Good morning. I was up at 0630 and the noodles are ready to cook.

        I worked on the trains again yesterday. I re-motored a PRR Q2 with a can motor.  It was a simple job, everything was the right size for a change. I will begin work oh the decoder tonight and maybe have it running soon. I also renumbered several cars that had the same number. I have been changing road names on a few boxcars that were duplicates and next will be some mill gons. I got a great buy on these P2K cars about 15 years ago when you could still buy kits. I have some old Champ decals that are in need of being used. Some have all ready started to crumble.  

        We have a heavy dusting of snow and it is cold and a light breeze. The guessers say a cold week and we could have a white Christmas.  My prediction is we may have a cold day Christmas day or it could be a warm one. I would say 50% chance of rain or snow with a high temp. between 15 and 90 degrees. 

       Not a problem with the cake Tom. I found it on face book and we have tried a lot of combinations but we don't make them that often so it is a real treat when we do. 

         Stay safe and healthy
         Charlie

Hello Blue
It's another cloudy day with a saltshaker of snow on the ground. present temp is 29.
Wife went to church, I watched some of it from home.
Gotta do some grocery shopping this week for sure. Lots of talk about the price of eggs. I guess everyone wants to join the price gouging club.
Gas is down, everything else is up.
S.J.

Good morning, good morning.....rise and shine. Kinda hard to do that when it's in the mid to high 30's. Otherwise not much change in the weather, mid-30's to high 60's for a while.

Gas is down about ten cents, Costco $3.19 about two miles from my house. Lowest price in the state is in Eloy, just north of Tucson off I-10 at $2.65, lowest in Phoenix is Costco at $2.98, obviously they have regional pricing... If they can sell at the lower price in one station, they can sell it at that price a few miles away, but they don't. Still quite a few over $4.00, up to $4.70. How can you compete and expect to see gas when the guy down the street is a dollar cheaper?

Just relaxed yesterday, watched some football and started watching some Christmas Movies. I'm going to skip some that I know every word and every scene, but some are tradition. I started to watch, "A Christmas Carol", the one with Scrooge made back in 1931. I'll watch the 1951 version with Alastair Sim in B/W. I can never get tired of watching that one.

They're talking about a big storm coming right before Christmas that can screw up a lot of travel plans, I hope no one here is caught in it, so have a safe week and stay warm as well....

Greetings, gang.

A little cool again this morning at 7. Supposed to go to the mid 20s. Big storm here scheduled for Wed. evening into Friday.

Pretty quiet around here. Only item so far is the gym later this morning.

Don - my son's favorite was the George C. Scott version.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning, folks

It is a sunny 27. Luckily there is no wind today so this morning’s walk around the project site wasn’t too bad. High is supposed to be 37.

Not much happening around the house. I did winterize a couple of the windows and deal with some of the backlog of laundry.

I ran some trains and sorted some of my coal hoppers.

I need to pick up a couple of online orders today. Other than that nothing really planned.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Hi all. well, another cold and dampish Monday rolling by, not much news got results from yearly physical looks like i will make 77 did end up with two other appointments in Tucson for February urologists and ultrasound. haven't done much with layout been too cold. you all keep safe and warm.
Jim

Good Evening
       I actually left the house today to visit an old friend. We haven't seen each other for 5 years he really lives so far away, about a mile and a half  .
He just spent 12 days in the hospital but looks good and says he feels good. We worked together at the hydropower plant for 11 years. 

       I took the time to plant some telephone poles on the layout last night. I cut the square piece of "ground" off the bottom and drill a hole in the shaft for a short piece of copper wire. I glue it in with CA then drill a like hole in the layout where I want them. The copper wire allows them to bend without breaking if I bump one. 

        I also added some weight to a couple of covered hoppers and used the axle tuner on them. 

        It was cold today with some flurries si I just took it real easy and enjoyed staying warm.  

        I turn over another year tomorrow as I begin the journey around the sun for another time. So far 79 trips. Thats a lot of miles. 

Cheers
Charlie

Hello Blue
We venture out for groceries this morning. What a nightmare. Took longer to checkout than it did to shop.
Temp today never reached 32. Christmas weekend is forecast to have a high of 19. Yes I said 19.
Gas was $2.89 most places. Eggs were $2.69 Doz.
S.J.

Good morning, kinda chilly out, high-30's right now. Christmas day looks like it'll get up into the low 70's, nice if Santa gave you a new bike or scooter to ride around the neightborhood.

Filled up at Costco yesterday at $3.19, this morning it's $3.09.

