Good evening ...
Monon Jim ...... I saw the news had a story about the big explosion in Indianapolis that you talked about. Let us know if you learn more about it.
Ray .... Sounds like a big false alarm or somthing like that. Our new cat is very social and would like to meet yours and Barry's cats.
I'm still making adjustments to DCC on the layout. It gets complicated. Digitrax provides good service, and that's goo for me. I just wrapped a package to send another decoder back to them for warrantee replacement or repair.
Here's an older photo of my detailed Athearn NP GP9. It's not DCC yet, and presently it is awaiting conversion. The switch tower was a junked Plasticville one that I fixed up.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Hi Gang,
Just thought I would stop by for a RBF before hitting the sack.
Watched the ball game tonight. Boy, it was hard to tell if the Chiefs were playing for themselves or for the Steelers. So many errors I lost count.
While watching the game, I started building the retaining wall that goes between the two "HoneyMoon Tunnels". Will finish that up tomorrow and then try to install it.
Still have a little more snow to get rid off. At my age I do take my time with that stuff. I did get some help while at work yesterday. Three neighbors that had their blowers fired up and were cleaning out the Bay, came by and blew out the driveway for us. I have done the Bay and their driveways many times in the years past, so I guess a little reciprocal action is just. Don't ya think ??
Prayers and blessings to all in need. Have a great sleep all.
Johnboy out.................................and off to ZZZZzzzzland.
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Good Morning! from Tipton IN.
It's Tuesday, November 13, 2012
TIPTON
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Good Morning Folks!
What a cold night we had - signs of a cold winter coming soon!
I have to hurry - I have a "date" with my nice dentist lady. Two little cavities need to be taken care of!
CUL
Ulrich
Morning Coffee in the Diner
GOOD MORNING!!!
Lets g"et down to brass tacks" here:
Meaning: Engage with the basic facts or realities
Origin:
The figurative expression 'getting down to brass tacks' isn't particularly old as phrases go. Its first appearance in print that I can find, from the USA in January 1863, was in the Texas newspaper The Tri-Weekly Telegraph:
"When you come down to 'brass tacks' - if we may be allowed the expression - everybody is governed by selfishness."
All of the other known early citations either originate in, or refer to, Texas. It is reasonable to assume that the phrase was coined there, in or about the 1860s.
The derivation of 'getting down to brass tacks' is uncertain. Nevertheless, it is a phrase that is often asked about, so I will list the most likely possible sources and the evidence for and against them and leave you to make up your mind for yourself.
Brass tacks are, of course, real as well as figurative items and two of the most commonly repeated supposed derivations refer to actual tacks. Firstly, there's the use of brass-headed nails as fabric fixings in the furniture trade, chosen on account of their decorative appearance and imperviousness to rust. Such brass tacks were commonly used in Tudor furniture and long predate the use of the phrase, which would tend to argue against that usage as the origin - why wait hundreds of years and then coin the phrase from that source? The supporters of that idea say that, in order to re-upholster a chair, the upholsterer would need first to remove all the tacks and fabric coverings, thus getting down to the basic frame of the chair. While that is true, it hardly seems to match the meaning of the expression, as the tacks would be the first thing to be removed rather than the last.
The second explanation that relies on actual tacks comes from the haberdashery trade. Here the notion is that, in order to be more accurate than the rough-and-ready measuring of a yard of material by holding it out along an arm's length, cloth was measured between brass tacks which were set into a shop's counter. Such simple measuring devices were in use in the late 19th century, as is shown by this piece from Ernest Ingersoll's story The Metropolis of the Rocky Mountains, 1880:
"I hurried over to Seabright’s. There was a little square counter, heaped with calicoes and other gear, except a small space clear for measuring, with the yards tacked off with brass tacks."
Various other explanations relate to the tacks in boots, those that were put on chairs as a prank, the rivets on boats etc, etc. None of these come equipped with any real evidence and are best left alone.
Of the supposed explanations that don't have literal allusions, we can rule out links with any form of 'brass tax'. There have been taxes on brass at various times, but no one can find any connection with this phrase. 'Getting down to brass tax' appears to be just a misspelling. The expression is also often said to be an example ofcockney rhyming slang, meaning 'facts'. In the strange world of Cockney argot, 'tacks' does indeed rhyme with 'facts' (facks), but that's as far as it goes. Rhyming slang coinages from the 19th century are limited to the UK and Australia. The apparent US origin of the phrase discounts the rhyming slang origin.
