Good Evening
Brutus any place warm is fine with me. Walks and driveway have been cleared but its still snowing. Suppose to end after 10pm SJ time…About 6 to 8 inches here, cousin in Toledo says about 10 inchs there. GG1 still running fine right out of the box and without a battery.
Banilla on hand and a few root beers are ready…S.J.
Good evening all from foggy rainy
At work and I have the assignments passed out. Hopefully we’ll have a low key night. Weather may be nasty in the morning.
– If I expanded, I may need to take up residence in the garage!, but it is a nice garage.[}:)]
Kurt & Dennis – When the founding fathers were drafting the Constitution and regarding the issue of separation of church and state, remember they came from the most part where there was a national church, and the clergy were neck deep in politics. I believe we have misconstrued the original intent of the separation of church and state.
DougM – Oh I get it. I’ve not had a chance to take the pics yet, probably Monday at the earliest.
Birds- Be Careful!! Put a step ladder on both the inside and outside of the door. Get a 2x4 about 4’ long. Check for any binding or misalignm
Here in my subdivision, the garage door subcontractor that installed everyone’s 16’ door in 2000 used improperly braced garage doors, and only installed one tension spring for the whole door. They used a spring designed for a single bay garage. Almost everyone’s doors have snagged due to decomposing track rollers, causing enough stress on the door to fold it in half as the opener kept pushing. I replaced the rollers so my door has been holding up, but my spring has broke. I got someone to replace that spring, and add another one, so the tension doesn’t have to be as high, and it cost me $75…
Good evening all,
It was cloudy and cool in SE Indiana with temps in the 30s. Been busy. Work went well yesterday. Watched “Numb3rs” last night. It was a little different than most of the episodes. Much more philosophical. Wife and I cleaned the house today. I went to the YMCA both today and yesterday. We went to see “Gran Torino” at 5 tonight. It was an excellent movie. Totally politically incorrect, but should get Clint an Oscar for either directing or acting or both. Went to Frisch’s afterward. Tomorrow will be spent getting ready for trip. Fifedog, since the Ravens won, if the Bolts win at Pittsburgh, the AFC champ game will be in San Diego?!?!?! I had bran muffins on the dining car for breakfast this morning. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Don, you are right. I don’t pretend to expect people to change. I do tend to be vocal with my opinions, but perhaps another outlet would be more appropriate.
Jim, I agree. The intent was Freedom of Religion, not Freedom from Religion. Some today think we should eliminate all reference to God, I do not agree. While politics does not belong in church, this country was founded on Judeo Christian foundations and should remain so.
OK, enough of that…TRAINS, There, I said it! I did not get any trains for my birthday, but did get some grilling items and a IPOD. Not sure how to use it, but supposedly, it gets Internet access and can store 8gb of music, etc. I will have to look things up and get it going.
Regarding trains though, had a nice conversation with a true Southern Gentleman. Enjoyed it. Also took care of some wiring on the layout. All the yard sidings are wired up to toggle switches so I can park trains and cut power as needed. I have some more wiring to do to a seperate loop and also a reversing loop that will be hidden. Then, the control panel and we will be in business. Like the idea of using cabinets to house the transformers, but will see what works best. I picked up a cheap fan at WalMart to use behind the transformers to keep things on the cool side under the layout. Don’t want any over heating issues.
Well, I will have to do rounds at the hospital before heading to church in the morning. I think I am on schedule for the production team as well, so we shall see. I will need to use seperate vehicles from my wife anyway, in case I get called in.
Hope everyone has blessed night and may God bless you all in the week ahead.
Dennis
Birds, I was going to mention that as we would push the door up, we would have a 2x4 that we would slide up the channel till we got it all the way open. Certainly have second person to help as you don’t need an accident, or a back injury. Some great suggestions. I like the idea of using a C-clamp on the channels on each side. We have the screw-type opener. If you go with this type, I suggest using some lithium grease to keep things running smooth.
Mike, glad you got to see Gran Torino. I have been wanting to see that too. With your report, we will have to make it happen.
Dennis
Tonight at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio a line of an 18 year old, a 19 year old and a 37 year old scored at will. The 18 year old had a hat trick, the first for a rookie in the history of the team. The town was rocking and rolling. [swg]
Tomorrow, should be fun. I have a teacher who is bringing one of her students to see the trains. Need to clean up the room.
Dennis I feel some how I missed your birthday so with that said [bday][bday]
Did what I call a half of a dog bone layout the front half as had to make room for my desk chair lol. Did it in fast track from my cascade set and a couple of curves ( 4 to be exact) from the set for the V.A. not a fan of it already as have it flat on our hardwood floors and its loud glad I have the TMCC hooked up thou with the NYC Railsounds it covers some of the track noise lol.
