The Trainman

2006-2007 Train Platform Completed

Finally, I am getting to my Blog. Have been busy with my train platform. Started on September 28th and finished on November 7th. Had a lot of trouble with my waterfall, river and pond. Had a leak, fixed it and everything seemed fine. Then I climbed up on the platform to arrange some objects and the plywood must have moved under my weight and bang, 6 leaks. Went out and bought some more caulkings and really put it on heavy. Will wait until Friday to start it up and pray a little. It really turned out great. Shell Point TV is coming on Monday to interview me and take some photo's. The trains are all running good, for now. Got my cog train back from Nurnberg, Germany factory finally. Runs good now, however, my platform was too far advanced to put the track up the mountain. Have to wait until next year for that. It will climb a 35 degree grade after I put a third rail in my regular rail. Hope to send some photo's out later.

Have been eating out more than usual. Bought a international Dining Card. Only 98 restaurants listed with buy one meal get one free for 12 times at each restaurant. That's 1,176 meals all for $40. That's 3.22 meals a day. Don't think we will use them all.

Golfed a couple of weeks ago for $24 pp, now its up to $34 pp. at Shell Point. In season it will go to $70. We won't be going back until next summer. However, our club starts tomorrow at Del Tura and they only charge us $25 for 18 holes w/cart. Tops we will pay all winter will be $30 pp.

Barb and I usually walk twice a day and I ride my bike several times a day while smoking my pipe. Love that pipe. Both of us have been in very good health, get checked twice a year for medical, dental, visual and of course our Chiopractor.

Going on a cruise in February over Valintine's Day for 8 nights to St. Maartens, St. Lucia and St. Kitts. Really looking forward to it, have never been to St. Lucia or St. Kitts. Then in May we are off to Switzerland for 32 nights. The couple who own the apartment we go to in Interlaken are coming to our condo on November 17th for lunch. T his will be their 3rd visit to our unit. Also have some Norwegians coming for lunch on the 14th. Mom loves entertaining them. Of course the hit is her Whiskey Cake.

Barb finally got a new computer. A Levono 3000 N100. No more HP equipment for this household. Too many unsolved problems. She loves it. So do I.

Well, it's time for my pipe. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. Stay healthy and we love you all.

Pop

Yesterday, Sunday, August 13, 2006 was a great day. Got up at 6am to be at golf at Legends at 8:30. Had a lousy score, but had a lot of fun with our friends, Lynne & Wayne. After golf we went back to their house, had some cocktails. Then our friends, Phyllis & Ed came over. Barb's had made some stuffed peppers, way too many, a whiskey cake and a mincemeat pie. We all gobbled that down as usual. Then we were talking about going north. Phyllis & Ed said they were leaving tomorrow, August 15th. I was telling them that I was going to ship my computer north via FedEx. Ed said that he would be willing to carry it up in his van, that he had plenty of room. I said I would go home and pack it up. So, I ended up with three boxes and my computer carrier. It only takes Ed one day to drive the 12oo miles or so and he will be there Tuesday night. Now, I would call them very dear friends and we really appreciate their favor. I went to the doctors for my regular checkup this am and then we took the boxes over to Ed's. He is going to his son's house in Aldan, PA which will make it very easy for me to pick them up Sunday afternoon when we arrive at my sister and brother-in-laws Sunday morning, the 20th of August. Talk about luck, he is also going to bring them back to Florida for me at the end of September. Just had a terrific storm pass, first rain in a week or so. I am in the middle of a very bad time, had someone charge a lot of money on my Visa card. Didn't find it out until I got my statement from the bank. Of course, I closed the account and got our new cards today. Had to change all my passwords and pin numbers on every thing. Also notified the credit companys to put an alert on my name, etc. Hope it all works out. I am in the process of filing a Visa Dispute Form with my bank to get the money charged back. Had to call the three companys that the charges went through to get some info from them. Found a site on Microsoft that had a step by step guide on how to do everything necessary.
Well folks, it is time for me to go puff on my pipe. Can't wait for Sunday. Have a 5am pickup to go to the airport. See you all soon. Bye, Pop

Had a beautiful but hot, hot day. 96 degrees, felt like 105 though. Went for lunch at the Dusseldorf Restaurant on Ft. Myers Beach. Ate inside, much cooler. Then walked out on the pier but got too hot and came home. A lot of people on the beach and in the water. We both enjoyed ourselves. Barb got a lot of cards and many phone calls which really made her day.

Had a great day today, went to condo's, did some work and spent a couple of hours in the pool with Barb, had lunch at the pool. Finally found someone to mow the lawn for now. Waiting to see what the weather is like in the morning to decide what we will do on Barb's 70th birthday. Hope to go to the "Dusselldorf" restaurant for lunch on Ft. Myers Beach. Will keep you posted. Al

Happy Anniversary to Michele and Dave, enjoy your day, love ya both, Pop

Thank you David for setting up my new blog site. It was a big help to me. Pop

Well, I finally figured a lot of this stuff out to get my own Blog. Hope I did it right, if not, I'm sure to hear about it. Things are going good here in Florida, a lot of rain every afternoon, and warm during the day, but, that's Floride. I ride my bike every morning between six and seven for about a half hour. I also ride several times a day enjoying my pipe. When it rains I can ride around the garage or just sit in my chair by my car and smoke and so my crossword puzzle's drinking my coffee and smoking. We go to Cape Coral at least once a week to check our old condo complex or meet a contractor. The Brown's, owners of one of the units, let us use their unit as our headquarters. Sometimes we move bushes, clean up other debris from the palm trees, clean the newspapers up from around the mailboxes, check all the lights and the jobs the contractors are supposed to be doing. We also take a lunch sometimes and have lunch in the condo and go for a swim in the pool. It keeps us busy and we love doing it. More to come at a later date. Al