I’ll try to catch up on posts soon. Internet was down for a couple days and wife & I have been busy here.
The fellas taking down the trees got the first two BIG trees down perfectly. It wasn’t until the smaller tree that the battle between track-hoe & tree ensued. Yikes, it tried several times to hit my studio, each time the operator catching in. Just as he finally manipulated it away from the house, a branch caught his hydraulic line and oil spewed forth like a T-Rex getting it’s jugular severed. Whew, that was a close one. Two huge trees still to go…gulp!
Have not received the bid yet, but I have a feeling I may end up doing a fair amount of the rebuild myself. Or at the very least contract out stuff ourselves once the structure is dried in. I’m not up to building a house, but I can certainly wire one, do the floors, most of the plumbing and all the painting. Time (& price) will determine all.
***Dick, it’s my wife who desires an HO circus/carnival layout. And with a designated train room in our future, she will indeed have one. Still waiting on my new Bigboy.
Flashwave: I’m here for you buddy. My wife has been having trouble with skin cancers for over 12 years now. She had another one removed today. I know it’s tough but hang in there it gets better.
Not much going on. The TV in our bedroom blew the picture tube today. I guess we’ll replace the TV. Just another bump in the road. John and Rob our SIL got a good start on the bailing today. The baler belts are slipping so we’ll have to get that set right and continue tomorrow. It’s funny that they can put 20 pages of warnings in teh operators manual but don’t tell you how to adjust the tension on the belts.
We just returned from Nashville. We ate at Neashville’s “The Old Spaghetti Factrory” … Outstanding food in a place with real atmosphere. It’s in an old downtown building filled with antiques and a view out back of a civlil war fort. We were seated in an old trolly car located in the middle of the main dining room. … The food is great! I ate too much.
The wether in the Nashville area has been very dry in recent weeks. Lawns and trees are turning brown.
Rob … Is it dry in your neck of the woods? Good luck with arrangemenst to rebuild. Glad there will bea layout room.
Terry … I hope the treatment is working very well to cure the diseaase. Prayers continue.
Flash … I’m glad you can tell us waht’s happening, and prayers will continue.
RT … I like that Southern RR locomotive picture you posted. it sounds like you’re gettin settled there.
Dick … Sounds like the dental procedure went fine. Gald to hear it.
George… that’s impressive stuff about your trains and your layout. You have your very own museum of trains evidently.
2:30am…insomnia again. Blood pressure is high again, perhaps from the tooth infection. I have to be up at 7:00am…ugh!
***Paul, all those warnings are likely to cover their back-sides against law suits. Adding info about tightening a belt would actually be helpful, therefor unnecessary.[}:)][(-D]
***Garry, we are definitely still in a drought here. Crossing our fingers for some rain again soon. The creek that waters our horses & cows is down to a trickle now.
Oh, when the fella was working the big loader here, he uncovered a large rat snake which darted right into the tracks and vanished within the wheel well (or whatever you call it on a Cat) We couldn’t find it, so he finished his work and drove it back up to our neighbors. As soon as he parked it, out came the rat snake. Don’t know how it survived that trip, but at least it is in a new home with plenty of chickens/eggs/etc to choose from.[:-^]
It’s 69 here with a clear sky. That won’t last as the clouds are a;ready moving in. The high will be around 90 with a strong possibility of thunderstorms. Looks like I’ll be dodging lighting bolts again.
Yesterday wasn’t much fun. It was pretty much one thunderstorm after another. I ended up being off the net more than I was on. I’m going to see if I can get some ballasting done on the back side of the layout today. Gotta go to the docs office tomorrow for a routine physical early in the am.
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Today’s Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 6/26/2008
Wind Chill: 69°F
Humidity: 88%
Dew Point: 65°F
So Far Today
High: 70°F
Low: 69°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 5mph NNE
Today High: 92 Mostly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the lower 90s. Light and variable winds becoming south around 10 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.
Tonight Low: 70 Mostly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows around 70. South winds around 10 mph in the evening becoming light and variable.
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[IMG]http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q18
Last weekend I had an internet friend stop over to check out my progress on the layout. Then we got the idea of going to his house to see the progress on his layout. After a couple of hours a friend of his stopped over and we proceeded to the next layout. When it was all said and done there were 5 of us traveling across Ohio visiting each other’s layouts. It was an interesting weekend to say the least.
Trying to get caught up on posts… I hope all goes well at the DDS for you guys, I go in Monday for my 6 month exam and cleaning.
Tuesday is my first day at the new job and I just noticed I work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, then I have a 3 day weekend. Not bad for the first week on the job!
My neighbor Dale has been rebuilding first generation Diesel locomotives but doesn’t have room for a layout; so the LSW is providing track age rights to his PRR and ERIE motive power. Once I can tear myself from outside chores and inspecting vessels at work I plan on doing more with the layout.
For you Train & Ship modelers here is a picture of a small Great Lakes Freighter dropping taconite off at the former PRR dock on Whiskey Island. If you look closely you can see the hoppers waiting for their share of the ore to be transported to Pittsburg. Local deliveries are provided by freighter service.
