Saturday Car Day

Saturday was a day filled with sun and adventure.

To start off with, I went to Cars N' Coffee at their new Raleigh location at Waverly Place. The old place (that doesn't deserve a mention) turfed us last month, they hired security guards to turn everyone away. It's kind of funny considering that when I talked to one of the Porsche guys (they organized the event) he said he didn't think they (the Porsche guys) could stop it if they wanted to. He was wrong.

At any rate, the new location worked out wonderfully except that it was too small. I don't know what can be done about that, but it was a great location and it is an opportunity for the shop owners there that I hope they do not squander as the old place did. (Think about it, first Saturday of each month you know hundreds of people are going to be milling about right outside the front door of your place of business...what do you do?)

We completely filled the lower lot and had a couple of rows in the upper lot occupied as well.

Recognize that red car right in the center of the photo above? And just to the left of it...a beautiful matched set of Benz convertibles.

There was even a farmer's market.

It's a nice spot, complete with fountains.

Afterwards we grabbed a bite (at one of the Waverly Place shops, of course) and headed out to Lenoir NC for their monthly Cruise In. Last time there were only three of us, this time there were quite a few more (we had 7 cars from Raleigh and 14 total when we joined up with the rest of our party). Between us and the cars already there we filled up Mustang Alley (don't ask me how the Camaro got there, I don't know).

This show was a little smaller than last month, but still lots of interesting vehicles, including this one.

One of my favorite books growing up was The Red Car, starring a TC-MG. This one is black, but there it was in all of it's British glory. Something that I learned that I did not know was that the grille insert is supposed to be the same color as the interior. This car alone made the cruise-in worth the 3 hour drive.

But of course, there was more.

How about another unrestored original 68 Shelby GT-500?

or an original VW pickup?

My mother would love the Coca Cola car.

Speaking of pickups, when is the last time you saw one of these beauties?

I learned to drive a 3 on the tree in a car like this one, but it was a 4 door Bel Air not an Impala SS.

Chevy's W motors have distinctive valve covers, this guy has a matching air cleaner for his 58 Impala.

The drive back was in the mid to upper 80s, with the sun and top both down it was a pleasant end to an enjoyable day.

NOTE: The pictures are fuzzy, but they clear up when embiggened.

In The News

"Don't Hold Your Breath" edition.

Reclusive?

Whatever, all I want to know is where to put in my application.

From The Sea

Order Up

I have just placed my order for one of these.

Stay tuned...

Notes On Freedom

I'll call you on this:

and raise you.

Happy Independents Day!

Customer Service

I'm finally getting around to swapping the cable bill into my name.

My wife set it up when we moved into the house seven years ago, and I just decided that I wanted to be able to access the bill online. The problem is she already set it up, and I didn't have any of her passwords and information.

A quick call to the cable company and I was assured that if I went into the customer service center with a copy of the bill, my ID and a copy of her death certificate we could get everything set up.

So, pulling up to the customer service center I curbed another wheel.  Not that it has anything to do with this, but it kind of set the tone. So now on the right side of the pony I have one curbed wheel in the front and a bent one in the back. My joy knows no bounds. Back to the subject at hand.

What had to happen is the old account had to be canceled and a new account set up in my name. Why it couldn't have been as simple as changing the name and resetting all the passwords I don't know, but there it is. On a positive note I was able to get a promotional rate for the first 12 months which is less than I was paying before for essentially the same service.  I also traded in an old remote that didn't work so well for a brand new one.

When I got home I prepared to set up the new remote and lo and behold the cable didn't work anymore. A call to the customer service center and they swapped the accounts over...which is what I thought I was doing when I showed up in person.  With that done I got the remote working for the TV, but it won't program to run either the DVD/VCR or the surround sound. Good thing I still have the individual remotes for them, and we don't use either one all that much anyway so it's fine.

I then went to the magic elf box to set up the account online. I don't have a bill yet so I don't have a customer ID number. First hurdle. Another call to the customer service center to set up a callback to the number on record (which is where I was calling from, hello? even your stupid answer-bot figured that out). Customer ID number in hand I was able to set up the new online account.

