Hoody

Hi, it must have been years ago since I 've been around here last time. You might ask what I did meanwhile ... Well, here is the answer: A marble run in a frame - in a 10" by 10" RIBBA frame (made by IKEA Sweden and it seems they renamed it recently to SANNAHED). After more than two years of tinkering with the entrance and exit section of the spiral lifter (quite unusual geometry due to rather restricted space) I finally managed to get the thing to work - fully and reliably. The marbles are a bit smaller than 1/2" and two of them can pass each other inside the tight space between front glas and back wall. My RIBBA is plain old using a glas front, later models seem to have a plastic sheet instead of glas. Due to the glas I use a magnetic switch arrangement to control the power to the lifter.

I need to come back to this plain old one. Hm, all this time passed and everything was alright. But yesterday - and please do not ask me why - Steph's answer creeped back in my mind and twisted it again: Objection, you will *not* need to make an appointment. The clairvoyant - at least a real one - will know that you will visit her / him. Steph's argument seems to be right at the first, second and third glance but I think now the clairvoyant should be able to send you a schedule without your application - and since (s)he is a clairvoyant (s)he really knows when its your best time for you to visit. So its just you to receive the invitation, matching perfectly your calendar schedules, without you actively making an appointment. So I am again wondering why people need to make an appointment before visiting a clairvoyant. Just wait for your invitation ...

Anybody can bring as much as (s)he likes. If you need some ideas for modules you might want to take a deep breath and have some looks at youtube search topic 'GBC' (Great Ball Contraption) And this is ours (not so much artworked as the GBCs): https://youtu.be/TKrUdXitS7U?t=119 Hope you enjoy it! Maybe you make some together with your friends? Or at the next marble collectors convention?

Look, global warming got that far already!

Getting knocked into each other - isn't it the thing they were made for? Do not let them gain high speed - what is really tricky to achieve reliably - and the knock merely turns into a gentle push. Using a hose is not a bad solution. Especially when build properly your marbles have no chance to escape the tracks. Would you like to share a photograph with us?

but: I am not able to count so far (🐑 🐑 🐑 🐑 🐑 ... 🛌)

That is the drawback of non-english (non-american) names. Louis, as you already know, is what I consider a French name: "Le baptême de Louis" just does not need the apostroph and works fine; okay, at least in France, French oversea departments, parts of Canada, ... I think here is the issue. "Louis" does not have a silent 'e' but a silent 's'. Now you add the apostroph and the French silent 's' gets pronounced due to english pronounciation habits. How about "The christening of prince Louis"? This keeps the silent 's'. And hey, in the german area where I live the ladies' names are leaded by a non-written but spoken 's'. Its just s'Barbara, s'Gertrud and so on if people do their gossip. What I still have to find out is how the native inhabitants pronounce this when the ladie's name starts with an 'S' already: s'Steph? I bet there is an exception to the rule.

It depends just on how you treat the beasts. Sorry for the lack of new marble runs. During a very hard rain my hobby room got flooded (beside the complete basement) and I need to take a long pause on tinkering. And I see I have not been here for months. Oh, my god. Didn't notice it really. Steph, do you still have the idea of modular marble runs? Maybe this collection of definitions can serve you as a foundation for your own ideas: Definitions for a Ping Pong Module Contraption. For other sizes you need to adapt the figures, of course. 1" = 25.4 mm.

And maybe some far day glas marbles are all that is left from our civilization ... Welcome Stice

- but checking out wikipedia on the climate of MI I think it is not so unusual for this area?

Sure they will. Next spring you can see the marble plants grow and end of sommer maybe you can pick fresh marbles. Be careful not to mix the red opaque ones up with the cherry tomatoes or you need an appointment with your dentist.

Hi ManofKent, my only experience with wooden systems is with the HABA one. I do not know about availability or pricing in the UK. https://www.haba.de/en_GB/toys/toys/ball-track/c/7vmx67 My experience is that the kids build a little, let the marbles run and after a while the wooden elements at the corners fall off their positions because of the marbles inertia. The plastic clamps offered are somewhat cumbersome and in most places me wants to attach them they do not work. The HABA sets dedicated to smaller children (Kullerbü - https://www.haba.de/en_GB/toys/toys/ball-track/ball-track-kullerbue/c/o4qg87) have some pins and notches to get at least the tracks staying in place. But those are not easily combined with the sets for the older kids. (To select another country and / or another language you need to scroll down to the bottom of the linked page. The language and the country are set independent of each other, start with the language in the right hand bubble.) Regards Hoody

Somewhat this resembles me to Manfred, called "Manni". Manni stops his Manta (a famous Opel car) before the "30" sign and so blocks the road. An officer got aware of this, headed to Manni and told him that he can stop his car a little bit down the road at the parking lane but not there at the limit sign. Manni replied:" Sorry, I am already 33". Manni is also the sort not to go to cinema when the movie is rated 16+. He and his friends are just 15 persons.

