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Chatterbox 2.0

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Posted by Mookie on Thursday, June 5, 2014 8:39 PM

jeffhergert

Deggesty
Mookie, I looked out in Lincoln this morning, but did not see anybody. I have long appreciated getting a real newspaper when passing through Omaha eastbound. This morning's paper had quite a bit about the hailstorm--hail the size of baseballs that not only broke much glass, but also broke through roofs. I must go and board my train.

 

You might be able to get a good deal on a new car up in Blair, NE.  That is if you don't mind a few dents or broken windshields. Over 4300 vehicles with hail damage.

Jeff

Jeff - one interview they did for the news was 2 ranchers.  They said they only needed a good motor/drive train.  They want to pull cattle around and cattle don't care about dents!

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Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, June 6, 2014 4:12 PM

evening

got home and got the yardwork done.Going to pick up Matt from G+G house.We are also picking up supper on the way too.Saturday good day.Sunday maybe some rain.

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 Mookie on Friday, June 6, 2014 4:49 PM

Joe:  Cotton candy comes in white now.  It was all over the sky during our grocery store outing.  And looks like it is heading somewhere over there. 

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Posted by Mookie on Saturday, June 7, 2014 5:01 PM

Went to the dam today, but no fishing.  More rain overnite, so the lake is now up to the parking lot.  So we sat and people watched. 

Lots of sail, paddle, windsurf and kayak boats.  Good stiff north wind to boot.  And men and their sons.  Close to the boat ramp is where we park and there is a dock that extends out into the water.  About 1/3 of the dock is underwater, so people had to either get their shoes wet or go barefoot through knee deep water. 

One man and his 2 sons - about 8 and 10 - he gave them each what looked to be a fairly heavy tackle box and a pole.  Oldest boy dropped his both in the water.  The tackle box didn't sink very far, but boy did that pole!  Dad waded in the water for about 10 min before realizing he wasn't going to be using that pole today. 

You fish only about 20 feet from your car, so why not pack what you need and leave the tackle box in the car.  And 3 people and 6 rods just isn't necessary.  Well, you get the idea.  Felt bad for the dad, but really, he wasn't on a trip to Minnesota to catch Walleye.  He would, at most, maybe get some bluegill or maybe a catfish.  Stick, string and some kind of non-live bait.  Especially when 8 and 10. 

And Cake to my friend who is up to his shirt buttons in alligators!  Kisses

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Saturday, June 7, 2014 9:09 PM

Mookie what are you going to change the title to next ?

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Posted by Mookie on Saturday, June 7, 2014 9:21 PM

I am thinking about "I Give Up!". 

However, if I leave out the punctuation and the #'s - it seems to let me in the normal door.  That was Brother Carl's idea.  He thought it might have an affect on the "entry". 

But I am open to suggestions...

 

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by JoeKoh on Sunday, June 8, 2014 8:19 AM

Morning

spent yesterday doing chores then watching Csx's parking lot parade.Trains were "growling" as they were running at approach or restriced speeds.Had 2 CP sd 40-2's taking some BNSF grain cars back home.Trains were pulling into sidings at south Deshler,Leipsic,Ottawa,Cario and Totogany all day on the Toledo sub.Mookies your cotton candy is making my yard white.Bad for allergies and air conditioners.Matt's school(Tinora) brought home the state Baseball championship.The girls also brought home state track and field championships.Going to relax today.

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 mudchicken on Sunday, June 8, 2014 1:55 PM

(1) Dry tornadoes on the plains....(Hugo, CO - UP KP Line)

(2) Tornady thingies in the hills...(Fairplay)

Everybody east of here - watch the skies today. Weather Alerts out the gazoo - Tornado on the ground south  of Denver.. Just missed us. Too much electricity in the air to go outside with a bar of soap.

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 Mookie on Sunday, June 8, 2014 2:04 PM

Looks like it going up north again where they really don't need anything else.  Maybe more in Murphy's area. 

He may need to buy the "Duck!". 

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by Mookie on Sunday, June 8, 2014 2:56 PM

Happy Happy!  An exciting day to train watch!  2 hours - 4 coal, 5 freight, 1 light, and 1 very late Amtrak!

Foreign power - CSX, NS, KCS. CP and CN @ the diesel shop & one UP on a freight, which is almost more scarce than than the rest.  We have UP still switching some locals in town, but don't usually see a UP engine in BNSF service. 

Note to Tree:  House fire about 6 blocks down the street from us.  Nice 2 story w/attic - big house, wrought iron fencing around it.  House sat on back of good sized lot.  About $350K range.  Attic fire.  Owner removed dead battery from smoke detector in attic about a month ago and didn't replace it.  Rain water leaked in roof and made a connection with something electrical and now he has about $100k damage and still no battery.  Probably no smoke detector, either. 

