RW> If they still exist, my brother would have them. We're not on speaking
RW> terms.
 
It was that way between my brother and I almost to the end of his days.
 
RW> With the competition here in SA among Chevy dealers, I doubt that anyone
RW> in SA would be making any less than ya'll there in NO. If they paid a man
RW> lower than somewhere else, he's going to go there looking for work.
 
I doubt it was that bad 30 years ago.  The Benson organization came in here
and the gossip is that some jaws dropped when they saw the salaries some of
us were pulling down.  Hey!  We EARNED that making our dealership the best
in the city, but evidently that wasn't factored in by the new owner. 
Anyway, the speech we received about "starting over" stung all of
us.  To go from a two week vacation to one week is bad enough, but if your
vacation was a month away, you didn't get it -- you had to wait until next
year.
 
RW> As long as you folks line his pockets with gold without end, probably
RW> not.
 
I used to get season tickets to watch a losing team in the early Seventies.
When Benson bought the team, that was the end of me going to the Superdome.
Personally, I enjoyed the games much more when they were outdoors at Tulane
Stadium (my favorite U), sometimes known as the Sugar Bowl.  See:
 
http://www.stadiumsofnfl.com/past/TulaneStadium.htm
 
RW> We do things like that. He's leaving home and needs a computer for after
RW> hours to browze the internet. I have and older one that I don't need, so
RW> it's his.
 
I used to have deals like that, but since I've been away from here for 10
years, it's difficult to get them again, particularly because I've outlived
most of those guys and have a distrust for the younger ones.
 
RW> I think there are other people named Benson besides him.
 
Of course.
 
RW>RN> I noticed the Chevy dealer here is adding a section to the front of
RW>RN> his building.  GM is probably financing it with taxpayer money.
 
RW> Could be.
 
I mentioned that to someone yesterday and he agreed.
 
RW> When I was 16, I worked in a dairy. I've been a soda jerk and have sold 5
RW> gallons of ice cream for $5 plus tax, total $5.25 in those days. $5 won't
RW> even get you a half gallon these days. Every other Sunday, I worked the
RW> morning shift by myself. By afternoon, I already had my fair share of ice
RW> cream.
 
I didn't work in a dairy, but I did work a soda fountain at one time and
did all sorts of things.  One of the simplest things I made was simple
syrup and I can't remember how to do that anymore.  (-: At the time I was
buying those 5-quart buckets of ice cream, the price was $4.87+tax.
 
RW> Late model trucks have the spare mounted on the end of a cable that you
RW> use the screw jack handle to lower.
 
I hope I don't get one of those, although I would like to own a truck again.
 
RW> Putting the flat tire in the place of the spare wasn't allowed by the
RW> company I worked for; it had to be placed in the bed.
 
That makes sense.  In the bed, you knew something was wrong with it and
under the bed you'd forget about it.
 
RW> Lifting a heavy wheel and tire into the bed is more work than putting it
RW> where the spare came from.
 
Hmn, I don't know if I can agree with that, but I haven't tried it.
 
RW> If it had air in it, it could be bounced into the bed, but then, being
RW> flat is why it's not on the ground anymore.
 
(-:
 
RW> The way I did it was to place the tire in front of my right leg and
RW> using my leg and my hands, threw it onto the tailgate. I learned that
RW> technique while visiting my cousin on the farm. He used that method to
RW> put full 10 or 12gal milk cans into the cooler.
 
That's the way I did it, too, sans the milk cans.
 
RW> Would they freeze in Lousiana?
 
It has been known to get below freezing in winter here.  I recall when I
moved to Mandeville in 1995 and lived in an apartment complex by the yacht
harbor. I was glad the complex I lived in had fireplaces in all of its
apartments.  It was my first winter there when I hopped into my truck and
drove about gathering kindling -- that parish abounds with kindling.  My
ears darn near froze off!  I can look it up, but I'd hazard a guess that
the temp was in the teens and with a strong wind coming off the lake, it
was not an ideal situation.  I had a USMC combat jacket on with the lining,
so my torso was kept warm, but the exposed parts suffered.
 
RW> Why didn't the captain move the ship before the shells hit it?
 
