How about a tasty bottle of Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale...
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
Attuvian1Live long and prosper - the both of you.
I sure hope so. I breathed a big sigh of relief today for the first time in many months.
hon30critterI'm very glad to hear that your wife is back in good health! You will have to do something special to celebrate.
Yes, we sure do. We are going to Orlando in a few weeks to help our daughter move. I have the week off from work. Maybe we will do something "touristy" while we are there.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Circa 1900.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good Morning Diners. Flo, I'll have some french toast, bacon, and fried eggs, with a large coffee in a Santa Fe mug please.
Kevin, that is excellent news!! I can only imagine the relief you must feel. So happy for the both of you!
TGIF! It's been a weird week at work this week. The days have all seemed to melt together into one really long day. It's bizarre! Wednesday, I was sitting in my office thinking "When is this day going to end?" It was 10:30am. It honestly felt like late afternoon. I think I need more sleep.
Sparky Rail, nice pics! Looks like a good time. Thanks for sharing them.
York1The only time I've ever been given clearance is going through the TSA checkpoint at the airport. Being a school principal didn't require clearance, only a thick skin.
Well, I pulled the trigger on ordering a pair of upright freezers. One as we simply need more freezer space, partly because I want to start purchasing beef by the 1/4, partly because we simply need more than what we have with our little chest freezer. The second will become our drink & extra storage for the holidays fridge. The freezer model I ordered can be converted to a refrigerator with the push of a button. This will be great! The only trouble will be getting them in. I have one spot they have to be brought through that will have 1/4" clearance on each side of the unit. I've measured the path they have to come in at least four times to make sure they will fit. They should...barely. This will free up our current rusty but trusty mini-fridge to go off to college with my daughter this fall.
Mike
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good morning, everyone. It's a great morning in the diner, so let's celebrate with bacon, eggs, and coffee!
SeeYou190Now she has improved more than anyone could ever expect or predict. "Miraculous" is the word she heard a lot today. I hope we are blessed with a lot more time together.
Kevin, that is really a miracle. Such great news to start the day!
Tom--Sparky Rail, thanks for the photos of the Skunk Train. I think you may be right about it being Space Mouse who was going there. I know he had serious health problems, and he hasn't posted in a long time, so I hope everything is OK.
More good news on a Friday -- we've heard from Lion. I don't know if this means he's back in ND or if he's posting from his vacation. Either way, it's good to hear from him -- or at least see his Lion photos.
Friday's were my 'hump days'. Even though I usually had to attend athletic events or other things on the weekends, Friday still signalled the end of a hectic week. (The spelling of signalled doesn't look correct to me, but my spell checker didn't flag it. My brain isn't working either.)
I hope everyone has a great Friday.
More California Amtrak:
York1 John
Good evening Diners. A cup of tea please, Flo.
Great news, Kevin.
We are back from two weeks shipspotting in the Mediterranean. Great fun. A long drive home from Southampton.
Just catching up on some of the posts. Then an early night.
Will be back tomorrow,.
Stay Safe Everybody.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
[quote user="dti406"]
My son at 19 years of age went to work at the CIA for his coop job while attending Kettering University. He received a top clearance and we know the FBI interviewed our neighbors and the teachers at his high school. His clearance has lapsed but some of his latest jobs have required him to reapply. He was at the CIA for six years and we don't know what he did there and if you ask he and his friends just ignore you and talk about something else. Another thing he mentions is in all the TV shows and movies they show people with cell phones, but my son said all cell phones had to be left in your car, they were not allowed on the Langley campus.
Rick Jesionowski
Rick: My brother just retired after 30 plus years with the CIA. He saw and heard all sorts of stuff he can't talk about. His first day on the job, he was taken to the ceremony where George W. Bush was sworn in as the head of the CIA; as a new hire, he got to meet him.
He went through the same security screenings as your son did. When he was cleared, he told us that we (his siblings) could also work at the CIA.
Good afternoon.
I finally finished all the rose trimming. I am covered in burrs as well. I only lost two units of blood to the thorns and I am replenishing by drinking the Coronas I found in the bar fridge. As luck would have it I also found limes in the fridge. I rarely drink beer, but I do enjoy it when I do.
Talking about people being interviewed for security clearances, they told my daughter one reason her start was delayed was that they were so far behind doing background checks. They gave her a list of everyone they interviewed.
Today for the first time, she actually got down to work, she says everything is brand spanking new in a new building and there are millions of dollars of the latest equipment surrounding her. She also said she was buying dinner.
I won a $1000.00 for a children's charity raffle. I bought the ticket ages ago, it was third prize. I told them to keep it and send me the tax receipt, they were delighted.
David, glad you had a good trip. Do you photograph the ships? When I was young one of my Dads friends went all over the world photographing ships, it was his hobby. He said living in Vancouver was awesome because of the vantage points that were available for taking the pics and the amount of traffic was terrific.
He use to spend his days in the middle of this bridge taking photographs and every wall in his house was covered in them.
Is Lion home from vacation? Did he have a good time?
Tom, that's a great shot of your kid playing the guitar.
Speaking of guitars, I am going to take my Corona, grab a guitar and sit on the patio, and torment the wildlife. The dogs are far too kind to complain, they are Golden Retrievers after all.
All the best to all.
Logging the California Redwoods.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Good evening everyone.
Thank you all for the cheers and good thoughts for my wife. I am glad to be parts of such a great group.
I will be back later...
York1 (The spelling of signalled doesn't look correct to me, but my spell checker didn't flag it. My brain isn't working either.)
Don't know how I missed Kevin's great news. That is outstanding.
Tin Can II Rick: My brother just retired after 30 plus years with the CIA. He saw and heard all sorts of stuff he can't talk about. His first day on the job, he was taken to the ceremony where George W. Bush was sworn in as the head of the CIA; as a new hire, he got to meet him. He went through the same security screenings as your son did. When he was cleared, he told us that we (his siblings) could also work at the CIA.
It was funny in that my son and 3 other students from Kettering all went at the same time to the CIA and school, 2 electrical engineers, 1 civil engineer and 1 computer engineer. It wasn't until much later they all found out they were working on the same project but from different aspects.
One time my son and I were both in San Jose, CA at the same time but he could not let me know to meet him for dinner or anything, he also spent time at the Nuclear Test site in Nevada.
By the way Kevin, great news on your wife, makes my little operation seem like the common cold, hope the recovery continues.
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
Greetings Gents. Thanks for the welcome and the donuts sound good although I was accused of eatin' all the donuts years past on another forum.
My postings are gonna be limited and short fer a while due to getting four injections, cortisone, in the base of my left thumb and this puppy slapped on my hand.
Don; Prez, CEO or whatever of the Wishram, Oregon and Western RR
It's Friday evening. It's hot. It's humid.
That means it's time for a big bowl of ice cream. I've got some in the freezer called peanut butter party. In spite of how it sounds, it's actually good. It's like a Dairy Queen Reeses Blizzard.
David, welcome back to the diner. I hope the trip went well, and that you can share some of the experience.
Bear, I could actually figure out your semaphore word. Of course, it helps that you told what it was. I don't know why my wife thinks I'm senile.
Even though it's not the kind of train we normally think of, the cable cars are on rails, so they qualify as California trains. They're a great system for getting street cars up and down the steep hills:
Have a good evening, everyone.
tankertoad135 Greetings Gents. Thanks for the welcome and the donuts sound good although I was accused of eatin' all the donuts years past on another forum. My postings are gonna be limited and short fer a while due to getting four injections, cortisone, in the base of my left thumb and this puppy slapped on my hand.
Well JB. I used to bring 'em down fer our annual open house, but our donut bakery closed down a few years back.
LION Likes BIG Ships with Big 16" Guns...
Especially below decks!
Sailors consider cats to be good luck on ships!
Making more progress...
Today I put the board games away in the new game closet!
-Photographs by Kevin Parson
Inching ever so slowly towards the goal...
York1Even though it's not the kind of train we normally think of, the cable cars are on rails, so they qualify as California trains. They're a great system for getting street cars up and down the steep hills:
Lets see them in motion
I toured one of the cable car winch houses back in 2003. Fascinating machinery to be sure.
Welcome back to our holiday travelers.
LION, we had two 16" guns at GE off the USS COlorado we used as pressure vessels. Neat Stuff!
GE in July 059 by Edmund, on Flickr
GE in July 057 by Edmund, on Flickr
Probably both scrapped by now.
Regards, Ed
This was a feature I just had to have.
I wanted a cabinet for the router and the UBS. These have always been an eyesore no matter where we put them. Now they will be tucked away in a cabinet up above the board game closet.
They will be hidden completely out of sight.
I also made some progress on the wall where the home theater system will be set up.
I can't go much further on the living room until I get someone here to fix the HVAC ductboard manifold in the ceiling.
SeeYou190This was a feature I just had to have.
Hi Kevin,
All your work is amazing! I am long past the days of my being able to do all that stuff. All I can do now is try to shut up and let my son do the work!
The fact that you have a dedicated games closet says a lot of good things about how well your family gets along!
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. It's cloudy and looks like rain. In celebration of the rain, I'll have bacon, eggs, and black coffee, please.
Finally a day has arrived with nothing scheduled, and my wife is sleeping late so she doesn't have anything for me to do. This is the way retirement is supposed to be.
This is a good day to start work on my train station. I'm refurbishing and changing a few things on my salvaged station from the last layout. This is probably my favorite building, so it will be nice to get it finished and onto the new layout.
I'm also going to start cleaning out the layout room's closet and build some new shelves. Right now it is a mess.
Here's a photo from their website of the San Diego coaster:
Have a great Saturday, everyone.
Good evening Diners. A large coffee please, Chloe.
Brent. I only shipspot cruise ships. A few years back I used to note the ones I saw in a shipping book. Now I take photographs of them. Much more fun. On our recent cruise I saw a cruise ship at sea. It was midnight and the ship was unknown. After taking the photograph I searched on Shiptracker. It gave me the name of 'Valiant Lady', Virgin Cruises most recent ship.
Another use of Shiptracker gave me the name of Crystal Endevour near Gibraltar.
As a member of The Ocean Liner Society I also get to look around ships. Your posted picture of Crystal Serenity reminded me of looking around the ship at the Port of Tyne, North Shields. The ship behind Crystal Serenity is (I believe) Infinty, now Celebrity Infinity. Not sure of the name of the Holland America ship on the right. Probably Zaandam or Volendam.
I would love to know the name of the ship in the second picture?
The third picture is of Infinity of Celebrity Cruises.
Thanks for posting.
Good morning. I think I will order the same bacon, eggs,and black coffee that John is having.
I slept for eight hours last night, but I still feel tired. This is one of those rare days where I just feel like going back to bed.
It is gloomy here, maybe that has something to do with it.
Some years ago, I worked on a project that required an extra clearance above what I already had. So, I get investigated again.ThIs time, I was indirectly asked about my train room. Yes, they checked bank records and asked what a particularly large withdrawal was for. Why, for a garage addition with a train room upstairs, of course!
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
NorthBritAs a member of The Ocean Liner Society I also get to look around ships. Your posted picture of Crystal Serenity reminded me of looking around the ship at the Port of Tyne, North Shields. The ship behind Crystal Serenity is (I believe) Infinty, now Celebrity Infinity. Not sure of the name of the Holland America ship on the right. Probably Zaandam or Volendam. I would love to know the name of the ship in the second picture? The third picture is of Infinity of Celebrity Cruises. Thanks for posting.
In the Navy, we just call them targets.
BroadwayLion In the Navy, we just call them targets.
My long post just turned to vapour.