Number Twelve Coffee Shop is now open [Archive] - Page 2

rhoward

09-07-2008, 01:46 AM

Evenin all!

Had my Granddaughter over for dinner tonight. Of course Mom and Dad tagged along as well......... Both my cats have decided they are afraid of her (she can get a bit rough) so they come out and say hi and then disappear for a while. She had a great time exploring the house. This is the first time she has been here since she started walking a few weeks ago. I had corn on the cob for dinner and she ate half an ear. I was amazed as I have never seen a kid her age be able to do that. It was her favorite after all the grapes in the fruit salad. Olivia is not quite 15 months old.

I spent most of the evening after they left working on the photos of my FILs 95 Birthday Party. He is still a sketch and I think really enjoyed the day. Some of his old airplane buddies were there and he really enjoyed seeing and talking with them as well as several relatives he hasn't seen in a while. just a couple for you folks.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h259/slow_rr/Barney95Birthday/B-DayCake1w.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h259/slow_rr/Barney95Birthday/BarneyAt9510w.jpg

UP2CSX

09-07-2008, 04:47 AM

Chris, I need you to come up here and clean up my yard. I've got some trees that really need to be trimmed and it's just too danged hot for a Yankee to do it right now. We do need the rain, that's for sure. I'll take anything that doesn't knock anyone's house down or kill anyone.

Tom, the game should be fine for tomorrow. The remnants of Hanna are flying out of there at 28 mph and it will be just be a memory by game time.

Ray, cool cake and nice picture of a guy with a lot of years and wisdom under his belt. Olivia must already have quite a set of teeth to finish off half an ear of corn at her age.

Ike is still a cat 4 and is picking up forward speed again. He's now rearranging the real estate in the Turks and Caicos. I hope the folks down there are hunkered down in their hurricane shelters. The 11:00 pm update wants to pull Ike even further west once he get by Cuba and in the Gulf. This would tend to make a hit on the Keys and the west coast of Florida less likely and landfall in west Louisiana or east Texas more likely. As I said before, the forecast track is subject to large errors more than two days out and it's likely to change several more times over the next five days. The thing to watch for is where Ike goes in relation to Cuba. If he spends more time over land in Cuba, the westerly track becomes more likely. If he just skirts Cuba and spends more time over water, a northerly track becomes a better possibility. It will be interesting to see which scenario plays out.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-07-2008, 10:23 AM

Good Morning from Tipton IN ! :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/TIPTONDEPOT.jpg:eek:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/SteakEggs.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/THECOFFEESHOP.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/3dflagsdotcom_usa_2fawl.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/Diner.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/menu_breakfast_1.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/waitress3.jpg

jeffrey-wimberly

09-07-2008, 11:33 AM

Good morning.

It's 70 and mostly clear. The high today will be around 90 and it will be partly cloudy.

Still tracking Ike and still not liking what I'm seeing. Mowed the grass yesterday morning then laid down to rest and woke up six hours later.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/7/2008

Heat Index: 70°F
Humidity: 82%
Dew Point: 64°F

So Far Today
High: 72°F
Low: 70°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 5mph NNE

Today High: 90 Partly cloudy. Highs around 90. East winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 68 Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 60s. East winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010056.jpg

vato loco

09-07-2008, 01:10 PM

Nice sunny and hot morning here in Florida! I have no work lined up so I figured I'll run to Tractor Supply Co. and pick up a tire for my FIL trailer he lent me:rolleyes: Spend some time fixing it up some....Next weekend my work schedule is full up:D 6 yards plus mine, should keep me buzzy till 1pm!

Jim, Wish, I was close to ya! Could use the extra work.......I do work for trains too;) LOL's I get a few yard clean up's and pressure washing job's, i generaly schedule them for the winter down here when the mowing slows down! That way the money doesn't stop flowing:D Washing your house once or twice a year keeps the house looking like it's freshly painted! I'm fixing to do my house soon before the holidays!

Steve B

09-07-2008, 05:31 PM

Afternoon gents,,,
Happy 95th Birthday Barney Tasty looking cake Ray Mmmm :D

RexHea

09-07-2008, 05:31 PM

Time for lunch and Chris is buying. (that will teach you about disappearing without a trace:p ).

Chris, I doubt if we will need to pay you a visit, but if Ike decides to turn our direction, we will be arriving soon. Don't worry about beds; we will pull the RV down, spend $300 on gas, and have two (23 and 24 pound) "puppies". We might as well take in the sights while there, so count on us staying about 3 weeks:rolleyes: . Oh, I might need to borrow gas money to get back or our stay may be longer:D :D .

Bama won, but good grief...what a sloppy game. Tulane may be the only team we could have beaten yesterday. The fans were treated to a fly over during the National Anthem. First was a P51 Mustang, followed about 5 seconds later by a pair of F16's. We could see them from the house coming in and making their pass, then into a steep climb and to the clouds. BEAUTIFUL!

I got my new scanner out and tuned to the control tower and ATC freq to hear all the football fans' planes coming in. I waited and waited to see them on approach...guess what...they all landed from the other directions for the two runways (Dang it!). The police freq was non-stopping for fender benders, fights, drunks, a stray cat under a woman's bed, one homicide, you name it...it was going on. Scary what goes on in the DARK!:eek: As Jim has pointed out, none of this was in the paper.

Hope your weekend is going well and that you just may get to play trains:) .

rhoward

09-07-2008, 07:11 PM

Afternoon everyone!

Another fairly nice day here in the Finger Lakes. High of only 70°F so it is comfortable both inside and outside.

We had "Rally Day" at church this morning which is the official start of Sunday School for the year. As a Guide for one of our Communicants Class youth again this year I had to show up for the pre-church festivities and to say hi to the young man I am working with this time. I was his brother's guide 2 years ago and found out that I was specifically asked for by the kid. Nice feeling.........

I spent part of the afternoon playing with the new lens down cellar. The results of the session can be seen in the WPF thread.

Got to run as that band of rain I have been looking at on the radar map is getting close and I have to pick some vegies from the garden.

Later!

Edit: Rain has started falling. First as a fine mist, now small drops. I did pick a full gallon bag worth of string beans, a couple zucchini, and three large Green/red peppers though. I have another bag almost full of string beans from a couple days ago, so I guess I'll get the canner out tomorrow and have a few meals next winter.

vato loco

09-07-2008, 10:56 PM

Time for lunch and Chris is buying. (that will teach you about disappearing without a trace:p ).

Chris, I doubt if we will need to pay you a visit, but if Ike decides to turn our direction, we will be arriving soon. Don't worry about beds; we will pull the RV down, spend $300 on gas, and have two (23 and 24 pound) "puppies". We might as well take in the sights while there, so count on us staying about 3 weeks:rolleyes: . Oh, I might need to borrow gas money to get back or our stay may be longer:D :D .

.

LOL's O.K. glad you have an RV, We have some great RV parks down here can't throw a rock with out hitting one! My house is only 850sqft. not much room for us to turn around in! But your pups are more than welcome to share Jacob and Jerrys dog run! Our 3yr old 85+ pound puppy from hell would love to play with the bama boys! Sight's we have those, as well as some good salt water and fresh water fishing! As for gas muney you might get stuck down here:rolleyes: !

Best time to come to florida, is from Nov 1st- Feb 31st! the weather is at it's best! Got to love florida winters..........:D

As for lunch/ dinner Eat up guys Jims buying!;) :D

jeffrey-wimberly

09-07-2008, 11:35 PM

850 square feet? My little place makes yours sound like a mansion. I'm guessing about 200 square feet. 8 x 25 trailer.

vato loco

09-07-2008, 11:50 PM

850 square feet? My little place makes yours sound like a mansion. I'm guessing about 200 square feet. 8 x 25 trailer.

Put three people, two dogs, two frogs, two red eared sliders, and two fish tanks and my house shrinks fast!:eek: :eek: :D

UP2CSX

09-08-2008, 05:46 AM

Chris, if I had to flee south, Rex would be following my RV down. We could get a nice tailgate party going. :) I have the three cats so I think I'd probably have to keep them in the RV unless the dogs wanted a snack. :eek: Not much to pressure wash on my house since it's 95% brick although I did paint the front door and the wood surrounding the entrance because it had faded so badly.

Rex, it's nice Bama got another win but it really was a sloppy game. They are going to have to turn it up a notch to keep a a national rating although they went from 13 to 11 in the Coach's Poll. OTOH, Ohio State really sucked too. I would have really liked to have been there to see that P-51 since that's what my uncle flew in WWII. Having that scanner is fun, especially on game day, when I'll bet it never stops talking. Did you see if any of my railroad frequencies worked for you yet?

Ray, nice to know that some of your past work is being respected. Sounds like a wonderful day in the garden. Even with a little rain. All I would have would be withered tomatoes and shriveled up beans between the heat and lack of rain. :(

All breakfasts are on me...tomorrow. :D

Ike is ashore in eastern Cuba and weakening slightly as he gets more over land. As long as he stays over land, he should drop to a cat 1 by Monday night. Ike really tore up the Turks and Caicos with Grand Turk suffering damage to 85% of the structures and about 50% of them are totally destroyed. No one was killed thanks to the excellent system of hurricane shelters built by the Turks and Caicos government. The maximum gust measured on Grand Turk Island was 122 mph before the anemometer blew away. Ike is one mean guy.

Now we watch what Ike does over Cuba. More time over land should lead to a more westerly course in the Gulf while less time on land should swing him more northward. Jeffrey, I share you concern about how the track is looking. Remembering that landfall is still at least five days out and the models are subject to large errors, the most likely land fall is now a cone between Galveston and Lake Charles, LA. Not only will this strike a densely populated area but it will also target a large number of oil refineries. If you think gas went up after Katrina, get ready for a really wallop if Ike follows this path.

Once again, no one from the west coast of Florida west to the Texas/Mexico border should assume the they won't be hit by Ike. Hurricanes in the Gulf do strange and unpredictable things for reason we don't understand. Just keep watching the official forecasts and I'll give you my totally unofficial guesses when I feel I have something to hang my hat on.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-08-2008, 09:12 AM

vato loco

09-08-2008, 09:20 AM

Morning Guys,

"Flo, I'll have the all you can eat breakfast bar!"

Well Ike is not Hitting Florida! JMO It's going to get Texas or New Orleans as a Cat 3. Our Weather man hasn't missed guessed yet! Jim/Rex you might want to Gas up the RV's and ready them, Looks to be a good day for a road trip! I'll let Marys fishing camp know your comming;) Bring your boats and fishing poles for some fishing! We might have some rain during your visit, but rain don't stop the fish from biteing. well got to gotowork and mow the grass...........See Ya!

Jim, even brick needs to be washed, the fugus and mould on the walls is still there! Trust me hit a small spot on the north wall with a pressure washer and bleach........you'll be suprised on the stuff living on your walls you don't see!

tompm

09-08-2008, 12:21 PM

Good morning folks

It was 70 F on the way in to the office. High today will be 85 F.

This was a busy weekend. We got a little over 2 inches of rain from Hanna. The only damage we had was the winds blew down a bunch of small branches. We were able to get the grocery shopping done since my son’s football game was rescheduled for Sunday. In the game his team lost 12-0. Again it was a poorly played and coached game. Given those facts, the disorganized practices and my son is no longer having any fun I am about ready to pull the plug on the season. There have also been a few incidents during practices that have not been sitting well with me.

No modeling or train running got done this weekend.

I hope everybody has a good day.

jeffrey-wimberly

09-08-2008, 12:34 PM

Good morning.

It's 74 and mostly cloudy here. The high is expected to be around the upper 80's and there's a chance of thunderstorms.

According to the 5 day forecast Ike will make landfall close to the Texas/Louisiana line west of the Sabine Pass as a cat4 hurricane. (Click link for map)

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/at200809_5day.gif

I put together a couple more of my creations yesterday. A Bachmann GP40 shell on an Athearn GP60 frame and a Bachmann GP50 on an Athearn GP50 frame. There wasn't anything 'simple' about either one. Both are quiet runners with premium motors, hex shaft drive and nickel silver wheels. They're both in line for DCC decoders.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/8/2008

Heat Index: 78°F
Humidity: 83%
Dew Point: 69°F

So Far Today
High: 75°F
Low: 73°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 90 Partly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 90. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 72 Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. East winds around 5 mph.

Modified Bachmann GP40 shell on Athearn GP60 frame. It's now my long haul GP40.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010061.jpg

OldGettysk

09-08-2008, 02:43 PM

Good Morning ! It's a beautiful Morning here in Buffalo .Nice Sunny warm day and the Bills defeated the Seahawks . What more can you ask for. Hope all of you can enjoy a nice day like this also . Also hoping Ike runs out of fuel before he does too much more damage

rhoward

09-08-2008, 02:57 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Currently 69°F here in the Finger Lakes with a predicted high of 74°. Lots of sunshine and winds WSW at 10 to 15 MPH. May have to get the Lawn Mower out and trim the hay field surrounding my house. Luckily I will probably have to mow it one more time this fall. I also should get out the trimmer and do my hedges before snow falls this year.........

Waiting for some final directions on a school CD I did last June. Hopefully they will accept the album and I get the production run done for them. They have been slow getting materials to me and I can't do much until they tell me what their needs are.

Paul the Bills look they have put together a fine young team this year. It would be nice for them to make a strong showing this season.

I will keep all of you living in and near the Gulf in my prayers with the coming of Ike. He looks like he may be a whopper!

Stay safe!

Steve B

09-08-2008, 04:05 PM

Afternoon all

Wifes had another scan today, this was a resting scan for comparison, just got to wait for the consultant to tell her whats what now.

and talking about consultants mine told me i had Marfan's syndrome today, after reviewing my constantly bursting blood vessels, x-rays and bloods, now i have to go for an ECG and then to a specialist clinic in Manchester for more tests on the blood vessels and heart, mainly the Aorta which gets enlarged,,, what a bloody pain in the rear end this year is proving to be, and it is hereditary so we'll have to get kids the tested for the dodgy gene to see if they have it.

UP2CSX

09-08-2008, 09:28 PM

Dang, Steve, if it's not one thing, it's another. :( Marfan's is not an easy disease to live with but they are making a lot of progress in controlling the symptoms. It's not always hereditary but it's classed as "hereditable" so it's a good idea to have the kids checked since early diagnosis really helps. Well, shoot, I hope your wife's tests come out good at least.

Ray, 69 there now, huh? The low here was 71 and it's 96 now. This is really getting to be a long summer.

Paul and Ray, looks like the Bills have a better team than they've had in many years. The Browns, of course, look like crap again this year. Rats!

Tom, sounds like a decent day in your neck of the woods. Too bad about your son's football team. I really hate it when adults make it so kids can't have fun playing sports.

Chris, I think you misunderstood about breakfast. I'm buying tomorrow. Each day, I'll always be buying for tomorrow...but not today. I hope you bought some extra money for Flo. :) You're probably right about the bricks. They do have a bit of mold and crud on them. I just tell myself it's weathering. :D

Ike came ashore in Cuba last night and is now just off the southern coast of central Cuba. The damage on Great Inauga, one of the southernmost islands in the Bahamas, was almost total, with 95% of the structures destroyed and the entire road and electrical system ruined by the storm surge. Once again, no lives were lost because everyone was in hurricane shelters. The US and British Navies are sending relief ships to help.

It's hard to get much information out of Cuba but Ike is still a cat 2 hurricane and will pass very close to Havana as a strong cat 1 or weak cat 2 tonight. Havana will suffer a lot of damage because the structures are so poorly built and maintained. The Cubans do have an excellent civil defense agency, which should help limit the loss of life.

After Ike gets into the Gulf, the results are still far from certain. The models have made a dramatic shifts in the last few hours. The Keys and Florida now appear to have a very low probability of being affected by Ike. The models now take Ike into Galveston as a cat 3 hurricane. If this model shift proves to be accurate, it would be an unmitigated disaster for Galveston and Houston. This is also a huge problem for Texas EMA authorities since they will have to make evacuation decisions within the the next day or two at most since Ike should be near landfall by Friday night. There are about two million people that will have to be evacuated, a monumental task to perform in just three days. As usual, these models will probably shift again but landfall somewhere between Corpus Christi and the Texas/Louisiana border appears to be increasingly likely. Everyone in these areas should review their plans and be prepared to evacuate no later than early Thursday.

The only thing I know for sure is that some place along the Gulf Coast is going to get a visit from Ike. How strong he will be and exactly where he will hit is still uncertain but those affected should assume he will be a major hurricane with a large storm surge and act accordingly.

vato loco

09-09-2008, 12:17 AM

Evening everyone!

I had another one of those days at work again!:mad: When will they learn I'm only there to do lunch and collect my pay check?:confused: Not to have to work my way to lunch then work after lunch then have to wait till friday to pick up what they call a pay check?:mad: Man, Wish I was rich instead of being so dang good looking!:D

Jim, no beating around the bush. Your going to have to wash the house like the rest of us;) :D Weathering:confused: Don't think it will fly with the wife:)

Steve, I turn my back and you fall apart! Get well buddy:)

Ray, good Lord man! Hay field:eek: scratch the mower and get a goat!:D

rhoward

09-09-2008, 12:49 AM

Ray, good Lord man! Hay field:eek: scratch the mower and get a goat!:D

Actually it wasn't that bad. Growth has finally slowed down for the rest of the season and I should probably only have to mow it one more time before winter. Mowed close to half of it today, then split and stacked the rest of some wood a neighbor gave me so my son and I could pull the splitter around back where it will spend the winter (under a tarp). If it doesn't rain too much tomorrow I will get the rest of it done. About the only other property work I have to do is trim the hedges this fall. That usually ties up a day and a half (with ample railroad room breaks...).

Found out late this afternoon that my Brother in Law is in ICU at a hospital nearby. He has now been diagnosed as having cirrhosis of the liver with about 80% of his liver being scar tissue. Blood can no longer flow through parts of the liver and he had two ruptured veins. Started vomiting blood yesterday evening. His chances for long term survival are probably not the best but every hour without a recurrence is to his favor for now.

UP2CSX

09-09-2008, 04:14 AM

Ray, what your BIL has does have a really bad prognosis. He's probably vomiting blood due to esophageal varices. This is where veins in his esophagus rupture due to the high venous pressure produced by his failing liver. Most patients with his problems don't live more than a week so I hope you have some time to see him before passes on. :(

Chris, I used to hate the idea of working just to get paid too. Now I get to sit around and watch the stock market take all my money. I'll take a closer look at those bricks. I know that certain molds can have really bad effects on the grout.

Ike is now hugging the south coast of Cuba as a strong cat 1 hurricane. He's about 140 miles southest of Havana and should make a second landfall in Cuba early this morning and pass very near Havana before getting back out into the Gulf. There's nothing adverse in the atmosphere that should prevent him from getting up to a cat 3 or 4 by late Wednesday. All the models continue to shift south and west with the entire Gulf Coast of Texas being within the cone of error for landfall now. We should have a slightly better picture of Ike's likely course by tomorrow. If the models continue this southern track, it will likely be the area from Corpus Christi to Brownsville that will come under more risk. If you live on the Texas Gulf coast, pay close attention the forecasts from the National Hurricane Center since Ike has shown the ability to rapidly intensify and may do so again before landfall.

vato loco

09-09-2008, 09:19 AM

Flo, sign me up for the breakfast maga bar! and Jims taking care of the tab;)

My wife said I have to go back to work!:mad: I'll try again to just show up and do lunch and go home! Work is way over rated and not very fun:( Now the lunch part and going home part of it is fun and enjoyable:p

Jim, try putting some 50%bleach 50%water in a spray bottle and spray a small area! wait 10 min and hose the area off, you'll see right off the bat if you need to wash it!

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-09-2008, 09:20 AM

CSX_road_slug

09-09-2008, 10:03 AM

Good morning crew -

Everything's a blur of activity around here, with all the kids back in school, mandatory back-to-school evenings, soccer, 'helping' with homework [coaxing is a more fitting word] and both of us parents now working nearly full-time. As if the school tuition bills weren't bad enough, now we've been told that my 13yr-old daughter needs brace$ to avoid permanent malformation of her teeth. "Don't spend more than you earn." Yeah...uh-huh! :mad:

Ray, that's a major bummer about your BIL. I've always known cirrhosis (sp?) is nasty stuff, we'll keep him in our thoughts...

Jim - Even though I'm not in the endangered area, I've been following the movement of Ike as much as possible via the Weather Channel. Ever since Katrina, these storms have always filled me with a sense of Apocalyptic dread. At least it appears NOLA will be spared another hit, they need more time to finish those levee repairs.

Steve - sorry to hear about that Marfins diagnosis, it just never seems to end does it :(

Ciao!

OldGettysk

09-09-2008, 11:20 AM

Good Morning ALL ! Sure looks like a crappy day here ,high of 64 and plenty of rain. Not much else going on around here . Ray my prayers go out to your BIL hope his pain and suffering will some how get better . Steve looks like you and your family are having a bit of a time there. Hope you get well soon also . I have a Hereditary desease also it's called Berger's and I'm the only one of my siblings who has contracted it . Chances of my children getting it are slim but they have to be aware of it .Anyhow hope you feel better soon, well hope all of you have a good day !!!!

jeffrey-wimberly

09-09-2008, 12:08 PM

Good morning.

It's 73 and clear but it stay that way. As somebody has said, if you don't like the weather here, wait 15 minutes, it'll change. The high should be around 90 and there's a possibility of thunderstorms.

