Archive for the ‘Trains’ Category
We had an early start today. Shane had plans, but he hadn’t double checked the dates. Apparently the computer he’s using had Monday listed as the start of the week rather than Sunday and that threw off his calendar. So we had some change of plans needless to say.
Since we had an early start to the day and no plans, we ended up deciding to check out Union Station. Being the train buffs we are we had decided to see the KC Rail Experience. We are not sure if we missed something of the show or not, but there didn’t seem to be much to the display. It was informative, but Allyssa doesn’t like standing in one area long enough to listen to the narration, and certainly doesn’t want to stand there while you read a display. Which is probably why it seemed a bit small to me.
There had been a slight mix up with our tickets and we were able to get into Science City as well. There was certainly a lot there for children to do, learn and see. It was more for children older than Allyssa but we still found lots to do, and she had a great time.
With the ticket mix up, we were also able to see a show in the planetarium. I liked what I saw of the show, but by then I was so tired from the early rising and walking all over Science City that I ended up dozing off and missing part of the show.
We enjoyed the day so much, we are talking about purchasing a membership to KC Union Station. If we go more than 2 times as a family the membership will pay for itself. Another reason to consider it, is that they have a Half Pint Program which is aimed towards children 3-6. While Allyssa would be a bit young for that at the moment, she is a very smart girl and won’t always be too young. Besides the Half Pint program is 1/2 price for members.
Yesterday, as a family we went to the Kansas City Northern Railroad. It was Sunday afternoon, we hadn’t done much over the weekend and were looking for something different to do. Someplace on the web, Shane found the Kansas City Northern Railroad and since this is a train family, it was definitely of interest.
It is not an large railroad, but they take you around the area twice for $.50 a ride. They have a tunnel, S-curve, a wooden trestle bridge, and a road crossing you go over, so as you can see a little bit of everything. Allyssa went on the ride three times, and would have gone at least three more if we had let her. It’s a short drive from home, about 20 minutes so we will definitely be going back again.
I took these videos when we went to see the Union Pacific Challenger steam engine while it was in the St. Paul area. I posted them on YouTube the same day, September 30th, but forgot to share these with you. Enjoy!
Moving west after getting water:
Reverse move to go back to get train:
And while I was waiting this went by:
I am pretty sure you all know what eBay is, and starting today I will begin to urge everyone I know and meet to stop using it to buy or sell items. Their policy changes this year alone have cost people more money and have made it even more difficult for honest people like me to sell items. Here are the three staws that eventually broke my back and made me leave eBay for good:
- On February 20th, 2008, eBay changed several policies, including the ability for sellers to leave negative feedback when a buyer does not complete a purchase. This also leaves sellers open to unwarranted negative feedback as the buyer no longer has to fear retaliation with negative feedback. eBay claims that is the purpose – so that buyers can leave negative feedback without fear. But it left sellers with no way of telling other sellers that this person did not complete the deal. And it goes beyond that – sellers can’t even leave neutral feedback – it’s positive or nothing!
- On September 20th, 2008, eBay stopped allowing sellers to accept mail in payments, favoring PayPal over all other forms of payment. PayPal is an eBay company – so go figure. They do allow you to accept credit cards and ProPay, but only if you can figure out how to turn those options on as they are disabled in the seller form by default.
- On November 24th, 2008, a buyer of one of my items left positive feedback stating “Very Good Transaction, Excellent Communication – The Best !!! 5 Stars !!!” but then marked the shipping time in the “Detailed Seller Report” with 4 stars because it took too long for USPS to deliver the item, after 3 failed attempts mind you. This caused my account to be in violation of one of their new policies, which is hidden on the site, and prevented me from listing any other item. Now here is the kicker – in order to increase your DSR, you have to get better ratings from buyers. This means you have to sell an item, which of course I can’t do because my DSR went below 4.1. Circular logic has no place in cyber space, but eBay seems to be using it.
So I have resolved to close my eBay account and never conduct business on that site again. And it’s a shame, in the past 2 years I know that I have paid them over $2,000 in seller fees from all the items I have sold on ebay, and have earned much more from the $6,000+ worth of items I have purchased on eBay. They’ve lost a loyal customer, and it is my hope that after reading this, they will lose you as a customer as well. Share your thoughts – I really do want to hear them.
