Existing In BFE

The top picture is Baby, my '62 Plymouth that not only has an interesting and famous history in Detroit circles, but has quite a story with my having it in the first place. The lower picture is my '67 Chrysler Newport, or as we call it around here, Moneypit . And thanks Drew for enjoying the car show pics. The history of the Plymouth is still, after all these years quite entertaining. Just before actual production was to begin a Plymouth executive overheard at a cocktail party that Chevy was producing a small more compact car. Misunderstanding the information, he then rushed to other execs on Monday morning claiming Chevy was downsizing for '62. Keep in mind all of the dyes had been cast, the long hours of designing a car has been 2 years in the making. Well, when the president of Chrysler got wind of this he scrapped the previous design for Plymouth (and Dodge) and began to shorten the wheelbase. From what i understand, factories went around the clock for a couple of weeks...

Wild color for this Mopar . Club members 56 Dodge Royal Lancer. Didn't Roy Rader have something like this? This picture doesn't do justice to this Buick Riviera The Mayberry Sheriff's department was there. One of the retro Challengers.

This is the "Smart" Car, super small, super green car distributed by Mercedes. I'm not a Mustang fan but this was a beautiful and immaculate '65. This is a roadster put together by a local Christian group. They take as many parts as possible from Midway Auto parts (junk yard), clean, refurbish, paint and voile! a cool car. They do this every year, sell for profit, take proceeeds to do another car and give to charity anything left over.

Before heading to Galesburg to help man the Western Illinois Antique Auto Club car show I stopped in to the firestation for breakfast. Biscuits and gravy, eggs and sausage along with coffee and orange juice is a great way to start the day. I actually hate helping my Club do this car show because few members have any particular assignments. There is a guy at the entrance who determines class, and there are people along the route to usher them down the sidewalk, but after that there isn't a lot of real help parking, and that is what is really needed. I have told the president of the Club that there should be at least two members parking in each of the 5 quadrants (I know, the math there stinks). Actually there are 4 quadrants in the park itself, but we also use the extensive parking lot to the south of the courthouse. It turns out to be a real cluster, in fact last year the accouncer at the show had to ask, over the loudspeaker) for members to help park. Nobody likes to park so other...

Will the anonymous individual who said the Florida region around Tarpon Springs was depicted in the photo from the plane please send me their address so I can send them a certificate for DQ . After looking at the map it is close enough for a win. We're going with that one.

We have been receiving a newsletter put out by Brendan's home base at Ft. Campbell since his first deployment. The volunteer representatives to help with the deployed soldiers families made a T-shirt a couple of years ago that Nancy saw at the welcoming home ceremony. In the newsletter of a couple of months ago they had an order blank and I bought a T for myself, Nancy, Mackenzie and Drew. Last night I wore it for the first time to Crappy's North (forced to go by neighbor Tim against my will) and it seemed to be quite a hit. One person even offered to give me $5.00 if I wear it next Thursday to Dick Blick on casual Thursday. Several females considerably younger than myself even pointed and then had a glassy look on their faces, to which I will not attempt to interpret. Anyway here is a front and back picture of the shirt. FRONT REAR

Dear Walter: I hope you can help me here. The other day I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual. I hadn't gone more than a mile down the road when my engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help. When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in the bedroom with a neighbor lady making mad passionate love to her. I am 32, my husband is 34 and we have been married for twelve years. When I confronted him, he tried to make out that he went into the back yard and heard a lady scream, had come to her rescue but found her unconscious. He'd carried the woman back to our house, laid her in bed, and began CPR. When she awoke she immediately began thanking him and kissing him and he was attempting to break free when I came back. But when I asked him why neither of them had any clothes on, he broke down and admitted that he'd been having an affair for the past six months. I told him to s...

Specialist Blythe requested no face pictures, but did say this would be OK. Specialist Blythe is stationed at Camp Oryan (looks odd but is the correct spelling, I am told) a small garrison of 125 101st Airborne soldiers not too far from Camp Anaconda. Both camps are close to Balak and not terribly far from Baghdad. He is coming home in October-November, he is not sure and both Nancy and I will be at Ft. Campbell when his plane arrives. For those who do not know, the welcoming home ceremony is one of the most emotional experiences I have had, and is precisely what the Army wants. Now imagine families from all over: wives, girlfriends, husbands, brothers, mothers and dads, you name it converging in an area to their soldier return. They take you by bus after a security review, to a large hangar with bleachers on either side. Hanging from the rafters are giant pennants of various divisions or squadrons within the larger company. You walk in and USO volunt...

Daughter Kenzie had this to say about Gus, the ugly, ugly dog who won this years Ugly Dog Contest, one again proving it is a small world. "These people actually live in St Pete. The mother came to me three days ago to help her find an outfit to wear to "The Morning Show!!" How awesome.... her ugly doggy is making them all famous. Do you think Stinky could ever do the same?? Kenzie Well, I'm not sure who stinky is but she better not be making fun of my buddy Bishop.

Copy and Paste in your search engine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4mU8ZqMZPU

The boss wondered why one of his most valued employees was absent but had not phoned in sick one day. Needing to have an urgent problem with one of the main computers resolved, he dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper. " Hello ? " "Is your daddy home?" he asked. " Yes ," whispered the small voice. May I talk with him?" The child whispered, " No ." Surprised and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?" " Yes ." "May I talk with her?" Again the small voice whispered, " No ." Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anybody else there?" " Yes ," whispered the child, " a policeman. " Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?" " No, he's busy, " whispered th...

