Afternoon folks!
Chloe, a cup of hot chocolate sound good at the moment.
Currently 71°F here in the Finger Lakes. Won't get more than a couple degrees warmer late this afternoon. Had some sunshine this morning, but clouds threatening more rain have moved in.
This morning I had to go to the post office to mail a package off and then go to my son's house to clean the cats litter box and let their dog out to use the lawn for his duty for a while... I bought a cat toy for the boys called Cat's Meow which was recomended by the vet. She uses it to get cats to play while they are recovering from surgery. I stopped on the way home this afternoon and got a pack of C batteries to power it and set it up for the boys. So far Manét has been afraid of it but has been intently watching it and Blackie has been ingnoring it. I think Manét will soon be chasing it. It has a tail like plastic thing that is spun around in a circle and goes back and forth for them to catch.
How come I'm hearing bells today? Oh! YGW is tying the knot.... Have a great, happy, and long marriage YGW!!!
Yesterday I spent about 6 hours cleaning the office area. I couldn't find half of the materials I had to get in the mail today and so decided enough was enough and sorted through and disposed of many piles of accumulated stuff. I did manage to get down cellar and get a bit more done with the briodge scene, but only because I had to wash clothes as I was out of needed things. In fact I am now going to head down there to bring up the clothes from the dryer and do a bit of stuff on the layout. Not sure whether I willbe nedeed as a Museum Guide at the Museum tomorrow or not. I told the gent that does the scheduling that if nobody stepped up to be the guide, I could come out and do it, but I really would like a weekend off. He will let me know by this evening if I am needed.
Catch 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!
howmusI bought a cat toy for the boys called Cat's Meow which was recomended by the vet. She uses it to get cats to play while they are recovering from surgery. I stopped on the way home this afternoon and got a pack of C batteries to power it and set it up for the boys. So far Manét has been afraid of it but has been intently watching it and Blackie has been ingnoring it.
*
Neglected to report yesterday that the trucks a/c does NOT work. No biggie. I've had plenty of vehicles with no a/c and even a few with no heat or radio. My van is the only one that I've had that lacks all three.Wanted something different for lunch today so I went to Domino's and got a medium crisp thin crust Meatza pizza and a 20oz Dr Pepper. There's enough left for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. Stopped by the bank and activated my new Visa card.I've been watching some old TV programs today. The Bionic Woman and a bunch of Star Trek Voyager episodes.It was 98° in town today. Too warm for me. It's supposed to be clear tonight so I may be able to get in some star gazing if my knees and back are up to it.
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
Hi everyone, Sorry I've been awol for a few days. Well, my laptop died, so I had to get it shopped. It wouldn't be able to be fixed, so I had to purchase a new one, and wait a few days for the new one to come in and the files transfered. Well I also have been working a few days in a row, so yeah I should be able to pay it off again soon
Model railroad area-We cleaned off the yard and got it set up for ballasting next week, and finally sorted through all the stuff that was donated to our club over the years. We got a lot of stuff.
Have a great day all.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
Evening Dinners!
Flo, Pleases
I wonder if YGW wife will go as Miss YGW?
Work Front Might as well stayed room and saved Marvin (owner) some money by not turing on the lights! Only had 3 customers the whole day on a Saturday? That is just awful! Store did get warm, when I left it was up to 82 degrees inside, luckly I had a fan on me so it was not bad.
Workout Front Well it was the best part of the day! I increased rep's on all exercises and will be adding weight soon. What has me the most jazzed up was the bench press! I did the normal warm up weight, added 15 pounds and did 10 reps easlily. Then two sets of the maxium I have worked out with in 2 decades. Last time I benched I got 10 on the first set and only 8 on the second set. Tonight last set of max weight went easy! Won't be long and I will be using Big Boy Plates!
See you all Sunday if this computer is working.
Ken
I hate Rust
Tonight was a good night for spotting the visible planets. It's clear. Locating the Big Dipper was easy then I tracked left to Arcturus (in the constellation Boötes). Now I went down and left and there was Spica (brightest star in the constellation Virgo). Mars is behind the sun at this time and can't be seen. It's a shame I don't have a camera mount. I can't get a good shot.That's it for now. Time to call it a night.
Morning Dinners
Flo, Diet Dew Pleases.
Solar Panels Still wondering about them. I was looking on line and came across this one.
http://plugandplaysolar.pwcstores.com/storelisting/2
Basic Unit is $1147.95 and makes 240 watts. Seems to be very simple to install as well. But my problem, I am a when it comes to electrical rattings. I don't know if 240 watts would power a house A/C unit, or just my trains?
All so I don't know if it makes 240 watts all the time when under a bight sun, in a minute, a hour or if it takes all day? Hope I can find a few answers here before I call my power company.
My goal is to be able to run a 1 hp pool fliter by solar panel so I can open the pool next year. Guess I will need to get specks on the pool filter motor as well.
See you all after work.
Ken: 240 watts might run yiur electric can opener and a light bulb but not much more. It would take seven of those to run my window a/c unit or my heater.
Both horsepower and watts are rates, so they are directly convertible back and forth. 1 HP = 746 watts. So, you would need 3 of those panels to run your 1 HP motor. And, that is the maximum rating - in full sun with the panel pointed directly at the center of the solar system. With clouds it's less, as it is earlier or later in the day when the sun is at a big angle to the panel.
You don't really install solar panels to run a motor or other equipment. You use the power to reduce the amount you have to buy from the electric company. When you're making more than you are using, you actually sell power back to the electric company. They don't like that, but by law they have to do it. After a while, when more and more people are into "co-generation," even the electric companies will realize that it's good for everyone because it provides more capacity on hot summer days, which is when their peak loads are, so they don't need as many generators and there should be fewer brownouts.
Ray is our resident expert on solar panels, and he can give you much better specifics than the rest of us combined. One good thing, though, is that there's a tax deduction or tax credit available for installing solar panels. Some friends of ours are putting solar on to their roof. Tney said the payback time was only 6 or 7 years, which is pretty good for an investment of that nature.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Afternoon Folks!
My son came for a short visit, just to bring me a belated birthday present and enjoy his mom´s good food. It was a joy to have him with us. All of a sudden, he appears to be so grown up. A sure sign that I am slowly getting old.
Just took him to the train station to catch a train to Hannover, where he lives with his GF. His GF can´t come with him, because she suffers fromn multiple allergies and we "stink" - no, not really, but she shows allergic reactions to any normal kind of soap, shampoo, detergents we use. Thuis is sad, as it limits our chances to spend some time with him.
On the way back I stopped at my friends place to pick up my HOn3 D&RGW T-12. It is cleaned now and runs! Not well, though, as the blind middle driver is set a touch to low. This is a known problem with the old Westside and Balboa T-12´s and can only be corrected by completely reworking the gearbox and gearbox mount. I am not going for this at the moment.
Just a pic:
I still think it´ll be a shame to just let her sit in the box.
Well, off I am, but I may come back later!
Have a good one!
Edit: I wish I´d live closer to Dart - he is a wizard when it comes to teach old locos how to behave!
Afternoon guys
Beautiful day out today. I spent the morning cutting grass and cleaning the gardens. The one flower bed is starting to die but the hanging baskets and other bed are still doing great. I am off tomorrow and plan on cleaning the house early and then trimming the hedges in the backyard. They are also calling for some warm temps this week too. We are going over to my parents place later on for bbq chicken.
Hi,
Spent the last two days moving stuff into the new place......glad I have a 6 x 14 cargo trailer.
Made a trip today and one yesterday............plus one on Friday to take stuff to the dump (transfer facility).
One more trailer load tomorrow and then back to work for three days.
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
Evenin' folks!
