Running Bear's October 2019 Coffee Shop


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Many thanks for the prayers and support, you guys are the greatest!

tootnkumin said:
What most Doctors advise here for constipation is to drink plenty of plain water, as in, not beverages. I didn't see any mention of possible Diverticulitis (pockets in the bowel). Not uncommon. They can trap undigested material and become inflamed. Depending on the severity, it can be treated with dietary changes. Glad to hear bringing in the Navy had the desired result.
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Ray, that was one of the things Vicky suspected at first, but there was no sign of it on the CAT scan; and it often only shows up during a colonoscopy, which she is scheduled to get in mid-November. GI doc also wants her to get an MREnterography (an MRI of the colon, pre-filled with barium) which the hospital was not equipped to perform.

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The whole ordeal of the past weekend has taken a toll on my own health as well. I first noticed this on Sunday morning, having learned [on Saturday night] that she wouldn't need surgery. After being strung-out on adrenaline for three days, I was too weak to participate at Mass - with all the "stand-up/sit-down/stand-up/kneel" motions, I felt dizzy. I desperately wanted to lay flat on the pew, but I needed to avoid that like the plague! Why, you ask? Because some well-intentioned-but-clueless churchgoer would see me and say "OMG he fainted, we gotta call 911!:eek:" Been thru that experience twice already, highly inconvenient and humiliating :mad:.

I emailed my supervisor last night and said I needed another day to de-compress; slept until 9:00am this morning and had on-and-off naps thru noon. Now I'm almost back to normal.
 
IronBeltKen said:
Ray, that was one of the things Vicky suspected at first, but there was no sign of it on the CAT scan; and it often only shows up during a colonoscopy, which she is scheduled to get in mid-November. GI doc also wants her to get an MREnterography (an MRI of the colon, pre-filled with barium) which the hospital was not equipped to perform.
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Yes, the Colonoscopy will reveal that, or not, good that it's scheduled soon. The MRI sounds like fun. Female Colon capacity near 3 pints. The stress and worry can really take it out of you, even the reaction to good news.
 
Willy, I had a good pace for my internal problems and they seem to be operating as usual. My skeletal problems are the issue. I don't think my body liked crawling in and out from under trucks doing a fleet inspection. Even with my high quality creeper and mechanics seat on wheels. Getting up and down wore me out. Add to that the hours spent going through, used parts, tires, fleet maintenance records and sitting writing my report. None of it was good for degenerative disk and joint disease.

The nor'easter passing through was mild, but the change in barometric pressure hit me hard. Now we have another front passing through. It was bad timing to exert myself. I got spoiled by the dry weather pattern. I felt stronger than I had in years. Once again I over estimated my capabilities and now I suffer. I should have taken a week off after the consulting job.

It was the "perfect storm". After doing the consulting job, later the same week I took a tour of Amazon's new distribution center. I ended up walking for 20+ minutes without a break, not good for me. The next day Amazon changed the system for picking up packages and their staff was not doing well with it. Rather than wait for them to bring my route I went and pulled it myself. I walked another 20+ minutes without a break through the huge warehouse.

I made more money in a few days consulting than I would working six months for Amazon. The consulting fees strengthened my safety net. I'm only one more medical catastrophe away from exhausting my cash reserve. I've been through three and I'm always trying to be ready for another. If it happens again I'm going to be too old to rebuild my cash. I won't be homeless or go hungry, but I don't want to worry about every dollar I spend.

If I want another $2000 Lionel Vision Line locomotive, I want to be able to buy it. I don't know what I will do with it, but that never stopped me before.

On the bright side; all I have to do is get rid of this swelling in my joints and back and I will be back on track. So far the swelling has not affected my circulation.

I can't take anti-inflammatory medications, it's just going to have to run it's course. God willing, time and faith will heal me.

I'm supposed to see my doctor by the end of the month for a regular visit. I have a pretty good idea of what he will say. If my blood work looks good like I suspect it will, I know what I will say; "pain won't kill me".

I used, abused and beat-down my body for much of my life, now I pay the price. Better to pay now than later.

Thanks for thinking of my Willie, :)
 
Good Morning Everybody!

It's 60 with 93% humidity under cloudy skies in southeast Baltimore.

Time to make some cream of wheat for my grandson, his favorite breakfast!

I hope I can come back after I take him to school.

Have a great day Everybody!

PS Chet, I'm sorry for the lack of pictures, it's been a rough start to the week. God willing I will post some later.
 
