Scattered Thoughts . . .

T his morning, I noticed that the weather was unusually nice so I decided it would finally be a good day to do a little more work on my large scale steam locomotive and the trolley.  I had painted and weathered both of them but I never got around to sealing all my work with a matte UV resistant sealer.  This is something I would prefer to do outside since I would be applying this sealer from a spray can and it appears as though today would be a good day. My plan was to go outside to grab a couple of sawhorses and a piece of plywood so I could make a utilitarian table where I could safely place my big steam locomotive and trolley.  We've had bears and skunks in our yard quite often lately so I've been very vigilant about scanning the area before I step too far away from our door.  I stepped outside...  no bears...  no skunks...  then headed to behind the house where I left my sawhorses. As I was about to place my right foot back behind the sawhorses so I could more easily lift t

J ust this past week, I picked up a used anamorphic lens adapter.  This adapter allows me to convert a useful selection of my lenses to be used to create cinematic wide screen videos with most of the characteristics of far more expensive cine lenses.   True cine lenses are both huge in size and exhorbitantly expensive when compared to typical camera lenses used for still photography.  These anamorphic lenses are used mostly by filmmakers because this type of lens is actually designed to fit wide-screen cinematic video on smaller film and digital sensors. Back in the 1950s, movie studios were filming on 35mm film.  Some studios were probably still using 16mm film too but major productions were using 35mm film.  By comparison, home movies were being filmed on 8mm film.  I was very well versed on 8mm film through the 1960s and 1970s as that is the format my family used for all our home movies.   By the time I was in high school in the mid-1970s, I was cutting and splicing 8mm film to cre

E ven after multiple negative home COVID tests, I am now absolutely certain that I am struggling with another bout of COVID.  This would make it the sixth time I've developed this insidious virus.  Since the first bout with this virus in early 2020, I've been struggling with long-COVID problems. Each time I'm infected with the virus again, my long-COVID problems worsen significantly.  I have occasionally gotten colds, infections, etc, and yet these illnesses never worsen my long-COVID symptoms.  Each time I have developed COVID again, however, my long-COVID problems significantly worsen.  Keeping this in mind, I am certain that I have been struggling with another bout of COVID over the past two weeks regardless of what the crappy home COVID tests indicate. So, my breathing has worsened significantly.  I am struggling with phlegm as thick as...  hmmm, thinker than sour cream...  thicker than butter...   I guess, as thick as kindergarten school paste is the best description. 

T oday, the owners of the park were in town (which is rare) and stopped by to visit with Sheila and me for a short while today.   It's funny...  I didn't recognize them at first!  We hadn't seen them in years and they've aged significantly through the pandemic.  At first, I just thought they were people who were going to ask about where to find one of our neighbors or ask whether I knew of any places for sale since that happens quite often (too often).  I recognized them within a second or two though. We discussed some recent goings-on in the park and they seemed genuinely interested in our opinions which is nice.  Between infrastructure upgrades tearing up the whole park, heavy equipment continuously running up and down the road in low gear, and some rather dangerous problem neighbors (too many lately, actually), we had a lot to discuss.  I had actually been contemplating writing them a letter mentioning everything we discussed today but primarily the problems so it wa

I 've been feeling very lousy since late last week and I can't help but wonder if it is yet another bout of COVID for the sixth time.  We saw all the grandkids earlier in the week last week and went on a cruise on Lake Champlain with our group so I was exposed to the general public and a lot of tourists during a period when COVID spread is "high".  I feel so consistently lousy that I really can't help but wonder if I have COVID again. Here is a quick list of my current problems: - consistent breathing problems most often when lying in bed - thick-as-paste mucus...  although, this is much less severe than in the past...  so far - I have a little bit of a dry cough...  sometimes producing this thick-as-paste mucus - sore throat - swollen glands - a relentless sinus headache - ear aches, coming and going - my joints ache more than usual - I'm exhausted - I haven't had a fever but I'm experiencing chills occasionally - I just generally feel like poop - the

