Got the word that my teenage years' movie star obsession, Diana Rigg, died today. She starred in my all-time favorite TV show, The Avengers.
York1 John
R.I.P., Diana Rigg. That show was a favorite of mine, too. Along with another British show, The Prisoner.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
As a teenager Dianna Rigg was hot. I've always been fond of the British accent, expecially so in attractive women. Odd in this day and age, there must still be a stigma of cancer, because they don't say what kind she had. Not that one is better than another, but it can serve to raise people's awareness.
The movie series, the Avengers, has nothing to do with the TV show and is hideously violent.
Comcast will not return my phone calls.
Verizon had to go to the store, which couldn't solve my problem, but could connect to real person that could solve the problem.
The scam of sending a money order or check, in excess of the sale amount is so pervasive, I put a warning on anything I sell on Craigslist.
Ulrich, sorry to hear about his vision. If that guy didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
A turkey is a funny bird, his head goes wobble wobble. All it is he has to say, is gobble gobble gobble
That's Judy's song and she's like a little kid and I love when she sings it
We got rid of storage today in its entirety and I am so happy. Here is the last light at the end of the tunnel in the Box we rented for 7 years.
No more $90 a month and no more kept luggage carried on my coat tail. I am officially a Non Hoarder Today
We stopped at Joe's for a beer to celebrate! Only two blocks down is the gas station and the local gender to pick up a 12-pack for the two of us to split tonight.
While I was pumping gas the Wild Turkey Clucked around my truck and came up to me like he wanted something to eat. He was so close I could have just put my arm down and petted him. I didn't have my phone to take a picture and neither did Judy.
Had we have, I'm sure that bird would have put his wings around us on each side of him so we could all take group pictures
I asked Dan about him at United and he said he comes around every day since this spring. I have seen him many times enough to watch him grow but not everyday like Dan. That bird is getting rather big
If I were to put that bird on my plate for Thanksgiving somehow, I would probably be doing him a favor! But he is the neighborhood mascot and I will leave him alone
TF
Not looking forward to round 2 of Kelly's funeral. The first one was hard enough. Going to the burial site on Saturday. Seeing Judy falling apart all over again which has already started is going to be very hard.
Thanks for listening while I vent I'm somewhat new to this funeral stuff. I'm having some problems with it in my older age
CNCharlieMy wife's grandmother was Polish and made the best ones I have ever tasted. My wife was raised on them and she shudders when someone talks about cooking them by boiling.
Hi CN Charlie,
I think the boiling bit is because the store bought perogies usually come frozen. After they are boiled at a medium heat we finish them in butter and chopped bacon. We prefer green onions to sauteed onions. The sauteed ones don't agree with me.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Eveing Diners
Flo, give the gang and I a please and Dirk his dog treat.
CPAP hose repair did the trick. Sleep much better last noight.
All this talk about albams with train on the jacket, what about a rock band named Railroad? My faviort band when I was a youth, Grand Funk Railroad!
Time to take Dirk out, so later.
Ken and Dirk say's Woof, Woof.
I hate Rust
Yeah, the movie Avengers is not the TV series Avengers. I read that Diana Rigg smoked her whole life since she was 18. I don't know if that was what happened. John Steed and Emma Peel -- what a pair in a stylish crime drama with touches of science fiction. Emma was the main reason I watched. From IMDB: "Was voted the sexiest-ever TV star by TV Guide in the United States." "Mrs. Peel, we're needed."
Mister Beasley, I agree, I also loved The Prisoner. Those two shows were about the only ones I made sure not to miss.
Kevin, whenever you post that video, "I Never Go To Work", I have that melody running through my head the rest of the day. I sent it to a bunch of other people who are still working.
For some reason, I don't remember many album covers. About the only one that stands out is Santana's first album -- got that one in college, either 1969 or 1970. It was a lion's head.
hon30critter What the heck is that??
What the heck is that??
The second largest quiver of arrows ever.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
York1 Got the word that my teenage years' movie star obsession, Diana Rigg, died today. She starred in my all-time favorite TV show, The Avengers.
Ah, man!!!
She was also James Bond's wife.
York1whenever you post that video, "I Never Go To Work", I have that melody running through my head the rest of the day.
It is an aggravating ear-worm, but it is also my personal feel-good anthem!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
LastspikemikeI think it best if I do not explain on a publicly accessible website how these scams actually work.
Why not? What do you think might happen?
Here are some images of New Mexico's stunning scenery:
Good morning, everyone.
Cool and rainy this morning. It was a nice walk on the trail.
It will be a nice sleepy day today.
Thanks for the stunning pictures of New Mexico Dave, Enjoyed!
hon30critter
Looks like you had a little fun at the Photoshop with this one though I think if you added a flying saucer somewhere the picture would be most perfect
Some more album covers with trains on them.
