Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium

[gman007]

Bob
I am very saddened to hear that several of your family members are seriously ill. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family.

 

[Prospecter]

No boat. I need to test the motor. Which, in my current state of health, will be a month long process. And before I could do that, I needed to clear the welding table, which required that I install the chip filter on the water softener. Which required that I finish the firewood, which took months.

So, firewood finally dealt with, to clear my mind and my parking space.
Welding bench cleared.
Filter installed the other day.
I still need to clear the metal bench, do the research in the documentation for the premix. Get the premix. Mount the motor. See if I can get it running.
Which all also has to fit in with Drs appts and tests and life.
And I get maybe an hour a day, if I'm lucky, for everything in life.

Just keep swimming. You'll get there.

 

[Prospecter]

Kay, I don't really feel your pain but I am in the same Drs appts and tests and life process. The pain across my chest comes and goes and I'm telling myself I'm feeling better every day. More precisely I'm telling Liane that. I laid down on my back today and flopped around on the bed like a beached whale for way too long just to get to a standing position. Whenever I get the urge to cough I take a teaspoon of Nyquil and try to clear my throat without the horse kick to my sternum.

Same message.

Just keep swimming.

 

[Squankum]

Logan, Liane never drank coffee growing up (I went from breast milk to light coffee with extra sugar) so it was usually tea for her. She tried a sip of someone's foo-foo decaffeinated one time and asked me to make that for her. I started with regular coffee with two sweeteners (= 4 teaspoons of sugar) and Coffee Mate with light whipped cream on top. It made her jittery (sensitive to caffeine) so I switched to decaf and then to half-caf. The light whipped cream was too many calories so I just added vanilla extract. Final stage was more sweetener and flavored zero calorie flavored syrup. My coffee taste went the other way, eliminating sugar first, then milk and then to fresh (finely) ground whole beans with double the recommended amount of beans per cup.

Bob, reading that reminded me of an old bit of WWII trivia. I googled and didn't find confirmation, but not everything's on the internet (yet), and I must have read it in a booook, like Manuel...

A Norwegian resistance unit was (I'm guessing with coordination from British intelligence) went into Gestapo HQ in Oslo. The goal was to blow up their Enigma code machine. The commandos were told to leave their bomb next to the most complicated machine they could find.

They blew up the espresso machine.

 

[Bob Heine]

Hi Bob,

Your estimate of the price of gold is more than a thousand dollars low as of yesterday, it was $ 3561.00. Makes me kind of wish I had bought the gold bars last year at Costco! Hopefully your family's health issues will be solved soon.

Gil, I failed to do my due diligence. You just reminded me of a friend of mine who did some crazy investing. I forget what was going on in the early 1980s but he invested $60,000 in gold bars when they were selling for $600/ounce. The price of gold took an immediate downturn and he didn't reach break-even until 2006. I doubt he sold it so he's ahead of the game today. But based on inflation he's not that far ahead. His $60,000 back then is the equivalent today of $235,229.13, based solely on inflation. He also sold all his stocks and bonds in December 1999 so he could have the cash in a safe at home. While he was wrong on the Y2K causing a crash, my investments took a hit in 2000 with the Dot Com crash.

Geez Bob, the first part is fun and the second comes round an snaps you in the ***. Hope your fam gets better.

Kay, it's life and I found comfort watching Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" recently.

I hear ya on the three's Bob. Lay low and take care of your family!

Fred, I was worried the third shoe hadn't dropped but I forgot that our son went back into AFib for a third time two weeks ago. The cardioversions worked for him for several years after each episode but this time the cardioversion came with a prescription for Eliquis. He's our 61 year old and unfortunately he seems to be having these problems earlier than I did. About 25 years ago we went tent camping with him and his two oldest sons (Indian Guides as I recall) and their tent was set up about 30 feet from ours and his snoring kept me awake. I'm no doctor and haven't been to a Holiday Inn Express but I suspect he also has sleep apnea. Our primary care doctor sent me to a sleep clinic and I started wearing a CPAP 15 years ago (age 66). Both sleep apnea and AFib increase the risk of a stroke and the two combined make a stroke far more likely. I have quietly suggested he go for the overnight test but it's time to raise the alarm.

Bob, I'm glad that you're feeling better. Life's a beech, ( beach?)( a beach with beech trees?) especially where you live. I started thinking about the triangles I wrote about and the inscribed, circumscribed circle in my example. Thinking that both circles have the same center point, but, now think that a circumscribed circle actually uses the corner points on a triangle. Whereas, an inscribed circle has to touch each side of the triangle. In the case of an Isosceles triangle, (short base, taller sides), that really changes your center of the circle as compared to the inscribed circle. I was only trying to hook up a 1/3 hp motor to an old washing machine pump. Through a weldment, a chunk of water pipe with a flange on each end. I wanted my drive rod to stay centered in the pipe. Kind of a homemade sump pump, to pump out the flooded barn.

Rick, some times Life's a breach. My grandmother gave birth to her third child in 1917 at home (a small apartment in Montreal) and it started as a breach birth. Not sure how the baby was moved into position but I'm pretty sure that was the last time my grandparents slept in the same room.

I should probably get my eyes checked. Reading your comment I thought you found a new geometric term, a circumcised circle. Google presented your term on my first search. I don't remember the triangle/circumscribed circle but it must have been presented to me at some point:

"In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a triangle is a circle that passes through all three vertices. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter of the triangle, and its radius is called the circumradius. The circumcenter is the point of intersection between the three perpendicular bisectors of the triangle's sides, and is a triangle center."

Perfectly obvious but thankfully Wikipedia provided an illustration:

The perpendicular bisectors of the
three sides of a triangle pass
through the triangle's circumcenter.

Hey, Bob- just checking in; glad you're feeling a bit better.

Scott, feeling (better or worse) is wonderful to me. It's proof of life.

Bob, thoughts and prayers to you and the family!

Joel, I appreciate the help. I never know who will get through to my invisible friend first.

