Marie is okay, the phone, not so much.
Phones are more cheaper than hip replacements.
Personally I don't mind some cold weather and snow, but it's not like it used to be with me. In my younger years, living on Long Island, I was part owner of a private ski lodge in Dorset, Vermont, and our ski club would drive to the lodge every Friday, ski all weekend, and drive back on Sunday evening, and back to work on Monday. A good season for us was being able to ski every weekend from Thanksgiving to Easter. I loved skiing - once ran a GS race in -27° at Stratton Mountain. Somewhere along the way I got frostbite in a couple of my right-hand fingers, and now anytime they get real cold it just about kills me. Thus my limited endorsement of winter.
Love the discussions about Christmas. I agree with Louis (and others) - it makes no difference to me that we celebrate Christmas on December 25 rather than some other date. The fact is that Jesus was indeed born, and celebrating His birth on Dec 25 is as good as any date. As I mentioned in my post yesterday, we decorate our house pretty good for Christmas. Our trees (usually three of them) go up as close to Dec 1 as we can, and they stay up well into January. Aside from the presents and the food (and, of course, celebrating the Lord's birth), I love being with family during the Thanksgiving and Christmas times.
From the train room - worked some more on the ranger fire tower and the fence for the cattle farm. Will post some more photos another day. Ran the trains only for a few minutes.
Oh, yeah - the remodel - - Looks like we might have it all finished by the weekend. Wife wants to steam clean the carpet in the bedroom before we move back in 'cause the remodel guys were pretty sloppy.
Coffee's yelling real loud again - a nice pot of mocha with some mocha creamer - doesn't get much better than this. Have a good day everyone.
Good Morning All. 54° and overcast. Weather is forecast to deteriorate from here for a few days, with rain for tonight and a freeze warning for Friday night. Cooler days until next Wednesday. Very slight chance of freezing rain Monday. Won't stick as the ground is still too warm but it is icky!
Out in the train shed yesterday, I ran some trains, worked on some projects and thumbed through the newest issues of MRR and Trains. Looks to be a couple of articles that I will read in the upcoming days in both of them. Looking forward to reading Eric Brooman's latest update of his Utah Belt layout for one.
Louis - Great pictures yesterday of the Coast Guard cutter, crane and police car. Regarding your rant this morning, whether you agree or disagree, everybody deserves respect. Speaking of disrespect, I offer two words, "Jim Acosta".
Mike - I suspect that a lot of schools changed it from Christmas to Holiday to avoid the complaints. Many of the small rural school districts around here have changed back to Christmas (or didn't change to begin with) in the last ten years or so. Kudos to them.
Chet - I believe that our cats have finally come around to the time change, at least in the afternoon. They're still crying at the back door when I get up at 0400, and they still have to wait until 0600 for breakfast.
Sherrel - Thanks. Awesome wind vane. Sorry to read about the dog, good luck this morning.
Joe - Thanks for the history on the cranes.
Curt - Cool video of the steamers. I'm not old enough to remember seeing any live, although my Dad always said that I did.
Terry - Dodged a big bullet there, phones can be replaced.
the remodel guys were pretty sloppy.
I was going to post another picture this morning but this website is down again. It regularly goes down for me between 0700 and 0800 for a few minutes and no explanation has ever been offered. I've commented and asked before. It's not on my end as all other websites still work.
Today is National Harvey Wallbanger Day, not for me, but celebrate it if you dare.
Everybody have a great day. Website seems to be back up but I have run out of time, Stuart Varney is on.
Willie, my brother used to experience issues with connecting to some websites at a specific time range daily. Everybody he asked just gave him a runaround, if they even bothered to answer at all. We finally decided to change ISPs, and his problem magically disappeared. He had AT&T, and changed to Time Warner.
I had a bit of a rough night. I woke up because my shoulders were talking to me. I felt like I pitched both ends of a double header and I can't throw a knuckle ball!
Who was the last pitcher to start both games in a double header? Wilbur Wood of the 1973 Chicago White Sox, he had a great knuckle ball.
