ELLIOT'S TRACKSIDE DINER, JULY 2013!

[AmanaMedic]

Gooooooooooooooooooooood afternoon everybody,

Figured I'd best poke my head in the door and say "hello," so...hello. 

I've been making some progress in the RR room as the w**k load has eased up a bit. However the busiest part of the busiest month (July) starts this weekend with Beef Days and continues next week with the County Fair and State (high school) Softball Tournament. Concurrent with State Softball is baseball Sub-State games leading to the State Baseball Tournament the week after.

Oh, and Sliced Bread won't be around for any of it...

This photo shows the "new" sky with Elevator G temporarily sitting in the CCP yard.

Research for the future IC/ICG/CCP freight station and turntable. The structure will be "cropped" to fit with a blank, black back wall.

Another view showing off the sky and lack of CNW "graphic element" stripes.

For reference, here's how THAT corner used to look.

Have a good, safe rest of the day,

Chris (in Iowa) 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

pascaff*

   Jeff - Good luck on the dr. visit, I hate those consultation visits.

I just found out this morning. It will be a consultation visit! Another waste of time.

[pascaff*]

  Morning All,

    Currently it is 59 with an expected high of 93.

    Busy day off for me here. Need to do some grocery shopping and laundry. Then make a few phone calls to check on how much my health insurance will pay for my cataract surgery. Call my cardiologist and make an appointment for sometime in August. Then head into Carson City to visit Hobby Town for some Tenax 7R glue and some styrene. Then one of my daughters wants to take me to see the "Lone Ranger", we do not have high expectations for this movie, but spending time with one of my girls in AC that someone else is paying for  is OK with me.

   Jeff - Good luck on the dr. visit, I hate those consultation visits.

   Ken - Glad you stopped by. good luck with the new job.

  Prayers to all in need.

    Paul

EDIT: I got top, so eat up, it is on me today.

[ONR FAN]

Its very hot in Southern Ontario.  My office lost its air conditioning yesterday and it was a very uncomfortable day for everyone.  It has been fixed so its business as usual.  I can't imagine the people who work outside are enjoying the heat.  Not a lot has been going on with my layout.  I'm waiting for some flex track, turnouts and buildings to arrive so I can continue.  So far my son and I are really enjoying it and I'm very happy I decided to join the hobby.  Its great to come home and head into the basement for a few hours a night.   I don't know how some of you guys find the time to be on the forum everyday.  I'm lucky if I can find the time once a week.  Until next time, cheers.   

[EMD.Don]

Morning All!

Cuppa coffee would be great please.

HOT HOT HOT here yet again . The work outside is starting to pile up. I don't have much choice so I plan on heading outside here in a couple minutes to spread 3 yards of mulch in the gardens. If it's not too hot by the time that gets done I may trim some trees (no promises on that one though...but it needs to get done). Still working on my Athearn Santa Fe Streamlined passenger cars in the evening. Slow going but enjoyable.

Well stay cool everyone ...!

Happy modeling.

Don.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 75° with 100% humidity. The high will be 92°.


Well we're still here after a very wet night. Can't say much for the weather other than it was interesting at times. No plans for today other than maybe getting a bit of laundry done. Tomorrow I'll be going to Oakdale to see what can be done about this foot of mine. Hopefully this trip will be to get something done and not just a consultation. The last trip was a consultation so I don't see what could be merited by another except to waste my time. We'll see what happens.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

Coffee, fried catfish, hashbrowns and coleslaw please, thanks.

Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. Humidity88%

Inch- No the coffee wasn’t bad at all. But it was about the smallest cup I seen though. Never been in that place before.

Jeffrey-       (gas story)

Welp, same thing goin on here today as yesterday except I don’t have to w*rk at the restaurant tonight so full day wo*king on the apartments. We’ll see what Mr Murphy has in store for me today….

Ya’ll have a good day, ya hear!!!!

[kbkchooch]

Mornin gang! 

Another hot one on tap, 96 and humid, with a heat index of 105  Gonna stay inside today, only venturing out to the garage to paint 3 engines, and then that will be by 11, before it gets too hot.

