Greetings, gang.

Slightly foggy this morning. 60 now headed for 75 later. Just had a low grade thunderstorm pass through leaving behind about a quarter inch.

Grocery shopping yesterday morning and a bike ride in the afternoon. Also got some weed and feed down for the yard. When I was I grocery shopping I noticed that the price of gas had jumped from $4.56 to $4.79. When I left for the baseball game for one of the great-grandkids the price had dropped to $4.52. Go figure.

This morning is a tip to the gym for swimming and a workout. This afternoon will probably see me on the bike for a while.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning everyone, for some reason this feels like a Monday. Not sure why, I guess Mondays have a certain aura about them and there's some left over from two days ago.   I do have two appointments this morning, no other plans, so I could get in a bit of trackwork.

It hit 107 in Phoenix yesterday, looking at 114 this weekend. We are approaching the official start of our Monsoon Season (June 15), and I do see some rain in the forecast for around June 18. It's one of those things that it's rare that they forecast 100% chance, so even 50% is a safe and accurate bet....

Not sure if I need gas yet, I've not gone out much waiting for my eyes to heal, but I see a few stations have dropped two cents down to $5.37, that figures out to a savings of less than 0.5%. Gas in the Tucson area is running a good $1.00 less and as low as $4.21 in Nogales on the Mexican border. Still not enough difference to drive down there just to fill up. Our government has decided that we should all be driving electric cars. Maybe they should be thinking about windup cars, just like the toy ones. Better yet, nuclear powered cars where you get 100,000 miles between fill ups.

So, have a great and fun-filled day today, and stay safe.

Good morning folks

It is 69 heading up to 83. The humidity is downright oppressive.

Been several crazy days that have limited my online time. Things started out well over the weekend. Wife was feeling better and we got some planting and other yard work done. I weathered the last Tropicana reefer and dullcoated a couple of Roundhouse express reefers in anticipation of adding weight, and metal wheels. Over the last fee days I built several more express reefers, wood reefers, and wood boxcars.

Sunday evening things went south. Our 14 year old cat suddenly had a seizure. She has never had one before. She had a second one in the middle of the night. We took her to the vet Monday. The vet found nothing obvious. However finding out we just bought a new Ottoman and the fact the cat was laying on it when the episode happened she recommended us covering the furniture with a blanket. Apparently some of the chemicals used for fire regarding and stain resistance can cause reactions in cats. We did so and have given the cat the medication the vet gave us. So far no more seizures.

To make things more fun I got a low tire pressure warning on the driver side rear tire. With the cat issues I had to wait until yesterday afternoon to get the tire fixed. Of course the tire could not be patched and I had to get a new one which I had expected. I know I am going to need new tires for inspection anyway.

Today the wife is scheduled to get an injection in her knee. I need to remove some ivy that is choking a couple of bushes.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Good morning Big Blue folks, gad, here we are coming up on anther weekend, a very hot one here. We had our first 110 yesterday, some stations run contests to see who can guess the day and time we hit our first 110. Kind of cruel I think, but it gets worse, record-breaking temps this weekend, at least 114 on Saturday, oh, we are also in store for record high lows. Today's low is 81, Saturday's is 88. It's 5:00 AM now and the A/C is running... I do remember days that it was still 100 at midnight, not often, but it does happen.

Busy day yesterday, nothing on the agenda for today, go see the eye doctor tomorrow. The next two weeks are brutal, something going on everyday. I wonder what this thing called "retirement" is all about. I had more free time when I was working full time.  I know there are folks here that will agree 100% with that.

Going to Brenda's this morning (third time this week), tomorrow a lot of the old gang shows up, just like old times. Last week they had a table set up for 12 people, we used part of it at 6:00, there was another large party coming in at 8:00, so the new owner is doing well even though he's usually not there this early. It's just that that wretched woman that bought it from Brenda is gone.... Still got the old cooks and most of the old waitstaff.

Ya all have a great and productive day today.

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy and 60 headed for cloudy and 76 with rain tonight. Don is shipping his hot weather here. Highs for early next week look to be in the 90s. Quite a change for last week when temperatures seldom got above 70.

Started getting ready to go to the gym yesterday when I realized I had forgotten to get my towel out of the gym bag after Monday's trip. Kind of nasty in there. Took everything out and threw it in the washer and drier. All is ready for my next trip. Nothing much planned for today. Thursday group this evening.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning folks

It is 74 heading up to 80. It is clear with some clouds. Overnight we had some heavy rain which caused some roadway flooding. This morning's commute was interesting due to the flooding and several weather induced accidents.

Wife got injections in both knees. At first she felt better than before she got the shots but by bedtime she was in pain. Hopefully she will feel better today.

I removed the ivy from under the bushes in the front garden.

I built an Athearn blue box wood express reefer. The number of cars needing weathering is growing.

Not much on the agenda for today.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy and 61. Supposed to be in the mid 70s later. Just had a shower move through and it left a quarter inch of water in its wake.

Yesterday was very quiet. This morning I need to meet my grandson at the hospital. He is having a follow-up exam after receiving dental plants and they could possibly put him under. If they do I will need to drive him home. Otherwise we will probably go to breakfast.

Got a call from my daughter-in-law in Houston. My granddaughter is free and clear from the neck down. No sign of cancer anywhere. She will be on a long term (20+ year) cancer maintenance drug. There were a handful of small (grain of rice size) new lesions in her brain. Current plan is whole brain radiation, Probably starting a a week from Monday.