Here is a website for our obnoxious Cubs fans to be eternally linked to their team. Be sure to check out the "Eternal Image" link on the left for a neat looking urn. http://beyondthevines.org/default.aspx

Mike, Ivan Ewing, and twin Mark There were rows of old tractors lined against both sides of Main street, and some people selling what looked like yard-sale stuff. What was somewhat amazing was the lack of food vendors. Evidently there was a breakfast but nothing offered for mid-day, and the cafe was closed. The parade was manned by the tractors, a few old cars, various little people and their dogs, two fire trucks, two politicians, and one horse. In one of the old cars were the two oldest (most seasoned) Seaton residents, Ruth Harlan and Cap Fair. Saw Dave Olson, Ida Steepleton , and here is a picture of Mark and I with Ivan Ewing who was a fellow conspirator when we were younger and living in Seaton . One of the stories we told was one time we came across some road kill down by the school. We found a Seaton Bank check, made out to "Sponge", aka John Seaton , owner of the bank who "soaked" up money, and hoisted the badger, with check in paw, up the bank flagpole....

The picture in the contest showing a lake area is not Tarpon Springs Florida. Nice try. I'll give you a clue however: we had been flying for some time before I took that picture, so it is definitely north of Florida. I'm thinking Tennessee or north Georgia. Keep checking, however, a free DQ is on the line!

Hey. did you see the pooch who recently won the ugliest dog contest. He is a one-eyed, three-legged hairless mutt that is from Tampa Florida. Here is that winner, boy what a dog! Hey Nancy, how would you like to take that for a walk around the apartment complex?

Two people have said to me that they have not received an email for update. This blog doesn't work that way. If you are interested in this, and I can't really understand why, bookmark the site, or put it as a shortcut on your screen. I try to add something everyday or so, but I won't email when I have done so. Now, if you scroll clear down to the bottom of the page, you will see a "subscribe to posts" or something like that. If you want an email message on the updates, I think you follow those instructions. Now get back to your atlas and figure out where that lake is!

These are pictures taken from seat 12 A, Allegiant flight 826 last Sunday on my home from St. Petersburg Florida. The first three are after take off and are scenes of the Tampa area. The fourth picture is unknown, but with that distinctive lake area it would be fun to see where that is. OK, class, your assignment is to find out where that area is, and report back in the "comment" section. First person to come up with it wins a prize!! The last one is of a nice cloud formation. And finally, I thought this picture was really cool. It is the shadow of the plane on a cloud bank, and oddly, is encircled by a rainbow. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Nancy and I had breakfast at Gayle's Restaurant. It was kind of like those little boxcar diners you see in the movies. Right across the street was this adult bookstore. Love the name.

Last night I had the opportunity to see my former KCA friends at Perkins. It was nice to see Gay (Boss) and her great family, Bob, and Matt and his wife and new kid. We have all moved on from those days and except for Bob, I believe we are all gone from KCA . As principal Gay was a driving force in creating an environment that was conducive to learning but also demanded acceptable behavior. Gay's always upbeat friendly demeanor set the tone daily for her staff. A true joy to work for. Bob was always willing to help anywhere and anytime and sitting in on his classes I became a student again. An absolute pleasure to be with, Bob was unflappable in the face of truly horrendous behavior. Thrown into the breach whenever needed Bob was our staff "go-to-guy". Matt's classes were, in my opinion, a model of what alternative education should be. Always measured, always in control, always mindful of the "best interests" of the student, Matt's affection for his s...

Meet Bishop. He is a long-eared, long-nosed, short-eared 16 month old German Shepherd. He is playful, obedient and strong. I am generally a one-dog person but I have to admit my liking Bishop a whole lot. Bishop likes walks, spending time in his kennel, destroying chew toys and hanging with his friends. Give it up for Bishop!

Kenzie and Drew taking a break from looking at T-Shirts and all that god-awful tourist junk. Drew is a Personal Trainer, Cubs fan and daddy to Bishop. On the last night we went to Cody's, a pretty cool restaurant with a section outside. Here Kenze and Drew are scratching lotto tickets while waiting for the food. Drew was the big winner of the night.

This is Nancy getting pulled over and ticketed for no brake lights. Odd, because she had had them checked by a mechanic in G-Burg before she left. A quick trip over to Advance Auto fixed the problem, but what a shame. Oh, and the representative of the St. Petersburg Police Department couldn't have been less understanding, or helpful. Just explained the problem and here is your ticket. Seems like a rather wicked public relations strategy for a major tourist area. In what could have been a helpful officer assisting people from out-of-state, he was simply collecting fees for the city.

Ahhhh , aren't they cute. View from the balcony outside our room. The beach is right across the road.

Back in BFE , my thoughts return to St. Petersburg and my girls. Speaking of girls, here they are fixing cookies for the men. Don't they look comfortable in the kitchen? Hey, I think I could handle that traffic. One of my chief fears of the city is the bumper-to-bumper or 80 mph driving hassles that we seldom have here at BFE or Galesburg , or even the Quad-Cities/Peoria. It really surprised me the lack of traffic in St. Pete. Hmmm , was this coordinated by the girls to entice me down there?