NorthBrit Most times what you have, we get 3 or 4 days later. Thanks!
Good morning. Brunhilda, bacon, eggs, and coffee.
Nothing planned for today, so it's back to work on the layout. I love retirement.
Went to a wake last night for a good church friend who had successful heart surgery, but then got pneumonia and died. It always reminds me to enjoy every day I've got. My regret is that my kids and grandkids all live so far away.
Have a good day, everyone.
York1 John
Good morning everyone.
Chloe, just bring me a tankerfull of coffee.
I only got a couple of hours of sleep last night. I woke up at 4:00 wide awake. I had a dream that we lost the house due to financial issues. We had to leave everything behind with my train layout mostly built. This is very real to me because my wife and I lost the dream house in 1991. I knew I was not going to be able to get back to sleep.
It is still raining down here. The weatherman says we have a cold front stalled out above us, and that is causing all this rain. They said it is supposed to clear up before noon. I hope so.
I have not been awake early enough to watch the morning traffic report on the local news in a long time. I am sure glad I am not commuting any longer.
Hopefully I can share a house work update this afternoon.
I hope everyone has a great day.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190I only got a couple of hours of sleep last night. I woke up at 4:00 wide awake.
Welcome to my world. I got up early most of my life, and after retirement, it seems to have stuck that way. I've even tried to lay in bed seeing if I can go back to sleep. No.
So now I get up, and my wife sleeps late. We say "hi" to each other as one of us gets up and one of us heads to bed.
One good thing. I get a lot of work done early in the morning.
We love the rain up here. We get so little of it that when it does rain, everyone is in a good mood.
Howdy .... Yesterday's business news said Canadian National has decided to try buying Kansas City Southern, and made a competing offer saying it was better than Canadian Pacific's offer. .... So, it looks like a bidding war. I have shares of KCS stock which sharply increased in value yesterday. I also own shares of CN and CP, and both decreased yesterday.
John York 1 ...... Your description of your sleeping habits and that of your wife, is similar to here at our houe. Typically, my wife reads a book very late and sleeps in in the morning. I do not stay up as late as she does, but get up earlier.
Everybody ..... Have a nice noght.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good morning from the beautiful West Coast.
We have had a very long stretch of perfect weather, in fact, leading the morning news they reported the weather office observed its first cloud in 6 days. It was a tiny little thing. Temps have been around 25c/80f for quite a while now. The rain should return next week to water all the palm trees.
Had a rat chew through the wall and into the crawlspace and set up shop. He was the size of a cat and is no more. He did leave a disgusting mess to clean up and I need to replace a bunch of insulation. Good thing I have it in stock. The company that did the flood damage clean-up left me a couple of bags of fibreglass batts. That little monster sure had a lot of wood to chew through to get in, but it is repaired now.
I also got all the moulding done and the same company left about 80 feet of that behind as well. I think I am done with Renos for a while as I don't enjoy it at all. The master bath and new hardwood in the living/dining are all that is left, along with new carpet upstairs but it can wait for now and won't take long to do when I get my round tuit.
We did have to go buy more moulding and door casings on top of what the restoration company left us and in the end, I was one 4' piece short so back to West Coast Moulding for that. My longest leftover scrap piece was under a foot long, I was delighted in my planning when that happened.
Going to get my poke today, I was waiting for the crowds to thin out. It was so easy, I just went online, put in my health care # and picked a time on the calendar.
On a darker note, a family we see once or twice a year at gatherings is in bad shape. Dad got his vaccine at work and went out drinking with his 7 workmates on a boat one of them owns to celebrate. He thought he was safe as soon as he got the shot but did not think that he could still be a carrier and brought it home to his wife and two kids. The wife is now on a ventilator and his daughter is in hospital and his other daughter is at home sick but not too bad. Tracing had two of the eight on the boat infected before they got together. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer.
I had 20 yds of dirt delivered to fill the potholes in the lawn and have about two yds left to go. Shovelling sure burns calories, I have dropped 6 pounds moving that stuff. The wife has bought me a rack of ribs, roast lamb and a couple of barbecue chickens to fatten me back up.
