Cars and Coffee, March 2012

Today was the first Saturday in March, so you know what that means....CARS AND COFFEE!  I met my friends Neil, Frank, and Ron there at 7:30 this morning, but we were NOT the first ones to arrive.  About a thousand cool cars beat us there.  Yes, there was the usual assortment of new exotica such as every Ferrari currently being offered for sale, and all the new Maserati's, Lamborghini's, Bentley's and Roll's, too.  BMW's and Mercedes', Lexus', Mustang's, Camaro's and 'Vette's we're a dime a dozen.  But for some reason I'm always drawn to the old, rare, characterful, and just downright odd cars. (NOTE:  Click on any photo below to enlarge.)

The Mini lineup.  (As the rest weren't leaking I'm assuming they were already empty.)

A really sweet Austin Healey 3000 Mk III.

The aristocracy of the show.

An award winning Alfa Romeo Montreal.

For you muscle car guys (and gals) how 'bout a Plymouth Road Runner Superbird?

Surf's up!

Old cars, like old guys, RULE!  

I came within a hair of buying one of these (Porsche 911) ACBK.  (After College, Before Kids)

But if I had to pick my favorite of all those I saw today, I'd choose this BMW Z8 Alpina.

Yep, this is the one I would have liked to take home with me....

....but unfortunately this old Rover is the only one my budget could afford.  Such is life.  *sigh*

Drive safely everyone.  :)

S

How NOT to run a welfare system....

Here's what's wrong with our current welfare system:  A local TV station has done an investigative study and found that several local dental groups are recruiting new, young patients at food stamp distribution centers around Dallas.  Paid recruiters are promising parents cash kickbacks and even iPod's if they'll bring in their small children for exams and treatment.  (NOTE:  The report pointed out that state law prohibits paying recruiters for soliciting new patients, but it happens.  They have it on video.)  It seems if a licensed dentist declares a poor child needs treatment it will be paid for through state Medicaid funds, no questions asked.  


There is no follow-up to see if the treatments are actually needed, so the dental centers have been giving little 2 and 3 year old kids root canals and steel caps on their baby teeth, etc, which dental school experts later reviewed at the request of the TV station and agreed were unnecessary.  Just one dental group billed the State of Texas over $6M last year, more than all state funds spent on kids Medicaid dental care in the entire state of Florida.  (Statewide the Texas total was $145M.)  Despite this, there is no ongoing state investigation.  The state just officially looks the other direction.  (Official collusion?)  You can watch the entire report here for yourself.


Abuse is rampant.  If there's this much fraud in just one area in one city covering just this one medical treatment, can you imagine how much there is nationwide?  Our country is so big, so populous, and the numbers of $$ involved are so large, it's easy to slip tens (hundreds?) of millions of dollars through unnoticed.  


We're a compassionate people, and of course we want to provide dental care for poor children.  But this goes way beyond that.  The taxpayers are getting screwed again.  This is one example of why the conservative movement has gained such a strong and growing following.  This abuse, like all government waste, needs to be addressed, and when that happens liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, can sit down together and effectively govern.  Right now we're too polarized to do much of anything except fight amongst ourselves.


S

It feels like I'm living in a warehouse

My study has become little more than a depository for storage boxes as we aggressively pack things away for our move in a little over three weeks.  I seem to be obsessed with my friend Don's living arrangements onboard his boat as my roll model for lean, uncluttered living.  Actually, the way he lives is so spartan I think he's out-spartaned Sparta.  I'm not prepared to go quite that far.


Don lives on a 35-foot vintage Chris Craft boat he keeps in a boathouse in Tampa, FL.  He takes it out fishing on occasion, but it usually stays tied up in the boathouse he rents.   As best as I can recall it looks something like this:

He told me at one time he calculated that he's actually living in a little over 300 square feet.  Everything is ultra-compact.  His "library" is one small shelf over his bed.  His kitchen has a 2-burner stove and a mini-fridge, and is so small you can't turn around without bumping into yourself.  Bake a cake?  Ha!  A cupcake, maybe.  

It looks rather quaint, but that wears off in about 30 minutes.  Then it's just small.  He has a hibachi grill rigged up to hang over the stern of his boat.  If he wants a steak and a glass of wine he brings home one steak and one bottle of wine and cooks it and eats/drinks it all right then.  No leftovers.  And his bathroom....yikes!  Not a place you want to be if you're claustrophobic, for sure.  There's not even enough room in there to turn the page.  *wink*

I know I'll never match Don's level of compact living, nor do I really want to.  Still, it's fun (not sure what K thinks of all this) to look at every thing you have and decide whether it's worth keeping or not.  I've come to realize if something has been in storage or in the back of a closet for years, and has never been missed, never even crossed your mind, it's probably time for it to go.  Easier said than done, though.  

