RW> Not that much C4! It's like Brylcream, a little dab'l do ya...
 
Jeez!  I haven't used that stuff since I was a teenager.
 
RW> There's your opening shot to get it straightened out. Son, I apologize
RW> for not being able to make your graduation, but let's let by-gones be
RW> by-gones and get over it.
 
Did that already -- twice.  All I got was a USMC tee shirt.
 
RW> Truth be told, many San Diegans would say 'good riddance' if they ever
RW> left town. There are better things than that in SD. Scripps Institute of
RW> Oceanography is a small college that has always held my interest. They've
RW> got a great salt-water aquarium that's right on the beach. I used to get
RW> super filtered salt water for my aquarium there. In by-gone days, there
RW> was the El Cajon Speedway, a 3/8s mile oval race track, the Carlsbad Drag
RW> Strip, which died from the effects of industrial expansionism, the many
RW> beaches one can swim or surf at, the many, many car shows throughout the
RW> year all over the county. Heck, one weekend we spent a night and half the
RW> day camping in the mountains and then the afternoon at the beach. When
RW> you're hard up for something to do in SD, yeah, you can take in a ball
RW> game, there you can get a nap.
 
Sheesh!  Every year, Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints, threatens
to move the team to San Antonio.  We now have the right team hierachy,
except for Benson, the right coach and a pretty good team.  Problem is we
have the wrong owner.  Benson started at the same Chevy dealership I worked
at and the owner saw something in him and allowed him to be the
manager/opertor of a SA dealership he opened.  It didn't take Benson long
to figure out (he's a book keeper) how to take advantage of others.  He
can't take it with him, though. I don't care for camping, but my kids do.
 
RW> BTW, so did the 5 tax increase propositions in California on Tuesday.
RW> What a screwed up state.
 
It's been heading in that direction for a long time.
 
RW> That could also indicate a need for more excercise so you can continue
RW> bowling.
 
You're probably right.  Lots of exercise machines around here and no one is
using them.
 
RW> In spite of the O'bama stupidness, Texans aren't going to give up their
RW> trucks very soon. What's even more interesting is that the TX legislature
RW> wanted to raise the gas tax so they can build more and better roads. What
RW> they ended up doing is giving cities/counties the power to raise the gas
RW> tax in their area, which won't affect the entire state.
 
That makes sense and it doesn't.  I can understand the reluctance to give
up a truck (I swapped mine for a car because changing a 16" tire on a
3/4 ton truck is taxing -- NPI), but it seems to me the best thing to do
was let the state make a blanket tax increase.  That would seem unfair to
the smaller towns and while it is, the legislature appears to have taken
the easy way out of a sticky situation.
 
RW> Now, if they'd put that on the ballot as proposition, people driving
RW> these so-called crowded roads in Dallas can vote them in or not. Vote
RW> them in and you get better roads, vote them out and you drive the same
RW> old roads until they become dirt again.
 
And NOBODY would want that.  I believe all tax propositions should go
before the people for a vote.
 
RW> That was then, today, there's an agency like California's Highway Patrol
RW> called the DPS (Department of Public Safety) with black, unmarked cars
RW> patroling the roads. Some of them have a Texas star on the door, but it's
RW> faint.
 
The sheriff's office had a Corvette doing that at one time, but I believe
it was mostly used in some other fashion like a sting operation.
 
RW> Without a power booster those brakes were about as inefficient as
RW> dragging your foot. Back in their day, there were plenty of Tri-5s that
RW> ended up crashing because of them. It's a good thing Chevrolet made a
RW> lot of them, because they'd be as rare as hen's teeth today if they
RW> didn't. Just like 57 Fords. (which out-sold Chevy that year)
 
Look at it this way: at least it wasn't a 1935 Hudson Terraplane (my
brother owned one and I taught myself how to drive with it) with mechanical
brakes. That was literally like dragging your feet on the street to stop. 
I don't remember if my '57 had power brakes or not, but even if it did, it
would be unwise to ride the break pedal to stop.  Pumping the pedal will be
less strain on the brakes and prevents overheating.  The '57 Fords had a
smooth shifting automatic transmission, but in those days you couldn't pry
me away from a Chevy.
 
RW> Isn't the Atlantic is a different color because it's deeper?
 
I don't know.  I do know it isn't blue like the Gulf Stream.  When we went
out that day we could see water spouts all around us and when we got back,
my bil told me we were out so far we were actually fishing in The Devil's
Triangle.  (-:
 
RW> Kinda like my sister and BIL have failed to convince me to move to
RW> Illinois or Wisconsin, so I could suffer the cold with them.
 
You don't actually miss the sub-zero temperatures, do you?
 
RW> Kinda like leaving home after that long.
 
I suppose so.  That's her life now and I've given up trying to get her back
to N.O. primarily because I no longer live there.  I sure am glad I wasn't
living there 4 years ago.  It was bad enough in Mandeville.  We went
without electric power for two months.  I'm glad I left there, but I do
miss living there at times.  Coming back here enabled me to renew old
acquaintances with my friends who are still alive and get back into
bowling.
 
RW> That's what I think about the stupid traffic lights at two major
RW> intersections here.
 
Somebody ought to complain.  (-:
 
RW> I out-ran the smokie who was chasing me in my Corvette. He got lost,
RW> while I ended up sitting in his favorite sitting spot.
 
LOL!
 
RW> Three.
 
? 
 
RW> Too much, but go on.
 
It's about right for the work needing to be done.  It's the first time I
saw my car up on the rack.
 
RW> I already have. Last weekend, he ended up driving a customer's 1998 Crown
RW> Vic because he didn't have the part required to get a fix on the turn
RW> signals. I asked him if that Ford CV was the same as the Merc GM and he
RW> said they were almost identical cars, with some minor differences. Both a
RW> good choice, he said.
 
I think I'll go with that then.
 
RW> BTW, my Rodeo is for sale. (3rd choice) A little small for a 6'4" frame,
RW> although a very good vehicle.
 
I pass.  (-:  I'm already bending a lot to get in and out of the Mark VIII.
 
 
Regards,
 
Roger
 
... War is just Nature's way of keeping humanity in check.

--- D'Bridge 3.28