24 of the Vancouver Canucks had covid and so they had their games suspended for a few weeks, they have come back with a roar winning their first two games back! The moron that snuck out to party and infected the team got traded PDQ. He should be banned from the league as it wasn't just the team he infected but their families as well. I am delighted they are back on the ice and went and bought a bottle of rum to go along with the return.
My son sent me a bunch of pics of us at games together and even though he has moved out we can't wait until we can go to more games together. I still miss spending Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesday nights at the rink with the kids. I could still go but other Dads need to do the job of coaching their own kids and not be bystanders.
Well, where's my shovel and where is Ken?
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."
Good Morning,
Well yesterday we only hit 30F but today it is supposed to get to 55.
We had Robbie at the Vets yesterday and his eye is much better but now he has a worrisome sore under his eye and he has trouble keeping down food. He won't eat his regular food so we are giving him chicken with rice. My wife is worried that his liver problems have caught up with him. I sure hope he makes it through summer. We know we will lose him soon and it is very hard.
Don't feel like doing RR stuff right now.
CN Charlie
Afternoon folks! Just a couple minutes from now I need to sign in on Zoom to caht with my son in Merry Old england to see how he is doing....
BATMANDad got his vaccine at work and went out drinking with his 7 workmates on a boat one of them owns to celebrate. He thought he was safe as soon as he got the shot but did not think that he could still be a carrier and brought it home to his wife and two kids. The wife is now on a ventilator and his daughter is in hospital and his other daughter is at home sick but not too bad. Tracing had two of the eight on the boat infected before they got together.
Yep! Amazing how we seem to be as humans.... I reject the notion that we are somehow the brightest species out there.... LOL There have been a lot of similar stroies in my neck of the wood too. My lady friend and I are both fully vaccinated, but are still being careful and sensible about where we go. There is a hobby shop here in town that the police had to "visit" when the Pandemic first hit and give the manager a choice of locking the door or spending some time in the lockup downtown. He finally copmplied... I have seen him in the doorway of the store (now that it can open with restrictions) busy chit chatting with "customers" and friends. No Mask, no distancing. I won't be patronizing the place ever again!
His Parents actually own the store and are very "at risk" so he doesn't seem to care about them or me. Why should I care about his business???
Just my thoughts.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Good afternoon all.
Janie - A Coke float please. Thanks.
Howmus - I know exactly how you feel on that regard. We had a bakery in my town 'protest' the restrictions, she got slapped with a fine. She also lost all of my business, as she does not care about me or my friends & family being high risk, so she lost some business.
My former employer did as well, but because he kept calling those who were following the restrictions, including me, "stupid" in full hearing of all. He knew he goofed big time when a reliable employee, well liked by his customers, who never complained, and only ever missed 1 week while hospitalized, walked out. (I had warned him of the disrespect I was getting for following the restrictions, and warned I would walk out if it continued. When he said that those following them were stupid, I followed through by informing him of my immediate resignation, effective on the spot.) He then complained to a couple of my relatives about how it left him in a major bind with a severe shortage of employees...
While they have still gotten stuff here and there, he is no longer their first choice.
Seems like some people just do not learn until it's the hard way.
Weather - Our forecasted 6-12" turned out to be 4" of fluffy white stuff. (Although it is still flying...)
Brent - I seen where the OHL cancelled their season, that effect anyone you know from hockey?
Ken, Lion, Rob, and others MIA - Hope you are all ok.
Hope all are well, and all enjoy the day!
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.
Garry good for you and your KSU. I sold mine when I thought the tariffs would hurt them. I do own CNI for quite a while and despite the hit when they announced the buyout, I am up huge. Also own BNSF through uncle Warren.
My retired doctors group is starting to fight about the effectiveness of masks. The anti-masker also took hydroxycholoroquine as prophylaxis. He also got Covid. He also claimed that some people think the Moderna will change your DNA. That set off a firestorm.
Even worse, the guy who burned up in his Tesla, riding in the back seat, was an anesthesiologist. I learned, early on, the first question to ask is "What is going to kill the patient?" That thought must not have occured to him as he jumped in the backseat.