Just got home from the museum a while ago. had a great day out there. Good crowd and the track cars were running on the TT like they should be instead of the officer of the day making up by himself... It was a good day for making electricity here at home as the sun was out shining almost all day. Made 22.57 kWh by 6PM. That leaves about 1.5 more hours of usable sunlight so i expect the total will be about 25 kWh for the day. A whole lot better than the 8.38 kWh from yesterday.... Huh? Oh Ken has a question about solar panels... OK, huh? Hmmm. Let me start by explaining what is involved to really put in a solar electric system...
I put in a 4.232 kW DC system. That means the peak power it can theoretically produce at any given time under perfect sunlight conditions would 4,232 watts of power. On my roof are 18 panels that will produce 240w peak. The estimated (based on projected efficiency and sun conditions here in the Finger lakes region of NYS was 4677 kWh of electricity a year. Now I can tell you I have actually looked at the inverter down cellar and seen the arrey putting out 4,200 watts. Come back in a few minutes and it may only be outputting 550 watts. On a bad day I may see a peak of 300 or less watts at any given time. So number one, realize the amount of electric produced at any given time is not in any way a constant. My system should give me about 70% of the total electric used at my house. To do that here is my cost analysis:
Total installation cost (Before rebate) - $16,870.00Cash rebate from NYSERTA (NYS energy research and something or other) - $6,480.00Federal Tax Credit (Comes out the taxes you actually pay as a rebate) - $3,117.00(If I was paying State income taxes [exempt due to retirement] there would have been another rebate from what I would have payed in State Taxes)Net system cost (What I payed out of pocket): - $7,273.00
In order to get those incentives, the system has to hooked to the grid. A stand alone battery system would have cost several thousand $ more and I would have to pay the whole cost. I was able to put my part of the costs on my revolving 3.5% home loan. My house mortgage was paid off several years ago and the revolving loan was against the house and was from my business. I paid off the loan in less than 6 months. By my figuring (Hey, I'm a musician, I can count!) it will take a minimum of 11 years for me to pay off the cost in electrical savings. Less if the price of electricity goes up here more than expected. Saving money was not a major factor in my decision. There were several, environmental issues and raising the value of this house (by as much a $20.000) by having the panels, installed and working, it becomes a gift to my children when I die being the biggest.
Also understand I had to have a new roof put on my house before installing the panels... I went for a steel roof which set me back $7,000.
Now I realize you are talking a single panel, portable unit. That is not going to work to power your pump! You would, as already said have to have 3 (or at least 4) to ever get the pump to start with what you are looking at. So you are going to spend $5,000 conservitably to save $60 a month??? That will take you 83.3 months at $60/month and that does not include interest. Think Bank of Stupid will give you a loan for it??? Understand that you will get no tax credits or rebates because this system will not be able to be hooked into your house electric and therefore the grid. To do that you have to have all kinds of permits about 5 inspections of your property, the neighbors get to have their say at the Zoning Board meeting and the town code hearings... (Because it would have to be a permanent set up....)
Ken, this will not work for you as it will only put out the power needed for a couple hours a day even if you have 4 panels... The single panel rated at 420 watts at full rated power would make you .420 kWh. Your average for a 10 hour day of usable sun would be more like 100w average per hour. That means you might on a good day make 1kWh. Around here, my price for electric that I buy right now is $.12 per kWh. Twelve cents you would be saving every day with basic unit... OK, get the picture? It ain't gonna work for you! You can't afford it either. Those panels would be nice to take camping out in the wilderness so you could run your laptop and charge your cell phone during a nice sunny day. Not much else. My system produces more power than I am consuming during the day. It goes out to the grid through the wires from the electric company attached to my house. At that time the people next door and down the block are getting part of their electric from the roof of my house. I get credit for that electric when that happens. The rest of the time (nights and on cloudy days) I will use more than I produce. What I pay for is the difference between what I put on the grid and what I pull from the grid.
