Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, I will have the #2 special, over easy on the eggs, bacon, home fries, and a double order of sourdough toast this fine morning. Oh, and a cup of the dark roast coffee in my FGLK Mug if you would please.
I have been sitting here for a while watching the frost melt off the roofs around the neighborhood. Easy to see which ones could use a bit of insulation added.... There are 2 National Homes across the street and by the time I got up the only frost left was the lines right above the 2 x 4s under the roof. Most of the others will start with a few small areas where there is a leak of hot air rising to the roof and spread outward from there. I have a couple of those spots on my roof as well, but all told the attic is very well insulated. I have also been fully enjoying the fact that the blasted Maple trees nearby have finally decide to drop leaves this morning. There is now breeze outside, but there is a steady drop of leaves coming down! YES!
I have to be at an appointment at a local bank early this afternoon to see about the MLK going under the umbrella of a non-profit group set up by a local group which would give us 501c3 status. That would be a major boost to getting funding for our scholarship program. Then this evening I was supposed to be at the rechartering extravaganza for the local Boy Scout Council. My units leadership can't be there due to w*rk schedule so I guess I don't have to show up. May actually get a bit of model railroad time therefore!
Hope you all have a safe and productive day!
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. Well, the election is finally over here. Of the votes I cast for President, Vice President, Governor, Senator, and Congressman, I went 1-for-5. Still, what a joy it is to have the right to go vote. Maybe it sounds hokey, but I'm proud to have voted.
Meanwhile, I've been compelled to try to sell a chunk of my locomotive fleet and other MR sundries just to make the next round of property taxes. Not much success so far.
Enjoy the day.
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Amen Brother! The hoopla is finally over and I am looking forward to peace and quiet. The robo calls have stopped. The familiar old viagra ads are now back on TV instead of the political B.S. we have been spoon fed for the last 2 months. Thank goodness there is MR to take the load off, on occasion.
Richard
If I can't fix it, I can fix it so it can't be fixed
Jim, what scale are you selling?
Galaxy, where are you? We had city ordinances passed 5 years ago requiring everyone to cut their grass and it really helped to eliminate all the skunks, possums, coyote, and raccoon issues we were experiencing but now with all the vacant foreclosed homes the wildlife is coming back.
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
Late Morning Folks!
Flo, Diet Dew Pleases.
Got a few things done this morning as far as setting up medical appointments.
All so set up a job interview for this Friday, it is for a Nissan Dealership as a services adviser. After working where I have been working for a year now, if a customer complains that the dealership prices are to high I can look at them with confidantes and explain they are OEM parts, not cheap parts that are marked up to OEM prices! Plus, they will not be paying us to guess at what is wrong with there car, like where I work now!
Best part if I get the job? I will still be working in Illinois! I was afraid it was going to be in St Louis.
I best get going, I have that darn 1:00 meeting in St Louis!
Ken
I hate Rust
LSWrr Jim, what scale are you selling? Galaxy, where are you? We had city ordinances passed 5 years ago requiring everyone to cut their grass and it really helped to eliminate all the skunks, possums, coyote, and raccoon issues we were experiencing but now with all the vacant foreclosed homes the wildlife is coming back.
Lee, here are some listings, I could lsit more, but I won;t bore anyone:
NOTE: all houses here are UNDER $50k asking price:
-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.
LSWrrJim, what scale are you selling?
HO
Good Evening
We had all day sun!!! Yes we did!! An amazing feat happened here!!!
And because of that I did a few things outside with the neighbour clearing out our eavestrough from the lovely Maple trees growing on it....
Then spent the last little while exercising and icing the ankle..it does feel a bit better now....
Galaxy: Around here the property taxes are assessed by something called the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. This is supposedly an arm's length crown corporation that 'independantly' assesses property values here...and, most assuredly, any improvements done does kick up the property assessment...hence more property taxes...my taxes last year amounted to about $6,000 all told...
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/
Went down to my parents place this morning to keep an eye on my mother while my father was out running errands. When he came back we had pizza for lunch then I helped him set a couple of floor beams in what will be his new office. It's a screened in porch right now. He's having the screens taken out and the walls rebuilt with windows. The porch floor is too low. It has to come up 4.7 inches, so that's why the beams are being put in. They'll be topped with plywood then a laminate floor laid over that.