For my money, the 'fabric measuring' derivation is the strongest candidate but, given no smoking gun, we await further evidence.
The prayer candleS will be lit while i am Home for those in need!
Have a GREAT day!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Flo, Coffee to go pleases.
Getting ready to get ready for work. Have to be there at 7:00 AM and not sure what the traffic will be like. Sitting here wondering what today will bring as I sip my coffee.
Not sure what time I get off tonight, hope it is around 4:00 or so.
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Good Morning!!!
Hm, guess my cookie expired. Had to log in.
Coffee and one of them rolls please. No not cinnamon. Those one kind. No, not caramel. Well, they do have cinnamon and caramel….I think. Maybe not caramel. It’s been a loooong time since I had one. I know they had sugar on them and it would have been put on prior to baking. I know Zoe, I know. Just do the best you can and if it’s wrong, I know it’ll still be good whatever you come up with. Thanks.
Sunny, with a high near 44. Currently, at least as I’m typing thi…oh, piece of candy. Right now it’s 27°F
Jeff- I’m kinda morbidly curious. Does your custom shoe hold your foot in a normal position? Or does it just hold, or I guess try to hold, your leg bone from trying to act like a peg leg. I can’t picture how it works. Or is it when you don’t wear the shoes the problem with your (gulp) leg bone pushing through happens. Um….no pictures please.
Dennis- None of us w**k as fast as we used too. At least I know I don’t. I I hear ya on letting the pros lay the carpet. Me too. I don’t have the equipment and renting them almost is what it would be for the pros to lay it. Besides, I’m not sure my knees could take the hits no matter how much padding is on those stretchers.
Oh I suppose no bigger than the rooms are, they’d be ok. But again, it’s still cheaper or at least not worth the savings to let the pros do it. Besides, THEY can get rid of the old stuff this time. What I’m waiting on is Brenda to decide what type flooring for her room (the third bedroom). Then we’ll do the Master and that room at the same time if she wants carpet. Like I said, she has changed her mind twice now.
Brass Tacks. Hm. I always thought when discussing something, or bargaining and you said “let’s get down to the brass tacks”, you meant like “let’s cut to the chase”, or down to the nitty gritty”, “let’s get to the meat and potatoes of it”, get to the important stuff. And when brass tacks where used they were the most expensive, therefore the most desired for purchase over steel. Or that they used brass for things where common steel tacks wouldn’t suffice and therefore they saw brass tacks as having a more important use. So like, when you go to an auction or a sale for a model railroader and you’re looking for loco’s but they are going through all the other penny ante stuff, you say….”let’s skip all this stuff and get down to the loco’s”. Could be just that they said brass tacks instead of steel nails just because that’s the way it came out and had no real bearing on the material. Or it could be that the person that coined the phrase was involved in something where brass tacks were used in the first layer of construction of something and as they removed it during repair or demo, they knew they were at the end when they got to the brass tacks. Like down to the roots. Like the foundation, like….I know Zoe…just seein how long it’d take before someone said something .
Speaking of Golden Corral and Vets eat free. Last year Brenda and I decided, why not. Well let me tell you why not…my gosh there were sooooo many people there and the line wrapped around half the parking lot. Well, half one side but still. They had to have run out of food. HAD to have.mI'd a taken til they closed to get in the door. Still, very nice of GC to do that. (tips hat)
Got the bathrooms cleaned yesterday and the bedroom. Today I’ll tackle the dining room and start on the living room. Yes like I said, we have crrrrrrap everywhere.
Ya’ll have a good day, ya hear!!!!
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.
TMarshJeff- I’m kinda morbidly curious. Does your custom shoe hold your foot in a normal position? Or does it just hold, or I guess try to hold, your leg bone from trying to act like a peg leg. I can’t picture how it works. Or is it when you don’t wear the shoes the problem with your (gulp) leg bone pushing through happens. Um….no pictures please.
You asked.
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
TMarsh Jeff- I’m kinda morbidly curious. Does your custom shoe hold your foot in a normal position? Or does it just hold, or I guess try to hold, your leg bone from trying to act like a peg leg. I can’t picture how it works. Or is it when you don’t wear the shoes the problem with your (gulp) leg bone pushing through happens. Um….no pictures please.
REAL TRUE morbid curiousity, dear TODD, WOULD include pictures!!!!
