French Built Berliet 700 Oilfield Truck , Don Campbell’s next 1/12th scale model project.

French Built Berliet 700 Oilfield Truck , Don Campbell’s next 1/12th scale model project., originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.

TWO BELOW ZERO – The wet snow and ice warmed up to a driveway of water yesterday and this morning I got a nice ice skating rink in my driveway, ha,ha.
SAT. MORNINGS IN GAYLORD – Deb and I always look forward to Saturdays in Gaylord in the winter . That is our day to go Chill out at the local Wal-Mart, ha,ha. Really though, this is the first winter Deb and I have been content staying around Gaylord all winter. We have not left town since Thanksgiving. In past winters we have always drove to Petosky or Traverse City at least one time every month and usually two times a month all winter. Guess it’s part of being old and enjoying our little surroundings. But we have also not ate in a resturant since Christmas so we are banking the money each week we have saved and putting it towards our summer fun funds. But yesterday we heard on the news that 250 banks are in real financial trouble. We sure hope our bank doesn’t close before we can go get our summer fun money, ha,ha.
FIFTY -FIVE DAYS OF COUNTING CALORIES- Deb and I are still counting calories but it just isn’t showing up on the scales. I think once we start walking twice a day outside we can get going again. We have not seen a dry sidewalk since Dec. 10th. Deb does not like walking ourside on the ice roads and we don’t have a mall to walk in.
But we are getting there and we still walk on the treadmill daily.
FRENCH BUILT Berliet 700 Oilfield Truck – Todays picture shows the truck I will start building a 1/12th scale model of next week for Kevin Anderson from Denver. The one I will build for him will have 2 foot sides on the bed.
HAVE A GREAT SATURDAY with the ones you love !! Be sure not to waste today worrying or complaining, instead enjoy this one more day God has given us , tomorrow could be worse, ha,ha.

Atom Smasher Vessel progress on my workbench today.

Atom Smasher Vessel progress on my workbench today., originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.

Euclid Hoffman/Talbert Heavy Haul Load- Todays picture shows the sheet metal work on the top and the side of the vessel. This will really make the 10 foot truck model look complete. I thought about putting Deb’s new Baby Ryan on the trailer and taking a picture, but didn’t ?? (:>).
SNOWSTORM A BIG FARCE – For one full week the local news has been talking non-stop about the BIG snowstorm heading across the country !!, that’s all that they been talking about is how we were going to get 12 or more inches of snow !!, All week every TV show we watched, we had to see the warning going across , saying heavy snow !, storm warnings !, ect. After 160 inches of snow, big deal we get 12 inches of snow ! So i got up this morning and we got a lousy 3 inches of snow after all that nonsense all day , everyday for a Whole Week ! Listening to all that was worse than the storm. Next time wait til the day before !!
The ( F _ _ _ ) word !! – Seems the F word is starting to get more popular as more and more Americans realize they are living above their means. Well Deb and I have been using the F_ _ _ _ _ a lot !
In fact I use the F word on Deb almost daily and she uses it on me at least three times a week?? we have been ( Frugel) for a few years now , ha,ha.
WHO CAN WE TRUST THESE DAYS ?? – When it seems these days we can’t trust hardly anybody for our future , one thing is for sure , we can always trust GOD !! Even though I am a weak Christian , I am strong enough to thank him everyday for the past great life he has given us. And if we lose it all this year , I will still always thank him for the past great life and deal with what is ahead . I do not want a mansion in Heaven , or streets paved in gold , I just want a simple life like I now have with a family I love and that loves me and no credit card debt, ha,ha. . Less is More
HAVE A GREAT FRIDAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gaylord, Michigan man , Don Campbell test driving this Case-IH quadtrac and scraper .

Gaylord, Michigan man , Don Campbell test driving this Case-IH quadtrac and scraper ., originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.

CABIN FEVER- Here is a cool picture of me that reminds me of a nice summer day about 75 degrees , the smell of a diesel engine and fresh dirt , umm ! I need to drift away from the frozen , snow covered tundra of the Alpine Village once in a while this time of year.
FIVE TO EIGHT INCHES OF SNOW heading our way for tonight and slowly adding to our goal of 200 inches for this winters snowfall.
It is very realistic we will hit 200 inches .
STEAKS ON THE GRILL- I just cooked Deb and I a rib eye on the grill for lunch today. After shoveling several locations, I found the grill under a snowbank and umm the steaks were excellent !! We could only have a half a steak each because we are counting calories , but that made it taste even better.
ATLANTIC CITY LITTLE CAESARS PALACE- We talked to Nicole and she has our ocean view room all ready for us for our spring trip to D.C. Can’t wait to bite into those fresh breadsticks while gambling all our money away , LOL !! NOT ! We are not gamblers ?
EUCLID TRUCK VESSEL – I am working on the vessel model today and it is starting to take shape. I’ll post the next progress picture tomorrow. Next week I will get going on the next model order .
Have a great Thurs. !!

Hoffman/Talbert Heavy Haul Load Progress

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  Hoffman/Talbert Heavy Haul Load Progress, originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.

Hoffman/Talbert Load project- Here is a picture of the next project I am working on . It’s a load for the 10 foot long Euclid 600 ton lowboy model for Mike. You can see I was busy drilling lots of holes in the ends and putting in lots of bolts. I also took a piece of sheet metal 31″ wide by 35 ” long and bent it into a tube. This picture shows both ends now attached to the center tube section. Now I am working on the four top structures that come down along the sides.
SNOWSTORM TODAY AT NOON- The National Weather Service in Waters, Michigan said we should get three inches of wet snow today starting at noon. , then more snow tomorrow . So I should get at least one more snowplow in this month.
AREA SCHOOLS CLOSED 50% SICK KIDS. – One of Deb’s pre-school mom had the next couple days off from her school teaching job as only half the school kids are attending this week.
PIZZA PARTY FOR ME AND DEB- Deb has not made one of her delicious homeade raised crust pizzas since Dec. 15th. But we decided we are just going to have one piece each and put the rest in the freezer . Then we can just take out one piece at a time and not overdo it. We tried the mini pizzzas at the store a couple times, they are NASTY !!
WABCO 300 SERIES ELEVATING SCRAPER – I have never built a Wabco machine yet, so I think another project I want to build soon is a Wabco twin engined elevating scraper.
Chinese own the Big three automakers. – I predicted last summer the big three will not be owned by Americans within five years. Yesterday it was announced Chrysler is now very desperate and in serious talks to sell to the Chinese. Once they do that , the Chinese will start paying the new hired factory workers minimum wage and then Chrysler will be back on top . Very sad to see America being slowly sold to China and Japan. Seems American billionaires would have stepped up to help America instead of begging China to bail out this proud country. Very Sad.
THE GOOD NEWS!! – God has given us one more day to enjoy so lets think positve and enjoy the day (:>).
Have a great WED. !!!