Sigh

They had a sunroom on the west side that I always thought was so cool.  It is still there, but not much behind it.  

 

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Sunday, June 8, 2014 3:55 PM

Mookie
. . . Note to Tree:  House fire about 6 blocks down the street from us.  Nice 2 story w/attic - big house, wrought iron fencing around it.  House sat on back of good sized lot.  About $350K range.  Attic fire.  Owner removed dead battery from smoke detector in attic about a month ago and didn't replace it.  Rain water leaked in roof and made a connection with something electrical and now he has about $100k damage and still no battery.  Probably no smoke detector, either. 

Sigh

They had a sunroom on the west side that I always thought was so cool.  It is still there, but not much behind it.  

See:

http://www.1011now.com/home/headlines/Fire-Crews-Respond-To-House-Fire-262231891.html 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Mookie on Sunday, June 8, 2014 4:40 PM

Thank you Paul - that's the one.  It is really a beautiful house, as are all of those in that area.  You can see the sun porch where I would have spent many peaceful afternoons! 

And if anyone is old enough to remember Charles Starkweather, this house is within a block or two of the house where Charlie murdered the residents.  I was in the junior high school at 22nd and Van Dorn at the time.  Little historical trivia.  Probably best forgotten. 

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, June 8, 2014 10:45 PM

Ms Mook - Penny wise and pound foolish....   What's a nine volt battery going for these days?

It often happens that folks doing their own work on a house run out of money before it comes time to buy insurance.  Same thing - for the want of a few dollars, they lose everything.

Decent weekend on the railroad.  After our scheduled run Saturday, we left the train and made a run down the line (30 miles) light to pick up a car.  The engineer and I traded hats and we graded each other on our performances.  Annual requirement.  It's tougher to check ride some of our engineers as conductors, as some rarely work as conductors.

Sunday we ran a train up to a 50's themed restaurant.  I got to relax on the way back as I had a student conductor and I gave him the reigns...

Time for bed.


LarryWhistling
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Posted by CShaveRR on Monday, June 9, 2014 2:13 PM

SJ, as innocuous as the new title looks, the Monster still doesn't like it.  I had to crawl in the other way again just now.

("The Monster" is what everyone called the IBM 360 or whatever that sat in the Proviso administration building to handle yard reports...used punch cards...  That machine was eventually thrown out as so much junk.)

Got my wires crossed today; guess Johnny isn't returning as soon as was expected.  I went down to Chicago to meet the Cardinal, and...no Johnny!  But it was a good trip, anyway.  Lots of interesting sights on the way there and back.

--we crossed over to Track 3 from Track 1 at Grace on the way into town, then back to Track 3 at Park.  I didn't see a reason for that--the ballast train on Track 2 shouldn't have been a problem.

--a parking garage in Oak Park has installed what appears to be a canopy over its top deck, along with a sign that it's "going solar"!

--the E. J. Brach factory (of Brach's Candy fame) is well on its way to being leveled, with correspondingly large piles of cracked and pulverized concrete in what used to be the parking lot.

--freight trains everywhere!  A manifest on Track 2 between Wolf Road and 25th Avenue, an ethanol train between Vale and Oak Park, a stacker east of Oak Park, and a manifest and a stacker on the Rockwell Sub at Kedzie, one on each track.  (On the return trip, the Rockwell manifest was gone, but everything else was pretty much the same...turns out the Rockwell manifest was just entering Proviso when we went by, having run around all of those other trains.)

--I got off at Lombard and noticed a green signal for an eastbound.  It came before I could get away from the tracks, a manifest that may now be the only one from North Platte, judging from its sheer length (and a DP unit mid-train).  Included on that train was a new car of a type that I hadn't expected to see being built any more--a non-mechanical (and non-cryogenic, for the record) refrigerator car, lettered for Cryo-Trans, numbered 6015 (series is 6000-6049), and named "Ervin".

Now I'm home, running late, and about to go work in the yard, where trains can always be heard, never seen...

 

Carl

Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)

CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

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Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, June 9, 2014 3:03 PM

afternoon

Ns was busy today.Saw an eastbound freight when I left work.Chores to do.

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 Paul_D_North_Jr on Monday, June 9, 2014 8:51 PM

Mookie
I am thinking about "I Give Up!". 

However, if I leave out the punctuation and the #'s - it seems to let me in the normal door.  That was Brother Carl's idea.  He thought it might have an affect on the "entry". 

But I am open to suggestions... 

