Steven OtteDonuts all 'round!
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TOP OF THE PAGE! Drinks are on me this time! I am in the mood for a Strawberry Daqueri... one for everybody!
Wait, put mine on hold... I am going to be working late in the office tonight, and I could sure use a good donut right about now.
I guess I will just go make another pot of coffee.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Chocolate donuts and daiquiris! I only made strawberry daiquiri's once and they really needed LOTS of sugar.
Found a neat rail cam. Most have a very narrow angle view, this one is big and has 2 cameras.
https://youtu.be/OKkvaRRuBmE
On the West view there are 2 elevated concrete pads. On the East view there are 5 track level concrete pads. Were there more track there?
Weathering metal wheels today.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddyOn the West view there are 2 elevated concrete pads. On the East view there are 5 track level concrete pads. Were there more track there?
2 large elevated pads look like "team track" or something like that, each one has a ramp at opposite ends.
Other concrete strips were the former passenger platforms:
http://howdyyall.com/Trains/Images/Depots/CA_Barstow_1932.jpg
Barstow by Edmund, on Flickr
Note the Santa Fe equipment outside on display at WARM.
https://www.desertusa.com/dusablog/western-america-rail-museum.html
Cheers! Ed
Good afternoon (almost evening) from the land of perfect golfing weather.
Went to Costco this morning with the boss, came home and the kid and I went golfing and I whooped his butt. I got quite a few pars this time so got back in the groove sort of. It is just a short executive course with most holes in the 300yd range.
We got bad news last night so neither one of us was in a good place mentally while playing. I have mentioned before that we have an open door policy for kids that need to get out of difficult situations at home for a while. Late last night we got a call telling us that a 19 year old kid that has been here many a time was found dead in his bed. We thought he probably took his own life but have since found out he probably died of natural causes. Waiting for post-mortem. He was going to school at the other side of the country ( I wonder why) and was home for a visit. His Dad was quite abusive from what we have learned over the years.
On a brighter note, had two calls from a casting director as they couldn't get hold of the kid. Talked to her for almost an hour on the first call. Heard lots of great things about the kid and lots about things he just never mentioned. We knew he had been asked for specifically for most of the stuff he worked on and was being paid a premium rate for it. She said he could have a good career in the movie business if he chose to. She wanted to know what weeks he would be home from Ottawa through the year so I let her know. They booked him last year a bit on his weeks at home and he made some good bucks. Sure makes me proud of him to hear such good things about him.
Time for a scotch.
All the best to all.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Eveing Diners My head hurts.
Flo, the gang and I will have a please and give Ulrich, Rick and Steven what they want.
Work is being a real bit in the caboose trying to figuer out what Tweedledum and Tweedledee have sold. Plus with them selling everything off the floor and not the warehouse our wharehouse guys where at the store today for 6 hours!
In 4 more work days it won't be my problem! Well for 3 too 6 weeks that is.
Wife Knee Replacement is Sept12 and my last day at work is 9-11-18. That is a whole driffrent can of worms.
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Evening diners
I haven't stopped by in a few days. My wife decided to keep me busy.
I knew Monday morning why she got me a jacuzzi suite Sunday night. You just got to love the gal though. She's always had such a kind heart.
She works in management down at the hotel. She collected comforters as the new ones were coming in and the old ones were going out.
There's an organization for the homeless people living under the bridges in Minneapolis. This organization is trying to help these people getting them Rehabilitation and trying to find them some kind of housing for the winter. In the meantime they are taking donations for anything that can help.
My wife surprised me with getting me to put all these bags of comforters in my truck and bringing them down to donate. Of course I did it with a cheerful heart. Maybe not quite as cheerful as hers though
Monday is grocery and errands day too. It sure was a full day.
Evening diners,
Went to the MR club,
Now the big push for donations and membership begins in order to tie us over for another year.
If any of you guys make it Louisiana way or know people coming our way please stop in I can PM you the address.
Not trying to market the club but we need visitors.