The old account had a credit of a little over $200 but the new account had a charge of $180. Not only that, but there on the charges line plain as day was a modem rental fee. I have my own modem, and have had my own modem since day one. Another call to the customer service center and the rental fee was knocked off and the credit transferred to the new account.

All that just so I could view my bill online. It might have been easier just to not pay the damn thing and I'm sure they would have been all over the place to call me and get it all worked out.  But, everything seems to be in order now, so I guess all's well that ends well.

Still not a damn thing on worth watching though...

UPDATE: and now I don't have all the channels I had before either. I'm about ten minutes from telling them to come get all of their junk out of my house and going with satelite.

UPDATE II: Looks like they got it this time. We will see.

It's That Time

Project Valor-IT is having a fundraiser.

Go here for details.

Go here to donate or click on the sidebar link.

Go team Navy!

Ugh

What a hideous night.

1 %

That seems to be the new meme, only 1% are freeloaders who will not get insurance and will have to pay the fine. So far I've heard it from Carneybarker and Pelousy so it must be true.

Damn 1%'ers!

(sarc tag off)

Comments On The Day

I am steadily improving in my pistol shooting. I shot 50 rounds of steel case Tula ammo through the Glock and was slightly left of centerline but it was mostly all in the 8 ring with a handful of fliers and the dozen or so I put in the head - on purpose, I might add. The High Standard is still a fun and accurate little gun as well, I put 100 rounds through it and had a nice little hole in the middle and a dozen or so zombie-killing holes in the head. All of this hole-making was done at around 10 yards or so. At this rate I can work my way up to Tam's definition of "mediocre" maybe by the time I am 80 or so; before I was looking at 120 at least. This makes me happy.

The G-36 will reliably feed steel-case Tula ammo, for varying degrees of "reliably". I had one FTE in a 50 round box, which is about the norm for this pistol. On a different, but related, note I find that the G-36 will NOT reliably feed light hand-loads. This seems to confirm my suspicion that the recoil spring is maybe a bit too tight. I will be getting a lighter recoil spring* to see if it makes a difference. I am sanguine at the prospects (the hopeful kind, not the bloody kind). This makes me happy.

The Marlin is still a tack driver. I was only shooting it at 25 yards but I had a large hole in the center of the target for my troubles. Incidentally the Marlin is almost exactly dimensionally identical to the Arisaka T30 carbine, the length is the same but the trigger group is about 1/2" farther forward on the Marlin. I had never put the two side by side so I hadn't noticed until now. This makes me happy.

.338 Lapua makes me laugh every time it goes off. By the time GB had blown through a C note worth of smoke and noise** I was giggling uncontrollably.  Yes, the bitch goes boom, and she does so with authority. She also kicks like a mule. A well-behaved mule, but a mule nonetheless. I was a puddle of giggle by the time I had touched her off for a second time. That is one hell of a rifle. That made me delirious.

By definition any day at the range is a good one, and this was one of the best even though I only brought my little poodle-shooter to play with. The difference in report was pretty funny as well...tap - tap - tap - BOOM! tap - tap - tap...after a while I just gave up. It almost didn't seem worth the effort.

The day was finished off with a haircut, ordering the right tool kit for the Scooby so that I have a jack handle*** and dinner out with the kids. Plus, convertible. 110 degrees F is almost too hot for top down. Almost. Now, it's nap time.

*I should probably get another barrel for the G-36 as well. By my calculations I have put between 800 and 1000 rounds through it and it was used when I got it. How can you tell when the barrel needs to be replaced?

** The cheapest my Graf & Sons catalog has .338 Lapua ammo for is $52.99/box of 20 10, which ends up being  $2.65 $5.30 a round. He was shooting handloads at around $4.50 a round. Kind of makes me feel better about paying $22.99/box of 20 for 6.5x50 Japanese ($1.15/round).