Huh? Ok, I guess I said more than needed on the subject...
howmusMy system produces more power than I am consuming during the day. It goes out to the grid through the wires from the electric company attached to my house. At that time the people next door and down the block are getting part of their electric from the roof of my house. I get credit for that electric when that happens. The rest of the time (nights and on cloudy days) I will use more than I produce. What I pay for is the difference between what I put on the grid and what I pull from the grid.
Evening Dinners
Flo, Beer Pleases and keep them coming!
Ever have a feeling your day was going to suck? I had that feeling this morning after my wife told me she was worried about a root Sparke The Rocket Dog might step on and hurt is foot? Went down hill from there!
There is 18 stoplights between home and work, I caught 16 of them. I thought next there will be customers waiting for me, hate that! Got to the store, no one waiting! Got the lights on, was putting up my food Ding Dong, Ding Dong 30 seconds later Ding Dong! Three sets of customers at the same time and I was working a lone! That seldom ends good for a sales person. And it didnt for me!
Stayed busy so the day flew by, but I could not sale a $10.00 bill for $5.00! Store got very warm, it hit 85 degrees. By the end of the day I was very light headed and was having a hard time thinking straight.
Worst part was I really wanted to workout tonight. Way I was feeling, I was not going to mess with the weights.
Mr B and Jeffeory Thank you on your input on the solar panel question. I did another search tonight and did find a 3/4 HP Pool Pump they said would run on 230 watts. My orginal pool pump motor was 3/4 HP, but being me I bought a 1 HP. More HP has to be better! It was $750.00 and it is more than I can afford right now. While I have not gave up on the idea, it will take a lot more research. I think it took Ray some time to decide which system to go with.
Here is another kit that got my intrest.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Grape-Solar-400-Watt-Off-Grid-Solar-Panel-Kit-GS-400-KIT/203505963
Well, trains are running great tonight so life is not all bad!
Later, Ken
cudakenMr B and Jeffrey Thank you on your input on the solar panel question.
Good evening. Temp: 84°, Humidity 78%. Nothing going on tonight but there were several things to do during the day. The a/c unit was making a racket this morning so I pulled out the filter and vacuumed it with my smallest Shop-Vac, a Shop-Vac Hang-Up. Getting the filter out was easy but putting it back in was a bit more difficult. Some of the stuff I was standing on, mostly old boxes, shifted and I twisted my right knee. I heard what sounded like a crack in there too. It could have also been from something I was standing on at the time. It hurt pretty bad at first but the pain quickly dulled to a mild throb. I can hardly feel it now. Another easily solved problem was modifying my Magicjack so it won't overheat. Warm is OK. Hot is not. I found a large aluminum heat sink amongst my computer junk. I cleaned it up then glued the Magicjack onto it. The unit doesn't get hot anymore. That's quite an improvement. Today my father wanted to know about tablets, how easy are they to use, where can they be used and when, etc, etc. I told him if he goes and buys one I'll show him how to use it. I'm no pro by any means but I know my way around most computers. As usual he tried his cheapskate routine and wanted to use mine when he decides to go traveling in his RV. I quickly nixed that. Many times stuff of mine that's borrowed like that tends to come back in disassociated condition. If he didn't buy it why should he respect it? He should know by now I don't share my toys with everyone. No. He's not going to use mine. He can get his own. The one I have has a price tag of a leg and two toes. He can get one for a much lower price. Most are under $150.
No posts in ten hours?
Good morning. It's 80° with 88% humidity. The high will be 95°. Cloudy with a fair chance of showers and thunderstorms. with Looks like it'll be a rainy day. Next door neighbor worked late into the night gutting his master bath. Toilet, tub, lavatory, shelves, everything is gone. He's waiting on all new stuff to go in there. He says he's a fair hand at plumbing. He'll have to be. I hope he's a jack of all trades and good at them. He's playing with structure, plumbing, electrical. Being this is a rural area he doesn't have to get permits for all that. However he'd do well to have the work inspected.Not much going on for me today. I'm waiting on the call from my Home Health nurse and I hope the medical supplies that were ordered last week have arrived.Tomorrow morning I have an appointment to see my doc. Afterward my father and I will have lunch at Fox's pizza then go to Wal-Mart to look at tablets. He wants one and he isn't getting mine. At times it's my only link to the world.