My daughter in Rapid City is currently winging her way south with her family. They are planning to visit her husband's family who live on the gulf south of Corpus Christi. After that they will stop in Houston to visit my son and his family before returning home..

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning folks

It is a beautiful day with a current temperature of 64 on the way to a high of 79.

I found some ivy still left under the bushes when I was putting the trashcans out on the curb. I removed and hope that is the last of it.

I built a couple of blue box box cars.

The wife and daughter are going to drop off the pup at the vet for her spaying.

This weekend is going to be crazy. Tomorrow I will be helping at our local Pride Festival along with the rest of the family. Sunday will be a recovery day.

I have a bunch of cars to weather and tune up. I hope to run some trains.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Good morning all, yesterday we hit a record low, it only dropped to 84, today a record high in the forecast, 114, and it's not summer yet folks...

Still had a half a tank, but got gas at Costco anyway when I saw a 22 cent jump in most stations. A few are now up to $5.999. I guess that's a close to $6.00 a gallon as you can get.

See the eye doctor this morning, should get clearance to go back to doing normal things. I have a friend that his wife had one eye done and not the other. I don't know why, there is such a difference, no more built-in sunglasses.... Nothing else on the agenda, I did not get any trackwork done yesterday, maybe just clean things up today, that'll be a good start.

Tom, your wife felt good until the anesthesia wore off. It'll take a week or so before the injection does its thing. The cortisone is really good stuff when your joints hurt, it just takes a while to reduce the inflammation.

It's Friday again, so have a great weekend, stay safe and have fun... Oh, and don't forget to vote in the recent challenge voting poll. It's right here

Hello Blue
Sun and 73 right now.
More rain last night, I sure wish we could send those in need some of ours.
Hosting the club meet tomorrow evening so getting ready for that. Got help from the ladies in the family food wise.
S.J.

We had lunch outdoors at Wendy's with an old friend. I gave him one of my new "picker-upper" cars -- a floor with trucks and 2 magnets under for cleaning items from the track.
We've been friends with his family for a lot of years. We were Scottish dancing with his parents and his mother asked "Are you a model railroader?" I think she saw my Flying Scotsman tieclip. "You should meet my son." That happened and he joined one of the clubs I was in. When his sister finished university she became our vet for a while. Then his brother moved over here.

Greetings, gang.

Another cloudy morning underway in the remote reaches of northern Iowa. 66 now headed for the low 80s with a chance for some light showers.

Yesterday went well. Grandson did not need to be sedated for his check-up so we went to breakfast. Had a really nice chat with him. After lunch I went for a nice bike ride. This morning I'll be headed to a town about an hour away for more baseball. First game at 11:30. over by 1-ish. Next game a 4:45. Not sure what we'll do in the small town (population 2800) for 3+ hours.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning Blue
         A bit cool this morning but it will be a pleasant day before long.  
         I got my steel roof installed on my front porch yesterday and finished the rebuild of the mower deck on my backup lawn mower. I even changed the oil, then for a test I mowed over a half acre of grass. It worked like a new one so I hope to et a couple more years out of it.  

          I am going to try to pour another section of sidewalk near the back door, and after that I plan on an easy day, and may even go fishing in the neighbors pond. I promised him I would catch some of his Bass and make him a meal. He has never ate Bass, and there is nothing better than fresh fish right out of the lake. There are too many fish in the lake anyhow so it won't hurt to cull a few. 

          I am waiting for parts for the RV as well as some new motors for train locomotive projects. My big model adventure will be to take a couple photos for the WPF thread this week. 

          How is the eye doing Don? How is your wife doing Tom? 
         
          Stay safe all. 
           Charlie

Good morning good people, temps got up there yesterday, but only to 113, we could hit 114 today. There is some rain in the forecast for later this coming week, we need it, even the cacti are starting to look wilted. I do not water any cactus in my yard, I have lost a few desert bushes over the years, but for the most part, cactus survives very well on it's own since it's true, that most do store water. Some will hold off blooming, like the ocotillo will shed it's leaves and flowers until it gets water. I had a few arms of an Organ Pipe cactus break off recently and they were heavy with water. Just a bit of desert trivia.

Thanks for asking Charlie, the right eye is better than the left one. 20/40 on the left, 20/30 on the right as of yesterday, so I'm doing just fine. Had to buy weaker readers as well, so all in all, I'd recommend cataract surgery to anyone that needs it. Got the OK for no restrictions, the doctor said that I can now lift heavy loads and bend down and all that. That's a miracle since I couldn't do that before the surgery.  

Have a great weekend, and I give you a Ziggy truth as a reminder of why I don't think or move around as fast as I used to:

Greeting, gang.

Another gray and gloomy day underway outside my window this morning. May get a chance for some sun later on. 66 now headed for the upper 80s this afternoon.

Yesterday was unusual. Baseball tournament kept getting shuffled around until it finally got canceled due to rain. So the coach arraigned a scrimmage with another team about an hour west of here. Part of my journey was along a 4 lane interstate style highway. I noticed a bundle along the side of the road which looked like a pile of clothes that had fallen off the back of a trailer. When I got closer it turned out to be a person laying there. I pulled over and walked back to see if he was ok. Turns out he was. Apparently though someone had notified authorities because just as I was leaving I saw a law enforcement vehicle pull over. I couldn't ell whether it was city, county, or state but figured my part was done.

This morning I'll be heading to Humboldt (about a half hour north) for another day of baseball.

All stay safe.

Tom