Geezer's Lounge (Rev 1) - Volume 2

[KentuckySouthern]

Bright sun and pleasant in MI this morning, temp at 0830 is in the mid 50s! The forecast is that the smoke might be back in the air today but it's less so far this morning.

We spend much of the day at getting all the tall grasses cut and swept up off the lawn, a month of being away left lots of work. 

We went out for Mexican last evening at the old Michigan Central/New York Central railroad depot in Charlotte, 12 mi off.  A usual favorite, they seemed to be a bit off their game with their food last night, but it was still ok.  The depot is a beautiful stone structure and has fantastic beams and dark wood trimmed interior still.  A little tacky outside with some touches of dayglo yellows and oranges.  The one time busy line from Jackson to Grand Rapids is gone, at one time there was a fair amount of traffic.  The last vestige, a 2-3 mile line with a "dinner train" went belly up and all of the rolling stock has been sold off.

Off the other direction today, headed shortly to Grand Ledge.  The Geek squad daughter is displaying at a local air fair, the Doll will make an appearance.  We then are going to look at a van at my son's auto shop. From time to time he gets cars in for repair, the owners don't want to pay the money so he gives then a minimal "take it off your hands" price or won't charge for the diagnostic for the vehicle.  He then does the repair at his cost and sells it.  We're near the end of the rope with the Doll's Toyota, so we are looking at this car.  WE'll see.

This evening we're going to some of the Doll's friends, mine sort of as well, for a patio gathering.  Rather watch paint dry, but... they are nice to me.  Just not my cup...

That's the morning report from Michigan.  Football is in the air but summer holds on.

KS

OOPs, almost forgot BE Well!

[elwoodblues]

Good morning Curt, Larry, Philip, Karl and the rest of the crew that drops in later.

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Curt, sorry to hear about your friend, my condolences.

Larry, Hope Mr B starts getting better soon.  Not eating is never a good sign.

Philip, enjoy your day.

Karl, have fun at the fair

Rick, hope the swelling on the leg is going down. 

Cool (18c-64f) and sunny today.  Got some chores to do, then it's off to the hobby store.  Once I get back from the store, Gracie will be begging for a walk.  After all that is done, I plan to watch the qualifying for the F1 race and spend some time laying some track for the staging yard.

Have a great day everyone.

[Rick]

Good morning everyone.

Coeur d'Alene weather: highs in the upper 70's and sunny.

Curt, thanks for the coffee and breakfast.
Sorry about the loss of your friend.
Trip sounds exciting.

Karl, sounds like a busy day planned for today.

Philip, I don't think it was the driving that caused it since I don't drive that much.
Very rare that I'd drive more than 100 miles and I don't drive every day.

Larry, sorry to read about Mr. B.
I hope things improve soon for him.

TomO, clots can be very dangerous, but the doctor said that because the clot is so low on my leg, it's very unlikely to move.

Ron, that's a lot of screws and congratulations on the track laying.

Jerry, great talking with Diane and you yesterday.

ACLTom, any BS'ing today?

Dave, have fun building the shop.

Mike, your layout landscape is coming to life.

Star and I did 4 miles yesterday on a paved and mostly flat trail.
A little bit of foot pain but got better as we went.
Swelling is less too.
Doctor said it would take about two weeks for swelling and pain to totally go away.
Monthly prescription for meds is about $127. 
Was able to get a coupon from the hospital that got me the first month for free. 
Drove up one of the best maintained forest roads yet.
I shouldn't be up here because there was a sign at the bottom that said the road was closed for logging activity.
I ignored that.
A couple of loggers stopped and told me they didn't care if I stayed the weekend.
They did say they were locking the gate at the bottom.
That's fine with me since that means no one else can come up.
There's a short less than 2 miles trail right where I'm parked and Star and I will walk that later.

I think I already posted a picture from when we were in Weiser, ID.
Here's another.



Have a great day everyone.

[deemery]

Our weather in SE NH is similar to Karl's.  Sunny, 68 at 9:30 headed to 78, low humidity.  Scotch Club is likely this afternoon.  

I keep on thinking of things I could do/should do before installing the belts, but I'm gonna call "good idea cut-off" and Just Do It.   But I did realize I forgot to provide for the drill press, so I'll add that before I Do It.

dave

[Jerry]

Morning everyone

Curt thanks for the coffee and day old donuts!! 
Sorry about your friend passing.

Larry sorry to hear about Mr. B.

Philip have a nice day.

Karl good luck with the car.

Ron sounds like you have a busy morning.

Rick glad the leg is feeling a little better today.
Always great talking to you my friend.

Dave keep up the good work on the machine shop.

Weather in South Jersey is sunny/72.  Later on 76.
The kids and grandkids will be coming down and then heading to there rentals at the beach today and tomorrrow.
Will head down there in a little while.

Everyone have a great day!! 

Jerry

[friscomike]

Good afternoon folks,

Curt, thanks for opening, coffee, and brunch.  My condolences for the passing of your friend, Jon.

Larry, glad the temperatures are cooling a bit in NY.  Glad you enjoyed supper and ice cream...nice!

