The original “Car Talk” sequence from 1991 ran for five days; here are the final two installments. We’ll miss you, Tom! Someone mentioned that there’ve been other “Car Talk” comic strips within A&J. I think I do recall one strip in which it was mentioned, but I can’t remember any specifics. Whatever it was, it wasn’t as much fun as the cartoons we’ve been seeing this week. I’m glad many of you have enjoyed it, and it’s on to something else next week.
141 responses to “No Last Names, Please!”
Don’t hold back, Lady Mindy. Tell us how you really feel about Trash Day.
Yeah, I hate lugging the damn things to the curb, too. When I even remember to.
Debbe 😉 Because the only happy song I know about going to work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huNejF17gzg
Check out Sheena’s ‘do and outfit. We weren’t nearly as hip in the early ’80s as we thought. 🙂
sandcastlerâ„¢ – While that is an awesome word, I do not fear trash cans – It is more of my contrary nature getting the better of me. Being contrary is a frequent occurrence, but the silliness of rage against the trash can is the kicker. I am going to track down that strip where Arlo turns the trash can *just so* out of spite as proof of solidarity. ?
Okay Mindy I was trying to be kind. Ignavus!!
Debbe 😉 Because a much better ‘do and outfit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcAJ9siMseA
She obviously got a better makeup artist, too.
Mindy, my daughter lives in a town that recycles and charges 50 cents or some ridiculously small amount for nonrecycled refuse. She has become so fanatical about this she recycles in all the categories and will not allow me to empty my car trash at her house when we travel! I swear she probably pays 50 cents a week for her one little “refuse” bag!
I remember that big dumpster behind the flower shop and all the boxes, bags, flower stems and trash we hauled out there.
And the perverts who were using it as a drop point for illegal porn!
And the other perverts who were using it for drug drop/stop.
We were right next to the convenience store who always seemed to run out of space in their dumpster and used ours too.
Lordy, what glorious memories of trash!
Love, Jackie
Damn, GR6 and I were using the same floral dumpster for our dropbox. That is just the kind of foul up that happens on cross agency ops.
Drop point for illegal porn? That must have been pre-InterWebNet.
I hear you, Mindy! The weekly pressure to collect all garbage from the far corners of the house and get it properly bagged and hauled out before the truck turned the corner!! When I was single I was not a responsible or reliable cog in the trash disposal process. But I subsequently discovered that that’s what husbands, and now sons, are good for. Er, I mean good at.
Usual advice applies: If this information about handguns is of no interest to you, whatever procedure you use on your device to scroll downward will fix that for you.
Disclaimer: These recommendations are tailored to what I reasonably presuppose to be Jackie’s needs for a self defense weapon, plus what I know about her state of health and what I assume about her physical strength, and they thus may or may not be applicable to other people. (In other words, if you are not Jackie, YMMV.) And since she ruled out the use of a long gun, this is only about handguns.
Jackie, as I see it, there are three main areas of consideration for a home defense handgun…type, make and caliber.
Type – As I’m sure you are aware, there are two primary types of handguns suitable for self defense purposes, revolvers and semi-automatic pistols. In years past, the recommendation for a “lady’s gun” or “house gun” would have most likely been a snub-nosed revolver in .38 Special caliber. Although they are compact and simple to operate (and were once considered to be significantly more reliable than pistols), revolvers actually require considerably more practice to fire accurately; are limited in ammunition capacity; and like any mechanical device, are subject to some degree of mechanical failure. Thus I would recommend a pistol as a home defense handgun, for their reliability and simplicity.
Make – If you have been paying attention in the past, it will come as no surprise that I recommend the brand of handgun that I am most familiar with and primarily use for self defense…a GLOCK. (I’m not yelling…that’s actually the way the company spells it.) It’s a polymer-framed handgun, and all its metal parts (barrel, slide, etc.) are treated with a hardening process that makes them considerably more corrosion-resistant than blued or even stainless steel guns. It is a striker-fired weapon (meaning it has no exposed hammer) and it has very simple controls. There is no external safety to forget to operate, but has multiple internal safeties, the primary one built into the trigger, and the gun will NOT fire unless the trigger is pulled. Quite a few people have, as a test, fired well over 1000 rounds of ammunition through various GLOCK pistols without cleaning them, and there were no failures to operate properly. In short, they are very simple and low maintenance handguns. (And when it does need cleaning, doing so is certainly much simpler than the skills required to pull the correct ropes to make those sail thingies behave the way you want them to.) My primary GLOCK is nineteen years old, and it functions (and looks) like new.
