York1I have to compliment our power company. We have a lot of windstorms and snowstorms out here. We very seldom have a power failure.
We haven't had a major power outage since we installed our generator.
Hmmmm.... Top of the Page....
Breakyfaste is on the Leopard!
Today is Toadsday...
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good Morning Diners. Lion, thanks for the breakfast. Looks good!
I have frequently thought about a generator or at least a kerosene heater for the house just in case. The house I grew up in lost power with some regularity in a good winter storm, so our kerosene heater got a regular workout. That is probably what drives this thought. The house I live in now appears to be on the same power block as the local hospital and we RARELY lose power. I can count on one hand the number of times we've lost power in the 7 or 8 years we've been here, and I think 2 hours time was the longest we were out. We've been in situations where most of the town is out of power, including basically a complete circle around our neighborhood, and yet there we sit with the lights on. Lucky.
Bear, I love the cartoon! That's how you make a slow locomotive a fast one!
Have a good day everyone!
Mike
Good morning
I may get long winded as there's no pop-ups covering the whole screen this morning and doesn't seem to be other glitches.
Hi Ed. Haven't been hiding. Just got back from another one of Judy's extended weekend retreats we've been doing frequently this Summer. I'll post some pictures later if it works out as it's been becoming more difficult posting pictures with text from a phone anymore. Sometimes it works. Most times everything disappears trying to do it.
Said it before and I'll say it again. Sure do love that Caboose you built! Some fine carpentry skills displayed on that build I have to say!
I'd only hope to build a cabin like that on a lake up north some day. If it would turn out half as good as the one you built, that would be good enough for me.
I like how Wilson got involved as the construction superintendent I remember when I built my double level deck around from the sliding glass door to the porch built a couple years earlier. I had planks going around as I was installing the deck boards. Nellie was just a puppy and would follow me back and forth on the planks. Have you ever seen a springer spaniel as a puppy? There was no way I could get mad at her as she was slowing me down
Liked the cartoon of the diesel shell going over the steamer Bear. I as well don't feel it was an improvement. Besides the more pleasing cosmetics of steam locomotives, they were much easier on the atmosphere.
Thats right! Your moving into Spring while we are all moving into the Klondike Tundra with Old-Man-Winter. Hope things warm up for ya soon
The two Dave's are the lucky ones here!
Thanks for the pics & vids of your vacation Dave. I enjoyed checking out the tight curves and trestles. From the looks of it, You and the Misses sure musta had fun on your Train Excursion.
Looks like you and the better half had fun on your Holiday as well David. Oh what I wouldn't give for one of those Over-The-Pond Vacations!
Liked the Horse pictures of coarse of coarse, that you posted a while back Mr Lion, and the Saber-Toothed-Tiger.
Liked the horses more better though, as the Tiger looked angry
Ive always liked horses. When my brother and I were quite young, my Mom used to board a horse up in Champlin Minnesota before the Resort. The phillies name was Champy. My Brother and I would take turns as my Mom would put us on the saddle in front of her and give us a ride. That horse was smart. My Mom would say Trot Champy, and she always did.
I liked giving her an apple. She would always bend her neck down and put the side of her head on mine after she was finished, to say thank you. Fond Memories.
Maybe the two animals that met bridge I posted a while back was two Lions... I found the Lions Gate Bridge up in Vancouver that had two Loin statues on the front of it.
Cool Bridge and I can't figure out for the life of me how the main support swag hangers have a kink on the ends over those triangles. Seems to me, there must be a huge amount of stress at those points but apparently she stood the test of time.
I wonder if Brent could post a pic of the Lions Gate Bridge so the Kids at home can see what I'm talking about? I was thinking since you live up there, You must have a few
Between the Home Depot and Menards, I've gone to them both almost on a daily basis my whole life. I enjoy the stories you tell at your job Kevin.
I got to tell you it makes a difference with the people that you can tell like their job. I only had a bad experience one time with an employee in Saint Louis Park and was not a good way to start the day.
We've been tracking Hurricane Ion on the news up here in the morning and I gotta tell you I'm a little worried about ya Kevin. I hope you're right and it just blows over, so to speak.
I've had a big curiosity my whole life as I was digging through the cedar 2x4s last week. There was quite a few warped, banana boards in the pile.
It's been my observation over the years, it's usually the homeowners inconsideration and not the contractors that throw the boards every which way instead of keeping them stacked neatly while looking through them. That's how they end up warped so bad.
My question to you Kevin? I have wondered through the years, what do they eventually do with all those warped boards that nobody's going to buy?
Tired... but have a work order for the ongoing project of restoring decks and railings on tier 33 today. That won't stop Judy and I from going to the last car show of the Season tonight. They have a Roach Coach out there with some really good tacos for Taco Tuesday...
Have a great day gentlemen
TF
Thanks for the compliments on the caboose, TF That was a fun project but I sure wouldn't want to tackle something similar at this stage of my life.
Track fiddlerMy question to you Kevin? I have wondered through the years, what do they eventually do with all those warped boards that nobody's going to buy?
At "my" Home Depot they get a splash of purple paint then tossed on the 80% off pile. I have a former coworker that is a HD employee and he gives me a heads up if anything worthwhile ends up in the "scratch & dent" section. Got a beautiful gas grill for $25 one time that was missing a $5 part. Similar grills were going for $350!
Have you had your WHEATIES today?
Zephyr Wheaties by Edmund, on Flickr
I have always liked the "hearty-grain" cereals. Never had a taste for anything named Sugar Pops, Sugar Frosted anything, or honey-dipped this or that. Trix might be for kids but not for me.
Just a shell of her former self:
Concrete Giant by 95wombat, on Flickr
Much better:
Domeliner through Verdon by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Good evening Diners. A pot of tea please, Chloe.
Prior to going on holiday York1 John asked me to post some pictures on my return. Unfortunately the trip on a steam train in Visby was cancelled. Not amused. Therefore here are some other pictures.
Old cannons at Oslo Castle
IMG_1278 by David Harrison, on Flickr
Bangsbo Fort, Frederikshavn, Denmark. Part of the German Atlantic Wall in WW2
IMG_2442 by David Harrison, on Flickr
IMG_2431 by David Harrison, on Flickr
IMG_2433 by David Harrison, on Flickr
IMG_2434 by David Harrison, on Flickr
IMG_2439 by David Harrison, on Flickr
IMG_2438 by David Harrison, on Flickr
IMG_2440 by David Harrison, on Flickr
Strong walking shoes were required. There are 24 of the bunkers.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Good morning from the warm and sunny West Coast.
Went for my 10km scoot with the dog yesterday and was feeling sluggish and it took a lot longer than usual. Got home and it said 30c/86f on the thermometre, that'll slow an old geezer down. We were running through an area of giant sequoias and Mr. Bear was sitting behind one 5m away licking his paw. The dog and I noticed him at the same instant with both our heads turning right at the same time. We didn't miss a beat and the bear just looked at us and didn't miss a beat on the paw licking. It has been a hot summer and I need to get back into shape. I was at age 38 in May, now look at me. Still not too bad for 65.
C'mon Ed, you know you want to.
My sister is in Argentina right now judging dog shows and she is sending lots of cool photos as she has time to sightsee. It has been a long time since I was in that part of the world. It is a long plane ride that I would not look forward to at this stage of my life. Maybe a cruise down and around Cape Horn and into Antarctica would be more my speed. They have them that leave right from Vancouver. I always wanted to dive on an iceberg. I think at my age I'd have to think twice but I would sure be thinking about it.
The kid came down to watch hockey, he needed Dad time. He was telling me that he had let go three senior long-time employees that had no clue about the electronic media world, their idea of advertising was putting an ad in the paper. He replaced them with two kids ( I call them kids) from Ontario he went to University with. The next quarter revenue was up $84,000.00 a week. It looks like he may have to move out of his apartment while the water damage is being fixed. The insurance company will put them up in the Marriot just down the road. They are thinking two or three weeks. They have only lived there six months.
TF, I have been over the Lions Gate Bridge thousands of times. I use to ride my bike to work at the airport from Grouse Mountain 21km. Often I would be coming home at 3 or 4 in the morning. I had a giant light on my bike and would ride through the trails of Stanley Park in pitch black up to the bridge. Quite often I would be mid-span of the bridge just as the Sun would be coming up and I would sit on my bike leaning against the railing and re-charge my soul. Good times.
Lord Stanley gave Vancouver the park and the Hockey world the Stanley Cup.
The wife wants to go for a long walk with the dogs. When I go for a walk with my wife my Garmin does not even register it as exercise. The company is still the best though.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
BATMAN
Not Bad at all, my friend! Fitbit gives an estimate too. It has me presently somewhere between 43 and 47. (Scale of 0 to 50. Zero being dead and 50 being the best, LOL) That ain't too bad for almost turning 76! (two months away)
Just got home from getting my 5th. COVID Vaccine Jab. So by next week I will be ready to get out amongst people more. One of the ladies I have been going out with is Handicapped and walks with a walker or a 4 pronged cane. She is also diabettic I think. Got a text from her while I was at my Grandaughter's Volleyball game. She is sick. Doesn't know yet whether it is COVID or the Flu, but is feeling very bad at the moment. I am a bit worried due to her several co-morbidities. Supposed to go for a hike with the other lady I am dating on Thursday. Hopefully it will be outside on the shoreline of Seneca Lake here. If weather is nasty, we will go walk at the indoor track at the College.
Fitbit says that since I got the watch (about 4 years and 4 months ago) I have now put in over 6,842 miles. At least half of that has been running (well I call it running, but really hate it when ladies 10 years older than me pass me..... ;) )
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Good afternoon (one minute after 12:00), diners. I'll have a hamburger with bacon on it, Flo.
I hope Kevin is weathering the storm OK. It sounds like his home with all the wind resistant construction will be OK with the wind, but the storm surge might be another story. I hope he will fill us in on how it goes.
TF, I could dig through some photos for a shot of that bridge at Vancouver. I took quite a few photos of the bridge as our cruise passed under it on the way to Alaska. I'll look for them, although I haven't seen them in a long time.
David, glad to hear you're back and thanks for the photos. Some people get bored looking at other people's vacation photos. I'm the opposite. I love them.
My wife and I are headed out once again later this week for a session with grandkids. I'm getting worn out.
The Cimarron Valley Railroad runs for 250 miles from southwestern Kansas into Colorado. It hauls mostly grain.
This gives you an idea of the countryside in southern and western Kansas:
Have a good Tuesday, everyone.
York1 John
York1I hope Kevin is weathering the storm OK. It sounds like his home with all the wind resistant construction will be OK with the wind, but the storm surge might be another story. I hope he will fill us in on how it goes.
As of the 11:00 update from the National Weather Service, we are now under a hurricane/tornado/flash flood/storm surge warning. They have issued mandatory evacuations for flood zones A & B already, as well as all island communities. We are expecting hurricane conditions in 36 hours.
The chaos is maddening. I cannot believe how few new residents has any plans at all. My plans are minimal, but they are a plan, and I know what I am going to do. So many new people here have no idea what they are going to do.
My house should be fine, I am not in a flood zone, and my house is several feet higher than most others in the neighborhood.
I went out last night at 4:00 AM and filled all the vehicles after the 24 hour gas stations got their overnight deliveries. I have plywood, roofing paper, and patch tar on hand if needed. The freezer is full of ice and the refrigerator is full of water.
We have plenty of water in buckets to flush the toilets.
Junk food is abundant in the cupboards.
I am as ready as I will be. I am not looking forward to work today.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Sorry TF, I meant to post this video. I am not sure about what you are referring to as far as the bridge but there are hundreds of pics on Google Images.
Bent. The picture of the cruise ship looks amazing. Thanks for posting. Any idea of its name? It looks like a Seabourn company ship.
SeeYou190 York1 I hope Kevin is weathering the storm OK. It sounds like his home with all the wind resistant construction will be OK with the wind, but the storm surge might be another story. I hope he will fill us in on how it goes. As of the 11:00 update from the National Weather Service, we are now under a hurricane/tornado/flash flood/storm surge warning. They have issued mandatory evacuations for flood zones A & B already, as well as all island communities. We are expecting hurricane conditions in 36 hours. The chaos is maddening. I cannot believe how few new residents has any plans at all. My plans are minimal, but they are a plan, and I know what I am going to do. So many new people here have no idea what they are going to do. My house should be fine, I am not in a flood zone, and my house is several feet higher than most others in the neighborhood. I went out last night at 4:00 AM and filled all the vehicles after the 24 hour gas stations got their overnight deliveries. I have plywood, roofing paper, and patch tar on hand if needed. The freezer is full of ice and the refrigerator is full of water. We have plenty of water in buckets to flush the toilets. Junk food is abundant in the cupboards. I am as ready as I will be. I am not looking forward to work today. -Kevin
York1 I hope Kevin is weathering the storm OK. It sounds like his home with all the wind resistant construction will be OK with the wind, but the storm surge might be another story. I hope he will fill us in on how it goes.
NWS is saying landfall between Ft Myers and Tampa. Extra interesting to me because that's where we tend to visit when we go...Englewood. Wondering what the history of the area is as far as receiving direct impact.
Be safe Kevin. Prayers for you and yours.
- Douglas
Stay safe Kevin,
Been there done that with hurricanes,
I have a frined in Tampa who works for Sheirrffs dept. He is not looking forward to this either.
Ray, your mention of Fitbit reminds me of a conversation I had with my stock analyst some years back. He had just gotten one, and was raving about it and how everyone should get one. Since my three primary forms of exercise were bicycling, downhill skiing and ice hockey, my guess is it wouldn't do much for me. About a year later, I asked him if his Fitbit was now in a dresser drawer and hadn't left for six months. He admitted I was right.
You seem to have the drive and determination to do it right. Congratulations!
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasleyYou seem to have the drive and determination to do it right. Congratulations!
Thank you sir! What I find is that the Fitbit actually challenges me to get and keep going. It is sorta like a game with yourself. My personal goal is to never go to bed at night until I have at least 5,000 steps in. It has been a while, but I have put in over 20,000 steps (about 10miles) a few days. Not often, but that comes with a feeling of achievement.
MisterBeasleySince my three primary forms of exercise were bicycling, downhill skiing and ice hockey, my guess is it wouldn't do much for me.
My Garmin covers a vast number of activities. Check them out online.
Shows sleep duration and the times I was in a light, deep, REM sleep or when I was awake. How much I move in my sleep, pulse Ox and respiration. Last night I slept 5hrs44min. 3.52 light, 1:52REM and 2min awake. Most of my night is usually in REM or deep sleep, last night was not the norm. Respiration was 6BPM and pulse OX was99%. Both the Garmin and my wife say I sleep like a statue and never move all night.
My resting HR ranges between 37 and 43 most weeks. If my resting HR goes above 50 it usually means I have picked up a bug and will be sick in a day or two.
Here is a go on my recumbent bike, I get the same page for any activity.
Gives body battery and stress levels which are amazing.
The number of calories burned as you go through the day. When I hit dinner time I never ever eat more than I burned and usually 300 less as that gives me wiggle room for the weekend Rum, wine or scotch.
I burn 84 calories an hour doing nothing. I can easily burn 4000 calories on an active day and the wife will put a 1lb rib steak on my plate along with a bottle of red. No harm no foul. Eating calories you don't burn is like spending money you don't have.
Like Ray my steps are counted. 13333 steps is 10km. I can knock that off in an hour and it burns a 1000 calories depending on how steep the terrain is. It also counts stairs and tells you elevation changes on the day.
Here is last week's time spent either on the trail and/or bike.
A Garmin would tell you everything about your body during hockey or on the bike. The GPS will paint a plcture of your every move.
I wish I had one when I skied to tell me how fast I went.
TF, I tried to find photos of that bridge, but was unsuccessful.
This blurry one is from a video file from when we were in the park before the cruise. I have several minutes of video as our cruise ship went under the bridge, but it was raining and the video is almost impossible to view. Sorry about that.
That was a great trip with my daughters. We rode the White Pass and Yukon RR, and had the best time in Dawson City, Yukon. Stayed in an old hotel there and saw a lot of neat things before heading to Fairbanks, AK.
Sometime I'll have to tell about our plane flight to Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska. Six passenger plane in bad weather with our fingernails dug into the armrests.
Tonight was an experience at work.
Local news reported that everyone was out of water and other supplies. We had 22 pallets of bottled water on hand.
We were going to stay open until 10:00 as normal, but at 7:00 a Sheriff's deputy came by and said we had to be closed by 8:00 or shelter in place all night in the store.
We closed the store in a hurry and left. It is now 8:15, and there is no wind at all and only a light rain.
The worst is expected to begin overnight. They will shut off the power when sustained wind speeds reach about 30 miles per hour. It might be a while before you hear from me again.
The 5:00 PM update put landfall very near my home. I might need to finally eat some crow if the five-day forecast was correct, for the first time ever.
The rains just picked up. It is coming down heavy right now.
The rains stopped again.
Yesterday they issued mandatory evacuations for flood zones A & B. Today they added zone C after the 5:00 advisory, but they closed the roads at 8:00 PM.
I looked at the map, I have been rezoned to zone B. When did that happen. I have been in zone C since I bought this house. Oh well, too late now.
It looks like no one in the neighborhood has evacuated. Everything looks pretty normal around here.
It is going to be getting very scary in a few hours. I hope I can sleep through the worst of it.
There is a lot of contruction material in my backyard. Mostly concrete, pavers, and stone. I sure hope winds do not get high enough for any of that to become a projectile.
SeeYou190I might need to finally eat some crow if the five-day forecast was correct, for the first time ever.
Good luck Kevin! Scary stuff!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critterGood luck Kevin! Scary stuff!!
Thank you.
I am awaiting the 11:00 update from the National Hurricane Center to see how much it shifts again.
So, right now it is 10:00, the time the store was supposed to close. There is no wind and only a light rain outside. The storm is only moving at 10 MPH.
They sent an evacutation order for 70,000 people at 5:00, then closed the roads 3 hours later... and there is no weather event at all right now. All these people are forced to shelter in place with no hope of emergency services. They never opened the public general sheltering areas.
We still had all this bottled water on hand when they forced us to close the store.
We just got in another new truck of plywood at 6:30.
People were in the store buying these supplies for their homes, and they made us close the store. This makes no sense to me at all. We were providing necessary supplies. I found out they also closed all the WalMarts and Publix Grocery Stores early. I know the WalMart SuperCenter in North Fort Myers received nine trucks of supplies today, and they sold only about 60% of it before being forced to close.
I am so dumbfounded about all of this.
Good luck! Looks like your area is the target. I had my share of these in New Orleans. Not something I want to go through again.
Keep us posted!
I sure hope they put all those carts inside along with the other stuff they tend to have outside.
York1Good luck! Looks like your area is the target.
I just checked the 11:00 update from the National Hurricane Center. They have shifted the projected landfall just slightly, to Charlotte Harbour. That is exactly where Hurricane Charley hit and caused so much damage.
If it does hit, I really hope it speeds up. A slow moving storm is the worst.
BATMANI sure hope they put all those carts inside along with the other stuff they tend to have outside.
I know that many people do not believe this, but we do know what we are doing.
Of course the carts are inside. So are all the rental trucks, sod, mulch, fertilizer, trees, and so on, and so on.
I just remembered about my storage locker where the displaced items from the house remodel are kept.
Mine is on the bottom floor, and the building is in flood zone A.
Great, something else to worry about.
The National Weather Service stated we should start seeing Tropical Storm Force winds around 2:00 AM. It is 1:50 AM now, and the clouds are really zipping by. I think they are pretty darned close.
The sky is amazing. It is glowing in a Magenta color in the middle of the night. You can see outside in the sky easily. I have not seen anything like this in a storm. It is eerily beautiful.
I will probably be losing power soon I expect the cut-off within an hour.
I have flashlights and spare batteries. There is also the Milwaukee Rocket Light with 8 fully charged batteries. Plenty of fuel. Freezer full of ice. Charged batteries for the chainsaw. I think I am as ready as I will be.
We are in a mandatory evacuation zone, so we will receive no emergency medical services for at least a day. This was a very poorly led preparation by the officials. I hope the reaction and recovery go much better.
I have a full industrial first aid kit. That will be all we have if something terrible happens.
Not sure if I will be able to check in again tonight.
Boy am I Post-Hogging it tonight.
4:00 AM. Still have power and that is good. The winds have gone away and rain is once again light. We still have not seen anything near a Tropical Storm force wind.
Hoping for a good day tomorrow, but it sure looks like it will be a rough ride.
I will update as I can.
Stay Safe, Kevin. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
SeeYou190Boy am I Post-Hogging it tonight.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."