Ghost post and bike path bandits

We’d like to give a nod to Ghost.
Ghost saw fit to take up a cause that
we believed dead in the water. And did
so eloquently.

He did a post that involves this blog
and the question that came up about
visitors to our blog. He mentioned
Quadsville as a possible source and I
explained that I was no longer on the site.

He was surprised when I told him it was
my understanding our blog was banned a
while back, and that I couldn’t find a
link to Quadsville on the QC Times
homepage either.

While I did enjoy being on the site for
a while, it got to the point apathy set
in due to never knowing if a post would
go through or not.

And we heard on a local news station
that the bike path is becoming a dangerous
place to be for some. It seems a band
of youngsters are robbing citizens who
happen to be on the path.

These kids, we believe we heard they
are around 13 years old, should be
sentenced to patrol the same bike path
and remove any and all liter under armed
guard.

Being juveniles they will probably
end up with a slap on the wrist, but
something should be done. The police
have made arrests, but the punks were
released to their mommies so it may
continue.

A police spokesman stated the police
didn’t have the manpower to do daily
patrols of the bike paths. We thought
this is what the VIPs were for.

Nothing like having these fine amenities
that people are afraid to use because
of pint-sized bandits.
Comments are always welcome.

What a day!

The way our Monday went around
here I was all set to rant like
3 gallons of crazy in a 2 gallon
bucket.

Instead, we’ll look at the bright
side and even give a thank you to
local business who went out of
their way to make the day easier
for a couple of old farts.

It started when I went to give
our son a call. The phone was as
dead as a doornail. The wife got
hold of the company we have every-
thing bundled with on her cell
phone.

Turns out our wireless router
decided to go goofy on us and the
wife reset it. We had a phone!

Then I decided to make bacon for
breakfast. We like to cook the
bacon in the oven as the pieces
stay bigger than if frying.

Baked them until done, took them
out and put them on paper towels
to drain some grease off them, and
started drooling.

About this time we noticed some of
the bacon pieces had silver globs
on them. Turns out our non-stick
cookie pans decided to come apart.

Not a problem, just get a knife
and scrape off the metallic gobs
and we were good to go.

Then the wife had got a battery for
her watch on the way home and she
said she couldn’t get back on.

No sweat; how hard could it be?
After trying the usual thumb pressure
approach, I realized we needed a
little heavier ammo.

A trip to the garage produced a
2 pound deadblow hammer. A check
of the junk drawer produced a good
size chunk of felt weather-stripping
and we were set.

Wrapping the watch in the felt, then
setting the watch on the kitchen
table, I proceeded to thump the time
piece with the deadblow hammer.

The TV remote, 3 pens, and a pack
of tic tacs jumped off the table but
the watch was still backless.

No problem, I had a solution. Take
it to a jewelry store. We stopped at
a Walgreen’s where she bought the
battery and were told they didn’t have
any tools to work on the watch.

Since I had bought the wife several
pieces of jewelry at JC Penny’s over
the years, we went there. The manager
came over and listened to our tale of
woe.

We told her we didn’t know where we
bought the watch, and didn’t buy the
battery there, but needed the watch
put back together.

She took the watch, disappeared
behind a doorway, and returned about
two minutes later with the watch
fixed.

We asked her the cost and she replied
“enjoy the day”. Needless to say, we
left the store smiling and have had a
nice day.

We’re sorry we didn’t get the lady’s
name, but she made our day.

Now I just have to take the hammers,
pipe wrenches, chisels, and drill
back to the garage.
Comments are always welcome.

Another tax?

We recently read about a rumor that
we can neither confirm or deny. That
being said, we also find it interesting.

Like any good rumor, parts of it are
true. The problem lies with the parts
that sound plausible but could be a
complete fabrication. So here goes.

We received an email telling us that
regardless of who got elected in 2012,
the stock market was going to crash at
some point between now and 2016.

The email claimed the reason is a
bill some of us have never heard of
which does affect most of us who work.

ERISA (Employee Retirement Income
Security Act) was enacted on September
2, 1974 and signed by president Gerald
Ford.

This bill gave us the groundwork for
401(k)s and IRAs. It required financial
disclosure about retirement plans to
the beneficiaries, established codes of
conduct for fudiciaries, and provided
access to the federal courts.

Enforcement of the bill is done by the
Department of Labor, the Department of
the Treasury, the IRS, and the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

It began with president John F. Kennedy’s
Committee on Corporate Pension Plans, to
study problems like when the Studebaker
Corporation closed its doors and could only
fund 60% of their pensioners.

This left 2,900 former employees with no
pension, and some with only 60% of what
was promised.