Really could use so cats & dogs type of rain, but then again, you have to be careful with rain like that. You don't want to step in a poodle!

 L8ter gators!

[MisterBeasley]

Good morning!  It's going to be another hot one in New England, with temperatures in the 90s.  In theory, we get some relief on Sunday, but until then I'll be hiding in the air conditioning.  I can watch the Tour de France and work on my layout at the same time, so I'm not going to suffer or be bored.  But, workshop and painting activities are on hold for a while.

Last night was my weekly winter vacation at the hockey rink.  I'm pretty useless on Wednesdays as a result, and I'm a powerful methane generator for most of the day thanks to our late-night fluid replenisment activities.

[galaxy]

morning coffee in the diner...

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING!!!

Today is Wednesday, July 16th,2013!!

I will light the prayer candles at 9 am for those in need...

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!!!

 Raining Cats and Dogs:

Meaning;

Rain very heavily

Origin:

The short, cute version:

A colorful expression that means it is raining very hard, with lightning, thunder and most likely high winds.  There are two ideas of how this phrase developed. One is simple: A storm sounds a lot like cats and dogs fighting. The other goes back to Norse mythology.  It is believed that witches caused storms and rode the winds in the shape of back cats. And, the God of Storms is described in Norse Mythology being surrounded by wild dogs and wolves. So, add the witchy cat-shaped winds and the wild dogs and you get "it's raining cats and dogs".

The longer truthful version:

This is an interesting phrase in that, although there's no definitive origin, there is a likely derivation. Before we get to that, let's get some of the fanciful proposed derivations out of the way.

The phrase isn't related to the well-known antipathy between dogs and cats, which is exemplified in the phrase 'fight like cat and dog'. Nor is the phrase in any sense literal, i.e. it doesn't record an incident where cats and dogs fell from the sky. Small creatures, of the size of frogs or fish, do occasionally get carried skywards in freak weather. Impromptu involuntary flight must also happen to dogs or cats from time to time, but there's no record of groups of them being scooped up in that way and causing this phrase to be coined. Not that we need to study English meteorological records for that - it's plainly implausible.

One supposed origin is that the phrase derives from mythology. Dogs and wolves were attendants to Odin, the god of storms, and sailors associated them with rain. Witches, who often took the form of their familiars - cats, are supposed to have ridden the wind. Well, some evidence would be nice. There doesn't appear to be any to support this notion.
It has also been suggested that cats and dogs were washed from roofs during heavy weather. This is a widely repeated tale. It got a new lease of life with the e-mail message "Life in the 1500s", which began circulating on the Internet in 1999. Here's the relevant part of that:

I'll describe their houses a little. You've heard of thatch roofs, well that's all they were. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. They were the only place for the little animals to get warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs, all lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Thus the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs."

This is nonsense of course. It hardly needs debunking but, lest there be any doubt, let's do that anyway. In order to believe this tale we would have to accept that dogs lived in thatched roofs, which, of course, they didn't. Even accepting that bizarre idea, for dogs to have slipped off when it rained they would have needed to be sitting on the outside of the thatch - hardly the place an animal would head for as shelter in bad weather.

Another suggestion is that 'raining cats and dogs' comes from a version of the French word 'catadoupe', meaning waterfall. Again, no evidence. If the phrase were just 'raining cats', or even if there also existed a French word 'dogadoupe', we might be going somewhere with this one. As there isn't, let's pass this by.

There's a similar phrase originating from the North of England -'raining stair-rods'.  No one has gone to the effort of speculating that this is from mythic reports of stairs being carried into the air in storms and falling on gullible peasants. It's just a rather expressive phrase giving a graphic impression of heavy rain - as is 'raining cats and dogs'.