Not to much else going on right now
Brutus beacon on the 2380 NYC going you should be able to see it .
MING report. BTW: Frankie says thanks for the prayers and support. He says you all must be great guys as you do not know him or Ming and give your support.
Ming had to be brought home early from the vet. Was real aggressive and could not be handled. Frankie got him home and he was still acting up. Went to sleep and later Laralynn [wife] and Cathy [our oldest] came in at the same time. Ming woke up and acted like old Ming. Got to feed him chicken and rice for two weeks. He gets meds [one type of pill every 24 hours, another type every 12 and another type every six hours]. He is eating chicken and rice [small portions at the time] like it was candy. Licks the bowl clean. No throw up so far.
Great fireman’s dinner. SOUTHERN fried chicken. Had entertainment. Real funny ventriloquist. Would tell the Buckeye story but better not.
Good chat with Dennis when I got home.
Upgraded my DCS at Miss Edna’s. Now to get it back upstairs and “hooked up”. Going to install my new Scott’s Odds and Ends TVS too. Saw a great looking engine at Miss Edna’s. The Lionel C [some big number like 6000] something Legacy engine. Would have purchased it but it was CSX. I understand that Lionel has canceled its UP Heritage engine.
Jim, You are absolutely correct. I read “A Son of Thunder”, biography of Patrick Henry, a couple of months ago and that is well documented. There were a lot of discussions about including a tax to support the church in the VA constitution. The US constitution is based in large part on the VA constitution. In England and the colonies before the revolution there was a tax which was turned over to the Church of England to support the church, which also tended to hinder the establishment of other churches. Sometimes I think the Justices should read a little history.
How has everyone been doing? I have been trying to keep up with the group, but I always forget where I left off. Speaking of movies, Step Brothers is my new favorite. I was going to post this morning, but some of the comments raised my blood pressure. I didn’t want to say something I might regret.
Chief,
I hope Frankie’s dog is well. I agree completely with IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE. That can be hard to do some times though.
Sir James,
You are lucky to be snowed in! I’d love to not be able to leave the house. I’ve been running the GG1, and it has a slight growl when running forward. Does yours do the same?
Jim S.,
I was thinking about the pin in your 714, and I replied to your thread.
I guess Sir James already went to bed? Have to go back an hour to get him, then to RT’s and around the usual spots - all take it easy!
Oh - got my new CTT finally, need to read it now. Got home from work, checked emails, let son on computer and reclinerized until dinner! Now I’m tired again! Good news on Ming. Is he related to Ming the Merciless?
I am in need of a large rotary snowplow…Its been snowing for over 24 hours. I am getting tired of removing the white stuff.
All this snow removal majorly cut into my weekend contruction plans for the layout. 
I understand the snow will be followed by temperatures next week that could range from -5 for lows to no greater than 20, with windchills that could be -20 or colder.
Yeah - write a letter about it?
Dear Mr. Gore,
Bite me.
Cold and concerned in Michigan.
[(-D]
RT, actually, it is on the 11th so you made it just fine. Wife and kids decided to celebrate a day early as I am on call and we never know when I will be called in again. Also, with Church activities, Sunday would be tough. As for presents, no trains, but I did get a iPod Touch which I am finding out is pretty cool. Has internet access and lots of features, besides just playing songs/movies. After 1am so I’ll head off to bed.
Rich, I got a call from the guys back home…Hackensack had a job yesterday…lost a train station. Anyway, it is on YouTube.
Dennis
Thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions about raising the garage door. Some good ideas that I’ve filed away.
I decided the wisest approach was to ask for help, and two friends were kind enough to come over and help. With the three of us spaced evenly across the door it went up quick and easy. We braced it open, and then secured it in the open position. The opener is unplugged as an extra precaution.
Were going to replace everything and start fresh.
Thanks again.
Hope this helps a poor YANKEE.
Remember the big eastern NC fire from the early summer.
This past Friday, declared out. Has been burning undergorund in peat since then.
Good night all.
Most historians credit Thomas Jefferson with originating the phrase “Separation of Church and State” based on a letter that he sent to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptist Association in 1802. In that letter Jefferson refers to the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment, and makes the following comment:
Final wording of the constitution:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; "
I understand the intent of the letter to be different, and refer to the final language in the Constitution. By removing religion, of all types Congress is indeed prohibiting the free exercise.
I’m happy to live in a land where we can disagree and openly discuss.
OK, I’ll stop.
Kurt
[bday]Dennis!! Lots of snow around on this grey day. After church, have to do some chores deferred from yesterday. Then go back this afternoon - the pastor has a class where he’s outlining the vision for the church over the next three weeks. Boy, I was so tired from pushing snow, I went to bed early last night - missed the Tardis run.