***The trucklet was missing both jack and tool kit when I bought it so I had to order them both; the jack was OK but the tool kit ended up being the wrong one. It has only a tire iron and a screwdriver; the right one has a jack handle and a two-piece tie down kit for the flat that screws into the bed of the trucklet. I found this out when a friend in Florida tried to use the jack on his car. Good thing I never had a flat.

Zounds!

I have no .45ACP target ammo.

I can offer no explanation for my wretched state.

Off to the ammo store I go.

Say what you will about Sam's Big Box Store, if you want .45 ACP ammo at 8:30 at night, there's really only one place to go...

Interesting (in the Chinese sense of the word)

So Obamacare survives because, contrary to previous statements, it is a tax. How nice.

I had predicted the individual mandate would go down but somehow the court would come up with some shyster lawyerly scumbag (but there was no reason to repeat myself) means of keeping the rest.

I was wrong. They came up with a shyster lawyerly scumbag means of keeping all of it.

I'm going to the dentist now. I'm going shooting tomorrow, too. Hopefully this is not related to any of the above.

Yet.

Home Again

I think everything that Pop wanted to send back has been sent back. All of it fit in the back of the little scoobytruck like I thought it would, and I didn't even have to fold down the rear seats.

The ride back was rain-soaked all the way through Florida and Georgia, the sun came out halfway through South Carolina and then it was just the occasional sprinkle from there.

South Carolina has gas for less than $3.00 per gallon, the best price I saw was $2.979 but I understand it can be had for even less if you look hard enough. See North Carolina? It can be done! (For the record, our prices are pretty much the same as Florida.)

The speed limit on I-95 is 70 MPH all the way through Florida, Georgia and South Carolina with the occasional drop to 65 MPH in the cities.  The speed limit through North Carolina on I-95 is 65 MPH except for a brief spot through Fayett-nam that is 70. Maybe just a bit backwards? (The limit on I-40 is 70.)

I-95 was full of idiots, as usual, but the craziest thing was I-40 just before we got into Raleigh. The exit for Highway 70 was closed, and for some reason they had closed the right lane off as well, so traffic was backed up for a few miles.

Other than that...a pretty good trip. Next time I take the convertible.

Piling On

The whole Fast N' Furious thing is growing legs now with the declaration of executive privilege and all. Let me note that it would not have gone this far without the efforts of the internets, most notably David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh. I haven't written anything about it mostly because others are doing a much better job, but I hope it's clear if the balloon goes up...I'm on the side with all the guns.


Every Democrat president in my lifetime (I was born during the Johnson administration) has been more classless and clueless than the last. IMO there hasn't been a decent Dem as President since Truman, and I never imagined they would get one elected that made me think fondly of the Clinton years.

I'm almost afraid to see who will be next.

And We're Off

Today is Youngest Son's last day at school.

He wants to go down to Florida and spend about a month with his sister, so in a half an hour or so I'll go pick him up in the Scoobytruck and off we go.

I'm taking the trucklet because Pop has more stuff from his garage to come back with me. I should be able to get everything in without the trailer this time.

When I go to get Youngest Son at the end of next month I'll be driving the pony. It just about kills me to be in Florida without my convertible, but at least the Scooby is a good beach car.

Blogging light since I'll be on my cell card, for some reason I can't post comments when I'm on the road. Keep posting though, I'll be around.

Back For A Limited Time Only!

Gunwalker shirts!

You know you want one.

Click on the picture for details.

Help Wanted

I had no idea that finding vendors to sell T shirts at a car show could be so difficult.

Anyone know of one that can be available in Raleigh NC around October 6th?

Happy Father's Day

If you are fortunate enough to still have your Dad with you be sure to call him today.

Diamondback 2012

Finally.

Got Your Back

I got a little wake-up call from my back last night. I was cleaning up in the shop and knocked over a small box of bolts. I bent over and put the bolts back in the box, and when I straightened back up to put the box back on the shelf the pain hit me, right below the shoulder blades, like someone stuck me with a knife straight in the middle of my back, about halfway between shoulder and elbow height.