Jeffrey- when you get to try out those new units, please let me know how they work for ya. SHould they not work so well, there are a few more more expensive types that should work if the ones i sent fail or don't seem quite up to the job at hand.
I Have to go to the Cadiologist today. I am a "light" cardio case, but need to been seen each year to maintain the 2 meds I take to keep the old ticker {supposedly, mostly} beating correctly! AS long as it does beat regularly I am happy. It is when it spasms, acts up and mis-fires that I feel like I am goona pass out and die. Anyone had the injection instead of the treadmill for "stressing the heart" for the stress tests? it feelis like THAT when it acts up. None too pleasant I tell ya.
Then what else I gotta do? things and stuff, and stuff and things.Soon i'll be stuffing a TURKEY. Probably get a bill or two in the mail today, due for them to come.Have some money to pay them.
Well, best get to the shower and get dressed...
Have a great Day!
The Prayer Candles will be lit when I return home for those in need!
That's kinda what I thought Jeff. I didn't really think you could just move your foot down in a close to normal position based on my interpretation of the links you've posted in the past about the situation. But at the same time I couldn't figure how your boot would hold everything the way it does with your foot literally sideways. I think I'll just leave it at this and call it good. Some may not appreciate the description. Besides, some things are just better left alone.
Like that Kleenex at the bottom of a woman's purse after she's blown her nose and you reach in there to get something and unknowingly get a hold of that. Then you fingers break into the wet Kleenex before you know what it is and gooshy.....oh. Let's just say that's one reason why I don't get into a womans purse.
G- That's why I said kinda.
Ugh! Well that got me TOP. Order up.
Good morning, Diners. I will have my quick coffee before heading to the pool.
I got a few more boards on my car shop. The sides are assembled and ready to paint. I am scratching my head on how to proceed with the roof though. Should I attach it after I paint. I am thinking about warping. I was going to use plywood for the roof. Problem: that means a trip to the hobby store. We have too many buildings with Paper Creek shingles. I am not sure what type of roof to put on a NP car shop. Any suggestions?
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Yaaawn!
I just woke up from a little midday nap. Still a little drowsy...
Janie, coffee, please. This is the time of the year, when nice smells fill the kitchen and the local bakery has a queue of customers, waiting to buy all these goodies. Not even 6 weeks till Christmas!
Petra has made one of those
for me to take along to the Dine and share it with you! Help yourself, folks and enjoy the smell and the taste of "Christstollen".
Jeff, Barry or one of the monitors: ... There is a glitch in this system needing immediate attention.
As I open the Model Railroader forum, the green panel in the upper left says "Welcome back, (member name)", and it says the name of another member (not me)...... If I click on "update your account", I see a page with personal information for this individual. It includes account information such as how much he paid for subscriptions. Steet address and email address are there. I quickly left that page and can not recall any of it. ........ I have noticed this happening if I had logged out of the system after a previous session in the forum. When I come back to the forum, it happens again with another name. The names may be random.
Ulrich .... Yum! Thank Petra. .
Barry! ..... Hey! ....... Darn. ... I'm too late ...... Barry just ate the whole strudel.
Well, well, well .... Oatmeal and OJ for me, please.
Heartland Division CB&Q Jeff, Barry or one of the monitors: ... There is a glitch in this system needing immediate attention. As I open the Model Railroader forum, the green panel in the upper left says "Welcome back, (member name)", and it says the name of another member (not me)...... If I click on "update your account", I see a page with personal information for this individual. It includes account information such as how much he paid for subscriptions. Steet address and email address are there. I quickly left that page and can not recall any of it. ........ I have noticed this happening if I had logged out of the system after a previous session in the forum. When I come back to the forum, it happens again with another name. The names may be random.
Garry - I have just sent an email to Wade at Kalmbach to check on this.
Edit: It´s not a Strudel, it is a "Stollen". The difference? Hardly any, but Strudel is eaten hot.
Heartland Division CB&QAs I open the Model Railroader forum, the green panel in the upper left says "Welcome back, (member name)", and it says the name of another member (not me)...... If I click on "update your account", I see a page with personal information for this individual. It includes account information such as how much he paid for subscriptions. Steet address and email address are there. I quickly left that page and can not recall any of it.
*
Good morning. It's 41° with 74% humidity and a northwest breeze of 5 to 10 mph making it feel even colder. It'll be sunny with a high of 62°.No plans for today. I'll probably watch more movies in between doing whatever is required of me online.
