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

[FiatFan]

Happy Memorial Day, Gang.

Also Happy Geek Day.

60 headed for the upper 80s after a thunderstorm last night which left about a half inch.

Yesterday was pretty quiet. I did get in a nice 13+ mile bike ride. Also made some potato salad for today's steak and corn on the cob feast. A bike ride decision has not yet been made for today as winds are predicted to be near 25 mph.

I really lost the gamble on gas prices. Last Wed. it was $4.22. I figured that with the holiday approaching the price would go up so I filled the car after my trip. Wrong, Tommy Boy! It has gone way down. Gas this morning was $3.96. Glad it's coming down though as the next month will see a lot of travel to the great-grandsons' baseball games. 27 games between May 26th and July 2nd.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Sunny and already 77 in the remote reaches of northern Iowa. Could hit 90 today.

Yesterday was productive. Finished preparing the basement wall in my shop. I'll give it a few days for everything to cure then I'll be able to paint and do a MUCH needed cleaning. Also did some patching on the garage floor. Sometime during all that work I banged my toe on something. It's surprising how many different shades of purple and black can appear on one toe! As you might imagine it's making walking a little difficult this morning.

Also this morning I was awakened by a thunderstorm at about 2:30 AM. Realizing that the car was still in the driveway due to the garage repairs I got up and put the car away. Couldn't get back to sleep due to the nearly continuous thunder I finally gave up and got out of bed at about 3.

1st baseball game of the season at 3:45 PM about an hour away. Could be a l-o-n-g day.

All stay safe.

Tom

[ngauger]

Hello everyone.....

Near 70 today
first time in 8 days. Not that bad a week ahead.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

65 now under mostly clear skies. Those clear skies will allow the sun to heat up the area to near 90 again today.

Yesterday was a bust. Spent most of the day "reading." Backed out of the baseball game. Feeling better this morning.

Last Wed. when I filled the tank after my trip gas was $4.22. This morning it's $3.89!

All stay safe.

Tom

[sir james]

Wednesday 5/27/26
Hello Blue
Sun and 80s for the day. Bought some mater plants at Menards yesterday, now we wait for some real BLTs.
S.J.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

64 and muggy under hazy skies. May get to the mid 80s later. Rain chances starting tonight and lasting through the weekend.

Yesterday was busy but productive. I started painting the upstairs hallway. It's actually the same size as the 4 bedrooms at about 10' X 10'. Ceiling is done and today I will start on the walls. There's a linen closet along one wall which needs to be updated. The 11 doors will all have to be briefly sanded and painted. All the old barn style hinges will be replaced along with new knobs. Found a decent price for them on Amazon, they were less than half the price I could buy them for locally. Also need 4 magnetic latches. Working condition is not ideal as there are no windows in the hallway so not much airflow. I also need to get the fertilizer down before the rain starts tonight.

Gas continues to drop. $$3.81 last evening when I was out. that's a 41 cent drop in the last 9 days.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy and 68 with 68% humidity this morning. 50% chance of rain this afternoon but it probably won't amount to much. High around 80.

Yesterday was productive in that I did a lot of work but no paint was applied. I got all the doors off the linen closet and sanded along with the framework. The sanding was just to knock the shine off. I don't need to take everything to bare wood. This morning I need to fill the holes from the barn door style hinges and then I can start painting everything. Since it's Saturday that means there will be some trips to the basement to switch laundry. Went to a baseball game last night and found out it was a double header. I left the house at 4:45 and didn't get home until about 9:30. Also found out that another of the great-grandsons is playing in a soccer game this afternoon at 1. It's close enough that I may ride the pollution solution vehicle but it will depend on the weather.

All stay safe.

Tom

[sir james]

Saturday 5/30/26
Hello Blue
We have sun with a little breeze 70s for the day. Got some flowers planted yesterday. Monthly club meet tonight.
S.J.

[hillyard999]

Only using one crutch now. Just two days ago went out to the garage (layout) for the first time in months. Hope to run trains today or tomorrow. Xrays next week, am told by PT that I probably will be encouraged to wears shoes only (no "boot") and to ditch the crutch. Slow but sure getting closer to walking and the state of health we all take for granted.

Have a great day and enjoy your trains.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Clear skies and cool temperatures this morning. 62 now going to around 85 later. Similar temps for the remainder of the week.

