So Much To Do

The little Rampage gave me a hard time last Saturday. As I was pulling out of the driveway on the way to work it locked into neutral. I ended up driving the wife's car in all week.

Today I took the transmission linkage apart and freed it up, and while I was there I did a little work on the carberator and smog pump as well. When I was done I was hot, tired and sweaty and the youngest boy was clamoring to get into the pool.

After showering up, the pool seemed like a pretty good idea, so into the pool we went until the sky clouded up. It was a pretty good ending to the day.

Tomorrow it's back to work for another four days, but then I get a four day weekend as we go back to a 3 and 4 schedule. Overtime is back, I got a raise with my annual review, so we will be able to get some of the Florida travel bills paid off.

Maybe I'll be able to get this guy paid for the truck work as well, I can't wait to see Old Frank restored to his former glory.

Memorial Day

Some gave all.

Remember them.

Just When I Think

I've met the stupidest person in the world...

Someone comes along and proves me wrong.

Fair warning, I've just spent the better part of four hours on this site, and my sides are painful.

Thanks to Annie for the link on her sidebar.

Historical Questions

The Hotel Buena Vista in Biloxi MS had an open air deck on it's top where this lady would perform.

Her regular clientele in 1949 and 1950 included a young Army Air Corps (precursor to the US Air Force) soldier and his buddies, who would scrape up the money for a cab ride from the base to hear her sing.

That young Army Air Corps soldier was Pop.

Every night there was a drawing for a bottle of champagne, and when he and his friends were there she would somehow arrange for them to win the bottle.

Her name was Jean, her last name (inscribed on the photo) was either Wilson or Nelson. I'm leaning towards Wilson because there is a dot just above and to the left of the L in her signature.

Does anyone know this lady? I would be very curious where she is now and how her life turned out. She would be in her 80's now.

If you have any knowledge of Ms Wilson/Nelson's whereabouts, please post in the comments section.

Soul Searching

We are back home again, we got in last night. It's good to be home.

Today we went to have dinner with some friends that we haven't seen for a while and it was a good time had by all.

On the way home I remarked that it seems as if her depth perception is suffering a bit.

She told me I wasn't supposed to have noticed that. It's one of the by-products of the chemo.

She then asked me how much I really knew about her illness. I told her I knew more than I let on.

It's easy to forget what is going on because she doesn't look sick. The fact remains that she is, and the illness is fatal.

But then again, life itself is fatal. No one lives through it.

This is why we spend a lot of time not talking about it. There isn't anything we can do about it, so we just enjoy the time we have together and we don't worry about things we can't change.

This says it best.

He's Right You Know

It does look like a tree rat.

Travelin' Man

I came back to NC last Saturday, and I'm going back down to Florida this afternoon.

Last week I left the wife to take care of some things for Pop. He really didn't need the help, I suspect he just wanted the company. She's more than ready to come back home.

On the way north I took a detour through Jax Airport rather than take I-295 all the way to I-95. I really can't say why.

On the entrance ramp there was a man holding a sign that said "Virginia". Yes, I stopped to pick him up. Again, I really can't say why.

His name was Mickey, and he was coming from Las Vegas, Nevada going to Richmond, Virginia where his brother lived. He had grown up in North Carolina, and had worked mostly odd jobs in Vegas for the past 15 years or so. When the economy went south so did the demand for unskilled labor.

He told me tales of his travels from Vegas to Jacksonville, and I told him some sea stories. Somewhere in the middle I made sure he had a full belly, and I let him off when I peeled off of 95 onto I-40, heading for home.

He thanked me profusely, and told me he would never be able to repay me for getting him so far along his way, and for the meal. I told him that my ordained minister parents (yes, both of them) would have never let me hear the end of it if I had let him go away hungry. Whatsoever you do undo the least of these, and all that.

Mickey was a stranger to me, but his story is familiar. His story is why I pushed my kids to get an education and learn a trade. Two of the three who should have finished a long time ago have listened, a fourth is in grade school, and I'm still working on the third. Maybe he will listen one day, too. Until then I'll keep pushing.