I ran my riding mower out of gas last fall. I put in new gas last week and it was very hard to start. Today it was no go. I have a self propelled mower but the grass was very high and a lot thicker than it was last year, before I got the riding mower. it took me close to 3 hours and I was exhausted.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Well, got my shot in the arm. I'M SAVED!!!! Pfizer was on tap today.
The vaccination centre was empty and I zipped right through, they said it was packed yesterday but they are so well organized I bet people got through quickly. The person that gave me my shot said she does about 120 a shift, she was very tired, I could tell.
My favourite conspiracy theory is the one that the Government made the virus so we would all have to be vaccinated and then the Government could sneak a chip into us along with the vaccine so they can track us. It's all part of an alien takeover.
I have done very well with RR stock over the decades. Canadian Pacific has been trying to move on Union Pacific for years and the latest article I read was on how they are chipping away at UP buying up their smaller assets. The pundits say CP will get UP a bite at a time. I enjoy those reads. I started my first portfolio in grade ten with $114.00. 50 years later life is good. Take note, you youngsters, start early.
Daughter has had an exam week from hades so we are getting sushi tonight. That's a good reason as any.
ricktrains4824Howmus - I know exactly how you feel on that regard. We had a bakery in my town 'protest' the restrictions, she got slapped with a fine. She also lost all of my business, as she does not care about me or my friends & family being high risk, so she lost some business. My former employer did as well, but because he kept calling those who were following the restrictions, including me, "stupid" in full hearing of all. He knew he goofed big time when a reliable employee, well liked by his customers, who never complained, and only ever missed 1 week while hospitalized, walked out. (I had warned him of the disrespect I was getting for following the restrictions, and warned I would walk out if it continued. When he said that those following them were stupid, I followed through by informing him of my immediate resignation, effective on the spot.) He then complained to a couple of my relatives about how it left him in a major bind with a severe shortage of employees..
And here I thought this kind of BS wasn't allowed.Silly me.
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
saronaterryAnd here I thought this kind of BS wasn't allowed.Silly me.
Exactly where do imagine there is BS in that post? Terry acted on what he believed, as did his employer. I am finding out that even among doctors, there is major distrust of what the CDC or Fauci says.
There are still people who think that despite 600K deaths the virus is a hoax. There are studies that say masks work or they don't. There is talk of canceling 4th of July and no end of mask wearing.
This is the only vaccine I am aware of that if you took it, it doesn't matter. Your temperature, and travel history are what they ask about at the doctor's office or the nursing home, when you visit a parent. If you are unvaccinated, you can catch Covid in any state in America. What difference does it make if you went to a state where the incidence is 1% higher than your state? Why doesn't vaccination count for anything?
Howdy ....
It sounds like the 101st Airborne from nearby Fort Campbell is busy training tonight. We are hearing many helicopters above us.
Henry and Brent ... Regarding investing in railroad stocks. ... I think the "buy and hold" strategy works quite well with RR stocks. My Kansas City Southern shares are currently valued at more than six times what I paid 12 years ago. That does not count dividends over the years.
I did own BNSF shares for about 8 years until Warren Buffet's company bought the railroad. He paid me about 4 times what I paid for it. I also own shares of Norfolk Southern, CSX, Canadian National, and Canadian Pacific. My wife has shares of Union Pacific in her account. All of them have been excellent investments.
Brent .... You have good advise for young people to start early with investing.
I do not panic in downturns such as the Dot Com Bubble Burst (2000), The Financial Crisis (2008), and last years Covid scare. I just ride them out, and patiently await share prices to recover.
...
All I will say about the Covid situation is I was vaccinated this winter. I had no side affects. I am confident I will not get the virus.
Everybody:..... Have a good night.
Guys, I am completely exhausted. I am going to hit the rack and try to get more than 2 hours sleep tonight.
I will catch up and post something tomorrow.
Steven Otte has mentioned that personal experiences can be discussed in the Diner, and only in the Diner. No statistics, no remedies, no politics of course.
Personal experiences are fine.
