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

[ezdays]

Good morning everyone, yeah, I think it's cold all over the country, wonder what happened to global warming? Still a bit chilly, but we are starting to get back to normal here, lows in the mid to high 40's, highs approaching the 70's. I went out yesterday afternoon without a jacket on and that says something. I have a friend that I'm not sure if he owns a pair of long pants, we meet at 6:00 for breakfast and he has shorts on, just like summer. We're headed up to Prescott tomorrow and it's suppose to be snowing there, I'm betting he'll still be wearing short pants, maybe a sweatshirt.

Gas is still heading up, Costco @ $3.44, others $3.53. That one station up by itself on US60 is still gouging at $4.99. Go to Tucson and get regular for $2.99 if you want to spend the time and gas to get there and back.  

Eggs here running about $6.00 a dozen. Lots of folks trying to bring back cheaper eggs from Mexico, only to get them confiscated at the border crossing. The could get a $30,000 fine, all for a dozen eggs.

Going to have a relaxing day, there are two games on, but I'm not sure how much of them I'll watch, I'm frustrated with sports anymore. I see where some players coming out of high school are asking colleges for up to $800,000 a year to play now that it's OK for college players to get paid. One asked for $500,000 plus his girlfriend gets a fully paid scholarship to the law school. What are we bringing up, doesn't anyone want to actually earn their way through life? It used to be an honor to play for a big named school, now it's all about the money.

Take care my friends and have a great day and stay off the freeways if you can....

[Charlie B]

Good morning Blue
        We have rain here in southeast Ohio. I don't know what the weather forecast is, and I don't care. What littlenews I watched this morning had a clip about more folks being concerned about climate change. It has increased from 1%to 8%.   All of these weather disasters have changed their mind. I feel that most of the increase in damage is not due to more severe storms but due to stupid people building and living in areas that have always had storms and disasters. The death toll today from the San Francisco earth quake would have been far worse under todays population growth which is double 1908s. The same scenario in Florida with hurricanes.  

       I worked on trains for a while last night and have almost completed another decoder install on an Atlas yellow box SD24. I will have to order the proper couples for it. It needs real short shanks. All that is left is to hook up the headlight wires. 

       I expect a quiet day today, I may try to finish wiring the heater in the motor home. The steering box is bad and Rock Auto is sending a replacement that my son will change when it arrives. 

        Have a good day everyone.
        Charlie

[tompm]

Good morning folks

It is 36 heading up to 53.

This weekend we worked on getting the Christmas tree down. This year has been a very slow process, much slower than normal for us. We ran some errands on Saturday and spent Sunday around the house. I did not watch any of the championship games. It is not that I am not interested I just don’t watch much sports. I did check in every so often. I guess there will be a lot of green flu today.

I continued organizing, checking, and tuning up boxcars. I finished the 36-foot wood boxcars and got them in a bin. I am working on my new acquisitions and getting them inventoried, organized, checked and tuned up if necessary.

Today we are scheduled for a concrete pour. It might not happen as the contractor submitted a change request that was rejected on Friday. Later this morning I have a video visit with the doctor who did my back injection. It is the normal follow up visit. My wife started physical therapy last week and I restart tonight with her.

Going through the boxcars I discovered about a dozen Athearn blue box and a couple of Accurail cars that I need to add screws to the coupler pockets. I also found 2 Proto 1000 Penn Central boxcars that still have EZ-Mate couplers that need to be replaced.

I hope everybody has a good day.

[ezdays]

Good morning everyone, going to be chilly and wet today and tomorrow, high 50's with rain starting this afternoon. Going to go up to Prescott, debated because they're suppose to get a few inches of snow this week, but that won't start until late this morning and we should be heading home by then.

I did not watch more than a few minutes of the playoff games yesterday, Probably the same with the Super Bowl. The commentators are getting to me, now they have a tool where they can circle different players as they're lined up for a play, and predict what's going to happen, then sneak in four or five replays with circles and lines and tell you what went wrong or right with the play. I saw where an announcer decided they were as important as the players and coaches to the game and should be paid accordingly. I'd pay them to shut up their constant prattle.

Heading to a different restaurant this morning, Brenda's is closed today because they only have one cook and she gets Sunday and Monday off. We went somewhere else last week and no one wants to go back thanks to the attitude of the owner/waitress.

I hope everyone has a great week, stay warm and stay safe.

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

-1 going to maybe +5. Similar forecast through the week. Gonna be a long week.

Had to run the snow blower a couple of times yesterday. First time was to get rid of the snow and drifting that had occurred overnight. Second time was to clear the ends of the driveway and sidewalks after the plow had been through.

I get a chuckle out of my neighbor in the mornings. He comes out about 6 to start his personal truck, a 3/4 ton diesel, and his work truck and lets them idle. About 6:30 he leaves in his personal truck for about 10 minutes and then returns. When he returns he hops in his work truck and away he goes. Sure glad I don't have to pay his fuel bills. On a side note if the wind is just right (or should that be wrong?) the fumes from the diesel exhaust come in the house. Makes it nasty for a little while. End of old man rant.

Don - I agree that $800,000 is quite high but I don't have an issue with the college players receiving some compensation as they are making millions for their school. Many schools are using the NIL scheme to funnel money to the to recruits. Glad I don't have to be the one to draw the line as to what's compensation and what's a bribe. It's been going on for decades but with the NIL it's more out in the open. Wow! Two rants in one day. I shall now retire to a neutral corner and remain silent. (Yeah, that's not gonna happen.)

All stay safe.

Tom

[Charlie B]

Good Morning
       Rain and fog here,it just looks miserable out there. 

