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Chatterbox Spring 2020

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Posted by CShaveRR on Thursday, May 14, 2020 11:17 PM

MC, it looks like something that passed you up is going to hit us.  We had an inch and a half of rain last night and this morning, and it's just started up again.  The graphic showed that we could get about three inches overnight, and these are thunderstorms so I'm not surprised by that figure.

Isolation is not good--latest guidance says to get out in the fresh air (but maintain social distance and wear masks).  Sounds like a made-to-order train-watching trip for moi.

Our trip Tuesday is yielding some amazing sightings for me.  I'm finding old cars by the hundreds that hadn't been documented as new.  

Joe, did you know at all about the Grand River Railway?  I saw one of their box cars--GRRY.  They're on an old CSX branch out of Painesville that had been abandoned for 13 years (2002-2015) before the new operation started up!

(Just to show how crazy things get, I encountered a series of cars that started life as coal gondolas.  They were then sold and cut down in height to become more like normal gons.  Then they were sold again...and increased in height to be used for garbage or some such!)

Carl

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

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Thursday, May 14, 2020 10:37 PM

mudchicken
OK - Who's hogging all the rain?

   We are.  It's been raining most of the afternoon and night, and some areas nearby are reporting over 12 inches of rain so far, and the forecasters are expecting five inches or more to come.

_____________ 

  "A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner

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Posted by mudchicken on Thursday, May 14, 2020 10:12 PM

No rain, but we had an interesting 30-plane formation go over the house this afternoon, mostly prop planes, but also one ancient jet (P-80?).... Won't see that often.

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 tree68 on Thursday, May 14, 2020 7:10 PM

Electroliner 1935
How many unused ICU beds & ventilators are there in your county? That could be relevant

Last I heard, 60% of the ICU beds in the region are available.  And the governor didn't steal any of our ventilators, so we should be OK there, too.

Now they're finding that home isolation isn't helping.  Two thirds of recent COVID hospital admissions were isolating at home.  

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Deggesty on Thursday, May 14, 2020 6:53 PM

mudchicken

OK - Who's hogging all the rain?

 

Promised rain 3 times - all we get is virga.StormStormStorm...Finally get a road trip to western CO and outa da house tomorrow. Watch it rain while I'm gone.

 

Who knows? Perhaps you will need a bushhog to cut your grass when you get back? We don't have noteceable rain promised here.

Johnny

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Thursday, May 14, 2020 6:50 PM

tree68
Given that we've only had 62 confirmed cases in this county (population 110,000), I don't think we'll have a problem.

How many unused ICU beds & ventilators are there in your county? That could be relevant

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Posted by mudchicken on Thursday, May 14, 2020 6:39 PM

OK - Who's hogging all the rain?

 

Promised rain 3 times - all we get is virga.StormStormStorm...Finally get a road trip to western CO and outa da house tomorrow. Watch it rain while I'm gone.

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 JoeKoh on Thursday, May 14, 2020 2:31 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work.Mother nature sending some spring showers.Matt's work called and said he might start doing dishes again after next week.Matt reminded work he has graduation and college things to do.Eye doctor going to see Matt and I on Saturday morning.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 tree68 on Thursday, May 14, 2020 7:55 AM

rvos1979
Well, the Wisconsin Supreme court has reopened the entire state, so I guess we get to be the canary in the coal mine.

Nope - Florida and Georgia are a week ahead of you.  So far, the measures in both states are down.

We get to open in stages starting this weekend.  Our last hang-up was testing, which is curious, because the more testing that is done, the more cases are likely to turn up.  Given that we've only had 62 confirmed cases in this county (population 110,000), I don't think we'll have a problem.

On the other hand, one county legislator mentioned the other day that we currently have over 200 active cases of the flu...

I suspect that masks will always be a part of our environment from now on - at least for those who feel most at risk.  And some people are paranoid about it.  

