gmpullman Our latest rescue, Felicity, is doing well. Dee Ann and I were at the caboose a week ago today when I heard a tiny kitty 'meow'.
Felicity by Bear, on Flickr
Indian Buffet by Bear, on Flickr
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Bear, thanks for the Indian food. That's another type I've never had. In my little town, we get meat and potatoes. We have several Mexican restaurants, but that's about it.
After all these years, I'd hate to have the Diner die out. I checked the Model Railroad Hobbyist forum, and it appears to work much better and seems to have a lot of activity. Maybe that's the answer to our problems here.
It's below freezing outside, but the dog didn't mind walking in it. She went 2½ miles this morning without getting tired -- I was tired. Maybe some snow tomorrow. Great Plains weather.
The Nehalem River Bridge on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad:
Oregon by John West, on Flickr
If anyone is still reading this part of the forum, have a great weekend.
York1 John
I'm still here. Just busy. Sitting 2-1/2 hours from home waiting for someone to show up and unlock the gates to the field my daughter is supposed to play soccer on.
Got the new kitchen cabinet painted to match the others yesterday. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to get it moved into the kitchen.
Still haven't had time to contact NCE about my throttle acting up. I sure hope it's a throttle issue and not a problem with the base station. I have a PC hooked into it so I can use JMRI. I'll have to see if that works or not.
Hope all are well.
Mike
Good Morning,
I'm still here. Been a very busy, tiring week. We went from a mild fall to winter this week. On Monday all the flowers were still in bloom, all 105 pots of them. By Wed. afternoon they were all pulled up and the soil emptied out of the pots otherwise they will freeze and crack. The snow hit Wed night and didn't stop until Friday morning. It was still above freezing so a lot melted but my wife was up all night Wed and Thurs knocking snow off the cedars and pine. We had lost quite a few tree limbs in 2019 with a similar, but far worse storm. Then at about 4 am on Friday a small branch hit her eye. I was outside at the time and had told her earlier to go inside. Anyway we were at the opticians at 8am. She scratced her eyeball and is applying antibiotics. Quite painful.
It has been very tiring as we usually take a week or two to put the yard away, not 2 days.
Today I will pump out the pond. It has a layer of ice on it but the sun is out and it might get to 30F. The very cold weather is here to stay. We won't see above 30F for the next 2 weeks so better get it done. I'll have to bring the hose inside for a while to warm up so I can stretch it out before I pump.
That is my excitement. Getting too old for this.
John, I do sympathize with your dog needing a lot of exercise. Long ago I had an Afghan Hound. I walked him at least a mile in the morning and longer after supper every day even if it was -30 otherwise he wouldn't settle. He had to be on a lead too. For him walk was a slow run for me.
CN Charlie
Yum, Indian food! We are fortunate to have a classy Indian restaurant nearby. Unfortunately, it's in a more crowded and busy town that's just now starting to wind down from beach season, so us locals can finally park nearby. We'd have to go further for real Mexican. Our very local "Mexican" place has started tasting like "Microwave Mexican" and I think I could cook it better myself.
Oddly, our temperature here could be a record high. It should cool down by Tuesday.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
O.T. public service announcement.
If any of you have the medicare Part D (prescription) supplement, I would encourage you to check your medical plans for changes in coverage.
After not looking into this for a great number of years, for reasons unknown to me I investigated this year. I found that my current plan suddenly stopped covering a couple of my medications, and my annual cost (premium and drugs) would increase from around $4,000 to over $20,000.
And when they send out their notice of plan changes they don't tell you.
maxmanIf any of you have the medicare Part D (prescription) supplement, I would encourage you to check your medical plans for changes in coverage.
That's good advice. I check my wife's and my plan each year. We have different companies based on the medicine she gets. Several years ago, like you, I learned my lesson when her medicine went way up because her company quit covering it.
“If you trust in yourself... and believe in your dreams... and follow your star... you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy.”— Terry Pratchett
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good morning Diners. A large coffee please, Janie.
Had family visiting yesterday. It was after three this morning before I saw the bed.
Middle grandson visiting this afternoon. He will be making his pumpkin lantern.
Hopefully see the train room later.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Bear, thanks for asking about my wife's eye. It is improving and only hurts when she puts in the drops which is expected.
Pond is all pumped out. Now we can go into hibrination. A bit early but wait I have to make a quick grocery runthis afternoon. We are still buying on line and I just have to go at the pre-set time for pickup. They load it all in the trunk and I drive away. Good thing we have a fairly large trunk.
Think I will run trains later. I have a freight all set to pull out. The Mike is on point. It is a BLI version, GTW liver on loan to CN. I lke the loco. It is a P2 version and runs well. I like that the chuff intensity increases with power increases, like the real thing. None of my other sound engines do even one with a recent Tsunami 2 decoder.
I guess John is getting a donut fix or is out with a romp with his dog. I thought about riding a bike to keep up with my Afghan Hound but he could easily do 30 mph at a run and then see something to chase in a field, turn 90 degrees, jump a ditch all without loosing speed. If I was on the other end of the lead, what would happen to me? That breed is incredibly agile besdes fast. Glad we changed to Westies.
Howdy diners! Janie, I'll take a large hot chocolate. It's chilly out.
NorthBritMiddle grandson visiting this afternoon. He will be making his pumpkin lantern.
Got the cabinet in, butcher block counter on, and first coats of conditioner.
Before:
Cabinet by Michael, on Flickr
After:
Cabinet 1 by Michael, on Flickr
I wish I had more time. I would have made it partially enclosed with a small drawer and a narrow space for baking sheets. That's okay though as the open design works for us here.
Good afternoon, everyone.
We had our first snow of the season last night, but it wasn't much and will all be gone by tomorrow. One good thing -- I can't pick up leaves for several days until they dry out!
Mike, that's a nice-looking addition to your kitchen. After a week, you will wonder how you ever got along without it.
Charlie, I hope your wife's eye is doing OK. It sure sounds painful. About the dog -- I've found that the dog now walks me instead of me walking the dog. It's funny, about a hundred yards south of our house, a neighbor has a flock of sheep. When we walk by there, our dog and the sheep have a staring contest.
Bear, that sounds like fun to hitch the dog up to a skateboard or bike, especially if I was about 40 years younger.
David, have fun with your grandson.
Ed, hope your new addition to your cat family is doing well. What do they do during the winter? Do you allow them into the house?
Dave, I continue to enjoy your reports on the snowplow. It sounds like you're getting close to having it finished.
MisterBeasley, do the people in your area like all the tourists there, or do they breathe a sigh of relief when they leave?
It's time for me to get a happy hour drink and settle in to watch the Chiefs play Denver in the NFL. Hope the Chiefs continue to win.
I'm not sure if someone has already posted this photo of the Oregon trestle -- it's a pretty neat bridge.
A Unique Trestle by Greg Brown, on Flickr
York1 I'm not sure if someone has already posted this photo of the Oregon trestle -- it's a pretty neat bridge. A Unique Trestle by Greg Brown, on Flickr
Attuvian1More information is available by googling "Holcomb Creek Testle". It's near Helvetia, OR, just northwest of Portland. The Wiki article includes a few semi-sinister details. I wonder if any of TF's favorite bridges (or modelled ones) are haunted.
John, maybe I should have posted that photo on the Halloween thread. I didn't know about the ghosts and suicides when saw the photo.
York1Ed, hope your new addition to your cat family is doing well. What do they do during the winter? Do you allow them into the house?
Thanks for asking, John. I've yet to get a decent photo of the 'latest' Felicity. She has made herself very comfortable here and gets along with the other nine just fine. Her vet appointment isn't until Nov. 20 but we dosed her with some anti-flea 'Revolution' treatment.
When cold weather comes round the cats can be found gathered around the wood stove:
Warm_Cats by Edmund, on Flickr
They come and go as they please. We live off the beaten path so vehicle traffic isn't a problem. Several of them like to hang out at the caboose where we keep a stock of treats and food and a water dish or two. That's where Felicity presented herself a week ago Wednesday.
They all have it pretty rough here:
Sixteen Paws by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
York1 MisterBeasley, do the people in your area like all the tourists there, or do they breathe a sigh of relief when they leave?
We have both opinions of tourists. We have to recognize the economic importance because our economy is based on tourism. Without tourists we have no restaurants, few stores and few jobs. However, the summer can be too much tourism. The realignment of population from Covid resulted in a lot more people here, lasting much later into the fall. I think the larger population ended up being too much larger. We seem to have increased our restaurant quota properly, so most restaurants are open 12 months a year now. The problem is that we have to wait until late October to walk into a restaurant without a reservation, and be sure of finding a parking place.