Bob, I did read back a page or two on yer thread. You had mentioned cameras at some point. I know your history, with trips to Alaska, Mexico, and many of the States of the US. I became a camera bug, many years ago, and wanted to buy a 35mm SLR. First, I read a very old book and learned about F-stops and things. That was many years ago, so I don't remember much about things, camera-wise. But I did buy a Vivitar. One of the reasons I bought this camera was to go to John Deere Days at the local dealership. I was invited to such an event! My first one. Nobody else had a camera, so I left my brand new camera in the truck... There were many weddings happening, back then and everyone but me had a pretty nice camera. I felt left out. Once I bought the camera, it took so long to make all of the settings happen, that all of my subjects lost their smile. I did try to take landscape pics, and tried three shots. One underexposed, one normal, one overexposed. With the price to develope film, I only tried that a couple of times. My camera did have an electronic light meter on it, but everything else was manual.

Rick, the thousands of photos my father took were taken with a 35mm Lordomat camera. Not the big deal of a Leica but it still had a German lens set. It was 100% manual and my father learned to use a light meter and take some pretty good transparencies (he only bought slide film). The first photo of the day was always a giant production to get the settings right but most days it got faster after the first setup. On our first trip out west in 1955 he took a whole lot of photos but the pinnacle was at Crater Lake. The park guide who took us out on the lake couldn't get over how calm it was and raved on and on about how it hadn't happened before in the 9 years he was doing the tours. My father got the ranger's address and mailed copies of the slides to him later that year. The Crater Lake slides became a running joke in the family. Every time the slide projector came out, some friend or family member would scream in terror "NO MORE CRATER LAKE SLIDES." Ironically, the film dad was using that day was Kodachrome rather than Ectachrome. Over the 70 years those slides have been stored in 'reasonable' locations, the Kodachrome slides still look new and the Ectachrome slides look like they are from the Civil War. The first photo is a scanned Kodachrome slide from the Sequioa National Park Series and the second is a scanned Ektachrome slide the same summer at Sequoia National Park (me under a pile of sugar pine cones).

Bob
I am very saddened to hear that several of your family members are seriously ill. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family.

@gman007, thank you for the support. The family seems to be dealing with all three issues really well. Bunch of tough sombitches.

Just keep swimming. You'll get there.

@Prospecter, I was told the same thing at a Club Med. One event was a tug of war and I think(?) we won.

Another event involved swimming across the pool while reading a book. Doing a one handed backstroke was no problem but holding the paperback with my stump was new to me. I made up the story as I swam the length of the pool. Only one person gasped when I entered the pool. Keep swimming is a great motto!

 

[drivesitfar]

Great to see you haven’t lost any of your sense of humor.

Here’s a prayer hoping you and your family members conquer your health issues.

Cheers buddy!!

 

[gman007]

Rick and Bob
There is an another method with fewer lines needed to find the center of a circle. Simply draw two lines tangent to the circumference of the circle and then at each of the two points where these lines touch the circle draw a perpendicular line. Where the perpendicular lines cross is the center of the circle. Here is my crude drawing as an illustration.

 

[xtremek]

Prayers for your family's health, Bob.

 

[CNC_RICK]

Prayers for your family's health Bob.

My thoughts, too. As far as breached babies go, one of my granddaughters was about to be born, but it was a breach situation at first. The nurse came in and massaged "Mommy's" tummy to the point that the baby crawled around, trying to get away from that nonsense. It worked, the baby came out naturally. My son, on other paw... Was late, coming so the DR induced labor. Every time that they tried to induce labor, my son's heartbeat stopped.... The DR gave up and said that he needs a bigger hospital to give Cheryl better care. (Baldwin hospital was pretty small at the time). She was put into an ambulance and driven to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. I watched as they loaded her into the ambulance. The driver told me not to follow them. I says nope, just go. I'll get there eventually.... As you can imagine "it was a dark and stormy night" in November. With freezing rain and such. I did get there and Regions Hospital is huge and I got lost several times and had to ask for directions a few times. I finally found her in a room that had a big crowd of college students looking on, along with some doctors involved... That this was kind of a special case.... Oh, great, I thought... She ended up getting a C- section. I sat next to her and held her hand. The nurses had put a chunk of plywood standing on her chest and a sheet on it, so she couldn't watch the doctors do their thing. I wasn't about to peek over that wall... Travis finally came out. On the way back to her room, one of the nurses said that I could take my mask off. I'll wait a bit before I take my mask off, as it was full of snot and tears. But the reason behind all of this is that Travis was kind of a busy body in Mommy's tummy and managed to wrap the umbilical cord around his neck, twice, and there was a third loop that got stuck in behind the two wraps.

 

[CNC_RICK]

While at Regions, I stayed a couple nights on a cot next to her bed. I did visit the lunch room (cafeteria)... One day I couldn't decide on which of two choices that I should pick. I ordered both. The lunch lady stared me in the face and asked if I could really eat two meals. Yes, ma'am. I tell you what, that was a lot of food to eat and I did my best. Ha. But staying overnight, I had time to work on my correspondence course for automotive technician.

 

[madison069]

Bob, hope the family members get some resolution that prolongs their life and ensure it’s an issue free type of life.

I’ve thought about getting checked out for sleep apnea myself. I remember watching my dad sleep and he would literally stop breathing and after 20-40secs would violently start coughing and resume his sleeping and breathing routine. I know I snore, but I haven’t been told about any non-breathing experience yet.

 

[Bob Heine]

Big day for me today. No cake, no party, just a day to celebrate the 60th anniversary of my 'training' day. As I've posted many times, people have joined in on the celebration every five years, marking the day in 1965 when a train left me for dead. No serious presents allowed but funny stuff was encouraged. The day was September 9th and it marked the start of a new life for me. One year it was "Bob's Twister" game with a unique spinner.

Sometimes it was a souvenir, like a complementary drink glass from the Long Island Railroad bar car.

Other times it was a train alarm clock, train doorstop or a work of art.

In 1990 we celebrated my 25th anniversary in Sydney, Australia and four of our friends flew from Florida to Sydney for a couple of weeks of sightseeing (with side trip to New Zealand) and made sure there was a Train Party.

Without thinking, we threw a Train Party in 2005 and there was a pretty big turnout. Two days later, on September 11, we realized our party was in poor taste, especially because the train incident and terrorist attack took place in New York. Our next door neighbors had a hat embroidered for the event, someone gifted me a trainish hat and another gave me a reminder of a Dylan album.

Not to be left out of the festivities, John (@Toolfool) gifted me a Long Island Railroad T-Shirt that I now wear on these quinquennial celebrations. It seems to have shrunk just a bit.

Great to see you haven’t lost any of your sense of humor.

Here’s a prayer hoping you and your family members conquer your health issues.

Cheers buddy!!

Thanks Drives. If we can't conquer them, hopefully we learn to live with them.

Rick and Bob
There is an another method with fewer lines needed to find the center of a circle. Simply draw two lines tangent to the circumference of the circle and then at each of the two points where these lines touch the circle draw a perpendicular line. Where the perpendicular lines cross is the center of the circle. Here is my crude drawing as an illustration.

@gman007, it's great to be reminded of how all that math stuff helps in our daily lives.

Prayers for your family's health, Bob.

Thank you Kirk!

My thoughts, too. As far as breached babies go, one of my granddaughters was about to be born, but it was a breach situation at first. The nurse came in and massaged "Mommy's" tummy to the point that the baby crawled around, trying to get away from that nonsense. It worked, the baby came out naturally. My son, on other paw... Was late, coming so the DR induced labor. Every time that they tried to induce labor, my son's heartbeat stopped.... The DR gave up and said that he needs a bigger hospital to give Cheryl better care. (Baldwin hospital was pretty small at the time). She was put into an ambulance and driven to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. I watched as they loaded her into the ambulance. The driver told me not to follow them. I says nope, just go. I'll get there eventually.... As you can imagine "it was a dark and stormy night" in November. With freezing rain and such. I did get there and Regions Hospital is huge and I got lost several times and had to ask for directions a few times. I finally found her in a room that had a big crowd of college students looking on, along with some doctors involved... That this was kind of a special case.... Oh, great, I thought... She ended up getting a C- section. I sat next to her and held her hand. The nurses had put a chunk of plywood standing on her chest and a sheet on it, so she couldn't watch the doctors do their thing. I wasn't about to peek over that wall... Travis finally came out. On the way back to her room, one of the nurses said that I could take my mask off. I'll wait a bit before I take my mask off, as it was full of snot and tears. But the reason behind all of this is that Travis was kind of a busy body in Mommy's tummy and managed to wrap the umbilical cord around his neck, twice, and there was a third loop that got stuck in behind the two wraps.

Rick, so glad it went the way it did. I too was born with my umbilical cord around my neck, giving me an interestingly blue face. My father wrote home about the night and later told me later I was almost born in Mexico. My parents crossed the border from Douglas, Arizona into Agua Prieta, Sonora and returned home when she felt the first contractions (I was her second child). Our home was only 9 blocks from the border and not far from the Phelps Dodge Hospital. Second babies sometimes arrive more quickly than the first and the doctor didn't arrive until I was already born. According to my Hospital Certificate, something I discovered is not a legal document when I used it to apply for a passport in 1980, the doctor's last name was Quick, a bit misleading in my case.

While at Regions, I stayed a couple nights on a cot next to her bed. I did visit the lunch room (cafeteria)... One day I couldn't decide on which of two choices that I should pick. I ordered both. The lunch lady stared me in the face and asked if I could really eat two meals. Yes, ma'am. I tell you what, that was a lot of food to eat and I did my best. Ha. But staying overnight, I had time to work on my correspondence course for automotive technician.

Rick, in my youth, two full portions was nothing for me to eat. I could eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted and never gain a pound. Now, just looking at a photo of food causes me to gain a pound.

Bob, hope the family members get some resolution that prolongs their life and ensure it’s an issue free type of life.

I’ve thought about getting checked out for sleep apnea myself. I remember watching my dad sleep and he would literally stop breathing and after 20-40secs would violently start coughing and resume his sleeping and breathing routine. I know I snore, but I haven’t been told about any non-breathing experience yet.

Cody, they're all in good hands. I'm going to proceed forward with a belief in their will to live and their medical teams.

It never occurred to me that I had sleep apnea. When our primary care physician asked me if I ever gasped for breath at night I said no and Liane said: "He does and every time he stops snoring I hit him and he starts breathing again." Hitting me didn't wake me up but it did remind me to breathe. I resent Liane always being right. The one time I thought she was wrong, it turned out she was right.

 

[Lou's Garage]

Happy Anniversary, Bob!

Lou

 

[bugnut]

Bob, glad you're posting and the train anniversary is unique. I like the tshirt John @Toolfool gave you, he recently gifted me a neat VW beetle shirt.
Take care, enjoy the anniversary and stay well.

 

[Toolfool]

Glad you won the battle with that train, Bob. GJ is a better place with you here.

 

[jon72vega]

Glad you won the battle with that train, Bob. GJ is a better place with you here.

Truth!

 

[gman007]

Bob
There is no train that is a match for you.
Happy anniversary!

 

[sawduststeve]

Bob
There is no train that is a match for you.
Happy anniversary!

I concur.

 

[CNC_RICK]

Lately, I've had some issues, too. Not like Cheryl went through, for Travis. But on my own person. First of all, I hate needles of any sort. As I'm at a Drs office, for a regular checkup, once in a while the vampires have to take blood from me. (The nice doctors...) (Metallitubby knows my obsession with garlic pills...). Even that doesn't work with them. Ha. As the Drs need blood from me, I have to lay down on on one of thems fancy beds with the pull-out drawers for steps. Cheryl has to hold my hand and I hope for the best.....

One day, I had a lump in my throat. It got more painful. I was given antibiotics. Didn't help. Ended up in the emergency room. ( In Hudson, this time) I was about to go through an emergency guy and his syringe needle about the size to work on an elephant. I had a cyst, or, something infected, in my throat. He tried to numb my throat. Didn't work. He tried to poke at that syst with his equipment, and I really freaked out. Oh, hell no.... So, I was sent to Regions and emergency and saw a NoseThroat expert. They numbed me a bit better, calmed me down, to the point that they could stab at that lump and could start draining pus out of the lump. At that point, my voice wasn't as squeaky any more. Things were working. I never want to go through that again... Did I mention my hate of needles???

 

[CNC_RICK]

Bob, I know your history with friendly trains and stuff... Congrats on your anniversary with trains, and adversary trains, too. Trains are bigger than all of us. Not that you did anything wrong with your train experience, it was an accident, but it reminds me of something my two doggies did... My smaller dog tried to pick a fight with Echo, a German Shepherd. I scolded the smaller dog and told her that "that's one fight you're not going to win". My smaller dog took it to heart and she knew I meant what I said. To this day, both dogs "understand" each other. They both get along nowadays. I'm not trying to downplay on your experience with your accident at all. I think it was horrible, what happened to you.

Cheryl and I have a chance to go on a boat ride on the St. Croix River, on a paddle boat. It might be the Padelford. I've spelled it correctly, so the "a" is a long vowel. It's about a two hour cruise along the river, a bus would pick us up in Baldwin, then let us browse Stillwater for a bit of time (after the cruise) before the bus ride home. Middle of the day, not a "booze cruise". I'm looking forward to this.

 

[Coolabah]

Hey Bob, just catching up on your thread and hope everything now OK with you and yours. Wow, what an anniversary indeed on 9/9.

 

[CNC_RICK]

Googling the Padelford a bit, I found out that the name suggests a business of running these big, two level paddle wheel boats on the mighty Mississippi River. The St. Croix River isn't much smaller than the mighty Missisip. There are three rivers that come together at La Crosse, WI. If I have my facts and history straight, that would be the Mississippi, the St. Croix, and the Wisconsin River, (That river, coming from the Wisconsin Dells area.). The St. Croix River is no slouch, either. Home of Andersen Windows, in Bayport, MN. They (Andersen) got started in Hudson, WI as a sawmill business, but ended up concentrating their efforts on windows. They moved shop across to Minnesota, but did the move, wintertime, across the ice on the St. Croix, a much shorter distance as the crow flies... I was there, a few years ago, at their current location, for a tour, and saw some of their "special machines" that our Company made for them. Neat story, neat history.

Edit: I had that a little bit wrong. The Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers come together at Prescott, WI. A bit North of La Crosse.

 

[CNC_RICK]

Talking about La Crosse, we spent a few times down there, through Cheryl's work, for her conventions. I married a Lunch Lady. Ha. But her work suggested that she should go to these conventions, and take a test. I helped her study for her test, and it paid off! She passed the test! There were three Cities involved with the conventions, on a three year rotation. La Crosse, Green Bay, and Wisconsin Dells. In La Crosse, we stayed at the Radisson.
But always had a room with the windows facing the River. Boy, was that interesting! The amount of boat traffic on the Mississippi was fun to watch. There were barges and big boats going, almost constantly. The barges, especially got my attention. Some of those barges, tied together, 2 wide and 3 long. Those barges are huge! I once saw a worker on a barge, and counted his steps, walking, thinking I could calculate a 2 foot step ( each pace) into the length of a barge. I had some idea, by using that, on how long a barge is. I forget numbers by now. But the bigger thing was that all of these barges were tied together and a tug boat pushed them uphill ( ok, upstream) from the back end. The tug boat had to be tethered from each corner from the back end with a chain or a rope in order to steer the big assembly. Every one of those barges were the same. My question is, why push from behind? Wouldn't it be easier to hook a chain to the front of the barges, and pull forward? I never did get an answer for that.

 

[Lou's Garage]

Talking about La Crosse, we spent a few times down there, through Cheryl's work, for her conventions. I married a Lunch Lady. Ha. But her work suggested that she should go to these conventions, and take a test. I helped her study for her test, and it paid off! She passed the test! There were three Cities involved with the conventions, on a three year rotation. La Crosse, Green Bay, and Wisconsin Dells. In La Crosse, we stayed at the Radisson.
But always had a room with the windows facing the River. Boy, was that interesting! The amount of boat traffic on the Mississippi was fun to watch. There were barges and big boats going, almost constantly. The barges, especially got my attention. Some of those barges, tied together, 2 wide and 3 long. Those barges are huge! I once saw a worker on a barge, and counted his steps, walking, thinking I could calculate a 2 foot step ( each pace) into the length of a barge. I had some idea, by using that, on how long a barge is. I forget numbers by now. But the bigger thing was that all of these barges were tied together and a tug boat pushed them uphill ( ok, upstream) from the back end. The tug boat had to be tethered from each corner from the back end with a chain or a rope in order to steer the big assembly. Every one of those barges were the same. My question is, why push from behind? Wouldn't it be easier to hook a chain to the front of the barges, and pull forward? I never did get an answer for that.

I think it was sometime in the late 1950's or early 1960's that they stopped pulling and started pushing the barges on the Hudson River. I never found out why but I think it gives them more precise control, e.g. when navigating between pilings under bridges and such.


Lou

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

As far as I'm concerned, Bob is THE toughest man alive. What he survived is waay beyond the current popular word, AMAZING.

The ONLY man that might give him a contest is the guy that had to amputate his own arm after it was crushed between two rocks, trapping him with no other way out.

Hope you and your wife are well, Bob. My best to you, Dan

 

[Coolabah]

As far as I'm concerned, Bob is THE toughest man alive. What he survived is waay beyond the current popular word, AMAZING.

The ONLY man that might give him a contest is the guy that had to amputate his own arm after it was crushed between two rocks, trapping him with no other way out.

Hope you and your wife are well, Bob. My best to you, Dan

Well now, you've forgotten about Chuck Norris methinks.
Lets just agree to disagree and rate Bob and Chuck equal first ??

 

[CNC_RICK]

I think it was sometime in the late 1950's or early 1960's that they stopped pulling and started pushing the barges on the Hudson River. I never found out why but I think it gives them more precise control, e.g. when navigating between pilings under bridges and such.


Lou

Ok, you've seen this too. I bet you are correct on the more precise steering. It still boggles my mind that they do it that way. It makes me think of trying to push a rope, uphill on a windy day, or trying to back up a long trailer with your pickup the entire distance. It just seems wrong to me. Ha.

 

[Coolabah]

Ok, you've seen this too. I bet you are correct on the more precise steering. It still boggles my mind that they do it that way. It makes me think of trying to push a rope, uphill on a windy day, or trying to back up a long trailer with your pickup the entire distance. It just seems wrong to me. Ha.

Ahhh, but here is where your thinking is not transferring from hard ground to water , if you don't mind me saying.
A boat is steered from the aft (rear) unlike a car which steers from the front. So just think of a barge as being the front of the boat and the tug being the rear half of the boat, so to speak , like bolted onto the back of it making one longer boat....and it will make more sense !

 

[jon72vega]

Talking about La Crosse, we spent a few times down there, through Cheryl's work, for her conventions. I married a Lunch Lady. Ha. But her work suggested that she should go to these conventions, and take a test. I helped her study for her test, and it paid off! She passed the test! There were three Cities involved with the conventions, on a three year rotation. La Crosse, Green Bay, and Wisconsin Dells. In La Crosse, we stayed at the Radisson.
But always had a room with the windows facing the River. Boy, was that interesting! The amount of boat traffic on the Mississippi was fun to watch. There were barges and big boats going, almost constantly. The barges, especially got my attention. Some of those barges, tied together, 2 wide and 3 long. Those barges are huge! I once saw a worker on a barge, and counted his steps, walking, thinking I could calculate a 2 foot step ( each pace) into the length of a barge. I had some idea, by using that, on how long a barge is. I forget numbers by now. But the bigger thing was that all of these barges were tied together and a tug boat pushed them uphill ( ok, upstream) from the back end. The tug boat had to be tethered from each corner from the back end with a chain or a rope in order to steer the big assembly. Every one of those barges were the same. My question is, why push from behind? Wouldn't it be easier to hook a chain to the front of the barges, and pull forward? I never did get an answer for that.

We attended the 2024 NASSAM (North American Solstice & Sky Annual Meet) in La Crosse and stayed at the Radisson.
What a cool town La Crosse and the whole area is.
Raddison parking lot by jon72vega, on Flickr
Mississippi River in La Crosse by jon72vega, on Flickr
Riverboat near the Raddison by jon72vega, on Flickr
Barges upstream bound by jon72vega, on Flickr

A view of the Solstice & Sky car show from the roof of the Radisson.
Another drone picture of the car show by jon72vega, on Flickr

It was time to head home way too soon.
Loaded up, going home by jon72vega, on Flickr

SORRY BOB FOR THE THREAD DETOUR.
Now back to your scheduled programing.

 

[CNC_RICK]

@Coolabah, thank you for your response. It seems so simple, after reading your thoughts, to the point that I ask myself...what was I thinking?? But again, thank you for setting me straight.

 

[CNC_RICK]

@jon72vega, those are some great pics. I remember seeing some things in your pics, of the back yard of the hotel. Travis an I spent a lot of time, walking to various places. If you go North on that sidewalk, there's a museum up there. We did catch a ride on that paddle boat. We walked to do a tour of the Hixon House. (Kind of a rich man's house, turned into a museum). Plenty of things to do in La Crosse. I enjoyed every minute I was there. If I remember right, Pearl Street was very close to the Hotel. I bought a Cheese wedge from one of those gift shops, to support the football team, called the Packers. I'm not a ball game fan of any sort, just wanted to buy a foam cheese wedge hat.

 

[Bob Heine]

Happy Anniversary, Bob!

Lou

Thanks Lou!

Bob, glad you're posting and the train anniversary is unique. I like the tshirt John @Toolfool gave you, he recently gifted me a neat VW beetle shirt.
Take care, enjoy the anniversary and stay well.

Thank you Joel! John is a very kind and generous member. I was happy to see him move to Florida but completely understand his decision to leave. A wet climate is one thing but weather that tries to kill you is a whole different issue.

Glad you won the battle with that train, Bob. GJ is a better place with you here.

John, I feel the same way about you [not the battle thing] making GJ a better place.

Truth!

Thanks Jon!

Bob
There is no train that is a match for you.
Happy anniversary!

@gman007, I lost the battle but won the war!

I concur.

Steve, those barges and yachts passing by your waterfront property are a similar hazard for you. The passenger cars that beat me up weighed 100,000 to 150,000 pounds (45,359 to 68,039 kilograms). I suspect those Garbo barges and Yachts are similar weight and have no brakes so keep your head on a swivel when cruising in your yacht tender. Every yacht that passed us on the Intracoastal back in the 1980s appeared to be a floating bar and the helmsman misunderstood the 'No Wake" signs (an excuse to be asleep at the helm).

Lately, I've had some issues, too. Not like Cheryl went through, for Travis. But on my own person. First of all, I hate needles of any sort. As I'm at a Drs office, for a regular checkup, once in a while the vampires have to take blood from me. (The nice doctors...) (Metallitubby knows my obsession with garlic pills...). Even that doesn't work with them. Ha. As the Drs need blood from me, I have to lay down on on one of thems fancy beds with the pull-out drawers for steps. Cheryl has to hold my hand and I hope for the best.....

