Elliot's Trackside Diner November 2011

[galaxy]

gear-jammer

 

We almost broke the 1959 record for rainfall in Olympia yesterday.  Sounds like the rivers are rising.  Here we go again.

I don't envy you at all. We had enough flooding with the "100 year" and "500 year" flooding in '05, '06. and  this past September. Seems the "500 year" flooding is now coming every 5 years...NOT 500!

ANd I am afraid we will be  in for more sooner than we'd like to think.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and a sweet roll please. Thanks.

Areas of fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 50.

Curt- I hope all goes well with the surgery. Your wife is in my prayers. Keep us informed.

David- Thanks for the update. I already do ask for Jeff’s wellbeing quite regularly, and I will continue. Not for his modeling skills, but because.... I kinda like the old fart.

J.R.- Weeeell, I tell you what, I’m cheap and.... somewhat stupid. Besides, I will have no real deadline and it’ll keep me home (chuckle). I have laid wood floor before and though not hard, tedious is more like it, once I laid the floating snap lock stuff at Mom's I swore I’d never do another real wood one again. However, the wife has a say in this (imagine that. You‘re probably not familiar with it, but that‘s the way things go around here. ) and decided that none of the flooring looked like she wanted other than real wood. She wanted the narrow planks and the laminates just didn’t “suit” her. Besides, the real wood actually costs less material wise, well I never figured in the staples, than the good laminates. Started out as just the hall and the entrance way plus the two closets. Total of just 200 sq ft. She now thinks that it would look good through the living room. Another 460. We’ll see how that pans out. The ceramic, or rather Porcelin I guess, started out as just the bathrooms which I agree have not too great looking linoleum, then she added the kitchen and dining room. My office has been mentioned (carpet is rutted out from the chair) as has the third bedroom (shakes head). Any carpet, which is pretty much the Master bedroom and the living room if I get my way, will be laid by a pro because I don’t have a kicker and if I did, my knees would not take it anymore. Needless to say my little project has escalated significantly since I said the fateful words “yah, I can do that.” Sound familiar?

Ulrich- Hey, at least he ponies up and takes responsibility. Yes it’s harder on you, but too often some try to point at someone else. Around w**k they used to say “second liar never has a chance”.

Jeffrey- Glad you’re back with us. Hang in there Hoss, a lot of people care about you, and I do mean a LOT.

Today is prep for Thanksgiving Day day, another holiday of sorts. I need to run in and get a table because the old ones we had we gave away (the people we loaned them to in the spring don't quite know it yet though ). They were those old particle board weighs 5000lb things and we were always gonna replace them with those nifty plastic jobs. They're getting harder and harder to get up the stairs and move around. Last year they set in the living room for a month before I took them back down. Looks like I put it off long enough and have to get one or two today. Probably one based on the amount of people we’ll have this year. Kinda small. But hey! They all were brought up like I was, if you wanna eat, you’ll eat what’s there and be glad you have it! What Mom cooked was what you had no questions asked. Suggestions were entertained, or at least we were lead to believe so, but no promises. Lately we haven’t had the spreads like we used too. Actually they were quite wasteful, considering the 4 tons of leftovers. No turkey this year, just a ham, Green bean casserole, oyster stuffing, sweet potatoes, fried cauliflower deviled eggs and some thing else that I can’t remember. Dutch Apple pie will be courtesy of Mrs Smith unless I decide to make a pumpkin pie between now and then.

Well, gotta get a movin if I want to get movin at all.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

galaxy

 

gear-jammer:

 

 

We almost broke the 1959 record for rainfall in Olympia yesterday.  Sounds like the rivers are rising.  Here we go again.

 

 

I don't envy you at all. We had enough flooding with the "100 year" and "500 year" flooding in '05, '06. and  this past September. Seems the "500 year" flooding is now coming every 5 years...NOT 500!

ANd I am afraid we will be  in for more sooner than we'd like to think.

