switch7frg Ms. Mookie , have you been to Dannerman Bloc lately? , I don't see any signs of tracks there. Seems like a nice little town with down home folks there. One of my trucker friends ( Pin Jumper) stopped there at the diner. I was just courious. Respectfully, Cannonball
Ms. Mookie , have you been to Dannerman Bloc lately? , I don't see any signs of tracks there. Seems like a nice little town with down home folks there. One of my trucker friends ( Pin Jumper) stopped there at the diner. I was just courious. Respectfully, Cannonball
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
CShaveRR No real smiles today. Plenty of sleep, and a half-mile walk. I don't think I'll be allowed to walk to trackside just yet, but the trains through town were calling me...This is just a down day--plenty of weather, plenty of heat, and little desire to do anything. The naps in my own bed (two of them, two hours each) have felt good, but then I had to get up.
No real smiles today. Plenty of sleep, and a half-mile walk. I don't think I'll be allowed to walk to trackside just yet, but the trains through town were calling me...This is just a down day--plenty of weather, plenty of heat, and little desire to do anything. The naps in my own bed (two of them, two hours each) have felt good, but then I had to get up.
Sounds like you're ahead of the curve for most patients. One of my employees had the same surgery. They thought he would be out of commission for about a month. That turned into 6 weeks. He is back at work now, but I don’t let him do anything that even sounds strenuous yet. I think it was the better part of a month before he could walk a couple blocks. The biggest issue he had was boredom. I wish you a speedy recovery. It sounds like you’re walking your way there already.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Ms. Mookie, I got PJ on the phone and he said it was on 34st in omaha. His truck needed a 750.00 rest ( otherwise )a repair at a dealer. He said he got a ride to this place,he ask where was a place to get a meal at 3;30 in the afternoon. This was a month or so , maybe in the old part of town. PJ said he did not have an address of this place. I guess it due to going to so many places and can't recall all fo them. I was just courious.
Respectfully, Cannonball
Y6bs evergreen in my mind
switch7frg Ms. Mookie, I got PJ on the phone and he said it was on 34st in omaha. His truck needed a 750.00 rest ( otherwise )a repair at a dealer. He said he got a ride to this place,he ask where was a place to get a meal at 3;30 in the afternoon. This was a month or so , maybe in the old part of town. PJ said he did not have an address of this place. I guess it due to going to so many places and can't recall all fo them. I was just courious. Respectfully, Cannonball
I am thinking there should still be tracks in south Omaha. 844 ran down those tracks many years ago - we happened to be running parallel to it. Was a big surprise to us. That would have been very close to 34th st. There was a Farmhouse cafe nearby - maybe that is what he is referring to - or one of the other mom/pop places.
Small world, eh what!
Norris, that would be nice. The truth is I have some up days and down days. Yesterday was a downer, possibly due to the weather. Today was better, weaher-wise and action-wise. Pat allowed us to get burgers in Elmhurst, and take them trackside before we did our weekend shopping (groceries, paper, smoke detector, ink cartridges...you know, the usual stuff). I didn't do as much walking today, and got by with only an afternoon nap. We did, however, encounter four freights while trackside: auto racks, frac sand, coal, and perishable. Boredom shouldn't be a problem for me--in spite of what I've described, a lack of energy is what's dragging me down. I haven't cracked open the sightings logs to check what I just found. I've still got a book I have to edit (I'm probably right in not looking at that now--you should see the first drafts of some of my own stuff!).Nonetheless, today the pain was largely confined to the belly of the beast--right where they were working inside. I've got one tube in me, and an extra hole that needs to heal. Tube comes out midweek next week. The biggest disappointment is not being able to lift myself up in bed enough to roll over without pain. My arms just don't seem to have the strength. I wanted to walk further than I did today. But Pat says I have to take it easy, and not overdo (the nurses were not scared of that...just sayin'!) She did allow me to descend a short flight of stairs today, which was effortless.
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)
Carl, it is good to hear that yo are able to be out and about--even if youwould like to do more than your guardian wants you to do.