I had previously written about painting and weathering the new skirting that I had added to the trolley and mentioned that I wanted to do something about repainting the roof next.  I didn't really care for that molded-in cream with a slight green tint color of the roof (top photo at right).  It definitely appeared rather toy-like to me so I wanted to paint it to change the color to something more realistic.   My plan was to chose a color, mix the paint myself to attain the desired color and then paint the roof.  Upon looking more closely at the roof and some of the details that were installed on the roof, I realized that I would need to remove these details first so I removed the pantograph and then removed the wood plank walkways.  I always knew I wanted to make these plastic walkways appear as though they are wood so I figured I would need to remove them at some point anyway.  I originally wasn't thinking I need to remove them to paint the roof but I reluctantly removed all

I 've been feeling rather lousy the past few days....  maybe COVID again or maybe a cold with all the symptoms that go with each...  so I've been doing a little work on the trolley between naps.  It's been raining steadily most of this time so I've been stuck inside the house anyway.  This allowed me a bit of time to go back to working on my large scale trolley for our garden railroad.  The new motor block that I added to the trolley about a month ago is slightly taller than the original motor block which changes the appearance of this trolley.  Even before adding this motor block, I was never all that happy with the way the trolley appeared to just teeter on the four wheels near the center of the trolley.  I felt like it looked like the trolley was set upon an upside-down triangle.  Raising the body of the trolley up slightly to fit this new motor block made this odd look even more noticeable.  I figured that adding some skirting to the underside of the body might help

K enzie had spent a few days with us last week and, during that visit, she and I did a couple of art projects.  This week, both Lukey and Kenzie were with us so we pulled out the art supplies again.  Kenzie didn't feel like painting so Lukey and I tackled what I initially thought would be a simple project.  Honestly, in hindsight, it was not the best project for someone completely new to watercolors but we still pressed on and did the best we could. We chose to paint a silhouetted girl on a swing against a colorful sky.  Since the girl on the swing was silhouetted, we wouldn't have to worry about depth nor details.  What I didn't think about was how difficult it would be to paint the fine lines of the rope holding the swing.  Drawing is one thing once a child learns to control a pencil but painting fine lines is completely different and requires a different skillset.   Painting fine lines is really a skill that requires a lot of practice.  This is especially true when paint

I'm adding an update at the top of this blog entry since I was notified of most of the laboratory test results shortly after writing this blog entry.  There are no big surprises so far in these test results so that is good.  We're still waiting on the results of the newest type of test that is mentioned below.  Honestly, I really don't expect any life-changing revelations to come from that test either though.  The severity and frequency of anaphylaxis that my body is enduring is a bit of a problem though. W e had to head up to Burlington a few days ago for what we thought would be a quick and uneventful visit to Oncology for me.  This is an every-six-months visit (well...  it is supposed to be every six months but the Oncology department is so busy that they are scheduling about nine months out at this point...  the soonest they could get me in for my next appointment isn't until June, 2025).  Since we're at oncology approximately three to six times a year due to re

L ukey and Kenzie are staying with us for a few days again.  Tomorrow we plan to go on a cruise on Lake Champlain and tonight we're hoping to get a fire going in the backyard if the weather cooperates.  We're having Pork Street Tacos for dinner tonight...  one of our favorite dishes.   The pork loin is slow roasted on the grill with a dry rub.  After it reaches temperature, I add a glaze to the meat.  While that sets for a bit, I grill some pineapple brushed with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.  After grilling, I chop that up.  I will saute some onions until the onions are slightly caramelized.  We also have a mix of spring greens to add to the street tacos.  Each taco is wrapped up in a warm tortilla with a delicious sauce that is both slightly spicy and citrusy with a sour cream base, the caramelized onions, the chopped grilled pineapple, the spring greens, and sliced slow cooked glazed pork.  My mouth is watering now! After preparing everything needed for the Pork Street T