We haven't had a flood here in some time. The rain we got yesterday was the first significant rainfall we've had in several months. How bad are the drought conditions here? The lake is down more than six feet and very few people can remember when it was at it's normal level.

This is how the lake looked a couple of years ago. Dry as a bone with no water in sight. The stumps you see would be under water if the lake was at it's normal level.

 

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a breakfast bagel with bacon and cheese and lots of dark roast coffee to get me up and running this morning.

In the words of Barry.... Dull.  Dull and gray, and chilly, and wet here in the Finger Lakes this morning.  We got 1.1" of precipitation over night and it is still sprinkling out at the moment.  Currently at the high for today outside... 39°F  Tomorrow is supposed to be 52°F with a bit of sun popping in to say hello from time to time.....  Woodstove was rekindled (from last nights coals) so the house is toasty warm.

I have a bunch of odds and ends to get done today, so I'll be in and out here at the diner...

Have a good one!

73

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

[quote user="jeffrey-wimberly"]

 

 

 

This is always my greatest fear when I think about putting our boat into an unknown lake. So without further investigation I just avoid doing so. With my luck I know that one of those trees would take off the lower leg of the motor or find it's way through the hull.  So no need for an invite JEFF, I'll just pass on this one.

Johnboy out.................... and staying dry.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

[quote user="last mountain & eastern hogger"]

jeffrey-wimberly

 

 

 

This is always my greatest fear when I think about putting our boat into an unknown lake. So without further investigation I just avoid doing so. With my luck I know that one of those trees would take off the lower leg of the motor or find it's way through the hull.  So no need for an invite JEFF, I'll just pass on this one.

Johnboy out.................... and staying dry.

Most of the lakes in Louisiana are full of stumps. In the case of Vernon Lake (above photo) the boat lanes are usually well marked. Some time back some people got hold of old maps of the area (pre-1960) and put down white PVC pipes to mark the roads. In areas too deep for pipes they had buoys put in place. It's not unusual to have a piece of a fence or structure to come up hooked on an anchor. One guy hooked an old Ford pickup with his anchor and brought up a fender.

[Cederstrand]

Coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please.

Problem with Camry solved: Vibration was from no fewer than 3 bad tires and 1 bad rim. Used the spare wheel rim for the replacement and bought 4 new tires. A painful endeavor for the wallet. No vibration now at all. And thanks to not having emissions testing where I'm located, I didn't have to fork out $400.- because of a couple sensors which make no difference to the engine, and that was according to the mechanics.

Tomorrow for Thanksgiving day, I'll be working on the shed roof. Need to get it done so I can have a larger quantity of hay delivered at considerably less $$ per bale.

Will catch up on posts and pics tonight.

Hope everyone is doing well. Rob

[galaxy]

WEll,. the turkey is in the cold water in the sink defrosting. I thought 5 days in fridge would be enough, but apparently not. Never seems it is. Gotta get teh giblets out so I can prep them. Got beef in the oven for dinner.

MOH"s manager was actually nice and allowed for time off tomorrow and Sunday due to untaked holiday and vacation time that must be taken by end of the year or lost forever, and the closer to end of the year, the harder it is to get approved. ANd She siad " you've been working so hard you deserve it.."!!! DOn't THAT beat all!! This is a new department manager who beat out MOH for the job anyway.

MOH lacked training, but thanks to a meeting with higher ups, who liked his ideas  and took them up the corporate ladder MOH will get special training that may allow for a better job in the future ...FINALLY!!

Well talk at you later.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Cederstrand

And thanks to not having emissions testing where I'm located, I didn't have to fork out $400.- because of a couple sensors which make no difference to the engine, and that was according to the mechanics.