It wasn't the "ZOMG CALL AN AMBERLAMPS I THINK I'M GONNA DIE!!!" sort of pain, more like a "hey twinkie me and youse gonna talk later" kind of thing. I stood up and sort of stretched around for a bit and after a while it went away completely, but it got my attention.

I guess it's about time I gave up the illusion that I can still do all the things I did when I was younger. Thanks to my houseguests I haven't had to mow my own lawn for quite some time now, and if I complain long and loud enough the house stays clean with a minimum of effort on my part (only fair because it gets dirty with only a minimum effort on my part as well), so I actually haven't had to put myself through any real labor other than what is required of me at work.

It's also a reminder that part of the "lift with your legs and not your back" applies to my own bulk, which has gotten noticeably more in the past seven or so years. I used to laugh when the chiefs told me "if you are in Naval Aviation you are not sedentary!" but it appears to be true after all.

Looks like I need to take the stairs instead of the elevator at work, and no matter how good that cheesecake is one piece is probably enough. Maybe I'll even take Dog to the lake to walk the trails for a while this weekend, I know Dog would enjoy it at least. If nothing else it will make the doc happier when I go in for my annual.

Getting old ain't for sissies.

Behold!

the power of BACON!



HT: JayG

Mission Accomplished

Favorite Niece (well, at least she tells me she's my favorite) graduated Friday. She is going on to Shenandoah University.

Yes, the diploma was signed.

Saturday Youngest Son and I went to drive the Diamondback.

Afterwards we stopped for lunch at a restaurant along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a designated State Park. Apparently they haven't gotten the word about HB650.

We were glad to finally get home last night.

Fair Winds

Number One (and only) Blogson (I guess I can call him that, he blames me for getting started after all) has decided to take a break. Whether that break becomes permanent or not no one knows.

Thanks for everything Q. Come back any time.

The Longest Day

68 years ago today the Allied high command sat on pins and needles. We don't appreciate today how it could have easily gone the other way.

They fought, they died...they triumphed.

I Would Have

posted something about this, but seriously, if you are here on purpose you have seen it already.

Still, it is pretty cool.

One more night on the work schedule. To sleep, perchance to dream.

Two

I don't know if it gets better or if you just get used to it. Maybe a little of both.

Memorial Day

To all my brothers in arms


past present and future


I remember you

Lake Wheeler Car Show

I have a co-worker that has been working on a Mustang since I have known him, almost 7 years now. It is finally done and he entered it in a car show this weekend. Of course I had to get pictures.

I didn't remember him saying it was a Mach 1 so I was kind of surprised to see that it was. It is powered by the original 351 motor. It looked absolutely fantastic, he did a great job on it.

There were a lot of nice cars at the show, one of the more interesting ones I saw was this Chevy coupe pickup. I had no idea such things existed, the owner said there were only a handful left in existence and this is the only one on the East Coast.

Not all of the nice cars were in the show. I saw this original 68 California Special in the parking lot, so of course I had to get a picture.

 And of course I had to take a picture of the Baja, just because.

Afterwards I headed out to Lexington, South Carolina  for a meet-up with the Mustang Forums-Carolina Chapter crew. Any day I get to drive the convertible with the top down is a good one.

QOTD

Freedom is dangerous. Freedom is Life.

Lost Days

So yesterday morning I went to a shooting.

No, not that kind of a shooting. The kind where a camera crew comes out and films while you do something - in this case, a car show - in the background so the stars of the show can do what they do. Don't ask, I signed a non-disclosure agreement, but I'll surely let you know where and when to see my little Firefly in all her blazing red glory - if they even use that footage - when they tell me.

Side note...reality shows aren't real? Seriously? Another illusion shattered...next thing you'll tell me is TV wrestling isn't real either...

Having worked all night the night before I was a bit sleepy when I finally got home yesterday afternoon. I went and had a bit of shut-eye and woke up a few hours ago. Good thing the world didn't end yesterday evening or I'd have missed it.

And if you are in the Carolinas and have a hankering for a nice classic automobile you should really check out

East Coast Classic Cars. I saw an early 70's convertible in blue with silver Mach 1 stripes there that I would love to add to the collection, if I were well set up enough to have a collection.

