Good evening from the chilly West Coast where it is 3c.
All this talk about the cold has me longing for Lake Louise in winter. For many years a certain young lady and I would head on a three-week ski vacation and would spend a week at Chateau Lake Louise. We would downhill and cross country ski, go snowshoeing or have a sleigh ride and skate every night out on the lake through the ice sculptures or play hockey.
Lake Louise is stunning in winter.
We would cross country ski across the lake up into that valley you see on the far side. The hotel would pack us a hearty lunch and we would be gone all day. It was -22 one year when we went.
We always got the same room on the lakeside, sixth floor. You can see the downhill slopes behind.
On the lake you can play hockey or skate through the ice sculptures, they were lit up at night.
Playing hockey on the lake is a lot of fun.
Or just skate way out on the lake and take in the stars and maybe the Northern lights.
Ah yes! To be young again. Great memories.
Glad to see Kevin dodged the storm, best to be prepared and not have needed to be, that happens a lot on the coast.
The kitchen people were here today measuring up everything, it is sure going to be disruptive for a couple of weeks. We wish we still had our trailer to cook in, we'll manage, we always do.
This Estate I am looking after has thrown me some curveballs out of the blue and I have been on the phone with the U.S. consulate in Vancouver a lot. I have nothing but praise for all the help they have given me, going above and beyond in my book. They have been very accomodating.
I love wood fires, my Mcmansion has three gas fireplaces and I really miss the smell and crackle of wood burning. It is also the best part of RVing.
Finally got to put some time on the new Rapido RDC and she sure is smooth. Rapido says the F7Bs will hit the shore soon so that is next.
TF, you talk about being self-sufficient if things hit the fan. I would be nervous if I didn't have easy access to year-round rivers and/or streams for water and groceries walking across the front lawn if needed, or being able to throw a line in a short walk from home to catch a fish. I do not live in fear of providing for our selves if it isn't provided to us by the local Safeway that's for sure. Or if all of a sudden nothing came out of the tap.
The pups are four weeks old and sleep anywhere, anytime.
Remembrance day tomorrow in Canada. I think a lot of what so many of my Uncles and Aunts went through as so many of them signed up right away in 1939. I also have a lot of my Grandfathers kit from WWI. It is always a quiet day for us, all day, on November 11th.
Thank you, to all those that have and do continue to serve to protect us and keep us free.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Track fiddlerit's the smell of the wood burning that I enjoy
I think that is why so many houses have fireplaces. The smell, noise, and ambiance is enjoyable for a lot of people I guess.
Tropical Storm Eta turned around and is coming back. I am under a Tropical Storm warning for tomorrow evening and Thursday.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good Evening,
TF, we have a wood burning fireplace in the living room mainly for the atmosphere. In our basement room we have a gas one that is the main heat . If the power goes out at least we will have some heat down here .
We heard from the vet tonight with the results of Robbie's ultrasound and it wasn't good. The lump on his liver is larger so the surgery on the 30th could be for that. Seems likely it is cancer. We have to take him in again on Thursday for more blood work.
CN Charlie
I'm hitting the rack
Have a great night gentleman
TF
I know you don't need heat from a fireplace Kevin
The heat is one thing but it's the smell of the wood burning that I enjoy
Judy likes that too but burns Sage to clear the air and make everything good in the house
And sometimes she brings out Sweetgrass or a peace pipe
Manly yes but I like it too
Track fiddlerI bet no one stockpiles any firewood down there in Florida. It's a good idea up here and sometimes a matter of survival
You might be surprised at how many houses have wood burning fireplaces. Lowes, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, Rural King, and even some grocery stores all sell firewood.
I would never have one. There are really only three or four days a year you could ever use it. I have not turned on my heater in over a decade, I certainly do not want to deal with a firep[lace.
Keep in mind the winter isn't going to be too long
I will be hiking back to Beast Lake with my brother in the spring as soon as ice is out
For one thing I need to go fishing where the fishing is good and no one fishes there. That's how I like to fish now
For another thing why not go fishing back to an interior lake no one goes to.
If the stories of a beast that comes out at night is really real from the hikers that have been back there. On top of that my brother's friend Mike McMann said do not go back there
This is us! My brother and I are itching to take this camping trip in the spring. It don't even matter if the opening of fishing is on as long as the ice is out. This lake is so extreme back wilderness! There ain't no DNR guy back there
My Bro is more into this trip than I am but I'm all with him all the way. I love my young buck Bro and I'm with him on this one
Can't wait until spring
Kidding Kevin
Just trying to make the Forum a little more interesting on a Tuesday night.
We ain't all that rough and tough up here in Minnesota and neither are they in Canada either!
There was a time our heat went out and another time our water lines froze. I just expanded the story a little bit to make it a bit more interesting
I do know those that live in the extreme Wilderness though. They are prepared and plan ahead
I could tell you stories of the people that I know in the extreme wilderness as I did live once but I will save that for another time
Lost ya didn't I Kev?
They are predicting record lows this winter and record snowfalls as well
That's our hurricane up here
Not a problem up here until your heat don't work or your water lines freeze, we're always hanging on for the ride when you live out of the city
I bet no one stockpiles any firewood down there in Florida. It's a good idea up here and sometimes a matter of survival
When living rural up north it's a staple and can be a matter of life or death.
People that have never lived up in the greater urban areas of the Midwest or Canada have never thought about that sort of thing
Relax I am safe from the city of Bloomington but I did live in areas that were that sort of thing that could change on a dime to be a test of survival in a heavy blizzard
hon30critterI guess all we can do is hope that someone in Australia decides to do the right thing and send it along. Thanks for your efforts.
My Amazon brass fitting that was in Canada finally showed up today!
There is still hope.
gmpullmanDave, I tried to make a claim for the missing package and wound up more frustrated than ever. USPS wanted proof that I mailed it. They wanted a picture of the label! The —— LABEL is in Australia (still on the package, I hope) ! Maybe one of the folks there can take a snap and mail it back to me. They wanted the original purchase receipt for the RDC, too! OR I could take the RDC to a certified appraiser and send a notorized appraisal! I went to my P.O. Friday and showed them the tracking print out and the clerk told me that's not the right tracking number! Well, I asked, just HOW did I track the package then? They told me to wait by the blue door over there and a supervisor will be out to help you. I left 25 minutes later, had an appointment. Arrugh.
Hi Ed,
Wow, what a run around, and I don't mean in a train sense!
I guess all we can do is hope that someone in Australia decides to do the right thing and send it along. Thanks for your efforts.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Kevin down there in the start of your Winter Paradise for the Winter. 65 to 80 degrees all winter with no humidity.
Actually I'm happy for you bud but do not envy your Summers
I actually prefer the cold over hot and humid but by all means enjoy your winter as I will too
These Canadian friends know what I'm talking about up here don't they, ...Eh!
We put on our Carhartts and man up to the cold, maybe go play Hockey when it's 20° below outside and enjoy the day Eh!
That's just what you do up here being a man of the North. Or is that a man of the Norse?
Track fiddlerI have a rule When it snows I take a snow day. I don't want to deal with the other people on the roads
I have the same rule, but so far I have never taken a snow day.
Yep
I have a rule
When it snows I take a snow day. I don't want to deal with the other people on the roads
If I know it's going to snow the next day. I go to the grocery store immediately and get peanuts, ice cream, a loaf of bread and some lunch meat or anything else I think l'll need the next day. I know I ain't going anywhere tomorrow because I don't want to risk my deductible and the time hung up in the body shop
If you do end up in the body shop in the winter time. It's cold outside. They can't park your car outside in between dry time. They move your car or truck somewhere else in the shop and finish the cars ahead of you. It takes twice as long to get your car done in the winter
I have three collision repairs I self did on my truck. I pocketed the money and waited until spring to do them. They ain't as good as the body work I did on my Mustang in my younger days and not the quality of modeling I do on my model railroad
I just find it easier to stay home and take a snow day now. That's Inner City. Rural would be different
It took me a while to accept this. When I was a kid, people just drove slower. Life went on. Maybe you didn't go shopping or maybe school was closed, but life went on.Now there is so much traffic in many places that people can't get anywhere and everything closes. An accident on an interstate with 2 lanes going N and S or E and W shuts the entire road down for hours.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
You have no idea Henry!
Every year it's the same thing, the same people that drive on our streets and highways here every year. They don't have a clue, it's pathetic!