Anyways, I'll be around.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Oooooooohhhhhh Maaaaaaaaaannnnn!
I went to the Fieldhouse and DID manage to get my 4 miles in this morning. But..... It is 91°F with high humidity and possibly even hotter in the Fieldhouse. As of this morning I am down to 205lbs which means I have lost 30 lbs. since I got the Fitbit last April. Totally, since my highest wieght (325lbs), I have lost 120lbs.
I have several hours worth of NMRA stuff I absolutely have to get done ASAP, so I'm not going to make this long. I have been sitting in the back by the air conditioner and listening in on the conversations though...
Talking with my Pastor and the Church Secretary yesterday, she told me something about her Swedish ancestory... I said, "I thought you were of Swiss heritage". She said she was both, one side was Swiss and the other Swedish. I told her that back when I was teaching 8th. graders and started the "World Music" curriculum, I would tell the kids that we all tend to be from a lot of different cultures around the world (and that there is only one Race, the Human Race!) that I personally was English, German, Irish, Scotch, and some Bourbon! I didn't think she or the secretary were ever going to catch their breaths.....
Anyway, have a great day out there and remember that at 114°F even the strongest extra strength deoderant stops working....
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
cudaken In 4 more work days it won't be my problem! Well for 3 too 6 weeks that is. Wife Knee Replacement is Sept12 and my last day at work is 9-11-17. That is a whole driffrent can of worms.
Wife Knee Replacement is Sept12 and my last day at work is 9-11-17. That is a whole driffrent can of worms.
So... you quit work almost a year ago?
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
cudakenmy last day at work is 9-11-17.
My last day of work is 03/JUL/2035. I should have over $2,000,000.00 in the 401K by that point.
That seems oh so very far away.
SeeYou190My last day of work is 03/JUL/2035. I should have over $2,000,000.00 in the 401K by that point. .
The equivaltent of $1.23 mil in today's money at current inflation rates. A million doesn't buy what it used to.
Ed thanks. I thought it might be passenger. No passenger traffic there today.
Ken congrats on retiring. Total knees hurt. Don't tell your wife.
Since we are in the Diner, Nascar racer Daniel Suarez said his mom came up from Mexico and made his team tamales. Upscale tamales are wrapped in a corn husk, which you are not supposed to eat. Some of his crew put hot sauce on the wrapper and tried to eat the whole thing.
Here's today's one hour kitbash!
BigDaddyEd thanks. I thought it might be passenger. No passenger traffic there today.
Other than Amtrak's Southwest Chief #3 at 3:45 a.m. and #4 at 9:41 p.m., two trains a day.
https://www.amtrak.com/stations/bar
Happy hump day Diners. To all whatever you want on me. If you care to join us.....
This Scotsman will have a scotch with Brent
Eveing Diners
Flo, the gang and I will have a please and give Ulrich that I am starting to worry about, Rick, Steven and Steve O what they like.
Steve O Thank you for catching my typing mistake. Yes it should have been 2018.
Henery While she knows it will hurt, I do wonder if she knows how much? When I had my hand surgery if I did not hold the hand above my heart it felt like it was going to blow up! Took me three months to get 80% of my hand use back doing the excrices 6 time plus a day. And it did hurt doing them! She on the other hand does not have much inner fortitude when it comes to doing something hard and painful. I hope I am underestamiting her, but I fear she will not be able to walk right if at all.
New Train Front Problem! Seems the window A/C is dripping water on the A line and B line rails under it! Coils on the front are forming water on them and now dripping on the rails. I thought I had the problem fixed today by cleaing the front coils and fliter and they where nasty. But No, it still dripping! Will clean the rear coils Thursday and hope that fixes it!
To sweat or run trains, that is the question?
Ken
Cool Crisp nights is what I live for. Flannel Jean Jacket weather, .. The Best.
Fall is Best time of the year. You get 80 of them if you're lucky. This time of year always Appreciated !