I don't know if that's a decision he can make without the fleet commander's
approval.  That said, it takes time to call GQ, get up steam, hoist the
anchor and get underway.  That doesn't sound like much time, but it is,
believe me.  In conclusion, he didn't talk about it, so I'm only guessing
at the decisions to be made.  When you don't know both sides of the story,
all you can do is guess.  The time it would take for that type of ship to
get underway is factual, though.
 
RW> It took a while for me to get used to it too. My Camaro has a switch to
RW> turn off the 'traction' control, which is a part of the ABS controlled by
RW> the PCM. If you brake with full pressure while it's on, the rear end
RW> begins to bounce on surfaces that have no traction in the first place and
RW> the pedal bounces around. This happens mostly on loose gravel in the
RW> center turn lanes. Turning off the traction control gives you more
RW> control over the car. The feature I don't like about it is that when
RW> traction control is on, the PCM also closes the throttle, so your foot
RW> is pushed back by the motor that closes it.
 
My Mark VIII has none of that, but it does have a switch mounted on the
side of the joystick which disables overdrive.  It's very sensitive, too,
because the slightest touch of it disengages the overdrive and if you
happen to be on the highway, it decreases the gas mileage accordingly
(naturally).
 
RW> It was a 1962 Thunderbird...the record is still in the books and there's
RW> a model of that car. Or at least there used to be a model of it.
 
I remember the first time I met Knot.  It was at a dragstrip and he was
talking to a guy who looked familiar.  I walked up to them and recognized
him as a guy I worked with by the name of Earl Karl.  Earl told me Knot
used nothing but Amoco white gas in his T-Bird.  That was back in the
Fifties. I don't know what that gas is called today.
 
RW> [many big name drivers had pulled out because the condition of the track
RW> was in very bad shape]
 
One of the dragster guys I was barely acquainted with, "Q-ball"
Wales, was killed at a dragstrip in Hammond when his chute failed to open
and he went off the end of the strip into a heavily populated stand of pine
trees.
 
RW> "This was confirmed and spirits rose when Knot Farrington of New [...]
RW> http://www.sportscars.tv/Newfiles/bonneville61.html
 
Thanks for that.
 
RW> I also noted on the internet a mention that Knot was/is a sherrif in some
RW> parish of LA...
 
I'll look into that.  I lost a whopping $2 bowling against a friend of mine
yesterday.  (-:
 
RW> If you put in the coordinates of those islands, you won't need to do any
RW> dead reckoning.
 
That's putting a lot of faith in batteries.
 
RW> As a 'hip' teen, I never wore anything that wasn't cool, even in winter.
 
We were very poor, so I wore whatever my mother could afford to buy us.
 
RW> No gloves, no boots, no hats and no ear muffs. Many times I thought my
RW> ears would freeze and fall off while walking in those low temps. And for
RW> the longest time, after I had moved to CA and made a short visit back
RW> there, I could shovel snow in a T-shirt without getting cold. I would
RW> even work up a sweat.
 
You have pictures of you shovelling snow in a t-shirt and sweating?  (-:
 
RW> I thought about doing that when 30 years had gone by after our drag
RW> racing club disbanded...finding any of them then was more than a chore.
 
I suppose we could have run an ad in the newspaper, but we didn't.  There
are two girls I'd especially like to see.  I should have narried one if
them.
 
RW> Remove the bulb...On my Camaro there's a shifter lock-out while you're in
[...]
I think it would be easier to cut the wire.  It's moot now, because I've
decided to buy that 2000 Merc GM <-- didn't think I'd be using that
acronym again, and sell the Mark VIII as is, although it's going to depress
me to part with it.
 
RW> Not because he isn't capable, I'll bet. :o)
 
He's very capable.  I'm different than him in that when I tell someone I'm
going to do something, I do it.  With him, I'd have to wait for months.  I
have a really nice 4.4CF refigerator/freezer in my room for convenience.
Back in March something went wrong with it and he told me not to worry and
that he would get a friend to fix it.  After a month went by with no set
date from him when he was going to bring it in for the repair, I dragged it
out of my room and put it by the front door where it still stands.  It
isn't important to him, so I think as far as he's concerned it is
invisible.  So, he's like some other guys I know.  They'll give you the
shirt off their backs, but the question is When?  But there is a lot more
to this story.
 
 
Regards,
 
Roger

... I'll never get off this planet.
--- D'Bridge 3.29