Mornin’, Zoe. I’ll have a glass of Ed’s OJ, cup of coffee and some toast with blackberry jam on it, please. Thanks!
Jeff, that park just keeps on lookin’ great. [tup] Hope you get some ballasting done today, since the storms were keeping you out of the Diner yesterday.
Rob, are you sure you didn’t tell that blacksnake where to hide in that Caterpillar? Sort of sending a ‘gift’ to your neighbor, were ya?[:-^] Hope your tooth infection goes down and you get better sleep tonight, after seeing the dentist.
Garry, sounds like you held up the Diner tradition at that Nashville restaurant. [;)] Kind of neat to have a trolley in the middle of it. I’m sure it was a smaller one, right? Can’t quite picture one of those PSC(?) trolleys that I rode in St. Louis (as a wee child) fitting in the middle of a restaurant, unless that restaurant was exceptionally large.
Paul, bummer on the TV giving out. Of course, (unless the LR TV is a big cabinet one, that is) now you have an excuse to get one of those flat screen monsters for the living room, and move the LR TV into the bedroom, huh? [:-^][:-^]
Lee, that sounds like you and your friends had some fun over the weekend. [yeah] Has your work week eased up any?
Terry, you still hanging in there and getting those treatments done? Praying for things to taper off for you on any pain you may b
Good morning, well the tooth gave me no problems over night, so I guess the root canal was a success, this is the 3rd tooth to have a root canal over the years I believe, and never had a problem with any of them. My advice to you guys…if you need one, don’t fear it, the procedures are so well designed today that you don’t have any discomfort other than being in the chair for an hour with your mouth open.
Partly cloudy here today, humid weather is returning, AND, like Jeff, so are the storms that bring natures fireworks.
GARRY: Yes, it went very well thank you sir, the gum is still a little tender where the infection of the nerve was, but that will heal quickly now.
RYAN: Trying to find ways to save $$ is on everyone’s hot list these days. The Fed didn’t drop the interest rate yesterday, and that is no surprise at all with inflation going crazy. Heating oil alone for us next season jumped to $3.94/gal, it was $2.67 this past season under contract for 600 gallons. The Northeast is the only part of the country that uses oil for heating for the most part, the rest of the country uses propane or natural gas, but gas prices are expected to jump considerably also per cubic foot. I am real happy that we have 3 solar panels on the roof for domestic hot water, and I do mean HOT water!! It hasn’t cost us a dime for hot water since 1984, I highly recommend it, the payback is less than 5 years with tax credits from Fed and many states. I honestly don’t know why most people don’t have them.
JEFF: Watch out for those storms today Jeff, some could be very dangerous down your neck of the woods. BTW, thank you for your response to my Diesel switcher question, I can always count on you.
Ryan said: “Garry, The Old Spaghetti Factory used to have one in New Orleans and it was great, I loved the mazithra cheese grated on top! Yummy!” Ryan, I’m impress that you can spell the name of the cheese. My side of spaghetti had some of that cheese on it and was it ever good! Main item was something called Italian meat loaf and was really good.
Jim mentioned the size of the trolley, and it was a smaller one. It looked like a Birney trolley.
Rob … You ned to find a way to take care of yourself in spite of all the other stuff going on. Blood pressure MUST be controlled. Don’t take chances with high blood pressure. Yes, you need to get the tooth fixed, but the blood pressure must be controlled. Schedule some apppointments now, please.
Lee … thanks for the link to the waterfront photos. My 1900 era layout included a waterfront scene and I still have my warf I had made from a Cambell kit. Now I doubt I’ll find a spot for it on this layout.
I wasn’t very clear…my mistake…the tooth extraction is next week. Reason I had to be up at 7:00am was to oversee the rest of the clean up, tree removal & keep critters out of harms way. They are fixing to tackle those last two HUGE trees. If I go offline, it’s because a tree crushed my computer.[:O]
Dick, I hear ya on the heating and cooling costs too! We have a propane fueled fire place and oven/stove. We try to limit our use of both, the house is heated with a all electric heat pump. Still looking into alternative methods! Thanks for the reminder about hot water! [;)]
Thanks for straightenin’ that out Jim! I don’t need any mistaken identities…[:-^]…unless the IRS is after me…[oops]…then I’ll be hiding under the back booth table…[X-)] <<< sticks head in sand >>>
Flash, not sure why the one in NOLA shut down many years ago, but now its empty space is just a parking lot! Go figure! [sigh]
ROB: Garry is giving you excellent advice on controlling BP. One the LEADING causes of strokes is high BP, SYSTOLIC reading, which is the high number. Today, the doctor’s want our BP UNDER 140. It used to be 150, and, they used to worry more about the lower number ( Diastolic, or resting pressure ). I take a fluid pill every morning to keep my BP under 140, the lower number is always low at 70 to 80, but the higher number, the “pushing” pressure, was getting up to 155, now it stays under 140. Think of it as like a garden hose ( your veins/arteries ) connected to a pump. If the pump pressure is increased to a point where their is a weak spot in the old rubber hose…wellllll , you get the point, and if that is in one of those tiny, little veins in your brain, the party may be over. We want you around here in the Diner a LONG time Rob !!!