The much more probable source of 'raining cats and dogs' is the prosaic fact that, in the filthy streets of 17th/18th century England, heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals and other debris. The animals didn't fall from the sky, but the sight of dead cats and dogs floating by in storms could well have caused the coining of this colourful phrase. Jonathan Swift described such an event in his satirical poem 'A Description of a City Shower', first published in the 1710 collection of the Tatler magazine. The poem was a denunciation of contemporary London society and its meaning has been much debated. While the poem is metaphorical and doesn't describe a specific flood, it seems that, in describing water-borne animal corpses, Swift was referring to an occurrence that his readers would have been well familiar with:

Now in contiguous Drops the Flood comes down, Threat'ning with Deluge this devoted Town. ... Now from all Parts the swelling Kennels flow, And bear their Trophies with them as they go: Filth of all Hues and Odours seem to tell What Street they sail'd from, by their Sight and Smell. They, as each Torrent drives, with rapid Force, From Smithfield or St. Pulchre's shape their Course, And in huge Confluent join'd at Snow-Hill Ridge, Fall from the Conduit, prone to Holbourn-Bridge. Sweeping from Butchers Stalls, Dung, Guts, and Blood, Drown'd Puppies, stinking Sprats, all drench'd in Mud, Dead Cats and Turnip-Tops come tumbling down the Flood.

That phrase was in use in a modified form in 1653, when Richard Brome's comedy The City Wit or The Woman Wears the Breeches referred to stormy weather with the line:

"It shall raine... Dogs and Polecats".

Polecats aren't cats as such but the jump between them in linguistic rather than veterinary terms isn't large and it seems clear that Broome's version was essentially the same phrase. The first appearance of the currently used version is in Jonathan Swift’s A Complete Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation in 1738:

"I know Sir John will go, though he was sure it would rain cats and dogs".

The fact that Swift had alluded to the streets flowing with dead cats and dogs some years earlier and now used 'rain cats and dogs' explicitly is good evidence that poor sanitation was the source of the phrase as we now use it.

 

 

 

 

[cudaken]

 Evening Dinners.

 Flo, Beer Pleases.

 Glad to see I was missed some!

 Quick Recap.

 1. Love of my Road Runner is still strong.

 2. Layout will be coming down to make room for the Road Runner.

 3. Still fighting with BoS I was declined for the loan mod because they requested by mail more up to date information which they mailed to with my street address Collinsville IL, I live MARYVILLE ILL you stupid *%$#!

 4. Wife is having major health issues, has not been able to keep food down for a month now! Spent 7 hours today at the ER, still with no real answers! She is losing 5 pounds a week!

 5. Been offered a new job today, while not the base I was hoping for I will be off my feet!

 6. Getting a lawyer to help me fight BoS Wednesday. My current job does not know I am calling off yet, but I am burning off the last of my personal days before I quite!

I will stop by Wednesday with some details.

Cuda Ken

 

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening

Had a very hot muggy day here. Got to 92 feeling like 106 earlier
Tonight the low will be 75 feeling like 95. Oh joy oh bliss.

Most of the lawn is now looking scorched which is really not helping my mood any.

Anyhow thinking of turning in early as well. Have a bunch of meetings to do tomorrow. Another form of oh joy oh bliss...le sigh.

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Janie, just a cup of decaf and a piece of strawberry rhubarb pie please...

So, what happened here Janie.  Sure is a mess in the back.  Huh? Oh, Jeffrey had a fit of temper over a TV show?  'Nuther reason I don't watch the thing...  Hope he has calmed down and feels better in the morning.

Hot here in the Finger Lakes today, but the humidity was down a bit so it didn't actually feel as bad as yesterday.  Made it to 89°F mid afternoon and hung right around that until the sun set tonight.

I got the pile of topsoil moved to the garden (finally!), but still have the other pile to get done tomorrow.  That won't be as bad.  Three or four wheelbarrow loads probably.  Got an email from the guy who I am looking at to install the fence tonight.  Hopefully he can over sometime this week and give me an estimate for the installation.  I also took a car load of stuff to the Salvation Army shop this afternoon.  Uncovered the box of old photos my Father had saved for a few generations while looking at the stuff left to sort.  These will mostly end up going to my youngest son for the time being as he can use them for the Genealogy things he is doing.  Also found some China that could net me a few $$$ at a Replacements place.  I think they may take my Mom's collectable plate collection as well.  Had to water the garden for the fist time tonight...