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
blownout cylinder Galaxy: Around here the property taxes are assessed by something called the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. This is supposedly an arm's length crown corporation that 'independantly' assesses property values here...and, most assuredly, any improvements done does kick up the property assessment...hence more property taxes...my taxes last year amounted to about $6,000 all told...
But, what is the value of your house? Is it $50k or less??? I'll bet your house is worth more !
The houses I mentioned are all below $50k asking.
To pay taxes that are about 8% of your house's asking price in annual taxes are a bit high. That is ASSUMING tiy get your asking price and not 5-10% BELOW it!
NY is noted, like californy, to have high taxes on property,
We won't be buying a house in THAT town, but others around here are catching up. We'd like to find a house out in the country a ways,, but not too far out! That IS assuming we can ever afford a house!
Well, Have a great night everyone!
Evening Folks
Flo, Beer Pleases!
Thank goodness the Election is over! I hate to say it, I did not vote this year. I live in Illinois, if what his faces did not carry Illinois,he was not going to win. That is all I ma going to say about that so Galaxy does not read me the riot act.
Went to the meeting today on my day off! Did learn somethings about TPM's systems. (I still hate them) TPM's is short for Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems.
Hum, Monon Stuff For Sale! Ken Loves Monon!
I open, so time to head out.
Good evening y'all!
Would have been here sooner,,,but UPS left a new camera on the porch!! And no, I didn't have to buy a car to get it, just had to complete 18 tests in 2 years and keep the dealers CSI were it was (and still is). Been busy reading the manual, all 3 languages !! Hope to go railfanning this weekend, we'll see how good it is then!
Also got a new body shell from Bachmann in the mail. It gets put on a good running B23-7 mechanism I have. Eventually it goes to the grandsons for their own layout.
Politics? From the Greek term poly, meaning many and tics, meaning blood sucking pests.....that's all I got to say about that!
Taxes? Galaxy, your making me feel better abut my tax bill. Its about 2300 per year on a 220,000 accessed value. Of course were not in town, on well water, no street lights or sidewalks or storm drains, but heck,,,,it'll do.
Ken. Good luck with the interview on Friday. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!
L8ter gators,,,,,,,stuff to do!!!
Karl
NCE über alles!
53 here. It's going to be 42 tonight. Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow
Good Morning! from Tipton IN.
It's Thursday, November 8, 2012
TIPTON
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
galaxy blownout cylinder Galaxy: Around here the property taxes are assessed by something called the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. This is supposedly an arm's length crown corporation that 'independantly' assesses property values here...and, most assuredly, any improvements done does kick up the property assessment...hence more property taxes...my taxes last year amounted to about $6,000 all told... But, what is the value of your house? Is it $50k or less??? I'll bet your house is worth more ! The houses I mentioned are all below %50k asking. To pay taxes that are about 8% of your house's asking price in annual taxes are a bit high. That is ASSUMING tiy get your asking price and not 5-10% BELOW it! NY is noted, like californy, to have high taxes on property, We won't be buying a house in THAT town, but others around here are catching up. We'd like to find a house out in the country a ways,, but not too far out! That IS assuming we can ever afford a house! Well, Have a great night everyone!
The houses I mentioned are all below %50k asking.
Is that the average rate on the property tax there ? To have 8% here would put mine at...oh...a little over $20,000.........we still use a mill rate here...
Good Morning...
Everything is still here...excepting me...who is up at weird hours of the day...again.
BUT...it is going to be sunny again!! 2 days in a row for sun!! YAY!!
Anyhow..off to check what is up here....
Gee, what else are we to do in this place called Georgia??? Is our host gonna show us around more?
GOOD MORNING!!!
Sometimes, we have {or wish we had} the "upper hand", SO:
Meaning: Take a dominant position
Origin:
Various suggestions have been made as to the origin of 'get the upper hand' (or 'take the upper hand'). Prominent amongst those is that the phrase originated in American playgrounds, in the way that children select sides for impromptu baseball games. The method is for one team captain to grab the bat at the bottom, then the other captain takes hold above the first's hand and they progress hand over hand along the bat until the top is reached - the one left holding the bat having the 'upper hand' and getting first choice of player for their team.