How did you go down the steps--sit down and glide down? How was it going back up? slow?
I can go up and down steps using a cane and a handrail, and I walk some in my rooms without any help, but I still use a walker when I leave my rooms; I just don't trust my knees as I wish I could. I move through a train using a cane and an occasional touch on whatever is beside me.
Johnny
evening
Marion and summerrail was good. Mother nature sent us some passing showers but not too bad.We also got to "shovel" our meals in.Ns and CSX proved quite busy.Going to meet up with our pen pal in Deshler.Monday he wants to try some new places he hasn't been too.Matt is fast asleep.
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").
BINGO---- the farmhouse, that cleares the fuzzys from the mind like a far away whistle on a clear and cold winter night.
CB & friends
Johnny, I have no problem at all with stairs--I keep an eye on where the handrail is, if I should need it.Today, so far, has been church, a nap, lunch, and a walk around the block. If I could address specific areas of abdominal problems and pains, I'd be in good shape.
CShaveRR{snipped - PDN.] . . . I wanted to walk further than I did today. But Pat says I have to take it easy, and not overdo (the nurses were not scared of that...just sayin'!) She did allow me to descend a short flight of stairs today, which was effortless.
Unfortunately, I lived too far from the tracks to walk there (before and after the surgery). So for about 3 weeks I had to content myself with cleaning out and organizing my 'dungeon' to prepare for selling the house the next year so we could build our new one. All of that was postponed about a year because of that disease and surgery, but the delay had its benefits as it turned out.
I suspect your surgery was robotic, based on your description of the physical results. After considerable research I concluded that was the best option for me (vs. radioactive implants or beam treatments, or chemotherapy). Probably the "minimally invasive" da Vinci system by Intuit Surgical - http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/ - or similar. The micro-capabilties of the system are amazing. I wish I'd bought stock in the company at the time . . .
My surgeon turned out to be a railfan and model railroader (back issues of Trains and Model Railroader in the waiting room). I joked with him that it would not be fair for him to use that capability to build contest-level models with it !
Two other guys about the same age in the company where I worked at the time were diagnosed with the same disease. They both had the same surgery and the same results: non-detect of the PSA for all of us, last I heard (we all retired - them, or were laid-off - me, at about the same time). Must have been something in the water . . .
I said then that 6 months later it would all be just a bad memory. That was exactly right.
Maybe those lyrics you quoted at the beginning are a little sad. But my thoughts are what zugmann's tag line were for a while:
"Yeah, I'm still here" 10 years later, and expect to be for many more. Like birthdays, it beats the alternative. There are too many men who are not - some quite famous, too - because they refused to recognize, admit, or deal with the issue. I'm glad you had the courage to.
- Paul North.
Met pen Pal.Csx had some good surprises.Came home and mowed the yard.Tomorrow we are going to show him Vickers and other spots around Toledo.
Thank you, Paul, for your encouraging words...your trip would have gotten me to the tracks, all right (it's 0.62 miles to the grade crossing from home, per my bike computer).Yeah, Pat's still trying to do everything here (for Pete's sake, I could have wheeled in an empty garbage container!). Sometimes it feels good, most of the time I feel useless.My surgery was done by a DaVinci machine (it's not really a robot). I caught a glimpse of it (it had a lot of arms, was stainless steel, and still covered in its plastic coat) before I went under. I was told that I would be oriented with my head near the floor during the operation. Anyway, when Pat or I say "DaVinci", we get a lot of "wow" impressions from the people we're talking to--I guess that is top of the line as far as such things go. My actual surgical incisions are about the diameter of a pencil (there are five of them)--they're stitched internally and glued on the outside. I'm feeling a little internal trauma where extra tissue had to be removed, but that's about all.(I'm glad I had DaVinci surgery...the Picasso version may have been just as appreciated and almost as expensive, but I'd wonder whether everything had been put back in the proper place!)Paul, I hope I'm not thinking about this too much ten years hence. But this is now, and, for better or worse, occupies my life. And I'd rather let people know that my mind is still proud of accomplishments (wow--I used toilet paper in the right way for the first time since the surgery!) rather than just full of wishful thinking or doubts (if I were to walk to the tracks, would I be awake when the trains go by?). Hence my keeping everyone informed. It's part of how I cope.
