I know I briefly mentioned it yesterday, but today I received the official assignment notification and we will move to Ohio this August. [tup] We had Sunday school and church this morning but only the older two kids and I went as the wife and youngest were not 100% well yet. This afternoon the wife and I researched houses and schools in the Dayton area. For dinner I’m making barbecue ribs and roasted vegetables. I hope everyone has a great Sunday.
SJ – I know you and Charlie cannot wait for summer to arrive. I’ll have a winter similar to yours next winter.
Jon – We have had a great time in Japan and had some amazing memories. I wish I would have wrote more about and shared more photos of some of our experiences but I always seemed to get sidetracked. We are blessed to be able to move around so often and see so much of the world.
RT – I’m sorry I will no longer be able to tell you and the others what the future holds for you. [;)] The Air Force has given my family and me the opportunity to experience many cultures and our kids have experienced things I couldn’t have dreamed of at their ages.
Mike C. – I will take you up on the offer. I’m hoping to meet many of the folks from the forum after I get back to the US; it should be easy enough to figure out ways to meet up with you, Buckeye, and Chuck since you all are the closest.
Lee – It’s good to see you posting. I hope all the tough times are behind you. I’m looking forward to those Reading passenger cars.
AF Ray – One major perk of being back in the US: traveling to the Bronx to see Yankees games. I’m sure I’ll take advantage to my proximity to Cincinnat
Mornin’ boys. Mornin’ English. Expecting another foot of Snohizo, like Banks said. Will really make burying wifey’s aunt difficult tomorrow. Thus continues our winter of discontent.
Demay - We will be expecting to see you at Fall YORK then. [I]
AF53 - Keep running those trains for that boy, Grandpa. They are easy to hook at that tender age. My sister says I’ve turned her baby boy into a trainiac. Cool term. I like it.
Well it looks like we got over 2 ft. of new snow last night. The boys from basecamp are out plowing already. They will have plenty to push around.
And the guys from the big telescope just radioed that they got one of their trucks stuck trying to drive in it last night, w/o chains…Looks like the plow guys will also be pulling out a pickup this morning.
Demay…In fact I am in Dayton just about every month and most of the time on or near the base. SW Ohio has several good train shows, too. My favorite is Springfield Fair Grounds.
Chuck…How did you bend the barrel this year?
We had about 3 inches this am. Most of the snow went south towards Charleston, WV and on to D.C.
Aloha. Sunny and bitter cold. We had another 4-5 inches overnight - sending it off to SJ and Charlie. Just got in from clearing it away. I am trying to flatten some more cardboard to expand the layout farms. MikeC, belated birthday greetings. JoeD, looking forward to your adventures in moving to Wright-Pat.
Hey Fifedog, come on down the weather is just fine! We may have a cool spell, going down to 62 overnight and near 78 during the day for a few days. But seriously I have shoveled my share of snow when I lived in Stratford CT and also in Reading PA before going in the US Army. I have tried to drive a 6 X 6 on icey roads in Fulda Germany, it don’t work that good even with all six axles getting power in low transfer gearing. Was not able to mount snow chains as the truck would only spin even in 5th gear. Now I just need to dodge hurricanes or an occasional heavy downpour. Maybe in another year FEC will complete their rail line between Orlando FL and Cocoa Beach FL and tie in to their mainline that runs to Miami FL and have high speed passenger service between Orlando and Miami on FEC tracks. Currently Amtrak stops in West Palm Beach FL on CSX tracks and then goes to Miami.
Looking forward to setting up a new layout sometime next summer or fall(2015) if things go right with my job and all. Have been trying to buy K-Line’s Reading Crusader passenger cars in 15 inch aluminum, I have one so far and the Reading Crusader steam engine cab # 117. Currently have the Reading Lines T-1 by MTH with PS-2, and a couple of MTH quad hoppers for Reading & Northern, and a Philadelphia & Reading woodside caboose. Even bought a couple of Old Reading Beer cars by Weaver, and a couple of Reading & Northern two bay hoppers by RMT.
Getting ready for the Big Storm. 6-8" was the latest prediction. Went to a small local train show with my son this morning. It was empty and the prices were down. Some of the regular vendors were not there. I did pick up some parts.
Joe D: Glad you are coming back to the States. Maybe see you in York in October.
Sleet, freezing rain, snow, we are getting it all. Stayed home today. Ordered license plate tags today online and federal forms to do taxes. I know most people do taxes online or thru preparers, but I am old fashioned and stubborn enough to do my own on paper. IRS sends forms and instructions for free so no big deal Wife is knee deep in Oscar watching tonight so I can work on other stuff. I see where Princess Sparkle Pony had another “great” day. I hope everyone has a good day.
Cold. About 0 with double digit negative wind chill. The low temps are supposed to last the rest of the week. Just trying to stay warm and checking some items off of the honey do list. I’ll vote that March is entering like a lion. All for now.
Well we got at least 2 ft of snow on site last night. The road is plowed out to at least one lane. They will prob do some more cleanup tomorrow, which means I try to fall asleep to diesels and backup alarms.
Troubleshooting a new receiver this weekend. It has been entertaining to say the least.
Joe - glad to hear you are coming back to the states. Would like to see the AF museum someday.
Chuck - I think the snow cannon got bent into a horseshoe yesterday:)
Will try and finish up the director’s American Flyer and then maybe try out the Lionel coupler conversion on the Marx 666.
Fife - sorry for your and Kelly’s loss. [angel] Prayers for you guys during this trying time. [angel]
Garage doors have been ordered, install date 3/10 or 3/14. We went with the dealer from Friday getting Clopay doors. Spoke with him about Wayne Dalton and he confirmed what the other dealers are saying, and they no longer install or service Wayne Dalton residential doors. Seems WD was the first to manufacture an insulated door with polyeurethane, seems the doors had issues with the foam separating from the steel, this caused issues ranging from rattling to mold. I asked him what the difference was between their Clopay doors and the ones sold at Home Despot. He said “Nothing. Other than we are offering a free upgrade to their commercial grade hardware, and we will remount your garage door openers because they aren’t mounted with strong enough material. And we service what we install, you don’t know who will install your doors if you get them from Home Depot.” Very honest guy.
I’m staying out of the Amish stuff. My ancestry is PA Dutch (similiar to Amish & Mennonite, I actually have family that are practicing Mennonites). All I will say is every community is different, while they follow ‘common’ beliefs they are ‘implemented’ differently between communities. Amish will work for The English (as we are referred to by them), but they keep their distance. As for that TV show… if it were real The Lancaster County Police Department wouldn’t have much trouble prosecuting them since they have all the video evidence they need.
After three days of much needed rain on and off here in Southern California, all is quiet tonight.
Went out to eat with our widowed friend tonight. I ordered a soup, salad, and sandwich trio which tuned out to be a bad choice. Soup was OK but the sandwich which was billed as a turkey sand on a crissant roll was actually lunch meat turkey cut up and put on a roll with a lot of lettuce. Big disappointment. Saved the day by stopping at Baskin Robbins on the way home for ice cream sundaes.
Saw what was left of the Oscars when we got home. Did’nt matter much though because I didn’t know any of the winners anyhow.
Watched Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks on DVD this afternoon. Lot of suspense. I guess that guy who played the leader of the pirates, did win best supporting actor but I got home too late to see that.