Griff's Burger Joint

[cleanerg6e]

Oh man, i just have a generic look. I get compared to so many famous guys. It's kind of funny. Yet this is the first time I am getting compared to a black man, now that's funny as I am as white as can be.

Look at the trains man.

Must have been the photo as you didn't look that white and as for the trains yes they do look similar to ours as we had Alcos and GM's too. We did have one class of diesel from BTH or British Thompson Houston and they were a total failure. In shape not unlike the class 17 Claytons but bigger. Our first diesels were Alcos built in Canada of a hood design, then the BTH ones, then GM. A lot of our diesels were also used in places like Pakistan. Our most successful diesels would have to be the 81 class 3,000hp GM's which are the grandfather of the class 66 in the UK. When I left the railways in 2000 the 90 class 4,000hp GMs had just entered service and are used exclusively on coal trains of 92 wagons or 9,200 tons. GE built locos are on the system with 4,500 and 5,000 hp.

[traingeekboy]

Well they're diesels... They sound like motors I suppose. Although nothing like the big diesels we have running these days.

[traingeekboy]

I found this interesting:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16928711" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[traingeekboy]

Well the weather is warmer. It's in the 60's... of course this always happens when we get strong wind. 30 miles west of here it was reported at 88 mph. Here it's gusts between 34-50 so far. Oh and the snow is finally melting away.

I can sleep through most anything, but the constant whooshing gets annoying.

Oh and of course this just means more snow tomorrow when the wind stops. I want train weather darnit.

[traingeekboy]

As I read I do notice that we Garden Railway types do worry about weather. Lots of comments about poor weather stopping us from enjoying our passion.

My dilemma is that the weather is quite good right now. I got some extra work so I am stuck being inside at work the next few weeks. It will be difficult to look out the window and see perfect track laying weather and be stuck inside.

[traingeekboy]

The return of the chaos garden and other events...

I've been spending time outside more since the weather is good. No train running yet. I am sort of waiting for to do it when my mind is in the right place for it.

The past four weeks I was editing, well re-editing someone else's cut of this movie. http://www.carolinabluemovie.com/Main.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Now I have to wait to see what the producers and directors think of my cut. Between working on that 5 days a week and working on my cafe job the other 2 I sort of lost my sense of humor. I'm not that old, but I remember being younger and being able to go and go, not so anymore. I feel a little run down.

Sara and I cleaned up the garden in preparation for the spring planting. We discovered that a couple of Chards had survived the winter. Last year we had planted spinach but it never came up... Well now a couple plants have. Somehow our thyme has managed to survive the winter too.

I keep looking at herbs and thinking I may have to plant some in pots under the layout for trees. They just look to be the right scale and size for an HO/OO layout.

Oh yeah, I had some potatoes that had started growing in the bag in my kitchen. I planted them in the ground and expect a huge crop this year. I like how simple potatoes are. You can grow them in the worse soil and they make pretty little flowers. All they really need is planting and watering. Then in the fall you dig up all these tasty spuds and make wonderful food.

I am looking forward to another season of trains and veggies and flowers.

[grockle]

Have a few plank wagons ready for the crop harvesting. Radish Express, Spinach Flyer.............

I'll get my white coat on now and go................................

Ian

[mick]

It's good to watch the garden reawakening after the winter rest. There's a great sense of satisfaction when certain plants get through it unscathed and emerge again for another annual show.

For me the new garden's been a voyage of discovery almost because I wasn't really sure exactly what was there. I'd put in some late autumn plantings and saw many of them uprooted by the emerging spring bulbs. Some plants I couldn't immediately identify from the weeds but they've been left and I've seen them develop into a display of lovely blooms - just need to find out what they are now.

I would imagine that many herbs would prove useful around the layout and there's the added benefit that you can use them in your cooking. I discovered last year that carrot foliage makes a very convincing scale tree!

Yeah, potatoes are easy going. Just pop them in some soil or compost and keep well watered and you're rewarded with some very tasty potatoes that are much better than the ones you purchase in a supermarket. Everyone should grow some potatoes.

I've read all about your layout and garden but I'm at a disadvantage with the movie stuff and the editing work. What's all that about? I think I've also missed the bit about your cafe job. Where have I been?

[traingeekboy]

Well I've been at a cafe for the whole time I've been here. I work part time. It's kind of fun, or was till the ass. manager started getting it in for me. He's been a royal pain.

I've worked with film and TV and video editing for nearly 30 years till I got laid off a few years back. This movie edit was really a nice way to dust off my skills. What I got was a half edited impending failure and I turned it into a very smooth looking movie.

Ok off to post up some pics on my layout discussion.

[cleanerg6e]

When I worked on the railways here from 1985 to 2000 in the first 10 years it was great. In the last 5 years it was starting to get bad as we had a manager who liked to spy on workers. My workmates and I used to wash by hand or bucket and brush large 100ton capacity privately owned flour hopper wagons. One day we'd been at it for 9 hours without a break nothing to eat or drink for 9 hours on a hot summer's day. My English mate (from Leeds) and I sat down for a few minutes to have something to eat and drink and this manager told us we were being paid to wash wagons not eat and drink. We told him we'd been at it for 9 hours without a break and were told I don't care get back to work. We told him in no uncertain terms where to go and both of us got suspended for it. He had a hedge cut down so he could spy on workers from the air conditioned comfort of his office.

