USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Foxfyre]

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.

IMO, while of course you don't want to take more pain meds than you need, you shouldn't wait until you really NEED a pain killer. Your body will heal more quickly if you keep the pain suppressed and don't wait until you have to have the pain meds.

 

[Foxfyre]

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...


View attachment 116758

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 thee 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.

I have had a lifelong love affair with trains, most especially the old coal burners, but the old diesels were pretty good too. And I will still drive out of my way to get to a crossing to watch the train go by. And Hombre and I have taken many trips on the sight seeing trains around the country.

But travel on the train is not that great these days. There isn't a lot of the old elegance there once was. I miss the cabooses, and white linen draped tables in the dining car and conductors who really made it dramatic and fun. And traveling through the night at 90 mph across the plains on not that well maintained track and with bored switchmen monitoring the traffic is a bit unnerving to me.

 

[malnila]

Hiya Foxfyre.

Can you believe I found my way here? This is a huge thread but I'm bound and determined to catch up on the doings of old friends and (hopefully) new ones too.

 

[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...


View attachment 116758

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 thee 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.

I have had a lifelong love affair with trains, most especially the old coal burners, but the old diesels were pretty good too. And I will still drive out of my way to get to a crossing to watch the train go by. And Hombre and I have taken many trips on the sight seeing trains around the country.

But travel on the train is not that great these days. There isn't a lot of the old elegance there once was. I miss the cabooses, and white linen draped tables in the dining car and conductors who really made it dramatic and fun. And traveling through the night at 90 mph across the plains on not that well maintained track and with bored switchmen monitoring the traffic is a bit unnerving to me.

I rode Amtrack from Pittsburgh to Penn Station in Manhattan a few years back. It's a trip I've taken uncountable times before, but usually by car or plane. I know that from my home to my friend's home in Brooklyn is an eight hour drive. Somehow, with all the stops in Pennsylvania and a delay in Philly when we switched from a diesel to an electric locomotive, it still took eight hours!

But it was more like riding a bus. There was a 'dining car' but it was more like bowling alley fare than anything to get excited about. And it was over priced.

The nice part was a comfortable seat and going around Horse Shoe Curve outside Altoona, Pennsylvania. The nasty part was Penn Station. Vin Scully, broadcaster of Dodger's games from when they played in Ebbet's Field through their move to Los Angeles said after the old Penn Station was demolished back in the early 1960s "We used to come into Manhattan like Kings. Now we come in like rats."

 

[Ernie S.]

OK...6 pages behind. Not awake enough right now to try to catch up. Partner's' mom/mom in law just about ready to serve breakfast. Therapy this afternoon. Progress is slow and pain levels barely manageable. Nauseous most of the time and bored to tears. Other than that, I'm fine.

The key is keeping yourself occupied with something you like doing.
Do you do reloading like shot gun shells?
Just an example.
The pain will eventually get better each day and will become more manageable.
You are still in our prayers Ernie.

Most of my hobbies involve power tools and firearms. I'm not mobile enough for either about now, but I am doing some reading and refining the design for my upcoming dining room table project.
My daily carry pistol IS clean as a whistle.

 

[Montrovant]

OK...6 pages behind. Not awake enough right now to try to catch up. Partner's' mom/mom in law just about ready to serve breakfast. Therapy this afternoon. Progress is slow and pain levels barely manageable. Nauseous most of the time and bored to tears. Other than that, I'm fine.

The key is keeping yourself occupied with something you like doing.
Do you do reloading like shot gun shells?
Just an example.
The pain will eventually get better each day and will become more manageable.
You are still in our prayers Ernie.

Most of my hobbies involve power tools and firearms. I'm not mobile enough for either about now, but I am doing some reading and refining the design for my upcoming dining room table project.
My daily carry pistol IS clean as a whistle.

Learn to play video games!

 

[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.

IMO, while of course you don't want to take more pain meds than you need, you shouldn't wait until you really NEED a pain killer. Your body will heal more quickly if you keep the pain suppressed and don't wait until you have to have the pain meds.

I hate these things and what they do to my thought process. While I did do a lot of recreational drugs, including opiates back until 1972 I never became addicted to anything but alcohol
BUT my addiction to alcohol came very, very close to killing me and the thought of being dependent on a chemical terrifies me. I take no more than is absolutely neccessary, perhaps, at times, to my detriment, but this is who I am.
I have no problem taking a pill to relieve pain and actually just called the doctor informing him that I will be critically low by tomorrow. (big deal for me), but except for pre therapy, I will not pre-medicate.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When I said I was a fortunate young man, I failed to mention I had been across Country on Passenger train by the time I was 14 years old. The last trip was from St Louis to Los Angeles in 1968... Some of the memories... Very heavy cutlery and Dinnerware... And the observation dome cars out west...

 

[Ernie S.]

OK...6 pages behind. Not awake enough right now to try to catch up. Partner's' mom/mom in law just about ready to serve breakfast. Therapy this afternoon. Progress is slow and pain levels barely manageable. Nauseous most of the time and bored to tears. Other than that, I'm fine.

The key is keeping yourself occupied with something you like doing.
Do you do reloading like shot gun shells?
Just an example.
The pain will eventually get better each day and will become more manageable.
You are still in our prayers Ernie.

Most of my hobbies involve power tools and firearms. I'm not mobile enough for either about now, but I am doing some reading and refining the design for my upcoming dining room table project.
My daily carry pistol IS clean as a whistle.

Learn to play video games!

Oh my GOD no! I'm sorry, but I consider video games a complete waste of time and intellect. If you find some value in manuvering around a digital landscape killing zombies, have at it, but I don't do video games and haven't since the mid 70's when I played freecell as a sobriety test.

 

[Dalia]

Hiya Foxfyre.

Can you believe I found my way here? This is a huge thread but I'm bound and determined to catch up on the doings of old friends and (hopefully) new ones too.

Bonsoir Malnila from France

 

[Dalia]

OK...6 pages behind. Not awake enough right now to try to catch up. Partner's' mom/mom in law just about ready to serve breakfast. Therapy this afternoon. Progress is slow and pain levels barely manageable. Nauseous most of the time and bored to tears. Other than that, I'm fine.

The key is keeping yourself occupied with something you like doing.
Do you do reloading like shot gun shells?
Just an example.
The pain will eventually get better each day and will become more manageable.
You are still in our prayers Ernie.

Most of my hobbies involve power tools and firearms. I'm not mobile enough for either about now, but I am doing some reading and refining the design for my upcoming dining room table project.
My daily carry pistol IS clean as a whistle.

Learn to play video games!

Oh my GOD no! I'm sorry, but I consider video games a complete waste of time and intellect. If you find some value in manuvering around a digital landscape killing zombies, have at it, but I don't do video games and haven't since the mid 70's when I played freecell as a sobriety test.

Hello, the same way for me , i have a collection of vidéos games chez moi, i use to be able to play it easely now i lost the touch.
I like mario bros, i have the collection ++++ more old games that i think i will sold on Ebay soon.

 

[Nosmo King]

When I said I was a fortunate young man, I failed to mention I had been across Country on Passenger train by the time I was 14 years old. The last trip was from St Louis to Los Angeles in 1968... Some of the memories... Very heavy cutlery and Dinnerware... And the observation dome cars out west...

View attachment 116786

I'll bet next month's paycheck that the heavy dinnerware was made here in East Liverpool, Ohio.

 

[Foxfyre]

OK...6 pages behind. Not awake enough right now to try to catch up. Partner's' mom/mom in law just about ready to serve breakfast. Therapy this afternoon. Progress is slow and pain levels barely manageable. Nauseous most of the time and bored to tears. Other than that, I'm fine.

