Running Bear's October 2019 Coffee Shop

[tootnkumin]

Hi gang, I see Sherrell has been keeping you up-to-date on my wife Vicky's GI situation [much appreciated Sherrell!]. As I mentioned to Willie and Chet in my recent phone conversations with them, the storm has calmed - i.e. Vicky is home from the hospital - so now I feel confident enough to post again. I literally have not been in my right mind over this past weekend, my stress level was several orders of magnitude greater than anything I felt after my prostate cancer diagnosis back in May.

Here's the recap. Sorry if it's long-winded, but I can't figure out any simpler way to tell the complete story. [WARNING - there is some anatomically "graphic" terminology in these next paragraphs!]:

Over the past few weeks I've been posting that Vicky has had abdominal pain that would come and go. She would think she was better, but then a few days later she'd have another flare-up; always said she felt bloated and constipated. Our GI doctor just kept telling her to take more and more laxatives, in increasing strength levels. Those seemed to work at first and she'd feel better, then a few days later the cycle would repeat itself.

Finally, last Tuesday she got a second set of x-rays, and these looked far worse than the first one did from two weeks ago. On Wednesday the GI doc ordered a CAT scan which, in turn, led to her checking herself into the ER. The ER doc said she probably had late-onset Krohn's disease, but the GI doc - when he FINALLY came to the hospital the following day - insisted it was definitely NOT Krohn's. [Cancer had already been ruled out earlier.] Thus began a series of imaging tests on both the upper and lower intestinal tracks to find the source of the blockage. The test results were a pattern of "It's not this and it's not that, not this, not that..."

What really alarmed me was hearing that the worst-case scenario would be Inert Colon syndrome, which in severe cases would require surgical removal of the entire colon. That in itself would have a major life impact, but even worse, it also carries the risk of SEPSIS - which is what ultimately killed my sister when she suffered a perforated colon in 2013. [Whole 'nuther story there..!] When I Googled "inert colon", the medical website said it is mainly caused by chronic overuse of laxatives. My eyes only picked up "overuse", but not the word "chronic". Because of that misunderstanding, I started theorizing that all the laxative mixtures the GI doc been prescribing might have caused the problem.

Friday morning, the GI doc came in and said the most recent x-ray indicated the colon was not as jam-packed with solid waste as originally believed, in fact there was just one little cluster showing, and she could be discharged as soon as she pushed that stuff out. This was initially reassuring, until later - when I recalled that Vicky's earlier x-ray showed a hyper-stuffed bowel and I asked her, "If you didn't push all that stuff out, why was it not showing on this later image?" [Answer - the colon was distended by trapped gas but we hadn't learned that little detail yet.] And she admitted it all seemed a tad strange. So I started thinking the GI doc hadn't even looked at the earlier x-ray and was just shooting-from-the-hip. And Vicky continued swallowing laxatives, which still had no perceptible effect.

As of Saturday morning, still no status change - other than the GI doc answered my x-ray question from the night before, and that brought my anxiety level down a few notches. Finally toward late afternoon, Vicky had the nurse do a "fleet" enema on her - and that brought about the desired result, indicating no lower intestinal blockage. Awesome! All we had to do now was wait until Sunday for the GI doc to come in and do the final sign-off. Naturally, with my memories of all the earlier false hopes, I didn't want to announce anything on the forum until Vicky actually arrived back home.

So...as of this moment, the "colonic inertia" problem doesn't appear to be a threat. But it still disturbs me that the doctors were never able to pinpoint the exact cause of the swollen intestinal tissue.

As always, everyone's prayers and/or positive thoughts have been very much appreciated!

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.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. 53° and clear. Cool front came through last night as predicted, the thunderstorms ahead of it were not too bad here, but picked up strength as they moved southeastward. Lots of lightning but only .25" in the gauge this morning. A few hailstones accompanied the rain but lasted about 15 seconds at most.

A double order of bacon and some hash browns should hit the spot this morning Francine, large OJ to go with it as I still don't drink coffee.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the photos of the CF7's everybody; Sherrel, Garry, Phil, Chet, Justin, Z, Jerome, Curt, Lee, Tom.

