USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Gracie]

Too old.
I just wish people would take care of their own dogs and not let them run around free to harass or worse...get run over.

 

[saveliberty]

Too old.
I just wish people would take care of their own dogs and not let them run around free to harass or worse...get run over.

Some days you're just genius Gracie.

 

[Nosmo King]

Wednesday afternoon my brother and sister-in-law depart for sunny Florida for a week. They deserve a get-away. They both work so hard, and my sister-in-law's mother has been committed to an Alzheimer's facility. They are off to visit my sister-in-law's sister living in the Orlando area. The Pirates, meanwhile, have Spring Training games set while they're down there, but all the games during that week are in Bradenton.

Their dog, Teddy gets dropped off at the Luxurious Pimplebutt Estate for the duration of their trip. Those of you fortunate enough to have young children in your lives may be familiar with a character in the Disney version of A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh series, Tigger. Tigger is a tiger who is overly enthusiastic about everything. His tail is a spring and he bounces on it from distraction to distraction. He is boisterous and loud and disruptive and fun beyond control.

Teddy makes Tigger look comatose.

And so his extended visit with me and Daisy the Mutt begins. How those two will get along at my house without my supervision is anyone's guess. Daisy's routine is to stay in my bed until 10:30 or so, stagger out into the Great Hall, maybe lap up some water, then take her place on whatever is the softest for a three hour nap. Then, I assume, she has breakfast. Time for another nap until I get home around 4:30. Then a walk in the park, some fetch and play, a late dinner, curl up on my lap for the attention she believes she deserves, then bedtime.

Good luck with that plan, Daisy!

Carly the mighty mini doxie will be living with us for a few days later this week. Our routine changes quite a bit while she is around.

Those are cute dogs.

Daisy's natural state.

Awww! She is just precious!

Thanks! She gets that a lot!

 

[Foxfyre]

Good night darlinks. I really do love you guys.

And we continue to pray and/or send good vibes and/or positive thoughts and/or keep vigil for:

Harper (Save's granddaughter),
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
Freedombecki,
Noomi!!!
Nosmo's mom,
Ernie's stop smoking project,
Rod, GW's partner,
The Ringels in difficult transition,
Boedicca's Dad,
Foxfyre's friend Dana and Aunt Betty,
Etherion and his grandma,
Kat's sister,
Gallant Warrior's chilly goats,
The Ringel's Gizmo and wellness for Ringel,
Special prayers and/or positive thoughts for Sherry's mom and her life saving medical treatment.
GW's daughter, her friend Sachendra, and Sachendra's husband Bob and son Gary in what is probably Sachendra's last days.
Mrs. Saveliberty with her knee surgery.
Hombre's sore toes,
The Gracies just because,
Special prayers and/or positive thoughts for Mr. Peach and Peach143 in the coming days and wellness for them both.
Ernie!!!
All of us and those we care about who are looking for work,

And the light is left on for Alan, Noomi, Freedombecki, Oddball, 007, Sixfoot and all others we hope will find their way back.

Those in the snowstorm, fear not. The sun will come again.

 

[malnila]

Hi. I just joined and heard all the kewl kids hung out here. I'll be back to get up to speed but it's getting late for me.

 

[Kat]

I am sure Foxy will be glad to see you.

 

[saveliberty]

Hi. I just joined and heard all the kewl kids hung out here. I'll be back to get up to speed but it's getting late for me.

Oh noes! malnila? Howdy stranger we meet again. Hope life is treating you well.

 

[saveliberty]

I have been up four hours already with snow removal work. Brrr, a whole ten degrees.

 

[Dajjal]

I have been up four hours already with snow removal work. Brrr, a whole ten degrees.

It is so mild in England I am wearing a t- shirt without my usual winter coat.

 

[Dajjal]

 

[Foxfyre]

Hi. I just joined and heard all the kewl kids hung out here. I'll be back to get up to speed but it's getting late for me.

malnila I assume you are the malnila that I know? So happy you have joined us! You'll find the Coffee Shop a pretty kewl place for sure and a handy refuge from some of the rough stuff out there. So welcome, get comfortable and join right in. First timers receive a complimentary beverage:

 

[Foxfyre]

I have been up four hours already with snow removal work. Brrr, a whole ten degrees.

It is so mild in England I am wearing a t- shirt without my usual winter coat.

And this can be the contrast here in New Mexico this time of year. Sometimes on the same day.

 

[ChrisL]

Hi. I just joined and heard all the kewl kids hung out here. I'll be back to get up to speed but it's getting late for me.

Welcome!

 

[Ernie S.]