The first pic is a Triumph TR-10 pickup. There is also a sedan, a station wagon and a delivery van. The owner of this little truck has the other three as well. Very interesting collection to say the least.

The last picture is for Brigid.

One Step Closer

The county assessors office has informed me that the value of my home has now increased another 14.15% over and above last year's increase, a value which should be reflected in next year's tax bill.

At this rate I should be one of the evil hated rich in no time at all.

Relocation

Markos has moved.

Same great writing, different web address.

Suicide Is Painless

If you want to off yourself I'm fully supportive of your right to do so, providing you do it in such a way as to not cause harm (physical or financial, emotional trauma is something you have to deal with on your own) to others.  Pick a nice out of the way place (the high desert comes to mind, or maybe the deep woods) where no one is going to bother you and have at it.

Leave the FMJ's at home, get you a nice hollowpoint, and center mass is a good way to go. That way if you flub the first shot you can bleed out before you change your mind. Ropes work OK too, as long as you tie off to a high enough branch where you can't touch the ground (or other branches) before you get to the end of your rope, but pills are sort of slow and razor blades are exquisitely painful, so I've heard. Jumping is no good either, the human body can sometimes absorb a surprising amount of trauma and due to the resulting full paralysis it's unlikely you will get a second chance.*

If you are using pills or razors you're probably not serious about the whole undertaking anyway, so it's best to just check yourself in and save the fuss and bother of paying for the 9-1-1 call. Not to mention, the middlemen will very likely appreciate being left out in this instance. Howsomever, if you do decide to make a call as you down that Ambien don't get all butt-hurt when you wake up tied down in the psych ward. (If that was your intention all along be sure to call someone who cares, otherwise it may not work out the way you had it planned.) You want to check out, go in the middle of the night without warning. That way there isn't anyone around to stop you. Otherwise, it isn't much of a call for help if no one picks up the phone, is it?

Don't expect me to feel sorry for you either, cause I'm not the guy who's going to agree with the idea that you getting hauled off to be fitted for a hug-me jacket is exactly like little girls getting stuffed into gas chambers. They'll eventually let you out of the rubber room, not so much from the ovens.

EDIT: In other words, what he said.

*Note for the intellectually impaired, this is not a primer for taking yourself out. I assume no responsibility for your actions, successful or not.

What I Did On My Spring Vacation

(Hey Subaru...about that endorsement deal? Whaddayasay?)

I also cleaned up Pop's computer and got half of his garage cleaned out, a single layer on the trailer. I think I can probably get the rest using just the little trucklet when I bring Youngest Son down for the summer in a couple of months.

And now that I'm no longer on the laptop/cell card, I can actually comment on some of the blogs that I visit. Also, back to work tonight, so there's that as well.

A Day At The Beach

It was cloudy and spit rain a few times on us, but we had a good time anyway.

Grandson saved these two critters from the birds, he put them back on the sand and covered them with the shell after he was done showing them off.

Tomorrow I head back north. I think I'll try to find another route other than I-95. Pulling that trailer on the interstate just doesn't sound like my idea of fun.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers in my life; my three daughters and my own Mother.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers in my magic elf box.

Love the ones that are here, miss the ones that are gone, give thanks for them all.

Finish Line

Thanks Caroll. It was one hell of a ride.

(I had to put a picture of the Dodges. Everyone else is doing Fords.)

Travels

In Jacksonville, on the cell card, which means bandwidth is for crap. Posting when I have a good connection.

I can read the blogs but I can't post comments. In the meantime all is well. Special note to Stephen, hope that everything works out for the best, too bad I didn't check in with you earlier (before I left this morning) because I just pulled an empty trailer from NC to FL. Maybe I could have saved you a trip.

Reload

Now that I have the hunting course under my belt I'd like to see if I can go slay Bambi or maybe one of his lesser cousins. (On a side note, it always amuses me to hear girls called Bambi when Bambi was a buck. Maybe it's the huge rack? But I digress...)

I have two bolt-action rifles that would be suitable for hunting, the Mosin and the Arisaka. I can buy soft-point rounds suitable for hunting for either rifle, but for the sake of discussion let's go with the Arisaka. I didn't run the numbers for the Mosin but I figure they will probably end out about the same. I have enough FMJ for the Mosin to supply the average Russian peasant through the next world war, but no rounds suitable for hunting so I'd either have to buy or load rounds for it as well.

A box of Hornady 140gr soft-point 6.5x50 Japanese will run about $1.40/round from Grafs, that's about as low as it gets for hunting rounds. Hornady 129gr SST's run about $1.45 and the Norma Alaska 156gr runs about $1.60 per round.  I can get target rounds (FMJ), not suitable for hunting, for about $1.15 per round. Any way you slice it, that's over a buck a round (which, along with its tendency to shoot high, explains why I don't shoot it much).

Reloading with the cheapest brass (PRVI) and 139gr soft-point bullets (also PRVI), along with the primer and 6 lbs of powder, which should load 1000 rounds at 40 grains per round with enough left over to cause serious damage if it isn't stored properly, will average out to about 47.5 cents per round for 4000 rounds (using the brass 4x), a savings of about 92 cents a round, over $3600 for all 4000 rounds. (All prices from the Grafs catalog, which is the one I have on hand. I'm sure if I scour the interwebs I can find prices higher and lower than what I have here.)

Likelihood of me shooting 4000 rounds through a pre-WW1 Japanese rifle approaches null, so if I only purchase 500 rounds of the brass and reload it 4x each it will still average to about 48 cents per round and save me a bit over $1800 for 2000 rounds. If I only reload it twice it ends up being about 60.5 cents per round, saving me $790 for 1000 rounds. Worst case scenario, if I get all new brass for 1000 rounds and only reload it once it averages out to around 83 cents per round, which still saves me $570 for the first thousand rounds.

How much is a reloading setup again?

UPDATE: I can get 150 grain SPBT PRVI ammo for the Mosin at $15.59/box of 20 which is about $0.78/round. The cheapest reload ends up being 59.7 cents/round for 4000 rounds - again, not likely that I'm going to put 4000 rounds through the Mosin, so if I buy 1000 brass and reload once it ends up being 91 cents per round - cheaper to buy than reload. If I buy 500 brass and reload twice it is 71 cents a round for 1000 rounds for a total savings of $70, and if I reload it four times it is 59.3 cents per round for 2000 rounds for a total savings of $374. The only way I do better than break even is to reload more ammo than I will likely ever use.

I think I'll just buy the Mosin's ammo.

On The Agenda

Today it's raining and is expected to do so all day and night. We could use the rain, but tomorrow is supposed to be nice and sunny again. I have an appointment to take the 'stang in for a good cleaning, the last time it was washed we did it right here, with our well water, and didn't get it dried off so now it has water spots.

This morning as I was walking the dog I saw a single rose on the bush in Laura's grove. It's the first rose ever from that particular plant and there is only the one, not even any buds anywhere else. Plenty of leaves so I knew the plant was healthy, but it's good to finally see a rose - even if it's just the one.

On Friday I will load the boys up in the Scooby, attach the trailer, and then we're off to Florida to help Pop clean out his garage. We'll get some beach time as well, I will drive the AWD Subaru out on the beach where I won't the Mustang.

I had to take some vacation or lose it. I so rarely take time off that I won't know what to do with myself, but I'm sure something will come up.

Laura's Garden

Quote Of The Day

"I do not like progressives. They always want to progress me to the Place du Carrousel in 1793, or Red Square in 1917. If you're going to progress me to the past, I prefer Concord, Massachusetts, 1775."

Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Meme

From Aggie Sith, who got it from The Real Dave, 11 things about me:

#1– Book or movie, and why?

Books. I don't really watch much TV and I can buy a book once and read it as many times as I wish instead of paying for a movie every time I want to see it. Besides, if I get tired I can put the book down and come back to it later. Can't really do that with a movie. And plus, they haven't put this kind of awesome in a movie. Yet.

#2– Real book, or e-book?

Real book. I haven't sprung for an E-reader yet. Maybe one day, but not today.

#3– Funniest thing you’ve done in the past five years?

uh...

#4– Do you put yourself in the books you read/write, or the movies you watch?

Sometimes, but not always.

#5– How would your best friend describe you?

He says I'm a wimp because I put a recoil pad on the Mosin I bought from him. Meh.

#6– Favorite kind of car and why?

You have to ask?

#7– Would your choice of party be a catered meal, or a barbeque out back?

BBQ, hands down.

#8– What is your favorite season and why?

Summer. Goes along with that whole convertible thing.

#9– What specific lesson have you learned: spiritual, educational, occupational?

The only person that gets hurt by your hate is yourself.

#10– Besides writing (for the blog, or otherwise), what’s your favorite thing to do when you get some extra time?

Drive!

#11– What is one place you can be found at least once a week?

Work. Bleh.

Another Defenseless Victim Zone

Where???

You gotta be kidding me!

Apparently not...

Note to management...check your target audience, adjust accordingly.

Cars n Coffee

Cars N Coffee at Brier Creek Commons in Raleigh started out as a Porsche meeting every Saturday. Somehow other car enthusiasts found out about it and decided that they should join in the fun on the first Saturday of every month. No one is quite sure when it started, but now it has become self-aware and, in the words of one Porsche club member, "I'm not sure if we could shut it down if we wanted to."

They get everything from old American beaters

to high-dollar foreign exotics

 

and everything in between

 

 

including a Porsche or two.

They even get a few motorcycles in.

It's always a fun time and always something different to see.

MOTM Video

The video was shot on NC28, known as Moonshiner 28. Youngest Son was holding the camera on the dash and then the video was stabilized, which explains the way the foreground moves around. Enjoy!

My pics of the Mustangs on the Mountain event can be found here.

Off to Cars n Coffee at Brier Creek Commons this morning.

Earwig of the Day

HT: Erin

Today

is my younger (but not little, he hasn't been my little brother in quite some time now) brother's birthday.

When I left him a message on the book of faces I saw that someone else had said "May the Forth be with you." and I didn't know what it meant.

Oh. I see now.

Happy Birthday Brother!

What Was Once

Is again.

Who da'?

Sneaking around in the back there...who can that be?

It was a pretty good weekend.

See the black car with the red stripes? Vote for him here.

Ouch, Part 2

Had a tooth pulled today and a bone graft where the tooth used to be.

It sucks.

Thatisall.

The Perfect Country And Western Song

He got runned over by a danged old traiiiiiiin....

Sorry. That's just what I thought of when I read Tam's description.

First Rose

Three years ago yesterday Mother In Law left us. Pop still putters around in the last house they lived in together. I have some time off this month, I am going down to help him clean the garage out. He's making noises about moving again. We will see if he does.

One year and a month, to the day, her daughter followed her into that great beyond. She got to see the roses before she went. Every year the roses come, and every year I can hear her delightedly say "The roses are blooming!"

This is the first rose of the year.

Mustangs on the Mountain - The Follow-Up

We have seen the Dragon, and it is ours.

Or at least, we lived through it.

52 cars at the dam for the fundraising raffle, 23 cars on the Dragon afterwards, eight of us early Sunday morning, and $3939.45 a little over $4000 raised for the Wounded Warrior Project (we had some last-minute donations).

On a related note, I really want a GoPro now, as well as a good digital video camera (mine uses cassette tapes that are getting hard to find).

Sonova...

I just dropped 2K on dental work and now I'm being told there's another almost 6K to do.

I wonder how much it would be to just let them all fall out and get the kind you keep in a glass beside the bed at night?

I told the doc unless he wanted to do it for free it is going to have to wait for a while. There's other things I want. Like food and shelter.

FML.

Wounded Warrior Project

Got the banner today.

We commence our run on Saturday.

You can still get your raffle tickets here.

As It Turns Out

the Mustang's powertrain warranty is 5 years and 60K miles. Good thing I was planning on doing the suspension work first.

Any bets on what is going to run out first?