Joe, I'm glad your pen pal is sticking around long enough for you to show him a bunch of the good stuff around there. Which reminds me...you all have to get back this way sometime. I know your videographer would have fun at some of my favorite spots!
good evening
Yes Carl it's on the list to get back to Chicago.Had a good time and more surprises from CSX and Ns.Nothing like a work train coming down at Vickers on the C&O.Checking the andersons in Maumee for NS horsepower and there is a whole stable full tied up.Did get a little wet but thats okay.Back to work tomorrow.Need to give hugs this week too.Time marches on.
work still busy.Ns had cars uptown to move.Saw a westbound stack train when I left work.Went to historical society meeting in Deshler too.Work to be done there.Need to get to bed
Ahhhh, home.
Didn't make it to Deshler this year, but I did catch traffic on the diamonds in Howell (GLC) and Holly (CN). Not much, but there were trains....
Larry 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...
Rain here in Nw Ohio.Work busy.Ns local was waiting in the siding to go west.Chores to do.Tomorrow we go sing Happy Birthday to Matt's cousin who turns the big "10".
Carl - All good points. Picasso is funny, so if you can laugh at it you're doing OK.
RIght, DaVinci is not a true robot, but instead technically a remote control "waldo" is my understanding:
http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/company/history/
afternoon
work not so busy today.Ns was clear when I left work.Ns signal crews are getting ready to install gates and lights at the Barre road(county road C ) crossing.Going to get cleaned up to go sing happy birthday.Going to check on CSX along the way.
Carl glad to hear you are up and about" somewhat". Take heed to what "mother" says ---- as you know mother knows best, so to speak.
Cannonball
Just for the record...I was able to walk to the tracks, take the train to Elmhurst and back, spend a couple of hours trackside there, and do some shopping in downtown Lombard before walking home (just over four miles total). I was tired, but I survived. I also am cleared for doing stairs...this afternoon I climbed from the first to the third floor in the time it took Pat to use the elevator.No catheter any more, but if you ask how I'm doing, I'm likely to say, "Depends". By the way, those protective plastic linings aren't the greatest for showing progress...I didn't know whether the moisture during my walks was from perspiration or something almost as expected.Today was more blood tests in preparation for a post-op physical Monday; tomorrow should be good for a walk to the tracks and back while I go get the Sunday paper.Cannonball, that's only true about half the time. She knows my reaction to limitations as well as she knows the limitations. The stairs, for example...not a restriction imposed by the doctor any more; Pat was okay with me going down two flights, wasn't so sure when I wanted to go up, but wouldn't stop me from trying, because she knows that I can often exceed what I set my mind to when it comes to physical activity.
Evening
rain here in Nw Ohio.After chores this morning we went to the 765(767) open house.They have added a mars light on the front.Plus they are planning to run on the Cuyohoga Valley Scenic (near Akron) in September.Go to 765.org for details.Also crossed off a bridge on my list.It's on the wabash just Northeast of New Haven.It had UP power on the point but mother nature started to rain.Going to relax here at home.
Tree,
Holly ain't what she used to be for trains!! It seems CSX only runs maybe a handfull round trips per week to and from McGrew yard in Flint. Maybe one each way daily through Holly?? Once upon a time it really was sort of busy.
Bob
work was busy but took a 1/2 day.Matt and I got our teeth clean and shiny.No holes need to be filled.Ns was working in town when I left.Came home and CSX's Y101 was setting off for the ND&W.Mookie csx is sending BNSF units and coal trains back to you.Saw 2 go west today.Bob Michigan people come down here to NW Ohio to see trains.Going to start on chores.