What all this does is bore me near to death. I DO things and GO places. I fix things here and at Doc's and I socialize. Yes, one day a week I hole up and avoid other people, but that s my choice.
My partners refuse to let me isolate.
Their household consists of husband, wife.mother-in-law and 3 children 11, 10 and nearly 7. The little guy has been my best buddy since he was learning to walk and is a fantastic young man.
Last night, they cooked supper and loaded everyone and everything in the van and showed up here just after 7 PM.After a check of my swelling and ensuring the circulation in my foot was good, we ate and at their insistence, I got into a robe and we headed out to the gazebo for a cigar. I was actually OUT SIDE for an hour and a half after which I was gently helped back to bed.
Today, the depression and nausea are gone. Deb (the mother-in-law) showed up with a few things from the store and made me coffee and breakfast.
I've taken my morning dose of Elequis to prevent clots, but haven't needed pain medication since about 1 AM.
I am a lucky man!

 

[Foxfyre]

What all this does is bore me near to death. I DO things and GO places. I fix things here and at Doc's and I socialize. Yes, one day a week I hole up and avoid other people, but that s my choice.
My partners refuse to let me isolate.
Their household consists of husband, wife.mother-in-law and 3 children 11, 10 and nearly 7. The little guy has been my best buddy since he was learning to walk and is a fantastic young man.
Last night, they cooked supper and loaded everyone and everything in the van and showed up here just after 7 PM.After a check of my swelling and ensuring the circulation in my foot was good, we ate and at their insistence, I got into a robe and we headed out to the gazebo for a cigar. I was actually OUT SIDE for an hour and a half after which I was gently helped back to bed.
Today, the depression and nausea are gone. Deb (the mother-in-law) showed up with a few things from the store and made me coffee and breakfast.
I've taken my morning dose of Elequis to prevent clots, but haven't needed pain medication since about 1 AM.
I am a lucky man!

Yay. It does look like things are looking up. You are indeed a blessed man to have so many people who love you Ernie. Nevertheless we'll keep those prayers and positive vibes coming.

 

[Ringel05]

Woke up this morning to 60 degrees....... Seriously considered turning the heat on........

BTW, Jasper tested negative for FeLV so Monday a week ago he received his first FeLV booster just in case, Thursday night he started running a fever and not eating so we brought him back to the vet Friday. They gave him and anti-nausea shot. His fever disappeared Friday night but he remained lethargic and wouldn't eat and would cough, have dry heaves until last night/this morning. He ate and looks much better so it may have been a reaction to the FeLV injection, at least that's what the vet thinks. Watching him to make sure he keeps improving.

 

[Nosmo King]

Back when I was a wee shaver, Pop would take us out to eat at Napoli's Restaurant down at Broadway and Third. Don't look for it, the area has been demolished and a new highway was built back in the 70s.

But, in earlier times, the intersection of Broadway and Third not only had Napoli's but a Pennsylvania Railroad watchtower manned by a switchman. Locomotives would rumble by and lights in the tower would indicate the status of the tracks that ran along the north bank of the Ohio River.

Barriers would lower, bells would ring, lights would flash and a freight train carrying steel or coal or bulk freight would roar passed. The boxcars would be painted with mobile billboards indicating what might be inside. Firestone Tires, Blue Bonnet Margarine, Hormel Ham, Libby's Peaches. At the end of the train came the caboose. Smiling friendly railroad workers would lift their mugs of coffee or offer a wave to the kids with their noses pressed against the car windows. We always enthusiastically waved back.

Pop would wheel his big old Buick into the parking lot at Napoli's. The aroma of garlic and basil and oregano wafted through the frosted glass doors. Inside, we would see sights that dazzled a six year old's imagination. Soft pink and green neon tubes concealed behind a frame cast their intoxicating glow upon murals of old Italy. Vesuvius spewing smoke, gondoliers plying the canals of Venice, the Coliseum in Rome promising gladiatorial combat. "Dad!" said I "This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen!" That was a line Pop would tease me about for the rest of his life.

The food was wonderful to my palette. There was even a shaker with grated Parmesan cheese right there on the table! Not a green cardboard can with a Kraft label on it, but, in my mind, actual grated chees from some great wheel back in the kitchen.

We could hear the trains as they rolled along the steel rails just outside. I wonder if that switchman ever climbed down from the tower for a plate of spaghetti?

 

[Ernie S.]

OK. I've lasted 12 hours without pain meds. That's enough for now. I just swallowed a dilaudid and am about to crap out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

but a Pennsylvania Railroad watchtower manned by a switchman. Locomotives would rumble by and lights in the tower would indicate the status of the tracks that ran along the north bank of the Ohio River.