You already did your tree? We do it on Dec / 24 traditionally if done earlier the needles are all off.

Hi, we got something you might call a blizzard this noon. It's quite uncommon to have such weather here. A thunderstorm with heavy snowing. Just 15 minutes brought 1" into our snowfree German countryside. No wonder the school bus didn't run this noon. But meanwhile everything is melting away and the roads have been free again since hours.

You mean that Kellogg's stuff? Here in Germany they sell as "Rice Crispies" but I never had any thought of the characters' names. Long long ago. But I can not remember 'Snap Crackle and Pop' got something like a household phrase. To be honest, I just consum the contents and scrap the package without much notice. There was also some kind around they called "Choco Pops". But if you are in Germany and ask for diapers (= Windeln) there might be people around that ask back what a diaper is. Just tell them "Pampers" and everything is fine. That is something I think got a household phrase - long ago. Or "Maggi" (http://www.arlongpark.net/showthread.php?t=35213&page=67&p=2841403&viewfull=1#post2841403 ) Nobody calls it 'liquid seasoning' here, way too long. Every child knows "Maggi" and that's it - even if you take the competitor stuff. Hope I got your question right. Otherwise I need to tell "42" Oh, just this: Maybe you know Nick Kamen "I promise myself"? Some germans always sing "Pommes mit Senf" [= "french fries with mustard"] because of this phonetic similarity !

Okay, if you think on the "several marbles on parallel" tracks I think most of those are homebrew. Either completely or at least a set with some self-made parts in addition. What does a search engine reveal when looking for "marble race track"? Sorting otu the results I might have got a hint for you to a name. But I relally do not know if it still is sold somewhere: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=marble+race+track&t=ffab&iax=1&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2Fimg0129.popscreencdn.com%2F182067330_discovery-toys-super-marbleworks-raceway-construction-.jpg At least I found one of this sets at amazon but in fact it looks just like twice a 'standard' set in one package.

Maybe something from here? https://www.toysrus.com/search?q=marble run Sorry for the link to the shop but it is the only one I am sure to serve the US area. Maybe you know a lot more retailers on your side of the atlantic ocean. There are also kits around made by fischertechnik and it might be that you find Hubbelino (works also together with Lego parts). We here in Europe further have Cuboro and HABA as brands selling also marble runs but those might be very pricey.

Prayers and best wishes to all of you from Germany. Todays radio announcement estimates a full hit of Irma to the city of Miami tomorrow. First Harvey flooding Texas and Louisianna and now this Irma monster.

Is it necessary to extract them? Mother nature usually manges things herself and maybe it will work when you just take the whole dry blossoms as seed capsules next year? (No, I really have no clue).

seems I am not able to 'tell' a joke ...

Wow, there are really precious ones among them. A couple of those on a run ... off for tinkering ...

Two old friends are sitting there, drinking a beer. One tells: "I have a severe problem with slugs in the garden. They eat away all my vegetables." The other says: "You already tried out a beer trap?" - "Are you nuts? Shall I now give them my beer also?" - "No, no. Okay. How about collecting the slugs and put them elsewhere?" (We love even slugs and do not want to kill them ...) - "Okay, good idea. I'll try it tomorrow." The two make an appointment for the next evening and went home. The next evening they meet again. The slug chaser was really and obviously exhausted. - "Wow. You look as if you picked tons of slugs. How many did you get?" - "Not just even one in the whole day! Every time I got aware of one I immediately stooped but the beast flitted away before I could grasp it."

Its your joy on those small and simple things like 3 riping tomatos ... enjoy it every day again. It resembles me to my first experience with gardening some years ago: You plant it, you care for it and then you harvest it and you enjoy every stage of what you do. As time goes by gardening gets more usual to you and the intensity of this special joy might drop. But at least your food gets more healthy. Oh, and you learn to share it with such poor creatures that have no house not even have a home: slugs