Yesterday was devoted mostly to working on my Bachmann/Athearn GP40 as I stripped it of it's bogus SF paint job and repainted it in the black and white colors of the Midland Gulf Railway freight scheme. After a light weathering the unit awaits it's new number and will go on the waiting list for a decoder. A photo of it in it's present form is at the bottom of this post.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/9/2008

Heat Index: 79°F
Humidity: 87%
Dew Point: 71°F

So Far Today
High: 76°F
Low: 73°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 90 Partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 90. East winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 72 Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010079-1.jpg

tompm

09-09-2008, 12:33 PM

Good morning folks

It was 74 F and looking like a storm was brewing on the way in this morning. High will be 81 F with severe thunderstorms later in the day.

No modeling last night.

Tonight is one of the busy ones. We have football practice if it is not canceled due to the thunderstorms. I have to attend a Cub Scout Roundtable and my daughter has flute lesson. My son’s school has what they call Grade Level Meetings tonight. Of course all this stuff is going on at the same time. Since we have been through the Grade Level meetings before with my daughter and know my son’s teachers we most likely will not attend them. Also I do not like the way these meetings are conducted since there is almost no one on one contact with the teacher unlike the old Open House they used to hold.

I am not looking forward to football practice as I am not sure what my reaction to the coaches will be after Sunday’s debacle. For the time being my son has chosen to play. I have given him the option and he says he wants to see what happens at the next couple of practices. I will still be speaking with the Assistant Director of Football to discuss available options.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Steve B

09-09-2008, 03:36 PM

Afternoon gents,,,
ray Sorry to hear about your BIL, the wife see's the effects of liver failure every shift at the hospital, it never get's any easier to deal with no matter how many times you do it, it's a very sad way to end up.

Falling apart or not this better not upset the chances of emigrating or i'll be a tiny bit mad, but if it does there are other options we can take

Jim the mad thing is nobody in my family has had anything like it, the consultant did say it can pop up from nowhere though ??? very strange indead, ever since i turned 40 things have gone totally pear shaped, i must end very soon :) :) :)

rhoward

09-09-2008, 04:06 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Thank you for your thoughts for my BIL. Bernie took to drinking heavily after the death of his 6 year old son from a congenital disorder. That was well over 20 years ago. I was clued in by my SIL at the party for Barney (FIL) that Bernie was not well. Unfortunately Bernie hasn't really been to a doctor in about 20 years and told me he had a new Dr., the same one that was treating his father at the nursing home. By the looks of his pot belly last week I was thinking he has some liver problems. Sometimes I hate being right.....

I am finishing up the (hopefully) final draft for a CD that just hasn't gone together easily. The teacher in charge of it e-mailed me yesterday that 2 of the pieces had skips and garbled sounds........ Probably from burning them on the failing Superdrive on my G5. It has been replaced and (knock on wood) appears to be working fine. However........... The 200 CDs I just delivered to the same school were all done on the old drive. So they may be defective as well. There goes the profit from that account!

Its a cloudy, damp, and generally yucky day here in the Finger Lakes. currently at the high for the day of 64°F. Just started raining again. We had a thunderstorm in the middle of the night with some lightning strikes very close by. The type that make you jump about 5 feet straight up in the air when you have been fast asleep. My cat was sleeping next to me in bed and he was up and gone!!!!!! About 3 more hit nearby and then it quieted down. This the first rain of any consequence we have had this month and the air conditioners are silent (as in off!) so I guess I will finish up a bunch of odds and ends I need to get finished. Then find some time to work on the trains!

vato loco

09-09-2008, 08:56 PM

Well another depressing day at the park! they did it again, they made me work for money:mad: I told them that the deal was I show up eat my lunch they hand me a check for ungodly amount of cash and I return home!:)

It's Simple thing to under stand:confused:

Then why can't they get it:confused: :mad:

I see guys on the side of the road do the same thing.....They get money?:confused: at least i'm honest about it, "I want money and not have to work for it cause I'm LAZY!:D "

O'well, I guess I'll return to the park tomarrow may be I can convince them of their error!:D :rolleyes: ;)

Ken, Have you thought of doing your daughters braces yourself:) You might be able to fasion some braces from left over rail, wire and super glue laying around your train room! That would save you tons of money.:D

CSX_road_slug

09-09-2008, 09:04 PM

Well Chris now that you mention it, I have used a dremel with a flex-shaft to do some of my own dental work...;)

vato loco

09-09-2008, 10:22 PM

And there you go! So what are you waiting for?

rhoward

09-09-2008, 11:17 PM

Evenin' folks!

I managed to get 7 pints of string beans canned today and still found time to finish the inserts and label for the CD, check out the CD for errors, and put together the demo CD for the customer. I also printed out some materials for a committee I am on in the community for a Mission Fair at my church on Peacemaking Sunday. And..... I installed another Tortoise on the layout. Hope to get another one done tonight.

See you all later.

Secondhandmodeler

09-10-2008, 12:00 AM

Greetings folks. Sorry to hear about the health problems out there. It makes me want to go get a physical.

I mounted the back drop this afternoon. I am currently waiting for vinyl Spackle to dry, how exciting! I am pleased with the color I picked out. It almost looked white in the garage while drying. Now that it's up, it's almost perfect.

I've also decided to scale back the yard area on my layout. What looks good in xtrkcad doesn't look in person. It would be way too crowded. I may need to rethink the yard area. I had a sneaking suspicion that this was the case. It's why I haven't really commited to a track plan for that area. I think I'll just have to wing it.

It's nice to continue to see progress on the layout. It's really starting to come together. Now all I need to do is start!

I hope everyone has a good evening.

RexHea

09-10-2008, 05:03 AM

Well Chris now that you mention it, I have used a dremel with a flex-shaft to do some of my own dental work...;)

Ken, you can get some dental wire bending/shaping pliers from Micro-Mark. They work great!:rolleyes: :D
Don't forget the miracle..."SUPER GLUE" taa daa!

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-10-2008, 09:02 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-10-2008, 11:48 AM

Good morning.

It's 75 and cloudy. The high today should be around 90 and there's a chance of thunderstorms.

I received a package in the mail yesterday from Euclid, Ohio. I was expecting it so no big surprise there. In it I found two gondola bodies, three hopper bodies and one caboose, all without trucks and couplers. Again this was expected. I have every intention of rebuilding all of these and putting them into service. Yesterday I rebuilt two of the hoppers which evidently had Talgo trucks originally. I installed Bachmann trucks and body mounted Kadee #5 couplers and immediately pressed them into service. The roadnames and numbers will be left as is as an honor to the modeler who gave them to me. The only change I'll make will be to add the logo of the MGRy below the cars numbers.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/10/2008

Heat Index: 77°F
Humidity: 95%
Dew Point: 70°F

So Far Today
High: 73°F
Low: 71°F
Rain: N/A"
Rain Rate: N/A"/h
Gust: 6mph NE

Today High: 92 Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 90s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 75 Partly cloudy until late night then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 70s. East winds around 5 mph.

Here's one of the rebuilt hoppers.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010089.jpg

tompm

09-10-2008, 12:30 PM

Good morning folks

It was 64 F as I rolled out of the driveway. Our high will be 74 F under sunny skies.

No modeling last night. I went to Cub Scout Roundtable. Also I spoke with some folks regarding my son’s football team his situation. I am going to be speaking with his coach and requesting that he be transferred to the JV squad. He is barely playing and since the coaching staff seems to only be working with the starters in practice he is standing around doing nothing. He can’t learn anything by standing around and it is obvious they feel he does not know enough he would be better off on JV squad where he can learn.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Secondhandmodeler

09-10-2008, 01:05 PM

Good morning folks. Do you want to here my wife's idea for our anniversary? We are going to Duluth MN to see the railroad museum again, and........we are going to go on a fall colors tour on a train! If I can get the time off, we may be able to ride behind a steam engine! I don't know if last year was a one shot deal for them or not. It's a restored Soo Pacific that is on loan to the Duluth Railroad museum. If we can't ride behind that, there is an older diesel to do the job. I think she loves me! I wonder what she is up to?

Have a good day!

CSX_road_slug

09-10-2008, 01:19 PM

Corey, you've got a keeper - I'm totally envious! ;) (and congrats, BTW)

Secondhandmodeler

09-10-2008, 01:26 PM

Ken, I'm actually very afraid!:D I think it's payback for all of the races we've been to. We've gone to Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Michigan, and other places for Nascar races. Don't ask me how she became a Nascar fan. With her being a fan, I therefore, am a part-time race fan! The North Shore is beautiful this time of year as well. I may need to fill my whole memory card for my camera. I think it holds two thousand pictures!

OldGettysk

09-10-2008, 01:44 PM

Good Morning All ! from the Niagara Frontier ! not much going on . It's a nice late summer's day here with a high temp. around 68 with plenty of sun . Look out Texas but I think Ike is going to collide with you pretty soon. Hope everyone stays out of harm's way . Hoping evryone has a real nice day !!!!! Corey sounds like you will have a grand time !

rhoward

09-10-2008, 02:58 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Another nice "looking forward to Fall" day here in the Finger Lakes. Currently 61°F with a high of 64° later this afternoon. Sun is shining most of the time and it looks like a good day to catch up on some errands i have to do.

Catch you all later!

Steve B

09-10-2008, 03:59 PM

Hello, good afternoon and welcome to Flo's diner folk's

Zzzzzzz i'm bushed, early night for me

RexHea

09-10-2008, 05:40 PM

Darn Corey, that sounds great. If my wife came up with something like that, I would also be suspicious and knowing she was going to expect re-pay. It sounds like you and she have a fun time getting out and doing things together.;)

Steve: I am so sorry for all of your worries and wish you the very best. Hopefully, none of it will upset your wonderful plans to resettle in New Zealand.

KenL: I meant to ask if you saw the Mercedes plant outside of T-town when you were returning to Pell City? Also, do your remember my automatically ran passenger trains:D ? I now have them blowing the horn on arrival and departure from stations and have successfully integrated a manual controlled freight while they are making their routes. :cool:

The only report I have on my layout is: ballast, ballast, and more ballast. I need ownership in a quarry :D . No, its not that there is so-much new track, just that I haven't done any ballasting in over a year: just track remove, install, remove again,...:D

Hope all you East Texans are getting prepared. My Daughter and family are not sure of what to do being in the north Houston area (Spring), but will probably ride it out. I hope we at least get some rain on the curl of Ike; its like summer here with an heat index of 98 deg right now.

Oh, I meant to tell you that my Grandson just completed Army boot camp at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. He wasn't in the right frame of mind for college and bravely chose the military to serve his country and to get a better sense of direction in life. We are very proud of his wise decision and accomplishment.

UP2CSX

09-10-2008, 08:28 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

I spent the day at a friend's mining operation in central Alabama. It's quite a deal he has going. I can't say much about what the mine is producing but let's just say it's a profitable metal and one that has never been mined in Alabama before.

Steve, the maddening thing with Marfan's is that it does skip generations, so you probably have some relative two or three generations back that had it. That's a hope thing for your children since there's a better than even chance they won't have it. If it makes you feel any better, I've been slowly falling apart since I was 40 too and I've made to 62 so there's still hope.

Chris, I dealt with a lot of people that showed up at work and just wanted to get paid. They were called burglars. :) There's always a second career opportunity there. The lawn mower makes a perfect cover story.

Rex, congratulations to your grandson and I hope he stays safe. It takes some guts to go into the Army now. It looks like Houston will be fine except for some tropical storm force winds and some rain. We actually has .25 inches of rain here yesterday from a solitary thunderstorm. Ike may give us some blow-off moisture depending on his exact course but I'm not counting on much right now.

Corey, if my wife ever suggests riding a tourist train for fun, I'll know something is seriously wrong. :eek: OTOH, she doesn't like NASCAR either. Her hobby is shopping for shoes and purses. I have exactly three pairs of shoes. She's working on beating the Imelda Marcos record.

Ray, you must have gotten the same line of thunderstorms that went through Cleveland. My brother said it was the loudest thunder he's ever heard. It looks like an early dose of fall for you guys. Sorry about those CD's. It seems like every CD I ever make has something wrong with it. CD's and me don't get along.

Jeffrey, I saw the pics of the hoppers. They look like nice models.

Ken, just make sure you use the medical grade super glue. :) There really is such a thing and it's about $70 an ounce. I have no idea what makes it any different than the normal stuff we always use.

Ike is now out in the Gulf and has reached cat 2 status again. There's some dry air in front of him but he's now becoming so large that he should suck that in with very little effect on intensity. By this time tomorrow, he should become a cat 3 as he passes over a warm loop current in the Gulf. He'll be passing over some cooler water and come under some wind shear before landfall so I don't think he'll get to more than cat 3, which is bad enough. The central pressure is dropping rapidly and he is expanding in coverage. Almost the entire Texas coast will experience tropical storm force winds, with areas as far inland as Dallas also feeling these wind effects. The cone of error is getting smaller and landfall should take place early Saturday morning. It looks like an area 50 miles on either side of Corpus Christi is the most likely site for landfall. My guess is either a direct hit on Corpus or just slightly east. The storm surge will be between 18 and 22 feet, which will wipe out some of the barrier islands on the coast. I'm hoping everyone within 10 miles of the coast around Corpus up to Galveston is getting out now. Ike is going to do major damage to the power system infrastructure and much of coastal and central Texas is going to a miserable place to be next week. If I lived in Texas and had some vacation time, this would be good period to visit Colorado.

Rain and flooding are also going to be big stories as Ike moves north through Texas and then hangs a right into Oklahoma and Arkansas, still as a tropical depression. Should be interesting after that as some models now want to take the remnants of Ike straight east over Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and then back out into the Atlantic. It's way to early to give any credence to these models but I think Ike will still be a story for the next 10 days.

rhoward

09-11-2008, 03:48 AM

Evening all!

Been a long day.... I took the finished CD (Draft copy) down to the school this morning. The Band teacher in charge of the project and her Middle School Band went nuts! At least they loved the artwork. If the Cd itself has no more tweaks that need to be made, it should be good to go to production. Got home and finished mowing the lawn. Nice cool day to do that. Got an e-mail from my Sister in Law that her brother had been moved out of ICU to a regular room. So far he has responded well to the treatment.... this time. He thinks he will just go back to his ussual life style when he gets home.

Then for the last 2 hours I have been in conference with a very close friend in Scouting who is also who I report to (or turn too when I need help) as a commissioner. We were discussing the problems with my old Boy Scout Troop and their lack of following safety practices at camp outs. He has copies of the letter I sent the leaders and will be taking it to the District executive tomorrow. I feel very bad as I know what the outcome could be for some leaders. I'm hoping that there will be a good conclusion for all involved. I really hate when I have a position of leadership where I have to be the heavy! I have found myself in that position many times and I never get used to it. On the other hand, I have also had to call parents and tell them their son is on his way to the emergency room from camp....... Not much fun. Lucky it was never a really serious accident. Well, I am glad I have some friends in Scouting who will do part of the "dirty work" for me.

Sorry for the rant!

UP2CSX

09-11-2008, 05:48 AM

Ray, I sure hope your BIL really is doing better but I wouldn't count on it. OTOH, long-time alcoholics sometimes show an amazing resilience to what would kill the rest of us.

I don't know what the safety problems are that need to be fixed but we had a Boy Scout camp in our county where the leaders were very lax about supervising the boys on hikes and overnights away from the main camp. This resulted in several lost scouts that we had to go look for. All those cases turned out fine, with the kid being found basically OK, but we were getting two or three lost scout calls a month. I had a talk with the leaders and told them they needed to tighten up on their supervision or one of their boys was going to get seriously injured or killed. Sure enough, we had another call of a missing scout two weeks later. We searched for almost three days before we found his body at the bottom of a 60 foot cliff. They went out on a night hike with only one adult and the scout managed to wander off the trail. He walked a mile in the wrong direction (no compass either) before his flashlight quit. If he had just sat down and waited, we would have found him that night. Instead, he used what he thought was the North Star, which really had to be Jupiter from his direction of travel, to get back to camp. He walked less than 1/2 mile before he walked right of this cliff and died instantly of head injuries. He was 12 years old. :( I hope my story might help your folks understand why following the rules are so important to the children's safety.

UP2CSX

09-11-2008, 05:58 AM

Ike is starting a rapid intensification phase again, with the pressure falling 11 millibars in the past two hours. The winds haven't caught up with the pressure drop yet so he's still a cat 2 but he'll be a cat 3 by tomorrow. The track has shifted very slightly northeast, putting Galveston a little more at risk. I think this a wobble and the area of greatest risk is between Freeport and Corpus Christi. They are having a lot of trouble getting people to evacuate since so many in that area are illegal immigrants and they are afraid the Border Patrol will grab them. I don't think there's much they can do besides handcuffing them all and throwing them on busses and that's not going to happen. All we can do is pray that God protects the foolish and the scared.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-11-2008, 09:35 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-11-2008, 10:52 AM

Hang on Corpus Christi! Ike is coming! In fact it wouldn't be a bad idea to get out of this things way.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/at200809_5day-1.gif

jeffrey-wimberly

09-11-2008, 11:31 AM

Today is the 11th of September. Never forget! I'm a fire fighter and I'll never forget the significance of 9/11.

It's 77 and mostly clear. The high is expected to be around 90 and it will be mostly cloudy.

Yesterday I rebuilt an old Mehano caboose (probably sold under the AHM name) and a third LS&W Bachmann hopper. That leaves two Bachmann gondola bodies in the package I received earlier this week.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/11/2008

Heat Index: 82°F
Humidity: 84%
Dew Point: 72°F

So Far Today
High: 79°F
Low: 77°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph E

Now through 08:15 AM CDT September 11, 2008

Isolated showers were noted in the coastal waters of southwest Louisiana moving rapidly to the west.

Today High: 92 Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 90s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 75 Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 70s. East winds 10 to 15 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010102-1.jpg

Yoc

09-11-2008, 12:24 PM

I hear ya Jeffrey, I'm a former FF, and today is my birthday.

editted to eliminate political comment leg

jeffrey-wimberly

09-11-2008, 12:53 PM

[quote=Yoc;93139]I hear ya Jeffrey, I'm a former FF, and today is my birthday.
Hear, hear!

For those who tend to take their freedom for granted, I've lived in parts of the world that are ruled by totalitarian governments. The freedom we enjoy as US citizens is a distant and unobtainable dream to the people in those countries. They can't understand our freedom because they've never had it. Don't forget the price that was paid and is still being paid for you to have it.

Freedom isn't free!

OldGettysk

09-11-2008, 01:46 PM

Good Morning ! From The Niagara Frontier , It's pretty darn cool only 49 this morning suppose to get up to 74 but we wil see . At least it's sunshiney out . My prayers go out to all the families who lost loved ones on this day . And also to all the loved ones who passed away who have kept are country free. My we all remember the cost of freedom !!! Hope all remain save also in the wake of IKE !!

rhoward

09-11-2008, 03:02 PM

Thanks Jim.

I don't know what the safety problems are that need to be fixed but we had a Boy Scout camp in our county where the leaders were very lax about supervising the boys on hikes and overnights away from the main camp. This resulted in several lost scouts that we had to go look for. All those cases turned out fine, with the kid being found basically OK, but we were getting two or three lost scout calls a month. I had a talk with the leaders and told them they needed to tighten up on their supervision or one of their boys was going to get seriously injured or killed. Sure enough, we had another call of a missing scout two weeks later. We searched for almost three days before we found his body at the bottom of a 60 foot cliff. They went out on a night hike with only one adult and the scout managed to wander off the trail. He walked a mile in the wrong direction (no compass either) before his flashlight quit. If he had just sat down and waited, we would have found him that night. Instead, he used what he thought was the North Star, which really had to be Jupiter from his direction of travel, to get back to camp. He walked less than 1/2 mile before he walked right of this cliff and died instantly of head injuries. He was 12 years old. :( I hope my story might help your folks understand why following the rules are so important to the children's safety.

That is why for Safe Scouting 2 deep leadership is required. The slowest Scout should always be right behind whoever is leading the front of the line. An adult leader should be at each end. Now it is perfectly OK to have the SPL or another Scout be the hike leader, but an adult needs to be right there. They are also supposed to stop frequently to check that all is well. And that is for day hikes........ Most accidents happen when one or more of the published rules learned in training are ignored. In the case of the troop I was working with several rules were being ignored pertaining to aquatic activities. Safe Swim Defense, a requirement for troop aquatic activities was not being used at all. Same with Safety Afloat for boating. No PFDs being used or even available, boys out in a turbid pond in canoes, no lifeguard......... The final straw for me is that the Scoutmaster has started to erect a zip line out over the water. Zip lines are a High COPE activity which has very rigid guidelines and must only be done at the council or national level supervised by trained staff. The equipment on the course must be outside certified every 4 years as well as a yearly inspection by Regional COPE Camp teams. That is not even noticing the trampoline and a few other things.

Mornin' everyone!

Yes, today is 9/11. I will take some time to think and pray for those whose lives were so deeply changed a few years ago on that date. I will also give some time to praying for world peace.

I will be hand laying track this afternoon and evening. Well I will be working on the crew that will be laying track.... 1/1 scale over at the museum. Since I know nothing about hand laying track (other than in 1/87 scale) it should be a real learning experience.

Later!

jeffrey-wimberly

09-11-2008, 04:16 PM

That is why for Safe Scouting 2 deep leadership is required. The slowest Scout should always be right behind whoever is leading the front of the line. An adult leader should be at each end. Now it is perfectly OK to have the SPL or another Scout be the hike leader, but an adult needs to be right there. They are also supposed to stop frequently to check that all is well. And that is for day hikes........ Most accidents happen when one or more of the published rules learned in training are ignored.
Those are the same rules that were used when I was a Scout leader back in the 80's. There's no such thing as too much safety where the lifes and welfare of the boys are concerned.

kjd

09-11-2008, 05:07 PM

RexHea

09-11-2008, 05:33 PM

Just talked to the daughter that lives in the north metro Houston area. She, and most all of her neighbors are going to ride out the storm. Seems most remember the nightmare of being stuck on the highways during Rita(?). From watching the track and reading the reports, Houston Metro (5 million plus) will get high winds and torrential rains regardless of the exact landfall. They get it on the right side when Ike comes in and then as it makes its turn to the North. It is easy to say that the people are foolish not to evacuate, but how do you move 5 million in a couple of days...you don't, as they have already proven. Now those on the coast itself...run like HELL:eek: !