No emissions testing required here either. It's a mixed camp here. Some say my van should have all it's emissions equipment and others say it doesn't need it. Some of the equipment isn't even made anymore or even rebuilt. I remember back earlier this year I was trying to work out a bug in the timing on my van. I borrowed a timing light at Autozone but it didn't work. It was one of those new digital things. Counter guy came out and looked at it and said it had to read from the computer. I told him that if that was the case it wasn't going to work at all as there's no computer. He looked kind of surprised then looked at the distributor and saw what I meant. The system is barely one step ahead of breaker points. Closest it has to a computer is a coil firing module. He went back into the store and came back with an old timing light. We quickly discovered it wasn't the timing at all but a weak coil. I have to give him credit. He didn't do like the guy at the other place and waste time looking for a computer. It took him all of ten seconds to figure out the engine was original. He said it was in good (not great) condition for being thirty plus years old and that the 318 is one of the most rugged V8's out there. He also noticed it doesn't have an EGR valve or O2 sensors or a catalytic convertor. According to him that stuff is a waste of time and $$ on an old beast like that. Turns out his hobby is working on old cars. I like that guy.

[Cederstrand]

Grilled chicken, please.

***Jeffrey, you obviously take excellent care of your vehicles.

Received a Wiking (HO) bull dozer in the mail today. Got it on the cheap from the-bay. Had planned on removing the blade to use on a Soylent Green truck, but it looks so good as is, might just put it to work somewhere on the little farm instead.

Got the (FULL scale) barn yard cleaned up and the remaining tin panels cut for the shed roof. That was a lot more than I expected to accomplish. Hope it goes as well tomorrow.

Rob

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Cederstrand

***Jeffrey, you obviously take excellent care of your vehicles.

I try to. It's not easy on my tiny income.

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Nothing much happening this way. Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 73 F (83 today). It's been really busy at work probably because school is out for the week and there is a cold/flu bug going around. Heaven forbid if you don't come to a amusement park when you are sick.

I made a large gingerbread for work and I painted the 2 new sections of the rail on the layout with the oily look.

Not much else to say except that I hope everyone has a HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

[cudaken]

 Evening Folks!

 Flo,  Beer Please.

 Lion, Thank you for the prayers, some times I could use some help.

 Work Front Today was the day of Jerks and pain in the caboose cars! Had a Ford Explore that took 4 hours to replaces a rear Strut Spring, book time called for 1.2 hours. Of course the owner complained that it took to long and wanted a discount. Did not help he spoke very little English.

 Woman called and told me 3 of her tires where stolen and wanted to know if that was covered Under Her Warranty? 

 Man called and wanted to know how much did it cost to fix a vacuum leak?Asked him where was the vacuum leak? Told me "the engine"!

 I did get all Friday off! Will be the first 2 days off in a row in a month, sort of. Part of it will be spent driving to KC, but I will be sitting down! Standing is going way better than I had hoped. Today was a 10 hour day and I fared pretty well.   

 Turkey Day Was not happy about what I was told when I got home today. We are eating at Golden Corral. My daughter wants us to be there at 10:50 AM? Is this Thanks Giving Lunch? Personally I hate eating out, I eat to much (I know my fault) and after that I don't feel like doing a darn thing the rest of the day. I have things I wanted to get done Thursday, but after eating at 11:00 I will be wiped out more than likely.

 Jeffery Sorry to hear you are not doing better than you are. 

 Ulrich Glad to hear they are paying your gas, plus I would guess it feels good to have a reason to get up in the morning. Are you enjoying the job? Well, I guess till you start getting paid it is sort of a hobby for now. 

 See you all later.

 Ken

[der5997]

Hi Folks: Just wanted to say all USA Diners, especially those whose emails I don't have for sending eCards

A bit hectic here for the last while with Kris' mother taking a fall last week, and being in the horse-spittal ever since. We don't know if she can come home again, or under what  home-help arrangement. We do know we can't do for her what needs to be done on a daily basis, but at last count, she can't even sit up by herself. All somewhat concerning.

Still trying to work out a rapid method of making N Scale lupines that look the part. In the mean time, did I show you guys the garden scene (and thanks for the kind words some days ago about the first attempt lupines; and the note on the buildings - here's that house now fully "planted"

Sue:  The round bushes are about right for our regular Rhododendrons - your West Coast ones sound a bit like the wild azaleas here.