Rememberance Day today
Good morning.
Recalling 9/11/2001.
Shelley and I were in Halifax, NS, Canada where we arrived on 9/9/2001. We flew to Halifax from Nashville, TN on American Airlines changing planes in Boston, MA.
Early on 9/11, I turned on the TV in our hotel room. CNN was broadcasting a boring story, and I forget what it was about. Suddenly the show was interrupted. ...... Breaking news. ...
A plane had hit one of the WTC towers. We spent the day watching the horrors.
About 50 trans-Atlantic flights were diverted to the Halifax airport and parked there. All flights to the US were ended. ..... We wondered how to get home and when.
Several days later, we rode VIA Rail's Ocean to Montreal. We had a room in a Budd sleeper ahead the Budd dome-observation car. It was an overnight trip of 22 hours.
About an hour after arriving in Montreal, we boarded a VIA train to Toronto. We stayed two nights at the Royal York Hotel next to Union Station in Toronto. .
Next, we boarded Amtrak's International which passed through Michigan on its way to Chicago. There was a delay of several hours at the border. All train passengers got off the train to ride busses to Port Huron MI where we got back on the train. We rode the train to Flint, MI.
At Flint, we got off the train and rented a car. We drove to Nashville where we got our car to drive home.
........
Prayers of rememberance for all who died on 9/11.
....
Dave: .... Thanks for posting the beautiful NM pictures.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Garry
I was so glad to hear your current eye surgeries went so well for you. To see the best near and far for the first time in your life sounded so encouraging when I read it days ago.
Until about three years ago I had both really good farsighted and nearsighted vision. My farsightedness currently is still awesome. I have had people in my truck that did not believe I read the road sign way down the Highway before we got there and said I had been there before and I knew what it said Who thinks like that? Like I don't have better things to do than memorize signs
Every year my nearsightedness just gets worse and worse. I don't even think a current prescription last for a year anymore which is making N scale model railroading extremely difficult. My right eye nearsightedness is diminishing faster than the left. Hearing the success of modern-day eye surgery and how well it worked for you is an inspiration for me to look into getting my nearsightedness problem taken care of.
I finally have insurance now so I am going to look into this. I'm not too much of a doctor person but I would like so much to see things well up close again.
I remember the morning standing in the livingroom watching in shock with Judy that day so many years ago.
My moment of silence goes out to the lives that were so needlessly lost that sad day remembered.
Prayers for a peaceful world and hope
John
I have some very bad memories from 9/11, but not what might be typical.
The customer's site I was working at closed down as soon as the second airplane hit the WTC. I returned to our shop. My supervisor was upset that I had left the job site and not finished the work.
He was dressing me down in his office when the phone call came in from World Headquarters to close our shop.
9-11
School was just beginning. My wife called and told me to turn on the TV. In one of the homerooms, I turned on the TV and told other teachers to do the same. It took a while for me, let alone the students, to realize we had been attacked.
After the first shock, I told the teachers to try to have as normal a day as possible. We had quite a few parents call to see if they should get their kids early. I think they wanted to just hunker down in their homes due to the uncertainty.
Edit: Top of the page!
It's happy hour here, so have a drink or two on me. I'm cooking spaghetti, and having my drinks while I cook.
Thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who lost their lives and all of the lives effected by 9/11.
I do not remember the day as I was only 2, but I remember my moms story.
She was on the way to my aunts house to drop me off so she could go to work. On the radio she heard the news and ran into my aunts to turn the TV on.
When she got to work, her and her coworkers went and bought a cheap TV to watch the news in the brakeroom. When the boss found out, he sent out a mass email telling everyone to get over it and get back to work or else they would be fired. So she did what anyone else in that situation would do, she typed her resignation letter and slapped it on his desk. She turned and walked out and flipped him the bird as he tried to get her to stay.
Kinda like your situation kevin, although I hope yours turned out better.
John- Do you think you could whip me up a plate? Sounds yummy
Good afternoon .
TF ... Thanks for your comment to me. Are you sure you don't memorize signs? LOL .... I'm glad my story was encouraging to you. If you are thinking of eye surgery, I suggest going to the best available eye clinic in your part of the country. I had mine done at Vanderbilt Eye Institute in Nashville, TN which is as good as it gets in this region.
Everybody ..... Thanks for sharing your 9/11 memories. I should add to my discussion, we are thankful to Canadians who were very kind to very many people who were stranded in Canada as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
Have a nice evening.
Our family arrived in town late because they tied one on last night. We're just getting ready to go to the hotel for two days and Judy asked me how she looked? I said beautiful course just like when they ask do I look fat in these jeans and of course the answer is NO!