Only thing that I didn't get to at all was to do some stuff in the train room.  maybe tomorrow (:It's always a day away...").

Time to take my evening sugar test, take the evening meds, and head out to bed.  Prayers for all in need!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Weather got nasty here this evening, rather like my temper which I had a reminder of earlier today. It wasn't pretty. Uncontrollable mood swings are the pits! Incidentally a TV show called Terra Nova seemed to be the trigger. I deleted it so I won't be watching it again. As for the storms, they were long and noisy, the rain short and heavy. Exactly how heavy I don't know but a cow and a flat rock comes to mind. I'm sure my niece will be happy to tell me how much rain fell the first chance she gets. Took some time today to pull the chips in the second Apple IIe and clean the pins and sockets. Pipe cleaners are such handy things when it comes to getting into tiny holes like those in chip sockets. It still requires a CP/M card. Apple #3 awaits but still requires more parts. Yes, the nerves are doing much better. They were pretty bad and irritating before the temper explosion.

Well that's all for tonight. See y'all tomorrow.

[Cederstrand]

Italian roast coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please.

Been clearing the hillside above the driveway of stumps and old limbs. Hit my first yellow jacket nest of the summer so called it quits. Got a can of wasp spray and carpet bombed the area. Next can I'll go in for a strategic strike if I can spot exactly where the little winged force has it's bunker.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Cheers!  Rob

[kbkchooch]

Hi guys

Trash man came and went,, so I brought the rolling hopper up to the front of the garage to hose it out. Literally, it smelled like something died in there! Dumped in a quarter bottle of Lysol, scrubbed it out, rinsed it and put it away. Then it hit me....I'm soaking wet and I didn't spray myself!!!  Yes kids, don't let anybody fool ya,,,its hot out there!!

Galaxy,, what browser are you using?? I'm running Chrome and spell check works! It even throws a hissyfit when you spell spellcheck as 1 word! (Hissyfit too)

.....standing before the fan with the A/C on...........

[jeffrey-wimberly]

galaxy

BTW Jeffrey- if the maintenance was supposed to "fix' the spell check here, it DID NOT.

I'm told the IT guys have been on it since the first time I asked. I'm sure they're as confused about it as you are. That error message certainly isn't very helpful. Might I suggest finding a spell checker that works with your browser.

[galaxy]

Sorry to hear that Jeffrey.

Nerve issues are no fun.

My pinched nerve in the elbow affecting the right hand is somewhat helped by a tennis elbow strap. But it still is a painful proposition and besides my already bad typing, the right hand is so slow compared to the left hand I can't type worth a pugged up typewritter  "e". {the young'uns are saying "whats that mean?"} I think the good painkiler for the hip is also helping the arm/hand.

 

BTW Jeffrey- if the maintenance was supposed to "fix' the spell check here, it DID NOT.

HOT HOT AND MORE HOT. Humdidity too. {pronounced  HUM-DID-ity} Geting hot over the next few days, SUnday is a reprieve in the 70s then. Just like a warmup in winter, we have cool downs in summer. NOW as long as the power holds out! A/C s working hard comfy now in here.

Drinking plenty of H2O to stay hydrated as I sweat a lot {"perspire" just doesn't call it when it rolls down your neck..its SWEAT then}

Well,

Hope everyone has cool A/C adn if not, has pleny pf fans and cool air to help keep them cool.

Stay cool

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. Temp 82, humid: 71%, high 88. Mostly cloudy, rain chance 70%. No photos today. Nerves are acting up and have a case of the shakes. Tried a Starfleet1 mission this morning and failed. I didn't destroy the required number of enemy ships in the time allotted. Supposed to be 30 in 33 days. Hey, I got 28! I was having a problem with constantly hitting wrong keys. Yes, I use the keyboard. No joystick. I'm having hard time getting everything correct now. Keeping spell check very busy. Now time to take something to settle misfiring nerves and go back to bed.

[inch53]

Mornin, a tall ice water please Zoe. Same forecast today as yesterday only temps in the low 90’s and higher humidity, with nary a breeze.