Someday I may break down and build us another home, but something small and easily maintained.  Trouble is, around here most cities don't allow building new, small homes.  They zone for McMansions, no doubt because they bring in lots of property tax revenue.  I'll admit it's a bit awkward talking to clients about building them a new 5,000 or 6,000 sq ft home and they ask, "Where do you live?" and I reply, "in a very modest apartment".  They look at me like I just arrived on planet Earth.

Hmmm....wonder what Planning and Zoning would think of a yert?

  

S

Grandpa's getting a tattoo? What's up with that?

Here's a new one:  It seems many people, particularly older people, are getting medical tattoos.  I guess they're suppose to replace those Medic-Alert bracelets.  They say things like "diabetic" or "allergic to ____".  Some have even had "Do Not Resuscitate" tattooed across their chest.  Paramedics can't use that as a legally binding order, but it will alert them to ask relatives for legitimate instructions.  I dunno.  I was kinda thinking about "Mom" or a pirate or something cool like that.


I think we've been sold a bill of goods....again.  Our politicians all say that it's small businesses that are the job creators in our country, so we can't raise taxes on them, right?  Now evidence says that isn't so.  It seems that brand new businesses just getting off the ground DO create jobs, but older small businesses (>5 yrs)  generally cut as many or more jobs as they create due to efficiency improvements.  Figured together, they cut more jobs than they created in all but 3 months last year.  I'm not suggesting we should or shouldn't raise taxes on small businesses, but I am saying the rationale our politicians have argued is a bunch of phooey.  Yet another reason to not trust 'em.  


S

I think he needs a bit more coaching

I don't think 'ol Mitt gets it.  At this stage of a political campaign aren't candidates supposed to put on their jeans (after they buy some), roll up their sleeves, and mingle with the common folk?  Mitt managed to pull off the first two, but it's the "mingling" part that seems to be giving him fits.


He's in Michigan, blue collar heaven, and he tells a group of auto workers that he drives American-made cars, and that his wife drives a Cadillac, TWO actually.  And when asked if he followed NASCAR, he replied, a little, he's not really an expert, but several of his best friends OWN NASCAR teams.  


Well boy howdy!  Pull up a stool, Mitt, and have a cold one with us.  Or maybe he has one of those false labels he can wrap around his bottle of Dom Perignon to make it look like a bottle of Boone's Farm.  I'd suggest one of those little round cans of Skoal for his back pocket, too.  Yep, "A Man of the People".  That's Mitt.  *Some Grey Poupon for your hot dog, sir?*


S

The Versatile Blogger Award

Yesterday I was honored (and shocked) to learn that my friend Steve the Chubby Chatterbox nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award.  To think that someone as creative and articulate as he would nominate lil 'ol me is quite humbling.  Thank you, Steve.  :)


According to nomination protocol I'm supposed to share 7 interesting things about myself ("interesting" being relative) and then pass on my nomination for the award to a few others I find deserving.  So without further adieu....


1.  I had a loving, stable childhood.  Two parents (no stand-ins), both very caring and ultra-ethical, only three public schools, culminating in a B.A. in BS from Texas Tech University.  My dad had an outrageous sense of humor, so on those occasions when I go totally bonkers just know I'm helpless....it's my dad's genes running amok inside me.  For 30-something years my brother and I have been partners building Park Place Custom Homes (.com if anyone cares).


2.  Politically I'm all over the map.  My conservative friends think I'm a card-carrying Socialist, while my liberal friends think I'm just to the right of Attila the Hun. So which is it?  Both, depending on the issue....with a heavy dose of cynicism mixed in.  I firmly believe our elected officials at all levels (and of BOTH parties) care about themselves first, those who bribe contribute to their re-election campaigns second, while We the People rank somewhere down there with the family pet....maybe even a notch below.


3.  I've had a life-long interest in aviation.  When I was 8 years old my parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told them I wanted to have a party on the observation deck of Dallas' Love Field.  Back in the mid-80's I joined a WWII aviation heritage group then known as the Confederate Air Force.  We acquired, restored, and then flew our 130+/- aircraft at airshows all across the country.  I was a marshaller, leading a group of around 50 others who organized and ran the flight line at these shows.  I was the Ramp Boss at events from California to Maryland, Iowa to the very southern tip of Texas.  It was a very challenging (volunteer) job, basically run like a huge jigsaw puzzle based on aircraft size, turning radius, etc.  Over the years I worked closely with the US Navy Blue Angels, the USAF Thunderbirds, the RCAF Snowbirds, and the RAF Red Arrows.  That all came to an abrupt end when....


4.  ....I had several back-to-back detached retinas in my left eye which, long story short, left me with no peripheral vision on that side.  When you're literally working just a few feet from giant whirling propellers capable of turning you into sausage in the blink of an eye, situational awareness is critical.  With no peripheral vision on one side I decided it was time to hang it up.  I then studied and became a certified docent at a local aviation museum, but frankly I found it boring.


5.  I've attended both Citizen's Police and Fire Academies, giving me just enough knowledge of what they do to be dangerous. It was a blast, and very "hands-on".  I've also completed (for real) Aircraft Rescue And Fire Fighting (ARFF) training at Dallas' Love Field and DFW International Airport.  I was first to arrive at several airshow crashes, but the damage was catastrophic and there was little I could do when I arrived on scene.  Very sad.


6.  Back in 1992 I was invited to experience a "trap" (landing) and a "cat shot" (takeoff) on the USS Forrestal, a US Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Gulf of Mexico at the time.  It was a fun ride, lemme tell you!  Yes, that makes me a "tailhooker", no pun intended.  (Well...maybe a little.  ;) 


7.  I met my wife Kelly (aka "K") online, but not the way you might think.  I was reading an aviation blog and it said "for further info on this topic read XYZ@Journalspace.com", so I linked over.  JS said I had to have a membership to read there so I signed up.  Later while surfing JS I saw a photo of a weed on a blog, the blogger asking what it was and how do you control it, so I answered.  Later posts were also interesting so we began visiting.  Come to find out she was living far away at the time but was from near Ft. Worth, Texas (I'm from near Dallas).  More talk, then a meet, then....  :)  And to think if I had linked over to Journalspace just a few seconds earlier or later I probably would never have seen her weed photo and cry for help.  It was fate, I tell ya!


Are you bored to tears yet?  I thought so.  


Now please allow me to nominate a few other bloggers I find interesting:


Oddball Observations....Bruce writes about....well....oddball observations.  He's had an interesting life and has some interesting opinions, too.


Charleston Daily Photo....Joan shares some of the interesting sights and history of the Charleston, SC area.


Suldog....what can I say?  Jim is just not right!  In a good and humorous way, though.


Now y'all close your computers and get to work.  :)


S

Restaurant review time

We have a core group of restaurants we frequent often, but recently we've stepped out and tried a couple of new places that have really impressed us.  Obviously this won't be of much use to you if you live outside the Dallas area, but I'm going to sing their praises anyway.

Anamia's has about the best Tex-Mex I've ever tasted, and believe me I've tried a LOT of Tex-Mex in my time.  It's a family-owned place (wife Ana, daughter Mia) and I'm betting it will thrive!  I had traditional Tex-Mex (it's that "old dog / new trick" thing), but K had their shrimp enchaladas and said they were fantastic.  And their margaritas were done right, too, using a lot more than just the usual whiff of tequila fragrance.  The atmosphere is definitely not your typical cheesy mexican-village-mural-painted-on-the-wall, but instead a very nice soft contemporary feel that's just loud enough and just dark enough to be comfortable.  We enjoyed it so much we gave an Anamia's gift card to a friend whose birthday party was last night.  Two thumbs up, and that's only because I don't have three thumbs.

Then there's Tru-Fire Kitchen and Bar.  Their slogan:  "Life happens in the kitchen".  Most of their cuisine seems to be Italian although I saw a waiter delivering a burger to a table nearby.  (Boy did they miss out!)  We each had an adult beverage and a small Caesar salad and then shared a gourmet pizza...."Parma Prosciutto".  It was mouth watering! And again the atmosphere was very comfortable.  Dark but not too dark and some lively noise that still allows for conversation.  The hardest part was deciding on which entre to order.  Decisions, decisions...  ;)

Today we're doing more packing, and going by Ikea to check out some new everyday dishes, and I think we need some new kitchen knives, too, then on for some coffee and read time afterwards.  But first, back to Anamia's for their weekend brunch.

Y'all have fun!  

S