Good afternoon from a cold and sunny Crystal Lake where the 30ish current temp is quite different from 74 earlier in the week and I celebrated Pi Day at 1359. Don and Jim, thanks for the wallpaper removal advice. The bride appreciates it - I think I will be using it soon. Got all dressed up and had a good meeting with the pastor today. Roy, do you think The 300 would be too intensive for a 13 year old?
Ran everything last night. Speaking of Portals, I need a big one for one of the boxes I use as a long tunnel - something that’ll let the GG1 with pantograph extended fit through. Changed trolleys on the various loops, ran some trains the opposite way just to be different. Added a few connecting platforms to allow passengers to transfer.
Sounds like you have a future in surgery[xx(] If Hillary gets elected, I will personally request that either you, or Jack Kevorkian gets White House physician.
Actually, a little know fact is that the fastest recorded amputation by a physician was during the civil war. It was 13 seconds and the Doctor amputated a leg above the knee and 6 fingers of his assista
The 300 is borderline. So it will depend on the maturity of your 13 year old. There is some nudity, some very suggestive scenes, but nothing explicit. Lotsa blood, but with the sepia tone of the movie - not too bad - beheadings and stuff - battle scenes like the Lord of the Rings) That said - a Victoria’s Secret TV ad is only missing a bit of upper body nudity to compete with one scene. My 13-14 year old son after what he has been through in school, his buddies (with parents letting them watch graphic R rated movies at home and then we find out about it the next day) and what all handled it well. From what I hear you say about your kids, I feel we are quite similar in what we deal with from day-to-day (Now we are dealing with our 15 soon to be 16 year old daughter riding around in cars with her slightly older friends with full licenses - ARG).
BTW - it is a good action flick. Lots of classic dialogue where people insult each other without using bad language - good for a few chuckles. Not the best I have seen and by far not the worst. And unlike Lord of the Rings - a reasonable hour and 56 min in length.
Sue the dog is still getting better. Actually played ball today.
My daughter saw 300 and really liked it. Said it was very gorey and realistic. For 13, I don’t know, but it is the way it was.
Still have my sliderule too, I remember a circular sliderule I had in high school, the teacher could not tell when you were just goofing off, (sorry Laz)
I won a vintage AF sawmill on the bay. Looking forward to getting it and seeing what it needs to bring it to 100%. I’ll need to move some things around on the layout or take something off to make room. The change will be worth the effort because it is a cool piece to watch operate.
Cold and wet out, actually talking snow over the night, see what morning brings
I also have one of those. Its in a drawer around here someplace. I also have a couple of different size straight ones but nothing like the two footers the EE’s used to walk around with.
Well, what a rainy, yucky day we’ve had today. Went and picked up a few 2x2’s from Lowes and added some more cross support to my benchwork. Since I don’t have the insulation board on it yet, I was seeing the panelling sagging as the locomotive travelled over the gaps on the table between the 2x4 frame-work, so I added the 2x2’s to run between the main 2x4’s. Now, the frame make up seven different rectangles, and now there is no noticable sag in the panelling. The insulation board might have solved this sagging problem, but I think that these cross supports will really start making their presence known when I start adding scenery and landscaping. Working on the frame also allowed me to adjust one of the 2x4’s that I hadn’t placed very well and was actually causing the table top to rise in one place about 1/4 of an inch; now the tabletop lays completely flat on the framework [:D]. I don’t think it affected things too much but, I’m a bit anal retentive so I feel better.