It's quieted down from a very windy snow and ice-pellet day. First taste of winter on this Island. So, I'll say Goodnight all, and God bless. Prayers for all in need of Healing, Comfort, Prosperity and Peace.

IIRC, OzJim may recognize that one!

 

[blownout cylinder]

Ken:  The one about the fellow with the vacuum leak is a good one...my favorite? Why do I get a funny sound out of my soundcard when I push record?  ..or ..why does my volume go up when I turn this knob?  

Our Turkey Day will be done by Audrey's aunt who is presently doing up the cranberry/walnut stuffing ...after we hickory smoked the turkey fro 10 hours...

I got the all clear from the ICD clinic..next appointment...May 2012...

Well...Spring is springing around the house..on top of various doors and shelving units...fridge and stove is not safe from him tonight...oh...new thing from him.....Why are you chewing on my Ibby's whammy bar?!?!?!  

All kinds of odd bits abound in here tonight...everyone is now, mostly, asleep...so the house is kind of quiet..as auntie is doing things in the kitchen...

Chloe, I'll have 6 octoplex greaseburgers with a whole bathtub full of poutine please..oh..and 4 cheery cheesecake pies as well..and 2 strawberry shakes please and thankye....might as well mow down here...

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night. I don't know if I'll be on tomorrow or not. I might be pretty busy. See y'all later.

[BroadwayLion]

LION has been to Bismarck all day. As the Abbey Nurse, I had to take one of the monks to his appointments. While he was getting his monthly injection in the eyeball, I went shopping at Menards, the Prior had given me some money to buy LEDs which of course are only available at Christmas Time.
I was going to buy some other stuff, some pipe fittings for the pop machine and put that on my Abbey Credit Card, which would not work. I forked over the rest of my cash for the fittings, and then from the Doctor's office called the credit card company. There was a fraud alert out on that number, apparently it had be used in Wisconsin to run up about $600. worth of charges, and I told them no, I have never been to Wisconsin. The canceled the card and are sending me a new one, and some legal paperwork. I told the business manager here at the Abbey, he shrugged and said yeah that happens.

Well at least it will NEVER affect my credit rating: I do not have a credit rating, zero nadda zilch. The credit rating companies do not even know that I exist. But just to be sure, I WILL check that again just to be sure that I still do not exist. ☺

Anyway, I'm back and I have 200 more LEDs for my layout.

ROAR

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Just checking in before bed....    Chloe, my Sweet, I'll have a HC and some ginger snaps as a night time snack, Please and thankyou.

Before I forget, I want to wish all our south of the 49th Buddies and you too Sue, a very happy Thanksgiving Day and week-end.  May you all have bulging Tummies of Turkey and of course all the other goodies as well.

  Please drive Safe and Sober.  We want you back.

Not much layout work since last Saturday, but tomorrow should be a good day in the Man Cave. I'm going to continue with the Gypsolite on the mountains and area around the waterfall. Should be interesting. One must always keep in mind , this is  a very forgiving hobby.  If you don't like what you have created, RIP IT OUT and try again.  In lots of cases if you never mentioned it, nobody would know the difference.

Well, I'm off to bed. Not even going to wait for the news ( as it always seems to be the same old s--t)

Seems like such a waste when you could be asleep.

Night all, sleep well.   Catch ya all later.

Johnboy out..................................to the nether reaches of the pillow.

[thortenney]

Hello gang,  I made it home safe. I am all cleaned up and ready for bed.  I want to get to bed early so I can get up and get busy,  I will see you all in the morning!

lion, you are a interesting cat.  I like all of your post's. For some reason I am fascinated by the life you must have. Though I don't really know much about life as a monk. I just think that it is amazing how you can build such a great layout using the items you have to work with.  I could almost picture you and how excited you were to get 200 led bulbs for your subway, I am happy for you but at the same time your shopping trip made me stop and look at myself I realized how selfish and spoiled I am in my life. I need a lot of improvement! As far as the credit card and you having a card and no credit rating also I am guessing you have some kind of identification and yet you don't exist. Have not worked that one out in my pea sized brain..... Sounds kind of mysterious.  see you all soon.          