Good morning, everyone. It should be nice for one more day, but then we've got some hot weather coming in. Foo. Oh, well, I can live with AC for a few days.
Made good use of a female-free weekend. I picked up some lumber, built another benchwork "domino," stained and polyurethaned it. I rearragned the furniture in the train room a bit, and moved the new section into place this morning before I left for work, but after it dried and the aroma was gone. Tonight I'll fasten it in place and add the bus wires.
And Saturday night I made myself a big, thick steak, sweet potato and broccoli. Yumm.
Denis- Anywhere,at any time, someone can and will go amuck. Be it a drug deal,revenge, or for what ever reason some one some where is going to hurt/kill someone . Just a fact of life.
Phil
Like old circuit boxes, we all blow a fuse sometimes.
Then maybe Galaxy is right. The Aliens make us do it.
[You're just jealous because the voices only speak to me. ] lol
p.s-got T O P Drink/eat up,folks. Its on my C C
Hey Flip been a while since I stopped by. Thought I would stop in and say hi see how many I remeber I see about 4 or 5
howmus I once got a billy big mouth bass at a goodwill I put the batteries in that and talk about funny my cats would stay back few inches but they sure beat the heck out of it. It kept us in stiches.
Oh for you that don't know me ( a lot of new faces here) I'm the o guager that started in here and after about 2 years finally moved over to the Classic toy trains side but I do stop in quite often just don't post.
Hope all have a good day
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Chloe, I'll have some BBQ pork ribs, a trip to the salad bar, and a couple fresh ears of Sweet corn for supper tonight. To drink...? I guess a glass of ice clod lemonade would do nicely for the moment.
fec153[You're just jealous because the voices only speak to me. ] lol
Flip, one of my favorite things to do when I am in a store around a bunch of people and the store PA comes on with some shopping anouncement thing, is to scrunch up my face, start hyperventilating, and loudly say, "It's those voices again!!!"
Spent most of the day in a meeting for the Region Convention my Division of the NMRA is putting on next Spring. We are still waiting for a date for the convention and much that is needed to be done can't happen until we know that info. Maddening to say the least. Went directly over to my son's house on the way home to change the Kittie Litter for their cats.
Have several more things that need to get done this evening..... Doubt I will get down to the layout again tonight!
Ah Ha!! So its you, Ray that started the riot at your Wal-Mart.
I do enjoy seeing your modeling skills on the forum. Keep at it.
Prayers for all,
Got the dressings on my foot changed today and got a couple bags of laundry done. Other than that there's nothing going on. I was outside a little while ago and it feels like rain is coming. Confirmed it by checking the weather radar. There's a band of storms moving across the state east to west. It may be here in an hour or two. My right knee still aches from where I twisted it yesterday. Tomorrow morning I'll be at the docs office getting poked, prodded and checked out. Afterward my father and I will go next door to Fox's Pizza Den for lunch. I'll have my usual tiny taco pizza and he can get whatever he wants. From there we'll go to Wal-Mart and look at the tablets they have in the electronics dept. He'll get himself one then I'll show him how to use it. Knowing him as I do he'll probably get the smallest cheapest one he can find. I'm not a pro by any means but I know my way around most computers. Haven't had dinner yet but chimichangas sure sounds good.
Hey all popping in for a few minutes. Thanks for all the well wishes. (Howmus, Todd,Johnboy,Vincent...)
Hmmm I think Mrs. YGW sounds nice ? What do you all think ?
Ulrich - glad you made it out okay ! And Thanks !!!
