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Chatterbox Winter 2021-2022

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Posted by JoeKoh on Thursday, February 10, 2022 2:29 PM

afternoon

Ns had a manifest in the siding after work.Contractors finished putting the top on the watertower in Archbold  today.Wonder if the big bridge is still clogged between Detroit and Windsor.Viewed the St.Clair river tunnel in Port Huron years ago.Time for chores.

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 Friday, February 11, 2022 2:39 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work.Rain/snow mix here.Got the rest of the walkway clear for when Matt gets home.The scrub board is all set for when he gets 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 rvos1979 on Saturday, February 12, 2022 10:16 AM

Been an interesting week at work, was fighting electronic log issues for most of it. Finally got that straightened out when the truck went in for service on Wednesday. No sooner do I get the truck back on Thursday when the entire computer system at Schneider crashes, it's still down today with no ETA on coming back up. Rumor has it that someone severed a fiber optic cable in Green Bay, and they were moving servers to get everything working again............

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 tree68 on Saturday, February 12, 2022 11:49 AM

rvos1979
Rumor has it that someone severed a fiber optic cable in Green Bay,

Somebody forgot to call 8-1-1.   

LarryWhistling
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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, February 12, 2022 12:13 PM

rvos1979
Been an interesting week at work, was fighting electronic log issues for most of it. Finally got that straightened out when the truck went in for service on Wednesday. No sooner do I get the truck back on Thursday when the entire computer system at Schneider crashes, it's still down today with no ETA on coming back up. Rumor has it that someone severed a fiber optic cable in Green Bay, and they were moving servers to get everything working again............

Green Bay sweep?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by JoeKoh on Sunday, February 13, 2022 5:29 AM

good morning

Did errands in town yesterday.Matt and I did see I 166 and q 350 at FC.Heard on the scanner later that Csx was in need of plungers around Lima then back north in Deshler.Going to go check on brother.Tonight going to see if we can get a trophy back to Ohio.

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, February 13, 2022 9:08 AM

Somebody left the freezer door open.  Started out yesterday morning near +40F, today dawned with -2F and a wind chill of -11F.  Brrrrr.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, February 14, 2022 2:36 PM

afternoon

Ns sent a large westbound manifest after work.We have an empty boxcar for them to pick up too.Chores to do.Sis is coming over tonight as well.

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 blue streak 1 on Monday, February 14, 2022 11:24 PM

tree68

Verizon lost service here in some parts of southern states Tuesday due to fiber trouble.  Still waiting on info if it was cut?

 

 
rvos1979
Rumor has it that someone severed a fiber optic cable in Green Bay,

 

Somebody forgot to call 8-1-1.   

 

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 9:03 AM

blue streak 1
Verizon lost service here in some parts of southern states Tuesday due to fiber trouble.  Still waiting on info if it was cut?

Several years ago my fire department (I was fire chief) was dispatched to a grass fire.  On arrival, it was a little more complicated.

A wind event a day or two earlier had knocked a primary transmission wire off its insulator.  As it was on the east side of the pole, and with normal westerly winds, it wasn't a problem, until...

The wind had shifted to the east.  The primary, now hanging below it's usual cross arm, was blown into the fiber optic cable next down on the pole.  You may think that it would be no big deal, but the primary contacted the carrier cable to which the fiber optic cable was lashed.

The carrier turned into one long heater wire, instantaneously vaporizing the fiber optic cable for about three spans on either side.  Flaming pieces of the FO cable dropped to the ground, starting the grass fire.

If you think that sounds spectacular, it was, according to the motorists who were passing by that very spot at the time.  One of the spans was over the road.

We were still sorting things out when a representative of a local development authority showed up.  They owned the FO cable in question and had gotten outage reports from their customers.  The problem was pretty obvious.

The telco got contracted to repair the damage.  It took them a couple of days to splice in a new section.

I never did find out how many pairs of FO were in that cable.  Sometimes it's upwards of 100 individual strands, or more.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by rdamon on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 2:26 PM

Most cables installed since 2000 are 144 fibers or greater ..