God bless you Mickey. I hope you find what you are looking for.

Internet Verbs

I would like to submit "Pelosi" as the new Internet verb.

To be "pelosied" one has to 1) brazenly lie about something and then 2) be called out for it publicly by the person or persons you lied about. Extra points if that person or persons produce documentation (particularly video spread virally through the interwebs via You Tube or some such method) to back their claims.

Double points if the target then lies about the documentation and gets pelosied on that. Points double every time this occurs.

More points awarded if your friends and cohorts decline to be pelosied with you.

Whoever gives up or goes to jail first loses.

I wonder if Barney Fwank has been Pelosied over the whole Freddie/Fannie affair? If not, he needs to be and very soon, but I doubt anyone at Freddie or Fannie has the stones to call him out. Perhaps another lender would do, especially if it was done during one of Congress's famous snits where they call in the corporate execs that they blame the trouble on (because the corporate execs were trying to follow the dictates of congress, but none of them ever seem to say so).

Mostly linked through Ace O' Spades, and the links that aren't to Ace's place have been obtained from there. He links Hot Air, I link him, what can I say.

On The Road Again

We're back in Florida.

We left yesterday and made it as far as Jacksonville where we stopped for the night at the daughter's house. We came the rest of the way to Lake City today.

Pop is doing OK, but a good descriptive word would be "diminished". He has always been fairly boisterous, but the spark has gone out of him. Losing Mom was a blow that he will take a while to recover from, but I believe he will recover.

We spent the day going through some old pictures, I'll be posting a few later on. Until then, here's a question for anyone who reads this blog and has any knowledge of Biloxi MS in the 1949-50 time frame. There's a picture I'll be posting, I'll tell the story and I'd love to hear if anyone out there can add to it.

The question, by the way, is to anyone who can name the singer that used to perform on the top deck of the Buena Vista hotel in Biloxi in 1949 and 1950. Her first name was Jean, her last name was either Wilson or Nelson. The question(s) are, what was her last name, and what is the lady doing today?

At any rate, we will be busy. I'll be heading back to the Refuge on Saturday and I'll come back to Florida to get the wife in a week or so after the memorial is done. In the meantime, light blogging.

Thanks for the prayers and well-wishes, they are greatly appreciated.

Break Needed

If I wasn't the answer to so many other people's problems I might be able to solve a few of my own.

Happy Mother's Day

Mother In Law passed away a week ago yesterday. It's the first Mother's Day that the wife has not been able to call her mother. She's taking it a little harder than she lets on.

She called my mom instead. Methinks Mom had better get used to some Sunday afternoon chat sessions.

The date and tag line is for Monday since it's after midnight as I post this. My apologies for anyone who really cares.

Gahh!

Does anyone care less than I do what Obama had for lunch?

I thought not.

The New Media

Someone needs to be harassed in a "severe, repeated and hostile manner".

That someone would be your Congresscritter.

Hard, fast and continuously. Repeat as required. The message: make sure that the unconstitutional H.R. 1966 never sees the light of day. As it is presently in committee it very well may die there, but action is needed to ensure this.

Additionally, our elected representatives should know that, by the very document they purport to serve, such legislation should never, ever, see paper. It kind of makes you think that some of them have never read the thing.

Hat tip to Small Dead Animals by way of Five Feet of Fury.

Five Feet of Fury is a new link, by the way. Go check it out.

Pictures of Roanoke, VA

As promised, here are some photos from our Roanoke trip.

The Roanoke Star stands on the mountain overlooking the city. It was erected to commemorate Roanoke as a progressive city, back when progressive meant constantly moving forward rather than communistic.

From the platform in front of the star you can look out over the entire city. The Norfolk and Western (now Norfolk Southern) roundhouse that houses the Virginia Transportation Museum is down there somewhere.

The museum is the home of various bits and pieces of transportation history, such as this Packard automobile.

Wandering through the trains section outside, Chris and I stumbled upon something that every Pennsylvania Railroad fan will recognize.

The star of the show is the most beautiful steam locomotive in the world, the Norfolk and Western J class 4-8-4 (this particular wheel arrangement is known as a "Northern" everywhere but in the South).

