Monthly Archives: January 2014

See, I’m Not Crazy . . .

As Sheldon says, “My Mother had me tested”

I was up about 8:30 this morning, heading out about 9:30 to pick up our son Chris. On the way I stopped at Jack in the Box for a couple of Supreme Croissants for us to eat on the way. We were on our way into Houston to meet up with Lowell and Landon at the George R. Brown Convention Center for the Great Train Expo model railroad show.

The first shock was that it cost $20 to park at a lot about 6 blocks from the GRB. At least we got a lot of exercise for our money. But it only cost $10 each to get in, and Landon was free.

The show was pretty crowded with every aisle pretty much filled to capacity.

train show 18
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Landon was fascinated with all the different layouts and themes. And actually, so was PaPa.

Train Show 3
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He demanded to be picked up so he could see everything. This rocky ledge, complete with waterfall, was great.

Train Show 4
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These blocks of Styrofoam show how many of these hills and mountains start out before being carved into shape.

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The scenery detail was really good.

Train Show 5
Train Show 6
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Sometimes even the circus comes to town.

Train Show 7

Train Show 8
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And of course, what’s a countryside without a farm. complete with a irrigation ditch.

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This one even has an RV campground.  I mean, isn’t it a law that all RV parks must be located next to railroad tracks?

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This is a Lionel 027 gauge layout like the one I started out with.

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This photo shows that comparative size of the major different scales. The Z Scale boxcar in the foreground is less than 2 inches long. And, not shown here is an even smaller scale, known as T Scale. A T Scale boxcar would be less than 1 inch long!

At some point you’ll have to start using a magnifying glass to operate your train, if things get any smaller.

train show 11
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The part about not being crazy came about from my inquires about the Lionel train set I received when I was 11. I was never able to find the exact train in any of the old Lionel catalogs. In fact a few years ago, one guy told me I must have imagined it. He hinted that I must be crazy.

But based on something I read r
ecently online, and was finally able to confirm with a vendor today, I figured out what was going on. Large Lionel retailer’s like Sears and Roebuck in my case, were able to order train sets to their own specifications. This is apparently where my train set came from.

So I’m not crazy.
Well, at least I didn’t imagine it.

My train set originally cost about $50. After talking to the vendor, and based on the present day cost of this Santa Fe F3 engine like I had, my train set would be worth over $1500 if I still had it.

Damn!

Notice that steam locomotive below my F3. It now sells for $1450.00.

train show 14

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This was the part that Landon was waiting for -  the Thomas the Tank Engine ride

Train Show 1

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train show 17

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While he and Lowell were waiting in line for the train ride, I went shopping and found this neat Glow-in-the-Dark Thomas the Tank Engine T-shirt for him.

Thomas the Tank Engine T-Shirt

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After about two hours it was time to start heading home,  but we didn’t manage to get past the food trucks parked across the street at Discovery Green.

train show 20

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They were having a arts & crafts festival, and a lot of people were out and about on this beautiful day.

GRB Discovery Green 1

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Lowell and Landon got Cupcake Pops, and Chris and I got wraps from another truck. I also got a couple of cupcakes to take home for Jan and I later.

train show 19

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Running into the usual I-45 construction, it took almost an hour to get back to Chris’ and then another 30 minutes to get back to the rig.

A little later Jan and I headed up to Kemah to have dinner at Hooter’s. We haven’t been for a while, and were happy to see that, probably due to the competition from places like Twin Peaks, Bonedaddy’s, and Buffalo Wild Wings, they’ve added a lot of new menu items, including even hotter sauces. Yumm!

By the time we got back home the sun was going down and I got some good shots of the park here. This is the views out in front of our rig.

Galveston Bay Sunset 2

Galveston Bay Sunset 3

Later, about 8 PM, I fixed us Hazelnut Cappuccino K-Cups and we had the Red Velvet and Carrot Cake cupcakes I brought home this afternoon.

A really nice way to end a great day.


Thought for the Day:

A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a to
wel.

The average number of items in the typical woman’s bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.

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Recipe for Murder . . .

Saw an article today that according to the Coast Guard the Great Lakes are freezing over at the earliest date since the 1930’s. And the same thing is happening at Niagara Falls,

Here’s what it looked like when we were there September 25th, 2009.

Niagara Falls 2ba

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And here’s what it looks like now.

Niagara Falls Frozen Over


I finally got a chance to crawl under the rig and look at my Kwikee step problem. It just suddenly quit working one day while we were gate guarding late last year. I could still hear the motor running when it was supposed to, but the step could be pulled in and out like it wasn’t connected to anything.

At that point, I figured my homemade cotter key, i.e. a paper clip, had come loose.

Kwikee Step - Broken 4

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But what I found was this. The linkage was hanging down, not connected to anything. All I could see was where it had broken off.

Kwikee Step - Broken 2

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When I pulled it off, it looked like this.

Kwikee Step - Broken

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And below is where it broke off from the motor shaft. It must have just been old age because there was never any binding to cause it. My next thought was “Oh Crap. I going to be buying a new motor.” I figure there was no way t was going to be able to buy just the shaft and linkage. I could see a lot of $$$$ in my future.

Kwikee Step - Broken 3

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But luckily for me, I was wrong. A little interneting showed me this linkage kit for my Kwikee Series 28 step. And with a little more perusing, I found that PPL Motorhomes here in Houston has them in stock. So I’ll pick one up later in the week.

Kwikee Linkage Kit

I was also happy to see that all the different parts for my model are available, including a complete new step for about $420.


Early in the morning I started a big pot of soup, basically using whatever we had in-house. I started out with a big box of chicken stock, a big tomato juice. a can of Habanero Rotel, a can of Diced Tomatoes, 2 cans of Kidney Beans, a bag of frozen kernel corn,  and 2 shredded poached chicken breasts. A few hours later we had a great batch of soup for supper, and plenty left over for more meals. Hmm! Hmm! Good!


Tomorrow Chris and I are going to meet Lowell and Landon in downtown Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center for the Great Train Expo, a traveling model railroad show. Brandi says he’s really looking forward to it, and talks about it constantly.

Me too!

Train Show 2
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This will probably be Landon’s favorite part.

Train Show 1


I noticed the new ads for the Publisher’s Clearing House.

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You can win a Million Dollars a year for life. That’s not an unusual prize these days, but the unusual part is that after you win, you get to designate another person to also receive a Million Do
llars a year for life.

You can only imagine that no matter who you chose, you’re going to make someone, or a lot of someone else’s mad as hell. It will not end well.

Here’s another story about a elderly man who won $500 a week for life, and all his ‘relatives’ who never cared about him, came out of the woodwork.

Easy Come, Easy Go.


Thought for the Day:

WHY MEN ARE NEVER DEPRESSED:
Men Are Just Happier People — What do you expect from such simple creatures?

Your last name stays put.

You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.

People never stare at your chest when you’re talking to them.

One mood all the time.

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