Richard Jahn - ‎Anthracite Railroads Historical Society
Hagerstown 1961 - family gathering:
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I'm thankful my health seems to be fairly good, considering what others are going through! I go to the VA and they are doing a good job of taking care of me; or, recommending where I should go to get checked out. I know that others have had bad experiences with the VA and I have no trouble believing what they say. However, my experience at the small VA Clinic I go to has been great.

Don't get me wrong I have my problems, too. It just seems that right now things seem to be working well! Good Luck to all and Flo, just a cup of Joe this A.M.
 
Good morning everyone. 42 and dark out there! Will only get into mid 50s today.

Tom, IB Ken, Chet, Willie, patrick, Flip, Wheeler, Garry, Sherrel, Curt, and anyone I may have missed - thanks for the likes and comments on my "progress photos" I posted yesterday. More today.
Willie - That storm damage in north Dallas is big news. Glad it didn't affect you. A couple of tornadoes touched down in this area, the closest one being about 15-20 miles from us. Still scary though. We just got a lot of debris. Tree damage in the city of Springfield and surrounds.
Chet - On my lumber yard - I bought two of those structures at train shows over the last two-three years, one with the office and one without. Paid $5 or $7.50 for each. Was going to have two yards, but decided to put them together and make one large yard. I think it works okay. I still have to cut some more scale wood to fill in the lumber bays.

Had some time in the train room last night. Ran trains for a little while and worked on that northside area - had to lift my arms every time a train went by ;) I landscaped the two hills in the background, put a forklift and driver on the dock, and added some workers and customers and a few trucks. Getting low on trucks so it looks like time for a trip to the LHS or online to order some vehicles and people. Here are some updated photos:

Again, for comparison, this is BEFORE:
DairyAndLumberyard1_Oct_2019.jpg

NOW:
NorthSideImprovementProgress_4.jpg


NorthSideImprovementProgress_5.jpg


That's it for now. Board dinner tonight, so won't get home until late. No trains tonight, looks like!:(
Have a good day everyone.
 
45F at 6:30AM. I don' think it changed much during the night. Forecast is to get to 60F today with partly cloudy. Will be warmest day since mid week last week, and supposed to get colder again. I relented and turned the heat on Sunday morning, 11 days earlier than I planned to (I always wait until Nov 1). I did it because we were having (and forecast to have) a longer cold spell with cloudy/rainy/"frozen-mix" weather forecast that would be harder to recover from during the day. One or two days of cold we can suffer through in October but longer it is harder. Happy wife, happy life.

Bruette said:
I can't take anti-inflammatory medications, it's just going to have to run it's course. God willing, time and faith will heal me.
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Tumeric / Curcumin is supposed to be a good anti-inflammatory. My wife's doctor mentioned it to her when they were talking about some finger joint issues (where she just had tests that ruled out rheumatoid arthritis). I already knew that but it was good validation to hear it from her doctor. I've been taking a couple tumeric pills a day for years now myself.
 
Good Morning All. 49° and clear skies here, although still dark. Another nice day coming up today with temperatures going up to the mid to upper 70's. Light breeze, perfect for raking leaves - wait, there are none yet! Spent yesterday morning running errands and early afternoon doing housework.

I'll take some sausage links and eggs over easy today Flo, Maybe an English Muffin as well.

Thanks for the likes and comments yesterday on the progress pictures, Sherrel, Garry, Jerome, Johnny, Phil, Patrick, Ken, Z, Tom, Louis.

Another limited day out in the train shed yesterday, today looks better. I did some minor landscaping here and there; I made a few trees although not nearly enough and I painted a few figures. Took another look at the area on the back side of the tracks in my current project area and actually laid out some of the track in it's permanent position. I haven't yet put in the roadbed or fastened anything down but I now have an idea of how things are going to be arranged. Not quite finished yet, but today I'll add roadbed and add feeders to the part that I did yesterday. This is the area with the previously documented background structures of "Mikey's Mattress Manufacturing", "Borden's Milk Products" (non-rail served) and the yet to be named casket manufacturer. Still undecided as to whether or not to add another industry back there; there is room.
In lieu of any progress pictures , here are a couple of photos of the Walther's Merchant's Row I in the nearby town of Maultown.
07-17-18 014.JPG

07-17-18 015.JPG

All of the interiors were from pictures on the Internet that I manipulated on the computer and printed.