Re York1's pic of the Oregon trestle above...
Looking at that, I'd have my fingers crossed running those engines over it... lot of weight above and spindly-looking wood beneath...!
York1Dave, I continue to enjoy your reports on the snowplow. It sounds like you're getting close to having it finished.
Hi John,
I'm glad you are finding it interesting. There are still a few things to do. Right now I'm working on re-doing the sound files. As I mentioned in the plow thread, the Scale Sound System speakers revealed a lot of issues with the original recordings.
I also have to come up with a coal gondola but that will be easy. I'll just add paint and a coal load to an existing older gon. I also have to do interiors and lighting for a couple of the cars.
Then the painting will start. My garage is heated now so I can paint in cold weather. In order to avoid paint getting into the AC/heat split system, I will heat the garage up and then turn the split system off and cover it.
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. Brunhilda, coffee and a bavarian cream long john please.
Ed, those cats look cozy hanging out by the wood stove. Honestly, on a cold night I would probably be right there with them!
Mister B, sounds like my town. Probably like that in any town whose economy is heavily tourist based. I've always said our town is great to live in from Labor Day to Memorial Day!
Dave, a heated garage would be wonderful. Enjoy!
Cheers everyone!
Good morning, diners. Bacon, eggs, and black coffee, Flo.
With the cold weather, today I get to restart work on the layout. I will be taking out quite a bit of track that I laid just earlier this year. Once it was done, I didn't like it, and it has continued to bother me enough that I want to change it. Seems silly to take out work I had just finished, but what else do I have to do?
I wish I was a good enough photographer to take pictures like this. On the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad:
Across the bridge in fog by Rob Mesite, on Flickr
Have a great start to the new week.
Happy Halloween everyone! Brunhilda, french toast, eggs, and bacon please.
My youngest is going out with some friends tonight to trick-or-treat around town. It bothers some people when high schoolers show up at their door, but I don't mind it as long as they are in costume. Heck I don't mind if adults show up in a good costume. Anyway, had to make a prop for her costume last night. She is going as a road construction worker and I made her a traffic control sign that says STOP on one side and Trick or Treat on the other. Her two friends are going as traffic cones. The three of them should look great together.
Portland Oregon, circa 1886
Happy Halloween, everyone.
When we bought our house 30 years ago, our area was filled with kids and Halloween was a busy evening.
Over the years, the neighborhood aged, and the number of Trick or Treaters dropped to only a few the past years.
Mike, enjoy the time you have left with your youngest. It will be over before you know it.
Since I might be the one of the last Diner posters this month, I'll quit with this Portland & Western train near Nashville, Oregon:
Hauler near Nashville by MRL 390, on Flickr
Have a good last day of October.
Water Level RouteEd, those cats look cozy hanging out by the wood stove. Honestly, on a cold night I would probably be right there with them!
You're right, Mike. Wilson has the prime spot and he likes to look for the orange glow through the window.
Thanks for that great Bear/Wilson toon, Bear! A little levity is always welcome...
I can move the diner tonight if no one else is available. On to Sunny Cal-I-Forn-ia!
Regards, Ed
My Mom would dress up and go Trick or Treating in her retirement community in her 70s. She brought wine and was welcomed everywhere for cocktails. Everybody always had cheese and crackers. Totally impromptu, as no kids lived there, so everyone was delighted with the pranksters.
MisterBeasley My Mom would dress up and go Trick or Treating in her retirement community in her 70s. She brought wine and was welcomed everywhere for cocktails. Everybody always had cheese and crackers. Totally impromptu, as no kids lived there, so everyone was delighted with the pranksters.
Happy Halloween everyone!
It was lunch time
and we were eating lunch
when whqt do you know
but what a big bald egale glided by our window.
He huhg there on a current of air
before soaring out of sight
We neeed moire egales. I wonder how you coult model one in flight over your layout
Oh! Those are condioments.... I thought they were fuses.
gmpullmanI can move the diner tonight if no one else is available. On to Sunny Cal-I-Forn-ia!
Hi Ed,
Go ahead and move the Diner. I was just about to start work on the November thread but you beat me to it. I will come up with some nice railroading scenes from The Golden State.
hon30critterGo ahead and move the Diner. I was just about to start work on the November thread but you beat me to it.
Thanks, Dave. Just trying to be helpful.
It will be a few minutes after midnight (eastern time).
California here we come!
Sunset Limited by Edmund, on Flickr