Mixed bag here in MD weatherwise - mid 40's coming in to work at 6:30, so I stopped by the golf course and practiced on the putting green before heading in.

By noon it was cold and rainy. No lunchtime walk as a result.

Left early to get my mark on the forehead and headed home. While it was still light the dog and I rounded up my downed ornamental grass clumps and added them to the compost.

After dinner completed my taxes for the year and had just enough time left to add a little more detail to the rocks in the Lehigh River prior to tomorrow night's first pour of Realistic Water. Got Jim's Alco document in the mail after winning the first auction of the year. There's a statement in there indicating that at the turn of the century Alco owned 2/3 of the manufacturing capacity of locomotives in this country. 70 years later they're out of business...

The snow started in earnest in the afternoon. They probably won't start to plow until it's almost over.
They were blowing out (or something) the sewers yesterday. We were told to keep the plugs in the sinks and the toilet seat lids down. They timetable has it going until the 28th, but that may just be allowing for weather. They weren't back today.
I didn't manage any outdoor walks today; Dayle had one in the morning while I finished my coffee.

Greetings, gang.

Well, the big storm is over here. Despite the highly accurate predictions from the NWS we only got about an inch of snow in the remote reaches of northern Iowa. Far northwest Iowa did not fare as well, getting several inches along with some high winds. 21 now going to 14 by late afternoon. Low of -2 by morning.

Not a lot to report this morning. Going to visitation for a long time family friend this evening.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning all, we had rain and wind yesterday, not much rain, lots of wind, 55mph with 62mph gusts. Cut right though you with the rain blowing parallel instead of just falling. We don't get that much here, that must be the result of global warming.... About 5" of snow up north had I-40 closed again. I-17 was shut down at Camp Verde, about 50 miles south of Flagstaff. All-in-all, what TV channel 15 calls, "a weather action day". Don't we have weather action everyday? No change today, snow and wind up north, rain and wind down here. Heading to an early morning appointment then I should stay home the rest of the day.

Got a new K-cup coffee maker a while back, has touch buttons and a mind of it's own. The manual says that it will turn off by itself at the setting you choose, but hitting "on/off" or, "brew", it will turn off immediately. No, hit those buttons and it will continue to go as long as it wants to. No wonder there's a large overflow catch basin. They should also supply a mop as an accessory.

Glad you got your mark Todd, I did not, they never announced that they were doing it at our church.

I hope everyone has a good day, stay warm and stay safe..

Good morning folks

It is 40 at the moment, heading up to 62. Some weather guesser are saying it will reach 71.

I got the EMG test on my left leg and arm yesterday. A strange test I don’t want to do again for some time. The first part where they put electrodes on your feet and fingers and “shock” you with a paddle to record your nerves reaction wasn’t bad. The second pat where they used a needle instead of the paddle was not fun. Preliminary results are no major problems.

I did some straightening up around the house in the evening but not much else. Never made it down to the workbench or layout.

Today I have to drop off some dry cleaning. I have some rearranging to do in the attic. If the wire strippers are delivered, I may work on the Bowser locomotive. I still have a couple of boxcars to tune up.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Hello blue
Greetings from an icy lower Michigan. We did ok but others not so good. 460,000 without power this morning. 
Temp is 28 going to 40. Main roads stayed ice free as the temp hung around 32 all day till sunset. Lots of business' closed early.
No train news except one of the mail-order stores is offering a god-awful looking BTO NYC Dreyfus in Santa Fe black and red. ugg. (3 rail)
S.J.

Good morning all, coming on another weekend and close to a new month already. I can tell, all the utility bills are coming in. I get one bill from the city, water/garbage/sewer and assorted fees. Out of around $85, less that $3.00 is for water usage, I'd still pay a "base" charge of $30 plus taxes if I didn't use any water. I also pay a "stormwater fee" even if it doesn't rain.

Lots of folks out of power from the storms, even here in Arizona, Flagstaff is looking for another foot of snow this weekend. We're looking at rain by Sunday. Both temps and gas prices are going up and down like yo-yos.

Going to go to a different restaurant this morning. We had an incident with the cook at Brenda's last week, there were seven long-time customers at our table, including Brenda's husband, and she basically insulted us all, so she's driven away some very steady customers. Brenda's husband says that Brenda will not come to the restaurant because of all the changes. We won't either now, especially since the long-time cook quit a few months ago.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and can weather the storms, stay warm and stay safe.

Greetings, gang.

Rather cool this morning but not as bad as the local branch of the NWS has indicated in the following picture.  Nor will it be as warm as they seem to indicate.

[attachment=40289]

It's currently -3 headed for the mid teens by this afternoon.  35 tomorrow and 45 on Sunday.

Yesterday was pretty quiet.  Went to visitation and got caught up with the kids of the former neighbor.  Afterwards my daughter and I went to supper at a local spots bar..  This morning I'll be heading to the gym.  No big plans for the weekend.

Gas was down to $2.99 went I was out yesterday afternoon.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning folks

It is 43 and the wind is howling. They say the high for the day is 50 but that must have happened already since the temperature has been dropping since I have been awake at 5 AM. It is supposed to bottom out at 26.

Since it was still pleasant when I got home I was able to sweep and rake the carport area. Later I threw a couple of loads of laundry in the washer and dryer.

I finished the DCC install. I am disappointed. The decoder install was a success. The locomotive ran well with the decoder. I was able to solder the wires back on the contacts which ended the stalling issue on the switch frogs. However, there are several problems with the locomotive that will require more attention and parts. As a result I will be converting it back to DC and using the decoder in another loco.