One day, I had a lump in my throat. It got more painful. I was given antibiotics. Didn't help. Ended up in the emergency room. ( In Hudson, this time) I was about to go through an emergency guy and his syringe needle about the size to work on an elephant. I had a cyst, or, something infected, in my throat. He tried to numb my throat. Didn't work. He tried to poke at that syst with his equipment, and I really freaked out. Oh, hell no.... So, I was sent to Regions and emergency and saw a NoseThroat expert. They numbed me a bit better, calmed me down, to the point that they could stab at that lump and could start draining pus out of the lump. At that point, my voice wasn't as squeaky any more. Things were working. I never want to go through that again... Did I mention my hate of needles???

Rick, I grew up when the doctor gave me a lollipop after every shot so I almost looked forward to the needle. When I woke up in the hospital 12 hours after arriving, I felt no pain. When that changed, the nurse in the ICU would give me a shot in the **** that hurt like hell. Moments after the shot (turned out to be Morphine) I was asleep like never before for about four hours. Rinse and repeat for two days. When they stopped the Morphine injections, the worst pain came from my ankle. When I arrived at the hospital I had lost so much blood my veins were collapsing and the only way to get an IV needle into a vein was to make a cut across my ankle bone and insert the needle into and exposed vein end. One of the ICU nurses was a young man and he seemed to enjoy checking the frozen blood bag and giving it a squeeze to make sure it was flowing. The surge of ice going from ankle to groin inside the leg was a very unpleasant surprise. Had I been strong enough to lift my right arm I am pretty sure I would have punched the guy.

I consider needles to be a necessary evil in healthcare. I've had them stuck in just about every part of me but the ones involving my eyes have been the creepiest. First needle is tiny, to administer a local anesthetic, followed by a big needle shoved deeper into the eye to **** out the original cloudy (cataract) lens and finally an even larger needle to insert the rolled-up artificial lens in the sac.

Bob, I know your history with friendly trains and stuff... Congrats on your anniversary with trains, and adversary trains, too. Trains are bigger than all of us. Not that you did anything wrong with your train experience, it was an accident, but it reminds me of something my two doggies did... My smaller dog tried to pick a fight with Echo, a German Shepherd. I scolded the smaller dog and told her that "that's one fight you're not going to win". My smaller dog took it to heart and she knew I meant what I said. To this day, both dogs "understand" each other. They both get along nowadays. I'm not trying to downplay on your experience with your accident at all. I think it was horrible, what happened to you.

Cheryl and I have a chance to go on a boat ride on the St. Croix River, on a paddle boat. It might be the Padelford. I've spelled it correctly, so the "a" is a long vowel. It's about a two hour cruise along the river, a bus would pick us up in Baldwin, then let us browse Stillwater for a bit of time (after the cruise) before the bus ride home. Middle of the day, not a "booze cruise". I'm looking forward to this.

Rick, friends and acquaintances asked me if I was afraid of trains because of my incident. My answer was no and I was back on that same train less than three months later (artificial arm fittings at the Institute for the Crippled and Disabled in Manhattan). Like most people involved in serious auto accidents, you don't fear the thing that hurt you but you might fear doing the thing that caused the accident.

In 1990 we had the chance to ride the steam locomotive powered train on the Zig-Zag Line in Australia and I jumped at the chance. OK, I didn't jump, I just climbed aboard and inhaled the unique coal and steam smoke entering the open windows of the passenger car.
https://zigzagrailway.com.au/

Hey Bob, just catching up on your thread and hope everything now OK with you and yours. Wow, what an anniversary indeed on 9/9.

Hey Greg, thanks for stopping by. So far, two of our three family members are responding well to treatment and the third acts like his blind eye is perfectly normal and carries on as a delightful 2-year old.

Googling the Padelford a bit, I found out that the name suggests a business of running these big, two level paddle wheel boats on the mighty Mississippi River. The St. Croix River isn't much smaller than the mighty Missisip. There are three rivers that come together at La Crosse, WI. If I have my facts and history straight, that would be the Mississippi, the St. Croix, and the Wisconsin River, (That river, coming from the Wisconsin Dells area.). The St. Croix River is no slouch, either. Home of Andersen Windows, in Bayport, MN. They (Andersen) got started in Hudson, WI as a sawmill business, but ended up concentrating their efforts on windows. They moved shop across to Minnesota, but did the move, wintertime, across the ice on the St. Croix, a much shorter distance as the crow flies... I was there, a few years ago, at their current location, for a tour, and saw some of their "special machines" that our Company made for them. Neat story, neat history.

Edit: I had that a little bit wrong. The Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers come together at Prescott, WI. A bit North of La Crosse.

Rick, I've been on one paddle wheel boat but I was very young so it isn't a vivid memory. I have much more vivid memories of the paddle wheel boats in Alaska (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboats_of_the_Yukon_River). The ones we saw were lined up in a field.

We also came across gold mining dredges in Alaska and the Yukon. If you've ever watched the TV show Gold Rush, you've seen the Beets' gold mining dredges, many of them used over a hundred years ago. We came across this one sitting in a field of gravel, the tailings from the dredge. I guess the gold ran out and they abandoned the dredge where it was.

Talking about La Crosse, we spent a few times down there, through Cheryl's work, for her conventions. I married a Lunch Lady. Ha. But her work suggested that she should go to these conventions, and take a test. I helped her study for her test, and it paid off! She passed the test! There were three Cities involved with the conventions, on a three year rotation. La Crosse, Green Bay, and Wisconsin Dells. In La Crosse, we stayed at the Radisson.
But always had a room with the windows facing the River. Boy, was that interesting! The amount of boat traffic on the Mississippi was fun to watch. There were barges and big boats going, almost constantly. The barges, especially got my attention. Some of those barges, tied together, 2 wide and 3 long. Those barges are huge! I once saw a worker on a barge, and counted his steps, walking, thinking I could calculate a 2 foot step ( each pace) into the length of a barge. I had some idea, by using that, on how long a barge is. I forget numbers by now. But the bigger thing was that all of these barges were tied together and a tug boat pushed them uphill ( ok, upstream) from the back end. The tug boat had to be tethered from each corner from the back end with a chain or a rope in order to steer the big assembly. Every one of those barges were the same. My question is, why push from behind? Wouldn't it be easier to hook a chain to the front of the barges, and pull forward? I never did get an answer for that.