Pat is still in the hospital, but could get out today. They were suppose to remove a stone and possibly break up a few more, but he was still in the OR or recovery late yesterday so we're not sure what's going on.

That's it for now, going to stop at the Post Office before they open. Just need to check my mailbox and mail some bills, it should be a madhouse after they open the counter. Three very long lines, counter service, self service kiosk and package pickup. In previous years about now, I couldn't even find a parking space and it took ten minutes just to drive through the parking lot to get out.

Have a pleasant day today and stay away from those storms. We've had some below zero reading up around the Grand Canyon the past few days, so I can imagine what it's like elsewhere.

Good morning, folks

It is 28 heading up to 37.

I think I got my Christmas shopping done except for a few gift cards. I had to run to four different stores to pick up online orders. I still have one order being shipped to the store which is supposed to arrive by Thursday. While I was out last evening, I stopped in Delaware to get gas. It was $3.09. I paid $2.09 because of my grocery store rewards.

Tonight, I need to replace the bows on a couple of the outdoor decorations. One blew away and two others got beat up pretty bad due to storms and wind the last few days.

Our microwave is giving us issues. It is not heating things the way it should and occasionally it is getting smokey. Ordered a new one. It should be here Thursday.

I added screws to the coupler clips on five Athearn blue box 2-bay hoppers and a wide vision caboose. I hope to do more hoppers today.

Don, hope all is well with Pat and he gets home quickly.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Greetings, gang.

2 now and maybe 10 later. Got a couple inches of light fluffy snow. Seriously nasty weather arrives tomorrow afternoon/evening. Temps near zero with 2-4 inches of snow and 30-40 mph winds. I won't be surprised if the NWS calls for blizzard conditions by this time tomorrow. The storm could last as late as Friday. High temperature on Christmas day is currently predicted to be around 12.

Gas price yesterday jumped from $2.63 to $2.84. Was I surprised? No. It's Christmas week and everyone wants to travel.

All stay safe.

Tom

Just a quick update. Just got back from shopping. Some stations at $2.84. Walmart/Murphy Oil at $2.57. guess where I filled the tank.

Tom

For the first time in a while, gas below $3 - $2.97 at the Wawa this morning.

Been a hectic few days. My son, his pregnant wife and their two dogs made the trip up from Texas. My wife was on edge for the last two days - felt like our mutt was going to get tag-teamed by the two visiting dogs. Her angst was getting to the point of being a real problem, so the kids decided to take the dogs with them to Pittsburgh until Friday. My wife's a different person without the dog drama - hoping it won't re-flare when they return.

The kids have been staying in our basement with the dogs next to my office - no model railroading as a result. Might get a few chances to add some more distant trees if I'm lucky.

Dental cleaning this morning - found a cavity underneath an old filling requiring a crown. Fun times ahead.

Christmas shopping's finished - about to wrap what I bought.

In case I don't get back to this forum, I hope the holidays bring cheer and the opportunity to be with the people you care about. I'm thankful for having lucked into Big Blue this year - that's been a real gift.

Greetings, gang.

It's not gonna be a pleasant few days in the remote reaches of northern Iowa. It's 1 now headed for 15. The snow is supposed to start this afternoon and last through tomorrow with maybe 4 inches. That alone wouldn't be a problem but with the low temperature the snow will be fairly dry which means the 40 mph winds will make for some very nasty conditions.

I first woke up a little after 1 this morning. Then again a little after two. A 3:45 i decided to jut get up. Could be a long day. There is a Christmas program scheduled for 1 PM this afternoon for one of the great-grandsons but with the weather conditions I'm not sure if it will be held. They may let school out early due to deteriorating conditions. Not much else to report.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning all, I feel badly for those in the storm area. They're saying that folks are busy getting out of town here before they shut down air traffic going to those areas. Others are just aborting, staying home here where it'll be in the low to mid 70's next week, rather then Christmas with your family and freeze your butts off. Tough choice.

Gas pricing here is still confusing, well below $3.00 along I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson, well over $3.00 in the Phoenix area. Folks here are complaining, but the oil companies do as they wish.

My truck is still in the paint shop, they're doing "cut-in", painting areas that won't be seen and body parts, then prime and paint the whole right side. I asked if I'll get it back by Christmas, "Nope", how about this year, "Maybe" she says....

Pat is home, I picked him up yesterday afternoon, he's doing well but will need to go back for another procedure sometime soon. It may be a while before we see a new "Flatt Bear" strip, but I don't blame him.

That's it for now, take care, especially those of you in bad weather situations.