In other news, I took one of my confirmation candidates to dinner tonight, and we had a nice talk at O’Charleys. It really gave me a chance to get to know him better, he actually makes Eagle Scout this summer, and he doesn’t even have his driver’s license yet! Great kid, and I can’t wait to confirm him on Easter Sunday. I love my job![^]
Keeping busy lately with work. In between I’ve been tearing down an old Varney 2 rail O gauge Atlantic and giving it a good cleaning. These old kits are a curious combination of sheet brass, zinc castings and a very crude cast brass boiler. I intially thought about converting it to 3 rail but the old tank works so well it made sense to leave it as is. It’s had a long life working on the Toronto Model Railroader Club O gauge layout until I bought it 20 years ago. As with anything this old there were a few missing and broken parts plus it was lacking some detail. I added a bunch of castings and piping that I had on hand then made up a new whistle and rear headlight. Instead of painting the added goodies, wheels and chassis I left them in their natural metal to accentuate the detail. An engineer and fireman finished off the project for the time being. I may go back and do a more exacting replica if I can find some photos of a real Atlantic that is configured like this Varney. I don’t know if Varney modeled this engine from a real prototype. Take care all!
rtraincollector - Sir, you go straight to the head of the class!!! Favorite line from Animal House, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!!!” Seeing that movie as a teenager warped me forever…
Looks like everyone except the Holy Roller called it a night.
Not many good games today in the NCAA but the Duke loss tonight was a pretty good upset.
I am thinking of heading to the train show in Ohio this weekend. I think it’s in Kirkland, just east of Cleveland. Do any of you know how to get there from I-90? I think I may head there on Saturday but I’m not sure how early it opens.
Have any of you ever gotten on a kick where you look for a certain kind of train car? This winter I decided to collect the “candy” reefers from Lionel. I found the last one I was looking for tonight on an auction site. It was the Bazooka Bubble Gum Reefer.
This new Andy Barker PI show is pretty good! Bad news - the “new” DVR box I picked up at Charter is a dud. They tried to reprogram it over the cable and it died. Need my wife to take it in and exchange it tomorrow. Hopefully the new one will work right off the bat. We’re able to watch about 10 channels with the tv plugged right into the wall until then. At least the internet is still working (at least from my end). Had my first evaluation with my newest coach and he said I’m doing great and gave me an hour off today - very nice!
Hello Tom! The Train Show You’re thinking of is at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland. Just take I-90 to the Rte 306 exit in Mentor & make a left & head south. Lakeland is two Blocks away & will be on your left side as your going South. Very easy to find. I plan to be there around one-thirty on Saturday? Anyway, it is one of the better shows around here. Take Care.
Hi Tom !! The Kirtland show is just a mile south of Route 90. Get off on Route 306 & head south to the Community College on the left. If you go North, you would be going to the museum or Spankybirds house !! Let us know if you need further help !
Well, a pretty good night in the NCAA tourney. As a big UK Wildcats fan my season has been officially been made complete with a win by my now beloved Virgina Commonwealth! Duke, gone in the opening round; fewer things make me happier. [:D] The greatest thing about it, is that Virginia Commonwealth won on a Christian Latner-esque shot to put VCU up by 2 with 1.6 seconds left on the clock. Now, if UK can just find their way out of the first round without tripping over themselves and ending up in the same place as Duke.
Oh, last night I rented a movie on pay-per view, “The Guardian” with Keven Costner, and Ashton Kutcher; appart from the glaring resemblance to “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “Top Gun”, I thought it was excellent, and it really did begin to shift my opinion of the Coast Guard. As a former Army enlistee, I used to think that the Coasties were the bottom of the rung; now, I’m thinking that if my son starts looking at military service I think I’ll be guiding him towards the Coast Guard. I’m thinking that it is easier to destroy and much more noble to save.
If there are any former Coasties reading this, please accept my apology for doubting ya’ll. Wars happen every once and awhile, but you Coasties were doing your thing all the time. Thank you.
So That Others May Live
It may seem strange to say, but this seems like awfully familiar to what I read in the pages between Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21
ATSJer,
The Coast Gaurd truely is a defensive military service, their primary mission is to ensure the security of US Coasts and to ensure that our waterways remain safe and passable. Also wanted to point out that ALL our servicemen and women do their jobs everyday, even in peacetime (not sure that really has ever existed). Our military’s size serves as a deterant to any country wanting to attack us and take away our freedom and liberty.
Mornin’ all. Cold and rainy here in Bal’mer, rain is supposed to turn to snow this afternoon… gotta love this weather… 82 on Wednesday, snow on Friday…