Rick, our home in the Hudson Valley had a view of the river and we could watch ships passing. We lived in that home from 1966 to 1970 and most of the barges we saw were towed behind the tugboat with huge ropes and/or cables. The propulsion systems on those tugs were the standard propeller and rudder. Times have changed and most tugboats have Z-drives that can rotate the propeller 360 degrees, eliminating the need for a propeller. The Z-drive makes pushing and steering a barge much easier. Here's the AI basic answer:

"Tugboats began adopting Z-drives and other advanced propulsion systems in the mid-to-late 20th century, a process that started in Europe and gained widespread traction in North America during the 1980s
. The transition from standard propellers to these advanced systems was a gradual evolution, not a single event.

Timeline of tugboat propulsion changes:

• 19th and early 20th century: After paddlewheel designs gave way to propellers around 1850, the standard propeller driven by a steam engine dominated tugboat technology. The early 1900s saw the beginning of the shift from steam to more efficient diesel and diesel-electric engines, but these still drove standard propellers.
• 1950s: The key innovation that made the change possible was the invention of the Z-drive transmission in 1950 by Josef Becker in Germany. The Z-drive, also called an azimuth thruster, uses a propeller that can rotate 360 degrees, allowing for far greater maneuverability. A competing system, the Voith-Schneider cycloidal drive, was developed even earlier in 1925 but saw more niche adoption.
• 1960s: The first azimuthing thrusters were built in Germany.
• 1980s: Z-drive propulsion was first used in North America, specifically for ship-assist tugs that guide large vessels in and out of port. In the U.S. inland waterways, a conventional towboat was retrofitted with z-drives in 1982.
• 2000s to today: Z-drives have become the dominant form of propulsion for newly built tugs, particularly those used for harbor and ship-assist work. For example, z-drives appeared on U.S. inland waterway vessels starting around 2008. Some traditional propeller/rudder configurations are still used for port-to-port towing, where maximum maneuverability is less critical."

Video of the Z-drive:

Video of the Voith-Schneider cycloidal drive:

The propeller system is like our oscillating fans in our homes and shops. The cycloidal drive is like the tower fans (Vornado).

I think it was sometime in the late 1950's or early 1960's that they stopped pulling and started pushing the barges on the Hudson River. I never found out why but I think it gives them more precise control, e.g. when navigating between pilings under bridges and such.


Lou

Lou, I don't recall many pusher tugs when we were boating on the Hudson (1971-75). We had to be careful because the tow lines were often under water. I do remember slowing way down when encountering a tugboat (alone or towing) because they left a huge but invisible wake. None of that foamy water to indicate a huge breaking wave, just a slow but long rise to the smooth crest and then a slide into an equally large trough. Crossing that wave while going fast meant going airborne (ask me how I know). Even reducing speed was risky as it was easy to reach the crest and take a nosedive on the back side of the wave that would scoop up a ton of water and come over the windshield.

As far as I'm concerned, Bob is THE toughest man alive. What he survived is waay beyond the current popular word, AMAZING.

The ONLY man that might give him a contest is the guy that had to amputate his own arm after it was crushed between two rocks, trapping him with no other way out.

Hope you and your wife are well, Bob. My best to you, Dan

Dan, thanks for the compliment. I might be more stubborn than tough. That guy who amputated his own arm must have heard about "Coyote Ugly." After a night of drinking you wake up in a strange bed and try to roll over. Rather than wake the really ugly woman it's under, you chew your arm off. That was my explanation for a couple of decades.

Well now, you've forgotten about Chuck Norris methinks.
Lets just agree to disagree and rate Bob and Chuck equal first ??

Greg, I wouldn't want to fight Chuck Norris. I wouldn't want to make Chuck Norris angry. But I might hang out with him if he ties his left arm behind his back.

Ok, you've seen this too. I bet you are correct on the more precise steering. It still boggles my mind that they do it that way. It makes me think of trying to push a rope, uphill on a windy day, or trying to back up a long trailer with your pickup the entire distance. It just seems wrong to me. Ha.

Rick, imagine pushing a long trailer with the hitch on the front of your truck and being able to turn all four wheels in any direction you wanted.

Ahhh, but here is where your thinking is not transferring from hard ground to water , if you don't mind me saying.
A boat is steered from the aft (rear) unlike a car which steers from the front. So just think of a barge as being the front of the boat and the tug being the rear half of the boat, so to speak , like bolted onto the back of it making one longer boat....and it will make more sense !

We attended the 2024 NASSAM (North American Solstice & Sky Annual Meet) in La Crosse and stayed at the Radisson.
What a cool town La Crosse and the whole area is.
Raddison parking lot by jon72vega, on Flickr
Mississippi River in La Crosse by jon72vega, on Flickr
Riverboat near the Raddison by jon72vega, on Flickr
Barges upstream bound by jon72vega, on Flickr

A view of the Solstice & Sky car show from the roof of the Radisson.
Another drone picture of the car show by jon72vega, on Flickr

It was time to head home way too soon.
Loaded up, going home by jon72vega, on Flickr

SORRY BOB FOR THE THREAD DETOUR.
Now back to your scheduled programing.

Jon, don't be sorry! I love your detour. Reminds me of our time as members of the South Florida Corvette Association and NCCC (National Council of Corvette Clubs, Inc.).

@Coolabah, thank you for your response. It seems so simple, after reading your thoughts, to the point that I ask myself...what was I thinking?? But again, thank you for setting me straight.

Rick, technology changes and what was once the accepted best practice gets replaced with something (sometimes) better. While cruising the Internet and reading about tugboat technology, I came across a reminder of the SS United States record crossing of the Atlantic:

"The S.S. United States broke the eastbound transatlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in July 1952, crossing from New York to England in 3 days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes. This journey achieved an average speed of over 35 knots, earning the ship the prestigious Blue Riband for speed, a record that remains unbroken by any ocean liner to this day."

@jon72vega, those are some great pics. I remember seeing some things in your pics, of the back yard of the hotel. Travis an I spent a lot of time, walking to various places. If you go North on that sidewalk, there's a museum up there. We did catch a ride on that paddle boat. We walked to do a tour of the Hixon House. (Kind of a rich man's house, turned into a museum). Plenty of things to do in La Crosse. I enjoyed every minute I was there. If I remember right, Pearl Street was very close to the Hotel. I bought a Cheese wedge from one of those gift shops, to support the football team, called the Packers. I'm not a ball game fan of any sort, just wanted to buy a foam cheese wedge hat.

Rick, it's always great to leave home and travel to a new destination, near or far. I'm not into hats much but I did buy one in St. Thomas that I wore to dinner on our cruise ship.

I entered the dining room saying "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!" The hat is carefully stored in one of those places that escapes me at the moment.

 

[scooterbum46]

Bob - congratulations on another anniversary! BTW -just asking for a friend: if there is an afterlife, do you believe you and the wandering arm will meet? Will it rejoin the rest of the corporeal entity? Will it have stories of it's life without a body? Hmmmm.

Also thought I'd let you know, Nancy and I, plus my Daughter and SIL tripped to Zhills the last of June with two enclosed trailers and emptied out our winter home. Several reasons - illness in the last three years, a changing environment in what was a park run with an iron hand, most of our group of friends leaving (age/death/age and death), no one close to ride with (my original reason to get a place was ride all winter, Sandy's was arthritis) and a reluctance to pay out a monthly lot rent hefty enough to get me a new High Country Silverado (maybe).

I'm leaving you and the rest of the Florida gang to fend for yourselves.. I left the key in the windshield washer squeegee box (always dry) in the Shell station at exit 467 (northbound) on I75, about as close to the doorway into Florida as I could get (Jennings) TTFN

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Well now, you've forgotten about Chuck Norris methinks.
Lets just agree to disagree and rate Bob and Chuck equal first ??

When Bob still had two arms Chuck could have probably beat him like a drum but apparently he would have survived it. Anyone who can survive BEING RUN OVER BY A ******* TRAIN!!!!! can survive anything.

(Apologies for the vulgarity, though in this case it seems the perfect adjective.)

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob - congratulations on another anniversary! BTW -just asking for a friend: if there is an afterlife, do you believe you and the wandering arm will meet? Will it rejoin the rest of the corporeal entity? Will it have stories of it's life without a body? Hmmmm.

Also thought I'd let you know, Nancy and I, plus my Daughter and SIL tripped to Zhills the last of June with two enclosed trailers and emptied out our winter home. Several reasons - illness in the last three years, a changing environment in what was a park run with an iron hand, most of our group of friends leaving (age/death/age and death), no one close to ride with (my original reason to get a place was ride all winter, Sandy's was arthritis) and a reluctance to pay out a monthly lot rent hefty enough to get me a new High Country Silverado (maybe).

I'm leaving you and the rest of the Florida gang to fend for yourselves.. I left the key in the windshield washer squeegee box (always dry) in the Shell station at exit 467 (northbound) on I75, about as close to the doorway into Florida as I could get (Jennings) TTFN

Gerry, funny you ask. Our next door neighbor's wife was a devout Catholic and asked if we were having a funeral for the arm. I said no and she asked why. When my brother killed himself 21 months earlier, my parents were in no shape to arrange the funeral so it fell to me to do it. The funeral home took me for the ride of my life and to this day the strongest memory of my brother was him in the coffin, looking like he was going to sit up and ask what was going on. I think the funeral home got me to stretch the nightmare out for three days.

If we are reunited in Hell (Florida is the perfect training ground) I'm going to give that arm a load of grief. Its limited usefulness was gone but my brain didn't know it left my body. If I got my mind to concentrate on other things, the phantom arm and associated pain would diminish. But if I let it, my missing left hand would make a tight fist and the fingernails would dig into the palm. Over the years the phantom hand has moved closer to the end of my stump but it can still give me grief if I let it. $hit, writing about it woke the ******* up....

We never owned a second home but I know it becomes more of a burden as time passes. By any chance did you leave the water running in your former winter home? Seems like it has been really wet down here lately.

When Bob still had two arms Chuck could have probably beat him like a drum but apparently he would have survived it. Anyone who can survive BEING RUN OVER BY A ******* TRAIN!!!!! can survive anything.

(Apologies for the vulgarity, though in this case it seems the perfect adjective.)

Dan, thanks for the boost to my already inflated ego.

Just like 60 years ago, I get to celebrate nine days later. Today my fat *** finished another trip around the sun. It was my 21st 60 years ago and today it's my 81st. Our granddaughter-in-law stopped by with her two daughters to share a home made cake and Brazilian treats (including a bag of Brazilian coffee beans (a really small one that probably cost a leg lot). Here I am recovering from blowing out a bunch of candles (thankfully not one for each year) with Liane and Liane Roberta.

I received two fantastic birthday presents. First was our son getting approval to stop taking Eliquis tomorrow. His Afib has settled to the point he doesn't need the blood thinner at the end of a month of monitoring. Second was a call from our granddaughter from her husband's hospital room. He is responding well to the chemo for his leukemia and the doctors feel he can be treated in Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach and doesn't need to be transported to the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. He was in good spirits and we had a great phone visit.

 

[rharman]

Well.... Happy Happy Birthday to you, Bob! Your presents were wonderful!! And, a visit from family. What a great day!

 

[Adaylate]

Happy Birthday, Bob!
I just finished my cake and thought of you!

 

[bugnut]

Happy Birthday Bob, and that is indeed good news for the family!

 

[Lou's Garage]

Happy Birthday Bob!

 

[Prospecter]

Those are the best kind of presents! Happy Birthday!