This photo gives an idea of the size of the massive beast. The boys in the photo are my ten year old son Christopher on the right and my five year old grandson Mark on the left.

Back To Work

I'm back to work today, maybe one of these days I'll be able to take some time off for an actual vacation.

Lots of loose threads to tie up, hopefully I'll be able to get everything updated and "tied off" so to speak on Wednesday.

A Bad Day At The Refuge

Unfortunately the mechanic was right about the Taurus, the head gaskets are blown. The car had just sat long enough for the water to separate out of the oil, as soon as we got the motor started (with no white smoke) the water started bubbling in the expansion tank and the oil turned milky.

We got on our way yesterday and made it as far as Charleston SC before we stopped. Our nice leisurely trip had to come to an abrupt end this morning.

We awoke to the phone ringing, MIL coded this morning. They got her heart beating again, and Pop was on his way to the hospital when we left the hotel. Just north of Georgetown Pop called again. They were unable to get her blood pressure back up, and she slipped away sometime around noon.

Thanks for all the prayers, say one for Pop.

Stage Two

The next part of our journey took us from Green Cove Springs, where the hospital is, to Jacksonville to the eldest daughter's house. We were planning on only staying a day or so and continuing up the coast, stopping off to see the wife's aunt in uncle in south Georgia, but we have been extended due to automobile issues. Nothing serious, in fact it's kind of good news.

My daughter had a Taurus that was having overheating problems and she was finally told the head gaskets were blown. She didn't have the money to fix it, she had another car, so she gave the car to me. The plan was to borrow a truck to tow it back to NC with and fix it there. Today I took a real good look at it.

The overheating problem was caused by the plastic expansion tank being cracked, the crack would open under pressure and vent all the water out and the car would overheat. The last time it happened the daughter shut the car off and had it towed to my son-in-law's job, where he took it to the mechanic who told them the engine was damaged.

I checked the engine oil, and there was no milk in it, which indicates the engine doesn't have any problems after all. I found another expansion tank at the junkyard for five bucks, the only one that was there out of about a dozen cars, so I'm thinking this is a common problem.

I would have put it in already, but on the way home from the junkyard the Pontiac started heating up. It turns out the radiator fan went bad on me, so I had to replace that before I went any farther. Thankfully it wasn't a difficult or costly fix.

Tomorrow I will put the expansion tank in, fill the radiator, start the car and let it idle for a half-hour or so and see if it overheats again. After that I will check the oil problem again. If there aren't any problems I will have about fifteen dollars in the car, five for the expansion tank and ten for the coolant.

I'm guessing that the car will idle fine in the hot Florida sun for a half hour with the AC on without overheating, I will see no bubbles in the expansion tank after I top off the coolant, the car will not blow white smoke from the tailpipes (both daughter and SIL tell me the car never did smoke), and afterwards the oil will be water-free.

If that is the case, I will feel bad for taking the car, and in fact I have already told them they can have it back if it's OK, but they will not hear of it. So if it checks out I'll get the plates for it just before we come back down to bring the wife back to stay with Pop after her treatments and I'll drive it back up north.

It will be a good replacement for the Pontiac which is showing it's age. The wife wants to keep the Pontiac for her every day car and save the Taurus for road trips since it's bigger (we have been taking the Aries station wagon for that purpose, but it has a broken air conditioner).

It will need a battery (because the one that was in it is now in the daughter's other car) and a full set of tires to pass inspection, but otherwise it's in good shape all around. I have a handful of cosmetic things to fix in the interior, one small dent near the gas fill door, and it needs hubcaps. I'm thinking trim rings and moon caps since it's a white car, that way I can watch the other drivers on the road freak out at me when they think it's an unmarked police car.

Of course that gives me a total of five cars after the old pickup gets put back together (including the one that my youngest daughter is driving). Funny thing is, they all have their niches. The Rampage is my daily driver, the Aries is my camping and fishing car (that's the one the youngest daughter is driving), the Pontiac is my wife's car, and the old truck has earned it's keep even if it never moves another inch. The Taurus will be the spare vehicle/family outing car.

