Geezer's Lounge (Rev 1) - Volume 1

[Jerry]

Morning everyone

Tom thanks for the coffee.
Hope you feel rested now?

Larry a nice breakfast thanks.

Curt hope Dad feels better.

Mike have a nice day doing whatever.

Rick great shot of the loop.  To bad no trains were running.

Morning Greg what book are you reading?

Karl have a nice say working on the layout.

Philip glad the Dod report was a good one.

Weather in South Jersey cloudy/23.  RF 17.
We are 13 degrees below normal for this time of year.
I'll try to get another two hours of bench time in today.
Still fighting the cough but much better.

Everyone have a great day!!

Jerry

[PRR Modeler]

Good Morning All,

Today for breakfast is French Toast, OJ. soda, and of course coffee.

Started the day with a walk at 51F and breezy.

Dad it seems does not have pneumonia after all but a bacterial infection in his blood. The lab is culturing it to determine what it is to treat it more effectively than broad spectrum antibiotics. The Infections doc said expect Dad to be there until at least Friday and possibly through the weekend. Dad continues to do well othwerwise.

I'll be at the hospital again today.

I hope everyone has a good day.

[friscomike]

Good morning folks,

Curt, thanks for opening, the coffee and breakfast.  Good to hear your Dad doesn't have pneumonia.  Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Jerry, good to hear you are feeling better.  Good luck with the cough.

Philip, glad you didn't get any flooding.  

Karl, hope you stay warm and have time at the layout.

Gregory, reading a book on a rainy day sounds good to me.

TomO, hope your sleep routine settles down.

Rick, how was your hike with Star?  Kern Canyon looks beautiful.

How is the rest of the gang?

It's an overcast morning at 27F headed to 37F and teens tonight.  Brrr.

I hope to remove the boxcar from the clamps and start assembling the shed.  I keep looking at the layout and know it is time to mix up some Sculptamold.

Have fun,
mike

[TomO/Tloc]

Good morning from So. Central Wisconsin. The warming trend continues! Currently the actual temperature is 0f degrees and the real feel is -12. Definitely warmer than it has been at this time for the past 7 days. High later will be mid 20's.

Curt, it's a good thing Dad lives with you. May his recovery commence at a rapid pace.

Breakfast is out somewhere this morning with Terry. Thursdays in 2025 had become a op session day or a layout work session day which interfered with our weekly Thursday breakfast/brunch outings. So, I've signed up for an op session every other Tuesday and the 2 guys I'm helping on their layouts have switched days of the week. I had nothing to do with that but happy they did

After Breakfast a quick stop at Home Depot for a part for the new closet. I'll hopefully install the part (the holder for a clothes rod) and the closet will be 100% again! Then the day is mine. I have 3 Blue Point switch machine linkages to make some small adjustments on. Along with the 3 switch machines I will start testing the 7' section of relaid track and the connections made to the rest of the layout. The gauges and a wheelset I've been pushing through the track show it to be good but nothing like gradually testing trains of various length through new track work.

I have since Summer thought of completely getting out of commission weathering of freight cars and maybe just do diesels. When I did inventory after Christmas of my supplies I decided to continue as I've written but with a major reduction in the amount of work. The 3 big things I will keep 1st in mind though is my family, my health and my layout. All 3 are moving along fairly well. I've reduced my online time and I removed all links to the currently daily news sites I was reviewing. My reduced TV time has continued. Commission weathering starts back up in March.

I have been hitting a golf ball (my 3rd passion behind Terry and the grand kids) but even my PT and doctor don't believe I'll ever play like I used to. After 5 months of therapy I only have 30% grip strength in my left hand with no measurable improvement since November. The left hand for a right swinging player is the lead hand and not to be able to firmly grip the club, feel the club and swing with power is not good. I now know I can play but at a much reduced capacity to hit the ball. I'll adjust but playing in the events as I had been doing is over. I'm not terribly disappointed but I sure would have liked to be in Florida this week playing with the group. The days of a single digit number handicap are over, if I break 100 the doc says I should be happy. I can't wait to show him a scorecard this Spring! I first broke 100 on 18 holes when I was 9, not giving up now. Terry and I both miss exploring the areas surrounding the courses we were playing. Traveling this Spring has returned to our schedule as Terry's medical also returned good results this week.

10 new smoke detectors and 2 new carbon monoxide detectors were ordered yesterday and the electrician says 2 hours at most to install them. Per local code they must be hardwired and I had a bit of difficulty with the one I took down to see the build date on it, 2012. Therefore the hiring of the electrician. They recommend 10 years on smoke detectors and 7 on the Carbon monoxide detectors. So it is replacement time...

Be well
TomO

[Larry C]

Good Morning,

Jerry glad to hear you're feeling better and enjoy the bench time.

Curt thanks for the coffee and breakfast. Hope your Dad have a quick recovery.
Being at a hospital is tiring so take life easy.

Tom O it's great you're changing your lifestyle somewhat; after all you are retired.

What's your plans for the day?

It's a balmy 13 with a high of 25 in New York. Well it's official; Syracuse NY has hit the 101" of sn*w mark
for the first time in 6 years. From what I've read this area has received snow off three of the Great Lakes;
the last storm reached all the way to Boston. Mon - Wed temps are supposed to be in the low 40's so maybe get rid of some of this stuff.
Between now and then I need to get the ladder out and get more snow off the back roof; what fun. Maybe some bench time today.

Have a great day!!! Be well, keep warm, and stay safe.

