Morning all.
Back to work yesterday after being on Vacation, not a pleasant experience.
Went to a wedding on Saturday. the bride is one of the few people I've kept in touch with from high school and one of my friends around my town. I was extremely honored I was invited, since only like four people form our graduating class of 2010 were invited. It did rain, but, they say rain on a wedding day I saw a sign of a "blessed, loving, long lasting marriage, full of happiness, joy and a long life together". Sadly i had to work the next morning, so i had to leave the reception early.
Job hunting continues. I hate working with teenagers, some are good, others are just lazy. Have I reached "Old" yet?
ah well, gonna enjoy today off, and finish up that model I'm working on
(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).
All right, everyone, the other Steven NWP SWP has seen the error of his ways. Let him put it behind him now.
That said... Steven, lawnmowing can be a very profitable business, if you're willing to put effort into it. My lawn business paid for all my discretionary spending through 4-1/2 years of college. I mowed through the summer and the money would last the rest of the year. My business was called "Marquis de Sod" with the slogan "We'll whip your lawn into shape." Most of my customers didn't get it. I'd have people call me up and ask, "Is this Marcus?"
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Mornin'..... Ahhhh, Hmmmmmm.... Ahem! Afternoon all!
I've been up and around for quite a while, but just getting to trhe forum.
Steven OtteMy business was called "Marquis de Sod" with the slogan "We'll whip your lawn into shape." Most of my customers didn't get it. I'd have people call me up and ask, "Is this Marcus?" Laugh
Well, Steven O, I think the other Steven has probably been whipped quite enough... I love the title of your old "Business"! I am particularly fond of punny jokes......
Quote for this morning: "In wine there is wisdom, in Beer there is freedom, In water there is bacteria." - Benjamin Franklin (Supposedly...)
Well, I do like a glass of some of the fine Finger Lakes wines now and then.... If they had to depend on me to stay in business, though, they would have folded years ago.
Need to stray near the phone this afternoon until I get the call telling me what time the "Rotorouter Job" is scheduled for tomorrow. Then I may just clean the house for a while. I sure does need it!
I'll be sitting in the back booth eaves dropping for a while.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Maybe Cousin Vinnie should change his name to Cousin Marcus?
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Steven Otte My business was called "Marquis de Sod" with the slogan "We'll whip your lawn into shape."
.
Among my peer group, that would have literally have them rolling on the floor laughing.
Thanks for that one.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good day diners,
On my lunch break thought I'd stop in to say howdy! Before anyone starts throwing things I am carrying a white flag!!!
Business, I was thinking of using "Dynomite Lawn Care: Our Service Will Blow Your Mind!" Dynamite is purposely spelt with an O...
Modeling I figure I might do a Triple deck layout, around the walls and a central peninsula... scenery will be divided into about 6 types two per deck, just thinking out loud...
Well lunch breaks over back to work!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Good morning from the Stunningly beautiful sunny West Coast.
We got woken up in the wee hours by our carbon monoxide detectors going off. Carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer and has been known to kill entire families while they sleep. It is likely that the heat exchanger in our furnace failed as this has been an ongoing problem with many models of furnaces that were sold over a certain period of time. It was inspected and cleared two years ago, however, I went out and bought an extra detector just to be safe.
Stupid is as stupid does, change your batteries and buy a new one when they expire.
Kid jobs, I never had my own paper route, however, I often would cover for kids that were going on vacation or to a hockey tournament or something like that. I would charge a premium to do it for them. If they got $5.00 for the day, I charged $7.00. I was a real entre(manure). At 13 I got a job at Safeway returning buggies, that was good $. In grade ten I got a job at a city owned golf course. I worked 1530hrs to 2130hrs three days a week and 12 hours on Saturday and 12 hours on Sunday. I made full city worker wages and if I was doing that today I would have graduated high school with just over $100,000.00 after tax dollars in today's dollars. In 1974 at the ripe old age of 17 I made my first $3200.00 RRSP contribution. I made the max contribution for the next 45 years. So I have that and a very good Government pension. Start saving early and when you retire you will have lots of money for trains.