Not a lot of time yesterday in the train shed, Sundays are always that way. Maybe I should go to an earlier Mass. I did complete the weeds and brush around the recently installed billboard before embarking on a truck repair on a GP60.

On the GP60, the truck sideframe's mounting peg broke a few years ago. Gluing it hasn't worked, so I drilled into both parts and super-glued a short length of .020" wire in it. I have a spare Bloomberg M truck, but this loco has the Bloomberg B truck. Or vice versa, I cannot remember this morning.

Garry - I do use those CF7's mainly for switching. Per ATSF custom though, I use them in pairs or three lashed up. They are rather light out of the box though, I had to add 3 oz of stick-on weights to each one. A pair now can easily pull 25-30 cars, but my switch jobs rarely contain over ten outbound.
Ray - My current (and only) wife came close to being addicted to those diet pills before realizing the dangers back in the early 70's.
Chet - How's the shoulder after four games Friday night?
I received one of those Walther's track cleaning cars for Christmas last year, they're designed well and seem to work. Hard to tell as my new train shed does not get dusty.

I do not run it in any regular consists, as roofwalks were gone by my era, most likely by the time CSX came around as well. Walther's took some liberties with this car.

I am assuming that is a build or rebuild date!
Greg - Excellent progress report on the rehab. Keep it up.
Mikey - Excellent suggestion for a local business. I have many structures with no noticeable purpose except to occupy space in an urban setting.
Louis - Time once again to remind you to take it easy.

Everybody have a great day.

 

[Raincoat2]

Good morning everyone. 60 and clearing.

Storm pushed through this area (SW Missouri, NW Arkansas) last night. Hit our area around 1:15 a.m. Thunder and lightning and high winds. Sirens going off in all the towns nearby, weather radio screaming. So we got up (what else can you do?) and put on the TV to watch the local station track the squall line and report on possible tornadoes. So we went to our basement storm shelter, put on the radio, and when the storm had cleared us, we went back to bed. Ho-hum - - another storm in the Ozarks. Still waiting to see what damage there was and if there were any confirmed tornadoes.

After church yesterday, we were going out to eat lunch when we noticed an auction at a fancy home. So we pulled in, looked around, and ended up getting some rugs, Hummel figurines, throws and comforters, lace stuff, etc. A nice haul for a total of $57.50!! I was kind of interested in a planer for my woodshop, but they weren't going to get to it for a couple of hours, and I didn't want to hang around that long.

Sherrel, Lee, Willy, Wheeler, Tom, Flip, GaryB, Chad, Chet, Garry, Patrick, Louis, and anyone I missed - Thanks for the likes and comments on my photo of me and my granddaughter last Friday.
GarryCBQ - Safe travels, and congratulations on your 7th grandkid!!
Willy - Nice photos from your building construction!
Chet - Nice to have a track cleaning car that matches the era!

Willy - I agree with you about professional football. For me, in fact, it's almost all professional sports, although I'll occasionally watch some baseball. But even in baseball there are overpaid brats and babies, hotheads who can't control themselves (on the field or off), etc. - same stuff I stopped watching football for. I still watch some college football, but even there I'm kind of tired of it - - there's so much to do in life besides sitting-and-watching!

Got some work done on the northside area. Here are some photos:
BEFORE:

NOW:

I'm pretty satisfied with the way this part looks. Workers and a forklift on that dock will make the scene come alive. Workers around the woodstacks and some trucks in the yard will look good, too. Landscaping the hills behind will also help. Also have to finish the ballasting, something I still stink at.

Lots going on this week at work and home, including taking care of our granddaughter (the one in last Friday's photo) for a couple of days while our daughter and SIL work at a conference. So I probably won't make much progress on the north area this week.

Time for more coffee.
Have a good day everyone.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Good Morning where it is 57* at the moment going up to 93* today and sunny! The record-high 104* (1999) and the record-low 48* (2013). It got up to 87* yesterday.