TF
Good morning Ulrich
About 8:30 in Germany right now. I'm sure you had your breakfast. I haven't said hi to you lately. So hello
I just posted how I love the fall as I'm sure you do. To get rid of that humid heat and welcome the cool crisp fall air enjoyed for a while.... Always welcomed, my favorite time of the year.
How are you doing? What's been going on in your world over there
Good morning, everybody .... I'll have some coffee with a pecan roll please.
Ken ..... I think typing mistakes are part of your personality. I could figure out what year you meant in spite of that. So, keep making your typos becasue we would not recognize you without them. LOL
Steven NWP SWP .... Your kitbash creation reminds me of Jeffrey, the Diner's namesake, who often kitbashed odd looking locomotives. He called himself "Dr. Frankendiesel " because of that.
Have a nice day, everybody.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Top of the mornin all. We have a high 9/10 - O/C @19c.
Could be another golf day if the kid gets enough done as far as packing goes. 48hrs from now he will be over Winnipeg, halfway to Ottawa.
I remember on the old Star Trek series when Scotty would say "Captain, the ship just does not feel quite right". Well, something was off with how I felt and I could not pin it down, then I stepped on the scale. I rarely get on the scale as I can tell by how I feel, whether I am getting enough exercise or if my weight is up or down. Imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale and I was up seven pounds. We have been eating out a lot this month and I know that is the cause, so I did 20kms in 64 minutes on the recumbent bike set to a very hard mountain ride. It is a lot easier to lose 7lbs than 70, so I've been told, so that is enough of that nonsense. I'll be back to normal by this time next week, maybe sooner.
Time to take the pool down and put it away, we sure used it a lot this year. Maybe that is why I am a tub of goo, my new floaty has "TWO" beer holders and they were used many times in the heat.
Wife went down to the U.S. of A. to get all the stuff at our mailbox, the second time this week. The new NAFTA agreement will make it even easier to take things back and forth as some of those clauses were 20 years old. They are saying there will be a tenfold on the amounts allowed. Though the reality is we rarely pay when we bring stuff back or take things down.
The wife must be getting tired of me, she is away to a lot of dog shows this fall. Won't be able to get away with too much as my daughter will still be here.
Daughter booked a universities tour through Ontario in two weeks as it is her last year of high school. She is not sure what she wants to do and has been getting offers to do animation work and may go the art route as a profession. EASports is located here as well as other video game producers and movie animation companies. She was offered a job to work on the new Lego movie a while back, but turned it down as she had too much going on already.
Well, the job jar calleth.
Ulrich, don't answer that second questions! It will just get you in trouble when they round up the usual suspects in the diner.
TF where do you live? It's 32 C here on the mid Atlantic.
I need to change a light bulb at the base of the basement stairs. The light has been troublesome and I took it apart last time it went out and marked up the ceiling paint and left a little of the insulation (the yellow fibery stuff) hanging out from under the light. So I need to touch up the paint. If I'm going to touch up the paint, I cShould repair the big nail pop in the stairway.
So far I have procrastinated a day and a half.
Sid was a bit of a kit basher, too.
Richard
Kevin ... I meant to tell you it is good you are saving for retirement. The 401k retirement savings plan is one of the few things the government did right. Same with IRA accounts. Trust funds for Social Security and Medicare are being depleted. They could be exhausted by the time you retire, and therefore it is good to save for retirement.
RideOnRoad Sid was a bit of a kit basher, too.
Hardy Har Har!
Heartland Division CB&QThe 401k retirement savings plan is one of the few things the government did right.
This, again, is one of those things where different people have differing opinions. The whole idea was that money put into one of these was not taxed until it was withdrawn, with the thought that when you finally got around to taking it out your tax rate would be less. I am not convinced that my tax rate is any less today then what it was when these plans started. The other repercussion is that any gains you have in the 401 are taxed at your full tax rate at the time of withdrawal.
Now if you are talking about a ROTH IRA, the tax is paid upfront. So when you withdraw, there is no tax due. In addition, any gains in the Roth are not taxed at all.