The Canadian Federal Government use to run an add years ago that went something like this. Take your after tax cheque, spend 10% on yourself, save 20% for retirement, live on the remaining 70%. It is easy to determine what your standard of living can be by following that simple formula.
There was another add that ran more recently ( not a Government add) that said you should save $1.00 per square foot per year for your house for maintenance cost. The wife and I thought that was a pretty accurate statement when you throw in the cost of a new roof, furnace, hot water tank etc.
My daughter just now found out her favourite horse that she rides has to be put down. He isn't very old and we don't yet know why, so we will go for a visit to say good-bye. She was going to go ride him later today. What a way to ruin her mid term break. The phone just rang again, the Vet thinks it is a brain tumor.
Things come in three's. Furnace, horse.......
All the best to all, best go get my shoes on.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
GOOD HEAVENS! We just broke 90 degrees in early February! 91 outside right now.
Weather is expected to have lows in the 70's and highs in the upper 80's the rest of the week.
This sure makes it weird watching the Winter Olyimpic Games right now.
Evening diners,
Not much going on this afternoon...
Modeling front, nothing to report...
BATMAN We got woken up in the wee hours by our carbon monoxide detectors going off. Carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer and has been known to kill entire families while they sleep. It is likely that the heat exchanger in our furnace failed as this has been an ongoing problem with many models of furnaces that were sold over a certain period of time. It was inspected and cleared two years ago, however, I went out and bought an extra detector just to be safe. Stupid is as stupid does, change your batteries and buy a new one when they expire.
Brent,
Just a couple words of advice...
If it truely did activate to the presence of CO in your home, it's probably time to replace that detector. Depending on the age, how many times it's measured CO, and the severity (PPM) it can burn out the sensor. It may read "zero", but that's after they go through the reset and re-alignment process.
Please go find yourself a wall-powered with battery backup one to replace the unit that alerted. It's prudent to have at least two for your home.
To put it in perspective, we have combination detectors in each bedroom (three), two in the great room / living room, one in each hallway, as well as propane detector/alarm. All are interconnected with 110v battery backup, as well as 9v battery backup in each device.
After a fatal fire just before Christmas of 2005, we started a major push to increase awareness of not only having smoke detectors, but the type of detector you have installed. With numerous CO instances over the last few years, we're pushing for additional CO detectors. I hope to write a grant this winter to the insurance companies to further that effort.
This space reserved for SpaceMouse's future presidential candidacy advertisements
BATMANWe got woken up in the wee hours by our carbon monoxide detectors going off.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Speaking of dangerous fumes, don't use a bleach-based cleaner to clean a cat box. (My voice was messed up for a week.)
Richard
Hello Gentlemen, and Ladies if present...
Flo, I'll have a dish of Pittsburgh's famous pierogies, sauteed onions, sour cream and just a sprinkle of paprika. An Iron City to wash it down, on Ken's tab, of course! Thank You.
If anyone is curious about the cuisine in the Three Rivers area:
https://madeinpgh.com/2015/09/14/16-foods-that-pgh-made-famous/
CO detectors and cat litter seems to be the theme tonight.
Back in December a young couple from Mansfield, Ohio was found dead along with their dog. It seems the power went out and their coal-fired furnace allowed CO gas to build up in the house.
I'd really like to see how this thing was vented and wired up. People have been burning coal for years, and with a little caution and common sense you will never have a problem. The news people were all nodding in agreement, "Well, there you go — no power and the blower doesn't run. Yep, that's what did it!" I'm guessing the results of the investigation will never be made public but if anyone uses auxiliary heat that HAS to have an outside power source to rid the flue gas, you're in trouble.
Smoke detectors, CO detectors = cheap life insurance!
RideOnRoadSpeaking of dangerous fumes, don't use a bleach-based cleaner to clean a cat box.
Plenty of ammonia in animal urine. Sodium Hypochlorite + ammonia = chloramine vapor =
Well, a major hurdle was overcome on the new roundhouse construction. Last night I cut the grooves for the inspection pits! What a mess!