Steve B

09-11-2008, 05:51 PM

Don't the years go quick, can't believe it's seven years already since the disaster. I always think about my wifes Aunt, Uncle and children and how close they came to death, they went up to the top a day earlier than they should have done for breakfast, they have all these pictures taken with the staff in the restraunt, and to think none of them new it would be there last day alive is horrible. god bless them all.

Would not like to be in the path of Ike at all, good luck to everyone.

UP2CSX

09-11-2008, 06:40 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

9/11 again. I always remember all the emergency services workes as well as just regular working folks that died so needlessly that day. The foolishness of hatred that brings nothing but death and destruction. Maybe someday we'll learn. I'm also waiting for the day when we finally get Obama in custody. One way or another, he will pay for his crimes.

Steve, that's a pretty chilling story.

Rex, it's really not possible to evacuate a city the size of Houston, especially when there won't be more than 48 hours notice of the point of landfall. Houston is going to have some flooding problems, as they always do. Galveston is in a far more precarious postion depending on the storm surge. As you said, anyone who's on the coast should already be leaving. Texas has made a lot of changes in their evacuation procedures since the fiasco that was Rita. One of the things they've done is set up a fuel management team with several hundred tank trucks so gas stations will always have fuel during the evacuations. They are also self contained so they can pump fuel even when the grid goes down. I'm sure you've noticed the gas prices going up here in the past few days. One of the reasons is that they are pushing so much fuel to Texas to make sure they don't run out.

Paul, I think you've probably made a close guess to what the mine is doing. It's a little more complicated than just running water through barrels but the environmental impact is small and he's getting a metal which has never been extracted before in Alabama.

Ray, I'm glad to see that people like you are trying to enfroce those Scouting safety rules. It all seems like a big hassle until you get a child seriously injured or killed. The entire Scout organization was realigned after the death I wrote about and a lot of the paid people were fired. I never did hear the outcome of the negligent death lawsuit but I'm sure the parents won and the award was substantial. Between the safety of the scouts and the huge liability issues, there's a lot at stake here.

Ike is really behaving weird. There was a huge central pressure drop early this morning but now the pressure has risen slightly. Flight level winds are being measured at cat 3 strength but the hurricane hunters can't find winds above 70 mph at the surface. The eye has shrunk to about two miles wide but Ike has a wind field bigger than Katrina, with hurricane force winds out to 120 miles and tropical storm force winds out to 270 miles. At this point, I don't know if Ike is going through some strange eyewall replacement cycle or is actually getting weaker. The landfall is still far from certain except somewhere between Corpus Christi and Galveston. I'll post some more later when there are some more hurricane hunter reports but I'm totally baffled as to why Ike is doing what he is now.

PNKFLOYD

09-11-2008, 08:16 PM

Jim- I saw your comments about the mine,"I think you've probably made a close guess to what the mine is doing. It's a little more complicated than just running water through barrels but the environmental impact is small and he's getting a metal which has never been extracted before in Alabama."
Please remind your friend that it takes very little plutonium to reach critical mass and go BANG.
I hope his mining operation is on the south side of Birmingham!:rolleyes:

Mikey

UP2CSX

09-11-2008, 09:55 PM

Mikey, it's not plutonium so have no fear there. :)

Here's an extract from the Galveston Weather Service Office 3:00 update:

All neighborhoods... and possibly entire coastal communities... will be inundated during high tide. Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will face certain death. Many residences of average construction directly on the coast will be destroyed. Widespread and devastating personal property damage is likely elsewhere.

I hope this kind of clear and downright scary message will get the point across to anyone who's thinking about staying. Ike is still a cat 2 with a cat 4 storm surge. At some point, the winds will funnel down to the surface and it's going to hit as a 110 mph hurricane. The models keep edging the storm closer to Galveston although still close to Corpus Christi as well. We should know better by late tonight but it looks like both cities and the areas in between may suffer a major catastrophe. :(

BTW, there's another tropical depression forming just north of Puerto Rico. :eek:

jeffrey-wimberly

09-11-2008, 10:36 PM

Please remind your friend that it takes very little plutonium to reach critical mass and go BANG.
I hope his mining operation is on the south side of Birmingham!:rolleyes:

MikeyThe only way you'll mine plutonium is if your digging it out of a breeder reactor. Plutonium is manmade, a highly toxic leftover from uranium.

jeffrey-wimberly

09-11-2008, 10:37 PM

vato loco

09-11-2008, 11:13 PM

Weather

Hot and breezy, some random Tstorm bans thanks to Ike. I've been missed every time one rolls by:mad: Thanks Ike, If my house was the broad side of a barn you still couldn't hit it!:rolleyes:

Local News

Hernando teen killed on the way to bus stop
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7390830&version=11&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
Just another reason to teach kids to be careful as they walk to their bus stops and school!

Dirty foot bandit arrested
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7408486&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
"Note to self, wash feet and brush your teeth before robbing a bank!:D "

Personal Note

"Flo, I'll have the all you can eat Maga Bar! also I'll have a Iced tea to drink with that, and put that on Rex's tab!:D "

Not much going on here, SSDD!:rolleyes: I have been working my tail off, and no end in sight! So I put in for a four day weekend next month!:D But until then I shall continue to work hard until I drop!:rolleyes:

CSX_road_slug

09-12-2008, 03:36 AM

UP2CSX

09-12-2008, 04:15 AM

Chris, we are getting 30 mph wind gusts here due the pressure differential between us and Ike. Unfortunately, it looks we will be on the dry, subsiding side of Ike again so just hot and dry weather for us without much hope of anything but a stray thunderstorm. Compared to being in Galveston, it's not a bad alternative though.

Ken, we had some flood zones in California that were only allowed to have RV parks so they could be quickly evacuated. I suspect living full-time in one brings up some building code issues but I'd really like to see them stop the construction of these 20 and 30 story condos 50 feet from the water in places like Miami and Fort Lauderdale. As bad as Ike will be, the real monster storm will be a direct hit on the south Florida coast by a cat 4 or 5.

Ike is still a cat 2 tonight and I doubt he will be able to get back up to an official cat 3 except for maybe an hour or two before landfall. It's almost irrelevant now since Ike is so huge he's pushing a storm surge equivalent to a cat 4 hurricane ahead of him. It's unusual with landfall less than 24 hours away for the models still to be in disagreement but there are still some that want to bring Ike to Corpus Christi and some to Galveston. At this point, Galveston is not only looking more likely, the direction of Ike making landfall and having it occur during an astronomical high tide will increase the storm search to near 25 feet, with battering waves near 45 feet. Galveston Island will be completely inundated and very little will remain after Ike passes through. The city of Galveston will be badly flooded and storm surge will destroy a large number of structures in the harbor area. Houston will also suffer a considerable amount of flooding and wind damage but it should be manageable. Flood conditions will extend all the way up to Dallas and Ike should remain a tropical depression into east Oklahoma. The interesting thing about the remnants is that they should make a curve around the high pressure ridge down here and head up toward Ohio. If the remnants of Ike can get over Lake Erie, he could become a strong extratropical storm, something rarely seen in the Midwest.

vato loco

09-12-2008, 09:24 AM

Hey Chris - I got a lawn-mowing question for ya:

My lawn hasn't been mowed in 3 weeks, because of back-to-school schedule gridlock and rainy weather on weekends. And it's about to happen again: I planned to mow my entire lawn on Saturday, but there'll be heavy rain on Friday and intermittent showers throughout Saturday. I've reached the do-or-die point with my grass - any taller and my neighbors will all descend on us with torches and clubs. I'm thinking of just saying t'hell with it, I'll mow whether its raining or not! Will doing that be simply inconvenient/uncomfortable, or do I risk serious damage to the mower?

:D

Ken, with out seeing the type of mower(Deck mostly) and how much grass also how tall and thick your grass is, it's a sticky moist question:rolleyes: I some times I have to mow when it's raining, But as a rule you never mow wet grass cause it's hard on the grass and really hard on your mower:rolleyes: If you can wait till it stops raining and you have a few clips loaded for you guns to hold off the town folk and some beer for the duration of the rain, I'd wait! But if you have a mower with 20+ HP and a Deck is fabercated not stamped and is less than 48" You might have a chance!

some tricks to mowing wet grass, not that i recommend this:rolleyes: But if you must....Open the baffle, clean the under side of the deck real good and let dry, then spray the under side of the deck real good coating everything with pam cooking spray, And sharpen couple sets of blades, Grease and oil your deck pulleys real good! I like 3n1 on the idler pullies. Check your belts, And Mow with your deck at it's highest setting and mow SLOW! and that it.......Just don't expect a great cut! That advice will be $29.95 non refundable;)

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-12-2008, 09:41 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-12-2008, 11:16 AM

Good morning.

It's 77 and mostly cloudy here with isolated showers. The high is expected to be in the mid 80's with a chance of thunderstorms.

I took some time yesterday to do the initial plaster pour on the new section of the layout. It was messy but as with most messy projects, a lot of fun. I went through one carton of plaster. I still have four more cartons in the closet.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/12/2008

Heat Index: 82°F
Humidity: 87%
Dew Point: 73°F

So Far Today
High: 80°F
Low: 77°F
Rain: 0.09"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 18mph NE

Important Message

Flash flood watch in effect through Sunday morning.

Now through 06:00 AM CDT September 12, 2008

Through 6 AM...rainbands of shower associated with Hurricane ike will continue to stream westward across central and southern Louisiana. Expect wind gusts of 25 to 30 knots with these passing showers. Across the coastal waters...additional rainbands will continue to stream westward...possible wind gusts of 30 to 40 knots.

Today High: 85 Tropical storm conditions expected. Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms may produce tornadoes. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Highs in the mid 80s. East winds 30 to 35 mph. Gusts up to 45 mph in the morning increasing to 55 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight Low: 78 Tropical storm conditions expected. Showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms may produce tornadoes. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Lows in the upper 70s. East winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts to around 55 mph. Chance of rain near 100 percent.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010115-1.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010116.jpg

tompm

09-12-2008, 12:58 PM

Good morning folks

It was 68 F as I hit the streets. High today will be 78 F with some rain.

I did not make it here yesterday. My daughter wrote an essay for her school’s 9-11 remembrance ceremony and she was chosen to read the essay during the ceremony, so I spent the morning there. A video of the ceremony can be seen at: http://cbs3.com/video/?id=64406@kyw.dayport.com . She is the first one to read her essay right after the National Anthem.

When I finally got to work I had to go to a meeting with a State Representative, officials from a couple of townships, and local business owners regarding a bridge replacement project. The meeting was a rehash of things we have talked about for the last five years. We can’t legally do what they want and they just won’t accept it, so the project goes nowhere.

We then had my son’s football practice. I spoke with one of the coaches regarding my son’s playing time and whether he should be on Varsity or JV. I did not speak with the head coach since he was not there but one of the assistants that my son likes. Later in the practice he spoke with the head coach and both spoke with my son. Right now my son wants to wait and see if they come through on the things they told him before he decides. Of course I wanted to talk to the coaches again but we had to leave early.

We left early because we attended a local 9-11 ceremony with scouts from the surrounding area. It was a nice candlelight service at a local veterans’ park. I was pleased to see the number of scouts (over a 100) in attendance. Our pack had 7 scouts which is a third of the pack.

This weekend will be another crazy one. Saturday we have a birthday party to go to and a football game. I am not sure if we will make the football game. Sunday is up in the air right now although I know I have some yard work to do.

I need to straighten some things out on the layout and the workbench. If all goes well maybe we will run some trains.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Secondhandmodeler

09-12-2008, 01:10 PM

Good morning folks. I just ordered our tickets for the Fall colors steam excursion in Duluth! My boss gave me the thumbs up yesterday, so I'm taking that weekend off. The trip is six hours of pure smokey bliss. I've never seen a steam locomotive run before, so I can't wait. My wife would like to know if we'll be doing anything non train related. I may have to find something that interests her as well. We were just there like six years ago, so we may have to find a few new things to do. I have to say, I'm down right giddy! The museum has a few neat pieces as well. They have a DM&IR Yellowstone there that I will try to take pictures of. I've seen it a couple of times, but never with the enthusiasm that I have now. I don't have a wide angle lens, so I may just have to make do.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Steve B

09-12-2008, 01:57 PM

Afternoon all

The grass is still growing like springtime and were in mid(ish) September !!! for a change we have NO steam trains passing this weekend :( :( :(

FIRE The Channel tunnel linking England and France is closed due to a huge train fire 8 miles from France, it burned for around 24 hours and is still 800 degrees in the tunnel, that's going to take some cooling down, lots of tankers and trucks have gone up in flames with no injurys apart from a bit of smoke inhalation, good job there is a rescue tunnel alongside the main one.

OldGettysk

09-12-2008, 01:59 PM

Good Morning ! It;s a rainy day here no the Niagara Frontier . Looks like that for most of the day also.Not much else going on . Tom a very nce video presentation on 9-11 .Prayers with all in the path of Ike also .Well have a crying dog looking for some attention so hope you all have a nice day !!!wow Steve a tunnels worst nightmares glad no one was killed or injured !

rhoward

09-12-2008, 02:29 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Flo keep the coffee hot and my cup full. I have some muscles that I had forgotten about this morning. Went to the museum last night and worked on track crew. We are putting in a siding for the Empire State Express to be stored on. This is a spur off the Livonia, Avon, & Lakeville Railroad that has mainline tracks that go by the museum. Found out that you hand lay 1/1 scale track very much like 1/87 track, just requires a lot more muscle. I spent most of the time using a Gandy Dancer's tool and lifting the ties up tight to the rail so they could be spiked. Also moved a bundle of new ties to the railbed, put in place, and located the end of the tie 18.5" from the edge of the rail. Most of the time there was just 3 of us working on the project.

Of course before we could start we had to help unload a pickup truck loaded with roofing tar into a semi van we use for storage. I jumped up on the tailgate to help and put my hand on the door of the van. Right on a paper wasp nest. I removed the hand from the nest very quickly........ Lucky for me I did.... I only got stung once, right on the side of my finger. We were then buzzed by about 20 really ticked off paper wasps though. We managed to get the rest of the buckets unloaded without incident and the truck got moved away from the van to make it a bit safer for us to get off...... All in all an informative and interesting evening.

Corey have fun on the excursion. The car right behind the loco is the best to get the sound and smell of that steam loco!

Jim the District Scout Executive will be fully appraised of the situation today (he was out sick yesterday but did return an e-mail to the person I reported to). Our Health and Safety Chairman (Volunteer) is a BEAR about this kind of stuff and will go ballistic when he finds out. Our council, at least, doesn't play around with safety issues. There is an old catch phrase in Scouting, "If there is a question, there is no question!"

All of you that are in the path of Ike, stay safe. You are in my prayers!

jeffrey-wimberly

09-12-2008, 08:33 PM

Went to Lowe's today and picked up some items. One (1) gallon of white Elmer's glue, a three pound tub of wallboard joint compound, two packs of Super Glue Gel and a two inch plastic putty knife. Does anybody see some layout work coming on?

UP2CSX

09-12-2008, 08:44 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

Chris, you always give such hilarious advice. I know you're right but I can just picture Ken asking the wife for a can of Pam so he can cut the lawn. :)

Jeffrey, you should be on the right side of Ike to get some pretty good wind and rain so make sure all your stuff outdoors is either taken in or tied down good. I think you'll probably lose power for a while too so get plenty of batteries if you haven't already.

Tom, that was a very moving ceremony.

Corey, you lucky dog. I'll bet the fall colors will be beautiful and you're in for a real treat if you've never been on a steam team train before. Is the engine coal or oil fired? If it's coal, I'd sit a few cars back if they're open or you'll end up with some burn holes in your clothes. If it's oil, get right up front like Ray said. There's something about steam engine exhaust smell that probably causes cancer but smells better than almost anything in the world. I suspect you can probably think of a few things to do to keep your wife happy that don't involve real trains. :D

Ray, spiking track and getting stung by a wasp - it just wasn't your day. I've helped spike a few miles of rail at the Orange Empire Trolley Museum when I was a lot younger and I was in great pain then. You're a tougher guy than me.

Well, the big show is about to begin. It's already started here, where there's a full-fledged gas panic. Prices have risen to about $4.50 a gallon, there are lines to get 10 gallons, and some stations are out. This is a classic gas panic started by morons who believe they need a full tank even though the hurricane is 500 miles away. The prices went up because of all the gas being pushed to Texas but the rumors started that we'd soon have no gas and that becomes self-fulfilling when everyone fills up. I don't think people get the idea that there over a million people on the road in Texas and their lives depend on getting gas. Just dumb. :mad:

Ike is just about 12 hours from landfall now and the winds and seas are already picking up in the Galveston area. It looks like about a 90% chance of landfall 20 miles on either side of Galveston Bay. Which side of Galveston Bay Ike goes will make a huge difference. If he goes 20 miles north of the bay, the storm surge and flooding will be bad but not catastrophic. If he makes landfall 20 mile south, the largest storm surge and waves will head directly into Galveston Bay and get much further into the Houston Ship Channel. Landfall should be within about two hours high tide, just to make things worse. As usual, I hope I'm wrong, but a southern landfall looks the most likely to me and it will be a disastrous event for the Galveston area. Ike is still a cat 2 and I don't expect it to intensify so this will be a water and flooding event more than wind. I hope everyone that needs to be out is now out and getting to safety. All we can do now is watch and pray.

jeffrey-wimberly

09-12-2008, 09:14 PM

Jeffrey, you should be on the right side of Ike to get some pretty good wind and rain so make sure all your stuff outdoors is either taken in or tied down good. I think you'll probably lose power for a while too so get plenty of batteries if you haven't already.I've got plenty of batteries. If the power goes out I'm going down to my parents place. They have a generator and plenty of gas.

The prices went up because of all the gas being pushed to Texas but the rumors started that we'd soon have no gas and that becomes self-fulfilling when everyone fills up. I don't think people get the idea that there over a million people on the road in Texas and their lives depend on getting gas. Just dumb. :mad:It all come down to attitude. Me, me, me, I don't give a d**n about anybody else!

RexHea

09-12-2008, 10:35 PM

WE need an automatic freeze on gas prices anytime there is a national/state emergency declared by the President or Governor. This crap of "supply and demand" crosses into downright price gouging and needs to be checked from the get-go.
All the gasoline going to (or back to) Texas as the cause, with all the huge storage tank farms all over that tri-state area?...I don't think so. Stations may run out, but the suppliers are filled to the brim. Oh well, as long as we are stupid enough to believe it then pay it out, why not!

jeffrey-wimberly

09-12-2008, 11:14 PM

Ike is coming ashore tonight. We're in an area that's likely to lose power, so if y'all don't see me on here tomorrow, you'll know what happened.

Secondhandmodeler

09-13-2008, 12:04 AM

Here is a link to the website for the train. The music is hokey, but boy am I excited!

http://www.northshorescenicrailroad.org/home/2719home.asp

vato loco

09-13-2008, 12:13 AM

Jim, I'm always full of advice! Some full of BS and some true wisdom hidden in jokes and some so far in left field that knowbody knows I'm there! The pam thing is a true deal, Pam is Far less harmful to the grass than using WD-40!

Steve, What does my UK Lawn service cousins make per lawn?

rhoward

09-13-2008, 02:32 AM

So Chris, will WD-40 kill lawn grass?

Jim I never got to swing the mall...... I would have if one of the guys hadn't taken off down the road with the tape measure. We decided to call it a day, go down to the depot and have supper, and do some male bonding like passing gas, belching, talking about getting drunk when we were all younger. Things like that........:rolleyes: ;) ;) :D

Jeffrey how much scenery can you do by candle light? Just wondering?

Rex there is a bill in the Senate, S-1263, that would do just that!

UP2CSX

09-13-2008, 04:58 AM

Main event in progress now. Downtown Galveston is already under 8 feet of water and the eye is still about 65 miles offshore. Western Louisiana is really getting hit as well with high winds, tornados, and power outages. I doubt Jeffrey is still ablle to get on the net but I hope he and the family is safe.

This is turning intot a worst case scenario for Galveston, with a direct hit about to occur with much higher than normal tides. The devastation will be complete on Galveston Island and downtown Galveston will have about 16 feet of water and most of the rest of the town will be inundated as well. Houston will suffer some bad flooding as well as losing most of the windows in the high rise buildings. There will be several million people without power by this time tomorrow. I hope everyone who could get out has gotten out. The possibility of rescues has ended and everyone will be fending for themselves.

Rex, there has certainly been some price gouging but the major problem has been everybody in town wanting to fill their tanks at once. Most of the gas in Prattville was drained in about four hours. The suppliers do have plenty of fuel but they are having to pay triple time to drivers to refill station tanks on an emergency basis. I was out at 11 pm and all the stations that were out of gas had gas again except for being out of a few grades at some stations. The gas the stations are getting now is more expensive because of the higher cost to refill that tanks and the assumption that gas supplies will diminish over the next several weeks as all the refineries on the Texas coast get repaired and get back on line. I'm angry about having to pay more for gas but I know the market will readjust itseld if left alone. Any government intervention will simply make it worse in the long run.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-13-2008, 09:28 AM

Steve B

09-13-2008, 10:15 AM

Chris my mate next door does lawns, he has about 13 people work for him, he's a tight arse and pays peanuts, but he does get monkeys for that, he never let's on how much he makes or charges, (like i want to do that with hay fever) no he's a tight git and always will be, you know there are NO toys for the kids in the garden, nothing at all, the only things they get are of mom and he moans about that.