IB Ken: I am very pleased to hear that your wife is progressing to the plus side. That makes me happy - let us hope that things continue to improve.

Willie: Just a thought popped into my mind - they are few and far these days? LOL
How about trying your craftmanship on a decrepit, run-down, boarded up, roof falling in structure - maybe partially destroyed by a fire?

MARK .. Nice to see you make an appearance. Do you have anything new on the workbench that you worked on while you were on vacation?

 

[santafewillie]

I forgot to post earlier that the storms last night produced a tornado in the North Dallas area that did significant damage, but only caused very few injuries and no fatalities. That was about 65 miles SE of here and it caused some extensive damage about three blocks from my daughter's house, including severe damage to a Home Depot and a fire station. All of this developed after the front passed by here. The whole mess is moving slowly east south east and will most likely hit Garry in a few hours. Got Johnny last night as he already posted. It's also hitting the upper Midwest as well.
Prayers for anyone in it's path.

 

[GarryCBQ]

Good morning, everybody .... Coffee and a donut..... Raining, but not severe.

Chet, Curt, Johnny, and others ..... Thanks for the congratulations about our new grandson.

We were in Nashville yesterday, and we got home very late last night. We saw our Brother In Law in the hospital, and he is doing very well for somebody who just had two heart valves replaced. We also saw Shelley's mother in the nursing home, and unfortunately her condition is not improving.

IB Ken .... Prayers continue for your wife. My suggestion is she eat nothing but Cheerios for a day. I have learned that clears out lower intestine problems with me. (Actaully, I rarely have problems like that.) Whole grain oats cleans me out.

Willie .... I heard about the severe storm in Dallas in the news. Glad you and your family are okay.

Johnny ..... Your are doing great work on your layout.

Mark .... Good to see you again.

I have the common lumber yard building on my layout, too.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

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" ?

 

[Patrick]

Afternoon all,

Busy weekend without trains....boo.

I have a sister and niece who live in the Dallas area, but haven't heard yet how they fared. We got a little wind and rain in Doo--Dah overnight. Clear and cool this morning.

Garry: Congrats on the new grand kid.

Sherrel: Don't buy a "smart car" as they really aren't all their cracked up to be. They require 93 Octane and don't really get any better mileage than many 4 passenger small cars.

Willie: Glad to hear you weren't hit by the overnight storms.

Ken: Glad to hear Mrs. Ken is doing better.

The wife and I discussed the fact I was going to need a new (or new to me) truck once we get the Equinox paid off. At that point it will be 12-13 years old with somewhere near 250,000 miles. It is a 2009 Colorado Wt model with Automatic Transmission as its only option. I figure it will cost me a lot more to replace it that what I paid for this new in 2009. What I like is that this truck has more cargo volume capacity than many of the full size trucks. (6 ft bed vs 4-5 ft beds on many full size).

 

[PNKFLOYD]

I forgot to post earlier that the storms last night produced a tornado in the North Dallas area that did significant damage, but only caused very few injuries and no fatalities. That was about 65 miles SE of here and it caused some extensive damage about three blocks from my daughter's house, including severe damage to a Home Depot and a fire station. All of this developed after the front passed by here. The whole mess is moving slowly east south east and will most likely hit Garry in a few hours. Got Johnny last night as he already posted. It's also hitting the upper Midwest as well.
Prayers for anyone in it's path.

Willie- So glad to hear you were agile enough to dodge the worst of the storms.
I hardily approve of the weeds and grass you planted around the billboards. I still think an animal would add something to your scene, maybe a dog sniffing around the bottom of the ladder. Just remember, my advice is only worth what you pay for it!
I B KEN- I'm glad to hear you have the Mrs back home again. Maybe y'all can get some rest and reduce the stress on both of you. Still gonna keep y'all in my prayers for a while.