[GPdemayo]

Happy day to all.....

Jerry, that book would be Justice of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone

[Jerry]

Morning everyone

Curt thanks for the coffee & breakfast.
Hope Dad feels better as the day goes on.

Mike looking forward to the update.

TomO I can't believe how organized you are in everything.

Larry be careful up there on the ladder.

Morning Curt.

Weather in South Jersey sunny/23.
At least the wind has died down.
It seems my COVID id finally at the end of it's run thank God.
Some grocery shopping this morning.
Then maybe just maybe two or three hours of bench time.

Everyone have a wonderful day!! 

Jerry

[Rick]

Good morning everyone.

Bakersfield weather: Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 64.

Curt, thanks for the coffee and breakfast.
Hope they find the right antibiotic for Dad so he can go home soon.

Mike, sounds like there's a lot going on upstairs.

TomO, Glad you're enjoying your lifestyle changes and valuing what's most important.
Sorry about your golf game and hope the smoke/carbon monoxide detectors install goes well.

Larry, that's a lot of s@#$. 

Greg, enjoy the reading.

Jerry, hope you keep feeling better and getting lots of bench time.

Philip, maybe there's better weather headed your way today.

Karl, what's new on the layout?

ACLTom, how's the procedure go?

Ron, any RR progress yesterday?

Hope everyone else looking is is doing well.

Star and I did a very beautiful hike yesterday.
6.5 miles of non stop epic views and 992' of climbing.
This is such a beautiful area.
I think I'll stick around here and look for another hike to do tomorrow.

A short video from yesterdays hike: https://youtube.com/shorts/pQrwTO6cvUU

And a picture of yesterdays sunrise at camp.

Have a great day everyone.

[elwoodblues]

Good morning Curt, Mike, TomO, Larry, Greg, Jerry, Rick and the rest of the crew that drops in later.

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Curt, Hope your dad recovers soon.

Mike, have fun working on the boxcar.

Tom, hope you prove the Dr's wrong about your golf game.  Glad to see you got your life changes in the right order.

Larry, that is a lot of the white stuff.

Greg, enjoy your day.

Jerry, with all that bench time recently, can we expect an update? 

Rick, Nice video, with those views I would never leave.

Currently -15c (5f) and sunny.  Today I get the snow tires taken off the car and the all seasons installed, no use ruining a brand new set of snow tires.  No modeling for me last night as I never even made it to the basement.  Not sure what tonight will bring.

Have a great day everyone.

[Philip]

G morning,

Hoping for your dad's improvement Curt. Thanks for the coffee!

yes Mike, get a sculpting!

I'm think my detectors are 10 years old. They sure look it.

Be careful Larry! So this roof you keep shoveling has no pitch? I had ice damming a couple years ago in the dining room. I thought it was a burst pipe at first.

Morning Greg!

Good news Jerry! Except the shopping part.

You should homestead there Rick!

Morning Elwood!
I made it to the basement yesterday and worked on windows and saloon door. Dunked some wood in stain for the Juke joint. Added all the lil plastic windows. Also observed New Tracks Modeling in the background. They had a guest speaker from Soundtraxx. Linked below.

Have a great day!

  Video starts at 6:46

[KentuckySouthern]

Hazy bright 10⁰ headed to 24⁰ish. Lite snow falling at the moment, 10:15 am in MI.  Cold hangs around for a couple more days.  40s a possibility next week. 

The bird feeder is busy, a couple of tree rats stealing from the birds.  We had enough cardinals to elect a new pope out here

I cut in two new turnouts on the layout and started with a third. This one in a curve that is a slight challenge but will work out "ok" one turnout has a stub siding that will have a coal dump.  Eventually more scenic work will follow.

Curt, all the best with your Dad, you're a good man for taking care of him as you do, I'm sure it's a challenge at times, my folks were.

Enuf here for me.  Be well all, stay healthy and safe.

KSINMI

[Rick]

Karl said:  "We had enough cardinals to elect a new pope out here "
That made me chuckle. 

[TomO/Tloc]

Karl said:  "We had enough cardinals to elect a new pope out here!

That's the best line here this year in the Geezers

Rick, Jerry, Mike and others. Thanks on the life style change comments. I've been making adjustments over the last few years after the huge anxiety attacks I had in Dec 2020 and Jan of 21. It's a continuous process for me and I don't always succeed but I'm trying.

As for the golf. I will do my best to prove the PT and Doctor that they are wrong. I was quite surprised though with last week's strength measurements that in 3 months there was no improvement. I'm helping on 2 layouts and I can hold things and lift within my parameters, 8-10# or a gallon of milk. I do feel stronger and really only notice the weakness when I try to hit a golf ball into the simulator. I am hitting 100 balls daily into the screen. Haven't missed a day in the last 44. What I can say is, the ball is going straight, not far but straight

TomO

[Jerry]

Evening everyone

Karl like Rick said that was funny!!! 

The bar is open pick your favorite and sit by the fire.
Just got it going again it's 20 here in South Jersey.

This is the best I've felt in over a week.
Just hope it doesn't come back.

TomO glad your practicing that swing of yours if it was me I would have missed the screen and broke all the windows!! 

Made the bench for an hour today.  Don't know whether I'll start a thread or not just seems I get to sidetracked to finish anything will see how it goes in a day or two.

Jerry

[Rick]

Good evening Jerry.
Very glad you're feeling better and doing some modeling.

I'll join you for a virtual drink.
A oatmeal stout for me.
Thanks.