Mike Rodriquez
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Mike Rodriquez
@allthepages.org
1.6K followers 800 following 4.9K posts
Listening for the secret, searching for the sound ...

interests: quilting, cooking, gardening, cycling, photography, cat-herding and too many more to list

https://allthepages.org/

https://centralkansastrails.org/
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allthepages.org
Hey now! Hey now!

Aiko Aiko un day.

Great big boy, gonna miss him so much, Jock-a-mo fee-no ai na-né.

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
Big white long-haired cat sitting on a work table by some vises. There aren't enough words to describe what Aiko meant to me.
December 5, 2025 at 7:37 PM
allthepages.org
Patches and Cassidy get along just fine. Of all the cats, they are the two that usually hang out with me in the evening.

But they're not usually together like this!

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
Calico cat lying next to a champagne colored cat, on the top of a cat tree. A book shel is behind them and visible on one shelf are albums from a stamp collection.
December 2, 2025 at 9:52 PM
allthepages.org
When Althea was more of a kitten, she "caught" my N scale steam loco.

She executed the most perfectly timed smack you could imagine!

So marvelously well done I could hardly be upset.

But, it took until this year that I figured out how to fix it.

It was easy, as the picture shows.

#ModelTrains
image shows the coal car of a steam locomotive, with its top off, revealing that the plug connecting the engine to the coal car had become disconnected after Althea smacked it to the ground. I thought the gears were jammed until I came across an old Reddit post advising to check this connection.
December 1, 2025 at 1:39 AM
allthepages.org
I created another video today. Lessons learned: use a tripod and control the lighting better (highlights are blown). Still, not bad and kind of fun to watch.

#ModelRailroad

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
November 30, 2025 at 4:26 AM
allthepages.org
Instead of shopping today, I made a short little video.

#ModelRailroad

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
November 28, 2025 at 10:45 PM
allthepages.org
I spent my after turkey time creating a little video that demonstrates remote switching of a model railroad turnout. (exciting stuff, I know :-)

#ModelRailroad

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
November 28, 2025 at 3:41 AM
allthepages.org
It's a quiet night in the village.

#ModelRailroad

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
Model railroad layout showing ceramic buildings of key houses and businesses in Lindsborg, KS. Brightly colored lights inside of each building make a very colorful image.
November 23, 2025 at 4:11 AM
allthepages.org
Light check passes.

#ModelRailroad
Model railroad layout with multiple buildings, all lit up in different colors via LED lights.
November 17, 2025 at 1:29 AM
allthepages.org
There are things you can replace
And others you cannot
...
Thinking a lot about less and less
And forgetting the love we bring

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
Althea is such a sweet, beautiful, photogenic cat. A beautiful calico, looking up with a puzzled look on her face.
November 16, 2025 at 9:29 PM
allthepages.org
I have a program that randomly changes my computer screen background.

The most recent photo was quite the treat!

Looks like I took this one not so long ago, back in June of this year.

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
A red(ish) rose, with a yellow center that has a green petal in front of it. The rose is slightly tilted to the right and set against a solid black background, a very chiarusco effect.
November 12, 2025 at 7:18 PM
allthepages.org
Straight from the camera (iPhone 17 pro max). Some exaggeration, but pretty close to what we saw. Some pillars appear to be visible.

#aurora
Bright red aurora over whitish looking tree tops (bare of leaves now) with shadows below and a barely visible house.
November 12, 2025 at 3:00 AM
allthepages.org
The sky outside my house, looking north, at 8:30pm CDT. The camera exaggerates the red a little, but this aurora is clearly visible to the naked eye.

#aurora
Bright red aurora above a street light with a streetlight and one house with its porch light on and another house mostly in shadow.
November 12, 2025 at 2:44 AM
allthepages.org
Something different on Veteran's Day.

Loco 1943, Union Pacific's 16th commemorative locomotive, was created to honor America's armed forces.

Above is a photo of the actual engine and below a picture of my model against a photo of the same location as the first shot.

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
The engines are big SD70 type and the photos were taken near Glen Haven, Colorado. The engine is shown in front of a bare rock face, and there a lot of pine trees around there.
November 12, 2025 at 1:11 AM
allthepages.org
Monday, again?

#MikesOccasionalDistraction

#ModelRailroad
SD70a Rio Grand loco in front of station house with a few people standing around and a 1961 Impala slightly out of focus in the background.
November 11, 2025 at 12:51 AM
allthepages.org
A few days ago I realized the wires lighting the Christmas in Lindsborg buildings had to go!

They were replaced w/remote controlled, multi-colored LEDs.

What a difference! Removing the mass of cables really opened up the layout.

Here's a video of 4 locos!

#ModelTrains
#MikesOccasionalDistraction
November 9, 2025 at 6:54 PM
allthepages.org
I'm just waiting on a friend.

#ModelRailroad

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
Closeup of model train layout showing Great Northern box cars, with a gap and a yellow sidewalk on both sides of the gap. To the right is an old house that now serves as the station, and couple of folks are standing around. To the left is an elevated walkway, the stairs are visible.
November 8, 2025 at 10:53 PM
allthepages.org
I'm not saying I'll post a train picture every day ... 'cause I won't.

But it's likely there will be many more model train related pictures between now and Christmas.

Here's a shot of a 15 car long train, pulled by engine # 1943

#ModelRailroad

#ChristmasInLindsborg

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
In the middle are the ceramic buildings representing key buildings and houses from Lindsborg, KS. In the back is another train, this one pulling Christmas related cars.
November 5, 2025 at 1:25 AM
allthepages.org
Overall, the "city" has been hit by a redevelopment cyclone (the viaduct tracks have been replaced), but the Christmas locomotive and cars are back!

#MikesOccasionalDistraction

#ModelRailroad
Model railroad with yellow building in background and a Christmas themed locomotive with a long Christmas box car are in view. HO scale.
November 4, 2025 at 2:55 AM
allthepages.org
Al Hirschfeld was a national treasure, and I can't believe I'd never seen this until now!

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
Drawing of the Grateful Dead. Top, l-r: Keith, Brent, Pig, Vince, Tom. Bottom: Bob, Donna, Phil, Jerry, Billy, Mickey
November 1, 2025 at 7:33 PM
allthepages.org
With less than two months to go, I'm making great progress on my Christmas in Lindsborg model train setup.

I plan to be done fussing by Thanksgiving, so it can run during the full holiday season.

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
Model railroad scene. Two locos are heading towards each other on a double track. A black steam loco with a red "Claus Coal Mines" coal car is heading to the right and the John Deere colored (it's actually Western Pacific) diesel loco is headed east. Behind them are some of the buildings from the Christmas in Lindsborg set of ceramic prominent buildings from town. My grandma's pottery Christmas tree, from over 50 years ago, is at t he back.
October 28, 2025 at 1:40 AM
allthepages.org
Screwed up when I filmed Sen. Marshall.

Was wearing a sign & adjusted it to try & make more readable.

Result - severe camera movement.

Anyway, I edited the clip to both zoom in on him while he's staring at me & also to slow it down a bit.

He says something; any lip readers out there?

#NoKings
October 18, 2025 at 10:01 PM
allthepages.org
Roger the Dodger, who lives in Florida, claims to be a doctor and lies about representing Kansas in the US senate made a surprise appearance at Lindsborg's #NoKings Svensk Hyllningsfest parade today.

He received a welcome.
October 18, 2025 at 4:07 PM
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One more photo from today's #NoKings, Svensk Hyllningsfest parade in Lindsborg, KS. (a purple town of about 4000 folks with a 4 year liberal arts college, Bethany College)
Real Kansans Real Voters Real Fed up
October 18, 2025 at 3:57 PM
allthepages.org
Lindsborg, Kansas, w/slightly under 4000 people, celebrates its Swedish heritage every two years with a weekend known as Svensk Hyllningsfest.

This Swedish Honoring Festival was created in 1941 and has been celebrated ever since.

Today, #NoKings made an appearance at the parade, as did Florida man
I'm here because I love my country No Kings, it's common sense. (pic of thomas paine) Honk for democracy, freedom, truth, free speech, love, free choice, United States of America Dictator or Democracy That is the choice 8647
October 18, 2025 at 3:55 PM
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View from a mower

...

and again I want to note what wonderful neighbors I have.

My yard shrunk considerably during my time of recuperation and I really appreciate it!

#MikesOccasionalDistraction
View from my riding mower, showing my yard, mostly in shade, and my neighbors broad, flat grassy area, with some shade. There are trees and dark shadows to the right side and a tree on the left. In the upper left there is a creek bisecting the land.
October 16, 2025 at 8:13 PM