In 76 The Sky Was Red

What Is He Afraid Of?

He is not afraid of Obama. Obama hasn't met a dictator he doesn't like. Netanyahu, might give him some pause. Actually, the "only thing that the Iranian government has to fear is its own people".





This is the face of hope in the Mideast: the Iranian people. It sure isn't the carnival of souls that met at the G-20. The West isn't going to do what it takes. They are afraid the price of oil will go to $400 a barrel. Poor Israel, it is like the old story about the pig and the hen. Israel is like the pig and the West is like the hen. The farmer calls them both into the kitchen and says he wants "Ham n Eggs" for breakfast. The hen lays two eggs and walks out while the pig is left standing there. The West risks $400 a barrel oil, while Israel faces annihilation. The average Americans response as it sits around its dinner table to a news report that Israel was nuked would be "pass the potatoes please".

Of course we can count on Russia to help out. They only supply the weapons that are killing our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we have an antisemitic Marxist President who views the democracy movement in Iran with the same jaundiced eye that observes 200,000 protesters on the Capitol Mall. You can see how he would be conflicted.

During the Civil War (War Of Northern Aggression) when General Lee rode through a Northern village a woman was overheard to say, "Why can't he be ours?" That's how I feel about Bebe Netanyahu. He was the only leader to expose the U.N. for the sham it is. On the other hand, Obama gave a performance not worthy of a High School Mock U.N. Can you imagine if we had a leader that was for us as Netanyahu is for Israel? Take a look at our other ally in the Mideast, the Iranian people. One way or another the sky will soon be red over Iran.

Body Dysmorphia Can Have Its Good Points

At my sister's house our bedroom had one of those room length sliding door mirrors. This panoramic mirror also takes about 20 lbs off your body by just standing in front of it. What a cheap and easy way to lose weight and lighten your mood. Really, reality is overrated.




My sister also has a 72 inch wide screen TV in the den. Her TV makes everyone look six inches shorter and 40 lbs. heavier. This is especially true when the people move toward the outer edges of the screen. Along the edges, all the characters start to look like Danny DiVito. I'm sure somewhere in the thousand page manual that comes in thirty-two languages is a note on which button to push to get a picture that is in proportion.


Another thing about Las Vegas was that it was sunny with clear skies.


Tuesday we returned to N.C. to face another six days of clouds and rain. Quick, I need that TV and mirror to lighten my mood.

Upgrayedd

Upgrayedd with two D's for a double dose of car rental fun.

Budget Car Rental is my choice in Las Vegas. Two hour waits because they run out of cars doesn't discourage a true CB (there was a soccer tournament in town that weekend). We arrive at the McCarren Airport car rental center (which is about the the size of the Charlotte Airport). The rental center is just a seven minute shuttle bus ride from the airport. In the new rental center every agency has its own large office. Now the Budget center is about the size of a bank. The counter is fifty feet long and has ten or so customer windows. The problem is they only have two agents to serve the twenty people waiting in the rope line. The old airport kiosk had three agents. It takes about 10 minutes for the agent to process one customer (15 minutes for the chatty agent). We finally get to the counter and I'm praying that the Griswolds have returned the Family Truckster . Luckily I get the no-nonsense competent agent instead of "Chatty Cathy". But, there is a problem, they have run out of full size sedans. I'm willing to take the smaller Ford Fusion (last time they offered me a F-350 Crew Cab diesel pick-up) but instead she offers me a free upgrade to a Lincoln Town Car. How sweet, I get a senior citizen babe-magnet to drive for three days.

I find the silver beauty pictured above waiting for me in the luxury section across from the Kia Rio's. I have to get used to the programmable seat that retracts two feet when the key is removed, but the rest of the car seems to be the usual "fake-fancy" American bland. Without the use of a tugboat I launch this boat out into the streets of Vegas. Except for the ten foot long hood the car is pretty ho-hum. It did cruise well at 78 mph and got about 26 mpg but otherwise I can't imagine paying 48 K for this (more than the cost of two Honda Elements). I guess I am a senior citizen because I didn't turn any heads driving this "Sun City" edition Lincoln. I must be a senior citizen because for the fifth year in a row I missed the exit for the rental car return.

