60 and dark outside my window this morning. Near 80 has been approved for us by the NWS.
One step forward two steps back. I put the varnish down early yesterday morning and according to the label it was supposed to be dry to the touch in 3-4 hours. by last night it was still tacky. Definitely better this morning but it will delay putting down the area rug by a few days. Other projects included remounting the curtain rod brackets which had been removed during painting. Curtains and drapes are showing some progress in their journey. A couple of small pieces of quarter round still need to be installed.
Gas priced jumped rather significantly yesterday. Went from $2.66 to $3.09 except for Walmart/Murphy Oil which is still holding at $2.66.
All stay safe.
Tom
Life is simple - Eat, Drink, Play with trains
Occupation: Professional Old Guy (The government pays me to be old.)
65 and dark outside my window again this morning. Upper 80s later and low 90s for tomorrow.
The floor finally settled down and I was able to put down the area rug. Since then I've been able to put the rest of the living room back together. Then yesterday the new drapes arrived. I put up one panel and really liked it. The the second (lighter colored) drapes arrived and I like that as well. Very undecided at the moment. I may invite a friend over for a second opinion. Once that issue is resolved I'll be taking pictures and sending them out to family. No one so far knows about this project. About the only major part left is disposing of the old carpet and padding. I watched the truck yesterday and it had difficulty emptying the trash can with the 4 foot long sections so I'll be cutting them down for next week's pick-up.
In other news I was feeling a little smug since the neighbors on the north side of the street have been really hauling out a lot of acorns while I had very few. Then all of a sudden the last couple of days my 2 oak trees decided to drop the acorns all at once. Looks like this morning I'll be cleaning up acorns. Went to another cross country track meet last evening. Tonight is homecoming and the oldest great-grandson is in the marching band. They play before the game and then at halftime. Don't know if I'll stick around for the second half.
Walmart/Murphy Oil fell inline with the rest of the town and went to $3.09 for gas. Once the did then everyone dropped to $3.02 as of about 8 last night. I just looked at GasBuddy and now gas is listed at $2.99. Go figure.
All stay safe.
Tom
Life is simple - Eat, Drink, Play with trains
Occupation: Professional Old Guy (The government pays me to be old.)
Some light is peeking out through the blackout curtains put up by the NWS last night. 68 now going to the low 90s today and tomorrow. Looks like I'll need to fire up the a/c later on.
Yesterday went fairly well. After a quick trip to a nearby grocery store I started cleaning and putting away the tools from the last 4 weeks. I did break down and get a couple of independent opinions. One sided with me and the other chose the lighter color. A second set of the darker color has been ordered and the lighter color will be returned for a credit. I still need to order a small curtain for the last window and something for the mostly glass front door.
I also got the acorns cleaned up and as I was finishing up a neighbor stopped over and said he would haul them away for me. Cool! In the evening I went to the football game where my great-grandson was in the marching band. We all left after half time. The game was pretty much over by then anyway. 41-6 at halftime and a final score of 54-6. Also got to use my season pass for the first time last night.
Today is Saturday and of course that means laundry. Also on the agenda is a bike ride before it gets too hot. Then at 11 is college football. After that will be some additional cleaning and then steak and corn on the cob for supper.
Mikey - thanks for the heads up. Fortunately the new rugs so far are laying very flat. I will definitely be keeping an eye on them though.
After the big price run up of gas on Tuesday it's dropping again. Down to $2.96 when I came back to town last night.
All stay safe.
Tom
Life is simple - Eat, Drink, Play with trains
Occupation: Professional Old Guy (The government pays me to be old.)
Daylight is starting to occur in the remote reaches of northern Iowa this morning. Currently 70 headed for near 90 again. Warm but still much cooler than Saturday's 98 which was one of the highest temps of the summer.
I did get in bike rides Saturday and Sunday morning and will try again this morning. Cleanup is continuing on today the 4 week anniversary of the great remodel project. About the only things left to do is some minor repair work on the floor and putting up new curtains and drapes when they arrive. On the to do liest for today is to continue packing for a trip to Texas and maybe stop in to Kohls for a new shirt.
All stay safe.
Tom
Life is simple - Eat, Drink, Play with trains
Occupation: Professional Old Guy (The government pays me to be old.)
Monday 9/15/25
Hello Blue
Sun and 80 for the day.
Sunday was a lazy day as we went 80 miles to Toledo Oh on Saturday. Oldest son and Dil took us. We went to the zoo which was way over priced from 11 dollar parking to thirty-two-dollar admission. I showed them my high school and where I use to live, plus the cemetery where my parents are buried. Gas was $2.49 while here in Mich. it is $3.19.
S.J.
No sign of daylight yet in the remote reaches of northern Iowa. 69 at the moment headed for maybe 90 again later.
Bike ride went well yesterday but the trip to Kohls was a bust. I did get another batch of acorns cleaned up. I may skip answering the phone today. One of my daughters called 6 times yesterday stressing over her trip to Texas.
I woke up at 0-ridiculous-thirty this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Gonna be a long day. Major events for today are a bike ride, a trip to the grocery store for some milk, and packing for my trip. I'm leaving for Texas in the morning and I'm not sure when I'll return home but it will probably be early next week.
Gas dropped again yesterday. Down to $2.89 this morning.
All stay safe.
Tom
Life is simple - Eat, Drink, Play with trains
Occupation: Professional Old Guy (The government pays me to be old.)
It's a beautiful day in southeast Ohio but we need a couple days of rain.
My wife is back to about 85% and I am gaining though still no real ambition
I hesitate to post this but you all need to know. I talked to Wayne's wife Sunday night and he is really failing. He had already gone to bed so I did not talk to him.
She told me he was not wearing his wedding ring and when she asked him where it was he said he had never been married. We developed a close relationship over the last 17 years and I really miss the times we spent together. He was a brother to me. Here he is as we were boarding a train for Logansport, Pa to be loaded with coal from the Rosebud Mine. I m glad I was able to share some railroad experiences with him.
I also notice we are not hearing from CNNutbar. Ed has been missing since May. He was having problems with shaking hands and his wife was not well either. Marleen had not heard from him either.
I hope everything is well for everyone else. We need to hear from everyone.
66 going to the mid 80s here. Got just short of 3 inches of rain last night.
So sorry to hear about Wayne and hoping all is ok with Ed. Apparently this is gong to be a bad news day for Blue. Here's why I'm headed to Texas this morning.
Tom,
I am sorry for your loss. She sounds like she was a wonderful young person.
Charlie,
Thank you for letting us know about Wayne. I only know him through his GERN posts, which I always enjoyed. This must be a hard time for his wife. And friends like you.
I am so sad to read that your grand daughter has lost the battle. She was an awesome person. It shows she had a heart of gold. My mother was a cellist and I was involved with a dog rescue so I recognize those heart warming traits. She had many others.
Tom
Om behalf of The Gauge/Big Blue, our condolences. She was a great human being!
I'm sure she died peacefully with all the love around her.
Charlie:
Thank you for the news of Wayne. It's always difficult to hear of a friend doing bad. As far as the Fallen Flag thread Big Blue has lost a lot of great people in the past 25 years. Each one feels personal. Wayne has been a member here since 2008, we'll miss him......
