Sir Madog The day is slowly coming to an end on this side of the Big Pond. Aside from my fight with those Internet people, I have wasted my time drawing yet another Marklin nostalgic "dream" layout - one with a slim chance of getting built, because I left all those costly items like a TT and the old Marklin crane out. Well this is how far I got in about 4 hours: Lots of buildings need to be drawn, which eats up quite some time. "Scenery is pretty quick - all I have do draw is the patches of green, where there is soppused to be "green". There is a library for bushes and trees, so that´s pretty quick as well - but not today. I´ll be having a for a nightcap and then go watch an old, but good movie. CU tomorrow!
The day is slowly coming to an end on this side of the Big Pond. Aside from my fight with those Internet people, I have wasted my time drawing yet another Marklin nostalgic "dream" layout - one with a slim chance of getting built, because I left all those costly items like a TT and the old Marklin crane out.
Well this is how far I got in about 4 hours:
Lots of buildings need to be drawn, which eats up quite some time. "Scenery is pretty quick - all I have do draw is the patches of green, where there is soppused to be "green". There is a library for bushes and trees, so that´s pretty quick as well - but not today.
I´ll be having a for a nightcap and then go watch an old, but good movie.
CU tomorrow!
You're not the only one who draws dream layouts. I have a couple of dream layouts sitting on my computer. They are drawn in Atlas' newest track building program. (Interesting program that took awhile to get the hang of.) The plans are detailed enough that I even have the benchwork figured out down to the number of boards and the cutting plan for those boards.
Evening fellows.
I've been keeping busy the last couple weeks mainly with work as the program had to endure the annual state inspection. No citations, but that's because all of us, including the supervisory staff, busted our behinds to get the program in order. On my part, it involved plenty of paperwork and cleaning the apartments to withstand fine tooth/whitening glove inspections. Glad it paid off.
On the MR front. I took a BLI K4s and 14 express, mail, and milk cars all equipped with Sergent couplers, and some with Code-88 wheels to see how it, and possibly longer more complex trains, might handle running on the club layout. They did beautifully, though I had to keep two Intermountain Pfaudler milk cars off the train as they had buffers, and didn't like the tight curves. I'll try the Sergent longer shank couplers when I reorder my next batch.
My 1361 model is now in pieces. Going to try again with cleaning the airbrush and painting the model properly tomorrow. My last attempts did not go well. The decals arrived a few days ago so I'm a bit closer to getting my steam engine project finished. My goal is to be done building the model by the end of July.
Alvie
Richard:
Your math geek is asleep at the switch!
There were two (rather usless) guys. They were paid a total of $40.00. That's $20.00 each, divided by 1.5 = $13.33/hr. That's still good money for what they were asked to do, especially give the regular work interuptions.
Scorpions - yuck!!! We get our shorts in a knot if there are wasps flying around! We have Massauga (sp?) rattle snakes in some parts of Ontario but they are pretty rare. Most people just get really itchy if bitten.
Ken:
I always love seeing pictures of your cars. I have a friend who was painstakingly restoring a Cuda convertible (not sure what year). It was so rusty that I thought he was nuts. Wish I had that car today!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
yougottawanta Frrykid - What is a Hemitite chain ? Me too I have been a canidate for a knee replacement BUT I am holding out hoping for some new miracle product where they dont have to slice the knee from stem to stearn and hack in a new metal thing - OOOOOHHHH makes chills run up my back thinking about it !
Frrykid - What is a Hemitite chain ? Me too I have been a canidate for a knee replacement BUT I am holding out hoping for some new miracle product where they dont have to slice the knee from stem to stearn and hack in a new metal thing - OOOOOHHHH makes chills run up my back thinking about it !
Hematite is a type of bead that has magnetic properties. Wiki article link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematite. They are many different shapes that can be purchased from different sources. I get mine from eBay. They can be made into bracelets or chains.
cudaken. . .Gave them $40.00 for a hour and half worth of work. Works out to $13.33 a hour. I wish they would have stuck around longer, I kept working till 4:00 PM and I am beat. I hope it was suffecent so they will come back. . .