Another Masterpiece

CP has made another signature dish. I call it "Pork Tortellini Pizzaiola". It is amazing how like a Mozart aria, when all the ingredients come together just right a masterpiece is created. I've had Chicken Pizzaiola and my mother made Steak Pizzaiola but they always lacked that one special ingredient: PORK. More than the recession CP's cooking is the main reason not to eat out.

Parking Brake Redux

My Oldsmobile is still in the shop. They couldn't get the cable off the mechanism without damaging it. It takes awhile to get the parts for 16 year old cars made by a failing U.S. automaker. I'm really glad that they are replacing the cable, it could be another cause of the problem. What I am really happy about is that I realized this was a job I didn't want to get into. As one of my mentors once told me "you will never get in trouble for getting a consult". I'm glad I didn't attempt this "knuckle buster" and end up carrying in a box of parts. If I ever get the car back from the Hospice I'll apply the parking brake with a Q-Tip.

TV Revisited

In the "Odd Couple" Oscar Madison states, " getting a clear picture on channel two is not my idea of whoopee". The current season of "Ice Road Truckers" has concluded. This program really captured my interest. Perhaps, because it's just refreshing to see some Americans still working. Maybe it reminds me of my commute over Mount Storm in West Virginia. Last week was the first episode of this season's "Project Runway". It is a reality show where amateur designers compete for $100,000 to start their own clothing line. These are about the only weekly programming I watch, and they couldn't be more different.

Too bad TV has become so sedentary. When I was a child watching TV kept the kids hopping. One of us had to stand by to constantly adjust the horizontal hold to keep the picture from rolling. Every five minutes a nor-easter snow storm would white-out the picture and require one of us to jump up, run to the TV and give it a good slap on the side. The rabbit ears required constant attention. One kid's job was to turn the rabbit ears with all the finesse of a a navy sonar operator. I always felt that knob on the bottom of the rabbit ears did nothing at all; like the knobs on a Fisher-Price radio. There was one channel that only came in if my mother sat on a folding chair in one certain spot. I'm not sure if we were trying to reproduce the cinema experience but my family watched TV in absolute darkness. Maybe it helped the anemic image on the tube. You walked into the living room with a slice of pizza and a Coke and started tripping over people. I'm not sure if getting a clear picture on channel two was equal to whoopee, but it was exciting.

Babba vs The Parking Brake

I hate parking brakes. What I really hate are parking brakes on disc brakes. Over the last 80
years car makers have pretty well got the mechanism perfected for drum brakes. Usually just grease the adjustment fittings and tighten the cable once a year and that's it. Occasionally a cable will bind up and have to be replaced; no big deal.

The first unusual arrangement was on my 88 4-Runner. The 4WD models had this complicated arrangement with cams and release springs and a double cable that always hung up. Every year I had to take the drums off and clean and grease every thing and after a month only one rear wheel would hold with the parking brake. Now my 93 Olds has the parking brake built into one rear disc brake caliper. This 16 year old caliper has gradually got more and more bound up till finally it took so much force to apply it that I bent the parking brake pedal. So I straightened it out with a pipe wrench but I broke the mechanism so the pedal doesn't engage the cogs to tighten the cable.

Now I like to have a working parking brake. One reason is that it's a requirement to pass inspection and also my driveway is on an incline and small children play in the area. Finally, a reason I like a working parking brake is that I first started to drive at a time when brake failures were a seasonal occurrence. I had the sequence of responses always ready: downshift, hold the parking brake release up and apply the parking brake and look for a way around whatever is in front of you. My best brake failure happened when exiting a parkway in an MG. I popped the curb and drove around in circles on the grass till the combination of shrubs, small trees and parking brake brought me to a stop.

So my 93 'beater" is getting a new parking brake mechanism from G.M. I figure I couldn't sell someone a car that couldn't pass inspection. Hopefully my mechanic will also fix the rear mechanism that caused the problem. I'm happy I have a mechanic that can fix my old "beater". When he asked me if I knew what the problem was I said "sure I do, I broke it".