Since the Rampage can fill the camping and fishing role (as long as it's just Christopher and me), and since the youngest daughter has driven the Aries fifteen of the eighteen months I have owned it, I might as well just sign the damn thing over to her. She can sell her Topaz since it has just been sitting all this time (it needs a tire to pass inspection, but why bother when she's driving Dad's car?).

So that's it for the saga of Things With Wheels...until next time. And my "next car" was a Ford this time, so the Big Three will be represented in my driveway (two Dodges, a Pontiac and a Chevrolet from GM, and a Taurus from Ford). I wonder if I will ever own a new car? Maybe someone will take all my old ones for a trade-in.

In real news Arlen Sphincter has finally come out of the closet. It's about time.

Stage One

I arrived at my Florida destination this morning just in time for SWMBO and Pop to go to the VA, get his eye looked at (the post op looks good, the cataract surgery was a success for the left eye, right eye happens in about a month) and go see MIL at the hospital.

Tomorrow we will go see MIL, I have to check the daughter's car out, and then we will start our meandering journey back home. We're planning a coastal trip rather than an I-95 one, it should be much more restful this way.

Of course today I got a message saying my photos from the Roanoke trip are in. I'll try to get some posted at the end of the week, along with any that I take this week that catches my fancy.

The news stories of the day are SWINE FLU PANDEMIC!!! and the idiotic trip of Air Farce One over New Yawk City.

First, less than 100 cases of swine flu in a nation of 300 million is not yet a cause for widespread panic. As I watched the news I was struck by the obvious attempts of the "reporters" to create a big issue (and thus a big news story) out of it, and the experts were all making variations on the "it's a cause for concern but not alarm" theme.

It's more severe in Mexico and overseas, which says a lot for both our standard of living and also for our much-maligned medical care system. Wash your hands and get a shot if you are in the at-risk demographic, other than that I've heard TheraFlu does wonders.

Second, Bambi claims he knew nothing about his airplane being used for a photo shoot. I'm not convinced. The "American Idol" president didn't know anything about a photo shoot involving the aircraft that becomes Air Force One when he's aboard, right. Pull the other one, it's got bells.

Be that as it may, the brain child that cooked up this idea needs to find new employment and the pilots that flew the mission rather than saying "Hey, this is a REALLY DUMB idea" need to be re-assigned to the "rubber dogsqueeze to Hong Kong" route.

A Slight Delay

I was going to post some pictures of the Roanoke trip, but unfortunately the film didn't show when it was supposed to. So, it will have to wait a while.

Next week will be busy, I'll be heading off to Florida Monday evening to pick up the wife and we're going to take our time getting back. It should be a nice relaxing ride.

MIL is not doing well, and Pop is having a hard time coming to grips with that. Not surprising since they have been together for 56 years.

Light posting next week due to the trip.

The Week In Review

It was a busy week.

My sister recently moved from an apartment to a townhouse, and in the process her dining room table became surplus. My wife wanted it, so arrangements were made to pick it up. Of course this was before the whole incident with the mother in law.

Anyway, on Thursday the three boys and I went to Roanoke to get the table and see Sister's new digs.

If you ever get a chance to travel four hours with three boys ages 4, 6, and 9, I highly recommend that you slit your wrists instead.

But, travel aside, we had a good time in Roanoke. I left my digital camera, so I bought a cheapie from Wallyworld only to find out that the reason it was so cheap is that it had no internal memory. I would have known that if I had read the package.

Fortunately I bought a couple of one-time use cameras as well, so pictures and a full write-up will be forthcoming when the pics are developed.

And, once I got the SD card installed into the new digital it was OK. Not great, but OK. I'll end up using it when we take our camping and fishing trips, that way the more expensive camera won't be at risk.

I also found someone that will actually do the body work on my old 62 Chevy C-10 instead of just talking about it. I really can't afford it, but at the price he quoted I can't pass it up either, and he takes payments, so it's all good.

He took the cab away today and he will come back for the rest a bit at a time as he has the time and I have the cash. It will be good to see Old Frank back in one piece again.