29 May 2011

Memorial Day

Thanks.

26 May 2011

Headrests

One of the few gripes I have with the Mustang is the headrests that came with the car. They are canted forward at such an angle that I found them to be uncomfortable.

The problem is the Federal safety regulations that decreed the headrests (actually they are head restraints, not head rests) should be no farther than 1" from the back of the seat occupant's head. I don't know who's head the Ford engineer designed these for, but the only way I could halfway comfortably sit in the seat was to pull them up to the top of their travel and lay the seat back, but that was not a comfortable angle for me to drive.

I ended up taking them to a local machine shop, they were able to bend the bars on them so they stood upright a little more. This was better, but still not optimal as I still had to lay the seat back farther than I liked to be able to comfortably drive the car.

A quick check of the Mustang message boards reveals that I am not the only one. Older model cars (2005-2009) with similar seats have aftermarket headrests available that are adjustable in tilt, but the 2010/2011 do not.

Until now.

Mustang Racing Technologies has released a version of their tilting headrests for the 2010/2011 Mustang, and they have them with black stitching to match the GT/CS. I ordered a set and they came in a couple of weeks ago.

My first impressions weren't very favorable, the MRT headrests are physically larger than the stock ones and look kind of bulky. Also the grain of the vinyl is finer on the MRT units when compared to stock. Overall they are well made, but the differences in size and style kind of threw me off for a bit.

Then I put them in and tried them out. The difference in the comfort level is like night and day, even though I had taken my old headrests to a machine shop to have them bent they still don't stand as upright as the aftermarket units. The MRT headrests have a four-position adjustable tilt, so no matter how bulbous or flat the back of your head is there is an angle that will fit you comfortably.

I've had them in for a couple of weeks now and I can't imagine ever having a situation where I would want to put the stock units back in.

25 May 2011

More MOB photos

More pics from the car show last week:







21 May 2011

Mustangs of Burlington Car Show

Eight little Mustangs from the Heart of Carolina formed a line and went to Burlington NC today to participate in the car show there. Many great cars of all different manufacturers, perfect weather and a good time was had by all. These are but a few of the pictures I took, the rest can be found here.

Enjoy!

19 May 2011

FWIW

As a general rule Muslims don't wear turbans. Muslims wear keffiyeh.

Sikhs wear turbans. They are definitely not Muslim, and they aren't Arab either.

The Pashtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan are Muslims who wear turbans, but the majority of turban wearers are Indians.

15 May 2011

Good!

Anniee is back!

Go over and say hi.

13 May 2011

grrr

So Blogger went down for almost 2 days.

In the meantime one post I was working on was lost without a trace. I had the misfortune of working on it and hitting the publish button just as the site went down.

Also, three comments that I had published, along with my replies to them, were inexplicably deleted. My email record says they were published, but they are not here. Sorry PBJ, I swear to you I did publish them, really I did.

Ah, well what do you expect for nothing, I guess.

09 May 2011

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my three daughters who are now all three mothers.

07 May 2011

That's New

I have grapes.

I don't know what kind of grapes they are, I just know that the vine has been back in the woods behind the house for quite some time now. A web search reveals that Muscadine grapes are native to North Carolina, but they are only supposed to do well in sunlight and these are in the shade.

This morning I pulled the vine out of the thick leaf covering and today I'm planning a trip to the local home improvement box store to get something that can be used as a trellis. I don't know what will come of it, if anything, but I figured I would put the vine up on a trellis and see if it will produce.

I'm expecting them to be the wild variety of Muscadine grape which stays green throughout it's growing cycle, but we will see.

04 May 2011

The Good And The Bad



I paid just over $50.00 to put just under 13 gallons of gas into the Banana Boat this morning. 87 octane, not the high grade stuff.

The pump asked me if I wanted a car wash. As it was raining at the time, I declined.

They should be offering a reach-around instead.

On a good note though, this has arrived and I have my weekend plans all set.

02 May 2011

Well Done

Tagged and bagged by US Navy SEALs and buried at sea so his grave can't become a pilgrimage site.

I don't think I have to tell you how proud I am of my Navy today.

01 May 2011

Troubled Times



I work nights, so the night before my scheduled work nights I force myself to stay awake so that I can sleep the next day. During those efforts I get my household chores done, but I spend a lot of time surfing the interwebs.

This morning I ran across something that unexpectedly tore off scabs I thought had healed at least into scars. It's been almost a year, but every once in a while I am forced to acknowledge that the raw aching pain of it is not far beneath the surface even now.

As I read Matt's words I was reminded of the helplessness, of the anger, of the despair. The worst part is knowing that there is nothing that you can do, time will run its course and have its way with all of us in the end, but watching it happen to someone who holds your soul in their hands is surely worse than having it happen to you.

In the end she knew, but she did not tell me. She did not want anything to change between us, and she always got what she wanted. Cancer may have killed her, but it never beat her.

In the end none of us know how long we have on God's earth, so we have to make the most of what we have. No matter if it is one year or a hundred years be sure to tell those you love that you do love them, because one day it will be your last chance to do so, and that day comes and goes in an eyeblink.

In the end, as the song goes, you have to live like you're dying, because you are from the day you are born.

And finally, in the end, just as surely as there is pain in this world there is peace beyond. I have that on very good authority.

My prayers are with you Matt. God bless.