Anyway i better go do the housewife thing, the CFO is working all weekend.

vato loco

09-13-2008, 11:05 AM

WEATHER
8 AM 80 °F Partly Cloudy Partly cloudy.
2 PM 92 °F Partly Cloudy Partly cloudy; isolated afternoon thunderstorm.
10 PM 82 °F Partly Cloudy Scattered clouds.

LOCAL NEWS
Commuter Train, Freight Train Collide in LA Killing At Least 10
More than 100 injured, at least 80 critical
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7422496&version=20&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.3.1

Bay Area gas prices on the rise
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7423102&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

PERSONAL NOTE

"Flo, I'll have the breakfast Maga Bar, and put it on Kens tab he owes me$49.95:D "

Another day and a few lawns to mow. Not to bad today got 4 yards to mow and then come home mow mine and pressure wash the patio and front of the house! and then wash all the equipment and truck!

Steve, most lawn guys Don't pay well! As the old saying goes, "You can't find good help!" Even if you do pay well!!!! Most people HATE this type of work, and only do it at the last resort! This is a dirty, noisy, sweaty, Dangerous, and hard a$$ labor job you can find. There is very few people like me who really enjoy it:D and when my son works with me If he does a great job where I don't have to go behined him to fix mess up's I pay him $10 per hr! If I have to play clean up crew he get's $5 a Hr! Very little down time in this business!:( Even in winter you got work:) So sometime it gets real hard to be happy 24/7 when your tired......as for your mate:confused: Just tell him to pull the stick out of his butt and get some rest!:D

Ray, of course WD-40 kills grass!:rolleyes: go read the lovely poem I wrote in your lawn with it early this morning!:D LOL's

I wonder If Ken's lawn smells like Flo's kitchen yet:rolleyes: at least his eggs won't stick to the lawn:D Jim, his wife will be wondering what the heck happened to the new can of Pam:D ====which brings up a good idea, a teflon coating tough enough to be used on the under side of a mower deck:confused: The guys a Dewpont need to develop this, would be great Idea.

I'm so hurry caned out:( 4 hurry cans in less than a month apart:( If I here about one more rain stealing storm I'll:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Hey, got's to get ready to mow, see ya this afternoon guys.......:)

jeffrey-wimberly

09-13-2008, 11:32 AM

Good morning.

I think there's something wrong with weather equipment. It says it's 81 here. We have extremely cloudy skies and a lot of wind. The high today is expected to be around the mid 80's and there's a good chance of thunderstorms.

I got a lot of layout work done yesterday. I finished the plaster pouring in the new area, put a culvert pipe in place and ballasted the new track. I got three Bachmann decoders in the mail yesterday. They'll be going into some locos soon, including my newly built Bachmann/Athearn GP40

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/13/2008

Heat Index: 87°F
Humidity: 83%
Dew Point: 75°F

So Far Today
High: 81°F
Low: 79°F
Rain: 0.27"
Rain Rate: 0.08"/h
Gust: 49mph SE

Important Message

Tropical storm wind warning in effect until 10 PM cdt this evening. Flash flood watch in effect through Sunday morning. Tornado watch 900 in effect until 10 AM cdt this morning.
Now through 07:30 AM CDT September 13, 2008

National weather service radar indicates the eye of Hurricane ike is just north of Galveston Bay...or over eastern Harris and western Liberty County. The rainshield of ike continues across all of southeast Texas...where sustained winds of 50 to 70 mph...and gusts up to 80 mph will be common. The rainshield extends across western Louisiana...with heavier rainbands across Cameron...Calcasieu...and Beauregard parishes where the tornado threat will be the greatest within the next couple of hours.

Today High: 82 Tropical storm conditions expected. Showers and isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80s. Southeast winds 35 to 45 mph in the morning becoming south and decreasing to 30 to 35 mph in the afternoon. Gusts up to 55 mph in the morning decreasing to 50 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain near 100 percent.

Tonight Low: 75 Showers likely and isolated thunderstorms. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Breezy. Lows in the mid 70s. South winds 20 to 25 mph with gusts to around 30 mph in the evening decreasing to 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 20 mph after midnight. Chance of rain 80 percent.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010127.jpg

CSX_road_slug

09-13-2008, 12:54 PM

This was then:
Ken, .......
........ That advice will be $29.95 non refundable;)

...this is now:

"Flo, I'll have the breakfast Maga Bar, and put it on Kens tab he owes me$49.95:D "

Chris I caught you red-handed, your price-gouging!:rolleyes: :D :D (or is it a late fee?) Anyhoo, I'm not going to mow today. I was really just curious to see how you handle mowing in weather situations since you often don't have much choice. The rain will be gone until noon, then it starts up again - just in time so everything will be too wet for me to mow tomorrow either!:mad: I can't take a day off work just to cut grass, I'm already 4 days in-the-hole on vacation time. Now my backyard grass has gotten so tall it just flops over. Oh well I warned my wife about this potential problem before we moved to this property, so it's not my fault!

Jeffrey, glad to see you still got power and Internet where you're at, maybe you escaped the worst of it?

I'm looking at what's happening in eastern Texas and getting a sensation of "this cant really be happening...!?" Galveston has pretty much become a modern-day Atlantis, totally underwater! And so many Galveston residents were too stupid to heed the advice of the authorites to get the hell out while they could, now they'll be carried out in bodybags. Some people never learn I suppose *sigh*. I hope the insurance industry doesn't go bankrupt because of this. I don't see how this place could ever get completely rebuild before the next Big One hits.

Well I gotta go, have a number of errands & honey-dues to dispose of. Then, a trip to MB Kleins to pickup a pair of brass B&O color-position light signals for the layout.

Toodles!

rhoward

09-13-2008, 02:42 PM

Mornin' everyone!

I have to do a quick round of all the closets and hiding places in the house to finish collecting items for the "Household Hazardous Waste day ta the landfill. Any resident of the county can take listed items to the landfill for recycling or proper disposal at no cost. i am getting rid of a couple of printers and a hard drive, batteries (both large and small) a couple cans of over cleaner that have been sitting under the sink for 20 years and are now looking like they are about to rust through, a bunch of old CFLs and florescent tubes, and a several partly used cans of solvent based paint. I have to be there at 11:30 this morning.

Chris thanks, the roundup just doesn't seem to work! I still have to mow.........:rolleyes: :D

My prayers to all who are near Ike!

OldGettysk

09-13-2008, 02:47 PM

Good Morning ! Another rainy day here in Western New York . Were not even close to the rain and destruction that is going on in Galveston and Texas . I was in Galveston and have seen the seawall they built after the loss of live in the great flood of 1900 and can't imagine the amount of water and fury of nature it takes to breach it . My prayers to all who have suffered from Ike's path of destruction . I also would like to take some time out for the people killed and hurt in the California Train Wreck .http://news.aol.com/article/4-killed-as-trains-collide-in-california/172531?icid=200100397x1209253070x1200562564 Allot of stuff to digest today . Only hope that we are done for for now. Also hope that the rest of today is a good one !!!! Ray you might have to dodge the rain to do some mowing for now !!

RexHea

09-13-2008, 04:03 PM

:) Today, I'll not let anything bother me, for you see, I am today 63:) . (and Chris is buying everyone lunch and dinner and snacks and...Oh yeah, my yard needs edging :D. )

Jim: So, if I own a grocery store and my supply of bread is running out, I should start increasing my prices? That's gouging! (Oops! I guess that is supply and demand.)

More light hearted: On the news yesterday, a B'ham women was interviewed at a gas station that wanted to limit fill-ups to 10 gallons. She said that it wouldn't work for her, because her Dad was a preacher in a distant town and she had to drive there every Sunday for church.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

rhoward

09-13-2008, 04:06 PM

Ray you might have to dodge the rain to do some mowing for now !!

Nah, let it grow. Just got back from the landfill. These guys, Casella, have it down well. I was in line less than 5 minutes and there were 10 vehicles ahead of me. You would not believe the pile of paint cans and chemicals they have already and they have 5 or so more hours to go. I is already about 5' high 6 or 7 feet wide and 30' long. As long as I had the truck fired up, I stopped at a Mennonite Landscaping center right on the road I was on and picked up a couple bags of topsoil mixed with Moo Poo. I filled some holes that have been created as the main roots of an old Maple tree that was removed 20+ years ago have finally rotted.

Right now in the Finger Lakes 75°F with a high of 72°........ Well that what it says on Weather.com........ Humidity is around 120%. At least that's what it feels like.

Steve B

09-13-2008, 07:14 PM

Chris Well i'll have a big steak, nice and bloody,,, cheers
Rex63 today, Have a great birthday friend, Chris,,, get the drinks in sharpish, your slacking in the yard and were thirsty

Steve B

09-13-2008, 07:15 PM

California train Wreck Thats one heck of a bad crash, 18 dead so far, thats 18 to many.

jeffrey-wimberly

09-13-2008, 07:45 PM

Our power went out a few times but never for more than a few seconds. A lot of wind and some rain, an inch and a half.

Yoc

09-13-2008, 09:03 PM

Glad to hear that Jeffrey. Makes me thankful to live in a place where we don't get those extreme storms.

vato loco

09-13-2008, 10:41 PM

It was a hot one today, we got a brief shower not enough to warent turning off the irrigation today. The past 3 hurry can'ts did noting but take our rain away!:mad: I got my yards done plus got my chores around the house done! Tomarrow plan to work on my FIL trailer that he lent me. By the time he get's it back it will be like new....LOL's

Steve, you like your steaks like I do.............Still kicking;) Like my dad use to say, "just wack the cow over the head holded it over a match for 3 sec. and smoother it in A-1 sauce!"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.:rolleyes:

Rex, nice try even though it's your B day......I'm not edging your yard;) unless there some serious green backs involved!
BTW: happy B day REX:D I have a cold Amber bock waiting fer ya! but if ya wait to long I'll drink it;)

ken, "prices and schedules subject to change with out warning!";) It's $149.95 now! or order a apple pie ala mode and cup of coffee for me and we'll call it even;) :D

Ray, your going to force me to show you how to mix and apply round up!LOL's

OldTrail

09-13-2008, 11:38 PM

I havent been in for a while, has Flo raised the prices? Any way, my grand father passed away last week, and has left me with his entire American Flyer collection. However, my sister, in her ingnorance and arogance, has since allowed her three yr old son to play with them and run all over the layout. when i saw the condition of them I think i was as if not more upset than the passing of my grandfather. so I'm heading up there tommorow to salvage whats left. I have wanted nothing more than these trains since i was a child, and to see them ruined by disrespect and a kid that is totaly out of control. I must say, though, that they all needed going over anyway, and I was going to convert them to DC can motors anyway. I have heard this lowers the value of them, but I would really like to run them on a layout, so thats that! any way, I appriciate ya'll hearing me out here as no one else seems to understand why I was so upset about the condition of the trains.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-14-2008, 09:32 AM

vato loco

09-14-2008, 12:23 PM

WEATHER

8 AM 80 °F Partly Cloudy Partly cloudy.
2 PM 92 °F Partly Cloudy Partly cloudy; isolated afternoon thunderstorm.
10 PM 82 °F Partly Cloudy Scattered clouds
Humidity 90%, Rain chance 20%

LOCAL NEWS

Bay Area gas prices on the rise (Gouging):mad:
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7423102&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

PERSONAL NOTE

"Flo, I'll have the same! Breakfast Maga Bar:D and Coffee!"

Well it going to be a hot and huimd day, and yet I will willingly be in it fixing the trailer:eek: I have plenty of cold beer on ice to aid in getting the job done:D

CSX_road_slug

09-14-2008, 01:18 PM

...
LOCAL NEWS

Bay Area gas prices on the rise (Gouging):mad:
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7423102&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

...

Wow Chris that's worse than anything I've seen around here (MD)! Is there something similar to the Darwin Award that can be applied to stupid businessmen? Those idiots try to make a few extra bucks from a temporary crisis, but they do permanent damage to their reputation among the local customers that help them stay in business.

Glad to see that Ike passed to the East of Houston and the wave surge wasn't as bad as expected. Earlier Saturday morning, some guy sitting across from me in the Jiffy Lube waiting room was saying that Houston had been totally wiped out, including both stadiums and the Johnson Space Flight Center (JSFC). That statement had me especially upset because my employer depends on NASA for 90% of our work. I didn't want to see NASA cancel some of our spacecraft programs to divert money to rebuild JSFC. I can fine do without fearmongers and dumenglumers like him...!:mad:

Not much happenning around here this morning. The threatened rain never showed up, so now I can finally cut the grass - I'm looking forward to being able to see out my windows again! Maybe later today I'll finish decaling a pair of TTX doublestacks, then run a few trains.

rhoward

09-14-2008, 02:51 PM

Mornin' everyone!

So far bright, sunny, and warm here in the Finger lakes this morning. Currently 82°F with a predicted high of 86°. Tomorrow it won't even reach 70° with a few showers. Looks like Ike is going to stay to the west of this area.

I guess my BIL is still hospitalized so I am going to try to get up to see him today. I need to pick some green beans and peppers from the garden. May get to do some scenery on the layout as well.

Hope you all have a great day.

vato loco

09-14-2008, 08:59 PM

Evening everyone, I got the trailer almost done! I finished the light's wiring, painted it and put Dot2 Reflective tape around it. All I got left is to replace two more tires and some floor boards! It still will need more work but for now i'm Happy with it........ Now I just can't let my FIL see it:( He'll want it back!:mad: No rain Just hot and humid, I might need to wash the truck;) !

Now, I'm enjoying my Ice cold frosty Michelob AmberBock and I'm happy:D :D :D Could go for a nice juice steak to go with it!

Ken, I just got 20 gallons of gas for my truck! Cost me $75, I still need 12 gallons more to fill the tank:eek: The price's jumped 12-15 cents per gallon over nite in my neck of the woods:mad: :mad: :mad:

Ray, I hpoe your BIL gets better! also I wish the soil in my area was good for gardening, All I got is Beach sand for soil!

jeffrey-wimberly

09-14-2008, 11:17 PM

The only severe storm damage that my parents had from the storm was a thirty + foot tall willow got blown over onto a wood bridge going to an island behind their property. From what I can see the railing on the left side of the bridge is smashed. Whether or not the deck is comprimised we don't know yet.

rhoward

09-14-2008, 11:42 PM

Evenin' all!

Went over to Canandaigua this afternoon to see my BIL (BTW, thanks Chris). He may be sent home tomorrow. My SIL from California bought a one way ticket back home and will be caring for him for a while. Says she may decide she has had enough out there and move back here permanently. My BIL looks like death warmed over at the moment but hopefully if he follows Drs. directions he may be around for a while longer. So between all the family members, he will get some help doing things.

Looking at the forecast for the Finger Lakes for tonight, winds will be from the SSW between 25 and 40 MPH with gusts over 50. May have some free wood for next year............. I just hope the neighbors trees don't end up coming down on my vehicles! The remains of Ike will be passing to the North of us overnight. Most just the wind but some rain at times.

Picked well over a gallon bag of (pole) green beans this afternoon so if the power stays on tomorrow, I will be doing some more canning. Brought in another ripe pepper and a small zucchini squash as well. Chris the soil in my garden started off as heavy clay 25 years ago. Every year I have worked in green waste from the kitchen and supplemented with peat moss, and cow manure. This fall I think I will lime it as productivity has fallen the last couple of years.

Have a good evening.

jeffrey-wimberly

09-15-2008, 12:10 AM

Here's some photos of the big willow laying on the bridge. The bridge is five feet wide and I'm not sure how long, it's pretty long though.

Here you can see the ripped up roots.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010151.jpg

Here I'm at the root ball looking toward the bridge.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010153.jpg

Now I'm standing at the boat house looking east toward the bridge. Over 15 feet of the tree is on the bridge.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010162.jpg

I had my father (6' 3") stand in front of another willow. It's about 10 feet shorter than the one that fell. Get this! It's leaning over him at a 45 degree angle. Does that give you an idea how big this sucker is?
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010166.jpg

CSX_road_slug

09-15-2008, 02:10 AM

WOW Jeffrey - I'm glad that tree didn't come down on your parents' house! :eek: I looked around my yard the night before Hanna was supposed to hit my area, there doesn't appear to be any really large trees close enough to my house to crush it.

Chirs - bummer about the gas prices, that really eats into your [mowing] profit margin I guess. BTW my son got started on our lawn today, finished the front and got the worst of the backyard jungle - shouldn't take him too long to finish it tomorrow [long as it doesn't rain]. During supper my wife brought out this aerosol-spray olive oil for salads, it immediately reminded me about the PAM-on-the-cutting-deck trick, LOL!

Ray - it's got to be overwhelming to see a close relative in the throes of end-stage alcoholism. But amazingly enough, I have seen people in pretty desperate shape who managed to stay away from booze, who managed to add many years to their lives. The thing is that he needs to want to recover - many in his state often don't comprehend the gravity of their situation, even when bedridden.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-15-2008, 09:04 AM

vato loco

09-15-2008, 09:17 AM

ken, with the price of stuff going. I think I'd wait to cut the grass and save the salad dressing for the salad!

Gas for my lawn business is only 5% of my run expence, Parts and equipment replacement is the highest cost. When you factor it in to a lawn quote for every $20 I make $8-$10........Being I just started this business 80%-100% of what I make is rolled back into the business to Equip it better. I'm working on getting a new gas hedge trimmer($280)right now. As soon as I get Fully equiped I should have between $50k to $80k invested! Right now with everyone holding on to what little they make because of what ever reason (Economic termoil) things are slow right now. Floridas unemployment right now is 5.7%highest in the country and going up Texas is the lowest at 4.5%! Also People are starting to leaving the state, I might join them if the business doesn't start moving!

jeffrey-wimberly

09-15-2008, 12:03 PM

Good morning.

It's 70 and mostly cloudy here. The high is expected to be around 80 and it will be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain.

I installed decoders (Bachmann #44914) in three locomotives last night. The Athearn/Bachmann GP40 hybrid, A new Athearn F7-A and my Atlas GP40. I'm also working on two old Mantua flatcars.They WILL be made to look less toylike by the time I've finished with them.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/15/2008

Wind Chill: 68°F
Humidity: 78%
Dew Point: 61°F

So Far Today
High: 74°F
Low: 68°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 17mph NNE

Today High: 80 Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers. Highs around 80. North winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight Low: 60 Partly cloudy. Lows around 60. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010168.jpg

tompm

09-15-2008, 12:27 PM

Good morning folks

It was 78 and sticky as I headed in this morning. High today will be 83 F. They say the humidity will be going down and it will be more pleasant. Yesterday the heat and humidity were brutal. It felt like we were in the tropics. The only outside activity we did was trim the hedges in the backyard after dinner.

Saturday we spent the day at a birthday party. We thought we would be there for a couple of hours but since everyone was having fun we stayed well into the evening. My son did not make his football as a result but I had already figured that there was a strong possibility he would not and had told the coaches ahead of time.

No modeling got done this weekend.

This will be a busy week with Cub Scouts. Wednesday is our Welcome Back and Open House. I have some prep work to finish for it.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Trussrod

09-15-2008, 12:51 PM

Good Early Morning from Coarsegold, CA,
Is cool this morning, 61* at 5:20 and is supposed to get to about 94* which I'm not looking forward to.

I had to fix the bendix on the starter of my garden tractor, the plastic gear was stripped, so now I just have to test it out. The tractor ha been a great investment and saved me countless hours not to mention the physical effort
required to do many of the jobs around here such as trash hauling to one of the spots on the place. After having taken care of Mom for two & half years
day and night I neglected the bushes out front so I've got a lot of trimming to do and a lot I'll have to hauled off to one of the piles. So this a start to getting the place put back in shape again. Then too once we get at least a quarter inch of rain I can do some more mowing of the field grass.

Ray, Ken is correct in what he says along with the need for Bill to see the need and have the desire to change his behavior with regard to drinking. Once he recognizes and admits he has a problem and has the desire to correct or change his behivor he'll be on the road to recovery. Lets hope he can cause the change to happen, it's all up to him. Many people have to hit bottom before they realize a change is needed.

Hope everyone has a good week and month for that matter.

Take care.

OldGettysk

09-15-2008, 02:33 PM

Good Morning ! Well we survived the remnants of Ike .he came blowing through here last night like a freight train . Lots of power outages and downed tree limbs but that was it . I have to check my canvas awning on my patio to see if it's in one piece. My heart and prayers go out to the people who were less fortunate the we were . Rex Happy Belated Birthday .Wishing you many more !!! Now their saying that text messaging is the cause of the Train disaster in California . How crucial human error is . Well I have a crying dog who need my help so I hope you all have a nice day !!

rhoward

09-15-2008, 03:12 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Like Paul said, Ike paid a quick visit through my neck of the woods last night. I see a couple big limbs down a couple houses up the street, but no lose of power for us. Luckily they were on the other side of the street and just missed coming down on the roof of the house. Still a bit windy out there and much cooler today.

David, absolutely! One problem for Bernie is that his problem has already progressed to a stage where it is likely to take his life no matter what he does. He not only liked his beer, but has worked repairing small gas engines and has used a lot of chemicals which can also do in the liver over time. I'm hoping that a desire to see his two granddaughters grow up will be incentive for him to change. We can only hope and pray for the best for him.

Hope all of you have a great day.

CSX_road_slug

09-15-2008, 05:31 PM

Oooops...! Rex I forgot to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :o Better late than never I suppose...

