goes.

 Lets see........I have to take Jessica to "med express".  She has a bad cough.   Sometimes over the counter just doesn't work.  

 Garry........I agree with the others, that its a very nice scene.   Sometimes it hard to model a scrap yard, but you did a great job!!

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

G'day Mates,

I need a late lunch,  Chloe how about a plate of Bush Beans on rye toast with a HC to chase.

Just though I would pop in for a few minutes and share a picture of what we are using for snow plows up this way right now.

There has been so much talk of the storm systems and the dump they have been leaving that I couldn't pass this by without showing ya all.

so here goes

Sorry Guys, it wouldn't work. It says it is a bitmap and won't let me post.

Any ideas on this??

Johnboy out.........................for now.

[ns3010]

Afternoon all.

Again, I have to be quick because I would like to get to homework, in an effort to make the rest of the weekend that much easier. Luckily, I don't have too much other than the few big assignments.

I'll be back soon after getting some stuff accomplished.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

last mountain & eastern hogger

There has been so much talk of the storm systems and the dump they have been leaving that I couldn't pass this by without showing ya all.

so here goes

Sorry Guys, it wouldn't work. It says it is a bitmap and won't let me post.

Any ideas on this??

Download it to your computer, load it into paint and resave it as a JPEG then upload it to your hosting service. From there you can post it here.

[blownout cylinder]

Good afternon...

I'm getting ready to go into work over the weekend so I'se be kind of doing a few things to do this...

Seems to be a bridge thread about Exactrail having some bridges up on their site...and some of the posts are getting a little ...ern...interesting....

I'll have a burger platter with fries and a RBF please..I'll be at the corner booth for a bit...

[Cederstrand]

Coffee refill, please.

I need to figure out how to take better pics with this camera. For now, I put a few up on the following page with comment on them below. http://cederstrand.homestead.com/mods.html (can't figure out how to make this link open in a separtate window...SORRY!)

1) The small park area attached to the hospital will have a tree or two, shrubbery with flowers, benches and folks in wheelchairs and with canes, etc... Also still needs a structure on the roof for the elevator.

 

2) Added a bunch of new foundation to give more room for the chicken house. You can kinda see the cool silos Der made for my wife. (***Der, made it to the PO yesterday. Hope you are OK with it) 

 

3) Fire station is basically finished. Will be adding barricades in select spots out in front of it to separate from the main road. You can see the new retaining wall behind it, which was needed.

 

4) The drive-in theater fence came out really cool looking (in person), except it needs a trim to match the posts. The sign is animated, although off in the photo. Needs some shrubbery and ground work yet. There is a tribute sign to my brother, "Stan" on the right side of that pic. 

 

You can get an idea of how things are developing, but none of these scenes is complete, except for the cat. Well, actually, she may be complete at the moment, but won't be after her visit to the Vet. 

Cheers! Rob

[cats think well of me]

I'll take a BLT with cup of broccoli-cheddar soup :) unsweetened ice tea to drink please? Don't mind me while I listen to some Pink Floyd on youtube.

It's a cold, quite cold day in Lancaster PA today. Intended to just go to my credit union, deposit monies and grab lunch at the wonderful farmers market on my street, but on my way home decided to stop at the local pawn shop and check out cheap stereo components, music is another passion of mine, and got a call from a friend to see if I'd like to go with her and file resumes at a place not to far from where we lived, a place to help people and employers link up. The walk had been great and I'm glad we went. Now I'm split as to what to do tonight, likely it'll be meet up with another friend and a friend of hers for drinks then maybe check out a house-show (I know many musicians). 

Recently got a John Lennon album in the mail, and somebody forgot to put the CD in the case, even though it had been brand new. Also need to list more vintage Italian tiles on eBay in the hopes someone out there wants to buy them. 

Alvie

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Got a weird phone call this morning that had red flags all over it! A woman, supposedly a representative  with the company that issued my credit card told me my card was eligible for a lower interest rate according to the records she had in front of her. Right off she got the issuer of the card wrong and missed completely on what company issued it. Red flag! Incorrect! I didn't bother correcting her. This call was already very suspicious. Next she wanted the card number and for me to verify my SS number. I simply told I liked my card (still no name) just the way it was. Then I hung up without giving her any information. I don't know this woman. I was simply calling back a number to check out "important information I needed concerning my credit card". She was asking for info over the phone that I wouldn't give to my own mother over the phone. If she was really a 'representative' of the company that issued my card she would have known what kind of card it was and she would have known the security question the company would use with ANY correspondence with me about my card, be it by phone, mail, email, Wells/Fargo armored transport, etc. None of this was evident. What was evident was that somebody was fishing for information. The biggest red flag? Supposedly she called me at the phone # on my paperwork. BIG STRIKE, WRONG ANSWER, NOT EVEN CLOSE! The number she called is an unlisted/unregistered number in the New Orleans area! Far away from here! Neither my bank nor the company that issued my card has this number. My parents live only 1/8th of a mile away but when they call me they're making a long distance phone call. I've heard of scams like this. Somebody will call stating that they represent company "X" and they have important information about your account that can save you money. All they need is for you to verify the card type, issuing company (MasterCard/Visa/Discover/whatever, account number, SS# and maybe the cards three digit security code. They tell you that you will see a savings/credit on your next statement and you hang up feeling good about it. Next thing you know your account has been emptied.

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Flo just a decaf for me...  I'll go sit by the stove and warm up for a while.

Just got home a while ago from the calling hours for an old Scout friend, Vern.  I wore my BSA Official Field Uniform, aka: Class A Uniform (one of many) with my red Camp Babcock-Hovey suspenders in his honor.  I had no sooner walked in the door, got my coat hung up when several other Scouters started to grin...  They got it!  Vern always wore Red Suspenders with his Field Uniform.  Glad I got there when I did.  At least 150 people (half of them in Scout Uniform) were in line ahead of me.  As I was leaving my SIL was on her way in.  We had a good chat.  Her Brother was the BIL who died last Fall.  He was a Leader in the same Troop as Vern.  Vern will be buried in his Class A Boy Scout uniform.  I expected nothing less.  He will be missed!

Got to watch my Granddaughters for a while this afternoon and play wii games with the 3 year old.  She beat her Grandpa at bowling, so we switched games to the "Puck Bowling" so I wouldn't feel bad.....  I beat her twice in THAT one!

Jeffrey, I hope you have reported the phone call to both your bank and the police.  At least here in this area our police dept. has been issuing alerts about the exact same scam and telling people to contact them if they get a call.

Rob, one of the easiest "improvements" you can make in photographs is to get the camera down to "street level".  The helicopter vantage point can work now and then, but......  Maybe not the best example (couldn't find my first 2 shots I use in my Photography clinic - didn't put them online) but these may give you the idea...

Birds eye:

Ground level:

Catch you all later!

73