We will be doing some cleaning around the house this weekend including that pesky laundry. We have some things to do outside in the yard and gardens but with it being cold on Saturday they will not get done. Not sure if Sunday will be a better day to do them.

I will be converting the loco I just finished adding a decoder back to DC. There are several issues with the locomotive that require more attention than I currently have patience for and I need to order some parts. I will be looking for another locomotive I can use the decoder in. I have a few more boxcars to tune up. Maybe I will decide what project to do next on the layout. Lastly, run some trains.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Greetings, gang.

11 and clear this morning. 35 today and maybe 45 tomorrow. In the 40s for most of next week.

Well, it's Saturday and we all know that means I'll be doing laundry while Don is sleeping. I hope the noise from the washer and dryer don't wake him up. Not much really planned for today. I do need to scoop the sidewalks from the snow the other day. I didn't want to clean the snow after the storm because there's ice under it. With the warmer temperatures the ice should disappear pretty quickly.

Don't forget to get your bid in on the book. Remember, it's also about keeping this place alive and all of us together.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning good people of Big Blue, I'll be glad when this week is over, things just took wrong turns everywhere. Yeah Tom, I did sleep very late today, but it barely makes up for how many times I got up during the past few nights. Three days of dealing with the stomach flu (aka:Viral gastroenteritis) for the past three days. Usually get it for a day or two, but I found this gem, "Symptoms usually last just a day or two, but occasionally they may last up to 14 days".   I do believe I'm going to miss my granddaughter's birthday celebration tonight. Let's just leave things at that, most everything else that got screwed up should resolve itself in due time.

Today we're looking at the low 70's, tomorrow rain and temps in the high 50's. Possible rain all week, depending on which forecast you're looking at. Not good for the "boys of summer", we had our first Spring Training game of the season here in Surprise yesterday. The media was out in force, that's about all that was on yesterday's news, interviewing everyone including the hot dog vendor. Traffic here this time of the year is crazy, lots of folks just show up for baseball. Bell Rd. is bumper to bumper (35 mile stretch), you'd think we were in Los Angeles, but on top of that, our illustrious leaders have chosen now to work on all the roads around town. "Do them all at once", they say. I see barricades along a two-mile stretch and no one working, or one guy digging a hole in the side of the road.

Take care, have a great weekend...

Greetings, gang.

Clear and 21 in my back yard this morning. Supposed to get to the upper 40s this afternoon. Then the clouds move in and I could get 1-2 inches of rain by tomorrow. The NWS is also teasing the possibility of a thunderstorm or two.

With the warm weather I will probably go for a nice walk this afternoon. Otherwise not much planned for today. Almost exactly 170 hours to the start of the Formula 1 season. Looking forward to it.

All stay safe.

Tom

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy and still some ongoing rain in the area. 41 now and that's as warm as it will get today. According to radar it looks like the rain will be ending soon. The National Weather Service is reporting about 3/4 inch so far.

Pretty quiet day yesterday. I did get in a 3 mile walk late yesterday afternoon. Then went to Walmart. When I got in the store there were 2 cashiers. By the time I got to the check out there was only one and she had to examine pretty much each item as she scanned it. To say she was slow would be an exaggeration. Not much planned for today other than a trip to the gym.

Gas price was down to $2.89 last night. Of course I have over 3/4 of a tank.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning everyone, a new week, i hope good things. Still staying home with the stomach flu, I may need to get more help than the usual treatment. I missed what little rain we did have, but it did happen, they say Wednesday is an excellent chance for more rain. Temps have been down by a good 10 to 15 degrees and will remain so all week. Gas prices, phooey, can't keep track. Most today are either $3.45 or $3.57, that changes hour by hour.

That's all for now, just going to spend the day relaxing and hoping this bug goes away...

Take care, have a good week.

Good morning folks

It is 36 heading up to 46. We are supposed to get some sloppiness later today. They are saying it will be a frozen mix.

It was a pretty uneventful weekend. The wife wasn’t feeling well Saturday. She may have had some side effects from a recent change in dosage of one her medications. She will be calling the doctor to discuss it later today. She eventually felt well enough later in the day and we went to the produce store and the pharmacy. Threw some clothing in the washer and moved some around to the dryer. Sunday she was feeling better, and we were able to go to the grocery store and few other places. She even helped out with the laundry later in the day.

I did not get as much time with the trains as I had hoped. I did do some organizing of the workbench. I converted a locomotive back to DC from DCC. No problem with the DCC. The loco has other issues that will require further work and ordering parts. The second loco I chose did not work out either as the circuit board did not match the instruction sheet. I came to find out later I could have added the decoder with no issues. The third loco I selected was my IHC Premium Gold PRR Pacific. I had the decoder installed in the tender and testing the loco in less than ten minutes. Now if my overdue orders that contain decoders ever arrive I can convert a few more locos.

Today should be an easy day as nothing is planned. I do need to run to the pharmacy but I can push that off until tomorrow. There is always laundry to do.

As I stated above, I am waiting for two orders. One left Salt Lake City on Thursday and has not been heard from since. I am speculating the winter weather is to blame. The second order was supposedly completed two weeks ago but has not shipped. I sent them an email this morning asking for an update. Both orders contain decoders so if either shows up I could possibly look at doing another conversion. In not I am thinking about doing some ballast or attaching roadbed and track.

I hope everybody has a good day.