UP2CSX

09-15-2008, 06:14 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

Had a busy weekend so I haven't been around much.

Rex, Happy Birthday, you young whippersnapper. :D The good thing is that it just gets worse from now on but you care less.

Ray, I'm happy to hear your BIL at least gets to go home from the hospital. I'm sure his prognosis is still not good but at least he might get a little time with his granddaughters and at least be in his own bed instead of stuck full of needles in a hospital.

Ray and Paul, even with some of the wind damage from the remnants of Ike, things could have been a lot worse. I was watching it on radar over Indiana and northern Ohio and some pretty nasty squall lines were forming up at 4:00 pm. When I next had a chance to look at the radar, nearly all the storms had vanished! I've never seen a storm system collapse that fast. I guess old Ike was just tired out.

David, sounds typical for the foothills in September. As long as the winds don't start up, anything else is easy.

Tom, you were in the tropics, at least briefly. Ike pulled a lot of tropical air into the Midwest and northeast. It was actually rated for a few hours as an extratropical depression, the same as a tropical depression except too far north for tropical characteristics. It got some renewed strength from the warm water of Lake Michigan and Lake Eire bit died quickly after moving away from the water, leaving the low pressure and pressure differential gales.

Jeffrey, looks like you got some pretty good wind at your place too. I'm glad those willows are far away from your parent's house. I see the purple martin house did just fine though. :)

Now that Ike is just a memory, we were actually pretty lucky. The eye wobbled just to the north on landfall so Galveston had "only" a 14.5 foot storm surge. This was still enough to cause serious flooding in downtown Galveston and but the seawall wasn't overtopped so most of the rest of Galveston didn't get flooded. Houston suffered way more wind damage than I expected. I knew they would loose a lot of windows from the skyscrapers but it was more than it thought would happen. The damage that I did expect was almost a complete destruction of the power grid in in southeast Texas, with 117 of 170 high voltage transmission towers being on the ground. It will take many weeks for power to be restored in most places with some places being out of power for a month. This is impacting the oil refineries and driving up gas prices but I expect that to last less than a week since power to the refineries is being restored pretty quickly. There were only two oil rigs badly damaged, a much better record than Katrina, when 43 rigs were completely destroyed.

The thing that really surprised me is how many people didn't evacuate. Many of them are having to be rescued now, putting the rescuers lives in danger. Having been one of those rescuers, this really cranks me off. These people should at least be given citations and fined for staying behind in an evacuation zone. If they don't start to crack down on this kind of stupid behavior, it will never end.

Since most of the people did have the brains to evacuate, the death toll was low, with less than 30 people dead so far. I hope the numbers stay that low as they get into all the houses that are still flooded. Kudos to the NWS and the National Hurricane Center. They had Ike pegged within 20 miles of landfall 48 hours before it happened, which is darned good accuracy compared to what we could do only a few years ago. The Atlantic is nice and quiet now, which is typical after a round of hurricanes. It will start to pick up again in a week but I hope we've seen the worse for this year.

rhoward

09-15-2008, 11:20 PM

Ray, I'm happy to hear your BIL at least gets to go home from the hospital. I'm sure his prognosis is still not good but at least he might get a little time with his granddaughters and at least be in his own bed instead of stuck full of needles in a hospital.

Ray and Paul, even with some of the wind damage from the remnants of Ike, things could have been a lot worse. I was watching it on radar over Indiana and northern Ohio and some pretty nasty squall lines were forming up at 4:00 pm. When I next had a chance to look at the radar, nearly all the storms had vanished! I've never seen a storm system collapse that fast. I guess old Ike was just tired out.

Evenin'!

Jim my father refused to be admitted to the hospital the day before he died. He reason was that he already had a DNR Order (posted all over his house....) and couldn't see why he should be woken up every hour on the hour to check and see if he was still alive. I think that is what Bernie sees as the best part of getting out of that place. He can get some sleep! I don't mind saying that hospitals give me the major willies. Even the doctors office. The Medical Group that I go to moved about 5 years ago from a very nice "homey" little building to an addition on the hospital. I was asked by the nurse as she led me back to do weight and other stuff that guarantees a very high BP reading during my first "visit" what I thought about their wonderful new building. I looked at her and said, "Looks like a &@%% ^&$$ Hospital to me!" She got very upset. I guess she didn't like the truth......;)

I just got done helping my next door neighbor saw up a large limb that came off a Maple tree in back of his house. Lucky the limb dropped into the yard and not onto his roof. He just had a brand new roof put on his house last week. I got about 3 days of winter heating from it........ Winter 2010 that is. Hopefully I have enough wood to get through this winter.

I was lucky in the part of Geneva where I am. My son was without power for about 6 hours last night. Locally about (Edit - 12,000 people, typo...) 22,000 people had power outages in this area last night. Ike was still packing some pretty good wind as he went considerably to the North of the Finger Lakes. May spend some time tomorrow cruising Geneva to collect downed limbs set out by the curb.

jeffrey-wimberly

09-16-2008, 04:07 AM

Good evening. The broadband internet was down in my area for over 12 hours today so naturally I haven't been online. On the other hand, I did get a bit done on the layout today.

I got several items in the mail today. An envelope with several Athearn caboose chimney pipes in it and a box containing two freight cars. A unmarked gondola and an unmarked covered hopper.

RexHea

09-16-2008, 04:39 AM

Evening everyone! Thanks for all the B'day good wishes. Yeah, 63 is still young and fun, ...just slower with more aches later.:D

Finally got a text message from the Daughter in N. Houston. They are without power and will be for 2-4 weeks. They have lost all their perishable foods, its hot and sticky, miserable, but are OK. A small tornado hit the other side of their neighborhood causing some damage. I don't know what or if any damage was done to their place during Ike. Funny, a text message got through, but the cell phone connections are either jammed or down and we can't get through. Knowing them and their good Texan neighbors, I'm sure they have banded together so that none have to do without necessities.

I went to the Dentist office for an adjustment on my partial and talked to a lady whose husband is a lineman for Alabama Power. He has been down in New Orleans working since Gustav and they still don't have all the power on.:eek:

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-16-2008, 10:10 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-16-2008, 11:20 AM

Good morning.

It's 61 and clear. The high is expected to be around 80 and it'll be partly cloudy.

Since I had no internet service for most of yesterday I put some time in on the layout. I made two railroad crossings and two parts of roads. There's still more to do, as always. I also worked on two freight cars I received in the mail yesterday. Nothing major, just changing the trucks out. They had sprung trucks on them and I've always had bad problems with sprung trucks. They're real nice on really smooth track but on a somewhat rougher track like mine they tend to not do well.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/16/2008

Wind Chill: 60°F
Humidity: 75%
Dew Point: 52°F

So Far Today
High: 63°F
Low: 60°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 7mph NNE

Today High: 80 Partly cloudy. Highs around 80. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 58 Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 50s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010185.jpg

tompm

09-16-2008, 12:05 PM

Good morning folks

It was a cooler 63 F this morning with less humidity than the last few days. High today will be 74 F. They say we will see the sun later today but right now it is pretty overcast.

My daughter had her first day of volleyball try-outs for the 7th grade middle school team.

No modeling last night. My son and I did look over the layout some trying to decide what gets done next.

I hope everybody has a good day.

UP2CSX

09-16-2008, 12:29 PM

Morning, everyone.

Up early today for some reason - one of those days you wake up and can't go back to sleep.

Jeffrey, I've found sprung trucks actually do better on rough track but the key is weight. You need to weigh the car so the springs are slightly compressed when empty, just like a 1:1 car sits. The remaining spring travel helps the trucks flex better over rough spots. Without enough weight, the trucks tend to bounce and derail.

Rex, glad to hear that you've gotten news from your daughter. Verizon has been urging everyone down there to use text messaging because it takes up so little bandwidth compared to voice calls. They lost quite a few towers to the wind and all the towers are running on battery backup and generators so service will be spotty for at least a few weeks. The lack of electricity is going to be a huge issue for the people in southeast Texas. Luckily, it's fairly cool there right now but more warm weather is coming and it's going to be pretty miserable. Getting gas is going to be a real problem since virtually none of the gas stations have power.

They are bringing in as many mutual crews as they can from outside Houston but those plans got thrown a curve ball with the amount of outages in the Midwest and Northeast from the remains of Ike. I know Alabama Power has crews in Louisiana now still working on Gustav outages and they are planning to rotate more crews into Texas when they are available. I don't think that most people realize that power companies have mutual aid agreements with other power companies all over the country to come in and help in a major disaster. I was talking to a friend of mine in California yesterday and he said the Air Force has sent 6 C-17 cargo planes to Sacramento to pick up 30 PG&E crews with all their equipment and fly them to Houston. I think that Centerpoint and the other power companies down there are doing their best to get power restored but the damage is so extensive that two weeks will be a real victory and somewhere near a month is more likely. :(

Ray, I've never been hospitalized in my life but, from having worked in them and taken care of Jean while she was hospitalized, it would take a major problem, like being hit by a truck, to get me in one overnight. The beds are uncomfortable, medication times are scheduled without regard to patients getting any sleep, and the nurses do have to check on you throughout the night, waking you up each time. Even though I have reasonably extensive medical experience, I still get "white coat" syndrome when I go to the doctor's so my my BP is always at least 20 points above the average when I take it at home. Like you say, they can make it look nicer, but it's still a hospital or doctor's office and I don't like them. Glad you're getting some more free wood without having much damage to your neighbor's houses. It was really bad south of you. I was talking to my SIL in Cincinnati last night. They had 75 mph gusts and still don't have power. They live in a real woodsy neighborhood, which is nice until you get windstorm. She only had minor damage to the house but she can't get out of her driveway until a tree service gets there to remove the three huge oaks in her driveway. The city is removing the trees from the streets but they've made it clear it's up to homeowners to remove trees from their own property.

It actually got a little cool overnight here with a low of 62. It's partly cloudy and should get up to 85, which will be the coolest high we've had in months. There are no named storms in the Atlantic, the first time since August 15, so maybe we will all get a breather. :)

Secondhandmodeler

09-16-2008, 12:33 PM

Good morning folks. I'm finally in the track laying business. Well, sort off. I need to purchase a lot more flex track and a soldering iron to even get started. I've come to realize that part of my track plan won't fit in the area given. I had a suspicion that this would be the case, so I'm not too surprised. There just isn't enough depth to do everything I want with track or buildings. I will need to decide what is most important to me and disregard the rest. At least it's starting to look like something! As long as the depot fits(which it does), the rest is just filler.

I'm glad to hear that nobody on this forum has been permanently put out by the hurricanes. I wish your families well. I'm working today in order to build up a little good will so I can take my train,er...ah.., annniversary weekend off!

rhoward

09-16-2008, 01:59 PM

Mornin' everyone!

The sun has returned to the Finger Lakes.... Currently 57°F with a high of 65°F later. Nice crisp day. Just took a look on the Weather Channel online and they are saying that Ike cut a swath of destruction 200 hundred miles wide and 1600 miles long through the US. The map shows the Finger Lakes of NY as part of that. It is supposedly all areas that had hurricane force gusts from Ike. That was a monster of a storm!

Jim when my FIL was asked several years ago what his secret of long life was, he said, "stay the %@!! away from Doctors!" He always used to say he had all kinds of friends over in the cemetery, every one of them went to a doctor. Look what happened to them....... Not sure I completely agree with him, but it has worked well for him. I stopped at another neighbor's house last night as they have a huge limb off a maple that did some minor damage to the house. She has a Brother in Law that is taking the wood, so that is a no go. I may go out gleaning for piles later this afternoon and see what I can collect.

Corey it is always an exciting time to start building the trackwork for the empire! Have fun.

I tried to paint some rail last night with the Rusty Rails painting tool. Couldn't get it to work so I switched to a "0" artist's brush. Not sure I liked the early results. I may try again with the tool tonight.

Have a great day!

OldGettysk

09-16-2008, 02:23 PM

Good Morning Folks ! As Ray said and I don't need to repeat the weather is fine around here . one thing of note the Good Morning America Whistle Stop Train paid a visit through here today .It's an Amtrak with GMA posted on the side. It's heading to Ohio tomorrow as part of it's 50 States in 50 days campaign if anyone whats to see it .You can't miss it . here's a link to where their heading . Well have to go get some coffee hope you all have a nice day !!http://abcnews.go.com/gma

Steve B

09-16-2008, 05:20 PM

Afternoon all, had a visit from the CEO from Seattle and the President today, after a week of hard graft cleaning and prep work it all paid off as they were very happy and impressed with what we have done this year,,, time for a Guinness.

vato loco

09-16-2008, 08:37 PM

WEATHER

Hot,Hot, Hot lucky we have a sea breeze to cool us of once and a while!

LOCAL NEWS

The undersea world of drug smuggling
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7437376&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

PERSONAL NOTE
"FLO, I'll have a 30 oz T-bone steak Medium Rare, Large baked Potato with all the fixins, steamed carrots, and a slice of apple pie! to drink I'll have two may be three Amberbocks with the meal and Coffee with my pie!" And put that on Rexs tab! and while your at it bring him a glass of water so he can put out that wallet fire!:D :rolleyes: !" Thanks REX's!:D :D :D LOL's

Not new here to report, Just another day in the salt mine!SSDD:(

rhoward

09-17-2008, 01:28 AM

Hey, hey hey!!!! I just got an e-mail from the NMRA. It was the list of AP Certificates approved in August. My name is right there on the list for the Model Railroad Engineer - Electrical. IT'S BEEN APPROVED!!!! YES! (haven't gotten the actual certificate but it should be somewhere between National Office and somewhere in Ontario, Canada, or from Ontario, Canada back through the snail mail into the US and to my house......)

Alcomotive

09-17-2008, 03:19 AM

REX & CAREY~

You guys might want to take a peek at this website of this beaut of a steamer!

http://www.shorpy.com/node/4046?size=_original

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-17-2008, 09:35 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-17-2008, 10:57 AM

Good morning.

It's 62 and partly cloudy. The high is expected to be around 80 and it will be partly cloudy.

Most of yesterday was taken up with getting started on cutting up the willow that fell on my parent's island bridge. Man, that tree's big! We made a cut through the middle of it. It's just under two feet thick there. We also cut off several of the large branches. It's gonna be slow going. I cut down the tops of two old Mantua flatcars last night to make them, well, more flat. I leveled off the tops with wallboard joint compound. Later I'll put scribed paper over them and paint it to look like wood decking.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/17/2008

Wind Chill: 60°F
Humidity: 84%
Dew Point: 56°F

So Far Today
High: 62°F
Low: 61°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 8mph NNE

Today High: 78 Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 58 Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 50s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010204.jpg

Secondhandmodeler

09-17-2008, 12:46 PM

Alcomotive, that's quite the picture. I saved it to my computer.

Good morning folks. I have a question for you. What kind of soldering iron and solder would you recommend for joining track? The last layout I built I only used track joiners. I can see that I need to dive into the wonderful world of soldering for this layout. Thanks for any input.

I hope everyone has a great day!

OldGettysk

09-17-2008, 12:55 PM

Good Morning ! Another beautiful day here on the Niagara Frontier . Sunny with temps. on the low 70's . Just a quick note and coffee . I'm off to the eye doctor so have to run . Hope you all have a nice day . Ray Big Congratulations on the award !!!!!!!!!!!!

tompm

09-17-2008, 01:54 PM

Good morning folks

61 F was the temperature as I hit the pavement this morning. High today will be 78 F.

I have one of those crazy days in store. I have to run out into the field and take a look at project under construction to make sure that a bridge parapet is not going to cause a problem with vehicles exiting a side road near the bridge in response to a letter from a State Senator. I then have to leave early so I get ready for our Cub Scout Welcome Back Night and Open House.

Last night was an up and down night. My son’s football team is continuing its downward spiral. I found out that they did not score again in Saturday’s game. Their scoreless streak is now 12 quarters. Of course maybe I should rephrase it and say his former team. He was finally moved down to the JV squad where I wanted him. He wasn’t playing or practicing, so why was he on the Varsity squad? Last night was a prime example. They had a scrimmage and the coaches played the same 13 kids on offense who have not scored and again they were shut out. The offense ran something like 50 plays with no substitutions except for running backs bringing in the plays. My son played a total of 10 plays on defense and basically stood around for the last hour doing nothing. Tomorrow will be his first practice with the JV. He was upset at first but after he thought about it he was glad that he now away from the “Losers” that he has had to deal with the last two years.

I hope everybody has a good day.

rhoward

09-17-2008, 02:35 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Another sunny, crisp, fall like day here in the Finger Lakes. Currently 61°F with a high around 72°F. I have a dermatologist appointment this afternoon and then a SciTek meeting at the Scout Office so I won't get to do any layout work until this evening.

Tom I think your son will love JV. Much better to be able to get on the field and play than to hold down the left end of the bench..... Years ago I coached JV Softball at a small school in western NY. My second year I had a 7th. grade girl on the team who was an incredible athlete. The Varsity Coach wanted her on the Varsity team. I fought to give a years experience on JV as she would have been ineligible her Sr. year if she played Varsity that year. She still was going to put her on Varsity. I finally made the case that she would be better off playing and getting experience than warming the bench on varsity. She ended up on JV. She was my leadoff hitter. The smallest blooper of a hit got her to first base. Two pitches later she was standing on 3rd. Yep she was a runner...... fast!

Corey I sent you a PM. There are many usable techniques for soldering. I use a 25w Weller iron for most of my hobby work including trackwork. I won't put my techniques here, but I will send you a copy of a paper I wrote for a clinic/demo that I did locally here a few weeks back explaining how I do soldering.

My coffee awaits me, so have a great day!

Trussrod

09-17-2008, 03:18 PM

Hello to all from Coarsegold, Ca. and a very comfortable 72* under partly cloudy skys slightly to the East from my location. Lets hope for some rain.

Did have a fire yesterday a few miles away, not sure just what was involved?
More likely field grass.

I'm glad to see some interest in my Foothill Satation MRR supplies listed under For Sale & Wanted, hope more of you guys and gals take an interest in the reduced pricing for your modeling supplies and equipment.

Hi Fay, well I'm pretty hungry this morning so I'd like 2 eggs over easy, some Reye toast sounds good too and a thick slice of ham and some cottage fried potatoes and some cottage cheese and a large glass of Orange juice and do you have any more of that Hazelnut Coffee? That's geat tasting !

Have a good day all and happy modeling!

RexHea

09-17-2008, 04:27 PM

Good Morning all! Time for lunch Flo, if I can wash dishes for a meal. Chris has ruined me.

Anyone else sweating needles about AIG Insurance Corp? I have a sizable annuity with them that matures next year and I stood a chance of losing it all. This time, I will go along with the gov bailout.:eek: :( I am going to cash it in next year if it is still there. Jim/anyone, what's your educated opinion?

Alco: that is beautiful. Too bad it's not around to see for real. Thanks.

Corey: I like to use a 35 watt iron with a chisel(flat) tip. Not too much heat that you melt everything around, but allows you to quickly get the joiner and rail hot enough, allowing solder flow into the joint. I hate Radio Shack irons and would suggest you invest in a good one. You will be glad you did.

Ray: Congrats on your AP Certificate. (Never a doubt, was there?;) )

Hi David, you sneaked in on me. :)

UP2CSX

09-17-2008, 07:11 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

Rex, is there any way you can cash in your AIG annuity early, even if you have to take a penalty? The government bailout/loan is not going to work. They are now the walking dead and no one will do business with them. The loan will be eaten up in about a month as AIG tries to sell off the business lines they have that are still worth something. All the government did is make all of us creditors when the inevitable bankruptcy arrives. Today's reaction by the stock market show most investors do not believe this is the end of the crisis and more banks are about to fail, Washington Mutual probably being next on the list. I would do whatever I could to get my money out now.

Ray, congratulations on your Electrical certificate. You should get one just for all the Torti you are installing. :)

Tom, I sure hope your son will be happier in JV. I moved up to varsity too quick in high school and I know it really hurt my playing ability compared to guys who spent more time in JV.

Chris, there have been persistent reports of Columbian cartel members trying to buy Whiskey class ex-Russian submarines from both China and Cuba. If they get one of those, they can really smuggle in some blow. The Columbian Navy has two large Type 209 submarines and two midget types of 70 tons, not much different than the one that was seized off Guatemala. Think there might be a connection? :)

Alco, the Southern sure did have some beautiful steam engines and they always kept them spotless. Take a look at that telegraph pole with the light just behind the tender though. Seems they were a little more relaxed about what was close to straight in those days. :D

Corey, Ray knows way more about soldering than me so I'd take his advice. The only bit of wisdom I have is to always have a sponge near your iron so you can clean the tip every time you use it. Makes it heat up a lot faster and spreads the heat over the tip more evenly.

Paul, sounds you've got a day with temperatures not to far off ours. It's cloudy and only 78 degrees. Reminds me way too much of Cleveland. :eek:

David, glad that there was only a small fire. Looks like you've got a pretty good line up of manufacturers for your shop. I hope you do well.

For those of you who don't understand just how bad Ike was, here's a before and after picture of Gilchrist, Texas, on the Bolivar peninsula. just north of Galveston.

Before:
http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/2008/gilchrist_before.jpg

After:
http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/2008/gilchrist_after.jpg

They weren't kidding when they said not evacuating meant certain death. :(

Steve B

09-17-2008, 08:36 PM

Rex Jim's advice is correct, get what you can as soon as you can, things are about to take on a whole new turn for the worse, The Feds have conveniently cast aside "Section 23A" which gives banks freedom to plunder deposit accounts, this is serious stuff.