The rumor says this bill is all smoke and
mirrors, and that once a retiree turns 70
and a half years old they could lose half
of their retirement account, if they own
stocks, and don’t sell after April 1st of
next year.

A minimum yearly withdrawal was mentioned,
but no specifics.

The rumor goes on to say that a large
number of Americans will be turning 70
and one half and will sell their stocks to
avoid the a penalty (tax), thus causing a
stock market crash.

Here is just one site that mentions
the issue. We will keep looking, but as we
mentioned, it is interesting.
Comments are always welcome.

Cruise-in pictures

The weather was perfect, the heat stayed away,
and there were tons of great rides and great
people. For all the pictures, go here.

We met a lot of friends and didn’t get to
catch up with others. If we didn’t bump
into each other it wasn’t from lack of
trying. We’ll hook up at the next one.

In the mean time, enjoy the pictures.
Comments are always welcome.

Crazy days

We had a busy Friday, a short nap,
and are ready to start another day
after a few cups of coffee.

This post is going to be a disjointed
collection of random thoughts from a
disorganized mind.

Earlier a friend sent an email that
said, in part; it’s so hot in Iowa
that the Baptists are starting to
baptise by sprinkling, the Methodists
are using wet-wipes, the Presbyterians
are giving out rain-checks, and the
Catholics are praying for the wine to
turn back into water.

Keith, if you get that compressor going
and need a gauge for it let me know. I
should have one around and forget while
you were here.

We have been getting suggestions on
how to make the blog better, faster,
flashier, get more traffic, and really
stand out. All with good intentions
we’re sure.

But we consider this blog an enjoyable
hobby and would like to keep it that
way. If it became work we would stop.

Later we’ll get some pictures at the
NorthPark Cruise-In and try to get
online. We haven’t taken many pictures
this year because we haven’t made it
too many events.

It looks to be nice weekend and we
hope you get a chance to enjoy it.
Comments are always welcome.

Enough already

This post may offend you if you are
a politically correct card-carrying
left-wing wingnut. It is our opinion
of a recent event that we feel has
gotten out of hand.

When we first heard that Chick-fil-A
president Dan Cathy stated he believed
that marriage was between a man and a
woman we didn’t think much about it.

This caused the muppets to “go to war”
with Chick-fil-A, several pro-gay
organizations to boycott the company,
and even Mayors to threaten them.

Really? Did we wake up in Nazi Germany?
Since when is someone’s opinion reason
to belittle their beliefs? Where has our
freedom of speech gone?

Well here goes. The religion that my
family has practiced for generations
DOES tell us homosexuality is a sin. But
being an American, we also believe you
have the right to do whatever you like
as long as it’s not illegal, or you
don’t get caught if it is.

We also believe that while our country
was founded on Christianity, it is
governed by man. This tells us that
though we may not agree with some laws,
we do acknowledge their existence and
obey them.

But why is it freedom of speech for a
leader of the Black Panther Party to shout
“Kill crackers, kill their cracker babies”
during a speech but not “marriage is
between a man and a woman”?

Mr. Cathy was later quoted saying “I
think we are inviting God’s judgement on
our nation when we shake our fist at him
and say, ‘We know better than you what
constitutes a marriage.'”

To which Carlos Maza of Equity Matters
responded “This solidifies Chick-fil-A as
being closely aligned with some of the
most vicious anti-gay voices in the country.”

What? Deal with it. If Mr. Maza is the
one who is supposed to be more open to
diversity we’ll save him the shipping
cost on his bull.

So if you are gay and happy, more power
to you. Just don’t start your hate rhetoric
every time someone doesn’t embrace your
lifestyle.
Comments are always welcome.

More events

It looks to be another beautiful, if not
hectic, summer weekend. Once again we will
sit in air-conditioned comfort and watch
those who actually run in the Bix 7.

Here are few events that we know to be
going on this weekend.

Friday, July 27, is the Friday’s Cruise
on down to Advance, at the store in the
Village Shopping Center, 902 W. Kimberly
Road in Davenport. Things should be going
good around 6 pm.

Friday, July 27, the Classy Chassy Cruisers
are hosting another Friday night cruise-in
at the Sycamore Mall in Iowa City, Iowa.
The event runs from 5-9 pm.

Also Friday, July 27, is the Poopy’s Car
Cruise at 1030 Viaduct Road, in Savanna,
Illinois. DJ will be 3D Sound.

Friday and Saturday, July 27, 28, is the
Hot Rods in the Heartland in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa. The event is hosted by the
American Street Rod Association and the
link should have information. If not call
319-350-8586 or 319-491-9836

Saturday, July 28, the River Valley
Classics Car Club is ‘Rollin In The Oldies’
at NorthPark Mall, in Davenport. The cruise
in starts around 5 pm and we should have
some pictures to post on this one.