BATMAN —then the Government could sneak a chip into us along with the vaccine so they can track us.
I feel bad for the special agent in charge of tracking gmpullman
Bathroom, coffee pot, chicken coop, computer, model railroad, coffee pot, bathroom, model railroad, refrigerator, model railroad, bathroom (repeat those last three for remainder of day). Rinse — repeat.
I left the property maybe three times so far this year. I go for vaccine #1 on 4/27 and a dentist appointment on 5/5. Retirement IS exciting
Who wants a neat flat car load??
Untitled by M. U. Seum, on Flickr
Spring aint' here just yet!
Two Medicine vista by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
NorthBritThis film brings back many, many memories and is a favorite in my collection of films. (There is a railway in it. )
Hi David,
That was an interesting film. Loading eight truck fulls of concrete each day would have been back breaking work for the four drivers.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good morning Diners. Wall to wall sunshine today.
I hope those MIA are well and return soon.
Dave. As I mentioned, the film is a favorite.
Another Road Haulage film. Transporting Class 26 26040 from Methil (Fife) to Whitrope Siding (on the Waverley Route - I am a member there)
John Kerr's Miniature Railway, Arbroath.
Flying a drone. Relax with your favorite drink.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Good morning, diners. Flo, I'll have coffee, bacon, eggs, more coffee, and more bacon.
Another day -- but this could be a landmark day. I think I'm finally to the point to install some crossing signals. It's been a long trip learning this Arduino stuff. Of course, my age, clumsy fingers, and brain ability, have nothing to do with how long it took.
I hate to say it, but with the rain, something unpleasant has happened. The green stuff in the yard now needs to be cut again. Of course, I may be able to put it off another day or two.
It can't be repeated enough. I love retirement. I wish I had retired when I was 22-years-old so would have had longer to enjoy it.
Good morning everybody. Chloe, I thing I will have a bowl of scrambled eggs with cheese to accompany my coffee this morning.
I have been working on the rock wing walls as the weather would allow (rain), but these made the old edgers around the shrub spaces look very bad. I decided to build stone ledger panel rock walls around the shrubs to match.
Some may remember I mentioned that when I had the landscape curbing installed 15+ years ago, the curves were laid out so I could run a G scale train around the yard in the rocked area through the gardens. This never happened, and the narrow areas filled with dirt from the bottom and the rock sunk. Any railroad would have been inoperable.
I decided to lay a layer of concrete under the narrow areas to support the G scale track if I ever do this (I probably will not), but it should help keep the rock clean if nothing else. The layer of concrete will give something substantial as a subroadbed for the trackage gutter.
I ran the sprinkler connections for the shrubs through the concrete for the walls. This should help with another problem I had for decades. The old irrigation system was behind the shrubs where access was very difficult.
I have this one little section completed. It looks good. Those Indian Hawthorn shrubs are what I had planted in this area before. They get beautiful white flowers and grow in quite thick.
Total cost (concrete, rebar, irrigation, blocks, stone ledgers, and cap stones) for this 10 foot section was over $20.00 per foot! I will need to think about how many of the garden sections will receive this upgrade.
SeeYou190Total cost (concrete, rebar, irrigation, blocks, stone ledgers, and cap stones) for this 10 foot section was over $20.00 per foot! I will need to think about how many of the garden sections will receive this upgrade.
It may cost a quite a bit, but it sure looks great, and it's done so well you probably will not ever have to touch it again.
Hi Kevin,
What you have done with the garden retaining wall looks really good! Only you can decide whether the cost to finish the rest of the wall is justified, but I think it will add value and attractiveness to your property. Maybe you could decide to only do the rest of the retaining wall a section at a time each year or two. That might take the bite out of the cost.
Good evening Diners'. A cup of Highgrove Tea, Flo. A little sugar and milk.
A film of some shunting at Edinburgh Waverley Station. The Northbound Sleeper from London is split into three portions; to Aberdeen, to Inverness and to Fort William.
On the Southbound Caledonian Sleeper - Fort William to Rannoch Station
Stay Safe.
Wow! Great masonry job with the copper rust slate on the garden perimeters Kevin.
