Good morning everyone, I checked four different forecasts and got four different sets of numbers, so let's just say it's around 6 AM and it's somewhere in the 50's. Let's also say that there's a better chance of rain on Tuesday, how good? Let's stick with, "better" and leave it at that.

Still need to take it easy for a few more days, just watch things I've recorded on TV, not much into "March Madness", or any other sports that are on right now, haven't gone to a Spring Training game in the 65 years I've been in Arizona, no sense in spoiling that now.

Speaking of sports, I've posted the rules for our new challenge here, it's a "do anything" challenge, you pick your project for whatever you want to do, no restrictions just do it. So far we've got eight "for sure" and one "maybe". We'd love to have you join us, so check it out. It starts on April 1, so you have time to decide on your project.

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy and 39 at the moment headed for rainy and 52. The rain is scheduled for mid afternoon and is supposed to last through Wed.

I did get the tall grasses cut down yesterday. The neighbor to the north walked over mid project and gave me a hard time about waiting til there was a strong south wind to blow all the waste to his yard. I told him that was the plan as I didn't want to have to clean up my own mess. We had a good laugh over it.

Shopping is the word of the day. Need to run to Walmart and maybe the grocery store. A trip to the gym is under consideration but may not happen after the aforementioned trip to Walmart. Always seems to suck the joy (and motivation) out of my day. I need to call to get the roll off picked up and notify the storage people that his unit is empty.

All stay safe.

Tom

Hello Blue
Yep I'm still around.
Sun and 32 going close to 70 today so they say.
My wife's birthday was Friday so our three kids and six grandsons came over for dessert's.
Saturday two of our D3Rs club members came over and we ran some trains and then looked through my Marx collection. Not extensive but I like what I have.
The trees are budding, spring flowers are up, robins are back stealing my worms from the yard. All is well(as far as I know)
S.J.

55 and sunny.  Beautiful day.  Wifey wants to do more yard work.  I will mow.

Enjoy your day.

Good morning all, temps heading downwards, mid-70's today, mid-60's tomorrow with a decent chance of rain. Slowly back into the 80's after that.

Got the shelves on my display case, need a face-frame and windowed doors and it's ready to hang on the wall. Got to work smarter and slower, still shouldn't lift anything heavy for a while yet.

My shooting buddy is driving us up to Prescott to pick up the ammo I ordered. We'll split it up, got at least six people interested so everyone gets a good deal, about $30 for a box of 50 9MM, only three times what we would have paid about a year ago.

Take care and have a great and fun day.

Good afternoon folks

It is now 57 heading up to 62 and sunny.

Getting here a little late as we slept in and then did a few little chores around the house until both my wife and I felt it was time for a break. Bad backs will do that to you.

Had a good weekend. I trimmed down one of the bushes. Got it away from the house and out of the neighbor’s driveway. Took off the long single shoots that were growing out of the top. Also cleared the path to the electric meter.

Yesterday we went to the nursery and picked up some plants for the pots in the front yard and the pond in the back. Got home and planted them and I also got under the Japanese maple next to the pond raked out. My wife ordered window boxes that were supposed to arrive Friday but did not. Actually, they are coming today. Doing the pots yesterday helped with her disappointment and frustrations.

My wife has been on FMLA from work for the past couple of weeks. She will be on it until April 8th which is two weeks after her second shot. She is working virtual on Fridays. The special need child she is working with is not coming into school and is working from home. The district decided they wanted to open up the middle school fully on March 15th. Due to my wife’s asthma and diabetes three of her doctors stated she could not work in person until she was fully vaccinated. Since the district wanted her to come in person and log onto a computer to work with her student who is at home and the doctors said no, they placed her on FMLA leave. The school opened. COVID cases went up. My wife got an email early Saturday morning due to the rising number of cases, the fact that the kids are interacting with each other outside of school, and the inability to do contact tracing the county Department of Health closed the middle school for next week and they must go 100% virtual. All this so the district could say they were the first district in the county to open up fully. Now they can say they are the first district to open up fully and have a school closed. Since my wife is on FMLA she cannot work with the student until they remove her from it. The only person who can start the process is her supervisor and she has not heard back from him. Since she has doctors’ appointments and gets her second shot on Wednesday the likelihood of her going back is slim.

I finished building the coaling tower. I almost did not. I tried several ways to rig the coal chutes, but nothing looked good. I also encountered a couple more parts that would not go together correctly. At one point I seriously considered throwing it against a wall. I took a long break from the tower. When I returned, I did some painting and finished the stairs. Next is weathering and placing the tracks in it.

I have to go water the plants.