LarryWhistling
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Posted by rvos1979 on Thursday, May 14, 2020 4:00 AM

Well, the Wisconsin Supreme court has reopened the entire state, so I guess we get to be the canary in the coal mine. I quit caring about this a few weeks ago, just don't have time for stupidity anymore. I do what little errands I need done and stay home........

Just getting ready to fire up the truck in Joplin and head to Muskogee, then take parent rolls of paper back to the home yard..........

Randy Vos

"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings

"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV

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Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 3:18 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work.Came home and checked along the awnings with the rain coming up.Ruffled some feathers but it all got cleaned out.Chores to do inside.

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 CSSHEGEWISCH on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 1:52 PM

One of the disadvantages of working from home.  I can see that the weather is terrific and I'm stuck inside working.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by CShaveRR on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 12:44 PM

Mowing today (right now...can't you tell?); rain and thunder due tomorrow.

We had a marvelous anniversary trip yesterday, visiting (at a distance) with some longtime friends in Indiana, having our car surrounded by police vehicles, and seeing so many good trains that I'll ve busy for days between lawn mowings.

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 Tuesday, May 12, 2020 7:49 PM

I was inside the house this afternoon after a grocery (and other errands) run.  All of the sudden I hear the rather loud sound of something hitting the house.  Turns out it was graupel (snow pellets), coming down like gangbusters.  Made getting the rest of the groceries out of the truck an adventure.   

Didn't last long, though.  a little while later the sun was back out...

I'll probably mow the lawn tomorrow...

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 Tuesday, May 12, 2020 4:42 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work today.Came home and took care of the yardwork.Matt took he calculas test today.He takes a history test on Friday.After the read the results it determines if he gets college credit for those classes.Mother nature is setting up to send us some rain this weekend.Next week the are calling for highs in the 80's.The swamp will be growing gangbusters.

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 CShaveRR on Monday, May 11, 2020 3:10 PM

Joe, I hope they have another one lined up for tomorrow.  We may be going east (two counties into Indiana) for an anniversary trip.  We don't intend to risk anyone's health, including our own, as we'll order lunch and take it elsewhere (unless the owners insist we stay, and we can fit in a corner with the 25-percent capacity limit).  I'm just grateful that trains can be watched from the car.

I sent a 28-page sightings and research report to my friends yesterday.  Today should be the snail-mail version of that for my Oregon friend...I was late last month, and he and his wife feared the worst, as they knew we had had the virus.

It's supposed to be cool here today and tomorrow.  We didn't get any snow overnight, though.


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, May 11, 2020 2:56 PM

afternoon

Ns was sending a "Carl" special westbound after work.Chores to do.Need to bring in the flowers again tonight for a frost.Hopefully we are done with those until fall.

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 JoeKoh on Sunday, May 10, 2020 10:17 AM

morning

Well J 715 came into town.They brought some more cars to scrap at Omni.They used the caboose to bring them from the yard.They also have a healthy cut of cars for the ND&W too.Q 166 must have had a hard time getting out of Chicago.He rolled by at 9 am.Mother nature is giving us some gentle rain now and then.Things to do here at home.

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 Sunday, May 10, 2020 6:48 AM

At one point I painted my bike copper metallic and stenciled "1909 S VDB" on the chain guard...

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 NorthWest on Sunday, May 10, 2020 12:44 AM

I find looking at the coins I get enjoyable, too. Glad I'm not the only one.

 

Stay well, everyone.

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Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, May 9, 2020 11:12 PM

Larry, I, too, had a paper route at about that time.  I remember the Indian-head nickels well, and the Mercury dimes, and half-dollars, pre-JFK.  

One nickel I got even predated the Indian-head variety...I can't remember what "heads" was, but the "tails" was an embellished "V" (Roman numeral five).

Unusual pennies, nickels, and quarters still get taken out of circulation here.  We have a wall hanging that is supposed to contain the quarters for all fifty states (two each, one for each mint).  It got knocked down once, and we haven't reassembled it yet.

