Good Morning All , still from Gulf Shores AL, where it is partly cloudy and 69°. Despite 15 mph + winds, there is a heavy dew all over everything. At home, that kind of wind dries the dew faster than it can form, and this strong wind here has been blowing all week! Rip current warning is still in effect and the red flags have been flying since Monday. The folks in the house next door were out in their inflatable canoes yesterday with no life jackets. The beach patrol came by and made them get out of the water or get a ticket. Back home it's raining and 68°, with 0.7" since midnight. Yesterday saw 2.45"; so the four day total since we've been gone is now at 5.26"' I may now have water in my pond for the first time since April. There's rain in the forecast at home all of the way through Monday. I'm not sure that it's all still the remnants of Hurricane Norma from the Pacific.
It looks like a couple of nights below freezing at home starting Sunday night. Before I left the house for this vacation trip, I brought in enough dry firewood for about 24 hours, along with two starter boxes. Once the fire is going, more wood placed underneath the stove will dry in a couple of hours, as it only gets wet on the outside. First freeze looks to be early this year, as our average first frost is 11-22. Hot (very hot) and dry summer followed by a cold wet fall is not unusual.
Returning to the Traintastic Museum in Gulfport MS, here's are a few of the American Flyer layout.
They also have a large display of Kinex stuff. Part of the display was visible in one of yesterday's post. Here's a close-up of one item.
I'm really not sure of it's connection with model railroading, but they had it at the old place and the kids are always impressed.
Now a few more random shots of HO scale stuff that I can't remember the details of.
That's it for now, because I can't stand this horrible upload speed here. Wife is bugging me to join the housemates on the deck, but I can see three of them with their heads and hands in their phones texting, two more just quietly sipping coffee and occasionally picking up and glancing their phones, and one who's out jogging along the beach. Talk about excitement!
I'd much rather be on this forum.
James - Great pictures yesterday. Were any taken on your property?
Terry - No ACH payments from us, with one exception which is Frontier Waste, who provides the dumpster and pick up service for us. Not sure why my wife opted for that option with them but she mails all other bills. She has never missed one either. She does manually pay some through direct debit, but mainly the Amex card and biannual insurance payment. Most if not all bills give a 30 day due date and a 10 day grace period, and many give a discount for early payment. Our bank is still a small town user friendly bank that has a lot of farmers, ranchers and rural customers who don't trust big banks. We also do not do paperless billing except for the trash company.
Curt - The shark was a small one, only about 3' in length, but was really a sight to see. I could tell that it was really freaked out, but the next big wave came in less than a minute.
Yes, the population is dumbing down in my observation. It is especially prevalent when getting change at any establishment.
Everybody have a great day.