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

[TMo]

A lot of gut punches over the last few days for the Big Blue family. My condolences to each of you facing tough or imminent losses.

It's performance appraisal time at work, which means I have to write about 10000 characters of stuff for each of my 19 employees. I have a great bunch of engineers and technicians that work for me, so the majority is good stuff in the hopes that our brain trust will increase their salaries for next year. However, it's painful and I try to get at least one or two done a day before the deadline in the middle of October.

Tree construction in the Gorge has temporarily ground to a halt with a bunch of other annoyances - some financial stuff, cleaning bathrooms, attending parties, golf lessons. Headed to play golf with my son tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that.

We did get a decent amount of rain over the middle of the week which was needed. Looks like a warm and sunny weekend coming up.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Back from a very difficult weekend. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

56 under dark (but getting lighter) skies this morning. Mid 70s today then 80s into the weekend.

As I mentioned it was a very emotional weekend for all concerned. There were some bright spots though, such as the fact that my Lutheran minister brother-in-law managed to steal my new tennis shoes. He mistook my half size smaller black shoes with laces for his blue shoes with no laces. He claims it was an honest mistake. I say he had too much communal wine. Needless to say there was much hilarious banter in the various text threads.

I'll be home today and tomorrow and then head for Nebraska on Friday for the club's annual train show. Busy couple of days here. I need to get more acorns cleaned up along with some early release leaves. After that I need to mow. Also need to get a check off to the local YWCA for a rental. Got the last of the new drapes hung yesterday. Today the last of the new curtains arrive so I'll get those hung. Then it's time for pictures. I also need to get some of the rolls of the old carpeting cut up so they fit better in the trash can. I noticed last week there was some difficulty dumping the longer rolls.

Again thank you all for your support and prayers.

All stay safe.

Tom

[sir james]

Wednesday 9/24/25
Hello Blue
We have much needed rain this morning. Hi of 70 later.
Nothing going on here but I do read the post each day.
Tom you've been through a lot lately, hope the future will be brighter.
S.J.

[ngauger]

Rain for tonight and tomorrow, It's needed, so we'll deal with it

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

52 and clear headed for the low 80s. Similar weather conditions are expected to prevail for the next several days.

Yesterday was a busy day for me. Got the last of the acorns cleaned up and the yard mowed. Also gathered a small batch of leaves from the ash tree in the back yard. It's always the first to drop its leaves in the fall. Another was to get the old carpeting cut up into smaller rolls for the trash can. I should be able to get rid of most of it today by double dipping the trash. Advantage of a corner lot - I can set the can out front and watch for it to get emptied. Then refill it and set it out by the side. I did also manage a quick trip to the grocery store on the SuperCruiser.

Today I need to take down a couple of small volunteer trees and haul them away. After that it will be trips to Menards and Walmart. I also need to fill the gas tank for the trip to Nebraska this weekend for the annual train show. It will be a nice change from last week's heartbreak.

Thank you, SJ.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

56 under very dark skies this morning. High today in the mid 80s.

Yesterday started out just fine. Tree removal, yard waste disposal, and shopping trips to Menards and Walmart all went according to the instruction manual. Then It went downhill. My hold mail was delivered (a day late) and contained the prior week's newspapers that I had requested be stopped. Head to their office to complain. Turns out the person who takes care of that is no longer there and no one else followed up. Problem supposedly resolved.

Then I discovered that a package that was supposed to be delivered with my held mail wasn't. My first thought was that maybe it was in the bundle of papers I took back. Another trip to their office. Nope, not there. Then check the tracking number, only to discover that it had been delivered 2 hours before the rest of my mail. Print out the tracking info and head to the post office. The postmaster calls the carrier and gets the situation resolved. It's on my porch by the time I return home. Finally!

Hopefully today will be less frustrating. I'm heading to Nebraska this morning for the train show. I'll be back sometime Monday.

All stay safe.