Sorry, but the math geek in me has to say something. $40 for 1.5 hours of work works out to $13.33 per 1/2 hour, or $26.67 per hour. They would be hard pressed to find that kind of pay anywhere else.
Richard
Good afternoon, it looks like another month is coming to an end and the diner will be moving on.
Reinhard, I am envious of your trip to Vienna. Visited there several years ago and really loved the city. It was a business trip but we got to do the tourist thing for a couple of days and really enjoyed touring cathedrals and the summer palace and the winter apartment of the Kaisers.
YGW, the business end of building is what convinced me it was time to retire. Loved the work, especially design but got tired of bidding jobs with no success and getting stiffed by customers. I still miss it but am glad to be out of the chasing bids part of construction. Project management sounds like a pretty sweet gig.
The wife saw the dentist who is going to extract her broken and abcessed tooth next Tuesday. So, out trip to the NMRA convention may still happen if she has no other problems.
Another nice day in the mid-Ohio valley but dry. We could use a gentle rain with no wind right now.
Plan to spend tonight spiking down some more track.
Have a good night,
Jim
Afternoon Dinners
Flo, please.
Foot Front All went well at the VA yesterday. The wound is not infected. Well, it is a callous that is just nasty looking. Got in and out in about 1.5 hours, so not bad. Did some running and when I got home did some honey do's. Why do I buy her flowers knowing I will be the one planting them? Guess I am not that smart.
Yard War's and the neighbor kids. Paid Gage and Tyler about 14 years old to help drag out some trees and brush. Cutting is easy, getting it out of the backyard is hard on me. OK, mix feeling on the help. Walk around most of the time with a look on there faces. Would do what I told them to a point. If I piled the stuff up for them they woulf drag it out front for me. But I told them any stick or branch you see, take that as well! No, unless I threw it towrd them they would not pick it up.
They did play with there smart phones a lot. I have seen that with a lot of the adults these day's places I have work? I just don't get it, when I was young we could not make or get phone call's at work? But today with cell phones I guess they feel they have a right to use them at any time they feel like.?
Feel like I over paid them in some respects. Gave them $40.00 for a hour and half worth of work. Works out to $13.33 a hour. I wish they would have stuck around longer, I kept working till 4:00 PM and I am beat. I hope it was suffecent so they will come back.
JEREMY CENTANNII can do everything but paint a car.
Jeremy welcome to the dinner! My self, I am a gear head and to me the best part is body and paint work. When I got out of the Army I use my VA benafits to learn body and paint. I never had the funds to get my 68 Road Runner done so I went to school to learn how. I will add I still owner her, got her from Mom and Dad when I was 17 and I am now 60. So that is what, 43 years?
Yes, I can wrench and sometimes enjoy it. But I rather be cutting, welding, hammering, block sanding and painting. Enjoy taking a pile of rust and making it look new again.
Few Photo's.
From this
to this
My 69 Charger that rusted in half
To this
Me and my 68 Road Runner when I got her.
Today, it is time to redo her.
I hate Rust
roar
ah er.... MEOW
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
angelob6660RideonRails- I'm surprised you didn't have protection for scorpions. For living in dangerous area. . .
There is not a lot you can to to prevent them. You can spray, (which we do) but it is only a deterrent--it doesn't kill them. A good rain will push them indoors, with or without the deterrent. The only way to kill them, and it is not perfect, is to spread diatomaceous earth around. The theory is that the DE will slice up the belly of their exoskeleton which can kill them. Actually, the sure fire way to kill them is either a propane torch or the heal of your shoe. An interesting factiod about scorpions--they glow under a blacklight. There are many in our neighborhood who will go out at night scorpion hunting with a blacklight flashlight and either a torch or a hammer.
One more scorpion story for you. As I said, a scorpion sting is generally not deadly in a human. The treatment is Benadryl and Advil. However, some folks have a more serious reaction. We found out last year that my grandson is one such person. He woke up screaming and had been stung. (We had never seen a scorpion in that room before or since.) We ended up taking him to the emergency room where, after all the other countermeasures were exercised, they had to resort to the anti-venom. The challenge with this approach--the anti-venom costs $12,000 per dose. Luckily he needed only one dose.