                                                                                         Thayne.     

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!

Today is Thursday, November 24th, 2011, Turkey Day USA,!!!

Part of the origin of Today's name:

- Skandinavian = Torsdag (was named after the skandinavian thunder-god Thor)
- Icelandic = Fimmtudagur ("Fifth Day", in Skandinavia Thursday is the fifth day of the week)
- Swedish = Torsdag ("Thor's Day", skandinavian origin )
- Danish = Torsdag ("Thor's Day", skandinavian origin)
- Norwegian = Torsdag
- Dutch = Donderdag ("Donar's Day", Donar = germanic thunder-god)
- German = Donnerstag ("Donar's Day", Donar was the germanic god of thunder)
- English = Thursday (Thursday was named the nordic god Thor or maybe after the Thurs, giants)

HAPPY THANKS GIVING!!!

Enjoy your Turkey today {or whatever you have} and remember to be thankful..we all have something to be thankful for!!!

[wetidlerjr]

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

from Tipton IN.

 

 

[Anonymous]

Goood Morning America!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you WoTBP and SOB (west of the big pond and south of the border).

It´s a bad time for turkeys, though!

Have a good time!

[james saunders]

Just stopping by to wish you all a...

Happy Thanksgiving!! 

Make sure you eat plenty of turkey! 

Enjoy it from us downunder!!!

 

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and biscuits and gravy please. Thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here’s what the weather’s gonna be like in my neck of the woods; Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 57.

Guess what we’ll be doing today.

DerJohn- My prayers for Kris’ Mom and the both of you. It is very difficult deciding what to do. I know.

Well, best get a movin.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[blownout cylinder]

AND A HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO OUR SOTB FRIENDS!!!!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Good Morning

We arecurrently fog bound and cold...lots of frost is in the air ..going to a high of 45F today..in the sun..hopefully

Get to actually have some time in the trainroom today to run some 'choo choos' ..yes...I said that phrase....  Uncle Bruce and I are proposing to set up a running schedule that he can also set up from his home as well..so we will be trading boxcars and other things back and forth between each other...

Looking forward to the Thanksgiving repast here...smells real good so far....

Flo, I'll just have a coffee for now please..I'll be at the window booth waiting for what passes as a sunrise here...

[LSWrr]

Happy Thanksgiving!

[inch53]

Mornin all,,,, an irish coffee please Janie n heavy on the irish, tis a cold, damp n foggy start here.

Thought I’d stop by n wish every-one a Happy Thanks Giving.

Ours will be a quiet one, just Mother, me, Granddaughter n her 2 kids [they live here].  The worst of it comes Sunday, when do ours with the all kids.

Thoughts n prayers for all in need and don’t forget all those in uniform unable to home with families.

My 3 diapers

[thortenney]

Bill, Your smiley guy chasing the  turkey is very funny! I laughed my --- off Thanks!  I also liked the guy playing the guitar the other day!!!     Thayne.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 47° with clouds and some sun. The high will be 68° and it will be sunny.

Happy Thanksgiving

No layout work today though I may get a little work done on a hopper later. Couplers are too high.

[gear-jammer]

Good morning, Chloe.  Inch said, "Irish Coffee."  That sounds good, but it is a little early out here.  I will have black  coffee before I start the twice baked potatoes.  Thanksgiving is at my brothers.  My SIL always requests the potatoes.  Maybe I will take huckleberry pie, too.

der,  I hope that things settle down with Kris' mom.  I know how draining it can be.  Your details are looking good.   If you don't prune the rhodys closely, the get tall and lanky.  I remember my dad's rhodys getting 10 to 15 feet tall in our yard.

jeffrey-wimberly

Fun photo, Jeffrey.

Barry,  That takes us back.  "Wolfman"

Johnboy,  What do you do with  Gypsolite?

Later,  Sue