Philip, cooler temperatures are nice to have in August.

Karl, the '50s are too cool.   Good luck with purchasing another vehicle.

Ron, hope you enjoy the hobby store.  Good luck with the staging area, too.

Rick, glad your swelling is going down. Congrats on scoring the hidden camp spot on the logging road.

Dave, good luck with the belts.  It's funny how we work out modeling solutions during our waking moments.

Jerry, the beach sounds like loads of fun.  Enjoy!

How is the rest of the crew?

It's a cloudy day but cool at 81°F. Rain will come later this afternoon.

I finished painting the layout and have started with ground cover, i.e., dirt and rocks.  The Masonic Lodge is ready for paint...well, the glue is setting. 

I researched wooden oil derricks this morning and think I can scratch build them as a future project.  I need two or three for the layout.

Reubens for lunch, so I'm heading to the kitchen.

Have fun,
mike

[deemery]

Roger Malinowski did a -really nice- wood derrick kit in O scale. See https://www.ebay.com/itm/315752265122 for photos of the kit.  I wish he had done that in HO, too, I would have probably bought 2 or 3 of them.  Mike, if you design and 3D-print the crown block (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_components_of_oil_drilling_rigs), please consider rescaling it to HO, and I'll buy a couple.  My "Pennsylvania Oil Country" layout could definitely use some derricks!   And if you need drawings of early 20th century derricks, let me know. I think I have some in my reference materials. 

If anyone here has built that kit, I'd be very interested in borrowing or buying the CD/DVD instructions. 

(And a note on reubens:  I now put a reminder the day before a dental appointment to NOT eat a reuben.  The kraut gets wedged between my teeth, and the hygienist has to pick that stuff out... :-) )

dave

[ACL1504]

Afternoon all,

I have a personal rant so I'm using the forum to let off steam. Hope ya'll don't mind.

I've been off the forum a few days and it hasn't been due to lack of interest.

I've been dealing with the City of Orlando leaders and supporting staff. I swear these folks have been educated beyond the level of their intelligence. Absolutely no common sense at all.

I got a letter from a company stating they were under contract with the City of Orlando to replace the corner side walks where the ADA compliant wheel chair ramps are located.

I called and told the project manager the corners were already ADA complaint. He told me this was a new regulation. Now, for the record, I'm not ADA negative. I just wanted to know why the change. I asked was this a new City Ordinance or a Federal Mandate Change to the Federal ADA Law. He couldn't answer, a total dumb a**.

The photo below is how the corner was prior to the change. It was wheel chair friendly and had easy access to the sidewalk from the street.



Notice also my green grass. I asked again why the change? He said if someone falls they may get hurt. Okay, if you fall you may get hurt but falling in my plush grass won't hurt that much.

The next photo shows you the change they made. Now, if you fall, you will get hurt by breaking a leg or knee cap from the ADA ramps/curbs on each side. Then you fall in the grass.



Notice my then green grass is now dead and two sprinkler heads are broken. The above photo also shows how they left it, trash and pieces of concrete on the ramp.





They attempted to fix one and I stopped them and said, "Stop, I'll make the repairs." They wanted to use a flexible hose and I wanted the 20 gauge PVC pipe.



Fast forward and I asked them to fill in the hole. They gave me some dirt by dumping it on the street. I shoveled it into the hole and leveled it off after I fixed the sprinklers.



Dummy me, I had the nerve to ask them to replace my sod. The answer surely won't surprise you. Wait for it.

"We don't replace grass, not our job. Give it a year or two and it will fill in." I said, "You tore it up in two days and now you want me to wait two years to get my grass back in shape? This is typical local government BS."

Okay, I feel a little better but not much!

[deemery]

Tom, that's a complaint that you should take up with the person who drew up the contract, and with your city elected official(s).  "We don't do grass" is a failure of contract statement-of-work.  The poor execution is a matter of poor contract oversight. 

Now I can understand changes to codes like building codes, ADA compliance, etc.  When we sold our house in VA 9 years ago, the deck railing that was just fine when it was built had to be redone to meet new building code requirements.  Similarly, some of the electrical work we've had here in NH required Arc-Fault breakers, even though those are much more likely to trip from household appliances or tools.  (The repairman we called for the stove tripping the breaker. "ANYTHING with a relay can trigger an arc fault.  I can't replace those, but you can replace arc fault with old-fashioned ground fault breakers."  We paid the $100 service call for that good advice.)

dave

[Jerry]

Geez Tom!!  I really can't say what i want to on here or they would ban me for eternity!!!

I like in Jersey when they redo them or put them in and across the street is a wooded lot!!! 

Jerry

[elwoodblues]

Tom,

I don't know what to say    If that happened to me I don't think I would be taking it that well.  I know that when they redid the curb to my driveway last year the city left it better than when they found it.  When I returned home the day they started the replacement they had dug up a fair bit a grass to install the forms.  When they left, the grass that had been dug up was replaced with sod and instructions to water it every day for two weeks. 

