Robert Pence

Used to be an FM station in Sharon that played nothing but Polka music, all day long.

Some neat buildings; the courthouse is super, and the county building intrigues me. Marion was really somethin' back in the day, with a considerable heavy-industry manufacturing base. Marion steam shovels (from Wikipedia) quarried rock and excavated basements and foundations across the country and dug the Panama Canal, Huber return-flue steam traction engines, tractors, and separators threshed wheat across the US and into Canada, and Huber's construction machines built the roads that made it possible for owners of early automobiles to travel without becoming mired to the axles. Marion is home to the Huber Machinery Museum.

Looks rather desolate, but the weather contributes to that. The courthouse is classy, and I like this facade:

Looks quite nice; it's a bigger downtown than I expected, with some really decent buildings.

LOL, just bought a Husky tools Allen wrench set to fix my bike. It's okay but the Craftsman set I used to have was better. Don't give Homo Depot your money! Their allen wrenches are probably alright. I had to drill into a large metal bolt, as a last resort to get it off. The socket-bit set I bought wasn't the highest grade by any means but I figured I'd give it a shot since it has a "lifetime warranty". It's hard to beat Sears' Craftsman line. I think they're comparable in quality to any of the professional tools, and sometimes they have special pricing on full sets of sockets, end wrenches, screwdrivers, etc., that are great values. Sears has a reputation for sourcing from brand-name manufacturers for tools and hardware, and at one time, anyway, they sometimes imposed tighter quality measurements than the suppliers had for their own brands. Have you tried Harbor Freight? They have an extensive line of hand and power tools. I've been shopping their local store for several years, and have found their merchandise to be of acceptable quality. I use tools quite a lot, although admittedly not as heavily as a professional mechanic. The prices are good, and they seem to be always having a sale of some sort. I've only had to make one return at Harbor Freight, at it was handled right at the cash register with no quibbling or forms to fill out. Much of what they sell is made in China, so if you have a problem with that, you probably won't care to shop there. I just bought my first engine-equipped gadget from them, and have yet to test it to see how well it performs. It's a portable generator with 800-watt/900-watt maximum capacity that I can use if I want to work after dark in our storage building that's a long ways from any electric lines. It should power 2 or 3 portable halogen work lights, a whole bunch of CFLs, or an electric drill. It's Chinese-made and has a 2-cycle engine, not ideal but probably not a huge environmental hazard considering how infrequently I plan to use it. I need to set it up with a typical load and let it run for a couple of hours to make sure it will do the job.

Dealer plate on the destroyed Honda - likely somebody taking it off the lot for a test drive. Dealer probably isn't happy.

Strollers on buses. #4 bus (Cottage Grove) usually is packed like a sardine can anyway, and then somebody muscles a fully-deployed stroller on board and completely jams the aisle.

Is that really a car that has just mowed down a stoplight in front of that upside-down building, or is that just part of the illusion? And does anyone still ride those ducks? I'm suprised they're still allowed to run those antiquated, worn-out WWII deathtraps, considering the number of people who have drowned in various places in the past few years, when those things abruptly became submarines. I guess that after seeing those photos, I don't need to feel bad about not having been there. There are some other attractions in the area that are well worth the time, though, like Circus World at Baraboo and the Mid-Continent Railway Museum at North Freedom.

Again, already? Make the best of it, anyway. :-)

Nice shot! Welcome to the forums.

The as-was photo of your bike evoked a mental image from the local scene; a scrawny, haggard, unshaven forty-something with a salt-and-pepper ponytail, clad in thrift-store nikes, plaid bell-bottoms, and a mis-matched patterned shirt, smoking a cigarette while grinding along on near-flat tires with a clattering misaligned derailleur and the rhythmic clank of a crank arm striking the kickstand. I think it's the upturned drop bars that did it for me. That's quite a resurrection.

... and a few photos here from the mid-eighties

Some excellent views of some of my favorite parts of Cleveland! Is someone working on the old Coast Guard station? It looks like some of the trash has been cleaned up, and there's a manlift parked beside one of the buildings.

Great photos; it looks peaceful and relaxing there during the week, and a good time to avoid the weekend PIB drunk-fest. I like your bike; it's a perfect vacation take-along bike. Bar-tip shifters with North Road handlebars are uncommon, but seem like they'd be perfect for comfort and convenience. In the third photo, the antique car on the left is a 1926 or 1927 Ford Model T. Ford introduced the Model T in 1908 with color selections available and went to all black after 1913 because the paint was inexpensive and durable and reduced production costs. By the mid-twenties Henry Ford realized that the model was hopelessly outdated compared with cars from competitors like Chevrolet. The last couple of years' Model Ts were spruced up with a few color selections and wire-spoked wheels while Ford prepared to introduce the more up-to-date Model A.

Children are more vulnerable than adults to injury from lead paint residue, but I'm not a medical expert. If you determine that you've had lead dust exposure, the best thing to do would be to ask your doctor for advice.

