Quiet, a rare commodity

I just read an interesting piece in the British magazine Car. The writer told of being in Venice recently, where for a precious few minutes the schedules of all the water taxi's and other water-borne traffic failed to converge. There was no motorized noise at all. An occasional splat of a gondolier's oar hitting the water, a nearby conversation, a dropped coin hitting the pavement....but no motorized noise.

I take my dog out for a walk very early every morning, usually before traffic starts to build for the day, and I marvel at the calmness and quiet of that early hour. Imagine having the quietness of living far out in the country, yet still living right in the heart of a city with all the conveniences of city life still handily available.

If electric cars ever become universal and all internal combustion engines are idled, that's what cities of the future could sound like. (That's a BIG if.) Except Big Brother wants electric cars to emit a noise to alert pedestrians so they can pull their heads out of their ----- long enough to see what they're stepping in front of. Imagine that cacophony of beeps and squeals and chirps. I guess that idyllic peek into the future was short lived, huh? I say, "butt out, Big Brother". A little cleansing of the gene pool might actually be a good thing. Just kidding. Sort of.

Looks like "quiet" will become an even rarer commodity in the future. But by then we'll all be either dead or deaf, so I guess it's a moot point.

S

Did you know....

....that even if the US Government shuts down later this week due to an inability to pass a new budget/funding bill, congress and the President will still get their full paycheck? Pretty sweet deal, huh? (I mean for them, not us.)

And along a similar vein, there is a bill before the Texas legislature that will allow elected officials who are permitted to carry handguns to go in to certain places armed, even it there is a notice posted on the door that says firearms are prohibited for anyone, licensed or not. These rules of course don't apply to us common folk.

And of course it's now common knowledge that congress does not pay in to Social Security, but has their own retirement system, and they have a medical insurance plan you or I would kill to have. Because they're special.

So now you know where the saying, "Do as I say, not as I do" originated.

I thought our new Republic disavowed royalty (and privilege) 235 years ago. I guess our elected officials didn't get the memo.

S

A new toy has popped onto our radar.....

This past weekend I saw the new (to North America) Fiat 500 that will be officially on sale here next week:

Innit cute? I brought home the literature they were passing out and now I think K wants one. I say that because today she sent me the results of the "virtual" Fiat 500 she built online. I know a hint when I see one!

I can just hear my (late) dad now: "So, son, where's the rest of it?" Hahaha!

S

From Maxine, my mentor.....

"So you're a sick senior citizen and the government says there is no nursing home available for you. What do you do?

Our plan gives everyone 65 years or older a gun and 4 bullets. You are allowed to shoot 4 politicians, not necessarily dead.

Of course, this means you will be sent to prison where you will get 3 meals a day, a roof over your head, central heating, and all the health care you need. Need teeth? No problem. Need glasses? Great! New hip, knees, kidney, lungs, heart? All covered. (And your kids can come and visit you as often as they do now.)

And who will be paying for all this? The same government that just told you they cannot afford for you to go into a home. Plus, because you are a prisoner, you don't have to pay any income taxes anymore."

IS THIS A GREAT COUNTRY OR WHAT?*

*I especially like the part about shooting all the politicians. Now that's what I call a public service! *wink*

S

Mystery and intrigue....

OK, so maybe I've been reading/watching too many spy thrillers, but something I saw yesterday really peaked my interest.

Mid-morning K and I took our newspaper and walked the one block to our neighborhood Starbucks where we got a coffee and an outdoor table and settled in for an hour. Before long several gentlemen, nicely groomed and casually dressed, pulled up a table not far away and began conversing. In a few minutes another few showed up and joined them, then a few more, then.... until a total of about 12 assembled.

They spoke in a foreign language that sounded to my untrained ear like a middle-eastern tongue. Many drank strong espresso and smoked those vile little cigar/cigarettes. Every few minutes one or another would take a phone call, walk a few steps away from the table, then would call a few of his friends over to apparently see a text message, then go back and share it with the entire group. No smiling, I don't think it was a joke-of-the-day type of text. Their discussion was very serious and very animated.

In my imagination I visualized this group was a government-in-exile, plotting with rebels back in their middle-eastern homeland to overthrow their evil dictator and re-assume their rightful place in history. I even visualised a coup d'etat underway right then, with these guys getting updates from their fellow conspirators back home on the progress of the revolution. Or maybe the evil dictator was getting whacked right then while they sat there and sipped their espresso. (Anyone heard anything about an evil middle-eastern dictator getting whacked yesterday?)

That, or they were discussing the latest bocce ball tournament results (or whatever they play in the mid-east). I dunno. I like my first theory better.

Interesting.

S

And the winners are.........

Alfa Romeo, and Alfa Romeo.

Today was Coffee and Cars, the monthly 1st Saturday car event in Dallas. I usually find one car that stands out in my mind as the one that impressed me the most. Today there were two. In the classic car category, I liked this 1959 Alfa Romeo Montreal:

It was spectacular! Of interest to me was the fact I've never seen one in the flesh before. A bystander familiar with the car told me the paint job alone cost the owner $30K, and I believe it. WOW! I don't know enough about it to know if it had "all original parts" or matching serial numbers, but I do know I loved it. :)

In the new(ish) car category I was "smit" with this Alfa Romeo 8C:

There were only 500 of these ever made, and I doubt you could buy one today at a price even close to it's $200K original price. It was actually assembled on the (sister company) Maserati assembly line, and is powered by a (sister company) Ferrari-built engine. And with an Alfa Romeo badge, that makes for quite a pedigree!

The weather was absolutely perfect, and the organizer told me attendance of show cars easily set a record. I was expecting 300+, but he said there were closer to a thousand. Who knows the actual number, but the lot was totally overflowing. And the crowd was in the multi-thousands, too, so thick in fact that it was difficult to take a photograph. Oh well, the price was right. "Free" is always right!

Hope your day was as satisfying as mine. Regards....

S

Mom was right...numbers ARE good for something....

....although I still haven't figured out why I had to learn algebra.

This year we will experience four unusual dates: 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11; that's not all....take the last two digits of the year in which you were born, now add the age you will be this year, and the result will be 111 for everyone! Try it. (No, I'm not smart enough to figure this out all on my own. Someone sent it to me.)

And even more freaky....this year October will have 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays and 5 Saturdays. This happens only once every 823 years.

Now you can wow your friends, and maybe win a beer at happy hour. :)

S