Running Bear's Coffee Shop LVII


Good morning,
To all who are asking and wondering about me, I'm still here. I had all day chemo yesterday so I came home and slept most the rest of the day. Didn't have anything to do anyway.
I try to check in every couple days or so but perhaps I missed a couple.
I have to say, life is dam sure boring here. Having none of my stuff with me doesn't help of course. Sure makes time go really SLOOOWWWW.
Come to find out Sunday late afternoon while returning with Dad from a country drive exploring that one of my old running-buddy/girl-friends lives about 200 yards from Dad's house at the end of the road. I'm sure we'll cross paths if she doesn't already know I'm back in town.

Other than that I'm trying to figure out how to get my stuff here and where to put what I keep. I wondering if Dad would let me build a detached train-room/"E's Hideout". 12x12' or 14x14' would be pretty good enough I would think. Enough for the train I have (maybe squeeze a little bigger... shhhh) and store other stuff up in some rafters.
I am not at all against dismantling the existing layout so long as I take it apart and label everything.
We'll see.

Not to worry guys. I'm generally around all day lurking and reading. Unfortunately I'm not having a lot to say on the train front except that you all have been posting some dam cool pics recently.

I'm not much for phone calls these days anymore. In fact I'm not much for speaking at all. Some days my speech just won't come out clear no matter how hard I try. I know people mean well (including Mom & Dad) when they act like they knew what I just said even after I ask. It's so easy to tell when someone doesn't understand what you just said.
So sometimes I'll just go ahead and hand write and just keep completely to myself.
It's frustrating to be sure.
E.
 
So, old running buddy/girlfriend eh, can you do a good wolf whistle through that tube E, should get you noticed. Things must be improving if thoughts are drifting in that direction, plus a reawakening of plans for your trains. That's all good signs.
 
Good morning. It's clear and 45.
We seem to have gone from air conditioner season last week, to furnace season this week. We normally go for roughly a month between the two, with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s.
 
tootnkumin said:
So, old running buddy/girlfriend eh, can you do a good wolf whistle through that tube E, should get you noticed. Things must be improving if thoughts are drifting in that direction, plus a reawakening of plans for your trains. That's all good signs.
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Shoot Toot! You WAY over estimate me!! Ain't no way I'm going chasing girls. I wouldn't be able to do anything about it even if I caught one.

As for the trains, the enthusiasm never left. I'm just kind of stuck trying to figure out what to do and how to get it did.
It's all of a 9 hour drive back to Acworth from here. Then it'll take me the better part of 2 days to take it all apart. In the mean time I would hope to have plenty of help (at least my Dad and Brother Bill) to be loading the truck.
Logistically it's a huge pain in the ass. Niether me or Dad would be of great physical help.

..... and to be doing all this moving in the middle serious chemotherapy and high stage oral cancer.....
Hey! Maybe all this talk would just scare the cancer out of me!!!
Unfortunately I don't think it works that way!!
...sigh...

I do like the idea of my own detached hideout.
E
 
BigE said:
I do like the idea of my own detached hideout. E
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I worked for a company in NZ that made pre-fab timber framed, sheetmetal clad garages and small buildings, They became popular as additional housing. Demand increased so much they modified them into small houses or what's sometimes referred to as granny flats. (The granny would be optional).
 