Beautiful shots! That's such a gorgeous town.

How about Milwaukee instead of SoHo? Here's a nice cast iron building that's a short walk from the Amtrak station with several trains a day to Chicago. That's the old B&O Station in Cleveland. A fire took its clock tower and Mansard roof. I'd prefer to see it restored. I've seen an old photo of it as it originally was, but I can't locate the image now.

Here are some top contenders for me, if I had unlimited funds to hire someone to take care of the property, and in one case to make all the repairs it appears to need. All are on Forest Park Boulevard in Fort Wayne, adjacent to Lakeside Park: #1 - This one is perfect Craftsman style with all the charm of a bungalow, but much more spacious than what I usually think of when someone says bungalow. I love the style, the colors, and the setting. #2 - Big brick foursquare with a clay tile roof - Fort Wayne has a lot of foursquare houses of various sizes and materials, and some of them blend characteristics of Craftsman and Prairie. Several of the biggest and best exist on Forest Park Boulevard. #3 - Designed in 1914 by Francis Barry Byrne, who apprenticed under Frank Lloyd Wright in his Oak Park Studio, this one intrigues me but it's low on the list because of the condition of its stucco and the maturity of the trees that shade it. Properly done, all the stucco probably would be removed and replaced, and most of the trees may be near the end of their lifespans. Even if everything were put into top condition, I'd need a staff of two or three people to maintain everything, drive me about in a 1932 Graham Blue Streak sedan and pamper me in the style to which I would like to become accustomed.

For anyone who's been contemplating a visit to Fort Wayne, this weekend (September 11 & 12, 2010) would be a good time. The West Central Neighborhood Association's Historic House and Garden Tour takes place both days. I'll be peddling my photos at the Arts Fest that's part of the event. Here's the link: http://www.westcentralneighborhood.org/hgt.html West Central was selected as a Best Old House Neighborhood in 2010 by This Old House magazine.

Two days ago the high was 95F. Today it was 65F with 20mph winds. I need to dust off the Carhartt jacket, get out the snow shovel, and put the electric blanket on the bed. What button-downs? That's a flannel shirt - Woolrich, a brand that wears almost like Carhartt. I bought it years ago for about 25 cents on the dollar at a store that was closing, and I haven't been able to wear it out. Underneath it a coarse-knit gray henley from Tractor Supply, Dickie work jeans, also from Tractor Supply, and rubber-soled, steel-toe work boots by Converse. I have my hard hat, reflective yellow vest, ear plugs, and eye-protection, too, for when I go into a construction area to take photos. I can butch it up pretty good if I have to. The Historic District designation has been a benefit. When I first moved to the neighborhood, there were a lot of underpriced rentals owned by absentee landlords, properties were deteriorating, and there was lots of white trash around. The historic designation along with stepped up housing code enforcement sent most of the slumlords packing and put a lot of properties on the market. It drove real-estate prices down for a while, but most of the houses got snapped up by people who wanted to live in them, and they got fixed up. Several of the multiple-unit conversions got turned back into single-family dwellings. Paint schemes and other changes visible from the street have to go before a review board and a few owners chafe at the restrictions, but I like to work toward authenticity. Over the past 40 years, property values in the designated historic districts have seen some of the best appreciation and/or stability in the city.

Me on the left with Joe, one of the contractors working on electric utility relocation for the riverbank repair project along my street.

Where can I sign up? Not editing posts for typos, spelling, and grammar takes all the restraint I can muster. :police:

Not so. I know a total of about a half-dozen things, and they just happen to be in subjects that people sometimes talk about. If I posted to admit my lack of knowledge about much that comes up on the forums, I'd be the biggest post whore on UO. :? I've learned some stuff about house-renovation safety by being involved in a couple of in-depth projects, and some of the lessons came from nearly getting killed. Two incidents involved taking down and putting up ceiings. On potentially dangerous projects, the biggest lessons are (1) Read anything you can find about the work and talk with somone with experience (2) Think it through, (3) Take your time, and (4) Don't work alone. There's lots of information on product safety available on line and in books and from established merchants who work in those product lines. The most common hazards in old-house renovation are asbestos in linoleum, floor tiles, and tile cement, sometimes in plaster and acoustic ceiling tiles, and around pipes in old steam-heat systems. Old houses are almost sure to have some lead paint in them, and on the exterior those 1940s - 1950s brittle "shakes" are full of asbestos. That's just a beginning.

Neat find. Beware old linoleum, though. A lot of it contains asbestos. You should wear an approved mask, and keep everything wet as you go. Best of all, don't disturb it unless you have to.

I'm ... I'm ... I'm ... what's the word I'm trying to think of? I don't think it's "flabbergasted," but that's close enough. Completely stunning, beautiful photos. Whenever I view Cincinnati street scenes, I get this vague feeling that something's missing. Then it comes to me; streetcar tracks in the pavement and catenary overhead. Seriously. Besides, OTR already has so much wire draped across and along the streets that a couple more strands won't even be noticed.