Section 23A of the Federal Reserve Act...originally enacted as part of the Banking Act of 1933, is designed to prevent the misuse of a bank's resources through non-arm's-length transactions with its affiliates and to limit the ability of a bank to transfer its federal subsidy to its affiliates.

Your savings account is being used to prop up the trading operations of your bank's parent company, which not coincidentally is the source of the huge losses the industry has racked up this year.

"And what happens when that deposit money goes up in smoke? Ah, yes, FDIC steps in and protects depositors. And who protects FDIC? Good question. Look in the mirror and you'll see the answer.

vato loco

09-17-2008, 08:54 PM

WEATHER
Hot and humid with light breezes, Some Sea breeze Tstorms poped up, nothing near my house:mad:

LOCAL NEWS
Crash spreads millions of nickels on highway
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7451418&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.1.1
A nickel for your thought's, heck how about $200K worth:D
Why can't I be around when this happens?:eek: Me a Coin star machine would have some serious time together:D :D

PERSONAL NOTE
Wife got home from the doctors and she has some kind of growth in her sinus? The Doctor told her it needs to come out soon(Major surgery)is what they told her:eek: :confused: they took a samples of the tissue to make sure it ain't cancer!!!! She's scared to death, Poor thing:( when Mom doesn't feel good the whole family suffers!
I lost my dad to cancer in the sinus, so I really worried:( :( All we can do now is pray.........
SSDD when it comes to work, nothing new there.

Rex, sorry for the wallet fire!:eek: Didn't mean to make ya wash dishes:( I'm not real hungry today so that a few more dishes that won't need cleaning:D

Jim, Subs, planes, Go Fasts, and Land craft.......They want to get drugs and bad guys in they will do it! "No we don't need no stinking boarder patrols and fences around this country:confused: !"

rhoward

09-17-2008, 09:44 PM

A good late afternoon everyone!

Chris you and and your whole family are in my prayers that your wife will be OK.

I got back from the dermatologist this afternoon (and the Scout meeting, and the drug store, and a couple other places I had to go). I got both good news and bad news from her........ Good news is I don't have Lyme Disease or some other thing like that. The bad news is that it isn't Psoriasis like I thought it was so I have been treating with meds that probably have made it worse. She thinks it is a fungus infection and has me on a topical fungicide and some weak Steroid cream to wean the area off the major steroid cream I use for the psoriasis. She also started me on a new medication for the psoriasis meaning I have several hundred dollars worth of stuff sitting here that will just get thrown out.......... The new med is a blend of two of the types of treatments for psoriasis and only is applied once a day.

Jim those shots of Gilchrist are truly sickening. I do hope everyone there had the sense to get out in time.

leghome

09-17-2008, 10:57 PM

We are sure having beautiful weather here in the heartland. To bad I have to work the next three evenings til almost dark so no yardwork will get completed. That means sunday and monday will be tree felling and cutting up days. I have a 25 ft tall walnut, largest tree in the yard, that got struck by lightening and all of the bark has pulled away from the tree so much so that I can between the tree trunk and the bark. I think I will be glad to be rid of it because of the nuts. I picked up a 30 gallon can of nuts last night and ther are probably another one or two can more. The nuts have never been any good so good riddance to a messy tree but really good shade tree. I told my neighbor aout cutting the tree down so I have a helper along with my SIL. Each will get some fire wood and I will have not as hard of a job as I thought I would.

Alcomotive

09-18-2008, 01:21 AM

Hi guys...

Glad that some of you enjoyed looking at thatpicture I posted earlier...

I would like to recommend you guys to do a search on trains on that web you will be AMAZED with the old pics and the HIGH RES on them.

This is my all time favorite that I found on there and it is a VERY rare photo of these streamliners in COLOR better yet... see for yourself, those of you who are CNW and UP guys will appreciate this most likely...ladies and gents the COLA! http://www.shorpy.com/node/2252?size=_original

RexHea

09-18-2008, 03:46 AM

Jim/Steve: Thanks for the info and you scared the S*** out of me after I was just settling down a bit. It will cost me a few grand, but better than all of it. I will contact the agent tomorrow. ;) Know anything about New York Life?

UP2CSX

09-18-2008, 05:03 AM

Rex, the market is in a full-tilt panic right now so getting out sooner rather than later will pay dividends in the long run. Insurance companies like New York Life and Met Life are still in good shape...today. How far and and how deep this credit crisis spreads is still unknown but we haven't reached anywhere near a bottom yet. As you know, I'm not usually much of a gloom and doom guy but I'm getting increasingly nervous that we are headed for a really bad crash, especially with the government continuing to meddle in the market.

Ray, I'd be looking for a new doctor. She could have done a simple skin scraping that showed you had a fungus. Fungus infections thrive on steroids, not to mention the damage the steroids do to your body. I'm glad you got a correct diagnosis but there's really no excuse for her missing such a simple test.

Chris, sinus polyps are actually quite common. She must have one that's located far enough up in her paranasal sinus that it's causing her breathing problems. The surgery is simple and, with proper care, the sinus polyp won't reoccur. Although I obviously can't tell you for sure this isn't cancer, the occurrence is about 1 in every 110,000 cases so the chances are very small. I can understand your being scared with what happened to your father but be optimistic and I think she'll come out just fine.

Alco, looked like a mighty cold day in that yard. I didn't realize that the M-1000's were still in service in 1942 but I just looked them up and they weren't scrapped until 1953. Must have been the longest lived of the early streamliners.

Larry, I had a walnut tree and it never gave me anything but rotten nuts and the branches were constantly breaking off. It finally went over in a Santa Ana windstorm and I was glad to see it getting hauled away.

A very pleasant day here in the Heart of Dixie. We had a low of 64 and a high of 89. It would be just like paradise if it was like this everyday. :) The tropics are still nice and calm, unlike the stock market. :(

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-18-2008, 09:27 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-18-2008, 11:10 AM

Good morning.

It's 64 and partly cloudy here in the Sportsman's Paradise. The high today should be around 80 and it will be partly cloudy.

Most of yesterday was taken up with mowing the grass and moving the pieces of the cut-up willow tree. I counted the rings in the trunk and found that it had been there since 1941, about what I figured. As my parents nor myself need the wood we're dumping the pieces in the nearby marsh to rot. The ants have already found them to be of interest.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/18/2008

Wind Chill: 64°F
Humidity: 79%
Dew Point: 58°F

So Far Today
High: 66°F
Low: 64°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph NNE

Today High: 82 Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 80s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 62 Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010152.jpg

Secondhandmodeler

09-18-2008, 12:40 PM

Good morning gents!

Boy, the DM&E are really moving some trains around here. The other day I saw one with six locomotives on the front. It was quite the sight to see out my front door.

I sure hope my mutual fund managers are smart about buying right now. Being thirty years old, I could use a little aggressive buying. It almost makes me want to invest more. I have to admit, most of my savings are going into a money market that pays two percent. Knowing that I need to pay cash for my next car, I need to have the money when I need it. My wife's step grand parents have lost two hundred thousand dollars this year. I'm shocked that their agent has their money in anything that risky when they are in their eighties. To be honest with you, I'm disgusted, but it's not my place to interfere. I think he's made them a lot of money over the years.

Thank you to everyone with their responses about soldering. I haven't soldered since I was in middle school, so all comments are welcome. A big thank you to Ray for your paper.

I have a wedding party from hell today, so it won't be a great day. Don't let people fool you when they talk about bridezillas. It's the parents and grand parents that are the biggest pain in the rear! The brides are usually the most laid back of the group.

Have a great day!

tompm

09-18-2008, 01:14 PM

Good morning folks

The temperature was a crisp 59 F as I headed out to the traffic jams this morning. High today will be 79 F with sun.

I had a busy day yesterday. For work I had to drive 40 miles to take a look at a bridge under construction and determine if the new parapet was causing a problem. We had our Cub Scout Welcome Back Night and Bingo. It was a fun night. We had almost three quarters of our “old” scouts re-up and we had a couple of new scouts. Our Bingo went over great and the boys loved the prizes. Next week will be our big recruitment night with hopefully a good number of new scouts joining.

Tonight will be my son’s first JV practice. We will see how this goes.

No modeling last night. My son and one his friends ran some trains. His friend brought over his new Bachmann Union Pacific SD-40-2 and they were running that.

I hope everybody has a good day.

OldGettysk

09-18-2008, 02:24 PM

Morning ALL ! From beautiful and sunny Buffalo ,it's 60 going up to 63 but a Nice day all and all . Eye doctor exam went well . Ray looks like your in for a but of discomfort though . Not much else going on so I'll keep it short and sweet .You all have a nice day !!

rhoward

09-18-2008, 02:43 PM

Ray, I'd be looking for a new doctor. She could have done a simple skin scraping that showed you had a fungus. Fungus infections thrive on steroids, not to mention the damage the steroids do to your body. I'm glad you got a correct diagnosis but there's really no excuse for her missing such a simple test.

That's the first thing she did..... The other dermatitis I have had for years is psoriasis as diagnosed by a skin scraping. Her treatment has gotten that vastly improved. I have been using a combination of Vanos (the steroidal/cortizone cream), Dovonex (vitamin cream), plain old Coal Tar in Aquafor, and Cetaphil cream used all over to lower chance of lesions developing. She also changed the creams to a different regimen for the psoriasis yesterday as I have been on the old stuff for a couple years now. The skin scraping she did yesterday will take take 2 weeks to be cultured for the specific fungus so she can make sure I am on the right treatment. It looks better already this morning. I must not have been clear in my post.......:o

My doctor is considered to be one of the best in Western NYS. She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Dermatology and a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and Society for Pediatric Dermatology. She has an appointment to the faculty of the University of Rochester as a Clinical Instructor in Dermatology and Pediatrics.

She had not before seen the area that I was treating wrong before yesterday and immediately said I had been making it worse. She also reminded me that I should have gotten in to see her earlier and not waited for my regular appointment...... The problem was me! Look for another doctor? No, I don't think so. She has been right on in her diagnosing and treatment of my skin problems. Besides, she is very cute! ;) ;) :D

Mornin' everyone!

Another nice crisp Pre-Fall day here in the Finger Lakes. Currently 61°F with a high of 63°F. Beautiful sunny day but we have a frost advisory for tonight. I doubt that we will get hit here in Geneva, but I will cover the pepper plants and Zucchini late this afternoon just to be safe.

Spent part of the day and evening doing some more scenery work on the hillside near the still. The area is starting to look good, I think.

Steve B

09-18-2008, 05:45 PM

Chris I'm the sinus surgery king, had it twice in the last three years for polyps and so on, the little buggers are growing back again so another bout is on the cards, after the first surgery i was back in for the same treatment within ten months with polyps just as bad !!!

i hope your wifes problems are just like mine and nothing worse, it's not to bad the second time round

Rex It's scaring the crap out of me as well, house sales have almost totally stopped this side of the pond so were up the creek bout a paddle for now
Breaking news the UK financial services authority just banned short selling which is good news, this almost drove one of our biggest banks into liquidation yesterday

short sellers can borrow a security and sell it, expecting that it will decrease in value so that they can buy it back at a lower price and keep the difference. The short seller owes their broker, who usually in turn has borrowed the shares from some other investor who is holding his shares long; the broker itself seldom actually purchases the shares to lend to the short seller.[1] The lender of the shares does not lose the right to sell the shares.

UP2CSX

09-18-2008, 06:52 PM

Afternoon, everybody.

Corey, sounds like what I wen through a few years agao whan I got married. It will soon be over and the pain will slowly fade. :) Having money in a money market fund when you know you'll need it soon makes sense. all your other money should be invested in agressive funds that emphasize capital growth and dividends. You'll get killed in a market like this but you have plenty of time to recover and you'll still make more money over the next 20 or 30 years begin agressive now. As for your step-grandparents, $200,000 may sound like a lot but, if the broker imanaging something like $2 million, he's actually beating the market. Of the 500 stocks in the S&P 500, only 2 were up yesterday so almost everyone is losing money.

Steve, They have to be careful about controlling short selling. While there has been too much "naked" shorting, where the short seller had no interest in the stock at all, short selling keeps the market moving during times like this. If you can't make money long, you have to go short. Without short selling, the market will grind to a halt in times like this.

Ray, so the truth comes out! :D Anyone with a serious skin condition like yours should always show any change to your doctor and not attempt to self-treat. I take back what I said about your doctor, especially if she's cute. :)

Paul, glad you eye exam went OK and that you are having such nice fall weather up there. Its up to 85 here, which is the first time we've seen it about 80 since Monday. It's been a nice break for us.

Want to know the luckiest homeowner in Gilchrist, Texas? Here's a picture:

http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/ike_09_15/ike11.jpg

I'd go out and buy a couple of lottery tickets if I was him.

rhoward

09-18-2008, 07:14 PM

Afternoon, everybody.

Want to know the luckiest homeowner in Gilchrist, Texas? Here's a picture:

Yeah, but the neighborhood went downhill fast........

BTW Jim She's very cute!! ;)

RexHea

09-18-2008, 09:26 PM

Want to know the luckiest homeowner in Gilchrist, Texas? Here's a picture:
I want to know the name of his carpenter.:D

Forgive my layman explanation:
Well, I meet with my financial advisor and he assured me that I would be all right, regardless of which way AIG went. First: the $billions of funds of AIGA, subsidiary of AIG, is protected from the rest of the corporation for paying debts or anything else. This the law of the National Insurance Commission and also the state's commission. Second: in the unlikely event that AIG had a total collapse, the polices of life, casualty, and fixed annuities would be traded off to other insurance companies such as Medlife, NewYork, etc. and remain the same. Third: If all else fails, the state's insurance commission totally covers all these polices up to $300,000. Some states up to $1 million.

Interestingly, the problems began from the loan insurance that AIG provided for companies in the building industry and then the Chap. 11 of Lehman (sp?) of which they also insured their debt (plus $30 billion?), threw them over the edge. Basically, they insured too much of everything worldwide; things that no one else would touch. Fortunately this is all from an entirely different part of the corporation and shouldn't affect me anytime soon. Analysis are all confident that AIG will recover from this, if handled properly. (what ever that means. Ha-ha!)

Regardless of all this, I will soon make a withdrawal up to the amount not penalized and put it into something else. Some bonds are really paying well.

CSX_road_slug

09-18-2008, 09:41 PM

...

Want to know the luckiest homeowner in Gilchrist, Texas? Here's a picture:

http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/ike_09_15/ike11.jpg

I'd go out and buy a couple of lottery tickets if I was him.

Jim - I think I saw them interview the landlord of this house (and a dozen others like it along the Texas coast) on The Weather Channel; he said the walls are solid concrete on a metal frame. Designed to withstand winds of up to 250mph!:cool:

PNKFLOYD

09-18-2008, 11:13 PM

Ken- Do you think it might have been the lawn was St. Augustine grass and it held the house down?:D

jeffrey-wimberly

09-19-2008, 12:46 AM

That looks like a model that's been composited into the photo.

UP2CSX

09-19-2008, 04:49 AM

Ray, just think, you'll have no neighbors to bother you for, oh, about the next 30 years. :)

Rex, your financial adviser is basically right for the situation as it existed a week ago. Everything he said is predicated on these other agencies remaining solvent. Since AIG is now in government conservatorship, all the normal rules don't apply. For example, Fannie Mae was also put in a government conservatorship. Under normal bankruptcy rules, a company cannot issue new preferred stock until they redeem any outstanding preferred stock at par value. The government decided to issue new preferred stock at a 10% dividend to raise cash and stopped paying dividends on existing preferred stock, thereby wiping out the value of my preferred stock. The rules are changing fast and I think getting your money out up to the penalty amount and investing it in a stronger company is a wise move.

Ken, I saw the same story and I think this is one of those homes. You can tell the type of construction by the anchoring to the slab, which also stayed fairly intact. Unfortunately, the house is still a constructive total loss because the foundation is completely undermined. You can't just pick up a house and put new ground under it. The house performed as it was supposed to, however, in that anyone in the house would not have died, as I'm sure countless others did when their homes simply disappeared into Galveston Bay and the swamps behind the peninsula. I expect the death toll to rise sharply once the bodies begin to start floating in. :(

Jeffrey, it's an official Coast Guard photo. Assuming no one at the USCG is playing around with PhotoShop, I'm pretty sure this is legitimate. The damage is consistent with a concrete and steel structure that was primarily the target of storm surge rather than wind. The vast majority of damage in the photo was caused by water, not wind.

jeffrey-wimberly

09-19-2008, 09:42 AM

Good morning.

It's 71 and clear. The high today is expected to be around 80 and it will be mostly cloudy. There's a small chance of isolated showers.

We still have part of the willow to clear out today. It's gonna be a little harder cutting up the lower part of the trunk as it's better than 24" across and the saw is only 20". Moving the pieces will be like Johnny Cash building his 'Hillbilly Cadillac", one piece at a time.

I have the old Atlas GP40 pulling a 16 car train around the layout. That seems to be it's limit.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446 9/19/2008

Heat Index: 77°F
Humidity: 74%
Dew Point: 63°F

So Far Today
High: 71°F
Low: 71°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 8mph NNE

Today High: 85 Mostly cloudy early in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Isolated showers. Highs in the mid 80s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 65 Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows in the mid 60s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010147.jpg

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-19-2008, 09:46 AM

Steve B

09-19-2008, 01:21 PM

Jim if they could regulate very strictly short selling that would be fine but who's going to do that

Regardless of who's doing better than who today,,, it could all change very quickly overnight, just to give you an idea how steep or how vertical the slippery slope is ,,,,, Enjoy the ride folks, it's a once in a lifetime event
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/longtermchartof90daytreasurybillfin.png

tompm

09-19-2008, 01:47 PM

Good morning folks

It was a cool 56 F as I rolled out onto the roadway this bright morning. Our high today will be 71 F.

Yesterday was a long day. My daughter had her last volleyball try-out. She will find out today if she made the team. My son had his first football practice with the JV squad. He seemed much happier during practice and afterwards. I noticed that during practice he was not standing around for long periods of time. Also when he wasn’t doing drills he was talking with his team mates. Overall this group is acting more like a team than the varsity which acts like a group of individuals. I also found that at least two other parents are insisting that their sons get moved off of varsity.

My wife had an outreach last night at the Kent County Library which is south of Dover, DE. For her it is usually a two hour drive one way, last night it took her over three hours to get there due an accident and construction on I-95. Coming home she had no problems.

I had to take off from work early to set-up a new checking account for our Cub Scout pack. Our current soon to be old account is fouled up. Poor record keeping on the part of previous Treasurers including the most recent have made it almost impossible to keep it accurate. The bank the account is at is one of the most inconvenient and rude banks I have ever dealt with. The one branch near our home has lousy hours and is only open late (until 6 PM) on Fridays. Trying to make deposits is a paperwork nightmare. However, since the bank lost the signature cards to the checks anyone can sign the checks and they will honor them. The most recent Treasurer gave me the checkbook in June and then disappeared for the summer. After months of trying to get a hold of him he finally contacted me the other night and wants to get together and turn everything over to me since his son is quitting. I have been working all summer with the District Executive regarding the problem. She recommended that I open a new account and we eventually close the old one. Since we collected registration fees Wednesday night and I did not want to carry around $500.00 for too long I decided to handle the issue yesterday.

This weekend is one of the busy ones. We have the biweekly restocking of the cupboards to do. My son has a fundraiser that helps pay for his school environmental camping trip. It is a car wash in the morning. After he is done his shift we will head to the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum’s Cradle of Birding Festival. It is a fun free event with a lot exhibits and interactive things. We are going to participate with our Cub Scout pack in the Birding for Kids Workshop. After that we plan on taking in some of the other Riverfront Ramble events that are taking place along the Delaware River in Delaware County. The Birding Festival is one part of the ramble. Sunday my son has a football game.

I am not sure any modeling or even looking at trains will get done this weekend.

I hope everybody has a good day.

rhoward

09-19-2008, 03:34 PM

Mornin' everyone!

It is a cool 59°F outside right now in Geneva. The high will be a sweltering 67°F. Not even Fall yet........ May have to open a window to cool down the house sometime this afternoon. :rolleyes: On the other hand I don't think we got any frost last night. There was a widespread alert for possible frost through out the region.

Went to Rochester to the NRHS meeting last night. Had an interesting program on RR collectibles and a large display of RR Lanterns, their uses, etc.

Tom before long you have all those irritating inherited things from the former leaders taken care of and you can get on with the purpose of Scouting for your Cubs. They are very lucky to have you as their Cubmaster! I had a short meeting with our DE a few days ago. He is aware of the problem with the Troop I was Commissioner for and will be receiving a copy of my letter to the unit through an "independent" source next week. He has promised to have my name kept out of the process as much as possible (at least as the source of the information). He understands my ties to the troop and my concerns for its future. I am afraid the ax will drop before long on some leaders..........

Hope all of you have a great day!

Steve B

09-19-2008, 06:32 PM

Well after bathing the rabbit for the last time this summer (Phewww) it had to have a good going over with the brush, damn, it has sharp claws :(

UP2CSX

09-19-2008, 06:53 PM

Afternoon, Everybody.

Well, Steve, the government has once again started another crazed "rescue" plan. They'll buy up all the toxic debt and put into a nice mausoleum, where it will live to eternity, never bothering us again. It should only cost the taxpayer a few dollars, say $3 or $4 trillion. Absolutely nuts but the market likes it, as of today. They are also prohibiting short selling in about 800 financial institutions, including banks and brokerage houses. Pretty good deal if you're one of the 800, since your stock can't really go down very much or very fast, and might even go up. It's just temporary, mind you, and I'm sure that all those nasty short sellers will behave after that. :mad:

Tom, I'm glad you're able to handle your work and all the volunteer activities too. I'd be too exhausted to get up in the morning.