This past weekend we spent a wonderfully relaxing weekend in Green Lake, WI where Aunt Joanne and Uncle Bob, as well as Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Stan live. We stopped by Kathleen and Stan’s first for a few hours and enjoyed the back deck as you can see in the first photo. It was a beautiful day with just about perfect weather. The ulterior motive for going out to Green Lake this weekend was to go down to North Freedom for a Fall Color Train Ride. More on that later.
While we were visiting with Kathleen, we decided that since the weather was so nice we’d take Allyssa out to the swing out back for her first ride. The swing she is using to the left is one that my mother had for her other grandchildren, and gave it to Kathleen a few years ago. Little did she know that she wasn’t done having grandchildren, but at least Allyssa was still able to enjoy the swing. Since she loves to move around and be moved around, she really enjoyed swinging. Guess we will have to get one for her.
After visiting with Kathleen and Stan for a while, we drove over to Joanne and Bob’s, who planned to join us for the train trip. We drove down on Saturday morning and picked up our reserved, first class tickets. To the right you can see that Laura seems to be enjoying herself, but Allyssa isn’t quite sure what to think. This is her first ride on a train, but I can assure you it won’t be her last.
We had reserved first class because the car was supposed to be air conditioned. Turns out the air conditioning unit had stopped working a few weeks ago, so we would have to endure the heat. Thought it was a bit warm out that day, the trip itself wasn’t too bad, and Allyssa and I truly did enjoy the trip.
The train ride is an out and back ride, and for the first half of the trip we were at the back of about an 8 car consist. The problems started at the end of the line, when the locomotive (diesel – they still don’t have steam running) ran around the train to pull us back to the station. This put us, still in the last car, right next to the locomotive. Allyssa didn’t like the sound of the horn – it was very loud – so that left me watching for whistle posts the rest of the trip so mommy could cover her ears. That seemed to solve the problem.
Grandma (my mother) went along with us for the weekend, though she didn’t go on the train ride with us. Here you can see Allyssa enjoying some quality time out on the deck at Joanne and Bob’s. I got in some quality time out on the hammock, but alas, nobody took up the camera and got a picture. Allyssa really loved swinging with daddy – next time I will make sure to get some pics.
The weekend away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life really did me a world of good. I have always enjoyed going to the lake, and I hope it can become a part of our regular family activities. It sure is wonderful to have such loving relatives who make us feel so welcome every time we visit.
Ok, since you haven’t seen a post from us nearly all year, except these last two with the new blog, I thought I would bring everyone up to date.
Work: I have been working for the same client since late last year and in February went to direct deposit payroll, so I don’t have to worry about getting paid. This is a huge stress off of us and there is no more running around to the bank. Well, at least their isn’t’ supposed to be. The first payment they didn’t get the bank information right, so they Fed Ex’d a check to me. The second payment they forgot to enter an hourly rate so they sent a payment via PayPal. Third time was a charm, we thought. That payment went into the account just fine. However, this fourth payment, there was a problem. A check was sent, it never arrived, so another PayPal payment and another $21 fee to them for it. Hopefully future payments will work fine so we can pay our bills on time. 
Baby: We are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new baby. You would think that this late in the game we would have the baby’s room done and ready for her arrival – but that still isn’t done. I do have the network hardware set up to get network access to the upstairs via wireless, but I am still working to get the old office moved out and the baby’s stuff moved in. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. 
However, we do have an appointment tomorrow along with an ultrasound to make sure the kid is head down and ready to go.
Trains: I am still actively operating with the RiverRail group as always, but events with the SCA are starting to interfere. It is going to be fun to balance the two groups and enjoy both activities. No, I don’t have room yet to build my railroad, and probably won’t for a few years now, but that doesn’t stop my from acquiring new equipment.
SCA: Two weeks ago we were in Wautoma, WI for an event called Bardic Madness. We really enjoyed the songs, stories and of course the tons of food that was available. For those that don’t know, bardic activities include singing, story telling, instruments, and anything involved with communicating your thoughts to other members. Although I personally do not participate in the bardic activities, it was still a lot of fun to sit around the bardic circle and join in on the fun. This weekend we are off to Rochester, MN for Spring Coronation. Yes, I know that it is very close to the due date (April 25th), but if you look at a map, it’s really not that much farther from here to the hospital as it is from Rochester to the hospital – and it’s all highway driving either way.
Life: Life stinks. Oh wait, you knew that. It seems that just when things start to look up and life is going to get better, something comes along and knocks you back down to zero. Oh, and this snow we are getting today ISN’T much help with that.
Oh well, enough of my complaining, back to work…