Things got a little smokey in my head this morning as I thought real hard about the "value" of my train modeling. In addition to my layout, I belong to a train club in Birmingham which displays several layouts at a children's science museum during the holidays. I have been modeling trains over 25 years so I actually have more time invested than money. Especially, getting ready for 7 to 9 weekend shifts annually during the 11 years of public displays at the McWane Science Center. I really don't think my cost per hour of enjoyment has been very expensive.
My friend plays golf twice a week and pays about $100 a week for green fees, balls and other equipment.
Most hobbies have an expense with them and I have something to show for my time and dollars spent modeling.
Gotta quit for now, my head is getting too hot from thinking.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

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?

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Johnny - Good work - The scenery and dual lumber yard look really good,

GARRY - Great looking shot of your lumber shed too!

OK - Greg is doing better ...
Ken and Vicky are improving ...
Louis is resting ...
Garry's relatives and friends are holding on ...

Time for my truck to perk up!

 

[Texas Hobo]

Afternoon choo choo fans:
I think the furniture moving has come to an end, at least till Spring.

Patrick - I'm with you, no smart car for me on the freeway or turnpike.

I b Ken - glad things are turning for the better

Willie - How about Pnkfloyd's dog hiking a leg on the ladder?

Sirfoldalot - There's always Uber.

In the late 40's and early 50's my parents and my maternal grandparents would go on vacation to the town of Shelburne Falls in Mass. We stayed in some neat cabins along the Deerfield River. The Deerfield flows through the Mohawk Valley. At the time the Boston and Maine ran trains that followed the river on the way to the Hoosac Tunnel. I can fondly remember sit on my grandfather's knee watching steam locos making their way along the track directly across the river from us. One of the things that sands out in my memory was the whistle as it echoed through the mountains. The Berkshires are not real tall but more like rounded hills. I think the tallest is something like 7,000 feet. Anyway you could hear the whistle a long time before you ever saw the train. I don't have any photos of that time but I found one that gives you an idea of what it was like.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Good Afternoon Everyone.............rain this morning and now sunny.

Hey everyone, I made it down the stairs when the Physical Therapist was here. Easy to get down and a bit harder to get back up the stairs. Didn't look at the layout, but maybe I will later after the RN comes and is gone. I need to get started on thank you notes for my Birthday party guests who brought me gifts so maybe get some notes done and in the US mail and then trains tomorrow?

Texas Hobo: Thanks for the name of the electrical tester.

Chet: Nice quality pictures of the club's coal mining operations. Wish I had a camera that took photos like those of yours and not to mention your excellent photographic skills.

Ken: Glad the Mrs. is on the road to recovery.

Willie: I sure like that consist of Santa Fe locomotives. Impressive to say the least.

A Wisconsin Central locomotive patched for my CM&N. I can't take credit for the weathering. I'll show more of his work and his identity in a later post. But he's excellent at his weathering abilities.

I can't wait to see the breast run around my layout and do some switching.

Well, back to cleaning up my computer area.

Greg

###################################


The CM&N loco pulling a visiting G&D box car on a distant layout.-Greg

 

[montanan]

Good afternoon. Started the day off at 32 degrees with some light snow. Had to head to town early for the annual physical. Still alive with a good report from the saw bones. One thing I will have to do (already have started) is to lose a few pounds. Since I quite smoking I have gained 15 pounds. If I don't look out, I'll have to stick my arm out so someone can tell if I'm walking or rolling.

IBKen- Great to see you back in here and to hear that the wife is back home. Praying for steady improvement for her.

Greg - That is one scroungy looking locomotive. The weathering is outstanding. Congrats on making it down and most importantly, getting back up. Most of the photos I've posted were taken with my phone, a Samsung S-8. Fits into spaces where my SLR digital won't.

Willie - Was thinking about you when we saw the report on the weather around Dallas. Nothing left of the Home Depot.

Texas Hobo - I have no idea of what I spent over the years. I started my layout over 30 years ago and started on the cheap. I was handlaying track and turnouts because I couldn't, or didn't want to afford the track. I also had a Walthers dealership years ago which helped a lt. I know that I do have a few bucks tied up in my vehicle collection. I probably spent more in recent years on DCC locomotives to run at the club. My layout is still DC only and the majority of my locomotives are the original Atlas Alco units with the Kato drive which cost me $39 apiece for a dozen of them. The majotity of my rolling stock is the old Athearn Blue Box cars which I am guessing cost me around 4 to 5 bucks each.