[TomO/Tloc]

Good afternoon from Wisconsin. A very smoky day with an air quality warning that they keep extending to midnight the next day. We are now covered till Sunday midnight. Based on the WeatherChannel app radar and wind models there is no way the smoke is going to be gone by midnight Sunday. We made it to 80 today but the humidity finally broke and is at 43%. Unfortunately we cannot enjoy the outside due to the haze which is now Canadian, Minnesota and recently joining in Wisconsin produced.

Spent this morning locally from 9 to 2:30 at a friend's layout build. Today was unusual for the RiverRail (out of the LaCrosse area) and BadgerRail (out of the Madison area) layout operation groups I belong to not to have an OPS session scheduled. So the friend offered a work session. 8 of us plus the owner who is a detail freak and almost melted down this morning showed up to work. The 2 wiring guys took the diagram and went to it till lunch. My self and another guy who drove 3.5 hours in from Iowa laid 5/8" thick drywall over the bus wired sections of the layout. Most of the RiverRail and BadgerRail  Operational groups use dry wall instead of plywood for the base of the layouts. Cutting, trimming and adding splices at the joints making sure it was level. We did 62' before lunch. After lunch the wiring helper had to leave, my helper took off for his Iowa home so I took over for the wiring assistant. The owner broke the other 4 into 3 builders and a cutter. He still had some hair left when he went upstairs to put lunch together. Usually there are 2 of us who cut and we both totally understand the owners diagrams and we both now mark the boards cut the way the owner does. Even with some issues when I looked at what they did it looked pretty good to me. They were working on the 3 level framework in the CTC/dispatcher room. They got it down after lunch and cleaned up the area very nicely. I'm the 2nd oldest at 72 with 3 in their mid 30's. Overall a great unexpected day

This upcoming week BadgerRail alone starting Sunday has 4 OPS sessions scheduled. I had to pass on all but can make the Wednesday work session. The grandson plays 3 hockey games this week to qualify to continue on in playoff action. Family 1st.

Good to read Rick you were able to hike.

Jerry, any shark sightings in the waters around the beach you go to?

Karl,is it good to be back at Southern Command? Or would you prefer to stay North for the Summer? I know the friends mainly of the wife feeling. She has a few good friends that they all worked together and while they treat me nice I'm still an outsider. The governor while a super guy is definitely Terry's friend and not mine. We are heading there in September which should be additionally interesting because he decided even though he has a huge lead in the re-election campaign. But he said last week he's had enough and will not run for ac3rd term.

Be well
TomO

[TomO/Tloc]

Afternoon all,

I have a personal rant so I'm using the forum to let off steam. Hope ya'll don't mind.

I've been off the forum a few days and it hasn't been due to lack of interest.

I've been dealing with the City of Orlando leaders and supporting staff. I swear these folks have been educated beyond the level of their intelligence. Absolutely no common sense at all.

I got a letter from a company stating they were under contract with the City of Orlando to replace the corner side walks where the ADA compliant wheel chair ramps are located.

I called and told the project manager the corners were already ADA complaint. He told me this was a new regulation. Now, for the record, I'm not ADA negative. I just wanted to know why the change. I asked was this a new City Ordinance or a Federal Mandate Change to the Federal ADA Law. He couldn't answer, a total dumb a**.

The photo below is how the corner was prior to the change. It was wheel chair friendly and had easy access to the sidewalk from the street.



Notice also my green grass. I asked again why the change? He said if someone falls they may get hurt. Okay, if you fall you may get hurt but falling in my plush grass won't hurt that much.

The next photo shows you the change they made. Now, if you fall, you will get hurt by breaking a leg or knee cap from the ADA ramps/curbs on each side. Then you fall in the grass.



Notice my then green grass is now dead and two sprinkler heads are broken. The above photo also shows how they left it, trash and pieces of concrete on the ramp.





They attempted to fix one and I stopped them and said, "Stop, I'll make the repairs." They wanted to use a flexible hose and I wanted the 20 gauge PVC pipe.



Fast forward and I asked them to fill in the hole. They gave me some dirt by dumping it on the street. I shoveled it into the hole and leveled it off after I fixed the sprinklers.



Dummy me, I had the nerve to ask them to replace my sod. The answer surely won't surprise you. Wait for it.

"We don't replace grass, not our job. Give it a year or two and it will fill in." I said, "You tore it up in two days and now you want me to wait two years to get my grass back in shape? This is typical local government BS."

Okay, I feel a little better but not much!

Boy Tom that sucks! To replace that ADA section with curbing like that sure doesn't seem ADA complaint to me. But I'm not a government worker!

TomO

[KentuckySouthern]

Government and worker in one sentence? 

[PRR Modeler]

Good Morning All,

Today for breakfast is coffee, cereal, bagels, yogurt, OJ, and soda.

Started out the day with a walk and a feel like temp of 86F. That's a cool down from last time.

Thank you for the condolences. Yesterday was a pretty slow day since MOH was out with daughter doing girl things.

Today the only thing that I know of is the regular Sunday chores then I need to finish a library book so it can be returned before we leave.

Here is Ti hogging my seat after I got up.

Tom that is ridiculous. So much for taking pride in your work.



Here is Badger sleeping upstairs as I vacuumed around him.



I hope everyone has a good day.