Caliber – Handguns come in several calibers, ranging from .22 caliber to .50 caliber (caliber being the diameter of the bullet in either inches or millimeters). What needs to be decided is the “Goldilocks” caliber, based on the user and the intended use of the handgun. In the past, I would have probably recommended 9 MM for you as the best tradeoff between effectiveness and low recoil. As ammunition technology has improved, I would now be comfortable recommending a handgun chambered in either 9 MM or .380 ACP for you, with the .380 generally being a lower recoil round you might prefer.
In 9 MM, I would suggest the GLOCK 26; in .380 ACP, I would suggest the GLOCK 42. (If there are firing ranges or gun stores in your area that provide rental handguns for use, perhaps you could fire both of them to see which suits you better and is more comfortable and controllable for you to shoot.) Both handguns are compact enough to be easily stored, carried in a vehicle, or carried on your person, if legal to do so in you jurisdiction.
As a means of keeping your handgun out of the hands of your “jail-breaking” grandson and to also prevent its theft, there are now small biometric safes that can be kept at bedside or other handy locations that offer secure handgun storage, along with the ability to access them quickly, using your fingerprint to unlock the safe. And as folks like you and I reach a certain age, our Mk I Mod 0 eyeballs can usually use a little help with aiming a handgun, especially in low-light conditions. Both of the GLOCK models lend them themselves to the easy attachment of either external laser sights or small high-intensity flashlights. (Storage safes, laser sights and lights are available at the Mountain of Ganders, the Shop of Bass Professionals, and other similar sporting goods stores.)
I realize this is very basic information, but I hope you find it helpful. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions as to ammunition selection or anything else.
I am a recycle fanatic. We have trash pickup Wed. am, but I’ve no reason to put it out every week, nor did we before wife died. It usually goes out alternate weeks, when my wonderful cleaning lady comes, or maybe sometimes at 4-wk. intervals. Most of the plant-based organic waste gets composted somehow.
Most of my neighbor couples put their trash out weekly, often full to overflowing. Local retailers must love them. One of the town’s recycle bins [fiber here, containers there] are two blocks away, on the way to the nearest supermkt. Appliances and such go to the industrial park, far end of town. Run by one of the nicest guys in town. His wife just got reelected mayor, second 2-yr term. She also has a full time job. We hire a city mgr., she chairs the city council, and reps the town, very capably. She is a first in that office.
sandcastlerâ„¢ – Well, yeah, there is that element in the equation; you were not supposed to notice. 🙂
Good morning Villagers….
Logged on yesterday and started reading the posts, when there was a knock on the door. My husband’s other nephew, a jack of all trades, came by with one of his six children. He replaced the backboard on my kitchen sink and cabinet top, have a new faucet (the kind that is a high loop), replaced the stairs on the front porch…complete with skid proof stripping….and he came with two movies. I love that young man….he always smiles.
Watched the Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt movie, “Live, Die, Repeat”…Rotten Tomatoes gave it a four star out of five…..good movie actually…gotta get one of those armor suits 🙂
Thank you GR 😉 for the song links, been a while since I’ve heard Sheena, and yes, she did get a better hair dresser and clothes designer.
Indy Mindy…you made me laugh…..I had this vision of you toiling and growling as you took your trash out.
and it’s Monday….and it’s going to get cold by mid week.
ya’ll have a blessed day
Since I was MIA yesterday……
Important List
13. The most dangerous pariah, A Gossiper
14. The world’s most incredible computer, The Brain
awwww…..
https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/8371399168/h0E08355C/
Window peeking pervert! Jimmy, where ever do you find your storylines?
Thanks, Ghost.
Yes, I was a retail florist back in 80’s, so pre-internet.