Good Morning All. A little warmer this morning at 51° and clear. High today is supposed to get back into the mid-80's. Back to mowing the yard after the rain Friday. I was interrupted when my grandsons came to visit yesterday since they were off from school. They brought their new dog along for a visit to the country. Of course the puppy puked in the car on the way; never had made a trip that far before. The boys were excited about that!
Out in the train shed, I just had some time for detailing a structure and tested track on the latest addition. Found a small gremlin...a missing rail joiner!
I am preparing for a short vacation that I will be taking shortly. Headed for Gulf Shores AL for a couple of days during their "Shrimp Fest". While there, I will be visiting the Foley AL railroad museum a few miles north (been there before). Besides some real railcars, they have a 24' x 60' "O" scale layout that is fully operational, that was bequeathed to them. On the way home I will be visiting another one in Gulfport MS that I haven't seen before; and a third one in Jackson MS that I also haven't seen before. Both of them have operational "HO" & "N" layouts as well. Maybe there will be room on the camera's memory card after the beach shots that I will be sure to take!
Curt - Great picture of the new TOFC's.
Mel - Sad about the pedestrian. I don't necessarily think that the victim didn't hear the horn, but that he/she just wasn't paying attention. Happens all over the place, not just RR tracks.
Ray - You are correct sir. An acquaintance of mine who is an engineer for BNSF has told me that it comes up in their training that it will happen to every one of them. So far he has only hit four-legged bovines.
Terry - Thanks for the update on Sherrel. At least he can proceed.
Eric - Glad to hear from you. Keep looking at the bright side. One great thing about the Internet is that you can spend endless hours looking at videos of other folks layouts. Not exactly a substitute for working on your own, but it could be good therapy. Detached hideouts are good. That's what my train shed has evolved into. In five years, my wife has only visited me out there 3-4 times.

Everyone have a great day.

Willie
 
Good morning ...

Eric ... It will be great when you eventually have your stuff there with you and perhaps your own little building. In the meantime, you may wish to find a small project to occupy your time. ... I am remembering when I was recovering from injuries caused by a drunk driver. That is when I built a HO passenger station from a Fine Scale Miniatures kit. It was one of those craftsman kits with a zillion detail parts and took a long time to build. ... Maybe you can think of a fun project to fill the time. ...... It may be very good to re-establish an old friendship. It would not have to be romantic and stuff like that. ..... Sorry to hear it is hard to talk. Do you use pen and paper to communicate with family?..... I encourage you to continue your fight against this enemy. Praying for you!

Mel ..... That is sad about the person being killed. There is a lesson for others to learn. .... I have heard from locomotive engineers about trains hitting people. Never good. .... Once, I was in the cab of a GP9 when it hit a pickup truck. The truck lost. .... It is good to have a view of an active track from your house for train watching except in this instance.

Curt .... Not to worry.... There were other reasons already that were making the FL trip questionable. One big problem was were were going to meet one of our daughters with her family in Orlando, and they postponed for several reasons in addition to the hurricane. Without them going, we decided it would be better to wait anyhow. Because of the hurricane, the airline allowed us to use our money for other flights with no penalties or extra fees.
 
Good ???? morning. Starting the day off at 29 degrees with a high not expected to get out of the 30's. This is what I saw when I went to let the dogs out this morning.

IMAG0909.jpg

The weather sure did change yesterday afternoon. At 5 PM it was 68 degrees and by 7 PM the temp had dropped to 41 degrees with rain. Nothing like 6" of partly cloudy.

E - Good to see you coming to visit the coffee house. I'm sure all of us have been thinking about you. Really good to see that you haven't lost your interest in trains especially going through chemo.

Sherrel - Hope the doc's have a plan of attack. Waiting to hear from you.

Terry - Our window A/C unit was put away a couple of months ago.

Catch you later.
 
Good morning, 50° and sunny. It was cold enough for Frost last night, went to 34°.

Terry: We went right from AC to heat and right back to AC. Two weeks of neither, and now back to heat.

Eric: Good to see you posting.

Curt: LCL Train looks real good. Good job on the TOFC cars.

Chet: Oh, no. Not what you needed, eh?
 
Jees fellers, you all make it sound like I ain't been around hardly at all.
I promise I'm here all day. I'll make a future effort to at least chime in with a weather report in the mornings or when something interesting happens from now on.

Garry, I have thought about getting a little kit project but all my stuff is still in GA.
If I end up building an entirely different layout, I would have no idea what would be appropriate.

E
 
Good morning, it's 48 degrees in the Fraser Valley at 1030AM under beautiful clear skies. Our old cottonwood trees are starting to turn and create a wonderful showcase of colour. (Canadian for color).