Terry - I can't believe the difference in N scale locomotives that are available now compared to the crap that I had in the 70's. It's like Day and night. I have seen a lot of videos of N scale layouts plus we have a small N scale layout at the club and the locomotives are fantastic. You'll have to post some more videos.

Johnny - Good photos again. The lumber yard looks familiar. Just like the great photo Garry posted. Atlas pit out a number of excellent kits years ago and some are still in production. Here's my lumber yard. I cut scale strip wood to scale lengths for the lumber bind.

Got to get a few things done before the wife gets home.

Later

 

[tootnkumin]

Bought a new camera a while ago, A Cannon Powershot SX430 IS, which is pretty much just one step up from the basic slim "point and shoot" type. Recorded quite a bit of video at the club yesterday (Sunday) because I was mostly on my own. Viewed them last night on my computer, but I'm still getting the fuzzing, not quite as much as before, which seems to afflict all of the cameras that I have used. The other problem that showed up, compared to just photos, is an over saturation of color, especially with anything with red or yellow in it. The "pumpkins" especially. So while they're not bad and will require editing, I'm going to try to find out what, if anything, can be done about both problems.

I hadn't been able to find any of the "footage" I had taken with the GoPro style camera I had experimented with before, but with luck, found it by chance when I scrolled down the page that these others were on in the usual thumbnail format. The missing footage had not appeared in that format, but just as a written file line, so I clicked on that and was able to view it. Obviously, the club's fluorescent lighting wasn't bright enough for it and the colors were washed out. Seemed a bit better defined, but the speech recording was not good either. So at least I found out, that camera was not much "cop" for indoor shooting.

 

[chadbag]

Bought a new camera a while ago, A Cannon Powershot SX430 IS, which is pretty much just one step up from the basic slim "point and shoot" type. Recorded quite a bit of video at the club yesterday (Sunday) because I was mostly on my own. Viewed them last night on my computer, but I'm still getting the fuzzing, not quite as much as before, which seems to afflict all of the cameras that I have used. The other problem that showed up, compared to just photos, is an over saturation of color, especially with anything with red or yellow in it. The "pumpkins" especially. So while they're not bad and will require editing, I'm going to try to find out what, if anything, can be done about both problems.

The camera should have settings for White Balance and other similar things that will affect color. Today's cameras have a billion and one settings and they are not always obvious nor where you expect them to be.

Is the "fuzzing" like an "out of focus" condition? Maybe the f-stop is too low (low number) and you get a very narrow band of in-focus. Combination of ISO and light on how deep you can make it. I've seen that sort of thing with the f-stop and light.

I have a Sony Alpha A6300 and if I don't use it every day, I forget settings that need to be set for video vs still or whatever.

 

[tootnkumin]

The camera should have settings for White Balance and other similar things that will affect color. Today's cameras have a billion and one settings and they are not always obvious nor where you expect them to be.

Is the "fuzzing" like an "out of focus" condition? Maybe the f-stop is to low (low number) and you get a very narrow band of in-focus. Combination of ISO and light on how deep you can make it. I've seen that sort of thing with the f-stop and light.

I have a Sony Alpha A6300 and if I don't use it every day, I forget settings that need to be set for video vs still or whatever.

Looks like I'll have to write to them, the paper sheet that came with it, doesn't go into much and although there was a reference to a website for a manual, once accessed, said an online manual was not available. Handy eh!

 

[PRR Modeler]

Evening All,

Did a bunch of chores today and spent a wasted 50 minutes at the local PD trying to get fingerprinted for our school volunteering but we didn't have the proper paperwork.

Chad- No they're still skunks, but they are descented. They have zero smell and their fur is hypoallergenic.

Greg- Nice looking control panel and really nice looking loco.

Ken- Great news about your wife.

Johnny- Nice job on the scene.