A guy usually doesn't say this but I figured what the hay. I asked her how I looked. She said you look like junk, go comb your hair and she got a way with that
Good afternoon from perfectville. It was another sunny day with temps in the mid-20s. Sure is lots of smoke coming up from Washington and Oregon though.
Spent the day at the computer working on this Estate I am dealing with, man I had no idea her affairs would be in such a mess. Talked on the phone to a nice guy from U.S. Bank for a long time. Trying to figure out how to get things done with the border being closed. I picked up a cheque for many millions at the Lawyer from a land sale that was part of the Estate. I drove right by PWRS on the way to the bank with it and was thinking how many millions in stock would they have on the shelf? I kept going.
Just found out that the dog we used the 30 year old frozen sperm on is pregnant so we will be having pupsicles on Canadian Thanksgiving.
9/11 was a long exhausting day for me as was the following few days. I have told about it in the past so won't repeat it. Still wrenches the heartstrings remembering.
I was selling some artwork once and the scammer alarm bells went off. It is a long story, but I sure had fun with the guy. His name was Rev Lumpkin Williams based in England (so he said). If you Google his name he is infamous.
We placed a notice to creditors for this Estate I am looking after and boy did the scammers come out of the woodwork then. They did not get far with me.
Dave, thanks for posting all the pics of NM, I'll have to go visit and do a walkabout.
TF, sorry to hear you have to go through a two part service for your SIL. My Sister wanted the full meal deal for our parents so we did that. Starting with my generation though, at most we will have a get together at someone's house and then privately spread the ashes at some point. Big funerals and big weddings seem to be a thing of the past in our social circles. My wife and I got married on the grounds of the Hyatt in Kaui. We said we would buy dinner for those that showed up, 18 did.
Time for a Rum and Pepsi.
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."
I was playing racquetball. We came off the court all sweaty, and became transfixed by the TV at the counter for over an hour.
We remember.
It was foggy in Maryland and I was off that day watching CNBC. They didn't know how big the 1st plane was that hit, and I knew a B25 hit the Empire State Building, so I figured it was a freak accident. Took the dog for a walk and came back and heard a second plane hit.
Heard some horrific stories from people who were there, that I wish I could forget.
I posted this to the "misc.transport.rail.americas" newsgroup on September 12, 2001. I've changed only a few words for this post.
========================================
The View From the Bridge
Like everyone else here, I turned on the television yesterday morning and couldn't believe what I was seeing.
But it was another working day. I tried to call, to find out what might be running. Didn't get through. I didn't try very hard to contact them - I knew there would be a train to run. So I left for work on my regular time.
When I got to the crew room at New Haven, I found that many of the daytime trains had been canceled, including mine, #173 on Tuesdays. In the chaos, the tunnels into and out of New York had been closed and then inspected before traffic would be allowed through. However, some trains were starting to run again, so I waited around to be available in case they needed me for something.
#149 was going to run on time from Springfield (to D.C.). That would be mine. I asked the Motor Storage engine dispatcher for my engine: the 915 - it was only one there. It's one of the last "old-time" AEM-7's, not rebuilt, no ACSES, and still has the old-time cab signal display. It's an engine that remains a pleasure to run, rather than a contest. Indeed the 915 has changed very little since my first trip on it many years ago.
The inbound train arrived on time from Springfield, and we left on time as well, but waited at South Norwalk for a Metro-North extra heading up the Danbury branch. Their schedules had been disrupted as well, and they were running what they could trying to get things back together.
We stopped at Stamford, finished the run down the New Haven line with clear all the way - unusual. Then headed down the Hell Gate Line for New York.
Perhaps the most spectacular view of Manhattan island and the boroughs of New York City is one that most people will never see: from the cab of a locomotive on the Hell Gate Bridge. You're up in the air, but not so high that you lose the breadth and magnificence of scope. You may get a similar, fleeting glimpse from the Triborough Bridge, but on the Hell Gate you have more time to appreciate what's before you.
Back in 1986 when I first got a computer, one use I found for it was to keep a database record of all my jobs. At first, I kept only essential data: engine numbers, terminals, mileage, times, etc. But then I decided I should include something more, a place to record comments about the day's trip.