How different my boss on council is for if I or any of my family needs something and it's in work hours I'm told to forget work an attend to your or their needs.

As a result we work harder for our boss and he often shouts us a free BBQ and he buys all the food and drink. That would never ever have happened on the railways.

At one stage we ok'd some new stronger detergents on the railways and the company that got the contract to supply the stuff gave us workers 200 dollar prepaid gift cards,caps and golf tees and the management was furious because we got those gifts and not them. As a result they terminated the contract out of sheer spite.

Roy.

[traingeekboy]

I've worked jobs where you just did what you needed to do and then management gets this idea to increase productivity... It usually leads to people seeking out new employment.

[cleanerg6e]

yes lets dump 75% of the staff to save on wages and increase productivity those who are left and with the wages we no longer have to pay we'll give ourselves a fat salary increase and tell the workers who are left that times are hard so they can't have a wage increase.

Roy.

[traingeekboy]

Ack. I drank 4 shots of espresso at 4pm. now it's almost 2 am and I'm as wired as can be. I'm not awake, my body is awake.

Also of note:

This was the ad I got tonight. Nope it's not an ad for single asian/russian/next door women, it's an ad for model trains.

http://www.rapidotrains.com/upc_ho.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[traingeekboy]

Snuck out of work to go witness the chelsea barca game. I only caught the last bit as I was keeping my eye on it via the computer while working. I arrived fully knowing chelsea was playing one man down vs the best team in the world. When barcelona got an offsides goal the whole room erupted in cheering. I realized then that I was pretty much alone in my passion for seeing chelsea win. Then drogba got swapped and I thought "oh no what next". Well what came a short while later was magnificent.

I just had this hunch about chelsea and they pulled it off. Incredible defense, they locked out messi and company for the final leg of the game. No small feat. I love seeing underdogs win.

[traingeekboy]

I used to live in boulder from 77 to 91. I guess my old home town made it to the british news.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17876443" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Poor guy I bet he was just lost.

[traingeekboy]

Last sunday we planted seeds and we have things coming up already. So we repeated with some more planting. The garden portion of this hobby is coming along great!

[traingeekboy]

I'm a nut. i keep a pair of binoculars by the kitchen sink so I can look at my seedlings from the window every morning. Today I had a butterfly in the garden and that was pretty exciting. Exciting, as in, I am like an 8 year old over new planting time. It's always so exciting.

Been working like a dog trying to get the project done. I never get two days off back to back, so i tend to be too wiped out on days off to go out and model. I really need a day of damage control and a day of relaxation anymore. I guess it's the approaching 50 slow down effect. I do hate to admit that I am slowing down, partly because I am very sloth like anyway.

Dave who has been AWOL for some time got me hooked up with the wargaming magazine he works on. I wrote an article about my teen days on the PLATO network for them and they used it as the lead article. Makes me pretty darn happy they did. Thanks again DAVE!

Anyway, here is the link to it: http://irregular-magazine.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[traingeekboy]

Emptied my old shed. I was going to throw it away. It is one of those old 70's ones with metal walls that is to low to stand in. Now I am thinking I may build a riser wall for it and just keep using it. Of course if I do re-use it, I may have to run a line out to it for a storage yard.

After emptying out all the crap. stack of old ties. Lumber i've collected. 8 maneqiuns, don't ask, they weren't mine. etc... I tore out the old water damaged floor. Nothing liek 30 year old fiber board that has been subjected to water and time. It was mostly just fist full's of fiber.

Anyway, got something done and that's good. Oh yeah we also planted more.

[traingeekboy]

Every day something new is peeking up out of the ground. So far: beans, spinach, zinias, rocket, lettuce, cosmos, chard, kale, cucumbers, a huge crop of potatoes, mystery volunteers including an oak tree I am going to allow to grow. It's kept me away from the layout as I've been watering and weeding a lot.

[traingeekboy]

I finally received some lamps in the mail from China or taiwan or wherever.

They are basic street lamps in a vague scale with these funny little signs hanging off of them that I will cut off. I expect they'll be all over my passenger platforms as night lighting. It should be very charming.

They were very cheap I paid less than 10.00$ total w/ shipping for a pack of twenty lamps.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190672660798?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Been a bit under the weather with some kind of intestinal thing. Tonight Sara and I went for a walk about the neighborhood that was very nice, but I sensed something was amiss. I could smell a hint of fire. It turns out wild fires on the border of Utah and Colorado, hundreds of miles away, are wafting smoke into Denver. We sat outside in the layout room after our walk so I could sip my chamomile tea; A distinct haze could be seen around the street lamps like what one might see with a light fog.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/sns-rt-us-usa-wildfires-new-mexicobre84p0fx-20120526,0,6825978.story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;