Johnny - Ah! Yes the good old Hillside Lumber from Atlas. I have one somewhere on my layout as do most modelers. Amazing how good that model really is. Workers will indeed bring the scene alive.
Sherrel - A rundown decrepit structure is on my list of things to try soon. I have oodles of leftover wall blanks from the many laser-cut kits I have built and that's a very real possibility.
Garry - Good news regarding your BIL, prayers continue for your MIL.
Greg - Nice news on the rehab in yesterday's post. Thanks for the comment on the locos.
Mark - Your comment on the quality of care from your local VA is refreshing. They have gotten a lot of bad press regarding their care of our valued veterans and it's hard to believe that they're (the press) right. My neighbor also has high praises for them so maybe the bad care is limited to some areas or is completely over-sensationalized. The press has a tendency to do that.

Everybody have a great day.
 
Sirfoldalot said:
Trying to decide this morning whether to try and drive the truck to the shop, call AAA and let them haul it to the shop, or just place a small cross and a bouquet in front of it?
After a lot of reading and U-Tube, I'm guessing the ECM?

OR, should I just get a "smart car" ?
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Computers don't do well in harsh environments, extreme heat and or cold can do them in. They are built to endure the environment, but time erodes their ability to do so.

I had a Mercury mini van (Mitsubishi built) I bought off a friend of mine who use to sell used cars, until his health failed. They put two distributors into the van before giving up on it and letting me have it cheap. It turned out the thermostat was stuck open and that would allow the normal operating temperature to rise. Not enough to over heat, but it was enough to cause the cam position sensor that was built into the distributor to fail. I put in a new distributor and a $10 thermostat and never had a problem with it.

I loved my fully loaded, beautiful, luxury mini-van. I would have used it for Amazon, but it was 17 years old and had over 200,000 miles on it when I traded it in. I could have fixed what ever came up, but I can't make it new again, not economically. Considering the price of towing these days and the high-mileage I drive, I wanted something new.

If you are going to repair your truck find an experienced mechanic that understands modern electronics, good luck.

I wish we could pull your truck into my driveway, but it's a little bit far for you to go.
 
MikeInHubCity said:
The seeming unwillingness of incoming immigrants to learn English & assimilate themselves into their local community beyond the local enclave of their common ethnicity is why our nation has changed from the melting pot it once was, into more of a soup/stew.
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Read your history books. The actual immigrants have always been "bilingually challenged," and settled into enclaves. That's why most large cities have districts locally referred to as Chinatown, Greektown, Corktown, etc. It's the following generation that has done the assimilating and the spreading out. I suggest you go back and watch "Blazing Saddles" (again?).

Btw, Canada doesn't seem to have the problems we do, accepting immigrants. Case in point, Jagmeet Singh, head of the NDP. It'll be a long time before the US fields a turbanned candidate for national office.
 
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chadbag said:
Tumeric / Curcumin is supposed to be a good anti-inflammatory. My wife's doctor mentioned it to her when they were talking about some finger joint issues (where she just had tests that ruled out rheumatoid arthritis). I already knew that but it was good validation to hear it from her doctor. I've been taking a couple tumeric pills a day for years now myself.
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Thanks Chad, I'll mention them to my Kidney doctor. Seems like almost everything is toxic when you have kidney disease.
 
Beady, when I was a boy, Baltimore was almost nothing but ethnic neighborhoods. They each would have separate festivals in the inner harbor. I still have a beer stein I won at the German Festival!

We still call the areas, Greek Town, Little Italy, etc. but they no longer have many immigrants.

I now live in an old Polish neighborhood. A Polish flag flies over the local cemetery and my elderly next door neighbors, Gracina and Yanosh are both from Poland.

The culture of each neighborhood may have been different, but we could all communicate with each other. I should qualify that, most of the people I grew up with were second and or third generation immigrants, like me.
 
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Sirfoldalot said:
Patrick -- I would be terrified to get on the freeways' out here with a "Smart Car".
Seems as if we are close in our needs for a "newer" vehicle. am going to look
I am going to look at leasing, but I really don't want the added monthly expense+higher taxes and insurance.

MIKEY - Some very funny comments from you. Hope your head cools down?
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Leasing = Rent to Not Own. We've leased one car in our lives and will never do it again. We paid in full for our house and present car, which cut our retirement savings in half, but we own both outright with no mortgage or other payments (well, taxes but that should go without saying).
 
Beady said:
Read your history books. The actual immigrants have always been "bilingually challenged," and settled into enclaves. That's why most large cities have districts locally referred to as Chinatown, Greektown, Corktown, etc. It's the following generation that has done the assimilating and the spreading out. I suggest you go back and watch "Blazing Saddles" (again?).
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The difference between now and then, is that while the first generation immigrants struggled with the language, they usually tried, and encouraged their children to learn English -- I've read of many stories of parents forbidding their kids to speak the mother tongue at home. That happens today less often. Luckily, the kids still learn from school or the other kids in the neighborhood.
 
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