The key is keeping yourself occupied with something you like doing.
Do you do reloading like shot gun shells?
Just an example.
The pain will eventually get better each day and will become more manageable.
You are still in our prayers Ernie.

Most of my hobbies involve power tools and firearms. I'm not mobile enough for either about now, but I am doing some reading and refining the design for my upcoming dining room table project.
My daily carry pistol IS clean as a whistle.

Learn to play video games!

Oh my GOD no! I'm sorry, but I consider video games a complete waste of time and intellect. If you find some value in manuvering around a digital landscape killing zombies, have at it, but I don't do video games and haven't since the mid 70's when I played freecell as a sobriety test.

Order you a Hoyle's Casino game from Amazon.

It offers a fairly challenging array of casino games from craps to various poker games, etc.--you play against computer characters that do have a personality of sorts.

We also have the Hoyle Card games but get the older classic version if you can because it is much better than the latest edition--I really enjoy playing bridge, pinochle, spades, rummy etc. again against computer characters.

And Hoyle Board Games also offers some entertainment.

None of them are just mindless games but do require you to think and strategize at least to some extent.

 

[malnila]

Hiya Foxfyre.

Can you believe I found my way here? This is a huge thread but I'm bound and determined to catch up on the doings of old friends and (hopefully) new ones too.

Bonsoir Malnila from France

Merci!!! And that is the extent of my French.

 

[Dalia]

Hiya Foxfyre.

Can you believe I found my way here? This is a huge thread but I'm bound and determined to catch up on the doings of old friends and (hopefully) new ones too.

Bonsoir Malnila from France

Merci!!! And that is the extent of my French.

It is very good to know how to say thank in a different language

 

[Foxfyre]

Hiya Foxfyre.

Can you believe I found my way here? This is a huge thread but I'm bound and determined to catch up on the doings of old friends and (hopefully) new ones too.

Well don't worry about reading the whole thread. You couldn't anyway since the three Coffee Shops before this one were all deleted because of software problems. Coffee Shop IV will see the seventh anniversary of the Coffee Shop thread(s) in May.

Some of the faithful do take the time to catch up from the last time they were here, but most of us probably read the last couple of pages and that's it. Anyhow, it is just like any other meeting place. Those that drop in now and then just pick up from where they come in.

 

[peach174]

OK...6 pages behind. Not awake enough right now to try to catch up. Partner's' mom/mom in law just about ready to serve breakfast. Therapy this afternoon. Progress is slow and pain levels barely manageable. Nauseous most of the time and bored to tears. Other than that, I'm fine.

The key is keeping yourself occupied with something you like doing.
Do you do reloading like shot gun shells?
Just an example.
The pain will eventually get better each day and will become more manageable.
You are still in our prayers Ernie.

Most of my hobbies involve power tools and firearms. I'm not mobile enough for either about now, but I am doing some reading and refining the design for my upcoming dining room table project.
My daily carry pistol IS clean as a whistle.

That's great and exactly what I was saying.
Stay busy with things and down time will fly by.

 

[Foxfyre]

Hiya Foxfyre.

Can you believe I found my way here? This is a huge thread but I'm bound and determined to catch up on the doings of old friends and (hopefully) new ones too.

Bonsoir Malnila from France

Merci!!! And that is the extent of my French.

Me too. Well not entirely. I can also say sacre' bleu and parlez vous francais? and I can read crepes and escargot on a menu.

 

[Foxfyre]

hey malnila did you see that E9 inadvertently fledged today? Fell off the branch he was perched on and now nobody knows of his whereabouts. Hoping he'll return to the nest. He was apparently unhurt in the fall and Harriett and M15 fed him on the ground today and are no doubt sticking close to him.

(malnila and I have been monitoring the same eagle cam since December.)

 

[gallantwarrior]

View attachment 116486

He's too small to eat some valerian at Friday night...

They should cancel it here, too. With the extreme changes in day-night throughout the year, it's useless.