The View from the bridge was one of my first experiences on my first trip over the road as a promoted engineman back May 1981, and it has earned entries in my "comment log" through the years. Here are a few:
October 28, 1990 (Conrail): "Saw a complete rainbow stretching from the Bronx to Long Island - the most perfect I've ever seen"
July 1, 2001 (Amtrak): "Saw a bolt of lightning hit the World Trade Center just before going into tunnel on the trip in"
Two days ago, Sunday, September 9 (Amtrak): "There was no one to run 57, so I took that instead of 163; on the way back, NYC looked very nice under clouds overhead"
Coming westward on the Hell Gate Line, you pass by Oak Point Yard on the left with the elevated Bruckner Expressway on your right. You're down below street level here, but at the west end of the yard you start the climb. You're slowing down here, from 60 to 40 for the sharpest curve, as you leave the South Bronx. You turn right, go across the Bronx Kills bridgework, then continue upward past the toll booths of the Triborough Bridge. As you climb towards the 50mph curve at the east side of the main span, that's when you really see it. The View.
And of course, they were gone.
We arrived at Penn Station with 6 cars, 2 trainmen, 5 passengers, and no one on the platform waiting.
When I don't see him, I'll leave a note for the outbound engineman, saying how many cars, and condition of the brakes and engine. But last night I added an extra line:
149
6 cars
Brakes OK
Eng OK
A sad day.
Penn Station was very quiet. I walked out to 8th Avenue and 31st. Looking downtown towards the darkness, I saw what might be flashing lights far off, couldn't tell how far. I walked eastward on 31st Street, the taxi stands were blocked off with police vehicles; I heard they commandeered the taxis for emergency service. 7th Avenue was closed south of 34th Street, being used as an "emergency vehicle corridor". It was eerily quiet in midtown, almost no one there.
Back inside, there was no eastbound work for me. All earlier trains were gone and the ones coming later would have crews arriving, available to work back. So I could deadhead home.
There weren't going to be any eastward trains from Penn for a couple of hours, so I decided to take Metro-North back to New Haven. I walked to the 7th Avenue Subway entrance by the Long Island Rail Road side, with money out for a subway token, but the clerk at the booth waved me through the open gates. There was no service south of 34th Street - downtown trains were terminating there, then heading back uptown.
Waiting in the subway car to leave, I listened to a gentleman who worked for Jersey Transit. From his window he had seen it all: the second plane hit, the first collapse, the second collapse.
Grand Central was all but deserted. In the quiet there, one can take in what must be the greatest public space in America. I caught the 10:17pm for New Haven. The guy running it had hired out one man behind me.
The ride home in a deadhead car gave me time to consider the day, turning everything over inside.
In 1941 about 3,000 lives were lost at Pearl Harbor. We went to war, against known enemies, known countries. Yesterday we lost ... well, who has ANY idea yet of how many? Certainly thousands.
But this time, our war must be not against a country - it must be against a CULTURE. We must fight it and do whatever it takes to win. If we are not willing to do this, we will certainly face a greater Hellfire NEXT time.
I got home 3 hours' behind my regular time.
I have yet to finish my timeslip for yesterday, and then enter it into my records. I'm unsure what I can put into my comment log to fully represent yesterday's events.
I didn't sleep long last night. The televisions keep looping videos of the planes slicing into the buildings. How many times can YOU watch it? There are going to be more videos, perhaps more chilling than before. At once, the most awful and compelling sight I've ever seen. I am hard-pressed to keep my composure when I stop to think of those hundreds or thousands of doomed people in those buildings. Those who chose to jump rather than be burned alive. May God have pity on their souls.
Last night just after sunset on the bridge, I looked in the distance and saw the ashes of their lives floating up from Manhattan and across Brooklyn.
Comment log entry for Tuesday, September 11, 2001: "The view will never be the same."
OldEnginemanThe View From the Bridge
Thank You, Old Engineman
Your testimony serves as a heartfelt, accurate account of a very trying time for all who witnessed the events. I hope your words live on forever for future generations so that they may have at least some sense of understanding for how so many of us felt.
Hell Gate Bridge 47 by Steven Siegel, on Flickr
IMG_0508 by Edmund, on Flickr
Thanks again, Ed
We were at the orthodontist with our daughter, there was a TV on and everyone was in an absolute state of shock. How do you take something like that in?
Sacramento State Fairgrounds has one of the beams from the Trade Center as a memorial along with a huge floating granit ball with over 3,000 names carved on it. We must never forget those lost.
On a more personal note, we had to take our old cat to the vet last night. She was 2 months shy of 20 years old, and she just wore out. I hate that part of having pets. Today the air was so smokey you could see the effect just feet away. Seemed kind of fitting.
Tomorrow will be better. Looking forward to huevos rancheros and coffee!
OldEnginemanComment log entry for Tuesday, September 11, 2001: "The view will never be the same."
Hi OldEngineman,
Your log entry is very moving. It expresses the loss that we all suffered in a very poignant way.
My 14 yr. old son was home from school that day because he was sick, and we were watching television for lack of anything better to do. When the reports came on it was surreal to me. We were pretty much speechless, but I said to him that we had just watched thousands of people die! It still makes me feel cold and hollow when I think about it.