Did finally get the tiller run thru the garden, but wish I hadn’t. Ended up getting to hot n bout half sick, so spent most the afternoon inside.  I don’t do well with the heat anymore.

Plan for today, not much more outside for sure, already to hot. Need to get the spare bedroom cleaned up, great-granddaughters are comin tomorrow n staying a week. Thoughts for all those I need n hope ya’ll has a gooden

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

I see the doors are open again, so I'll have a short stack of buttermilk blueberry pancakes, Zoe, with real NYS Maple Syrup, and a cup (or 2) of Marrakesh Express dark roast coffee in my R&GV RR mug please.

Hot one here already just like the others are getting in the Northeast.  Currently 83°F outside with high close to 90* later this afternoon.  I still need to get the rest of the topsoil moved to the garden.  I will do one wheelbarrow load and then come inside and cool off I think.  I estimate there are about 3 more loads to move, so it should get done without any problems.  i also will check out the stuff I am going to take over to the Salvation Army store and get rid of.  Want to make sure I am not including anything that might be worth some real $$$.  i know there are some tea cup sets that are going for $15 a set (I have 5) at Replacements.com.  So stuff like that will be set aside for me to see what I can get separately.

Hopefully I will find time to get some model railroading done today as well!

Later!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

JeremyB

Jeff - What is this game your playing on your old apple? reading your write ups about the game and how you are doing is enjoyable.

Starfleet 1: The war begins. You can read a little about it HERE.

[MisterBeasley]

Whoa, did everyone sleep late?  (Yeah, I know...)

Good morning, or as good as it gets at 88 with no relief in sight until Sunday, which is so far out that the forecast can basically be discarded.

I spent yesterday afternoon cooling down in the trainroom, even though I was slaving over a hot soldering iron.  I wired up 3 Tortoises for frog power, but I've still got to wire the frog itself, and connect the short leads up to feeders.

Hockey tonight, my weekly dose of winter.  I'd imagine that we will stay inside the rink where it's cool rather than having our beers out in the parking lot.

[pascaff*]

  Morning All, currently it is 65 with an expected high of 93. Not too bad since we will probably be back to triple digits by Friday. Also prime conditions for fires.

   I have a 0900 dental appointment, then I need to do a comp. shop, then head to w**k, should be a long day for me.

    Prayers to all in need.

    Paul

[JeremyB]

Wow its getting warm out today. Already feeling like 100 out there, yuck.

Jeff - What is this game your playing on your old apple? reading your write ups about the game and how you are doing is enjoyable.

I have a dying tree that needs to be cut down, just a small one. But I don't think that today or tomorrow is going to be the best time as it will be close to 110 this afternoon. Should I just wait on the cooler temps. Its a eye sore but I don't want to get heat stroke.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Another hot and muggy day here. Going up to 90F feeling like 111F...indoor living is the thing for this week by the looks of things. Le Sigh....

A friend of ours, who owns a couple of stores in 2 malls, told me this morning that it looks like the malls were pretty quiet yesterday...not a lot of foot traffic...this kind of makes me think that most people have taken heat advisories/alerts seriously. 

Oh, and yesterdays hay mowing took a couple of hours...early morning was still pretty sticky out....

Have a good day!!

[galaxy]

Morning Coffee in the diner..

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING!!!

Today is Tuesday, July 16th, 2013!!!

I will light the prayer candles at 10 AM for those in need...

 

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!!!

 Just for GARRY:

'Pie in the sky'

Meaning:

A promise of heaven, while continuing to suffer in this life.

Origin:

This is an American phrase and was coined by Joe Hill in 1911. Hill was a Swedish-born itinerant labourer who migrated to the USA in 1902. He was a leading light of the radical labour organization The Industrial Workers of the World - known as the Wobblies, writing many radical songs for them. The phrase appeared first in Hill's The Preacher and the Slave, which parodied the Salvation Army hymn In the Sweet Bye and Bye. The song, which criticized the Army's theology and philosophy, specifically their concentration on the salvation of souls rather than the feeding of the hungry, was popular when first recorded and remained so for some years.