Evening Diners,
RideonRails- I'm surprised you didn't have protection for scorpions. For living in dangerous area.
Model Railroading is slowed down for awhile. Wondering whether or not to build a layout. I might force one in, but that might be a bad idea. The wheels in my head are still turning about my situation.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Sir Madog YGW - singing in German is not very well received, so any musician with an international ambition will avoid it like hell. The Scorpions are one of the few groups who actually made it to world fame, joining the ranks of Kraftwerk, Tokyo Hotel (for the kiddies). I can´t recall any other.
YGW - singing in German is not very well received, so any musician with an international ambition will avoid it like hell. The Scorpions are one of the few groups who actually made it to world fame, joining the ranks of Kraftwerk, Tokyo Hotel (for the kiddies). I can´t recall any other.
Hey, what about Rammstein, Nena ("99 Luftballoons" was popular here in both the English and German versions), and... shoot, I guess Falco was Austrian. But close. And I like Herbstrock's "Die Bessere Halftre," but I guess they're Austrian, too. But they sing in German, so the fact that they're getting even a little notice over here should count.
And hey, even though he's American, you can have David Hassellhoff if you want him.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Good Afternoon Diners,
Have about 10 minutes until my next appt.
Been going non-stop since early April. Thought it would let up, but noooo.
Havent done a thing MRR wise since I went to the Dupage train show.
Miss talking in the diner.
Hope everyone is well and that you are all safe and ok.,
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Let's see, who am I?
I'm 39, been living at work since end of March, that has just ended this week..... I'm tired.
Typical 2 kids, the lady, house in the suburbs, not enough time to do what I want since I have to play catch up for living at work for 3 months.
Always been into planes, trains and automobiles as long as I can remember. I've wandered away a few times but always came back or kept my magazine subscriptions. I can do everything but paint a car.
I got sick of all the cheapo train stuff the 6 yr old and 3 yr old ended up with and the older one discovered "model trains" so here I am back in it. Although I feel that quality today is garbage for the price paid and you shouldn't have to touch it for the $$$$$ you fork out. Or you send it back for exchange to get another the same way since they are all that way.....
No home layout yet, although we joined a club to be able to run trains for now when I'm not working.
RideOnRoadI captured the scorpion, shook the plate and glass pretty hard, to vent my anger, then dropped him in the toilet and gave him a burial at sea. I double-flushed, just to be sure.
He probably survived ... these critters are really tough!
Yikes - I am just glad we don´t have anything like it here - no poisonous spiders, snakes or other, rather unfriendly varmints.
What we have is a wolf pack, right in the neighboring forest. We have seen one of them a few months ago, crossing the field between our house and the forest. Cute!
The scorpion saga, part 2. Mrs. ROR woke up about 3:30 this morning and felt something on her arm, and brushed it off thinking it was the cat's tail. A little later she heard scratching under her pillow, and figured it must be my hand. A little later still, she felt something crawling down her arm. This time she shook it off of her arm and turned off the light. Here is the culprit. (This is a dessert-size paper plate and cup, for the right perspective.)
I am absolutely amazed she did not get stung. She has been stung twice before and I have been stung once.
Scorpion stings are not fatal in adults. They just really, really hurt. Then, as it is a neurotoxin, various points on your body, anywhere on your body, go numb for a day or so. I was stung on the back as the nasty little bugger climbed into my shirt while I was sleep on the couch. My toe, the tip of my tongue, and the tip of my nose all went numb for a couple of days.
We had an very strong rainstorm hit us last night. The combination of heat and humidity from the Gulf of California combine for some violent storms in Arizona. We figure it was the rain that chased the scorpion into the house.
Finally, here is the rest of the story. I woke up when Mrs. ROR jumped out of bed. I went to the kitchen and got the paper plate and the glass. I captured the scorpion, shook the plate and glass pretty hard, to vent my anger, then dropped him in the toilet and gave him a burial at sea. I double-flushed, just to be sure.