ULRICH- We always buy Stollen for CHristmas here, at least one for MIL and one for us. A tastey tidbit for us and it gives MOH fondling memories of Christmases past... BUT this year we may forgo it. I saw the usual suspect {Kuchenmeister} and was shocked to see it at $9.00! {usually $4.99 or $5 even}.
MOH was shocked when I stated the price on it too!!! Maybe this year will be the first time we have no Stollen!!! {though I am sure the FIL will buy one for MIL or instruct us to buy one for her- and I will have to sing "o, tannenbaum" to her for CHristmas...about the most german I know!}.
Well gonna be offthe brandy-spanking new offices of the Cardiologist soon....brandy-spanking new building just opened so I will have to go early to find my way to their offices!!!
Best get out and start the vehicle to war it up adn clear the frost off the windshiled.
Later dudes!
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, I see that Barry ate the whole Strudel, so I'll just have a couple slices of the Stollen w/ fresh churned butter, and my usual dark roast coffee in an R&GV RR Museum mug. Please and Thank You!
Blood sugar was 120 this morning, and I have no idea why it is that high. May be that I have a cold I guess.
Todd, yes! I don't think we really need a description with 8 x 10 color glossies, with circles an arrows to be used in an operating room......
Ulrich, mien Deutsch ist nicht so gut... I get by! (With a little help from Google Translate my friend.)
Rather cool outside here in the Finger Lakes today. 37°F with a west wind around 8 mph and no sunshine. That is what the weather people call partly these days... Guess I will go light the wood stove.
Catch up to you all later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Good Morning All!Not much to report from the land of chilled Buckeyes other then its suppose to be 37 degrees today..Modeling news.I'm still working on the back burner projects and on the RIP track is a Athearn GP7.I basically cleaning,oiling,painting the metal piece on the side of the gear box and painting the wheel face.Every time I think about retiring my BB locomotive fleet(except SW7 my SW1000,SW1500s) I decide to use 'em at the club.I shall have a cup and look over da forum.Have a good'un!
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Galaxy - Christstollen sells for anything between $ 4 to $ 40 over here. I have never tasted any of the latter price. We usually buy our Stollen at the local Lidl supermarket at $ 5. Petra is already building up stocks of the typical Christmas sweets, as they sell out rapidly.
Making Stollen is a lot of work and a costly affair, that´s why most people just buy it. Once in while Petra makes it, but not every year.
CNCharlieCDN Dennis, I recognize the location of that railcar photo. It is in the yard of the GWWDRR, the Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway. It is a short line owned by the city that was built to costruct the viaduct from Shoal Lake to Winnipeg, about 100 miles or so in about 1912. The museum is actually at the Union Station.
CN Charlie, thanks for the history lesson. I had no idea about the GWWDRR history. Thanks Professor.
CDN Dennis
Modeling the HO scale something or other RR in the shadow of the Canadian Rockies Alberta, Canada
Morning All,
I know it has been some time, (several weeks) since I stopped in, but it has been a real roller coaster ride with my wife. This Thursday she will be in the hospital for 12 weeks. Tomorrow, we should know if all the drugs,and chemo are doing what we all hope they are supposed to do. If not, then it will be time to make some very tough decisions. Several times these past few weeks she has said she is just too tired to fight anymore. So tomorrow will be a big day for us.
I hope to check in with good news tomorrow or Thursday.
Prayers to everyone else that needs them.
Paul
Living in Fernley Nevada, about 30 miles east of Reno, also lived in Oregon and California, but born In Brooklyn NY and raised on Long Island NY
Coffee time Flo... been busy chasing the vacuum around the house for MOH. Don't know how that got to be my job but it seems like it has.
Wow, would you look at the cup you gave me Flo. Thanks, I'll try not to break it with my clumsy old hand here
Soon as I'm finished here, I have to slide over to my Old Friends and see if he's ok. Visit for an hour or so and then it's time to sort out the junk in the layout room. How is it that if we don't know where to put something, it goes in the layout room. I'm as bad as my wife for that too.
Got to run one and all, thanks for the coffee Flo. Probably be back later this evening.
