Some cool weight loss quick images:
“What’s going on around here??”
Image by Bennilover
Just a quick note to my Flickr friends. Things have been crazy. 8 days ago I had extensive dental work which has caused a week of pain pills, no solid foods till next Tues. My broken bones and loss of weight contributed to the demise of 6 teeth!
Monday Don appeared to have a stroke and was taken by ambulance to the hospital where he was completely out of it, no speech except he could give his name. Yesterday they said it wasn’t a stroke, it was Meningitis and they wanted a lumbar puncture to have disease control study the bacteria. This morning no Meningitis, no infection in the spinal fluid. Today they determined he had gotten a side effect from a new medication and had edema in his brain. He’s getting steroids and already is lucid, discussing lunch and when can he come home. So this has been a roller coaster. I think all will be well with him when he regains his speech which is mostly back already. Then to be able to walk in a safe way, not so tipsy.
Benni and Rena are my comforters and my dear friend Dawn has come to be with me when I need her. Also sweet Sandy is getting me to dentist appts. and to the hospital to see Don. What would we do without loving friends.
So, I hope life is normal again soon and I can be back on Flickr – I miss you all.
Stumbling Into Position
Image by Leo Blackwelder
Our second day on the range, it was pretty clear we needed to hang out around Iron Junction. As the central connector between the Missabe, Iron Range, and Rainy (DWP) subs, it was bound to be a busy place – and it was! After shooting some southbounds closer to Proctor, we ventured north and nabbed a myriad of traffic, including some local freights in okay-ish-light, and learning about how deep and strong the snow was. Not long after arriving at the large wye that is the junction, ATCS showed dispatch lining a T-Bird out of, get this, CP T-Bird. Bound for Fairlane, we had ourselves a little train to nab.
I’m not exactly the most steady or agile person on a good day, but when you put snow into the mix, I’m a hot mess. I quickly learned the value of snow shoes (and probably weight loss, to be really honest) as my lack of them led to my sinking into snowbanks rather easily. It took stumbling across a tall barrier made of heavily packed snow to get into position to snag CN2112 come through West Wye and through Iron Jct. The C40-8 was given a special paintjob, faintly visible here, along with sister 2107. They both wear the CN colours, but their long hood has a special 15-years-of-privitization design drawn across it. A nice surprise to catch that leading for sure!
T-Birds, like the one led by CN2112 here, are an important piece of the taconite puzzle up here. They bring the raw taconite, fresh from the mines, to the taconite plant. There, limestone and bentonite clay and a liberal application of heat – among other things, no doubt – will be used to refine the raw taconite into the little pellets that the railroad will later haul to the docks to be loaded into Great Lakes freighters. No T-Birds, no tac trains!