We hope you get a chance this weekend to
enjoy whatever it is that trips your trigger.
Comments are always welcome.

Reader rant, or rave

It is once again time for another
installment of the reader rant.
This one will be just a little
bit different though.

If you feel held hostage by the
robo-call political ads, frustrated
with the detours, or got the short
shaft in a transaction, let them
have it.

But you can also give someone a rave
review if you feel them deserving. It
could be a new place to eat, a jobber,
coffee shop, or even someone who went
out of their way to help with a problem.

Got a neighbor who measures your grass
between mows? Rant about it. Got a
neighbor who mows your lawn while you’re
on vacation? Give them a shout.

Follow a little old lady on a two-lane
black top at 25 mph with her right
blinker on and you couldn’t pass her
for 17 miles? Have at it.

If you can’t stand the heat and don’t
want to get out of kitchen, or like it
and wish it would continue, the floor
is yours.

You get the idea, and now, we shall
list the requisite rules to follow
during your comment. These will be
enforced at our discretion.

The rules are simple; don’t cuss, and
don’t resort to name calling. Just try
and remember, if you can’t say anything
good about someone, at least make it
interesting.
Comments are always welcome.

A truthful rant

Due to circumstances beyond our control
this post is about 12 hours late. We are
going to shake things up a bit and do a
rant today followed by a reader rant for
tomorrow.

We have noticed that every time we use
a search engine to find the truth we
lose the internet for several hours. Our
ISP claims it is a coincidence, but we
wonder.

And the drive-by media has recently had
heavy coverage of the anti-gun nuts who
say we need gun control despite our God
given and Constitutional right to own
them.

We could care less what Michael Moore,
Nathan Lane, Mayor Bloomberg, Cher, and
others think. We also are going to do
something the drive-by media doesn’t have
the balls to do. State the facts.

The United States is number 1 in the
world in gun ownership with 88.8 guns per
100 people. 60% of all homicides are by
firearms, and that amounts to 2.97 homicides
by firearms per 100,000 population.

Why that sounds terrible, it must be all
those guns killing people. Not quite.

Honduras is 88th in gun ownership with 6.2
guns per 100 people. But their homicide by
firearms rate is 83% which equates to 68.43
homicides per 100,000.

But that doesn’t make sense. Fewer guns
should mean less homicides by gun, at least
to our Liberal friends. To check our figures,
please go here.

And there is more. According to the
National Shooting Sports Foundation, firearms,
along with big oil are helping our economy.
The industry paid $2.5 billion in taxes in
2011 and sales hit $31 billion.

It is projected the FBI did 16 million
background checks for firearms permits.
And jobs in the industry jumped 30% from
2008 to 2011.

So here is a news flash for the drive-by
media; guns don’t kill people, people kill
people. We need to bring back the death
penalty, stop all the coddling of criminals,
and put the fear of God into these jerks.
Comments are always welcome.

Something different

In this modern age when automobile
technology is changing almost by the
minute, it gets really hard to find
something completely different.

We have the Hybrids, the flex-fuel
vehicles, direct injection, and of
course the electric vehicle. But is
there much different?

Cars today look like cartoon characters
of what cars are supposed to look like.
With some we almost expect a troop of
clowns to pile out any minute. But…

If we were to say the vehicle in this
post uses a 1976 cc, 115 horsepower,
air-cooled motorcycle motor, a Mazda
Miata 5-speed transmission, and has a
belt-driven single rear wheel; would
you consider it a car?

We add that it has no doors, is front-
engined and rear-wheel-driven, weighs
1100 pounds, does 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds,
and is available in America for an
estimated $48,850.

Yes, we are talking about the 2012
Morgan 3 Wheeler. And if you think
this is a new idea, Morgan 3 Wheelers
have a history dating back to the early 1900s. Considered the best engineered,
most successful vehicle in its class,
it also set several records.

Introduced in 1910, by 1914 the Morgan
set 10 British and World records for
cyclecars, won 24 Gold Medals in major
reliability trials, and had several
victories at race tracks.

The originals only had 2 forward speeds
and no reverse. 2012 Morgan 3 Wheelers
use V-twin engines from s & S Cycles
built right here in America.

The closest dealer to us is Northshore
Sportscars near Chicago, and they have
some listed as in stock. Just go to the
View Our Inventory tab and click on New
Inventory to see the selection.

With no doors, and no top, we’re not
sure how well they will sell over here,
but we’d love to drive one. Sometimes
it does pay to rethink an old idea.
Comments are always welcome.