I can understand someone up on vacation from Florida or California (No change that to business trip, why would anybody take a vacation here during the winter) Every year up here, it's always the same
It's actually the young kids that did go into the parking lots where it was safe to whip donuts and learn how to come out of a slide that drive well up here
howmusI was told by a nurse that it is about 10 times worse than the pain of childbirth! She has had both.
My wife has had both, and she said your nurse is a liar!
Track fiddler I don't know how minnesotans forgot how to drive on the snow and the ice but every year they always do
That's a shocker. We expected that in Maryland. Pennsylvania did a far better job than Maryland the year we had two 30 inch snows a week apart. A friend of mine was badly injured by a teenager doing donuts in the middle of the road.
LION welcome back. I am worried that we haven't seen Brakie in the forum for a while.
The Mayo Clinic website is as good as any to research conditions. They break it down to symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/kidney-stones/symptoms-causes/syc-20355755
Spent nearly an hour on the phone with Wellcare, my pharmacy insurance because I had move. Mail order to a different state is a change in policies, even though the drugs come in the mail. Had to deal with giving the voice recognition all my information, a system that doesn't recognize the Iphone, when it asks you to press 1 or 2. It kept telling me I could do things on their internet site, that I couldn't do.
Then after 4 or 5 min got a guy who was most likely a couple continents away. Had to give him the same exact information. He had to connect me to someone else, another 10 minute hold.
Then I had to agree to a recorded conversation for training purposes. I had to give that agent all the name, address, birthdate info I had given to the ariificial inteligent voice and the previous rep.
She had multiple scripts to read to me; qualifying for additional assistance, fraudulantly claiming you don't have other insurance, and on and on. I don't remember all that when I signed on. Then she played another 6 prerecorded scrips that I had to say "I agree" that except for agreeing that I wasn't commiting fraud, did not apply to me.
I see a new dentist tomorrow. In 68 years I've only had 3 dentists that I remember. These days the dentist doesn't do much, comes in at the end looks for oral cancer and pokes at a couple teeth.
Saw the New Market Battlefield yesterday. Like Monocacy and Bull Run, the Interstate runs right through it. New Market is famous because the VMI cadets were called and had to go into battle at age 15-17. The farmhouse that they fought around, and it's fields are still there.
Now that I know the geography around here, I can appreciate how hard it must have been for the cadets to march 75 miles at night and in the rain.
They had a historical drama video which put faces on some of the cadets. One unforturnate cadet was name Jacqueline Beverly Stanard, the boy named Sue. His friends called him Jack, his parents called him Bev. He was one of those who died, along with a great grand nephew of Thomas Jefferson, named Thomas Jefferson. His death was slow and grisly.
Evening, ... Like the looks of that rare prime-rib wildebeest Lion!
Looks like him of Lion over North Dakota computer line in problems the fixed up fine has for there over pretty well!
I don't know, I always love to give your language a go. I always have fun but I will never be as fluent
Cold and mixed rain with snow is now mixed
Glad I ain't out there. The highways are moving at about 15 miles an hour with many accidents
Tomorrow It'll be 40 degrees and everything will all melt eventually. I planned ahead. It's not me but the other slip and slide clowns out there
Starting a lock down here by the end of this week. It's all the young kids at the bars that think they're invincible and everything's okay spreading the disease
My friend Jim couldn't even be kept at the hospital to be treated because the hospitals are getting oversaturated up here
I got real smart over my dumb phone and Judy was happy we can order groceries to be delivered so we're all good here
Relatively speaking "we're all good here" has a different meaning from last spring
All Judy's coworkers are being a bunch of lame team players and not wanting to show up for work.
With all this going on. I don't know how minnesotans forgot how to drive on the snow and the ice but every year they always do
I need to take Judy to work tomorrow morning Like everyday she has to work which is fine. On the other hand I am telling her to quit her job next week for various reasons. I'm not only pointing out the obvious but other reasons too
On a positive note I'm getting ready for winter vacation here. A lot of time to model railroad until I see things may or may not blow over
Speaking of the mail, I have been shipping things USPS and they have been arriving 2 to 3 days after I ship. I changed shipping programs and now get a special priority "cubic foot " rate which can be lots cheaper than normal priority.
Not much going on here, we decided to put up all the Christmas decorations, we have them, we are going to enjoy them.
I might get my train on my desk at work this year.