Here is a 1728 count!!

https://www.commscope.com/product-type/cables/fiber-cables/outside-plant-cables/item760220178/

 

There are systems where you can run well over 40+ Terabits/sec using a single pair!

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Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 2:31 PM

afternoon

Ns has a manifest in the siding at work.We still have an empty boxcar on our dock.The up olympic engine did a quick turn yesterday on csx.Contractors have been busy working on the outside of the depot in Deshler.Going to get stuff more organized 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 Paul of Covington on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 9:34 PM

   After reading about all the rain and snow you guys up north have been getting, I was surprised to hear that a burn ban has been issued for the whole state of La.  I didn't realize that we had been unusually dry.

_____________ 

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 9:42 PM

Paul of Covington

   After reading about all the rain and snow you guys up north have been getting, I was surprised to hear that a burn ban has been issued for the whole state of La.  I didn't realize that we had been unusually dry.

NY just does a pre-emptive burn ban from March 15 to May 15.  Some people hate it, as they like to burn stuff off in the spring, like brush piles, but those of us in the fire service love it, as we're not chasing grass fires all over the place.  

And if someone "forgets" about the burn ban, we call on the Environmental Conservation folks to come write them a ticket.  The first couple of years were understandable - some people didn't know.  But now there's no excuse.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Erik_Mag on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 10:07 PM

rdamon

Most cables installed since 2000 are 144 fibers or greater ..

Here is a 1728 count!!

https://www.commscope.com/product-type/cables/fiber-cables/outside-plant-cables/item760220178/

 

There are systems where you can run well over 40+ Terabits/sec using a single pair!

 

That would add up to a very impressive data bandwidth!!!

I'm supposed to be getting fiber internet sometime in the next three months or so, and this involves a fiber from my house to the equivalent of a Central Office. Fibers will be run in conduit placed about 6" below street level, so fire shouldn't be a problem.

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 10:23 PM

Erik_Mag
That would add up to a very impressive data bandwidth!!!

That just gets you to the first choke point faster...

When I was supporting the network at a military installation, folks wanted the highest possible speed to their desk.  That was 100Mbs at the time - gigabit ethernet was just on the horizon.

Never mind that the Internet connection going off the installation was only about 60 Mbs, for the entire installation...

If they complained about a slow connection, the problem could usually be traced to their own maxed out PC...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 11:07 PM

I engineered a 600 mile F.O. network for my utility using ring architecture. Diverse routes between nodes. Signals go both clockwise and conter-clockwise. If a fiber is cut, switchover time is about a microsecond. Had some breaks of the cable but NO loss of voice or data. We had had telco services and had Central Offices fail (Flooded basement took out batteries and power for one, fire took out another). S--t happens. 

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Posted by MikeF90 on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 2:17 PM

Last chance (until ?) to see snow on Cajon Pass !  Not a whole lot and, surprisingly, did not see any at Tehachapi or Barstow. Another post mentioned that Victorville got some. Rewind four hours to see more ....

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Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 2:46 PM

afternoon

Ns still has the same train in the siding as yesterday.The empty boxcar is still on our dock.Went out and made sure the water could get past the snowhill on the end of our street.Ditches and creeks are filled up nicely as is our swamp.Guessers still not sure what we are to get tomorrow.It will be a mess whatever we get.I got the engines,Passenger cars and cabosses tallied logged and put away.Might be able to finish 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 mudchicken on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 7:29 PM

Been trying to figure out why there is a rediculous shortage of distilled water. It's been an issue for as long as the pandemic, but it's really an issue now. Nothing on the shelves for weeks. Are people filling swimming pools with the stuff?

Hoarding toilet paper is one thing, but distilled water?

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 Wednesday, February 16, 2022 9:44 PM

mudchicken

Been trying to figure out why there is a rediculous shortage of distilled water. It's been an issue for as long as the pandemic, but it's really an issue now. Nothing on the shelves for weeks. Are people filling swimming pools with the stuff?

Hoarding toilet paper is one thing, but distilled water?