Jeffrey, be careful with that chain saw. Most people get injured when they are trying cut wood larger than the size of the saw.

It's finally starting to warm up here, Ray. Our low was 67 and it's up to 88 now so no opening of the windows yet. The humidity is is still low too so that makes things pretty comfortable compared to a normal Alabama summer afternoon. The tropics are still quiet although it looks like we may get something forming about this time next week off the Cape Verde Islands, the birthplace of most of our hurricanes this time of year. The models are also making an interesting call for an extratropical low to form off North Carolina after a vigorous cold front moves through the mid-south. If that happens, it would be the first Nor'easter for you folks up the coast.

jeffrey-wimberly

09-19-2008, 07:19 PM

Jeffrey, be careful with that chain saw. Most people get injured when they are trying cut wood larger than the size of the saw.
Hey, safety is my job.:)

Steve B

09-19-2008, 09:08 PM

mine is a 20" Stihl chainsaw (however you spell stihl) the blade is a fearsome piece of metal, i use a dremmel multi tool to sharpen it, it's like a razor. A friend once cut half way through his leg with one in about 100th of a second.

treat chainsaws with respect is what i say

Alcomotive

09-19-2008, 10:02 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_re_us/train_collision_rail_buffs_1

interesting I thought....

OldTrail

09-20-2008, 01:01 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_re_us/train_collision_rail_buffs_1

interesting I thought....

Foamers? thats a new one..........to me.... almost be littleling.... any way I managed to salvage most of the American flyer trains from my grand fathers estate, its almost enough to switch up from N scale.... thid may get interesting..

UP2CSX

09-20-2008, 06:06 AM

I think anyone who has been actively railfanning since 9/11 has already seen a lot of these changes. If you're on railroad property, expect at least a stern talking to by the railroad police. Even if you're on public property, you're likely to be questioned by the local law enforcement authorities or plant security guards if you spend too long in one location. I don't think this text messaging changes any of that. I'm glad this engineer took an interest in young railfans but, if the stories about his text messaging a railfan just before the crash turn out to be true, his kindness cost him and 24 other people their lives. :(

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-20-2008, 09:52 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-20-2008, 10:15 AM

Good morning.

It's 71 and cloudy. The highy today is expected to be in the low 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

I'm rebuilding a locomotive (GP35) and have opted for the weird. It will have 6 wheel trucks. How's that for strange?

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/20/2008

Wind Chill: 69°F
Humidity: 84%
Dew Point: 64°F

So Far Today
High: 71°F
Low: 69°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 82 Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 68 Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. East winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010003-1.jpg

rhoward

09-20-2008, 01:43 PM

Mornin' all!

Another crisp pre-fall day here in the Finger Lakes. Currently 56°F with a high of 73°F this afternoon.

I canned another 6 pints of beans yesterday and worked on some scenery and weathered my Proto 2000 0-6-0 switcher. Of course then I had to do a photo shoot to check out the work. Today my former Sister-in-Law is stopping by to see the Model Railroad as she likes trains and has been interested in some photos I sent her of my work and will be in the area. She was married to my BIL who has the liver problem. After they divorced, she remarried and her husband just died a month or so ago.

Then I am heading over to the museum to help either with track or any other work they have going on today.

Catch you all later.

RexHea

09-20-2008, 02:52 PM

Paul, are you ready for some football? :)

Trussrod

09-20-2008, 03:39 PM

Good Morning from a Cool Coarsegold, Cal.
It's 60* outside under clear skys going to a high of 79* so it's very pleasant compared to what it has been.

Hi Flo, I'll have some toast, whole grain bread if you have any and some Pinaple/Apricot jelly if you have it, you don't, well then bring me whatever you lhave and some of that Hazelnut coffee, glad you have that.

I just check my listing under, 'For Sale & Wanted', glad to see it getting more activity since I posted the different scales of supplies available.

A good day to all & let'em roll!

Steve B

09-20-2008, 05:53 PM

Well it was a great day today, 78f in mid September is fantastic, blue sky's not a breath of wind, Ahhhhhhh so, off to pastures new to watch a steam train, (she's in weekend photo fun) BTW, after that we went down the Inglborough caves were it was pretty cold !!!
youngest boy
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/pics039.jpg
and a wierd bunch of stalactites, they looked like teeth
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/pics037.jpg
this is a horse drawn log truck they used in the forrest, check the brake blocks out, a man at each side had to screw them down while trying not to fall under the wheels or get trampled by a horse
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/pics043.jpg

UP2CSX

09-21-2008, 04:52 AM

Nice cave, Steve, and cute kid with his little hard hat. :).

Sounds like a great day up in the foothills, David. I keep meaning to ask you, do you take Paypal?

Rex, great day for Alabama football. Prattville won last night against Wetumpka, a tough team, and are now 4-0 in league play. The Tide did a number on a clearly inferior team but played a good game. Although Auburn didn't win, they played a very close game against a strong LSU team. I expect Auburn and Alabama will swap #9 and #10 places Monday.

Paul, it sure sounds like your family has had more than it's share of problems. I hope your former SIL is doing as well as can be expected after her husband's death and liked seeing your trains.

Jefrey, when it comes to locomotives, strange is definitely a good description. :D

Another nice day down here with a high of 87 and low of 67. There's a tropical disturbance that's formed north of Puerto Rico that I don't think has much chance of getting organized into a tropical storm but it has a very intense band of thunderstorms at its core. It will once again give Haiti 6 or more inches of rain, adding to that poor nations's misery. We may complain here about not having electricity or not being able to get gas for th car but there are cities in Haiti that have now been flooded for almost a month straight. Very sad.

RexHea

09-21-2008, 06:08 AM

Hi Jim! Yeah, Bama looked good, but the defense needs to tighten up. Bama is already 9th (AP) and will probably hold in AP and move up to same in USAToday. (Then again, they may even move up ahead of Wisconsin and/or Texas.) Auburn will lose their present #10 (AP) and go into the teens since there are other unbeatens presently just behind them. Neither Auburn or LSU looked very impressive tonight, but I would think LSU will hold their present ranking. It will be interesting to see the most important poll when it comes out Oct 19...the BCS.
BTW: Tuscaloosa County (6A) is ranked 24th in the nation for high schools.:)

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-21-2008, 09:00 AM

Steve B

09-21-2008, 09:27 AM

Mornin all,,, saw the last steam trip of the day at 9pm last night, pitch black though except for a few street lamps at the station

jeffrey-wimberly

09-21-2008, 12:43 PM

Good morning.

It's 70 and cloudy. The high is expected to be in the mid 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/21/2008

Heat Index: 70°F
Humidity: 84%
Dew Point: 65°F

So Far Today
High: 72°F
Low: 70°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph ESE

Today High: 88 Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 80s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 68 Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 60s. East winds around 5 mph.

A cool morning on the east spur.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010013.jpg

pcarrell

09-21-2008, 01:07 PM

Morning all!

Well, the weather guesser said nothing but sunshine yesterday, and since we got rained out last week (our originally planned day) on our roofing project for the church, we decided to go for it. Well, wouldn't you just know, as soon as every shingle was off and all the wood repaired, the skies opened up. With almost 20 of us up on the roof we got the tar paper layed in record time. The motivation that God provided in the form of little water droplets and the occasional lightning flash proved to provide a stimulus to our tierd bodies that allowed us to move quicker then we thought possible. No sooner was the tar paper up, then it quit raining and cleared up! We decided to press ahead and lay the shingles. So now our church has a fine new roof on it, and the pastor only almost fell off the roof about a dozen times! Muscles are sore this morning!

So whats up with all of you?

P.S. - Prayers for those in need......wait, thats like......everyone!

Steve B

09-21-2008, 02:38 PM

Roofing takes it's toll !!! it's the angle you have to work at that's the killer, as our bodies are only accustomed to working on horizontal surfaces most of the time your muscles only develop to suit this. add a strange angle and it all gets to much

rhoward

09-21-2008, 04:14 PM

Afternoon everyone!

Philip I will have to look up the story of the little country church that was being painted by its members............ Seems somehow appropriate.

According to the weather people it is 63°F outside right now with a high of 66° this afternoon. Cloudy with a small chance of a thunderstorm later on. So, why is there a definite mist falling out of the sky? Just enough to have you turn on the windshield wipers every now and then..............

Since it is icky outside, I may as well work on the layout. Have to be down there and wash some clothes anyway, so.............

Have a great day!

Trussrod

09-21-2008, 05:45 PM

Good morning from Coarsegold, at a cool but very comfortable 50*f.

Glad to see/hear that everyone is enjoying themselves.

Jim - You Asked:
David. I keep meaning to ask you, do you take Paypal?

No, in order to offer the best pricing I can, the only way I can determine to conduct business is to supply the items directly to the customer without incurring any additional expense than necessary.

While there my be a bit of uncertainty as to weather to trust me in sending a check or money oreder in advanse to me it must be remembered that I also stand to loose in this deal too!

Suppose I order product a customer states they want and then they don't pay for it? That means I'm stuck with the merchandise or have to pay a restocking fee to my supplier to send it back. This has already happened to me here but I hesitated to mention any name. I'm very sure if I even tried to do this once it woul be all over the forum and rightly so! No, I have No intention of cheating anybody! But now I'm stuck with un wanted merchandise from this past indicent, so you see the pendulum swings both ways!
Also how about if a customer sends me a bad check that I try to deposit, I'm the looser in this situation too as far as time and loss of money the bank requires and their charges are pretty steep.

A costomers canceled check or money order will prove payment was accepted and I will ship via USPS or UPS with signature required to verify delivery was made.

Speaking of PayPal:
I won the bid on an item on ebay and went through Paypal and the Clown I won the bid from didn't send the merchandise after I'd pay for it so even that avenue doesn't really guarantee anything either as far as being sure what was ordered is received. That also cost me time and loss of income to get my money back too so even these systems don't offer any real surity.

Anybody who is trying to build reputation, as I am, would an idiot to do something like intentionly trying to cheat a member/s on a forum like this!
How long would it be before the word was posted not to trust me? About 2 SECONDS, 'I'm sure', and rightly so.

But that won't be happening as I won't give anyone any reason to do so!

Of course I could also start a list of members who have wronged me so others could also see what's going on? I believe they say, 'Turn Around IS Fair Play'?
Well lets just say I hope I don't have to get to that point as I don't want to.
> > >

Hope everyone has a good week ahead and happy railroading!

vato loco

09-21-2008, 06:26 PM

Well my son has been tring ot for the football team at his new school. He never played the game before but the coach must have seen something in him........He made the cut. Because he's only in 6th grade and new to the game he made third string/practice team His pos. is left guard! I'm impressed! Pic's below of him in his home game uniform with his grand parents! I call him spongbob football pant's:D I hope he likes the game enough to stay with it!:) We're saving up for the wifes sinus polyup surgery so that's on a slight hold for now. The weather here is slowly changing 6 more weeks of hot humid weather left. Hope you guys are doing well!

rhoward

09-22-2008, 01:04 AM

Well, well, well! There is a troll attack going on across the street and this place has been empty most of the day......... Looks like Al has come back to pay a visit over there.

Chris congrats to your son for making the team. It should be a great experience for him and with some work this year, he just might make first string next year!

I have spent most of the afternoon playing phone tag with a soprano........... She wanted to make a quick demo CD for a pre-audition at an opera company but wasn't able to make all the needed connections to do that tomorrow. She does want to make a CD with my business sometime this October. Down cellar, I am making up some more fascia panels to tidy up the look of the place. Waiting on some supplies to get some other work done. Luck I have a multitude of ought to get dones down there not to mention a lot of outdoor stuff that has to be done this Fall. Lucky there are 6 Saturdays in every week for me.

leghome

09-22-2008, 07:39 AM

Well the Walnut tree is down and into several hundred pcs. My SIL is tremendous help. He cleared all the of the brush away while my neighbor kept his chain saw fired up and cutting like a mad man. His chain saw is one wood eatin sun of a gun. I have never seen a chain saw go thru a 24" pc of log so fast. His saw was cutting twice as fast as mine was going thru the smaller stuff. I id rent a chain saw from the True Value Hardware I work at but got the bar caught as I was felling the tree and pinched the bar on the blade putting it out of commission before I hardly got started. Went to Tractor Supply and Menards looking for a replacement bar and came up empty handed. I bought a new chain saw while i was out and when I got back home Luke (my neighbor and Clint my SIL) had all of the brush cut off of the trunk and they were starting to log out the bigger stuff. The new saw will be returned today saving my self a few bucks. It is now 3:40AM and my shoulders ache, my elbows are throbbing and I can not sleep so here I am.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-22-2008, 09:20 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-22-2008, 10:02 AM

Good morning.

It's 72 and clear. The high will be in the upper 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/22/2008

Heat Index: 77°F
Humidity: 82%
Dew Point: 66°F

So Far Today
High: 74°F
Low: 72°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph NNE

Today High: 88 Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 80s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 65 Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly clear. Lows in the mid 60s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q186/forum-1/P1010008-13.jpg

tompm

09-22-2008, 12:12 PM

Good morning folks

It was 63 F as I head back to work this morning. Our high today will be 78 F and we will see the sun most of the time.

No modeling this weekend. My son and I did run some trains for a while Sunday night.

It was an extremely busy weekend otherwise. It started on Saturday morning with my son working at his 5th grade Car Wash. The proceeds help to pay for his school camping trip at the end of May. We then went to the Cradle of Birding Festival at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum with our Cub Scout Pack. There we saw some animal shows, and exhibits, and took a nature hike. From there we went to Governor Printz Park in Essington to partake in the Riverfront Ramble. We toured a pirate encampment and the kids played games. Sunday my son had his first JV football game. They lost 7 to 0 but they played a great game and it was one big play that won it for the other team. My son played the entire second half on offense. After the game he said it was the funnest and best game he has played in years. Afterwards we finally did the grocery shopping.

My daughter made the middle school 7th grade volleyball team!

I hope everybody has a good day.

OldGettysk

09-22-2008, 02:20 PM

Good Morning Fellas ! It's sunny and a bit cool here in Western New York , suppose to hit 67 . A great start to fall . Went picking apples yesterday . A bushel and a half . Boy they always taste good right off the tree. Now much else going on but have to go out and cut the grass with all the rain . Hope you all have a good day !!!!Oh yeah went to my sisters House . Her son is off to Germany after completing jump school training . Her other son just came back from Iraq where he got awarded the Bronze Star , We are very proud of them both !!!!

rhoward

09-22-2008, 02:28 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Flo I'll just have coffee this morning while I'm munching on one of those apples Paul brought in earlier.

Welcome to Fall everyone (except you folks down under.....). It is a beautiful crisp fall day here in the Finger lakes. Pretty much what Paul is having over in Western, NY. Currently 55°F with a high of 66° later on. I have a lot of odds and ends to work on today and then a Pack Committee meeting to attend tonight so i will be kept busy.

Hope each of you has a great day!

Steve B

09-22-2008, 04:01 PM

Congratulations to Chris and Tom, good sporting achievements your children have earned gents, bet your very proud.

Paul picked my apples last week, boy there was a fantastic harvest this year, last year i got two apples off one tree, this year i got around 70 !!! from the same tree

jeffrey-wimberly

09-22-2008, 06:09 PM

last year i got two apples off one tree, this year i got around 70 !!! from the same tree
The more apples you pick, the more will grow the next year. Works the same for pear trees too.

Steve B

09-22-2008, 08:50 PM

Hopefully i won't be around to pick them,,, i better re phrase that, hopefully i'll be in New Zealand by then :)

Tonights task was to shoe horn a 4-1/2" monster speaker into the Tiger Tank, not a job for the faint hearted, had to cut the gun elevation unit down, trim the battery box and so on, tomorrow I'll mount the speaker so it can't move,,, and fix the wiring down. the base sound from this baby is awesome, i'm going to leave the spare speaker wire connection hand so i can plug it into an amp through the stereo,, it'll shake the house down
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/pics005.jpg

UP2CSX

09-23-2008, 03:01 AM

Evening, everyone.

Been busy today moving most of my cash assets to CD's and hoping that they stay in one piece. I've already lost at least 3 cents on the dollar in one money market fund and I think a lot more are about to go under. It's nerve wracking but I think I've now done everything within my power to protect what have. What happens next is up to God. At least from today's trading, it appears the market is not at all calmed by the so-called bailout plan.

Chris, the boy looks like he'll be a tough linesman. I'll bet he hits hard. :eek:

Tom, sounds like you are developing a real family of athletes.

Phillip, I'll bet you guys hustled on the roof when the lighting started. You have more trust in the Lord than me - I would have been down off that roof in a heartbeat. Glad you were able to get the whole job done, although I'm sure your body is paying for it today.

Paul, good luck to your nephew and I'm glad the other one is back from the war zone. Must be a pretty brave soldier to get the Bronze Star. Thank goodness for young people like them who are out there defending my sorry butt! I sure miss my apple trees. We had four of them and this was apple picking time. My late wife made the world's best apple pies. My current wife makes the world best peach cobbler so I think I break even calorie-wise. :)

Ray, sounds like a great start to fall up there. I wish our washing machine was in the basement with the train so I'd have an excuse to throw a load in and then play with the trains for an hour. Unfortunately, we have a laundry room upstairs so I still get to help with the wash but don't get to have any fun while doing so.

Steve, I'm sure your wife is going to be thrilled the first time she hears that Tiger start up through the stereo system. I suspect the first time will be the last time while she's around. :) Looks like way too complicated a job for me to get done anyway.

Rex, I didn't know that Tuscaloosa was rated so high in High School football. They are actually rate #22 in the USA Today poll. Prattville isn't ranked yet because of our loss to St. Xavier, which fell out of the top 25 for the first time in 11 years. Alabama is rated 6 or 8, depending what poll you believe, which is the highest ranking the Tide has gotten since the glory days of Gene Stallings, I think. So far, so good.

Fall got off to a clear and slightly warm start down here with a high of 92 but still with low humidity so it was actually comfortable in the shade. It should get down into the high 50's tonight, which will be the coolest overnight temperatures since mid-May if it comes true.

That tropical disturbance over Puerto Rico is getting better organized and may become a hurricane by Thursday. It's dumped about 20 inches of rain on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands since Saturday. It still looks like that Mid-Atlantic states low may pop out into the Atlantic by the weekend, just in time to join up with what will be Kyle. If that happens, it could mean tropical storm conditions for everyone from the Carolinas up to Maine so best keep an eye on the forecast if you live along the east coast.

Steve B

09-23-2008, 05:16 AM

Jim hopefully your wrong about the markets for your sake, fingers crossed for ya'll on that side of the pond,,, off to work and it's nice and frosty

RexHea

09-23-2008, 05:17 AM

Good evening everyone!
Nice reading everyone's posts and glad most seem to be doing well. I am still ballasting and with much more to do. I believe a break is due any time and will work on the scenic side of the Mountain View depot and maybe do a few building kits just for a change. The depot area is the one that I have asked about building roads for. BTW: What is the 1950's width of a city street. 24, 26 feet? more? :confused:

JIM:...Alabama is rated 6 or 8, depending what poll you believe.
Jim, you always pick the poll that favors your team.:D :D
Saturday night against #3 Georgia will show us just how much moxy Bama has. There is always a good chance for a win, but even a well played and close game will shine for the Tide.

UP2CSX

09-23-2008, 06:19 AM

Rex, if you're asking about standard city arterial street, it would have been 41 feet curb to curb within a 60 foot right of way. That grew over the years to a standard of about 50 feet in a 67 foot right of way. 41 feet is about 5.6 inches wide in HO, which you'll probably find too large to fit in your town. I've found about 4 inches still looks OK and you can fit more roads and scenery in the same space. You'll need an extra 1/2" per side for curbs and sidewalks.

There is no poll that favors my team - Ohio State sucks this year! :mad: It's just that the USA Today Poll and the AP Poll move Alabama a little up or down. I agree about Georgia though. A win will put Alabama in the top five and a well played game will at least keep them in the top 10. A blowout by Georgia won't be a good thing.

David, I forgot to include in my previous post that you were reading too much into my question about you taking paypal. I meant in no way to question your honesty or reliability. If you did take paypal, I could pay with my credit card, whcih gives me airline miles. Nothing more than that. I can pay you with an electronic check just as easily.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-23-2008, 09:17 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-23-2008, 10:48 AM

Good morning.

It's 71 and clear. The high will be in the upper 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

This morning I'll be going to see a certified orthotist about having a pair of shoes made. I can't just go to a shoe store and pick out a pair that I like. I wish I could. The last pair lasted 2 years and cost $350 - EACH! I don't know how much the new ones will cost. Today's visit is just to do the measurements and have the castings made. The castings will be sent to a company (in New York I think) that makes custom molded diabetic footwear. A pair of molds will be made from the castings and sent back here for a test fitting. They will then be sent back to the maker along with whatever notes and adjustments the doc comes up with. This information will then be used in the making of the shoes. Wanna know who's paying for all this? You - the American taxpayer. Thank you for making this possible.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/23/2008

Heat Index: 70°F
Humidity: 84%
Dew Point: 65°F

So Far Today
High: 74°F
Low: 70°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 7mph E

Today High: 88 Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 80s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 65 Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 60s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010211.jpg

tompm

09-23-2008, 12:31 PM

Good morning folks

The van thermometer read 56 F as I hit the asphalt. We are supposed to go up to 72 F. Mostly sunny today but rain is supposed to be coming later this week.

No modeling last night.

I had to spend some time getting Cub Scout awards from the summer together for tomorrow’s meeting. We also had to run out a get a few things for the meeting.

I hope everybody has a good day.