Ah, Yes, well, here is the LION.
LION has been working on the computers of him. Our excurssion into farming out email to another comnpany is not working for us, so I am bringing the e-mail server back home again. First I repuilt the old machine with new memory and new drives, I put it all back together and have remonunted it in the rack.
Yes, but.... I am also changing our DNS Name Server from Webmasters which hase served us for more than 20 years to Network Solutions since I preceive (maybe wrongly, who knows) that the bulk of our issues are related to the DNS system. Might be true, a chang ehta was supposed to take 24-36 hours is now four and six days out with no end in sight.
Well once the DNS servers have been tamed, I will start building the mail server and the http server. You WILL KNOW when the html server is back in service : )
AND the LION has the top of the page!
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Howdy ....
Bear ..... Thanks for sharing the video.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Loved the New Zealand steamer video Bear!
All the way from number 10 from the start with the locomotive that looked like the General to number 1, The spark in the dark
Thanks and have a great day at wxxk Bear
P.S. I was a little disappointed the under dressed female pictures didn't come through with the steamers You know, like the ones in bikinis sitting on the hood of the car in Hot Rod Magazine
I just think they should be sitting on the cow catcher of the steamer to better show off the modeling of the locomotive
howmus Track fiddler What causes kidney stones anyway? Most are calcium oxatate... Many foods (ones that usually are good for you too...) such as: Beans. Beer. Beets. Berries. Nuts. Chocolate. Coffee. Cranberries. Dark green vegetables, such as spinach
Track fiddler What causes kidney stones anyway?
Most are calcium oxatate... Many foods (ones that usually are good for you too...) such as:
Man Ray!
I'm guilty of moderate to heavy consumption of almost every single one of those. I wolf down a whole bag of peanuts frequently like they're air.
Maybe like Mr B says that the beer washes it through. I do drink lots of water too. I very rarely drink pop and stay away from anything with high fructose corn syrup like it's the plague. I heard high-fructose can clog and retard the efficiency of your kidneys and livers function.
Jim quit drinking two years ago and never had a problem before this. Maybe that's the problem, he's dehydrated? Or deleted something his body was used to after too many years of it is not always a good idea either
P.S. I also prefer farm fresh eggs. I have a farmer named Floyd out in Prior Lake that I drive out and get the brown ones. I prefer the brown ones
??? Don't know what's changed but I guess, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!!!" Enjoy!!
Oh well, off to w**k.
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I think kedney stones are buildups of calcium in the kidneys in a single blob instead of a slow molecule by molecule release. Being a beer drinker, I seem to have enough fluid going down that path that I never have one.
Our mailman is also a local egg farmer, so we get our really fresh eggs delivered to the house every Thursday. Yummy, and much cheaper than the supermarket.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Track fiddlerWhat causes kidney stones anyway?
Biggest problem for me was combination of high oxatale foods and getting dehydratred. Nuts tend to be very high. Second one I got, I was out at camp working in the sun and had eaten all the wrong things the day before.... First one, I was driving home from visiting my son when he was working the Conowingo Dam. Ate a whole bunch of peanuts and other high oxilate foods and drove home In monstrous pain. I stopped at the Emergency room here in Geneva. While I was waiting to be seen I felt a "pop" and started to feel better. The doc had me pee into a cup and sure enough, plop, out came the stone. He said, "well look what you had" I can tell you kidney stones are NOT fun! I have had 3 over the years and don't want a fourth! I was told by a nurse that it is about 10 times worse than the pain of childbirth! She has had both.
Keeping hydrated is a major key to NOT having them. Some people tend to produce them more than others, so keep that in mind.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Sounds like quite the nervous procedure tin can but better than going under the knife for sure. I'm glad that worked out for you.
I would imagine they may be doing that procedure for Jim if he doesn't pass those things soon. In fact I'm kind of surprised they haven't yet. He's been in a lot of pain even with his heavy pain medication.
P.S. What causes kidney stones anyway? So I can stay away from that sort of thing. The pain sounds awful and I definitely don't want to go there.
Been quiet in the Diner this morning.
Judy and I are making a supper junk lunch if you can even call it that. We both have been craving pastries that we haven't had for a long time.
We got the fixings for a cherry turnovers with white frosting In light of message 403 I probably won't be able to post them but I'll let you know how good they are.