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

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Another hazy morning but a practically frigid 64 degrees outside my window. Going to the upper 80s today and the upper 90s tomorrow before the heat breaks tomorrow night with some possibly severe storms. The remainder of the week looks to be in the low 80s with overnight temps in the low 60s. Downright pleasant!

I did get the yard mowed and the cupboards restocked and that's pretty much it. I tried to get a new oil filter for the car but Walmart requires you to scan a QR code (that's code for give me your phone number in exchange for the information). I declined the invitation and came home home and looked it up myself. I'll pick one up the next time I'm in the store. Not much planned for today.

All stay safe.

Tom

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

73 with 86% humidity this morning in the remote reaches of northern Iowa. 95 today then possible storms tonight with much cooler weather for the coming week.

Yesterday was pretty quiet. I did get a new headlight in the SuperCruiser and cleaned up the shifting mechanism on the pollution solution vehicle. Today I'll be taking the latter out for a short ride. Been a while since I've been on it so I'll take it easy to start.

All stay safe.

Tom

[Charlie B]

Good morning friends.

     I had a good day yesterday, my daughter helped me sort stuff in the train room and she loaded a bunch of supplies I will no longer need and took them to my youngest son to use on his layout.  I had been hoarding things I might need for years, itemws such as dyed sawdust, sifted sand, small rocks, and other items no serious modeler will cast away because there would be a need some day.  Now my layout is almost complete it ws time to gain some space for new items of necessity. My wife calls it junk, but you know, one persons trash is another persons treasure.

     I still need to do a lot of wiring so the wire, wall warts, switches and other electrical junk will survive here until that process is finished and i will pass that along too. 

     I have to go get gas for the mower and mow today and a big job is to oil the wheels on the trash bin. We have to roll it about 500 feet when pickup day comes and it is getting a little tough. That will take about a minute because I know exactly where the oil can is.

     Ya'll have a great day and week ahead. 

Charlie

[tompm]

Good evening folks

We had a pretty good weekend. Saturday, we ran our errands of dropping off packages at the post office and the grocery store. We did a few gardening things but tried not to stay out too long with air quality. With the predicted storm, we decided not to drive over to South Jersey. We had some thunder and lightning but nothing too crazy. The rain seemed to improve the air quality. On Sunday, we again choose not to go to the museum. Instead, we went to Highlands Mansion in Ambler and walked through the gardens. The gardens were not huge, but they were well kept. The weather was great. It was very peaceful and quiet in the garden. We really enjoyed our time there. On the way home, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a diner we had never tried before. Once we were home, I had an opportunity to spray the siding in the backyard with an algae remover.

I did not have a productive weekend as I had hoped for with the trains. I did finish doing a “break-in” session with my Chessie IHC Pacific 4-6-2 locomotive. I had to run my track cleaning train before I could finish the break-in session. The one area I did do well in was organizing the rolling stock storage bins. I moved some stuff from smaller bins to larger ones. This allowed me to move the bins into better locations.

Today at work was a slow day. The contractor only had two small concrete pours. I spent the day completing my daily reports for the night work from last week. I still have one to finish. I also had to investigate some discrepancies between the contractor’s numbers and our numbers on the June estimate.

I am hoping to get down to the basement and run some trains an finish with the rolling stock reorganization.

I hope everybody has a good evening.

[ngauger]

Tom:

Glad to hear you're getting a break from the usual chaos. I haven't touched my trains since the Winter.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

58 under still hazy skies this morning. Maybe 20 degrees warmer by this afternoon.

Yesterday was pretty quiet. 10 mile bike ride followed by going to the theater to watch "Minions and Monsters." Fun movie with lots of inside jokes that the younger people in the audience would never get. This morning I need to stock up on Powerade and get the oil changed in the car. Also on tap is another bike ride.

All stay safe.

Tom

[LiveSteamer]

Howdy Gang,

Well I have had a little bit of a setback with my foot. I was at the ER Friday afternoon until Friday evening. They are worried that I might have an infection because my one incision is not healing right away. They gave me some antibiotics through and IV and sent me home. I had to follow up with my Orthopedic doctor on monday. SO Monday came around and I called out to see if I could be seen. Needless to say they was waiting for my phone call because the doctor told them that as soon as I call to get me in and that it didn't matter what his schedule looked like. So we went and seen him and was asking if I did anything different, how my pain levels were, did I get an x-ray to make sure nothing shifted. Answers were no, pain levels are still around 7-8, and yes I did have an x-ray. He looked at the x-ray and nothing shifted but he is worried about how long its taking but also said it has to heal from the inside out because of having 4 other surgeries to the same area. I go back next monday as now he wants me back weekly to keep an eye on it. The doctor did say the antibiotics from the IV will last 2 weeks so we will take it from there. More pain meds were prescribed and I was on my way home to rest some more. I am not allowed to go out and do to much per his orders. I am to stay at home as much as possible and rest. In my opinion I would not recommend anyone get an ankle fusion. 0/10 on the scale. 