BOB WITHORN Tree, Holly ain't what she used to be for trains!! It seems CSX only runs maybe a handfull round trips per week to and from McGrew yard in Flint. Maybe one each way daily through Holly?? Once upon a time it really was sort of busy. Bob
I spent a fair amount of time in Milford while I was there - never saw a train, and that's been the trend for most of my visits there in the past few years. Had I not run up to Holly for supper that night, I wouldn't have seen what I did there.
I caught a GL train at Howell, but only one. I didn't see, or hear, any traffic on the CSX line there. Between the two, I can only guess that Plymouth isn't what it used to be either.
I can remember C&O fleeting trains through Milford back in the sixties - my 20 minute walk to school each morning usually included three trains.
I don't think anything in Michigan's what it used to be, folks. CSX has all but given up on the state, prefering to use lines that don't come up via Detroit and Grand Rapids. I think they want to deactivate parts of the CTC on what they have left. Just the sad state of industry up that way. (Larry, I wish I had three trains a day on my way to school...I was on a different part of the C&O up there, and could count on a passenger train to go through, and meet a freight if the freight was late.) We used to have an extensive system of spurs in the city (vestiges of a 19th-century railroad that didn't get very far); all gone now.
Carl,
Not even my contacts within CSX have a clue what the folks in Jacksonville have in mind for Michigan. Pickin's are indeed slim. Little traffic on either the Plymouth or Saginaw subs. Traffic on the Grand Rapids sub seems to be holding it's own. Since GM deserted Flint, lack of traffic on the Sagnaw is understandable. OTOH, PTC installation and grade crossing upgrades on both subs continues. Preping them to sell or lease to a short line? No one seems to know.
CN seems to be doing reasonably well considering the economic downturn.
Norm
For obvious reasons, traffic on the Saginaw Sub in the 60's was heavily automobile related - I remember seeing countless gons loaded with car frames (which are pretty much history, too). Just the reduction in auto traffic is enough to make a significant difference.
I recall seeing hopper trains as well - and coal is getting to be a non-player, too. Even the "Dow Death Train" is history, I believe.
They weren't huge customers, but there were two in Milford - a lumber yard that got boxcars full of lumber (unloaded one stick at a time), and the Owens and Mowry jelly factory, which got corn syrup, I think. Not sure if they got anything else. GM occasionally shipped heavy equipment (includings tanks) to and from the nearby Proving Grounds as well.
There's still a siding to the station (itself endangered) - probably hasn't been used in years. The jelly factory building still stands, empty, and the lumber yard burned in the early 70's. Nothing to stop for in Milford any more.
The Dow 'Death train' still moves but seems to be split up between the Huron & Eastern to Durand and Lake States? to Flint.
The C&O had huge trafic in and out of Flint when the Buick City complex existed. It was about 800 acres of auto factory. They also had the old line through downtown that served Fisher Body plants #1 & #2 as well as the 'Tank' plant and 2 GM Parts plants in Grand Blanc. Half of the McGrew yard that served Buick is a bulk ag. dealer that receives hoppers of various stone, sand, gravel, coal. I think they still run a unit coal to Port Huron on the CN or may have just stopped. Everything north of Flint is Lake State RR. I remember them running transfers old the old line through downtown from the Grand Blanc plants and Fisher 1 & 2. The line crossed the river and Saginaw St. right at the river and went up through the Buick complex to McGrew yd. They pulled out the second track on the "bypass" last year, (it's the line built in 20's or 30's), along the east side of Flint that bypassed downtown.
work busy.Ns had a westbound stack train in the siding when I letf work.The pads for the crossing signals uptown were sitting by the siding.Not sure when Ns will install the new crossing gates.Chores to do.
stacktrain was still in the siding at work when I left.Mother nature sent us some wicked weather.We took heed and headed to a safer home at the in laws.We saw a tornado drop and head east for napoleon after the storm had passed.Our home is safe and secure with no damage.Our neighbors not too far from us have damage.We are praying for our neighbors. Some other roads into Defiance are closed.Need to get to bed.
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