LUNCH TIME !
What Flo - No nothing for me, I ate terrible yesterday and I gotta git back on the cardboard and water starvation thing
Ulrich - I thought that was from that era. It was the clothes, but it being from a different country I wasnt sure. You know one of the things phone companies were doing here - really irritated me - when they were getting ready to launch a new phone they would create issues for the old phone with the speed and other things. So people would get frustrated and buy the "new upgrade" I thought that very shady.
Rinhard - Welcome back ! Any photos of the trip ? When you get a chance shoot me an email and lets set up a time to get together.
Chris - Were you in a coal mine ? What is a "stubby" ? What is Oooroo ? Amra ? Sorry for all of the questions love the your lingo ( most americans do ) but just not familiar with some of the terms.
JaBear - Howdy ! Black stump ? Is that coal ? "Shout the drinks" Does that mean you will buy the next round ? Man I love this new lingo !
Dave - I bet that was a pretty funny scene ! Was he hurt by the sting or just alarmed ?
Wojosa31 - That is a LOT of money to be spending for a product he is not serious about - If he doesnt buy after spending that much money I would lean towards putting him in the fool column
Fourt - Flo Set Fourt up with a Tall Root beer float ! Hope your day goes better and the ankle heals quickly !
Howmus - I am not a buisness man, I am a Project Manager - I dont handle the money end ( thank God for that !) and dont want to. Just give me land, stack of material and a bunch of men and we will build you whatever you want. I was in buisness for myself years ago - sold that Tshirt as fast as I could - no thank you ! Couldnt get paid, people nickled and dimed you to death, everyone wanted more money than they were worth and the Goverment and the Insurance agencies treated buisnesses like we were their own personal piggy bank - some one they could legally rob.
Our model back in the 80s was this: out of 100% - material would be 30% labor 30% sales commision 7% and OH&P 33%. By the time I paid everyone including that giant crook Uncle Sam there wasnt enough money left over for me and I was working 80 hours a week ! Heck with that ! But back to my question it seems like a higher split would be more reasonable ? Like 6 or7 cents out of the 15cents ?
James - Bees will sure clear an area out fast ! I read a story about a local patriot from around here "Colonel Mosby" He had his men set up their artillary to attack a train coming up the track during the great war of "Northern Aggression" Soon a firerce fight ensued between the Yankees and the Va Patriots and the Yankees couldnt drive Mosbys men off ! But unfortunately for them they set up their artillary right over a yellow jackets nest and the Yellow jackets succeeded in doing what the yankees couldnt ! - True story !
Jeremy - Glad your foot is better. What RR do you model ?
Oh geez Stupid W**K phone is ringing gotta stop for now.
TTYL
YGW
Hello everybody.
I am still traveling. We plan to return home this weekend.
I hope each of you is doing well. Welcome new Diners
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Chessie reinhardStopping by the diner from Vienna, Austria
Say hello to Vienna from me, Reinhard! I haven´t been there for years. I like the city very much and I really enjoyed my time there. And the gorgeous food! Have a Wiener Schnitzel, a Topfenpalatschinken and a glass of Grüner Veltliner on me!
I am having intermittent issues with my Internet connection. The line dropped to nothing quite a few times during the day, but now, while it is up and running, I get only 5MBit/s. download speed. I am paying for 16, was happy with the 9 - 10 is usually got, but now I am down to 5, which is inacceptable.
I have the feeling that my Internet provider wants to blitz me into a new contract. Those VDSL lines they built up offer a speed of up to 100MBit/s., but cost a lot more. When they go down, I won´t have a telephone connection, so I´d need to get a mobile phone, which will cost a heck of a money. No, Sir!
Stopping by the diner from Vienna, Austria.
YGW - thanks for the breakfast and the trip is OK. I would rather be home because these short trips to Europe play havoc with my system. Just when you are used to the new time you are back on the plane home and again trying to adjust. It gets worse with every trip; a sign of old age. Looking forward to our next meeting.