Today is the first day I've had energy to really do anything as I went to the mailbox to find something in the mail for me. I had ordered a conventional tractor to turn into a MOW vehicle. So that will be worked on over the next week or so after I figure out what I'm going to build as I'm not using to haul trailers. 

The weather has been decent here as well but tonight it supposed to get down into the 40's which is odd for this time of the year. No rain in the forecast for a few days as I think we have had enough in the past week or so. But that's what is going on with me. Hope you all have a wonderful evening and take care.

[ngauger]

Matt

Hope that heals fast!!! Hopefully the antibiotics will help

[LiveSteamer]

Matt

Hope that heals fast!!! Hopefully the antibiotics will help 

Mikey,

I'm hoping so because when I go back I have to let him know that my foot is almost always cold. I did some research and found it could be poor circulation from all the surgeries.

[tompm]

Good evening folks

Matt, I hope things begin to heal up for you. I understand some of what you are going through. It has been 4 months since my hernia surgery and emergency bowel obstruction surgery, and I am still not fully recovered. Heavy lifting is still a no-no. I have to be careful bending over. Now, just for giggles, I have a corn on the bottom of my left foot.

Tonight I was able to pull the pond filter and clean it. I then helped my wife with watering the plants in the backyard.

I tried to run my new BLI Chessie Steam Train Heavyweights, but it did not go well. The combine kept derailing at switches. At first, I thought the coupler pin was catching on the rails in the switch. I adjusted the pin, but it was still happening. Next, I switched locomotives, but the derailing kept happening. I swung the car around with the baggage door being in the rear and no derailing. I went back to the baggage door in the front and it derailed. Now I am beginning to suspect the wheels as the source of the problem. Of course I cannot find my wheel gauge to test them. I will look at it again tomorrow night.

I hope everybody has a good evening.

[Charlie B]

Well I have to say good morning because it is that late here now. 

     Tom you might want to check to make sure that truck on the baggage car is swiveling smooth. 

     I got a new TV antenna today, my old 28 dollar HD antenna has quit rotating.  You would think that a 28 dollar antenna would work for more than 11 years  .  It could be the signal amplifier went bad too. 

     The one I got has a longer range but came only with pictures for instructions.  The very first parts I put on wrong side out and did not realize it until the very last parts needed to be installed. There were square holes that were supposed to be inside so the tail piece could fit in the squares and screws installed from the outside. I decided the joint didn't need the little square tongues so I cut them off and used slightly larger screws, I was not going to completely disassemble it to turn those parts around. It went together fine and some glue on those joints will make it last for the next 11 year lifetime. 

     I spent more time tonight setting the new computer up. I moved all of my pictures from the old laptop so they are all readily accessible.  

     Matt Be careful and let your foot heal. Some things can be rushed but only after everything has had a chance to heal.

Charlie

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

59 under still hazy skies in the remote reaches of northern Iowa. It may hit 80 today with a 50% chance of rain late tonight. Unfortunately if we do get rain it's only supposed to be about a tenth of an inch. We could really use a little more than that.

All chores accomplished yesterday. This morning I need to gas up the car before the price goes up again. Also need to wash it. I took the car through the car wash when i got home but it wasn't very effective. Still lots of bugs on the front and the hood and roof did not get cleaned. Nothing else really planned for today. I may try another bike ride or maybe just go to the gym and sweat for a while.

Gas was $3.70 when I was out yesterday.

All stay safe.

Tom

[LiveSteamer]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Thank you Tom and Charlie.

We had a cooler night last night which was a benefit as our house has stayed cool all day without air conditioners running. It has only gotten into the low 70's here but the temps are going to be up and down the rest of the week and into next. I started my new project last night and got the decals removed off the cab of the truck, added some yellow paint to give it more of a yellowish color Conrail used. I will be adding the decals on the doors here soon and then it will sit until later on tonight.

Other than that, nothing really new is going on. Hope everyone has a great evening and take care.

[sir james]

Friday 7/24/26
Hello Blue.
The fire smoke has moved on so we can finally see blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Our A/C has been off but after today it will be back on. 
Tiss coney month so yea we had them for lunch yesterday, even brought two home for another day. Thanks to Trumps war gas has gone back up to $4.19.
S.J.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy and 70 in the remote reaches of northern Iowa this morning. Humidity is at 98% which will contribute to the 100+ heat index the NWS has scheduled for me today. Gradually getting worse through the weekend.

Pretty quiet day yesterday. Nothing really accomplished other than re-varnishing the window sill in the kitchen. This morning is laundry and re-varnishing the window sills in my bedroom. These are the only windows that are routinely open and exposed to the elements. Only other activity is a birthday celebration for one of the great-grandsons.

Gas was down to $3.68 yesterday.

All stay safe.

Tom