A second theory is that the person whose hand is uppermost when a couple hold hands literally 'takes the upper hand' and is the dominant partner. Thomas Macaulay's History of England, 1848, contains this text:
Then several meetings were spent in settling how many carriages, how many horses, how many lacqueys, how many pages, each minister should be entitled to bring to Ryswick; whether the serving men should carry canes; whether they should wear swords; whether they should have pistols in their holsters; who should take the upper hand in the public walks, and whose carriage should break the way in the streets."
It would be incorrect to assume that 'upper hand' was coined as a direct and literal reference to hands, and that isn't what Macaulay was referring to. The earliest citations of the phrase, which predate the above by some centuries, put the emphasis on 'upper' rather than 'hand' and they indicate that 'upper hand' simply meant 'above', either higher in social status or physically above. 'Hand' was a synonym for possession, as in 'in hand', 'hand over' etc. The Romans used the Latin word 'manus', which translates into English as 'hand' to denote the power a husband had over his wife.
The first example of 'upper hand' that I have found in print supports that interpretation of the phrase. This is from The English And Scottish Popular Ballads, collected by Francis Child and published by him in 1882. The ballad in question is Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard, which Child believed to have originated around 1600:
"A grave, a grave," Lord Barnard cryd, " ‘To put these lovers in; But lay my lady on the upper hand, For she came of the better kin."
Good Morning all,
Jim can you email me a list of what you have for sale?
Galaxy, I see that’s just outside of my AOR, I just wrote a permit for the bridge in Ithaca, NY last month. That last school levy will cost me an additional $300/year so I’m slowly catching up with your neighborhood.
Karl, if possible to get out from under this house I intend to move out of Cuyahoga County and into Lake or Geauga County in the near future. Well water and a septic tank would be fine with me since if it needs repairs or upgrading I’ll know exactly where the money is going.
Good Morning!!!
Coffee please. No thank you, I’ve already eaten this morning.
Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 54
Well, I guess I don’t feel too awful bad on the tax front . $4,100 on $188,500 “Fair Market Value” at a 7.2% rate. Fair Market Value. They raise my assessment again, I’m gonna march right up to the county courthouse and say SOLD!!!! To the highest bidder and that be YOU! Good thing about the remodel was what we did required no building permits so the county/township is oblivious to what we’ve done. Still wouldn’t make this a $190,000 house, but if they knew they’d probably shoot us to 210 – 220 for no reason othern the old “well updating the kitchen adds about X percent to the value, and the bathrooms X percent, flooring etc etc etc”. What they refuse to admit is that after a certain age, the kitchen and bathrooms without updating REDUCE the price as much. So, an update such as we...er.., I did, has actually raised the value of our home yes, but only in relation to it’s actual value before, NOT the assessed value which is assumed to be an up to date home in good repair. After all is done here, we miiiight, just might, be in the neighborhood of $180 asking. Maybe. Realistically, probably $170ish. But tell them that.
Shower from…...that one place. Door’s installed. Yup. Went off well and it fit perfect. Wife is very pleased. All left to do is hook drain up (today) and fix old wallboard where the "pro’s" boogered to get the wall to match the old shower unit. Will also start that, if not finish today before w**k. At that point it will be wait until Sunday for it’s Christening. Think I’ll use a new bar of soap just for the occasion. Of course that will also require the replacement of one floor tile that had to be angle cut to make for the angled wall that is no longer angled and will now not run quite under the trim.
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.
Bah Humbug on modern technology... On Tuesday the 22" television we have sitting on the kitchen table went belly up. That ticked me off because it was only 4 years old. So yesterday we went out and got another one. Now I'm old enough (72) to remember when you took a new TV out of the box, plugged it in, and then watched it. Simplicity has now been removed from the equation. Page after page after page of directions on how to set up and use your new TV. Except I didn't know what the h**l they were talking about half the time. Followed the directions at least 3 times and nothing. As I was about to rebox everything and return it, all of a sudden, success. The wife asked "What did you do?" "How do I know." I replied. All this setup was done with a remote that came with the TV. Why, because there are no buttons on the TV. Now full panic sets in because the wife can't see the little buttons on the remote so we have one with extra large buttons. Oh no I thought. How am I going to get her remote to work with the new TV. I remember I had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get it to operate the old TV. But at last the gods took pity. Picked up her old remote and it worked flawlessly. I'm then thinking that was way too easy so I spent the rest of the day and evening waiting for the other shoe to drop. I told her if anything happens to this TV she can listen to the radio. Wait a minute, now I remember the new clock radio which we bought about 6 months ago that keeps going off in the middle of the night and never at the time I want it to. Tom
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Zoe, I'll have a nice bowl of hot oatmeal w/ brown sugar to start the day. Oh, yes, I do need a cup of dark roast coffee. Maybe 2 or 3...