This weekend I smelled something musky, like wet dog or an old wet towel so I went on a cleaning rampage in my house. I replaced the shower curtain and the rug in the bathroom. I washed all my coats and all the blankets in the living room. The smell was still there so I started cleaning the carpets and hardwood floors. The dog was next and after I gave her a bath I checked the furnace filter and vents for the offensive odor. After I cleaned everything I could clean I bought incense and lit all the fancy smancy candles I had. Still the odor persisted. I decided to empty the dishwasher, something I had been putting off since Friday and there it was….. in the cupboard with the drinking glasses; a half gallon of milk had been sitting in my cupboard since Friday morning. Dorothy gave the cat a dish of milk before she left the house for work and in her haste she had inadvertently put the milk in the cupboard. It really wasn’t milk, it was more like cheese. I tipped the milk jug to pour the spoiled milk down the drain but it slid like a block of cheese so I pitched the whole thing….
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
Afternoon folks!
Chloe, a cup of hot chocolate would be great right now.
Lee, making Yogurt I see... When I was a kid on the farm, if a cow got mastitis, my dad would milk that quarter off separately and then dump the infected milk into an old milk can out behind the milking parlor. Why he didn't just dump it I don't know. But after a few months when the can was full of this infected solid gunk, guess who (me) got to take the can away and dump it out... Then I got the privilege of scrubbing the can out by hand! I can't stand the thought of eating yogurt to this day... YUCH! I always loved the scene in Grumpy Old Men where Walter Matthau, having been told to dump the spoiled milk in the refrigerator, takes the milk, opens it, smells it, and then shrugs his shoulders saying, "Smells OK". Then dumps the solid gunky yogurt down the drain...
Not having much success getting down to the train room yet... Been doing some of the required legal stuff for the MLK Scholarship fund to be placed in a Community Endowment Trust. That will give us 501c3 designation for the fund and allow donors to be able to deduct contributions on their taxes. Somehow it is "Tag You're It" for me to get all this done. I have also been on the phone trying to set up a short meeting with the new School Superintendent to talk over the relationship between the MLK Committee and the schools for some projects each year.
Catch you all later!
Hey guys. Been out for a few because I couldn't log into this site for "scheduled maitenence".
On the subject of trains, I'm trying to get rid of some of my cars and engines that don't really belong. I've made another 4 F-unit tanks today, bringing my total up to 6. So I'm about halfway there on tanks. I've also glued the cracks on the last few units I stripped. I still have 3 more shells yet to strip but I think I'm going to try swapping some of these for some actual F7 shells. The shells in question are a DRGW F9B, an SP black widow F7A, and an SP black widow F3B. I intend to keep the SP F7A, but I want some more F7Bs because I have quite a few F9Bs already being built.
Something intresting happened around here the other day. I found a HUGE rat in the shed. Head to tail this thing had to be at least a foot long. Moved some stuff around and it scurried to the door, only to be caught by Delilah (the german shepard puppy), who chewed on it a little. Somehow she dropped it and it ran back into the shed. She ran around the back of the shed and started circling it trying to find it, the whole time I was telling her it's inside. (I swear, this dog is about as dumb as the rocks she chews on; yes she chews on rocks). My 13 year-old soup hound (border collie, sharpie, chow, and golden lab mix) Abby came into the shed and grabbed the rat. She shook it violently and then dropped it. The rat tried to limp away, but then she got a hold of it and did the same thing. Now the rat was upside down twiching. I put it out of it's misery with a sledgehammer to the head (because the sledgehammer was next to me in the shed). It gets kind of funny because when I tried to scoop it up with the shovel, Delilah picked it up and started walking around with it. She set it down, and she did the same thing again when I tried to scoop it. At this point I grabbed some gloves and just grabbed in and threw it in the trash. She'd probably dig it back up if I buried it.
Ken, check PMs.
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
my BN GP15-1 came it looks amazing, also pre ordered myself an Atlas Dash8-32bwh but I've been playing Halo 4 on legendary(the hardest dificulty) and I'm having issues with one enemy grrrr...
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
Howdy ....
Paul ..... Continuing to pray for your wife's recovery from her illness ...
Layout progress today is not exciting. I'm sifting through an accumuylation of stuff to make space for the next section of my layout.
I looked outside and this is what I saw. ... Hundreds of white pelicans were in our bay.
Evening Folks
Flo, why all the barf bags, on wait never mind. Between Todd asking about Jeffery foot (I all ready knew), Lee making Yogurt, Rays farm story then Vince's Rat store, I understand!
So I will take a Barf Bag and a 6 Pack to go! Before I blow chunks!
See you all Wednesday!
Ken