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 Saturday, May 9, 2020 10:08 PM

Three inches of snow on the ground at dawn this morning.  Zero now.

Welcome to May...

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 Saturday, May 9, 2020 9:40 PM

Evening

Had a decent day today.Saw remnants of snow being melted when we got to Bellevue.Ns sent us some decent trains to watch.Went to Willard from there.There was a W&LE train waiting to go east and that was about it.Not much left.No luck in Bucyrus or Mansfield either.Found some spots where Odot needs to fix on Us 30 for sure.Saw a csx train backing hoppers into Carey.No luck in Fostoria.Saw a few trains in Deshler including a rail train.Looked like 350 was following us home tonight.Guessers say Mother nature is sending rain for tomorrow.To all the mom's out there Happy Mother's day tomorrow.

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 Saturday, May 9, 2020 2:35 PM

jeffhergert
I always check the dates on my pennies.

Same here.  You beat me by two years - I found I had a 1937 penny in my change yesterday.

I often wonder why they're still in circulation.  I would think that most coins that old would be stowed away in penny collections or dresser drawers.  Probably someone like us passes on and their family doesn't see any value in a bunch of small change.

When I had a paper route (fifth grade) Indian Head nickels were still in circulation.  I collected them for a little while (remember the blue folders), then sold them at face value to a friend - folder and all.

We had a baby sitter at one time who had sticky fingers for anything cash - she must have been rifling through our dresser drawers because I noticed at one point that my penny collection at the time was gone.  I"m sure the pennies were simply popped out of their spots in the folders and spent.  We didn't put two and two together until later when we heard she'd pulled similar stunts elsewhere.

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 jeffhergert on Saturday, May 9, 2020 1:32 PM

My wife always hopes for snow on her birthday, April 30th.  Not a big snow storm, but a little spitting of snow.  The last time she got it was 1994. 

The other day at the sekf-checkout at Walmart I received back one penny in change.  I always check the dates on my pennies.  It's amazing long they stay in circulation.  I saw it the wheat on the tails side first, so new it was older.  I flipped it over and it had a 1935 date. 

That's the oldest penny I've found so far.  Last year I came across a 1927 nickel.  When I find older coins, I think of where they might've gone since they left the mint.

Jeff  

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, May 9, 2020 12:04 PM

The latest date for snow when I was growing up, 50 miles south of Charlotte, N.C., was 25 April (Easter), in 1941. My wife told me it snowed in Memphis the same day. Talk about an Easter cold snap!

Johnny

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, May 9, 2020 10:13 AM

The temperatures in my area were similar to Carl but we had clear to mostly clear skies all day.  Not even a threat of rain or snow.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, May 9, 2020 9:22 AM

We had the temperatures for it here, but the gray clouds blew past in the afternoon, no doubt headed for northern New York.

I got one pass at the front lawn done yesterday, which is probably the first time I pushed that mower in over a year (heart-valve problems and replacement last year; COVID weakness this year).  It's sunny, and should be warmer today, so I might be able to get a little more done out there (after "Wait-Wait").

Larry, in a way your picture of your poor truck reminds me of the shot Houston Ed posted of himself...the snow was not enjoyable!

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 Saturday, May 9, 2020 7:35 AM

Miningman
If it makes you feel any better... I hereby award you with the prestigious "Honour of the SnowFlake of Northern Saskatchewan" . 

Why, thank you. I think.

What's worse is that I've already mowed twice...

We got about 3" here at the house.

One would think this would melt off fairly quickly, but it's still only +29F and not forecast to really warm up until later in the week...

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 Erik_Mag on Saturday, May 9, 2020 12:31 AM

Spent the evening with my wife and youngest son checking out the bioluminescence in waves stirring up the red tide. What made even cooler was seeing the reflection of Venus on the Pacific.

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