I feel much better now, thank God!
Willie, you are absolutely correct in that everybody deserves respect. I freely give respect to all, but respect has to be maintained. It's much like honor in that we ourselves are the only ones who can lose it.
I hope CJ gets to see this. We miss you buddy.
Good morning. y'all! Mostly sunny with the temperature hanging in the mid 40s. My main focus today will be with the accumulated leaves. My lawn needs to be cut one more time, and fertilized once more. Friday would be a good day, for that, but substantial rain is predicted.
Louis: I hear what you are saying about the POTUS. It's hard to remain non political when merely mentioning that man. However, his screaming and carrying on is standard for New York Businessmen. When anyone of them doesn't get their way, they scream and yell hysterically and throw Tantrums. For that matter, many Penn Central / Conrail Bosses behaved that way, also, so I'm sort of immune to it. The clown from CNN, is just an ill mannered jerk, that works for a network that prided itself in being the propaganda outlet for Sadam Hussein dating back to the first Gulf War. None of the theatrics means anything.
My thoughts on the celebration of Christmas date back to when we first moved to this neighborhood almost 33 years ago. We always decorated for Christmas, beginning about December 15th, and kept the décor up until the Feast of the Epiphany. As our first Christmas here approached, our neighbor, who claimed to be Catholic, approached us and admonished us not to decorate for Christmas, out of consideration for those of our neighbors who "might be offended". Keep in mind that my home if titled "Fee Simple, and there are no CCAs restricting outside displays on our property. Our HOA is restricted to maintaining common areas, mostly wetlands, needed for storm drainage, including a retention basin. Naturally, I was offended by the admonition, and overspent to insure everyone knew I celebrated Christmas with pride! My defiance of the self appointed boss of the block led to hostilities that somewhat continue to this day, but... BTW, most of our other neighbors also decorate and most go beyond what I ever did.
We should respect others for what they are, and they should respect us for what we are. That's the big problem we currently have in our country, regardless of the issue or circumstance. it's the lack of respect.
I have to cut to size the 1" pink foam, and laminate it to the plywood, then assemble the module and paint it. By the weekend I should have everything in place. I cleaned the table saw and returned it to its usual place of repose. It made things so much easier.
Good Morning Everyone...overcast and cool in Wisconsin. Heading out to trim back a large bush by the master bedroom windows before the new ones arrive. Then take the trimming to the local landfill. Burrrrr!
Not to get too political, but as a Republican I voted for Donald Trump. But...the President should act Presidential and forgot about his dumb tweeting. He should take a few leadership lessons from Ronald Reagan. Now back to the reason why this forum exists....model railroading.
Yesterday I needed some fresh air so I drove to Du Plainville, WI to watch the action on the CP and CN mainlines where they cross on a diamond. Just missed a northbound CN, but was in time for the Hiawatha returning to Milwaukee.
I'm always amazed at how quiet the Hiawatha is when it passes by.
Stopped for a soda at an old watering hole that's been 45+ years since my last visit. The place was remodeled over time and I could still recall the original floor plan that I can remember from my old days. The place has history. Once a brothel the owner moved the building a half a mile down the road to be in another township which would overlook the the establishment's primary business as a brothel. The place is within a feet hundred feet of the old Milwaukee Road right of way which is elevated above the surrounding terrain. A over-pass allows the tracks to be overhead of the roadway below. The railroad over-pass is a favorite place for taggers to paint graffiti on the steel bridge structure and have been doing so ever since I went to grade school down the road. This entire area was once called Whiskey Corners and my grade school was called Whiskey Corners Grade School until it was changed in the mid-1950's to Willow Springs Grade School.
Better get outside and do some domestic tasks.
Ok before I get involved in some easy project, here is something on a more positive note! Always focus on the positive aspects of life.
I realized I have enough space on my glass enclosed front porch to set up a ready to run Lionel Christmas train set with a few accessories as well! Also a tree and a nativity!
Now I have to do something!