Tom, I hear you on the electronics being way to complicated. I have the last of the old style coffee pots that you simply plug in and turn the switch and it makes great coffee. The next one I will have to rewire I guess to get it so it is easy to use and doesn't need a degree in Cloud Programing or whatever it is today, to be able to just make a good cup of coffee. Your post reminds me of the time I told my Mother to call me on my cell phone. She said she can't because she doesn't have one. I told her to just use her phone... After several exchanges with her still not understanding what I was talking about, she picks up the remote for her TV (which she had no idea how to use, so she just watched the only one she could get turning the dial on the TV), looked at it and tried to call me using it....
The sun is shining! OK, that's over for now...
Have a bunch of non-RR stuff I need to do today. My son will be stopping by soon with granddaughter #2 to follow me as I attempt to safely move the truck to the dealership to have the brakes repaired... I will be driving with the flashers on and stay on the side of the road where possible. At least the emergency brake still w*rks. (I hope)
Started last night adding a bit more of the benchwork needed to finish the return loop (where the Mountain scene is) and adding more scenery right along the tracks against the wall. Little by little...
Later!
Good morning. It's 58° with 47% humidity. That's low here. It'll be sunny with a high of 72°.Had breakfast with my father this morning. Eggs, baco, biscuits and gravy. Then I went out to the machine shop and put a good blade on his homemade table saw. He had to take my mother to the hospital this morning for lab work so that's his morning shot. Later we may be ripping some more boards for his office project.I have nothing scheduled for today. I'm trying to get as much rest as possible. Yes, to you younger physically fit types that's sitting/laying around being lazy. A complete 180° change from my younger days when I couldn't stand to be still for more than a couple of minutes. Boy, if I knew then what I know now! Hindsight is 20/20 and in my case it's in for close examination for crystal clarity.Hopefully today will be an easy day.
Todd, the last time I installed kitchen cabinets for a friend I told his wife to plan a 2” dead space between the end wall and the first cabinet and order the 2” blank to match the cabinets when she ordered the cabinets. I used the 2” strip to make the plumb cabinets fit against the 45 year old crooked wall. I do the same thing with shower/tub enclosures, 1/2” on either side if possible.
Good Evening from the other side of the Big Pond!
It´s been an unpleasant and slow day at this end. Lots of and , but surprisingly warm for this time of the year. i guess it´s the remnants of Sandy taking care of our weather.
Flo, a mug of hot chocolate, please - I need something to brighten up.
Just got the word that my sister suffered a stroke, leaving the left side paralyzed. She is off the ICU into regular care, so there seems to be no immediate danger for her life. I am grateful that there are folks taking care of her. She lives in Munich, so we can´t go there and be with her. We have to wait and see how she develops, she might have to go into assisted living. She´s only 60 ...
No MRRing in the next days. My plans are final and I don´t dare to touch them - things can turn only worse at this stage. I am waiting for a kit to arrive, I was hoping to have it by now.
Tom - I hear you what you say about those supposedly plug & p(r)lay gadgets. Took me 4 hours to get my TV set up and running and this one is without bells and whistles!
Property tax: We have that in Germany, too, but it is a completely different beast. Whenever a house is build, there is a tax assessment, based on a theoretical (1914 (!) value. The tax is a percentage of that value. The tax does not change at all, unless the percentage is changed. State of repair/maintenance of the property is not considered. The property tax on my house was $ 250 a year on a $ 1,000,000 market value. Aren´t we lucky? Well, Since I don´t have a house, I don´t have to pay property taxes...