Tom

[BR60103]

Canada's posties are on strike again. You may want to defer any mail to us for a while.
The cause is a plan by the post office to make service worse.

[sir james]

Monday 9/29/25
Hello Blue
The weekend was quiet. Being born a Buckeye I enjoyed watching Ohio State win on Saturday. This morning we went to breakfast with our daughter and two grandsons. A different place than usual didn't care for the food taste all that much. No other plans for this day, haircuts are on the menu for tomorrow.
S.J.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Sunny and 80 at the moment with an allotted high in the mid 80s. Similar forecast for the remainder of the week.

Had another very enjoyable weekend at the train show in Nebraska. Only picked up a wood sided gondola for the Backyard and Southern and a shorty hi-cube for the Adobe Flats Municipal Railway. The traditional pizza is in the fridge and the remainder of the day will be spent rest.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

60 under clear skies this morning with a few clouds on the eastern horizon decorated with some pink and gray. Mid 80s again today.

Had a dream over the weekend which some may find entertaining. In high school and getting ready for graduation. Going to gym to try on cap and gowns. Looking for my girlfriend at the time. I was trying to find a way to ride the school bus with her, maybe by switching places with another guy with the same name. Apparently in my dream the bus driver knew each kid and was difficult about switching places. Then when I was in line to try on my gown there was a guy filling out a form and wanted to know how much I wanted to donate to something and said they were suggesting $20. I said of course you are. Then when I looked at the form later he had me down for 0. Next thing I know I'm riding on a golf cart and my son-in-law called (yea, son-in-law while in high school. Go figure) and was near tears because the trucking company had cut his pay 50%. Interestingly enough he was calling on my mechanical pencil (remember the old plastic ones that you had to twist to extend the lead. Another go figure moment). I saw my girlfriend and gently grabbed her hand as I rode by. She said to meet her at lunch tomorrow at Jimmy's (whoever Jimmy is). That's when I woke up.

Today I need to pay the house taxes and get a few groceries to restock the cupboards. Also need to get the laundry caught up. This afternoon is a football game for one of the great-grandsons.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

62 under partly cloudy darkness this morning. More 80s in store for later.

Got the grocery shopping and laundry done yesterday along with paying the house taxes. Football game turned out to be a double header. Next sporting event is a cross country track meet on Saturday. Tomorrow I will need to pay the monthly bills. Today is some leaf cleaning in the yard.

Gas price is holding steady at $2.72

All stay safe.

Tom

[sir james]

10/01/25
Hello Blue
I feel sad to see summer slip away. No train news. We did get haircuts yesterday. Two local Great Clips have closed, both had the same owner. We still have two others. Also stopped at the local Dollar store, always find something there to buy. Gas was from $2.99 to $3.19. yesterday.
S.J.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Another warm one ahead for today. 61 now headed for the upper 80s.

Interesting day yesterday. First up was an article in the paper about a chili cook-off in a nearby community. Seems they wanted to make it with "a fall twist." I read the article but there was no indication of pumpkin spice chili. I got the leaves collected and the yard mowed. After lunch I put fall fertilizer down. At some point I got a phone message about "the mineral rights I own out in Ohio." At one point while walking through the kitchen I noticed the calendar was still on July. Guess I don't use it all that often.

This morning I have some yard waste to haul away. Then it's off the the tire dealer for new tires. My current ones have about 53,000 miles on them. Also need to gas up the car and get the bugs off the front. I took the car through the car wash but it didn't touch the bugs. Once the new tires are on I'll call the dealer about the 100,000 mile check-up.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

65 headed for near 90.

I disposed of the yard waste yesterday and then cleaned not only the bugs off the front of the car but washed and then waxed the entire car. This morning I'll be cleaning the inside. Other than a quick trip to the grocery store I don't really have any plans for the day. Football game for one of the great-grandsons but only through half time. He plays in the band. Then tomorrow is a cross country track meet.

All stay safe.

Tom