Robert Pence

Nice work! I haven't been in St. Louis in years, since before I got into urban photography. Looks like it would be well worth a visit.

Impressive achievement. That would take quite a bike to handle 500 pounds. I'd expect a good lugged steel frame to be OK, but I'd think the biggest challenge would be wheels that wouldn't break spokes. I've known some very large people who took up biking and successfully worked off pounds, and spoke breakage was the most aggravating problem they experienced starting out; often, obese-but-mobile people's legs are very strong, probably just from hauling their own weight around. One man I rode with occasionally many years ago had to learn to take it easy starting off and accelerating because spokes couldn't stand up to the torque when his powerful legs came up against the inertia of his weight.

Snow on everything this morning, and the side streets are slick. The traffic at my bird feeders has picked up markedly. I just refilled them. It's an appropriate time of year to share my hot chocolate recipe. I avoid the commercial hot chocolate mixes because of the chemical non-food additives. I'm not a purist on food because it's difficult enough for me to maintain enough calorie intake to keep my weight from dropping, but I don't seem to tolerate some of the additives very well. I start with a regular-sized (8-ounces or thereabout) mug of strong coffee, leaving a little room for the other ingredients. This week's coffee is Starbucks Sumatra, fresh-ground from whole beans. To that, add 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and stir until it's thoroughly dissolved, with no lumps. This isn't a prepared, packaged sweet cocoa mix; it's the stuff you use in baking, and it's not at all sweet by itself. I've tried both Hershey's and Kroger store brand, and I can't tell any difference between them. Next, stir in 2 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons non-fat dry milk solids. Again, I use Kroger store brand with perfectly satisfactory results. Last of all, add rum or brandy to taste. For rum, my choice so far has been Bacardi Gold, and for brandy, Christian Brothers. I add between 1 tablespoon and 1 shot, depending on my druthers at the moment. Sometimes I make up the dry mixture in a batch and store it in a canister for convenience. As above, the proportions are 1 part cocoa powder, 2 parts sugar, and 3 parts non-fat dry milk. Sifting the ingredients together breaks up the lumps that sometimes occur in the cocoa powder, and avoids the forming of lumps when mixing with the coffee. If you do this, start by adding a heaping 1/3 cup of the mixture to the mug before adding the coffee. Mmmm! I'm getting the urge to bake a chocolate layer cake with thick butter-creme frosting! And sugar cookies! And cinnamon-swirl bread with raisins! Gotta get the Christmas cards done first.

Are you using IE8? If you are, you might try clicking the compatibility button (just to the right of the URL and just to the left of the refresh button).

Looks well-done - as in finished.

I didn't know about coquito, so I just looked up a recipe. It sounds wonderful for the upcoming Christmas Holidays. Likewise Don Q. I'll have to shop around the local liquor stores; usually I buy my rum at the supermarket, and I haven't seen it there. Bacardi Gold has been my choice so far for special times of year, but the rest of the time I buy some cheap-ass stuff labeled "Prestige." Compared with Bacardi it's about half the price, but it's harsh and its aroma reminds me of the smell of an old-time doctor's office - rubbing alcohol. I only drink it mixed with sweet hot chocolate, so it's bearable and it makes good rum more special by comparison on special occasions. Something else I like in cold weather is a mug of Bigelow Constant Comment tea fortified with honey, just a touch of fresh lemon juice, and a shot of Christian Brothers brandy. It's a good warm-up after shoveling snow, and it works great for clearing up congestion and easing cold misery.

This three-part set is fascinating on multiple levels, and probably enjoyable for non-train enthusiasts too. My recollection of early Amtrak was of similar enthusiasm over some short-lived experiments with European-style rolling stock, but the reality of most of my train travel then was on long-neglected, refurbished pre-WWII equipment prone to air-conditioning failures in summer and leaky steam heat in winter that sometimes turned the coaches into steam baths. Decor was then-trendy purple-and-orange paisley and carpeted walls, and diner and lounge service often were rendered with a sneer. One couldn't walk through a coach traveling 40mph on Penn Central's midwestern rails without hanging onto stuff to keep from being thrown about.

So that's what people mean when they say my living room looks like a train wreck. They're putting it politely.

