Many thanks to all for the good wishes!!  Recovery is happening, and that's Good....

Stay safe!

Pete
in Michigan 

Good Morning, All!!  It's 38, headed for 45 here in the northern mitten, with actual sunshine making shadows on the snow!!  There's hope!!

In other news, I'm recuperating from emergency gall bladder surgery three weeks ago or so, and I'm glad to be alive.  Don't mess with that stuff!  Just Do it!!  The call from the masseuse, who didn't like what she was seeing (I apparently wasn't "me"), literally saved my life, and I am eternally grateful for her making that call. The hospital admitted me immediately and the surgeon pulled the gall bladder within 48 hours.  Found out a couple of days later that it was dead, infected and showing signs of coming apart. Had it burst, it would have spread gangrene and who knows what else all over my insides, and that would have meant Sepsis and Game Over. So we were Just in Time....

PSA:  If you have a stomach ache and pain in the lower right front, head for the ER Right Now!!

Best wishes to all!  Stay safe!

Pete
in Michigan

Mornin,' All!

Heat wave here in the northern mitten!  24, feels like 16, grey blanket and WGFA arriving in fits and spurts.

In addition to Phil seeing his shadow this morning, the bad news continues with the news that Bob Brown passed away in his sleep.  He had a good life, is now with Irene again, and his "Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette" will continue from White River Productions.  Rest in peace, Sir!

Make it a great day, All, and stay safe!

Pete
in Michigan

Very nicely done, Kanthima!  Keep going!

James, thanks for sharing!

Pete
in Michigan

Mornin' All!

13 here in the northern mitten today, feels like -5, still colder than Anchorage's 20....  Grey blanket firmly in place on top, and the Coast Guard helo is apparently looking for ice on the Bay.  Op session tonight should go well as the roads are plowed and salted and it might actually wrm up enough for the salt to work.

Snowblower was delivered this morning, so my reliable friend has had its annual checkup.  Good for a machine I bought in 1978!                             

Make it a great day, All!  Be positive, test negative and stay safe! 

Pete
in Michigan

Good afternoon, All!

Once again it is warmer in Anchorage than it is here in the northern mitten, but at least our temps here are in positive numbers and double digits, so maybe there's hope....

Grey blanket is still on, and the ice over the bay is gone with the wind, which is to say that it has pushed up on shore....  Wheee!

Hope all who are still traveling home from the Springfield show are having a pleasant journey.  Make it a great day, All, and stay safe!

Pete
in Michigan

Goooooooood Morning, All!

Just for giggles, once again it's considerably warmer in Anchorage, Alaska than it is here in the northern mitten!  Whazzup widdat?

Be positive, test negative, stay warm and stay safe!

Pete
in Michigan

Quote from: deemery on January 23, 2026, 11:53:47 AMWell, Pete, this looks like a good year to not travel to Springfield.  Between the 'northern mitten' temps and the big snow Sunday into Monday, travel would be a PITA.

dave

Dave, add to that Family Rebellion (don't go, etc), possibilities of rampaging flu and the hip issues that scared me off from the beginning and you have the complete picture.  Hoping lots of people post lots of good pix, and that all stay safe!

Pete
in Michigan

Morning, All!!

It's warmed up to -2, but it still feels like -26 out there in the northern mitten, and the WGFA are arriving in small flakes.  Must be a Big Snow coming!  Roads are icy, indoors is still sweater weather, and the extra candle added to my younger son's Birthday Cake will hopefully lighten and warm things for the year ahead.  He's in Maine, though, and I'm still hunkered in the bunker in the northern mitten.  Grey blanket overhead is not helping....

Make it a great day, All, and stay safe!

Pete
in Michigan

Karl,

Let's not get started on those driving igloos.  Not safe or good for my blood pressure!

Pete
in Michigan

Good afternoon, All, and welcome to Wintah!!

It's a balmy 23F here in the northern mitten, feels like 13, and headed for single digits, minus numbers and WGFA over the next few days.  We're on the northern edge of the mess that is enveloping the lower midwest and east coast, and as much as I hate to say it, surrendering to my hip arthritis and cancelling my Springfield trip awhile ago sounds like a Good Idea for reasons also related to an obviously annoyed Mother Nature.  May she have mercy on us!

Ordered several books over the last couple of weeks and four of them arrived in today's postal offering, so I do have stuff to do if I cannot make it down and up the stairs to work on the layout.  The roads here are plowed, icy underneath and laden with those who don't need no headlights on because it ain't dark yet. And besides, them daytime running lights are automatic!  What's ya problem, unh???  The absence of any light in the back and enough in the front to be seen through the whiteouts might provide a decent reason to turn them on, and it will give the lawyers something to work with....

Make it a great day, All, and please, please, please, stay safe!!!

Pete
in Michigan 

Welcome aboard, Rick!  Hope your retirement is going well!  Enjoy the ride!

Pete
in Michigan

Bulletin Addendum:

Winter has also arrived in the great white north, as the Temp is 20F, the Wind Chill is -4 in the northern mitten, the roads are icy, the schools are closed, and we're looking at 4-7 inches of white gifts from above before this relents.  Not sure what it's gonna do to the op session around twenty miles north of here tonight, but I'll figure things our in a few hours.

In warmer news, James has joined the Septuagenarians, so please wish him a Very Happy Birthday, and many more!  Welcome aboard, James!


Stay safe!

Pete
in Michigan

Good afternoon, All!

36 (!!!), feels like 30 (!!!) and fog with rain (you know... the wet stuff, not the white stuff!) here in the northern mitten today.  Roads are mostly just wet, but there's still ice out there, so be careful!

Best to Jim as he navigates the cardio stuff.  If they're not charging around, raising their voices and using terms like "stat!,"  you may feel like you got hit by a train, but you're not in Danger, so relax a little!  Took me a long time to learn that!  And if it took awhile for a call-back, that's actually probably a Good sign....  I have a CT-A scan tomorrow to see if I have anything between my ears, like maybe a couple of "minor" aneurysms. Ain't life grand!

And best wishes to All for a 2026 that is better than 2025!  Happy and safe New Year to all!

Pete
in Michigan

Good Afternoon and a very Happy New Year to all from the northern mitten, where the temp is 17, the wind chill makes it feel like -1, the grey blanket is firmly in place and there is nothing falling from the sky! And even better, from my perspective, the arthritis/bursitis combination seems to be reacting to the cortisone, so I don't hurt as much!!

May all of you enjoy the Forums here and may 2026 be a better year for all than was 2025!

Stay safe!

Pete
in Michigan