Long-haired preachers come out every night, Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right; But when asked how 'bout something to eat They will answer with voices so sweet:

Chorus: You will eat, bye and bye, In that glorious land above the sky; Work and pray, live on hay,   You'll get pie in the sky when you die.

The starvation army they play, They sing and they clap and they pray 'Till they get all your coin on the drum Then they'll tell you when you're on the bum:

Holy Rollers and jumpers come out, They holler, they jump and they shout. Give your money to Jesus they say, He will cure all diseases today. If you fight hard for children and wife Try to get something good in this life You're a sinner and bad man, they tell, When you die you will sure go to hell.

Workingmen of all countries, unite, Side by side we for freedom will fight; When the world and its wealth we have gained To the grafters we'll sing this refrain:

You will eat, bye and bye, When you've learned how to cook and to fry. Chop some wood, 'twill do you good, And you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye.

The phrase wasn't taken up until the Second World War, when it began to be used figuratively to refer to any prospect of future happiness which was unlikely ever to be realized; for example, this report from the California newspaper The Fresno Bee, November 1939:

"The business world is fearful that Roosevelt's obsession with war problems will mean a continued neglect of questions which still restrict trade and profits. They are highly skeptical of Washington's promise that they will 'eat pie in the sky' solely from war orders, which they decry publicly."

 

 

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Janie, a nice cup of decaf would be just the thing right now.  Thank you Ma'am.

Jeffrey???  A flat I think.....  Might be a G# though.

I finished putting the topsoil in the 3rd. and Last raised bed garden today...  Also moved a couple more wheelbarrows over to the garden areas to fill in some holes and level the edges a bit.  Have about a half yard left.  It will be moved and piled in the garden for future use...  Finally found an email address for the contractor I want to get a price from to put up the fence.  I'll see how long it takes for him to get back to me.  I would love to get it installed and done with ASAP.

I did manage to get down to the train room today.  Put all the rubber pads I usually have on the floor back down.  I had taken them out to dry them when water got in the room last April/May...  You can see how far behind I am with things.  I unpacked some scenery supplies that came in a few weeks ago, and headed over to the area I was working on back,  ah, back when I was down there last....  Realized that a pair of cutters  I need to trim the tree armatures got broken out at camp and I had bought some new ones which were on the dining room table upstairs under a large pile of newspapers, magazines, books, and other things.  So, I went back upstairs to find them.  They were right where I thought they were.  Then  I got busy up here...  Took the pliers and other stuff downstairs a few minutes ago when I went down to shut off the lights.

I did stop over to the local Salvation Army Second Hand store nearby to see if they would be interested in all the stuff I still have from my parents estate that nobody in the family wants.  They do, so I will be getting rid of a lot of stuff very soon!

Huh?  Is that you again Jeffrey?  That one was a perfect B flat!  Your in tune...  I wonder how many of you realize that the note B flat is a C on a clarinet?  Barry knew that I bet.  Speaking of concert pitch...  Wonder how Tom White is doing these days?

Hope Ken didn't have that short block fall on him or something.....

Hope you all have a good night!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Had a real nail biter on Starfleet1 today. Enemy agents committing sabotage, ion storms, things mysteriously breaking down and a few good old fashioned surprise attacks. I just barely squeaked in under the wire with the victory and got a promotion to rear admiral.

Took another look at the park today. Looks like I'm going to need to make a larger foam base for it. Gotta get it first. I'm not planning to work on the layout anytime soon. Just looking at what I'm going to need. It's going to be awhile yet. I gotta get this leg business out of the way first then there's learning how to use a prosthesis and getting used to it and learning how to negotiate things like steps. It's not going to be easy.

Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

[JeremyB]

Just thought Id drop in as I haven't been in since early Friday. I had a GREAT time at the races in Toronto. I met a few guys that work with the teams so that was cool. Also one of the teams gave me a piece of broken race car. Carbon fiber is so light and strong. Weather here all week is going to be hot and gross. Figures I have q dead rose of sharon that I wnt to dig out and another small dead tree in the back. That has been looking bad for a few weeks now. Plus they are so small. Sinve we moved here they have barely grown.

Talk to you fellas later