If I were to do it again, I'd choose the Roth over the 401K. But that's my opinion.
maxmanThe other repercussion is that any gains you have in the 401 are taxed at your full tax rate at the time of withdrawal. Now if you are talking about a ROTH IRA, the tax is paid upfront. So when you withdraw, there is no tax due. In addition, any gains in the Roth are not taxed at all.
My accountant went over the options with me decades ago.
He said that all-in-all the IRS is pretty sharp. With a 401-(K) you will put more money in up front because no taxes are taken out. Then over years and years you will build up more money than you will with a Roth becuase of the bigger seed fund.
Then, when you take it out you will pay more taxes than you would with a Roth.
He said there is little chance that the overall difference from one to another would be more than 4%, and it is anyone's guess which one would be the better at that slim margin.
It made sense to me. I went with the 401-(K) because it is easier to manage, right through the paycheck.
Anyway, my retirement years should not be wrecked with money problems, and security has always been my goal, not wealth. I plan to spend every penny while I am on this Earth.
SeeYou190He said that all-in-all the IRS is pretty sharp. With a 401-(K) you will put more money in up front because no taxes are taken out. Then over years and years you will build up more money than you will with a Roth becuase of the bigger seed fund. . Then, when you take it out you will pay more taxes than you would with a Roth. . He said there is little chance that the overall difference from one to another would be more than 4%, and it is anyone's guess which one would be the better at that slim margin. .
The group I worked with was slow on the uptake to have a Roth 401K. By the time the figured it out, I prefered to have all my retirement money in one account.
If you retire or change jobs, you should roll your 401K (Roth or not) into an IRA.
The downside of 401K's is that the choice leave a lot to be desired as to choices and the manager of your fund gets to negotiate. For example T Rowe Price has an International fund, that all of us could buy, with our own money, tomorrow. In your 401K, you may have class C shares of a fund with the same name. It's only the same name, the daily price is not published, it may not trade the same as the public fund everyone can buy and it may have different holdings, but what all that is, is totally opaque.
The other advantage of a Roth, over an IRA or traditional 401K is there is no mandatory withdrawal. That starts when you are 72 1/2.
For some people, they don't want the money. They no longer travel, they sold the boat or vacation home or RV. They would like to leave a legacy for their children or grandchildren.
I saw piece on a business channel tonight about 65 year olds. The average 401K balance is $200,0000, but the median (meaning 1/2 own more and 1/2 own less is only $60,000.
My mother used to tell me about her friend, who kept refinancing her home, as it increased in value. By the time she hit 70, she still had a big mortgage and a husband that needed a nursing home and no savings. I'm not going to spend every penny.
I have been "saving" my change for year's .....
( I should retire with $428.07 )
Rust...... It's a good thing !
BigDaddy TF where do you live? It's 32 C here on the mid Atlantic.
Minnesota BigDaddy
It's been hot and humid here pretty much all summer. We've had a three day break here. Upper 60s lower 70s no humidity. TF likes.
I will take cold winter any day over hot & humid. You can put as much as you want on but you can only take so much off.
The Crickets are doing their thing every morning and all day, a sure sign of fall.
I'm beginning to believe in that global warming hogwash.... Not really though.
Man would like to take more credit to give reasons why things are the way they are.... Mother Earth just keeps doing what she does. It's a cycle. It could be a newer cycle than we've seen before though
Take care Henry
Henry ... I have seen statistics like what you posted from time to time . There are also statistics about debt carried by individuals. It is very sad so many people handle their money so poorly .
My wife and I each had 401k accounts when we worked . The main advantage was the employers added their contributions to our accounts. Another advantage was it was easy to shift funds between investments which allowed us to grow our savings more rapidly.
We also invested in our taxable accounts which covered major expenses over the years when needed.
Each of us retired much earlier than normal. The 401K’s were rolled over into both types of IRA’s. We still have the taxable accounts which cover much of our living expenses. We do not borrow except for credit cards which we pay fully each month.
I encourage everybody , especially young people, to save their money and invest it wisely .
BigDaddy mandatory withdrawal. That starts when you are 72 1/2.
70-1/2