Happy Hour

"IF A LIFETIME CAN BE LIKENED TO A DAY, THEN THIS IS HAPPY HOUR!"
BUCK PENNINGTON

Mother, Mother Ocean

Mother, Mother Ocean, I've heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You've seen it all, you've seen it all
Watched the men who rode you, switch from sails to steam
In your belly you hold the treasures, few have ever seen
Most of 'em dream, most of 'em dream
Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred year's too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late

Yoda

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."
―Yoda, to Luke Skywalker

Counted the Stars

Counted the stars on the 4th of July
Wishing we were rockets bursting in the sky
Talking about redemption and leaving things behind
I have these pictures and I keep these photographs
To remind me of a time
These pictures and these photographs
Let me know I'm doin' fine
We used to be so happy once upon a time
Once upon a time
But the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line
And the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line


""SOME SEE A GLASS AS HALF FULL, SOME SEE IT AS HALF EMPTY, I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHO’S DRINKING MY RUM."
Rumbear

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Lonesomeness.........................Out there

The signal gantry at the East Crossover Cadiz on the BNSF Needles Subdivision. Yes, that Needles, about 10 miles into California from the Colorado River. The Needles Subdivision is one of the busiest rail lines in the world. Stack trains and grain trains going East and West....................
The last stretch I did was on the Needles from Danby to almost the Colorado River in about six trips to the load out at Newberry Springs. or maybe it was seven...................................
This was at RailPictures.Net which is a great site if you like trains. The Old Retired Petty Officer Loves Trains, perhaps more than Airplanes.......................
I think this guy David Carballido-Jeans did a bang up job on it!
EBCS East Cadiz looking West toward Amboy, Siberia, Bagdad, Ash Hill and Ludlow..........
The Mother Road, Old Route 66 parallels this rail line all the way from Needles to Barstow.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Chinese firm plans L.A.-to-Vegas train | CalWatchdog.com

Found while checking my news list......................................

"For bemused Californians, there’s another bullet train in town, thanks to the Chinese government.
More specifically, credit — $100 million worth — goes to China Railway International USA, a venture spearheaded by Beijing’s national railroad, China Railway. The consortium has ponied up funds for XpressWest, “the transportation arm of Marnell Companies, a gaming resort development firm,” as the Sacramento Business Journal noted.

Formerly known as DesertXpress, the company has labored to send a high-speed track toward Las Vegas since “at least 2007,” reported the Los Angeles Times.

According to Chinese officials cited by the Times, passengers would travel “a 230-mile route with an additional stop in Palmdale and eventual service throughout the Los Angeles area using some of the same track that would be used by the publicly backed California high-speed rail project.” Past plans envisioned a run of 185 miles alongside I-15.

The logic behind the idea drew from some straightforward numbers. “About one-quarter of Las Vegas’s 41 million visitors in 2014 came from Southern California, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, many via a several hour highway drive,” Quartz noted. Vegas has been without a passenger train since Amtrak shut down its Desert Wind line in 1997."
27 Sep, 2015-

Those big numbers tossed around like it's no big deal. If this system in both California and Nevada are built, I still have a minimum one hour drive to use it from where I live.
I'm thinking that Moonbeam is going after other sources of funding for the High Speed Train(Moonbeam's Crazy Train).
Just a thought.
The entire article is at the link below..............................

Chinese firm plans L.A.-to-Vegas train | CalWatchdog.com

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Slow week.................

Last Monday was anniversary number 6 of the nephrectomy..............Worked a normal week or as normal as one can expect when on a medical profile and no more working airplanes.
I will be moving to the Support Section on 19 October.
I don't even have an airplane with my name on it anymore.
I do get to keep my current pay as part of the move.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Big Steam Choo Choo Pr0n

This is the meticulously restored SP&S 700, a 4-8-4 Hauler
This picture is from October of 2002 at Noxon, Montana on the bridge over the Clark Fork River.
The family and I got to see this at the foot of Snoqualmie Pass in 1990 while waiting at a crossing.
Courtesy of RailPictures.Net

6 years ago

I smoked my last cigarette this day six years ago. The next morning, the left kidney was removed. It took them about an hour and a half to do the job.............................................................

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Gratuitous Train Pr0n

Missing the rails and the ballast trains.......................
I do get to see BNSF trains fairly regular on the Mojave Sub that I go under going to and from work each day.

The Needles Sub on the other side of Barstow, east of here is a good spot and I need to get there at a few spots to see if I can fill my SD card in the Nikon.

Two Z Trains meet at West Amboy

Westbound Manifest at Bagdad with a Westbound Z Train overtaking in the setting sun.
The Needles Sub has places like Danby, Essex, Goffs, Amboy, Bagdad and Siberia.............Mostly just station signs these days. The cafe and gas station is open again at Amboy. Mostly lonesome out along the Needles Sub and Old Route 66 which is now San Bernardino County 66...........

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Train tragedy: Man ignores safety arms, dies walking bike on O.C. tracks - MyNewsLA.com

Police interviewing witnesses after the accident on Monday. Courtesy of OnScene.TV

Police interviewing witnesses after the accident on Monday. Courtesy of OnScene.TV

The entire story is at the link below..............................

The train always wins...............................Stop Look Listen

Train tragedy: Man ignores safety arms, dies walking bike on O.C. tracks - MyNewsLA.com

Monday, September 14, 2015

Central Coast Deliciousness

I filled my trusty Firestone Walker Growler last Monday on our way home from the Central Coast. This brewery is one of my Central Coast Happy Places!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It kept very well even though I only had one glass of it last Tuesday..............
Yes, it is still quite tasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, September 09, 2015

This evening from Casa de Sharon y Glenn

We had some thunder and lightning in the area this evening.
As luck would have it, we didn't get any rain. I haven't heard any jets from Edwards AFB for most of the afternoon.






I can't argue with this one at all

A friend had this up today regarding the BA 777 at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport yesterday.............................................


Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Sunday Evening, 6 September at Pozo Saloon above Santa Margarita CA

We happened across this little fun fest this past weekend.
We only caught part of the Commander Cody set but got all of the Canned Heat and Marshall Tucker Band!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Hippies were out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Commander Cody and The New Planet Airmen



Canned Heat

















The lady's name is Pat, age 70 and a cancer survivor.

A fine brew indeed


There were EMTs available as it was around 92 degrees


Marshall Tucker Band





Caught em!

I do like plaid!


These two were having a really good time!




I will not go down and tell my children I didn't have the courage, the conviction, the commitment or the character to fight for this country...Don't go home and let your children down~~ LTC Allen West

Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus

‎"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.("Therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war")" from "Epitoma Rei Militaris," by Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus)