This day is for you, Mom

Thank you, Mom....all moms for that matter....for all you've gone through to get us here.  Oh, I know, the morning sickness and dragging us around for 9 months wasn't exactly a picnic, but that whole "labor" thing was really above and beyond.  Hearing stories about what a pain in the a__ I was as a little kid, I can only imagine what you had to endure giving birth to me.  


Actually, the closest I can come is remembering the kidney stones I've had.  I've heard it said they are God's way of punishing men for putting women through labor.  Except my kidney stone was in reality the size of grain of salt, and I thought I was gonna die!  I recoil thinking of popping out a 6 or 8  (or more) pound kid.  Yikes!


So to say "thanks", Congress and I have declared this Labor Day in your honor.  You deserve it.  I love you, Mom.  ;)


S

Cars are back!

In response to the multitude of requests that I show more car photos....OK, it was only Doug....I present some interesting finds from today's Cars and Coffee event (always the first Saturday of each month):

An especially nice mildly customized Mini Cooper.  The guy who brought it, and fit in quite comfortably, was at least 250 pounds.

The Mini's contemporary, an East German Trabant.  Says volumes about the virtues of communism, doesn't it?  It looks like the English Bulldog is about to give his opinion of it, too.  ;)

And from across the other pond Datsun sent us this 2000.  It was quite a hot car in its day.

Here's something I might actually be able to afford to both buy and maintain....a super-clean Karman Ghia.  It was actually just a slick body on a plain vanilla VW.

Here's a tiny English-built Metropolitan.  My dad bought one of these for my mom thinking it would be the perfect little car for her to buzz around town it.  She wanted none of it, however, so he drove it for a couple of years until he could buy something better.  This is the type car I learned to drive in.

Side note:  A gorgeous 20-something woman was showing this car to her boyfriend who I think was Italian.  She was pointing out the food tray with the fake hamburger/fries/root beer on it, explaining how in the days before drive-thru's a girl known as a "car hop" would bring it out to the car and attach it to the side of the car.  She said she learned about it from listening to her grandmother.  After hearing that I gave up and exhaled.  ;)

A Triumph Stag.  I was surprised to see this as I thought they had all self-destructed 20 years ago.  "Durability" was just another word at British Leyland.

The Stag's little brother, a TR-6.  This one was very nice, although I was never very fond of the Baby Diaper color.  I sure would like to have one in British Racing Green, though.

Of course there was all of the modern hardware there, too, but around here they are almost passe.  (As you can tell I prefer the old, odd relics, probably because I'm an old, odd relic myself.  Well, "odd" anyway.)  The newest star there was this Lamborghini Aventador ^.  ("Nice car.  Sorry about your penis.")

Gotta go run a few errands before more college football this afternoon.  Y'all have a great day.  :)

S

  

Science confirms it....

At an archeological dig site on the Mall in Washington, DC, scientists have unearthed definitive proof of early Cro-Magnum politicians.  While further testing is underway to determine if the subject was a Democrat or a Republican, officials warn that the differences are so slight they may never be able to tell.  

New "whoa" today

My little chariot has finally told me it's ready for some new "whoa".....that would be "brakes" for any of you non-technical types.  I've been wondering when I would start to hear the tell-tale squeal when I apply the brakes that indicates new ones are needed.  That's known as a wear indicator, and I still haven't heard it.  But for the last 2 days, after I've driven a few miles, a dash light comes on that says "brake" and a chime goes off for a few seconds and then stops.  I checked it out and in true over-the-top German fashion I learned that Audi wear indicators are electronic, and not just a mechanical squeal like on most cars. 


I can't complain, though, as my car has over 84,000 miles on it and still has the original brakes.  I think that's pretty amazing.  And those aren't long stretches of highway miles either, but mostly urban driving. That does include some freeway driving, but they're just as likely to be stop-and-go as 80 mph.


Last night's dinner out with the family was fun.  We ate Mexican, but to keep my diet on track I had a Mexican shrimp cocktail for my entree and some guacamole.  Maybe not the best, but a lot better than it could have been.  


Work and a pocket-picking by my mechanic awaits.  Gotta go.  ;)


S

The End Is Near!

No, not the end of the world.  I mean the end of this @#$%& triple-digit heat wave we've had parked right over Texas for the past several months.  A quick glance at our 7-day forecast shows a cool front coming through tomorrow and temps falling into the upper 90's, and staying below 100 after that .  Yep, I said "cool" and "upper 90's" in the same sentence.  Absurd, isn't it?


It looks like we'll have around 65+/- days over 100 degrees this year, making it the second-hottest summer since The Big Bang.  It's also come to my attention that the 2011 college football season kicks off tomorrow night, too.  


Is it possible....I mean....could it be that God is a college football fan like me, and He's turned down the thermostat a few degrees so we can all enjoy the game?    ;)


Dinner out tonight with my daughters and a couple of the grandkids (with another "in the oven").  They all wanted Mexican food, which is fine with me, except it isn't exactly conducive to losing weight.  I'll really have to watch myself.  (We're trying to lose a few pounds and ramp up the exercise, getting ready to enjoy some outdoor activities this fall after being cooped up all summer.)  


S

"Hello, is there anyone out there?" (Pink Floyd)

Does anyone read this jibberish I write?  I'm beginning to think not, which is OK, no offense taken.  But if no one is bothering to read it, I'm not going to bother writing it.  I'll still read other's blogs because I enjoy keeping up with everyone, but topics that appeal to me don't seem to have much of an audience outside of my house.  Heck, even inside my house.  ;)


S

Ahh....the smell of tear gas in the air

I read a very interesting article by financial columnist Scott Burns in The Dallas Morning News yesterday.  In a previous piece he told of a scary scenario he called the "American Spring", complete with angry protesters and "tear gas in the air".  That's how disgusted Americans are with their present government and our abysmal economy.


He brought up the soon-to-be-broke Social Security system and how it came to be that way.  He reminded us that back in 1983 Congress initiated Social Security "reforms" allowing them to rob "appropriate" $2.6 TRILLION dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund and spend it on other "stuff" in order to please their respective special interests, replacing cash with IOU's.  Soon Social Security will need to start redeeming those IOU's to pay retirees, and guess what?   The government doesn't have it. They're backpedaling as fast as possible, throwing up excuses why there should be "means testing" for retirees, no cost-of-living increases, maybe reduced benefits, etc.  


Here's the point of his column:  There are 23 members of Congress still serving who voted back in '83 to pull this 'ol switcheroo, 14 Democrats and 9 Republicans.  THEY NEED TO BE SENT HOME!  PERMANENTLY!  They are:

Dan Burton (R-IN)

Max Baucus (D-MT)

Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)

Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Norm Dicks (D-WA)

John Dingell (D-MI)

Dick Durban (D-IL)

Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)

Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Carl Levin (D-MI)

Sander Levin (D-MI)

Richard Lugar (R-IN)

John McCain (R-AZ)

Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)

George Miller (D-CA)

Tom Petri (R-WI)

Charles Rangel (D-NY)

Hal Rogers (R-KY)

Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Pete Stark (D-CA)

Bill Young (R-FL)

 IMHO, they ALL need to be defeated at their next election.  And don't tell me, "Yes, but you don't know all the good stuff they've done."  A good guy robs a bank, and guess what?  He's no longer a good guy.  HE'S A BANK ROBBER!  Zero tolerance.

This could get interesting.  I've never smelled tear gas before.

S