True. There may be exceptions, but I think a manufacturer's kit from a local retailer is more likely to have current versions than a dealer-bundled "kit" offered by an on-line vendor. That's especially true if, as you note, the on-line deal is "too good to be true." Local retailers need to turn their inventory frequently and don't maintain a warehouse full of stuff, so your purchase is more likely to be current-version. I'm possibly repeating myself (I do that; chalk it up to senioritis) but I've found little advantage in buying Nikon on-line instead of from the local shop, because most sellers' prices closely follow the MSRP. I'd guess it's pretty much the same with Canon or any other major name brand. On-line vendors' shipping & handling sometimes nearly offsets any savings I might get from avoiding sales tax, and it's worth it to me to spend a little extra to support a local merchant whose profits go back into local wages, property taxes, etc. I know the local shop is honest, and they've gone beyond what they had to to help me out with a problem in the past.

^Yum! My tummy shouldn't be thinking such thoughts so early in the morning!

Love this set. I was completely blindsided by the sheep photo, and almost choked on my morning coffee! :laugh:

I particularly like that photo of King News. This set of riddles has been solved, but for future reference I offer a suggestion. Most public libraries keep copies of the RL Polk city directories for their areas. The directories' listings are organized both by resident/business name and by street address. In our local library, the directories go back at least to 1915; I'm not sure when they started. Once you determine a location, sometimes you can get more detail about type of construction and a visual of the footprint and surroundings from the Sanborn fire insurance maps.

I've read that in pre-Nazi Germany there was a growing acceptance of gays, and the Nazis actually supported/promoted gay events and establishments in order to see who showed up. Those who did were marked for eventual arrest and internment in the death camps.

Have you tried LL Bean? Their dress shirts hold up better and last longer than any others I've bought, and they're the only ones I owned that never came back from the laundry with broken/missing buttons.

This forum need the ROFL smiley, because that's what I did after reading that exchange! ... and I feel vindicated about staying in cheap motels (mostly Super 8 ) because (1) Disposable cups in sealed bags and (2) It's pretty unlikely I'll run into any professional athletes (or other uppity folks) there.

^I like it. The composition is good, the mix of lighting is interesting, and it's adequately sharp for on-screen viewing. You don't always need to spend big bucks for a tripod; I suspect you've already figured out that any solid, unmoving object on which to steady the camera will do in a pinch. A windowsill works, maybe augmented with a book or two if you need to get a particular height or angle. On the street, a newspaper box or trash can sometimes becomes a de facto tripod. If you don't mind weird looks from passers-by, you can get some interesting shots sometimes by putting the camera on the sidewalk and propping it up with a lens cap, and then using the self-timer to trip the shutter.

I love Chicago at Christmastime - well, anytime actually, but the crowds and energy levels at Christmastime are like nothing one can experience in smaller midwestern cities like mine.

I like the new theme a lot! The old one was good, but a change from time to time is refreshing. This one looks bright and cheery to me.

Completely yummy photos!

I think I found it! It's across from the small boy, pulling a pale green hopper. I think DJ Orion brought the incredible train-shrinking machine from NJ and shrunk it and swiped it.

I used to go to WV often, but haven't been there in about ten years (since I shot the Cass photos). Cass is a state park, and typical of the WV state parks that I experienced, it's a very high-quality operation. People are friendly and courteous and facilities are all first-rate. Cass is just around the mountain from the Snowshoe ski area, with plenty of lodging, and I stayed in a kind of take-it-as-you-find it campground about two or three miles up from the base, right beside the railroad. The campground wasn't bad, IMO; I found it quite adequate and laid back, with excellent access to trackside, but anyone with a $450K motorhome might find it "not up to their standards" - if they could even get their rig around the hairpin turns in the gravel road to get there. In West Virginia, for more amazing topography go to Blackwater Falls State Park, in the Potomac Valley. Sherman probably can point you to a lot of other worthwhile destinations in the state.

Classy photo. If you haven't been to Cass, WV, I highly recommend it. There's a lot there about the timber industry and quite a bit about the lives and working conditions of the wood hicks.

Gorgeous building with a lot of history. I'm happy to see it still being used to teach and train in important skills.

I read this in yesterday morning's paper: Published: November 27, 2009 3:00 a.m. Last holiday in Dunes park homes 25 years after buying land, feds take over Associated Press BEVERLY SHORES – Dozens of people who live within the boundaries of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore celebrated their final Thanksgiving in their homes Thursday, months before the government is set to take possession of their properties. The Lakeshore will claim the houses overlooking Lake Michigan on Sept. 30, forcing many elderly residents to find new homes after 40 or more years in the same dwelling. [ ... ] more at http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091127/NEWS07/311279955

Very good; you've captured the Cleveland I've become familiar with from visits this time of year.