RH_pits2 by Edmund, on Flickr
I used a guide fence screwed to the subroadbed. That worked beautifully. I really should have rigged up a vacuum nozzle attachment though
RH_pits1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Fortunately, my calculations were spot-on and the foundation with pits attached dropped right in with no further trimming Yay!
RH_pits by Edmund, on Flickr
Now the arduous cleanup begins. I had thin drop cloths over most of the area but there were a few places where the sawdust blew under it. This little guy worked through the night and got the main line open in time for the morning rush!
I hope everyone is doing well and thoughts and prayers go out to those in need...
Regards, Ed
That's the ammonia/chlorine mixture that will kill, here's a detailed list of things not to mix...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/peggy/16-common-product-combinations-you-should-never-mix
Ed, you did a great job with the router.
I love the posed picture with the dozer on sawdust duty... AWESOME.
Steven OtteMy business was called "Marquis de Sod" with the slogan "We'll whip your lawn into shape."
Oh my gosh!! What WERE you doing with those grass clippings?!?
Great sense of humour Steven!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
SeeYou190I love the posed picture with the dozer on sawdust duty... AWESOME.
Thank You, Kevin. May as well make some FUN out of the drudgery
Cheers! Ed
Goodnight diners,
Thought about my lawn care business and layout some more...
My dad has agreed to let me use the family truck and the zero turn mower were going be buying in the spring for my business till I can afford my own equipment...
As for the layout I am considering two or three decks with 2-4% grades no helix, around the walls with a central peninsula, on each side of the peninsula the scenery will change... so deck 1 side a is desert side B is desert mountains, deck two side a is Sierra Nevada scenery, side b northern California, deck 3 side a is cascades, side b is Montana mountain pass...
Again not much planned just kinda thinking out loud...
Ammonia and Chlorine will make Phosgene Gas, simular to that used in WW!, not good----We burned coal for years, biggest thing to watch out for is don't shut the back damper down before the blue flame is gone from the burning coal in the fire box. We never had a blower on the old furnace, (still in operation in the farm house, used as back up by the new owners during power failures)
At Ft. Drum in New York the barracks were heated with coal, 200 of us per--in 16 days there it snowed 12, on one day it did get up to 22 deg.F. the rest of the time it was in the single numbers, or colder. Many days the barracks were cool to say the least. During these occasions the cry would go out,"Have one of the Maine Guys go tend the furnace", most of us grew up fireing a coal furnace. When we did, topless was in vogue. These were very large furnaces, and they also had blowers, but we always let the coal gas burn off before shutting the draft down.
My first winter was spent in a three room cabin, we had a wood/coal kitchen range to heat with. Dad fired the stove for an overnight burn with coal and shut the back draft down too soon, and we were nearly overcome with coal gas. Lesson learned. It wasn't that he did not know, it had been over 30 years since he had burned coal, and had forgot about burning off the coal gas before shutting down.
New roof finished, coming out of our Feb. thaw, down to 14 tonight-from 38. Ice in the rivers starting to break up, helped along by the use of an ice breaker. Just below Augusta on the Kennebec there is evidence that an ice jam had started, but was relieved by the use of the ice breaker.
Canada Geese starting to land in the marshes on their annual migration, spring not too far off.
Hope all are well, prayers for those in need---
herrinchoker
Good evening all.
Zoe - How about a nice hard cider? I could use something a bit stronger than normal tonight... Thanks.
Garry (IIRC) - Wow, my gentleman must really get around, to be over that far from here!
Weather - Cold!
W*^k - Well, tired of stupid idiots. Had a female customer claim that we had been rude and that we had refused to give her a military discount on a refrigerator, and complained to corporate about this. Said customer also stated that she is a store manager for a neighboring store. She also stated that we had told her that she "should be happy that the items are already 30% off."
Complaint was filed on either Thursday night or Friday morning. (Remember this...) And, corporate never said who had allegedly done this to her, so, as I knew it wasn't me, I was asked to contact her for further information, as corporate had only what they passed on to us, and wanted more info, as well as asking me to see if we could find a way to help her...
A few problems with the complaint, right off.
First off, all but one neighboring store is all owned by the guy I work for, and this person is not from any of them. (Including the one not owned by him, we checked, as it is still in our district, and my district manager has no clue who this girl is.) So, the whole store manager bit was false.
Second off, military discounts were never good on appliances, only tools. (A store manager should know that! More proof she is not a store manager.) And, with us closing, all extra discounts, including military, are disabled by corporate at POS. (Point Of Sale for non-retail folks.) So, military discount no longer works on even the only corporate approved items, tools. (Also means that I cannot do any discounts at the register to help her out...)
So, I had attempted to contact this customer, and was not very successful with it. (She refused to talk with us over the phone at all.)
So, I asked everyone else, including my supervisor, if they had spoken with anyone about a military discount, and was informed no one had. I then spoke with my supervisor as to why I was asking.
So, I got back with corporate, and informed them, and sent a copy to my district manager as well, that, after numerous unsuccessful attempts at contacting the customer, we were ceasing all attempts to do such, as, no one in our store had talked with her prior to her filing the complaint. (I also outlined the two major issues in the complaint I listed above.)
I ended the email response by stating that, one of two things was occurring.
1: It was a malicious false complaint.
Or, 2: It was incorrectly directed at our store.
I finalized it by this statement : Seeing as no one in our store had spoken with Ms. (Customers name) prior to her complaint about this matter, we are hereby ceasing all attempts at contacting Ms. (customer). Either the entire complaint is malicious and false in nature, and therefore a waste of our time investigating, or directed at the wrong store, also wasting our stores time investigating it. We are therefore treating it as a false complaint.
(This was evidently passed on to said customer.....)
She finally called this morning, and spoke with my supervisor. She was extremely ticked off, as I had "no right to be calling her when the complaint was about me"....
No, she had not spoken with me, ever. I had not spoken with anyone about any military discount on refrigerators.
In fact, I have only had a male ask about it, and on a stove.... My answer was that, military discounts were never available on appliances, and with our store closing, all discounts were disallowed by corporate in the register system, so no extra discounts or coupons would work on any items.
Now, her final problem with her complaint? She alleges that it occurred when I was w*^king by myself, on Saturday.... Yes, you did hear that right, Saturday..... Specifically, this past Saturday...
No one w*^ked by themselves on Saturday, and how could that be the case when her complaint was filed before Saturday?
Long story short, she was informed that the complaint was found to be flat out false, and we would do nothing for her. No extra discounts, no special treatment, no nothing for her taking the time to complain about us.
She then stated that she would be shopping at competor "X", and she was informed that she should indeed do just that, and to "have a nice day." (Bon Jovi Style.... ) The phone was then hung up by my supervisor.
Now, any further complaints from this person will be met with a harassment charge, and possible slander charges (from me) as well.
These idiot vultures are beginning to tick me off......
Oh, and, even though we have "All sales final" posted at the registers, and on every price sign, and on every receipt, we had a complaint to corporate today that we had refused to return an item for a different customer.... So, there are now twice as many "All Sales Final" signs, so many, that you practically trip over them! (Every dept, every door on both sides, and 9 times between two registers and register counter...)
The item, they bought by mistake, and (again) they had lied in their complaint to corporate, (they had asked another associate if the item was indeed the price marked, he said "yes". They told corporate he told them it would fit their item, which they never asked, nor did they inform him what their item even was that they were buying this one for, as he would have then told them it would not fit... and, we were never asked if they could return it to begin with, so how did we deny it?)
So, I made nice and agreed to give them store credit...
We close 3/4/18...
Yep, I'm done playing nice!!!! (I hate liers, and can't stand stunts involving such.)
Some people's children.......
Now you know why I requested the hard cider....
Hope all are well, and all have a good (notice I didn't say "nice" ) night!
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Ricky!
That's retail for you!
A long time ago when I was a management trainee in the Hardware Dept. in the Peterborough, ON Sears store I had a customer come in carrying a totally worn out chain saw. He said it was a piece of garbage and he wanted a free replacement. He quoted our 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' policy. I told him that the guarantee didn't include normal wear and tear, but he immediately demanded to see the Store Manager! I dutifully took him to see the Store Manager who immediately caved and told me to give him a new saw. OK, that was the manager's choice so I followed orders. However, on the way back down to the Hardware Department the customer proceeded to tell me what idiots we were for giving him a new saw. In fact, he laughed in my face. I still have a bitter taste in my mouth about that person (not the word I would like to use but I have to be polite).