For the record, as of this writing the title is "Chatterbox SpSuFW".  I don't know what that collection of letters stands for, but it reminds me of this Trains Turntable essay on Amtrak's acronyms/ abbreviations for the days when 3 x a week trains, etc. run:  

"Readers' platform: Gods of Amtrak - The deities that rule Amtrak: TuThuSu, MoWeSa, et al."
by Hunter, [Ms.] Charlie, from Trains, October 1995, pg. 70

- Paul North. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Mookie on Monday, June 9, 2014 9:05 PM

Paul - I used M-T-W-R-F-Sa-Su at work.

Short of leaving the title off altogether, but realizing I could call it Nattering Nabobs or Gum Flappers and it still isn't going to make it any easier to get into the thread - I decided to put those letters on instead of 2.0 or 3.0. 

We have close down our location every 3 mos - ergo - 2.0 or 3.0 OR Sp/Su/F/W - the 4 seasons.  Each quarter, the season will change.

Wow - Mookie and the 4 Seasons - sounds good to me!  Eat your heart out Frankie!

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Posted by Mookie on Monday, June 9, 2014 10:14 PM

Had another viewer give me a suggestion, so will try that for awhile. 

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by mudchicken on Monday, June 9, 2014 10:55 PM

Hrumph.2?(a little Blazing Saddles music, please)

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 Mookie on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 6:22 AM

mudchicken

Hrumph.2?(a little Blazing Saddles music, please)

Thumbs UpLaugh

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 2:46 PM

afternoon

Ns was uptown moving cars around.Lots of construction.Seems the county wants to replace the culvert just north of us.Have chores to do.Better get at it.

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 10, 2014 3:05 PM

Jiminy - at this rate we'll be changing our name more than Zsa Zsa (9 marriages...)

Quiet day so far.  Have to attend a presentation by a consultant to the county legislature tonight, "wearing" several hats.  Hopefully I won't get drawn into the discussion - it's about a new radio system for fire, EMS, police, and who knows who else.  I can speak with some authority on the subject, but hope I don't have to.

I'll be headed for the fire version of a "foamer" event this weekend - NYS Association of Fire Chiefs Expo at Turning Stone Casino in Vernon.  Lots of fire trucks, firematic goodies, and even a few classes to take.  Just like train shows, I have to set a budget or I can get into "trouble" really quickly...

As for the weather, can't complain.  Sunny and warm, with a few scattered showers last night to wash the pollen out of the air.   You know it's bad when the puddles have yellow "halos."

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 mudchicken on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 12:41 AM

Not a dry in the house tonight.

Scottie #3 (Doogie McDougal, 13 years old) checked out quietly and went over the rainbow bridge about an hour after I got home. Class Act to the end.

We're down to just one Scot, Nigel.

 

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 Mookie on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 5:40 AM

Sir C and Lady Hen - while not unexpected, still very difficult to hear of the loss of a family member.  He now has peace and no more pain.  Our sympathy to both of you.

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by CShaveRR on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 7:37 AM

Sorry to hear about Doogie, MC and Pat.  

Carl

Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)

CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 8:16 AM

MC & BH - My sympathies.  I know exactly where you're at.

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 Norm48327 on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 11:19 AM

Soup du'jour at my house: Homemade chicken noodle. Don't tell MC. He might resent my getting one of his relatives in hot water. Wink

Norm


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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 2:39 PM

Norm48327

Soup du'jour at my house: Homemade chicken noodle. 

The problem with homemade anything at my house is that it's just me.  If I make a crock pot of chili, I'm eating chili for a week (although I have been known to freeze it).

So soup at my house is usually out of a can or a box (a packet of chicken noodle and a couple of PB&J's for dunking - ahhhh).

If I'm out, though, I'll rarely pass up on an opportunity for baked potato soup...

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 JoeKoh on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 3:24 PM

afternoon

MC and Mrs. Hen sorry for your loss. Had to wait on Ns as they were switching cars uptown.Mother nature has watered our yard.Tomorrow will be time to mow the swamp.

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 Deggesty on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 3:40 PM
I had a great time at lunch today, seeing some people I had not seen since I graduated from high school, in 1954. Of the fourteen living members of my class (there were eighteen all told who graduated), seven of us were there--three more would have been there had one not been sick, one wrecked her car two days ago, and one had to take her boy friend (she is widowed) to the hospital. Another man, who had joined us in the fourth grade, had dropped out in high school, and then got his GED, was with us. There were also present three members (thirteen graduated) of the class I had started with and dropped out from because I had rheumatic fever in the fourth grade, and one from the year after my graduation (sister to one of my classmates). One of my classmates had not shown any interest in electronics, but he said that I had given him inspiration to get involved in electronics. (paragraph) In the last two years I had seen five of them, and I had asked one of them to see if he could get a bunch together.

Johnny

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