I hope everybody has a good day.

hi all . another Monday has rolled  by did some work on layout , other than that been  catching up on some unfinished projects , 
Tom will this help with your coal chutes  #8003 COAL CHUTE (tichytraingroup.com) .
Jim

Good morning folks, did go up to Prescott yesterday, did pick up some ammo. Just a beautiful day, even up there, a bit chilly, but no jackets required. Some snow on some nearby hills but none anywhere else. Surprising, it was hard to find anyone up there wearing a mask. No different than a year ago when I went there.  In Arizona, each city and town makes their own rules. It must be OK, their rate is no higher than anywhere else in the state. We went by the Yarnell Firefighter's Memorial, my friend said that it's about a seven-mile hike from there to the actual memorial. Still, many people there making the trek. Anyway, we picked up enough 9MM ammo at a great price (today's market), enough to keep a good bunch of us happy.

We were in a remote area between Skull Valley and Kirkland and we saw them building what looked like two coal flood loading towers. Didn't make sense, there are seldom used tracks on the other side of the road and no sign that there will be tracks though the opening at the bottom, like maybe for trucks rather than railcars. That, plus there's no place nearby where they are mining or even farming anything. Unable to figure out what they're going to be doing there.

Heading out to breakfast, have a great day, and stay safe. Lots of crazies out there right now.

54, cloudy and misting rain. Cloudy and chance of rain today.


11:00 with Hispano to look at a vaccination sight here in Rolesville.

1:00 in person meeting with new Human Services Director.

Raisin Brand for breakfast.

Have a good one.

Don, I remember reading about what they were building there, just can't remember what. I am thinking it had to do with a sand/gravel operation. Did you take photos? Was in Superior last weekend, and no mask wearing there either. We have avoided communities like that for a year because both my wife and I have medically sensitive people in our families that would not survive if they got Covid. But today I get my vaccine.

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy, drizzly, and 47 outside my window this morning. High for today is supposed to be about 52. Rain/drizzle expected to last through tomorrow.

Walmart trip was successful except they were out of Corona (not the virus). Not unusual on Monday morning. Got the roll off picked up and notified the storage company that my son's storage unit was empty. Got in a 7 mile bike ride yesterday afternoon. Headed out the door shortly for the gym. My go for a walk this afternoon.

All stay safe.

Tom

(03-23-2021, 08:13 AM)nachoman Wrote: [ -> ]Don, I remember reading about what they were building there, just can't remember what.  I am thinking it had to do with a sand/gravel operation.  Did you take photos?  Was in Superior last weekend, and no mask wearing there either.  We have avoided communities like that for a year because both my wife and I have medically sensitive people in our families that would not survive if they got Covid.  But today I get my vaccine.

Kevin, what you can see from US89 is the start of the journey which is a steep trail in itself. I couldn't begin the trek, never mind go the distance. I wish I could go, but it would be foolhardy for me to even start. My friend mentioned a lookout tower at the memorial, said there were stuff left behind by other fire departments, probably all over the world, but that's all he said. He, like Tom, does a lot of walking and bike riding, things I could only wish I could still do.

We did not mingle much with the locals there, went to the gun shop, tried to find somewhere that we could sit down for lunch and wound up eating in Wickenburg. Yes, the servers there did have masks on.

Good afternoon folks

It is a pleasant 56 going to 65.

Since my wife is one of the people who have medical issues and would mostly be is serious trouble or die if she got COVID we have avoided places that people don’t wear masks and social distance. I have been the one going into stores and places for the past year or so. I go in and get out as fast as I can, no browsing. If something is outdoors my wife will go such as the nursery unless it is too crowded. We have skipped places when they look too full. Since the pandemic began my wife and I have eaten out only three times, twice in Delaware and once in Pennsylvania. She gets her second shot tomorrow and I get mine on Thursday.

My wife has an appointment with the podiatrists this afternoon and we have to make a pharmacy run. May need to stop at the grocery store while we are out.

I began weathering the coaling tower. I applied a black India ink wash. For some reason the wash beaded on one of the roof sections. I will need to work on that later.

Need to get ready to head out.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Don, I think what you saw was a new Pozzolan mine. My understanding is that there is a renewed demand for Pozzolan for concrete manufacturing because there is less fly ash available due to coal power plants closing. I'm not sure if I had to deal with it because of work or just read read a news article somewhere. I can't remember if they will ship by rail, but I don't know why they wouldn't.

(03-23-2021, 11:07 AM)nachoman Wrote: [ -> ]Don, I think what you saw was a new Pozzolan mine.  My understanding is that there is a renewed demand for Pozzolan for concrete manufacturing because there is less fly ash available due to coal power plants closing.  I'm not sure if I had to deal with it because of work or just read read a news article somewhere.  I can't remember if they will ship by rail, but I don't know why they wouldn't.

You are right Kevin, my friend sent me an article about them reopening the mine. There is a really rusty set of rails on the other side of the road, I think I did see some cars parked there once. It's not an active line, but they have to go somewhere. Here's a shot of a SF overpass just north of Skull Valley. I've been trying to get a shot of it for a long time, this time someone else was driving so I took this. Don't know when the last time it was painted, but yes, it still says, "Santa Fe"....

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