Garry - heres your : )
mister Beasly - weekend free female ? I now have a wife , three girls, two female dogs, one female cat and a fish named sushi !
Phil - LOL Voices ?
Vega - careful with the oil. The envirnomental NAZIS wil charge you a LARGE SUM to clean that up. On my site we just spent 150K to clean up around an 150 gallon oil tank !
Jeff - what will it take to fix the ac in the truck ? Hope you feel better soon ?
Funny thing happened on the honey moon - we broke the bed !!! No really we broke it ! We were sitting on the edge and we both got off on the same side at the same time and the antique bed collapased !!! Luckily I am handy and the B&B owner had some tools and screws and I was able to fix it
yougottawantaJeff - what will it take to fix the ac in the truck ? Hope you feel better soon ?
Evening guys,
YGW- Congrats again on your wedding.
Not much going on here today. I was off today as I work Tuesday to Saturday this week, and all 9 hour days. They are also calling for the warmest day we have had all summer tomorrow also but then dropping right back down on Wednesday.
I see famers almanac has realsed winter predictions and they are saying a winter this year similar to last years. Last year was the worst I can remember, Im only 31 but I dont remember a winter like that. We were just hammered with snow and cold from October until May. It was just a depressing winter. I usually dont mind snow and cold but it took a toll on me last year. I was able to finish yard work today and just sit outside and take in the sun.Talk to you fellas in the morning if I can
Moved the third trailer load of stuff today to the new place........boy am I tired.
Work the next three days.......then a 5 day weekend to move more stuff.
Thanks Flip!
fec153Ah Ha!! So its you, Ray that started the riot at your Wal-Mart.
Nah! I haven't been inside a Mal-Wart in over 15 years... Last time I did the routine I was in Tops Friendly Market (Regional Grocery store). The check out clerk just started at me for a second and then broke up completely, but the poor 30 something lady behind me with her bored husband, I thought was going to freak out. She thought I was nuts! Well I am but in a nice way. Her husband was laughing so hard I thought he was never going to get his breath back... I calmed the lady down and assured her it was just a joke, but don't think she believed me.
OK, back to w*rk!
Good evening everybody,
Not a lot to report on from around here. We did get in some railfanning as usual this past weekend. Rail traffic was sort of slow from what we are used to, but still better than what a lot of folks have available. We caught only 6 trains on Saturday, 1 crude oil, 2 mixed freight & 3 intermodals on Norfolk Souther's rails. On Sunday, we caught 1 intermodal & 1 mixed freight on the CSX line, then went back for more Norfolk Southern, where we got 2 mixed freight & 1 road railer. I always enjoy catching a road railer, it's such an interesting concept. This one seemed longer than most we see. Out of all that we did see some interesting visitors from the north, namely Canada. On Saturday it was what I consider the nicest paint job & graphics of any type of modern railcar. This grain hopper:
It was in among a string of other Canadian grain cars & was the 1st one I've seen. A bonus was it's being clean & grafitti free.
On Sunday, it was this power house:
Saturday night we went over to my nephews to celebrate the ladies birthdays. That's my wife, cousin & my nephews wife. All there birthdays being in August. It was a very nice evening with pizza, salad & lots of wine. The wife picked up some more gift cards for the audio books she listens to.
Today was our usual shopping & errands day, but we were out & about longer than we usually are. The wife wanted to go to a shopping outlet that's about 45 minutes south of us. What for, just socks. But to be honest, we both need them. Of course, that meant besides eating breakfast out this morning, we also had to stop for lunch. Which was okay because I had a good pot roast sandwich along with french fries covered in gravy. I do sometimes wonder why her favorite stores are always on the other side of the county, if not in a different county. But I'm smart enough not to ask about that. Will probably spend all day tomorrow doing laundry. I did manage to get one coat of paint on the new interior doors last week, & will now aim at getting the 2nd & final coat of sometime this week. So have a good one & stay safe.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA