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THE FLAT WHEEL CAFE Locked

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Posted by Modelcar on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:55 AM

.....A nice breezy and partly cloudy day starting here in our midwest region of the country, specifically...central Indiana.  Might get a thunderstorm pass by some time today....{Actually we could use a bit of rain right in this location}.....

More shrub trimming for me starting in a few minutes...Did get another mowing in yesterday, so I'm good on that for four days now.

Still breezy enough and temps ok to keep the windows open and continue enjoying the summer sounds and openness.

Hope it's a good day for forum members.

Quentin

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Posted by Mookie on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:17 AM

^.....

sorting my sock drawer.  One of those days!  Maybe another nap will help. 

 

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by eolafan on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:05 AM

Thanks for the fresh juice this morning CW, it really tasted good.  I'm on vacation this week and home handling my "honey do" list which included the three of us (my bride, my 26 year old son and me) moving and spreading ten cubic yards of hardwood mulch yesterday (oh, my aching EVERYTHING!).

Today in Aurora is muggy and rainy with temps to end up around 85F...time to turn on the A/C after over a week of very nice temps and open windows with chirping birds in the morning.

Have a wonderful day everybody.

Eolafan (a.k.a. Jim)
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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 7:31 AM

 JoeKoh wrote:
larry we can pencil that in aug 12th you say??

That's a good possibility.  Still have to figure out whether I'm doing that as part of my trip home or as a side trip while I'm in Michigan.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Posted by cherokee woman on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 7:16 AM

Good Wednesday morning, everyone.  Nice and muggy here in Louisville this morning.  Temp going up to 90 today. 

Tom, like you yesterday morning, I couldn't get in this morning.  They had the doors locked, down for maintenance.  Also made a notation on my BIRTHDAY CALENDAR of your birthday on August 12th.  Your's is the third August birthday I have listed on my calendar.  

Coffee, juices, teas and breakfast are all ready, and on the breakfast on the breakfast bar.  Today we have turkey bacon, sausage, pancakes, biscuits & gravy, sliced pineapple, bagels, bear claws and strawberry muffins.

You all have a great morning, and if there are any requests for today's lunch/dinner, supper menus, please speak up!

 

 

Angel cherokee woman "O'Toole's law: Murphy was an optimist."
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Posted by grampaw pettibone on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 7:00 AM
Joe, when you and Larry get together on Aug 12, sing me a song cuz I'll be 61 on that day. Song is OK, money preferred

Tom

COAST LINE FOREVER

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A contentious woman is like a constant dripping! (Solomon)

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Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 6:40 AM

good morning

larry we can pencil that in aug 12th you say?? matt wants to go with me to the local hobby store to make sure I use the gift certificate(my b-day gift).Cw thanks for breakfast.time for a nap.

stay safe

Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 8:46 PM

 CANADIANPACIFIC2816 wrote:
I will feed him all the chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk that he can handle.

Don't forget the fries!

 

Hey, Joe - Happy Birthday, and I'm thinking of coming down that way around August 12th.  I'll keep you posted.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by cherokee woman on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 5:36 PM

I've put out the next round of tonight's supper menu on the warmer bar.  Joe, Lance, and anyone else, I also made a few to-go containers, and put in the fridge.  

We have a slight chance of a few drops of rain tonight, but chance gets better during the day tomorrow:  especially north of us.  

Also have a strawberry cake w/lemon icing for dessert tonight.  Tastes pretty darn good, too, as I couldn't resist having a slice, just to make sure it was good, moist, etc.

Angel cherokee woman "O'Toole's law: Murphy was an optimist."
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Posted by CANADIANPACIFIC2816 on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 4:19 PM

Hey Joe, if Matt wants a job, you can bring him to my house here in Sioux Falls, my basement needs to be cleaned out and re-organized. I will feed him all the chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk that he can handle.

By the way, I know I missed your birthday, and I hope you had a darned good one! Happy B-Day [bday]

We have 90 degrees here in Sioux Falls, but the humidity here is only about 30%, so it hasn't been too bad here today. I kind of wonder if we might be getting some rain later tonight.

Ray

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Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 4:00 PM

afternoon

chores chores chores today.matt helped me paint our new front steps.he did a good job.He can be hired out at 14 cookies an hour.he also said that chocolate milk sounds good.railroaders and their stories.thats great to just sit and listen.Cw thanks for supper tonight.

stay safe

joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

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Posted by cherokee woman on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:23 AM

Hey everyone, I'm finally back from Tuesday Produce!!  A couple of other centers were closed today, for inventory, so we had 114 people show up at our little center this morning.  And it was a toal madhouse, because we had three trucks from Dare to Care show up this morning with deliveries.  The last truck had bread and pastries, ranging the gammut from doughnuts to cookies to cakes.  I managed to get a loaf of wheat bread, and a lemon strawberry cake, along with chocolate milk and a large bag of red potato wedges (very thin wedges, too).  

And the people were acting like fools:  trying to sneak inside to get the bread and pastries, before they got their regular stuff first, and sneaking back into line for more of the regular produce items we get.  And with all the extras we got today, I could only call one person at a time, because there was no room left for people to walk through.  

Got the first round of roast, taters, carrots & gravy w/green beans, sliced tomatoes, whole kernal corn, and dinner rolls on the warmer bar.  Cole slaw and garden salads are in the cooler, as usual. 

 

 

Angel cherokee woman "O'Toole's law: Murphy was an optimist."
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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:22 AM

One of these days, somebody's gonna go rooting around in the woods across the creek from the back of my place and find some of the hundred or so balls I've hit over there.  It's a clear shot (no houses), although I've been known to send a few in the wrong direction - that travel trailer next door has a dent or two in it's roof...

For that matter, I could probably get over there myself.  It is private property, though...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:15 AM

.....Tom, you fellows must have some supermen  down your way.....

On the niceness.....We purchased this location {2 lots}, back in early 1971 and had this place built right in the center of them, so we do have nice space around us.  Of course this is flat country for the most part.  Muncie elevation:  937' at the airport.

It's not real fancy but we really like it here and try to keep it nice.  Guess that trait in me, runs in my family....{keeping the yard, etc....nice}.  And of course the wife seems to dictate the operations inside...ha.  It also has to be just so.

Quentin

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Posted by grampaw pettibone on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:56 AM
Quentin, we live at least 10 miles from the nearest golf course, and I continually find balls in my front yard. Someday, I'm gonna catch that sucker with the bad slice (10 mile)!! My dogs find them in the fenced in yard and bring them to the door. From the sound of your description, you live in a beautiful location. My hat's off to you for the work you do to keep it that way.

Tom

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It is better to dwell in the corner of a roof than to share a house with a contentious woman! (Solomon)

A contentious woman is like a constant dripping! (Solomon)

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:44 AM

...Brian....there is a "Tee" right out to the right of us but hardly any balls come in the yard except those that hit a tree and bounce back.  I do have quite a few egg cartons filled with balls.  We generally give them to someone we know that golfs.

There has been exceptions though.....Once in a great while one will get in as far as along side the house.  Distance:  About 100' from the edge of the fairway.  And on one occasion....Some years ago....had one hit the front of the house....!  On the other side of our street are another line of houses and another fairway behind those....and a "Tee" just a bit east of us.....So whomever did it, had to slice it at least 300' to get it all the way from back on that fairway, across properties, across the street and half way up on our property to hit the front of our house....But someone actually did...!

Quentin

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Posted by blhanel on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:08 AM
 Modelcar wrote:

My back yard joins a golf course fairway and their mowing and my mowing, etc.....presents a nice stretch of green to enjoy.

I think I would don a football outfit while mowing, though...Clown [:o)]

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 8:30 AM

....Tom, I don't mind the mowing part....actually kinda like doing that.  Of course the John Deere is doing the "work" on that job, but I enjoy being out in the yard where our surroundings are rather nice and enjoy it all.  Now trimming {shrubs}, is of a different story.....I can go at it for a while and then the back starts "talking" to me a bit...But must get to them as they "get away from one" easy enough as it is....A most beautiful day here.

My back yard joins a golf course fairway and their mowing and my mowing, etc.....presents a nice stretch of green to enjoy.

Quentin

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Posted by grampaw pettibone on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 6:47 AM
Good mornin' all ye goode folke! At present, 66 degrees and pea soup fog in Carolina with another hotten likely. Thanks for breakfast, CW. I tried to get in around 0530 and found the door locked.... Quentin, yard work is punishment for past sins, at least in this part of the world. When it is hot and muggy, as it usually is, it feels like punishment of some kind. My mother, rest her soul worked outside whenever she could, and cultivated a half acre or more of azaleas, rhotodendrums, camellias and other nice stuff. At present, the area is overrun with briars and mimosa trees and I guess I shall get a talking to when I see her in gloryland. FWIW, the mimosa is the worst tree on God's blue planet. It spreads like wildfire and if you cut one, two grow back. Dig it up and a couple of years later, it's back! Everybody keep safe and cool

Tom

COAST LINE FOREVER

It is better to dwell in the corner of a roof than to share a house with a contentious woman! (Solomon)

A contentious woman is like a constant dripping! (Solomon)

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 6:14 AM

..... 59.9 degrees here the first I looked this morning....and it looks like it will be a really nice day here too.

Must continue to work away {out of the sun, on the shady side}, trimming shrubs again today....I created a monster years ago in planting them.  Have already had more than a dozen of the originals removed and still have many more.

But I must keep working away on them 'till I get all of them trimmed.

Then later when the dew is off the grass, another mowing is due.  Must do that {shrub trimming}, at least twice a season, plus a bit of touch up in between.

Quentin

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Posted by cherokee woman on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 5:28 AM

Good morning everyone!  Looks like another beautiful day in store for today.  Nice sunshine, and not too hot, highs are expected to be in the mid 80s again; but, tonight, the humidity will start rising, and will have more chances of rain showers.  

Coffee, teas and juices are ready to pour, and on the breakfast/warmer bar this morning:  turkey bacon, pork sausage, hash browns, scrambled eggs, biscuits & gravy, buttermilk pancakes w/syrup, bagels, bear claws and fresh sliced pineapple.  

Already have lunch/supper going in the Crock Pot:  beef roast, taters & carrots, and in another pot, shellie beans w/onion, and will fix some salads and cole slaw to go along with it.  Might even fix corn on the cob, if you all want some today.

 

Angel cherokee woman "O'Toole's law: Murphy was an optimist."
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Posted by grampaw pettibone on Monday, June 23, 2008 5:41 PM

CW, those old timers were tough. A friend's father was a switchman on the ACL, and remembers snow so deep that his father had to climb out the window to go to work at the switch he tended. He was not sure that any trains would run, but had to be there in case. Another story is an engine pulling into the yard at Florence with everybody pointing at the front of the engine. The engineer found a young calf above the pilot and apparently unharmed. Nobody ever saw him on the tracks or had any idea he was hitch hiking. Anyway, the engineer took him home and raised him. Another engineer noticed the chickens roosting on the wood fence beside the tracks as he pulled out each evening. Next time, he brought a short stick and poked a big rooster and watched him roll off the fence. This was done for the next few weeks. One evening, he couldn't find his stick and as the engine passed it, the rooster looked at him and rolled off the fence! There were several derailments on the big turn entering the yard on the Charleston run, and listening to the old timers discussing  the wrecks and the crews was fascinating. Some of the talk about a fiery tempered red headed conductor were hilarious. Remind me sometime when I am mellow and I will pass them on. There were engineers that people were afraid to ride with, because they would be on time or else, to the point of being dangerous.... Times sure have changed

Tom

COAST LINE FOREVER

It is better to dwell in the corner of a roof than to share a house with a contentious woman! (Solomon)

A contentious woman is like a constant dripping! (Solomon)

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Posted by cherokee woman on Monday, June 23, 2008 5:13 PM
Mookie, Ed and Tom, you all make me realize even more, how I wish I could have known my paternal grandfather.  He worked for L&N, and I wish he could have lived long enough to tell us his (his grandchildren) stories of working on the railroad!  How I would have loved that! 
Angel cherokee woman "O'Toole's law: Murphy was an optimist."
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Posted by grampaw pettibone on Monday, June 23, 2008 3:50 PM
My uncle was a freight conductor on the ACL. I never got the chance to reminisce with him and alzheimer came calling far too soon. As a child, we would visit them. We would walk to the tracks behind the house that were the then Florence SC-Augusta main, and right on time, watch those big Fs make the wide turn west of town and barrel past us with him hanging out the window waving. The ACL was not one to tarry, and right on time, was there here and gone. My uncle died in 1967 and was my one touch with the industry before becoming a fan. Knowing him led to wanting to trying for the RR, but a bad back ruled that out. RIP Uncle Mayo, you are well remembered.