       I finished a decoder install on a Atlas yellow box SD24 and found it needed a different style coupler. I looked it up and the chart said KaDee 143 whiskers would work and by golly I had a couple pair. I did however have to cut much of the coupler boxes off in the rear to allow the trucks to swing and I also had to cut out the molded on coupler box so they would fit. It worked perfectly and runs very well. I decided then to install a sound decoder in a brass Q2. It went so well that I am afraid to put it on the track.    I will know in a little while if it works, I am being leery. 

       I searched for classified documents in the train room and didn't find any so I am in the clear.   

Cheers
Charlie

[jim currie]

hi all. well another week has gone by, and things are about the same here been working on a slug of kits and scratch builds to put on ludlow now that the track work is finished on that section . been cold here too don  the other morning there was a thin layer of ice on chickens water dish makes my hips hurt. 
Jim

[ezdays]

Good morning all, kind of a weird day yesterday, was suppose to rain here, we left for Prescott around 7:00 and it was just starting to rain, all the way up (100 miles), it was raining on and off, some snow flurries as we got closer but the roads were clear. Some nice scenery on the way through the snow-covered pine trees and hills. Left Prescott about 11:00, same thing heavy rain, then light rain, then no rain, constantly fiddling with the windshield wipers. Even drove though some low-hanging clouds. Got home and it looked like it never rained but was starting to...no, it never did.

Went up there to pick up a gun that the manufacturer sent. The clerk wanted me to fill out the transfer form, pay the transfer fee then go home and wait for them to check it in. My gun was in receiving but he still wanted me to make another trip and would make no exception, that is until the manager showed up. "come back in a hour and we'll have your gun ready", and they did. The clerk still wanted me to go home and wait for them to call. When we got back, he had a whole new attitude, I think the manager gave him a lesson on customer service.

There are a number of stations that are cheaper than either Costco or Sam's club on gas. It boggles my mind though, Both Costco and Sam's Club are $3.19 on the east side of town, and $3.44 on the west side.

All businesses here are ready for the Super Bowl, most of the local news are interviews with bar and restaurant owners and some of the festivities that are set up. Hotel rooms are available for $2,000 to 3,000 a night.

Hope you all have a great day...

[FiatFan]

Greetings, gang.

-11 with a wind chill of -24. Just another cold day in the middle of nowhere.

Not much going on around here. Swimming day at the gym today.

All stay safe.

Tom

[Charlie B]

Good Morning
        A coating of the white stuff but nothing that needs plowed.  It is currently 21 degrees headed for 28. 

        I ordered 100 sections of Lionel HO NS flex track from Trainworld. It was on sale for 299. It should be here today.  I must have got the last box. It is better than half the price of Atlas and from the video I watched it may be the same as the Model Power track I got when I started building 12 years ago. I used Atlas on the last layout in my other house but I liked the smaller spike heads and the stiffness of the Model Power track, and it is more silver than the Atlas witch to me seems to have a golden cast to it. 

       I finally got an email off to Rock Auto and they explained how to get a replacement steering gear for the Motorhome so it is to be delivered today. My son will change it for me on Saturday. 

       I placed the Q2 on the track and it just sits there chuffing like a steam engine idles. I was gifted the decoder so it may need a reset, or I may have some wires not hooked to the right place. I went by the normal color code but maybe this one is different. If it is just a bad decoder it will be easy to replace. 

      I am hoping we are seeing the end to the drought in most of the country and I hope they soon realize that water is needed for people to live more than they need those flashing signs in Vegas.

       Cheers to all
       Charlie

[sir james]

It was 1 degree in Hell Michigan this morning.
Not much better here @ 6, 15 now. No new snow.
S.J.

[BR60103]

I saw the respirologist today. I think he was pleased and surprised by the blow test which was so much improved from 2 months ago. I have to go back in 6 months.
He also said that I could probably go back on tea, coffee and chocolate which a different Dr. had taken me off.

I haven't done much modelling lately other than reading magazines.

[ngauger]

I saw the respirologist today.  I think he was pleased and surprised by the blow test which was so much improved from 2 months ago.  I have to go back in 6 months.
He also said that I could probably go back on tea, coffee and chocolate which a different Dr. had taken me off.

I haven't done much modelling lately other than reading magazines.

Sounds great to me!!!!!  Congrats!!!!
and   Tea, coffee and chocolate make everything better  

[ngauger]

It was 1 degree in Hell Michigan this morning.
Not much better here @ 6, 15 now. No new snow.
S.J.

Damn..... Hell freezes over....again!!! Someone call the Eagles   

Y'all keep that wonderful weather!!!
Don't be sending it to Pennsylvania....  It's supposed to be 7 degrees Saturday morning.....  

[ezdays]

Good morning, good morning, we did have a bit of rain yesterday morning, let's call it a sprinkle or two (.04"). TV weather gal says we'll hit 58, NWS we actually hit 65. Mother Nature must be coming to the Super Bowl, no rain and temps in the 70's for a while. We're going target shooting on Saturday with a high of 75. It's about time.

Waited all day for a FedEx package that was scheduled for delivery yesterday, never left the warehouse, now there is no delivery date. I've traced packages in the past and they get here and then shipped to some other city or state only to make it back a few days later. I can understand dealing with maybe a million packages a day, but bar codes are suppose to keep things going where they should.

Been needing gas, I can stop by Costco this morning and they are back as the lowest in the area at $3.37. There's on Cheveron station about 10 miles east of me at $2.86 and another Shell station about 10 miles north at $4.99.

Y'all have a great day, stay warm, but stay home, there's no room for anyone else in our area for at least the next two weeks. Well, I do have a guest bedroom complete with TV I might think about turning it into a short-term airBnB.