Good morning. Started off at 13 degrees but should get up into the mid 30's later today. Finally am seeing the sun for the first time in a few days. Got a couple of inches of snow over night also.
Johnny - You're welcome. We tdo try to wear out the cold before we send it on.
Sherrel - Hope your pooch isn't hurt bad. Looks like you had a good time with your toys. I always enjoy going to the range.
Louis - I always like the looks of the Southern steamers. They had a lot of class.
Curt - I enjoyed the video at Horseshoe Curve. I got to visit it in person years back. Liked the clips of the Duplex running.
Terry - Those phones used to be cheap. They would give you a new one every few years. Not any more. We just replaced my wife's Samsung S-4 that was over 7 years old with an S-8. It got to the point where the battery would not hold a charge. We got it direct from Samsung saving $100 over what AT&T wanted. I did like how easy it was to transfer all of the apps, contacts and photos. I have had an S-8 for around a year and like the charging cradle instead of having to plug it in to charge.
Ran train for quite a while yesterday. Put the little 45 ton switcher to work.
Actually timed how long it took to get all of the outbound cars at Churchill out for a local freight to pick up and how long it took to spot all of the inbound cars to the proper customers. A little over three hours at the one town.
I have been doing easy miscellaneous tasks as I enjoy Christmas music. Mostly sitting on my backside.
Saw this today, made me laugh a little.
Did some chores this morning then finished up the build this afternoon. The detail parts on the platforms are not glued down, but the stuff on the wall is. I tried a new technique for missing shingles but I'm not sure I like it or not.
It reads like it got a little heated in here earlier.
Terry- I'm glad Marie is OK after the fall.
Garry- Just let me know and I'll try to get Phil involved.
Sherrel- Sorry to hear about Foxie. I hope she will be OK.
Chet- Nice layout and track photo.
I see my little test to see if y'all could be trusted to talk politics without going off the deep end has ended in failure.
I'm typing this on my cell phone, and don't have the patience to edit all y'all's posts.
You have until I get home from work, and fire up my Gates-O-Matic computer to remove the stuff you know you shouldn't be posting. After that, I'll be deleting entire posts.
Y'all wanted to know why politics and religion were not allowed here, I hope this serves as an example why it is not. I'm disappointed in some of you, you're supposed to be adults.
Just some time on the computer and no Train room today.
Finished trimming the large burning bush in the back of the house. Looks better and in spring I'll need to keep the fellow trimmed once it leaves out. Two trips to the local landfill with the branches from the bush. Also, opened the outside water bibs in order to drain water from the lines in the basement. One line is being drained and the second with be done tomorrow.
Then I made a trip to a local small engine and lawn equipment dealer to get oil and a spark plug for the snow blower. This dealership is great with the owners and their employees actually wanting to help you and everyone greets the customers.
The way to the equipment dealer takes me over the CP tracks, but no trains today.
Going order some more KD couplers. I think I'll finally get some of the KD Whisker couplers. I been using up my current stock of KD #5's Converting the my fleet of ore cars with draw bars to couplers is using up my supply of couplers and I need to convert another 100 or so ore cars. I may link the cars together in groups of four to cut down on the number of couplers I'll need to purchase. We'll see...maybe I'll change my mind.
Tomorrow some serious model railroading is planned.
If I read this correctly, you are inferring that the site doesn't go down. It has been interesting because it always happens between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning. I always check these days because I have lost posts before. I'll see what light my ISP can shed on this. I have asked before without a straight answer, but I also know that depending on which techie I speak to I might get a different answer. Rural ISP's aren't always able to pick out the sharpest folks.
Yes, his would stop working at almost exactly the same time every day, and the change in ISP stopped the problem.
Terry, you did the prudent thing and I want apologize for my unwelcome post/posts. The last thing I want to do is to cause you a headache or upset anyone else. I still stand by and can back up everything I said, but this was not the place to say it, forgive me.
I slept much better last night, shoulders are back to normal? Yeah, for me anyway, thank God!
Chet, you and my doctors were correct, I should have had the surgeries while I am still young enough to enjoy the repairs!