I love copper rust. The garden border wall will probably have more color than the garden will. Nice!
TF
Terry - Sorry if my personal experience offends you.
But it offended me that my former employer had the gall to pull that kind of a disrespectful stunt in the first place. I had never given him any kind of grief or issue, and the only thing I was asking for was respect. He, like everyone else, could choose to do what they wanted, to obey the ordered resrtrictions or not. I just could not, and would not, put up with getting disrespected over my choice to obey the restrictions.
What really irks me, is a couple of my "friends" decided that my sticking up for myself and demanding respect was grounds to no longer be "friends".
Guess I should just keep my experiences to myself and not share stuff with people anymore.
Again, I apologize if my sharing my experiences was offensive in any way.
York1It may cost a quite a bit, but it sure looks great, and it's done so well you probably will not ever have to touch it again.
Thank you. That is the idea, not to need to touch it again. I am building everything to last as long as I will!
As I get older, construction will become more shoddy.
hon30critterWhat you have done with the garden retaining wall looks really good! Only you can decide whether the cost to finish the rest of the wall is justified, but I think it will add value and attractiveness to your property.
Thanks Dave. I am sure I will get all the garden sections done to match. I am just so completely worn out right now.
Track fiddlerWow! Great masonry job with the copper rust slate on the garden perimeters Kevin. I love copper rust. The garden border wall will probably have more color than the garden will. Nice!
Thanks for the compliment.
I noticed the wall stones are getting more colourful now that we have had some rain.
The gardens are made up of six sections. Two are flowering shrubs and one is Sea Grapes. The slate will certianly be more colorful than those three. One has some red leafed plants that I cannot remember what name they have. These get very colourful with oranges and reds. The last two sections are roses and annual flowers. Those will most certainly have more colours than the stones.
The more I see of Kevin's garden, the more I visualise a garden layout.
Bummer!
I went out to my truck about an hour ago to go down to the Genghis Grill to get some Mongolian stir fry. I was full of anticipation and my mouth was already watering
Quite the disappointment when I got out to the parking lot to see my rear tire completely flat. I thought no matter, don't matter as I quickly grabbed my big compressor to fill it up. There was no nail but the hiss was coming out the hole so fast there's no way I could make it to Big Mark's Tire for the plug.
Erv told me to get one of those plug kits and I should have listened. Now I got to wait for my buddy John to get off work at 3:30 to bring me to the parts store.
No Mongolian stir fry for me
NorthBritThe more I see of Kevin's garden, the more I visualise a garden layout.
My plans for a garden layout were dampened when my old friend Bruce, who lives in Fort Myers Shores, finished his garden layout. He has 7 1/2" gauge track around the perimeter of his 1/2 acre lot.
He can run his 4-4-2 on his "garden layout", but the curves are too tight for it to pull anything except his bobber caboose.
Another friend, Danny, filled his whole back yard with an amazing G scale layout. He needed more space, so he bought ten acres in Charlotte County and now has built something truly splendid.
Nothing I build could compare to either of these.
Howdy ...
Ken, Lion, Rob ...... Missing your posts here in the Diner. Hoping you are okay.
TF ...... Sorry to hear about the flat tire and the resulting loss of a stir fry meal.
Ed .... In the Show Me thread, I saw your comment about waiting your turn so others may participate. That is very good of you. I also try to wait my turn. Unfortunately, there are not enough particpants most of the time. There must be ways to encouarge more people to post in that thread.
David UK .... Thank you again for sharing videos this month.
Kevin ..... I have seen outdoor model railroads, and they are impressive. As I have mentioned, my Dad made a live steam locomotive which he operated on 7 1/2" track. To me, HO trains make more sense because they are more managable. It is good to have an indoor layout.
Ricky .... In my opinion, nothing you said was offensive. I recall Steve O had guidelines posted pertaining to discussions about Covid 19. .. He took down the post with those guidlines several months ago. So, now I think common sense governs those conversations. Basically, we try not to start arguments about it. I don't think you tried to start any argumnts, and therefore, your post is okay.
Everybody ........ Have a nice evening.