OldGettysk

09-23-2008, 02:10 PM

Good Morning ALL ! Another nice day here in our part of the good old USA . A bit cold this morning but going up to 72 with plenty of sun . Not much Else going on . Jim here's hoping the market turns up soon . It galls me that we have to bail out these idiots and the government let them do it to begin with . Sure wish they would bail us out when we make stupid decisions . Well enough of a rant .Hope you all have a nice day !!!!

rhoward

09-23-2008, 03:12 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Paul absolutely agree! I don't want to get started..............

Another crisp Fall day here in the Finger Lakes. Currently 59°F under sunny skies with a high of 69°F later in the day. I have to start the truck up and take her downtown to be inspected today. I may cruise the city a bit and glean some firewood that is setting at the curb as well.

See everyone later!

OldGettysk

09-23-2008, 03:38 PM

Ray too bad you don't live by me. There's a lumber yard right up the street and they leave pallets out for pick up all the time .Here's the fruits of our labor . My wife Gloria picking apples and Buddy all tired out after a day of apple picking ;) ;)

jeffrey-wimberly

09-23-2008, 05:25 PM

Got the visit to the doc out of the way for now. The fitting wasn't scheduled for today. It was mainly getting the paperwork out of the way. Somewhere along the line there was a foul-up in communications. The dos got the message that I needed diabetic shoes. What I need are custom molded shoes. Big, big difference there. I go back next Tuesday (30th) for measurements and to have castings made.

Steve B

09-23-2008, 06:37 PM

Frosty start them wham,,, 70+ degrees ???,
the children have all got a nasty tummy bugs and were sent home from school today,,, Y-U-K. The wife saw the consultant, she say's it was nothing, no problems on the scans, he wants her to wear a recording machine for 24 hours to be sure but i'd say it'll be fine.

Steve B

09-23-2008, 06:38 PM

For you Bama guy's
Roll Tide

rhoward

09-23-2008, 06:54 PM

Hey Steve that is sure good news on the wife! I have been wondering how she has been doing. Hope your kids are feeling better. I had something disagree with me last night just about the time I was heading out the door to a pack committee meeting. Came back in the house and went to the "reading" room. Then I called them and said they wouldn't want me around. Then went back to the little room some more. I am much better today, must have been somethin' I et....

UP2CSX

09-23-2008, 08:12 PM

Jeffrey, I don't mind helping to pay for your shoes. This is why we have things like Medicare and SSDI - to help out people who really need it.

Now, when it comes to this idiodic $700 billion bailout, that's another whole story. The taxpayer should not be the one absorbing the losses from bad business decisions. The fallout from the economy unwinding is going to be painful for the worlwide economy but we need to let the weak fail so the strong can take over their poorly managed assets. It's going to be painful in the short run but we'll be much better off in the long run. Things are still going to fail, the only difference is the taxpayer will have another few trillion in debt piled on them while they still lose their jobs and houses. Trying to manage a worldwide economy is like trying to control a hurricane.

Paul, that's a might fine looking orchard you have there. Are all those trees yours? Looks like you could open a nice fruit stand.

Steve, that's good news that the scans turned out fine on your wife. She'll wear a Holter monitor that will pick up any unusual, short-lived heart rythym disturbances but I think the results from that will be fine too. I'll still keep her in my prayers. Sorry about the kids but they'll be fine once the bug goes away.

Ray, funny you should mention it but I had some kind of short-lived GI upset yesterday too. I don't know if it was something I ate or a bug but I got some extra reading done in the library too. :eek:

Only got down to 67 so our promised cool down didn't quite happen. It's 89 now but still nice with the low humidity. We really need rain again, with no rain for the past three weeks and nothing on the horizion for at least a week. Plenty of rain in the Caribbean though, and that disturbance still looks like it has hurricane possibilities although it's starting to behave a little strange. I'm still betting you guys on the east coast have some wild weather for the weekend.

rhoward

09-24-2008, 01:26 AM

Well, looks like Al is back again over across the street impersonating Jeffrey again.......... Doing a very bad job of it as well.... LOL Poor guy needs help big time!

I have spent most of the evening finishing a batch of CDs for a school customer. Got them all burned, packed, and ready to be delivered. Didn't find time to scavenge for wood around town, but did start cleaning out the second driveway of sawdust and wood chips so my son can put his trasiler back in it and let my lawn recover (not to mention get mowed...).

Jim if you had a GI upset, I had a GI upset, and Steve's kids have it, maybe it's something Flo has been using here!?! Sure hope she doesn't get her milk and cream from China! :eek: :eek: :mad: Over there at least the person from the ministry of silly walks in charge of milk safety will probably get the firing squad. The CEOs of all our financial institutions screwing over the poor will end up getting a bonus! (I don't believe I just wrote that...:o )

leghome

09-24-2008, 01:37 AM

The trash men are going to love me in the morning. I have two very large containers of Walnuts sitting by the roadside. After they dump those two I will refill them when they come back down the other side of the street they will be filled again and ready for re dumping. I have never seen so many nuts off of that tree before and now I will never see another nut from that tree again thank the Lord and pass the chainsaw. All that is left in the yard is the 24" by 8' log that I hope to take to the saw mill and make it into project wood. I miss the shade already but another tree will be planted next year and maybe I can find a rapid growing variety that will not leave a mess for me to clean up.

UP2CSX

09-24-2008, 03:57 AM

Ray, I haven't checked in across the street but I'll have to see what Al is up to now. He can be a real hoot once gets a roll on. Maybe you're right about Flo...time to check here health inspection certificate. :)

Larry, sounds like quite a productive tree. Too bad it wasn't in an orchard some place instead of littering up your yard. I never will understand hwat makes people plant trees like walnuts in yards. Sounds like you have some nice walnut lumber once it's cut up and dried though, so I guess that's one good thing. Good walnut ain't cheap no more.

If you're looking for a fast growing, nice looking replacement, check out the Royal Empress tree at http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/EmpressTree.htm. Has beautiful flowers in the spring, nice big leaves for summer, and they are easy to clean up in the fall. It should grow fine in Indiana. We had one in Ohio and it was a really nice tree.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-24-2008, 09:20 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-24-2008, 11:14 AM

Good morning.

It's 72 and clear. The high will be in the upper 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/24/2008

Heat Index: 77°F
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 67°F

So Far Today
High: 74°F
Low: 72°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph ENE

Today High: 88 Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 80s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 62 Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 60s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

L&A 2273 leads two MGRy F7's through the south circle.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010023.jpg

tompm

09-24-2008, 02:00 PM

Good morning folks

It was 62 F as I finally headed to the office this morning. High today will be 75 F and sunny. According to the guessers this will be the last time we see the sun until Sunday as rain is moving in.

I am late today because I had to drop the van off for state inspection. Hopefully it won’t cost an arm and a leg. The only thing I am worried about is the brakes.

No modeling last night.

We had a scare last night at football practice. One of my son’s friends went down during a blocking drill and could not move. He lay on the ground for about 20 minutes while we waited for the ambulance. Just before the ambulance arrived he was able to get and stand with assistance. He did go to the hospital. My son was a little upset over it. I did not see what happened because my son was working with the quarterbacks and running backs at the time and I was watching him centering.

Tonight is our Cub Scout Recruitment Night. We are hoping to pick up about 8 to 10 new scouts. I am currently aware of new boys who will be showing and potentially a third boy. We hope to get our numbers up to 30 which will give us half the number of boys that were in the pack four years ago when my incompetent predecessors took over and almost killed the pack.

My daughter also has her first school volleyball game today.

I hope everybody has a good day.

OldGettysk

09-24-2008, 02:46 PM

Good Morning ALL ! Another beautiful day here on the Niagara Frontier . Wish I could bottle it up and use it this winter ! Sunny and 74 can't be beat . Jim that is an orchard that we pick apples at every year . I don't own it but it's really nicely kept. Tom football is a brutal sport . I played it in high school and some college and I would not let my son play when he was growing up . Sorry it's just my opinion . Last year we had a member of the Buffalo Bills who was hurt and through the graces of God and a good team of doctors he can walk again . Well have to get going . Hope you all have a nice day !!!!

UP2CSX

09-24-2008, 04:21 PM

Morning, everyone.

Tom, I sure hope that player is OK today. As Paul said, football can be a brutal sport at times. I was lucky never to have a serious injury when I played but I have friends who did and it was the luck of the draw, I guess. Neither of my two boys were interested in playing, which was OK with me.

Paul, that does look like a really nice orchard. We have some peach orchards down here where you can pick your own and we always enjoy that.

Morning, Jeffrey, looks like you're getting our sunny, warm weather too.

Wonder where Chris is? Must be our cutting even more lawns. :) And how about Chip (Spacemouse)? I haven't seen him for a while either.

It's breezy today but should get into the upper 80's. That tropical disturbance off the Dominican Republic is trring to get tis act together but it is under a lot of wind shear and I'm not sure it will make it to hurricane status. I still expect to see whatever it becomes join with the low that will develiop offshore from North Carolina and give the east coast fits this weekend so start tying things down now.

The market is up 8 whole points this morning. Maybe everything will turn out to be just fine. :rolleyes:

jeffrey-wimberly

09-24-2008, 04:33 PM

Football is what screwed my right knee up. In a game I was in while in high school an player on the opposing team lunged for me and caught me right at the knees, folding my right knee backwards and breaking the shin bone three inches below the knee. Ever since then that leg has never been right and has always caused me problems.

Steve B

09-24-2008, 05:28 PM

Afternoon all, great day today with loads of sun, pity all three kids are sick,,,
Ray i have the pick of three reading rooms to choose from :) glad your better

rhoward

09-24-2008, 06:05 PM

Afternoon everyone!

I have had a busy morning today. My son and my granddaughter showed up just as I finished my coffee. He has been busy finishing painting the hull on the old sailboat i got for him several years ago. I got to watch Livy while he finished up the primer. She wasn't happy as she thought Dada was going to leave her here and go someplace without him. She is daddy's little girl! She was fine playing with me once she found out Dada wasn't leaving. Then I went to get a haircut and got there to find 4 people ahead off me. On the way home I picked up another sheet of tempered Masonite for the fascia on the layout. My son is back this afternoon (minus Livy) to put on the final coat of paint on the boat. Hopefully this weekend we will be able to get it back on the trailer and out of the yard (into my driveway).

My father played town team football back in the 1930's before padds and face guards. He was knocked out by a collision with another players knee directly on his nose. Of course back then "real" men didn't go to a doctor for m inor little injuries like that. He waited 3 or 4 days and then went to doc. He was lucky, if he had been hit from a slightly different angle the blow could have killed him. Needless to say I wasn't allowed to play Football in HS. I did play soccer though. Only intramural as they didn't have interscholastic soccer around here back then. My sons were both runners and were in track and cross country. Running 8 to 10 miles was nothing for them...... Took after their mom I think.

I have been wondering what has happened to Chris as well.... Hope he is OK. Spacemouse hasn't been around over here in quite a while. I think his business and family have been keeping him very busy.

Have a great day everyone!

Trussrod

09-24-2008, 09:13 PM

Good afternoon to all from Coarsegold, Ca.
I see everyone has been busy in one form or another as have I. More brush cutting of at least a couple hundred Tarr Weed plants divided between two locations. Thank God for the MTD/Yardman 4 cycle Weedeater and brush blade. It's a detachable shaft, splits in half, to attach differend attachments
and head. The great thing about it is that it's very quiet operating in compareson to many so it very enjoyable to use and plenty of power.

As far as working on the C & S West Short line I've come to the conclusion that my hold up is the fact I put down butcher paper on the section that I photographed earlier and I've been debating on what to do next as I'm used to working with Celotex which has an White suface that I would draw my track work on and then begin to glue the ties directly to the celotex in areas
where the track is at ground level as the main line is at this section but the buthcer paper [BP] which has the trackplan drawn on it is not secured to the insulation board beneath it and I've come to the conclusion I'd better take the BP off and paint the surface of the Sound board a light to medium tan so I can transfer the track plan on it directly and work as usual. The loose paper
was a bad idea although cheap as I already had it on hand. Oh well, live and learn.

Jim, You said" David, I forgot to include in my previous post that you were reading too much into my question about you taking paypal. I meant in no way to question your honesty or reliability. If you did take paypal, I could pay with my credit card, whcih gives me airline miles. Nothing more than that. I can pay you with an electronic check just as easily.

I'll have to check with my bank to see how that works as that would solve a lot of problems an possibly make folks feel more secure, and provide me with a positive way to know the items have been paid for in advance just like using a credit card only cheaper I imagine if there is any charge at all?
Thanks for the thought!

I'll let everyone know under my advertisment once I find out for sure.

Hope everyone has a good day!

Remember, Freight damage occurs due to a heavy hand on the Johnson Bar or Throttle when coupling so don't ge too agressive. I learned this first hand at an SP yard when an engin friend let me run the 1500? Diesel he was assigned. You could hear the Oil canning for quite a lond distance I was told!
Oh, I gave him back the throttle after that. That was my second time to couple, the first wasn't too bad, too cofident and wham.

pcarrell

09-24-2008, 11:10 PM

OK, so something happened today that still has me reeling.

I had lunch with my friend Chris, who just happens to be the pastor of our church. It was lunch at my usual place, nothing special. Thing is, by the end of the lunch, I had become the new associate pastor of our church!

There has been a little talk back and forth about stuff, and I've been praying for God to open a door for my ministry training that I've been doing, so in that sense it's not a huge surprise. I just was waiting on God to open the door, and then today the door is not only open, but the red carpet is rolled out.

It's quite humbling, and it comes with a huge sense of awe and responsability. In a sense, there's almost some relief too, since now I can move forward in ministry with God's blessing.

Wow.......I need to go pray!

OldGettysk

09-24-2008, 11:53 PM

Philip that is good news , You will be in my prayers and mya God continue to guide your way ! here's some pictures of a really beautiful day on the Niagara River !!!!!;) ;)

rhoward

09-25-2008, 12:35 AM

Howdy again......

Philip congratulations on become an associate pastor. May you be a very real blessing to your membership and your community in that role! I will keep you in my prayers for blessings on your work.

Nice photos Paul!

I managed to get a sack of corn at a Mennonite Farm stand nearby and have been busy canning corn all evening. Since it takes 70 minutes of cooking at 10 lbs. pressure it takes more time than beans and some other veggies. But the price was right and their corn has been great this year. I am on the second batch right now and will do the rest in the morning. Total right now of 13 pints, should get about 5 more.

Closest I got to model railroading today was carrying the 4' x 8' sheet of masonite down the cellar steps.........

RexHea

09-25-2008, 01:08 AM

Heard some good news from the Daughter. They finally got there power back on in their N. Houston neighborhood.

Say what you will about football and injuries, but there are many plus's gained by a youngster by playing that outweigh the small chance of serious injury:self discipline, self esteem, teamwork, courage, learning that hard work is rewarded, etc. Yes, some of this can be had by other sports, but none require the amount of fortitude learned in football. Besides, many of the injuries you know of, could have been prevented with proper conditioning and training. I played from Jr. High through High School with many bumps and bruises and don't regret a minute and I didn't have to change my panties after a game like in soccer.:rolleyes:

Time to listen to the Prez about the you know...

Cjcrescent

09-25-2008, 01:30 AM

Sorry I ain't been around lately fellas. I had a relapse on my GI infection and then last Thurs we got news that my wife's Mom had died suddenly. We had the funeral Saturday and we're all still in shock.

Things still hectic, so gotta go for now.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-25-2008, 08:54 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-25-2008, 10:50 AM

Good morning.

It's 66 and clear. Today's high will be in the mid 80's and it will be mostly sunny (isn't that like, partly cloudy?).

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/25/2008

Wind Chill: 65°F
Humidity: 77%
Dew Point: 58°F

So Far Today
High: 69°F
Low: 65°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 5mph NE

Today High: 85 Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 60 Mostly clear. Lows around 60. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010040.jpg

tompm

09-25-2008, 01:06 PM

Good morning folks

It was a chilly 57 F as I ventured onto the road this morning. High today will be 68 F with a lot of rain coming. It may rain clear through the weekend.

No modeling last night.

My daughter had her first school volleyball game yesterday. Her school won 25-21 and 25-17. She played on the 1st team which played the first game. She did good in her first ever interscholastic contest. Her serves still need work. She did have a couple of good digs and sets. (I now have to learn a whole new sports vocabulary.) Considering two weeks ago she had never played a game of volleyball I was impressed.

We also had our Cub Scout Recruitment Night. We signed up 5 new scouts. This puts us back at the same number we had last year when our Webelos 2’s crossed over.

Tonight looks like football practice in the rain.

I hope everybody has a good day.

OldGettysk

09-25-2008, 02:59 PM

Good Morning from Sunny and still beautiful Western New York ! Another fall day with lots of sun and temperatures in the low seventies. The calm before the North easterner hits . Ray I'll be over for some of your can goods. use to do allot myself but have not lately . just got back for the Farmer's Market and I'm going to stuff some green peppers. Carey my prayers are with you and your family at your loss. We just lost my Mother In law this past spring but she had been sick for a long time. It's hard no matter when . well my water is boiling so have to run .Hope you have a real nice day .

rhoward

09-25-2008, 03:22 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Paul stuffed green peppers....... Mmmmm Maybe I'll make up some myself tonight.

Tom with the program you have planned, I bet the pack will show some growth this fall. Reminds me, I need to get to work on a couple promotional slide shows. Congrats on your daughter's team win!

I need to finish canning the corn while it is still good this morning and then make a quick trip to a school south of here to deliver a box of CDs. So I best get moving. Oh, and the weather here is exactly the same as Paul said only a couple hours later.......

jeffrey-wimberly

09-25-2008, 04:48 PM

We're minus a neighbor here. My neighbor across the road to the south of me passed on last night. He was in his 90's. He kept going right on up to the end. I saw him working out in the yard Tuesday afternoon.

UP2CSX

09-25-2008, 06:11 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

CJ, sorry to hear you've been sick and my deepest sympathy to your wife and the family. Losing a parent is never easy. :(

Phillip, congratulations on your associate pastor appointment. You've always seemed like the kind of guy that I'd go to for spiritual guidance so I'm sure they have made a good choice.

Paul, clear blue skies on the Niagara River...and it's not 10 below zero. :) Can't ask for better than that.

Ray, I can't believe some woman hasn't snatched you up yet. Just your canning skills alone make you prime husband material. :D

Rex, glad to hear your daughter has power again. I know how grateful I feel when we get power back when it's only been off a few hours. I imagine it's a real relief for them. I don't regret playing high school football either. I suffered my share of bumps and bruises but there is something about being something bigger than yourself, with everyone working toward a common goal. I've learned many of the lessons of being part of a football team and used them in my adult life.

Jeffrey, sorry about neighbor but he sounds like my kind of guy. I wouldn't mind living until 90 if I could still be out doing what I liked every day.

Looks like the boys on Capitol Hill have worked out something that resembles a bailout plan. No one know the details yet or what points of contention are still on the table but the market is up 250 points. Sometimes even the stock market lives on hope.

Another nice day here in Dixie with a temperature of 86 and low humidity. It did actually get down to 57 last night, which is the coolest temperature we've had since May 17th. No sign of rain here but you guys for North Carolina up the coast are going to get some really high winds and rain this weekend. The low is extratropical so it doesn't qualify for a name but it would be a tropical storm if it had formed a few hundred miles further south.

rhoward

09-25-2008, 06:21 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

Ray, I can't believe some woman hasn't snatched you up yet. Just your canning skills alone make you prime husband material. :D

Just lucky I guess......;) ;) :D

Jeffrey sorry to hear you lost a neighbor, but 90's and still on your own. That's a great lifetime. My personal hero is a local Black Artist who is still in his own house, mows his own lawn, shovels his own snow, and gets upset when I try to gentle him out of moving tables and chairs by himself helping with set up for our MLK Dinner. He is 95 or 96 not sure which. And, I might add, a true gentleman and a friend to all!

RexHea

09-26-2008, 05:00 AM

Whoa! Did you see it....?
No.1 Southern Cal soundly defeated by Unranked Oregon State 27-21
Just more proof that preseason polls are worthless. The preseason polls are only based on are past statistics, hypothetical situations with untested teams, wishful thinking, and down-right favoritism. Heck, we shouldn't have any polls until October.:p Come-onnnn BCS poll. You ain't perfect, but you are better. :D

Jim: The main problem I had in football was everyone kept growing while I stopped.......only my bruises got bigger:D :D .

Hey, if some of you haven't tuned in on the thread "Ideas for making a Highway", you should. Jim, Ken, Jos, and several others have made some very good contributions to that thread.

Well, my modeling is still going on with ballasting and some ground cover. I am also involved in wiring with a couple more detection blocks. These are booger bears, as they have two, very DCC troublesome, handlaid, two connected, inline turnouts, i.e. this equals gapping, jumpers, power feeds, smoke test;)

Bed time. CUL:)

Steve B

09-26-2008, 08:40 AM

Medicals today for NZ, so on starvation for fasting blood tests,,, LOL i'm starving

jeffrey-wimberly

09-26-2008, 09:47 AM

Good morning.

It's 66 and clear. The high should be in the mid 80's with plenty of sunshine.

I have to take my mother's car to the dealership in DeRidder this morning to find out why the check engine light won't go off. The local mechanic can't tell why because the cars computer won't let his computer in. My father is gonna follow me there in his car so we'll be coming back together. That's good. I'll have him stop at Wal-Mart so I can get a loaf of bread and some cheese. I cleaned off the layout yesterday and found the other tracks again. Gave it all a good vacuuming to remove the excess WS ground foam that's been spreading around from the areas I've been working on.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/26/2008

Wind Chill: 66°F
Humidity: 74%
Dew Point: 58°F

So Far Today
High: 69°F
Low: 66°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 7mph NNE

Today High: 85 Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 55 Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010055.jpg