Have a good one!
V8Vega One of the reasons for this post is I enjoy reading about property taxes and weather all over but it would be much more benifical if I knew where you are. Mine and others is in my signature. My tax is $2,744 on a assessed value of $212,176. We have propisition 13 which passed in 78 which keeps property taxes low and the party in power here has complained bitterly since then. It takes a 2/3 vote to raise any taxes here and last Tue. they got a 2/3 majority in one party so they can raise taxes unrestrained, no checks at all, so I am very fearful of the future. The election, both state and federal coulden't have gone worse for me, so much so I was depressed all day yesterday and only a little better today.
One of the reasons for this post is I enjoy reading about property taxes and weather all over but it would be much more benifical if I knew where you are. Mine and others is in my signature.
My tax is $2,744 on a assessed value of $212,176. We have propisition 13 which passed in 78 which keeps property taxes low and the party in power here has complained bitterly since then. It takes a 2/3 vote to raise any taxes here and last Tue. they got a 2/3 majority in one party so they can raise taxes unrestrained, no checks at all, so I am very fearful of the future. The election, both state and federal coulden't have gone worse for me, so much so I was depressed all day yesterday and only a little better today.
Hey guys
Busy day today, worked, then went to the garage to modify some stuff on my car. Changed the wheels and tires because my current ones were worn.
I finally got to check up how the new way I intend to do the F-unit tanks works:
if your wondering what the stray white line is, it's where my jig broke. I rebuilt it and have cut a few more tanks. Just have to glue in the styrene bits to shape it out.
The "cut" tank compared to an "uncut" tank:
Figure later this week I clean up the rest of the noses of the other Fs and start cutting skirts on units who get them. Maybe get a few in base primer and add the DW stuff to them.
Tax talk: IDK what mine is, but it's too high. lol
I'll check back in later.
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.
Hi, Diners!
Nice day today, 48f and sunny.
I love living in "the sticks". Just under 300k with 5 acres, my taxes are 2400/yr. Lee, I HIGHLY recommend the country. Well water's the tastiest, wildlife abounds (whitetails, bear,coyote, wolf ,fox etc.) nearest neighbor is about a half mile.Only gunshots I hear are around this time of year, guys sighting in for deer season. Or plinkin' cans. Sirens are BIG news. Usually an accident involving tourists or an older resident passing on. Still, pretty rare to hear them. I don't lock the vehicles. Or the house. Not sure where the key is anyway. The dogs are our security system.
Still need to order another two 100 count bulk packs of IM wheels to finish the fleet changeover. that'll give me about 15 cars extra, but the local train show is in a month or so. There'll be a few cars I'll need at that!!
Prayers for those that need'm!
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
Evening Dinners!
Flo, Beer pleases!
Long Boring Work Front! Seems I am the next Dead Man Walking at work. Next week again I only have 28 hours! Oh well, I hate working there so maybe it shows. I do not have the best Poker Faces.
Had more to say, but sent a pretty long PM to Monon Guy, my friend Jim so I am pretty much typed out!
Trains are running well, I have so life is not all bad!
Just hope the interview goes great Friday and a dealership has some morals! Unlike the POS company I work for now!
Later, Ken
Lemme try that again. photobucket changed since I was last there.
F units passing through Rice Lake.( for Garry!)
Good evening ....
We returned from MI. Before the trip. we did the early voting thing, and it was easy to do. If you care to have my political opinions, please send me a message. In general, I can say there are a lot of misconceptions on economic issues and voters are making choices which reflect their ignorance regarding such things. It is challenging for people to learn from history because the history is being revised into fiction too often for politcal reasons. Enough said.
Vincent ... You are doing great with the F-unit fuel tanks. Of course, most models og F-units have the skirts on them. I have a Proto 2000 set of F7's without the skirts, and the fuel tanks look similar to your F-unit model. .
Ulrich ..... I'm very sad to learn your sister had a stroke. Prayers for her and for you, too.
Tom in PA .... I know what you mean about technology. It was okay for a while when "user friendly" was popular.
Speaking of technology, this DCC stuff can be overwhelming. My learning curve seems to be flat lining at times.
Cheers everybody.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Yay!! I'm not so dumb after all!