Got to run back to the conference.
All the best.
Joe F
Morning all
Todays breakfast on me is: Sausage links, scrapple, Steak and egg, biscuits with apple butter and home made churned butter, 3 egg omelette, cinnamon rolls and your choice of OJ, Watermellon juice, Milk and all the coffee you can drink. There is also some sliced peaches right out of the orchard, strawberries and Mellons.
Hope you brought an extra stomach - eat up
Gotta run - building inspection this morning.
Ah there you are ...I thought I seen you wonder in JaBear.
Can't chat for long but yes I have left the mines for now (thankfully) I have been working in the city and here and there out east over the hills just recently with Mainroads dept... I was looking for a few days off the tools but they were looking for a subby to fill in to finish off some of the new freeway sound walls...so I reluctantly said yes...I will be answering the next call when I got time off will be replied to with "sorry all booked out".
Anyways...outa here with me...
As for the Scorpions Sir Maddog...great band but I am more into the Angels and Stevie Ray Vaughan ...as for the crawley critters there is much worse round ere.
Cheers...
Chris from down under...
We're all here because we're not all there...
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Gday all... ...what do you mean I missed out??...Pancakes?? awww that'll be right...just after I left too. Ah well I'll have to stay longer next time then eh...
Looks like I'm stuck on the freeway work fo another fortnight...The Client just approved a VO on the Limestone sound walls... so its another 100 or so meters (350feet) of footing to be dug out, formed and poured. Will have to push back the next job. At this rate I'll be working through Christmas.
Yeah Flo...alright...I'll get a beer n some more of that Pumkin soup if its still on. I recon that will shut me up for a bit.
Just had a read about that recent train wreck...you gotta be one hell of a lucky brother to get out of that alive...Is there any more info on the tragedy? Has anyone else been found alive? Anyway...many blessings for the families of the ghost train drivers. May they be plotting their routes high up in the mountains in peace.
Still trying to get an order in to Rapidotrains for my GMD-1...Have to stay up till midnight to get them on the phone in the morning there...LOL
Hoping to get the last of the existing job finished by lunch tmoro so I can get home and start moving the layout into the shed...Gotta move the power points down out the way or they will end up in the backdrop...I think I might set up a free standing framework as the shed likes to move around a bit when the wind picks up. Anyways...I will keep ya posted...
I have been messing around with a demo computer program called Anyrail6...Anyone used it or heard of it? I have got the hang of it and found it really good for planning as it has a massive track data base and real measurements. I don't think I will buy the full version though as I only have a small space to plan.
Hey Chloe...Better get us a coffee to go...got some paperwork that need s doing later and this Beer is just sending me of to sleep.
Catch you all later...stay well and watch the sun set more often...its good for the soul.
Oooroo...
Morning, Folks!
Where´s Summer hiding this year or is it hibernating? Lots of and heading our way - again and again and again.
wojosa31the house is 60 years old, but in a good state of repair. The roof, heating system and water and sewer are current. We replaced the old smoke alarms with new units, that double as CO1 detectors.
Well, this old house will turn 60 in August, but the roof could use some more shingles up there. Heating system, water and sewer are OK - according to my Doc. Smoke alarm not necessary anymore and gas detectors - well that´s a different story
Hi, fourt - to this crazy place! Mighty fine folks in here, but it is nice to see a new face around!
YGW - singing in German is not very well received, so any musician with an international ambition will avoid it like hell. The Scorpions are one of the few groups who actually made it to world fame, joining the ranks of Kraftwerk, Tokyo Hotel (for the kiddies). I can´t recall any other. The Scorpions heydays were in the late 1980´s up to the millenium cahnge, but now, I think, they are past their sell by date.
Flo, coffee and a breakfast bagel, please - time to head for the shower after that.
I would just like a club sandwhich this evening with some water.
yougottawanta Frrykid - Back to the food topic - walking is not my top form of transportation. Bad knee, bad back from to many years of construction and an auto accident. Walking hurts a lot !