Regarding the recent train/pedestrian death, out of the last three, the first one was a very old man who was suffering from dementia and was quite confused, the second WAS deemed a suicide and this third one is still under investigation. There is a constant stream of people walking on this track, I call it the "Canadian National Hiking Trail". There needs to be a proper walking/biking trail installed to offer an alternative to walking the tracks. CN should get involved.

ERIC- Good to see you are posting in the coffee shop, we are very happy to hear from you. As Garry suggested, building structures is a fun activity, and a great way to pass time. Even if they do not fit your "era", you could give them away to someone.

Still working on the big trestle in between working around the house, MOH's duty list and brownie point generator.

CHET- Southern Alberta got a big dump of snow yesterday, the roads became a total gong show.

Gotta go, MOH is calling.

Mel
 
Has anyone heard from Corey lately? I know he was going through a tough time and I haven't seen him post lately. Hope everything is ok with him.
 
I know it is not train related but this image I took yesterday a couple of blocks from my house I thought was kind of nice. I took it with my Samsung S7 cell phone. I did not have my good camera with me.

I call it "serenity"

20161010_154307.jpg

Mel
 
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Anyone remember me mention the other day about a possible old girlfriend sighting nearby?
Well, I was out doing a little running with Mom this afternoon and said something about getting a hot-fudge sundae so she took me the local ice cream stand.
Wouldn't you know.... there was Karen at the window. She owns the place. Pretty much still looks the same.
Of course she already knew all about me and my plight. I figured she would know. She's still good buddys with my brother ex. Several of the "old gang" from back in those ancient days keep in touch on FaceBook and I chime in once in a while so it's not surprising several would know.
I suppose I should check-in with FB and see if anyone has been posting anything at me.
It was good to see her again in any event.
E.
 
Afternoon All,

I had my VA appointment today. The numbers made my doctor happy especially my A1c (dropped 0.5 pt). I have a appointment in 2 weeks for the Shingles Vaccination and a EKG (required for Colonoscopy). I also found out my elbow issues I am having is Tendonitis or Tennis elbow. It should be MRR elbow!

I took a 2 hour nap today. I love retirement.

Chet- Another great photo. I had heard that Montana had received snow...you can definitely keep it!

Sherrel- I'm glad that you are on the right track for treatment.

Terry- Great way to put it.

Ken- The manifests and waybills sound like a real pain to do.

Eric- It was good to hear from you. Hang in there.

Willie- Have fun on your trip and stay safe.

Mel- Very peaceful picture.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Gary P ... Good question ... We should track down Corey and see if he is olay.
Mel.... That looks like a calendar photo. ... Beautiful.
Eric ... I think it will be good for you to catch up with friends. ....... Hot fudge sundae? Hmm.... I may have to go to Illinois !
 
GarryCBQ said:
Gary P ... Good question ... We should track down Corey and see if he is olay. Mel.... That looks like a calendar photo. ... Beautiful. Eric ... I think it will be good for you to catch up with friends. ....... Hot fudge sundae? Hmm.... I may have to go to Illinois !
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Come on up Garry. Jump on I-57 and take the Mattoon-Charleston exit and head towards Mattoon. Catch state road 121 west to Sullivan. Call me from anywhere in Sullivan and I'll talk you the rest of the way to the house.
E.
 
Regardless I got zero sleep last night, I've been surprising busy and in a pretty good mood.


And... let the billing begin.....
Got my first bill from services rendered here in IL already.
For a consultation done on 9/22 - $452.
I haven't even gotten any bills from Emory hospital or any doctors that serviced me there.


I'll bet I'm already in for nearly $20K.


There went my good mood and motivation.
Maybe I'll try for a nap. No doubt I really could use it.
E.
 
Eric
The bills be dammed! They can't put a price on your health. Tell em, if they want to get paid, they better fix you. That's their motivation!
 
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