I go through about a gallon of distilled water a day in my humidifier.  I can't use my tap water because my water is so hard-  I get a fine white dust on everything, and it hangs in the air as well.

I"ve been ordering my groceries for pick-up lately.  On a recent order, the woman who brought my order out to the truck said they were out of distillled water, and their warehouse told them not to even order it.

A friend who needs to run humidifiers for her printing (banners, etc)  found some at a dollar store and picked up some for me as well.

It's not like it's been any drier than normal this year.  Outside right now it's at 63% humidity, although the house is only at 15%.  I ran out  yesterday, but will be shopping tomorrow so will stock up again.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, February 17, 2022 10:04 AM

It's been a strange winter so far.  For the second time, we've had a warm spell which melted almost of the existing snow just in time for the next storm to lay down 4-6 inches of new 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 tree68 on Thursday, February 17, 2022 12:55 PM

CSSHEGEWISCH
It's been a strange winter so far. 

Indeed - we're probably having our "January Thaw" right now.  My rain guage is wonky for some reason - I know we've had more than the 0.01" it's showing at the moment.  And the rain is helping melt the snow, resulting in some minor flooding, so far.  Many streams are running pretty full right now.

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 Thursday, February 17, 2022 2:55 PM

afternoon

Ns still has the manifest in the siding and the boxcar on the dock.They also added a loaded EB coal train on track one.They had a stack train go east after work.Still rain so far but the wind shifted to the north/northeast.Creeks and ditches are full.Going to finish my  train car count tonight.Much more room under the layout now.

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 Gramp on Thursday, February 17, 2022 3:01 PM

mudchicken

Been trying to figure out why there is a rediculous shortage of distilled water. It's been an issue for as long as the pandemic, but it's really an issue now. Nothing on the shelves for weeks. Are people filling swimming pools with the stuff?

Hoarding toilet paper is one thing, but distilled water?

 

CPAP machines?  A whole new market for distilled water created in recent years. Lots of people use them. 

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Thursday, February 17, 2022 3:31 PM

My Bi-Pap machine takes about a cup of distilled H2O every night. Fortunately, stores around me still seem to be adequately stocked. 

Weather "forcasters" had predicted big bad storm starting wjth heavy rain, followed by freezing rain and then 4 to 8 inches. Got the rain, then no ice, and now the snow has begun. Ahh...WINTER. Glad I am retired and don't have to be out in it. 

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, February 17, 2022 3:44 PM

Did my on-line grocery order today and put in for 8 gallons (a week's worth) of distilled water.  Got every single one.  I just wish I'd remembered to order the watermelon spears...

Can't wait to be able to go shopping for myself again.  Once the doc clears me to walk on both feet...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by MikeF90 on Thursday, February 17, 2022 4:04 PM

tree68
Did my on-line grocery order today and put in for 8 gallons (a week's worth) of distilled water. Got every single one. I just wish I'd remembered to order the watermelon spears...

Has anyone tried this countertop distiller or something similar?  If I still lived in LA county I would consider it.

 https://www.homedepot.com/p/VEVOR-16-Cup-Countertop-Water-Distiller-750W-Distilling-Pure-Water-Machine-with-Plastic-Container-White-BST-007ZLSJ000001V1/319379638

Watermelon spears not included .....

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, February 17, 2022 5:53 PM

MikeF90
Has anyone tried this countertop distiller or something similar?

I could sell the lime residue to local farmers!

Years ago I took a college chemstry class.  One experiment was to test the hardness of a water sample.  I used my well water.  It was off the chart...

LarryWhistling
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Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Come ride the rails with me!
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Posted by Erik_Mag on Thursday, February 17, 2022 10:53 PM

Tree,

Have you looked into reverse osmosis? There are units available that use the pressure of the tap water for the process, water is cleared of most of the dissolved solids.

My uncles' sheet metal shop in eastern Montana sold "AprilAire" humdifiers as RH indoors could get really low when outside air temps dropped to well below zero. A rule of thumb in regards to dew point and relative humidity, is that a factor of two drop in RH corresponds to approximately a 20F drop in dew point.

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