Frrykid - Back to the food topic - walking is not my top form of transportation. Bad knee, bad back from to many years of construction and an auto accident. Walking hurts a lot !
I can definitely understand that. Both of my knees act up every once in awhile. Most of the time I can keep them from royally barking by using CopperFit knee braces. I already use a hemitite chain (which I actually make myself. Yes, I am multi-talented.) so I don't think the copper helps any more but the compression definitely helps. Other times, if I catch it early enough, my doctor has said that I can use naproxin to keep the pain from going crazy as needed. (When I do get sore, my speed slows down greatly. That 2 miles slows down to 45 minutes or so.)
However, every once in awhile I get so sore I can't move. When those days come, not much I can do other than sit on the couch and not do much of anything. Thankfully those days don't happen often.
Both the doc and I agree that eventually I will have to have my knees worked on. But she has said the longer I can go, the better. (I'm a little young yet for my knees to be worked on in that way from what I have been told.)
We usually don't have scorpions here in Ontario. However, a couple of years ago a young man in Mississauga (just west of Toronto) got a nasty suprise when he was in a nightclub. He got stung in the leg by a scorpion! He had to drop his pants right in the middle of the bar, much to the amusement of the other patrons I'm sure. He had just returned from a trip to Mexico and apparently the wee beast must have been in the pair of pants that he had taken out of his suitcase after getting home from the trip.
My wife has had to drop her pants on several occassions due to wasps flying up her pant legs! I guess she's just lucky, or something.
Regards to all!
yougottawanta Wojosa31 - wrote "the buyer's Home inspector is due...this should be fun, our agent is supposed to be there for the inspection. I'm curious to see how creative the inspector is." ---In my industry we deal with a LOT of Home inspectors - Some are idiots, some who have built are decent, some are failed building inspector wanna bes....Do not have a very high regard for 99% of them. If you want I can review the list and possible help you out with some comments.
Wojosa31 - wrote "the buyer's Home inspector is due...this should be fun, our agent is supposed to be there for the inspection. I'm curious to see how creative the inspector is." ---In my industry we deal with a LOT of Home inspectors - Some are idiots, some who have built are decent, some are failed building inspector wanna bes....Do not have a very high regard for 99% of them. If you want I can review the list and possible help you out with some comments.
Gimmy a cheese steak too, with...Provalone and fried onions.
YGW: Thanks for the offer. The deal here is that the house is 60 years old, but in a good state of repair. The roof, heating system and water and sewer are current. We replaced the old smoke alarms with new units, that double as CO1 detectors.
We are not sure what motivates the buyer, he could be a flipper, investor, straw buyer, fan of Holmes (on DIY TV), a legit first time buyer or an idiot. He ordered every possible inspection available to him, (at his expense), and we are mostly curious as to what is developed. he even ordered a Radon test, although there is no basement, just a concrete slab. We are pretty certain that the deal will not go through, but it would be helpful to get an idea what the inspector's punch list is like, as well as the FHA appraisers punch list along with a good current appraisal of value.
If he is looking for additional concessions, the deal is dead. We don't have any urgency to sell the property, and can wait it out. But, it will give us an idea for the next one.
It's kind of frustrating, but it's all part of the deal making process. I do know of two minor items that need remediation, and I'm curious as to whether the inspector catches them. Should know by Saturday, the next time we go there.
First time posting here in the diner, just been rreading the posts before. Will take a plain hamburger with fries please.
Have had a bad last couple days. Twisted my ankle going out to the car to go to work the other day, it still hurts.
Today while visting a local hobby shop, my car got hit in the parking lot, when this lady backed up and hit me. Bad thing i was not even behind her, but one spot over. She tries to blame me for the accident, saying if i had not been parked there she would not have hit me. She also threaten me several times, incuding to kick my behind. The cops just took our staments and said he coudl not arrest her as i yelled back also, well dohhh who would not after being threaten. Have damage to my frount right side next to the tire. Her truck had no damage as the tow hitch is what hit my car.
Modeling on the cheap