I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[MikeInHubCity]

Good evening to all.
Ken- glad to hear that YOH is home & doing better. Will be keeping you both in my prayers anyway. Sounds like having her home will be lowering you anxiety.
*grabs a bucket o’ water in case Mikey’s cranial region smolders for too long.
Had a fairly busy & productive weekend. Our club had our annual show at the local community center(former Armory). From all accounts, this year had a better turnout(both in visitors & member participation). One of our longtime members(possibly a founder, don’t remember) was thinning out his roster of rolling stock & kits, because he is running out of storage space. I picked up a Rock covered hopper from him. I also picked up a USPS semi & a pair of 40’ containers to go with the well car that I picked up from the same vendor at the Stevens Point show back in February. For the 4 items, I spent a total of $23 this weekend.
Hopefully, if MOH & I go to Trainfest in a few weeks at State Fair Park in Milwaukee, I can score some more deals.

 

[chadbag]

45F at 7:30pm. I don't think it got much warmer than that while it was daylight. Maybe a few degrees. It alternated between cloudy and rain and sun.

Tonight, while working on my day job projects, I decided to run a bunch of DC trains on my test loop. Most of my track is DCC but the innermost loop is DC so that I can test run trains. (This is all N scale)

Before I add a decoder in to a train, I like to "break them in" by running them DC for 10-30 min each direction across a varying speed range (though most of it is at a medium high speed so I can let it run while I am working on some other stuff). I have a whole bunch that need decoders, but had not run a lot of them in to break them in, so decided to do that for a few tonight.

I started to test my DC track with a KATO EF64 locomotive. I had already run this one in so just ran it a couple minutes each direction to make sure the track was running.



I then went with the KATO ICE4 train, which I got this summer and have never run. I only ran the motor car from the basic set and the motor car from the expansion set. I did not hook up any cab cars or intermediate cars, as the DC track loop radius is to small to support the ICE4 car length. This is an easy DCC conversion as it has receptacles for the decoders. You need to use special KATO format decoders (EM13 and FL12 for cab cars -- or VIMO makes some KATO compatible ones made for the ICE4, which is what I have for it). I did not take a picture of this one, but the ICE4 is a German DB HSR model that started running prototypically at the end of 2016. The KATO one shipped this summer.

I then ran a Tomytech Japanese commuter rail EMU that is in Gudetama livery. Gudetama is a character from the makers of "Hello Kitty". It is popular in Japan though you can find it here. It is a character that is a lazy egg. Hard to describe. But my daughter likes it so she got the train last Christmas. Tomytech makes static N-scale models of all sorts of trains -- mostly EMY/DMU/Tram types -- and then sells metal wheel sets, motor carriages, and upgrade parts like movable pantographs in order to make them runnable. (Tomy is the parent company who also makes Tomix trains). I added the motorized carriage, steel wheels, etc last Spring but had not done much more than a quick test run. So I ran its motor car only tonight for a good long while. (With the expansion set it is an 8 car train).



I also ran two different liveried HB-E300 diesel hybrid DMU trains from Micro Ace. These are two cars sets and I ran both cars together, both directions, from both sets, for a good long while.



I then testran a bunch of used Arnold locomotives that I got off eBay. I was not really breaking these in as they are used, and already broken in. I wanted to see how they run. All need maintenance and lubing but they all ran. Some herky jerky and some more smoothly. I only went around the look a couple times each since I know they need some normal maintenance and lube.



Then I took my Greenmax KiHa 200 DMU "Seaside Liner" livery, a 2 car DMU from JR Kyushu, and ran that a good while in both directions. This is a later Greenmax version (5 digit part numbers) which use a Coreless motor. I've converted some JR 103 from Greenmax with Coreless motor so I know how to do these ones when the time comes. I rode the "Seadside Liner" once on Kyushu like 8 years ago or so but it may not have been the KiHa 200 version -- they ran the same service using older DMUs in the past.




I still need to finish the re-wiring of the DCC tracks with new and additional feeders and finish up some DCC conversions I have underway already. But I'd like to get these ones converted as well -- slow and steady on getting it all converted.