Tom

COAST LINE FOREVER

It is better to dwell in the corner of a roof than to share a house with a contentious woman! (Solomon)

A contentious woman is like a constant dripping! (Solomon)

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Posted by Mookie on Monday, June 23, 2008 2:31 PM

You know - it seems there are always individuals or groups of people that like to rain on everyone's parade.  Then you have individuals and groups that will take you to the parade.  We thank you, Ed and family, for a great weekend and hope we can do it again sometime soon. 

This diner has so many nice people, so far away!  Maybe someday....

Mook/Driver 

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by edblysard on Monday, June 23, 2008 11:46 AM

Ok,

Awake, with the help of a few cups of coffee.

Quentin, drove up and back on highway 77 instead of the I 35 corridor, and the north east end of Kansas is quite pretty, lots of hills and valleys with the road running through cuts in the limestone, and a lot of small towns with turn of the century downtown areas, gotta love all that stone arch architecture.

 

Mookieville is really nice this time of year, all green and cool mornings...down here it is 95 degrees with 80% plus humidity by 8 in the morning, up there it was in the lower 70s till 10, really pleasant.

 

Both daughters want to move in with Mookie and the Driver...told Aimee we could give them bus fare and as soon as the tail lights went around the corner, we could take off for Mexico...She almost considered it!

 

Almost scary how both kids paired up with Mookie and the Driver.

Beth and the Driver both take what ever life hands them, and run with it.

If it rains, they find a way to play in it, if the sun shines, they figure out how to make shade.

Both can tell you the most outrageous things with perfectly straight faces, both are quick to shoot from the lip, with a sense of humor that makes you worried!

 

Mookie and Morgan are cut from the same cloth...give them both a book and a cool shady spot to read, and they can quite happily disappear for the rest of the day.

They could sit on the front porch and watch the world go by, and be as happy as a clam.

Neither one misses anything, both are reserved, careful with what they do and say, and are honest to a fault.

Both are quietly stubborn, you couldn't force either one of them to do something they didn't want to do, no matter how hard you tried.

 

Met Mookies "Old Engineer"...

Could have sat on the side porch the rest of the day listening to him, he has a personality that is entertaining and engaging.

 

A firm handshake, a clear look in the eye, gentle smile and a sincere "how do you do" all let you know you know you just met someone from the old school, where a mans word and handshake was more iron clad than any contract.

 

If I had to use one word to describe him, that word would be "gentleman", he epitomizes the true idea of one.

 

Living proof that you don't have to be rude, loud or indifferent to get along in this world, and that all you need is your morals, and the willingness to do what you know is right.

 

I would have loved to have had the chance to be his conductor.

 

You could probably learn more from this man about mid century railroading, (and the people who worked there) in one afternoon than if you read all the books ever written on the subject.

His reminiscences brought the era alive, made all the more enjoyable because you were listening to a man who was there, and could describe the times in a way that made it seem like just yesterday engineers used their watch and telegraph poles to judge their track speed.

I was both impressed and honored that Mookie though well enough of me to introduce us, and will remember that day the rest of my life.

 

And yes, Mookie, you need to find a way to bottle that!

 

 

 

23 17 46 11

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Posted by mudchicken on Monday, June 23, 2008 11:16 AM

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/blogs/default.asp?BlogID=663

Class Act CPR ! Thumbs Up [tup]Thumbs Up [tup]Thumbs Up [tup]

There won't be a dry eye in the diner for a while.

 

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by Modelcar on Monday, June 23, 2008 9:18 AM

....Remember when he used to appear on Johnny Carson dressed in suit and tie and goomed haircut....Actually looked like most other guests and then....Whatever happened to change him, he certainly did.

Quentin

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, June 23, 2008 8:43 AM

I think it was another guy whose schtick is/was smashing fruit - they pass out ponchos to those in the front row.

What I loved about Carlin was his questioning the obvious - things we say every day that, if you think about them, just don't make sense.  One comes to mind:

Why is it we drive on the parkway and park on the driveway?

I call them Carlinisms.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: US
  • 13,488 posts
Posted by Mookie on Monday, June 23, 2008 8:37 AM
 edblysard wrote:

Will have to watch the older daughter, she knows where the Mookie's driver lives....I kept waiting for them to have a burp off or a karate match....both of them shoot from the lip faster than you can, trust me....

I checked with the Driver - he said his part was only the karate....and maybe a little of the lip.....

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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