The Hobo Camp Fire Is going well #X.. Stop In!!!

[ngauger]

Charlie:

Glad to hear you & the wife are making progress, sorry to hear about your friend. The older we get the harder it is to heal

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

It's a typical Iowa summer day filled with blue skies, a few fair weather clouds, warm temperatures, and Canadian fire smoke. 70 now going to the upper 80s later with light winds.

Only activity yesterday was a 17 mile bike ride. Not sure how many more of those I can handle. My knees were a little sore after I returned home. On tap for today are a trip to the gym and mowing the yard. If I get enough energy I may also run the edger around the sidewalks.

Charlie - glad to hear life is improving for you.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Today's weather report is the same as yesterday's. Rain chances start tonight through tomorrow night with much cooler temperatures on Thursday.

Yesterday was quite productive. Went out to get the mower out of the lawn shed and discovered a bag of stuff to go to the yard waste disposal site. Then I saw some branches that needed to be cut up. Got that done and hauled everything off to the disposal site. Then came home and mowed. After that it was time to run the edger which generated a small amount of dirt. That small amount turned out to be three buckets of dirt. Swept that up and used it for fill in some bare spots in the yard. After a brief cooling down period I hopped on the pollution solution vehicle to check out an intersection the city said was to be closed starting yesterday. It was still open at lunch time with no sign of impending closure.

This morning will find me headed to Menards and Walmart for a few items. After that a trip to the gym will be the last item on the to do list for today (subject to change without notice).

Gas mysteriously dropped 20 cents yesterday to $2.77

All stay safe.

Tom

[ngauger]

Same here, Rain last evening, worse overnight. More today...

[TMo]

Just got off the golf course - first week in three that didn't get rained out for our golf league. Won my first match of the year (out of five) and we played a couple of guys that I know well, so aside from the heat and humidity - fun night.

I pick up my son from the airport tomorrow, so his full family will be with us here at home until we all leave for the Outer Banks to celebrate my wife's 60th. She and I have been on big grandparent duty and the two-year old is running us ragged. She likes trains, but likes anything with a power button and displays even better. Nothing is safe.

I've been adding a few trees to the new section of the layout, but I keep getting interrupted.

Last weekend was cleanup after a big storm washed two pickup loads of brush into my lot, and then there was the gravel and stone - about 30 wheelbarrow loads that had to be picked up and hauled away.

Working on a Powerpoint presentation for the wife's birthday, but I have to pick up the pace if I want to get that done before we leave for NC.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy and 70 in the remote reaches of northern Iowa this morning. Scheduled high for today will be the upper 70s. Tomorrow's high is only supposed to be in the low 70s. The NWS must be running short on heating degrees.

Fairly routine day yesterday. Stock up run for groceries followed by a trip to the gym. Once it gets a little lighter out and the sidewalks dry up a little more I'll be taking the pollution solution vehicle for a spin.

Gas continues to drop. Down to $2.72 this morning. Since it's Wednesday I'll hit the gas station early. It seems they likle to raise the price of gas ON Wednesdays around here.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

it's a cloudy 56 degrees outside my window this morning. Only 73 for a high today. Warming starts tomorrow.

Quiet day yesterday. Bike ride was the only major activity. I did stop and fill the gas tank. Prices still holding at $2.72. A trip to the gym is the only item penciled in on the to do list for today.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy and 62 at the moment with a scheduled high in the upper 70s. We will not, however be allowed to remove the clouds.

Routine visit to the gym yesterday. Had a little excitement on the way though. As I was approaching an intersection on the SuperCruiser I saw a very large suv turning the corner toward me in - in my lane! Apparently even with power steering the driver had great difficulty remaining in her own lane. I said some naughty things as she drove past. Oops! Her window was down. Oh well, maybe she learned a driving lesson. (Probably not.)

Yesterday was just not my day on the SuperCruiser. On the way home someone was dropping off a passenger. After the passenger departed the vehicle the vehicle started to pull out, just as I was passing it. Very close call. Then in the afternoon I was driving past a bobcat with a jack hammer attachment. The operator started to swing the arm around just as I was going past. Definitely not my favorite day.

Only item on my to do list for today is maybe a bike ride.

Gas is down again - $2.67 this morning.

All stay safe.

Tom

[tompm]

Good evening folks

Working nights earlier in the week has played havoc with my stamina this week. We worked 10 hours Monday night and 14 hours Tuesday night. I had Wednesday off to recuperate but it did not seem to help.

However, I did get a chance to break in a couple of new locomotives; Lehigh Valley RS-11’s from Atlas Classic Silver line. I also worked on the bases for the Golden Valley Canning Company. I began weathering track in the vicinity of the canning company.

If the weather cooperates, I will work on replacing the broken gate post on the fence near the fishpond. I am not sure what else will be happening around the house. We will probably run some errands and there always more laundry to do.

I hope to run some trains, particularly the Lehigh Valley RS-11 locomotives. I would also like to break-in the PRSL B6sb 0-6-0 loco. I want to finish weathering some track and perhaps do some ballasting. I also hope to work on the scenery around the Golden Valley Canning Company.

I hope everybody has a good weekend.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Thunder, lightning, and rain are in progress outside my window this morning. 67 now with partially clearing skies later and a high in the low 80s, at least according to our very good friends at the National Weather Service.

Quiet again yesterday. I did clean up some brush that was gathering on the deck box. It was quite dry and only took a short time to (illegally) burn. Also took a 14 mile bike ride. It's Saturday so that means laundry and then a bike ride after the rain lets up.

All stay safe.

Tom

[sir james]

Saturday eve. 7/19/25
A cloudy 80 degrees. Rain nearby headed our way.
Today I went to the NMRA show in the Detroit area. Our 3-rail layout was set up there. Walked the show but of course most all of it was the smaller scales. 
I made no purchases.
S.J.

[BR60103]

Sir James:
One unwritten rule of model railroading is that, if you visit a hobby shop or a show, you have to buy something.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

68m and more rain. Another half inch overnight with a 50% chance for more during the day today. High maybe in the low 80s.

With all the rain the humidity has been atrocious so I finally broke down and turned on the a/c. At least now I don't break a sweat walking to the kitchen. Laundry and a bike ride were my only activities yesterday. Today will find me on the bike again for a while. I also need to start packing. I'm going to Texas to visit my granddaughter. I'll have to put up with her parents and the local wildlife. So far in their neighborhood they've had alligators, rattlesnakes, and coral snakes. I go out for walks each morning while I'm there but I walk in the middle of the streets so there's hopefully no surprises..

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy this morning in the remote reaches of northern Iowa. 72 now and the NWS has allotted us another 10 degrees for the day and we get to keep all the humidity.

I have two different routes when I take a long bike ride. Yesterday my plan was to take the newer route but out of habit I started out on the older route. Fortunately I was able to take a county road and get to the newer route with only a small deviation in mileage so it all worked out fine. Today I need to mow the yard, stop the paper and mail, go to the bank, and pack for my trip. I also plan to hit the gym before I leave. I will be leaving for my son's place in the morning and should be back nearly next week. I have asked a couple of the neighbors to take pictures if they see flames coming from the house.

The big oil companies have been overly generous again by lowering the price of gas to $2.66. That's a whole penny lower!

All stay safe.

Tom

[ngauger]

Sunny & warm here today, no 3 digit heat indexes
Everyone have a good day!