If you are in retail then you have chosen a career where you will me subjected to abuse. Don't let it get under your skin! Granted, that is easier said than done.
Howdy ..
Steve O ... You win the prize for funniest name for a lawn mowing business.
Ed .... Clever of you to pose the bulldozer moving sawdust.
Jimmy .... Do you have more railroad photos from SW PA to show us ?
Did someone mention Canadian Geese ? ... I think they are everywhere. They come here too.
Happy Model Railroading, everybody .
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
There was a King in Denmark,He had a third ear growing out of the middle of his forehead.It was a very large earand he could hear all that was being said about him anywhere in the kingdom.When people came to have audience with himthe ear would wiggle and shakeit would focus on the visitorwhich visitors found very disconcerting.He became know as...The King of the Wild Front Ear!ROARING
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Lion !
Who rattled your cage?
.. LOL ..
Did you hear about the two men from the monastery who opened a fast-food seafood restaurant? One was the fish friar, the other was the chip monk.
Uh oh ...
the Diner is O Pun for business.
Back in elementary school there was a poem that went:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Horses and cows, I come before you, to stand behind you, to tell about something that I know completely nothing about, this Wednesday which is Good Friday we will be having a mother's day meeting for fathers and sons only, admission is free pay at the door, pickup a chair sit on the floor, we will be discussing the four corners of the round table..."
Here's pun of my own invention:
"The Michelin man comes home after a long week, his wife says you look 'tired'!"
Very Punny!
Good morning, it is a pleasant day with a snow warning for later. Must be because of all that razzing I was giving you guys the other day.
The furnace guy is showing up this afternoon to take a look at the heat exchanger, it should be covered by Carrier as they extended the warranty on our model to 20 years because of the heat exchanger issue. The original warranty is 10 years and ours is only nine years old so we should be good regardless.
We have three hardwired smoke alarms, one smoke alarm with our ADT security system, 7 battery powered smoke alarms and two carbon monoxide detectors. We will buy a third CO detector. We will keep the other two as they are quite new. The newest one always goes in our bedroom. Cheap insurance is right.
The Passport office called and need to see us again as they made a mistake with my daughters Passport Application. The kid that served me was a newbie and told me so when I was there. No worries we will just drop by this afternoon. We were wondering why we had not received them as normally it only takes ten days.
Went for a killer long walk yesterday. I have popped up a few pounds over this winter and boy they are now dropping off big time. All I do is start exercising more on the bike or go for walks and only have wine on the weekends instead of a glass every night and boy I get skinny fast. Just dropping a glass of wine Monday through Friday is a thousand calories a week. The only other thing I change is I will sometimes drop two pieces of toast a week. That is only 220 calories, add that to the wine calories and that is 1220 calories a week. More than enough to drop a few pounds without even noticing I am eating less. I will lose an easy five pounds a month just doing that. Six weeks should have me back to where I want to be.
When I was working in Government Logistics most of my time was spent at the airport. We would often get world leaders stopping in for unofficial pit stops ( maybe just to refuel or to have a short meeting with someone on their plane) sometimes they would want to have something sent somewhere and we would usually get it done for them. Had a couple of times where I just turned around and walked off their airplane when they thought they were above following the rules. That is really the only time I had to deal with jerks in my line of work, most of the time I got endless thankyou's followed up with a letter to the boss in Ottawa.
I have lost count of the number of Prime Ministers, Presidents and Dictators I have seen from just a few feet away. I have also been up close to everyone in the Royal family a few times. Fidel Castro use to stop in to gas up. He is quite a Character in real life. He would get off his plane to stretch his legs and was not shy when it came to introducing himself to the people servicing his airplane.
Lunchtime on the West Coast so all the best to all.
I can that conversation would go, *bearded Cuban in military dictator uniform deplanes* *walks over to ground crew* "Hello I am Fidel Castro!" *ground crew blankly stares* then one says "so?"