Barriers would lower, bells would ring, lights would flash and a freight train carrying steel or coal or bulk freight would roar passed. The boxcars would be painted with mobile billboards indicating what might be inside. Firestone Tires, Blue Bonnet Margarine, Hormel Ham, Libby's Peaches. At the end of the train came the caboose. Smiling friendly railroad workers would lift their mugs of coffee or offer a wave to the kids with their noses pressed against the car windows. We always enthusiastically waved back.

My Grandfather and Father both worked on the PRR. My father went to work during WW 2 at the age of 17 in the Car shops in Terre Haute Indiana and worked until he was 18, the legal age to work in Train Service. Except for farming, the only job he ever had... He did serve two stints in the U. S. Army... "46 to 48" he volunteered and was stationed in post war Germany and was recalled during The Korean Conflict and served in the Philippines for 2 years... His seniority on the RR kept right on accumulating during his Military Service... He ended up having 43 years of seniority at his retirement...

Dad took me (8 or 9yrs old) to work with him one time on what the called a local train... This work train ran 7 days a week out of Decatur Il and went to Peoria, Il, stopping at just about every little small community along the way at mainly Grain elevators and some industrial business's... This was in the early "60's"... I was fortunate enough to be able to ride the front end (Engine) during the daylight hours. The train left in mid afternoon and traveled the 80 miles (est)... Dark came and I was loaded up on the Caboose to a wonderful supper of Ham sandwiches and potato salad. Dad had stopped at a little grocery store and got a dozen hammies (10 cents a piece) and the tator salad. My favorite spot was in the copula... The round trip took about 10 to 12 hours (160 miles estimate)... When we arrived at the RR yards in Peoria, Dad had to get off the caboose and do some work... I was given strict instructions to stay right there in the copula...

The reason I started this little story was my Dad use to buy candy and throw off the caboose to kids and my mom would pretend to get mad at him for spending the money on penny candy... She new he still done it and I found out later that she really didn't care, she just like to give him hell once in awhile

I was very fortunate young man to be able to experience this part of history...

 

[Nosmo King]

but a Pennsylvania Railroad watchtower manned by a switchman. Locomotives would rumble by and lights in the tower would indicate the status of the tracks that ran along the north bank of the Ohio River.

Barriers would lower, bells would ring, lights would flash and a freight train carrying steel or coal or bulk freight would roar passed. The boxcars would be painted with mobile billboards indicating what might be inside. Firestone Tires, Blue Bonnet Margarine, Hormel Ham, Libby's Peaches. At the end of the train came the caboose. Smiling friendly railroad workers would lift their mugs of coffee or offer a wave to the kids with their noses pressed against the car windows. We always enthusiastically waved back.

My Grandfather and Father both worked on the PRR. My father went to work during WW 2 at the age of 17 in the Car shops in Terre Haute Indiana and worked until he was 18, the legal age to work in Train Service. Except for farming, the only job he ever had... He did serve two stints in the U. S. Army... "46 to 48" he volunteered and was stationed in post war Germany and was recalled during The Korean Conflict and served in the Philippines for 2 years... His seniority on the RR kept right on accumulating during his Military Service... He ended up having 43 years of seniority at his retirement...

Dad took me (8 or 9yrs old) to work with him one time on what the called a local train... This work train ran 7 days a week out of Decatur Il and went to Peoria, Il, stopping at just about every little small community along the way at mainly Grain elevators and some industrial business's... This was in the early "60's"... I was fortunate enough to be able to ride the front end (Engine) during the daylight hours. The train left in mid afternoon and traveled the 80 miles (est)... Dark came and I was loaded up on the Caboose to a wonderful supper of Ham sandwiches and potato salad. Dad had stopped at a little grocery store and got a dozen hammies (10 cents a piece) and the tator salad. My favorite spot was in the copula... The round trip took about 10 to 12 hours (160 miles estimate)... When we arrived at the RR yards in Peoria, Dad had to get off the caboose and do some work... I was given strict instructions to stay right there in the copula...

The reason I started this little story was my Dad use to buy candy and throw off the caboose to kids and my mom would pretend to get mad at him for spending the money on penny candy... She new he still done it and I found out later that she really didn't care, she just like to give him hell once in awhile

I was very fortunate young man to be able to experience this part of history...


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Of course the cupola would be the place to be! How much fun would that be? Travel on the train all day! Talk about life long memories!

And candy from the train would be wonderful. All the free candy we ever got as kids came from the float the Shriners rode on in parades.

I take that back. Grandma always had a candy dish, but she stocked it with 'grown up' candy like those little white taffies with jellied fruits in them. Brach's made them and they were disgusting, when I knew there could have been chocolate covered peanuts or malted milk balls in there.