Saturday's soccer game was routine except for the rain. Fortunately I keep a couple of umbrellas in the car. Also got the 66 holes patched in the linen closet doors. Yesterday was busy but the walls are now painted in the upstairs hallway. The walls went quickly but the framework for the linen closet took some time. Finally finished about 3:30. This morning I will be painting the crown molding and sanding the back side of the doors. I originally didn't know if I would have enough paint so I only sanded the outside of the doors. It will only take about a half hour to knock the shine off the inside of the doors so not a big delay I'll paint one side of the doors today and the other side tomorrow. The new hinges and knobs are due Wednesday. Also need to get a head count to the caterer for the after party which will be in a couple of weeks and pay a couple of bills.

I have two older computers which I still use occasionally. One is a windows 10 machine and the other is a very old windows 8. The Win8 machine still gets regular security updates but the Win10 does not because that "version of Windows has reached the end of support." Just this morning when I fired it up the screen displayed that reminder again, encouraging me to either buy a new computer or bribe Microsoft to provide additional security updates.

All stay safe.

Tom

[sir james]

Tuesday 6/02 26
Hello Blue
We have sun in the 70s today. No rain till the weekend. 
Got a surprise gift at our club meet Saturday. One of our 3rail forum friends sent me a Marx Wm Crooks engine and cars. They are hard to find as most were played with and thrown away. The meet was well attended and the food was good. Another forum friend just moved from the Chicago area to Florida. 
Although we lived many miles apart he felt like a neighbor and always told me when storms were coming as most travel west to east here. Gas is still hanging tough. I did see a couple at 3.99 but most are over 4 dollars.
S.J.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

60 hazy degrees this morning in the remote reaches of northern Iowa. Mid 80s later and rain chances start tonight and last well into next week.

The upstairs hallway redo is on the last lap. All the painting is done. I'm just waiting on the new hinges and knobs. Maybe today. One thing I learned from this project is that 3M blue tape #2093 billed as "Sharp lines multisurface" doesn't stick very well. I wound up throwing away about a half of a roll because it would not stay stuck to the walls or the ceiling. I also got the yard mowed and ran the edger around the sidewalks, regaining about a half acre from lawn creep.

This morning I need to start repairing the outdoor track. The deer have been particularly active in the back yard this year. Also on the to do list is a ball game at 10 AM this morning and another about an hour and a half away at 3:30. I'll probably skip that one.

Gas is holding at $3.69.

All stay safe.

Tom

[hillyard999]

<<The upstairs hallway redo is on the last lap.  All the painting is done.  I'm just waiting on the new hinges and knobs.  Maybe today.  One thing I learned from this project is that 3M blue tape #2093 billed as "Sharp lines multisurface" doesn't stick very well.  I wound up throwing away about a half of a roll because it would not stay stuck to the walls or the ceiling.  I also got the yard mowed and ran the edger around the sidewalks, regaining about a half acre from lawn creep.

This morning I need to start repairing the  outdoor track.  The deer have been particularly active in the back yard this year.  Also on the to do list is a ball game at 10 AM this morning and another about an hour and a half away at 3:30.  I'll probably skip that one.>>  

Tom,
You continue to amaze me with your household projects.  
Speaking as another old guy, I don't know where you find the energy.
Good for you and keep at it!

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Hillyard - thank you for the kind words. It's been fun and challenging working on this stuff.

Yesterday I spent about 3 hours working on the right of way for the Backyard & Southern. Several sections of tie strips needed to be replaces and there are more that need some attention but the sun, in its inexorable fashion, moved to provide me with more light. Unfortunately it also provided an excess of heat, making the project uncomfortable to continue. This morning is yet another baseball game. I will take time out (pun intended) for that but will be skipping the games next week.

It will get very busy around here as the kids thought it would be a great idea to throw a big party for my 80th birthday. I turned 80 back in March but the decision was reached to hold the party in June as kids would be out of school and that would allow more people to attend. Only drawback - everyone except me lives out of town. Guess who's planning and dealing with all the logistics. Oh, and paying for it. In all honesty thought I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone.

Enough rambling for today.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Happy D-Day, gang.

Hazy and 65. High near 90 with high humidity. I may have to turn the a/c on.

Both of yesterday's games canceled due to the poor condition of the field after heavy rains. Lots of work in the house though. I got the last of the doors hung on the linen closet but will need to make some minor adjustments. Once that's done that project will be complete. Yay! Later in the afternoon I did some cleaning in my shop and now I can enter and exit freely. I still need to paint the walls but that will have to wait until after the party next Saturday. I also have the catering taken care of for the after party.

On tap for today are a few items. I need to finish fixing the track on the Backyard & Southern. I need to get invitations to a couple of neighbors for next weekend. I need to get the patio cleaned and paver sand replaced. Another item on the list is to get the cake and cookies ordered for the open house along with figuring out drinks. It's Saturday so that means I need to fit laundry into the schedule also. Other items will probably occur as the day progresses.

All stay safe.

Tom