That florist shop was a source of constant drama and aged me incredibly, not to mention bankrupted me, literally. My favorite one was when we saw the shop being featured on the evening news as the location of the bunko scam perpetuated on a foreign sailor in port as location of house of prostitution.
Since all my employees were mainly middle aged women and older we took a lot of ribbing on that one!
I have to figure out how to print your advice now without all the other posts! I asked Mike again last night about learning to shoot where I might hit something and he said “Yes, you should” and I asked him about the revolver I have in my bathroom and he said he had no idea I had one.
He never comes back there to wake me up much so I doubt he will come at all now!
I have to go get a case of cat food out of the van, the cats are NOT happy but I gave them some Little Caesar’s which is expensive small cans of dog food. They were eating it. They have kibble, want the good stuff.
Love, Jackie
My trash collectors had a knack of throwing the lid in with the trash. I gave up replacing the plastic cans because how do you throw out an empty can? The big problem was that the raccoons would make a mess of things, so I built a box with a latch so that I could keep them out.
My in-laws live in Northern Michigan and had to pay to have someone come out weekly. They gave them a fairly large container that they would roll out to the road every week. Because it is remote and not a lot of people throwing out their trash, the truck is a one man operation. He would stop, use a forktruck type device to pick up the container, empty it and place it back along the road. When my mother-in-law moved, she had to make sure that the company picked up her container or else she would have been charge a ton of money to have it replaced.
Ghost, the gun in my bathroom is one I took away from my 93 year old mom who I thought didn’t need one in her sock drawer since she is often mentally confused. It is a .38 special snub nosed revolver and I think is loaded with illegal bullets.
I used to carry a semi-automatic pistol long, long ago down in Texas, a small one that I do not remember name of and no longer own. It was a Ruger I think.
Was just looking at the Academy and Bass Pro ads, we have Dicks and also Gander Mountain here. Everyone is running Christmas ads for guns. I cannot believe I am doing this after living here alone for 20 years until Mike retired and came home a few years ago!
Now I need to find a good instructor and gun range. I will look on the tabletop embedded business cards down at Runt’s Bar-b-que or ask Runt himself. He is avid gun shooter for game hunting and supports local gun clubs and all the law enforcement officials. I don’t know if he comps all the uniformed police or not but the place is always covered up in holstered guns!
Safest place to eat bar-b-que in Oklahoma!
Love, Jackie
The first topic recently I’ve felt motivated to add to, and it’s trash! 🙂
Since we live just outside the city limits we don’t get their trash pickup, but have to hire our own, and he doesn’t do recycling, and everything has to be in Hefty-style bags. The county did start a recycling service a couple of years ago but only takes aluminum cans, newspaper, and cardboard. Plus, the pickup service is only for city residents, so we have to take our recycling to the center ourselves.
Oh, Indy Mindy, our trash cans have to be at the end of our driveway, which is up hill, so we either have to carry the bags up to the cans or once a week drag the cans up the hill. Not fun, whichever method we use.
On the subject of guns, I carry a Smith & Wesson .38 Airweight. It fits my hand nicely, doesn’t have a lot of recoil, and can be carried in a purse or a holster without any fuss. When I’m home it resides in a drawer in the kitchen near my desk.
My older daughter carries a GLOCK .9 because she prefers a semi-auto to a revolver, and Husband carries a GLOCK .45.
Must have mentioned that when New Orleans area first got ANY effort for recycling back in the early 70’s I got asked to be on the board (I was a volunteer) since I had a respectable uptown address and mostly it was a lot of “hippies” trying to get things rolling. Houston didn’t have recycling when I moved there but we did donate cans to things like churches, fundraising efforts who sold them.
Because so many cans got dumped at the marina by Mike’s offices back in yacht days we used to dumpster dive for the cans to donate!
Do I feel guilty when I indiscriminately throw recyclables away? Yes.
Love, Jackie
TIP BlogSpot is kinda cute this morning.
http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/
Jean dear, I wasn’t dissing your choice of handguns. Revolvers are fine if you are comfortable with them and can handle them effectively. I’m often asked “what is the best handgun ” (to have), and I always reply, “The one you have with you at the moment when you really, really need a handgun.”
Yes, Jackie, definitely get some training, both in the use of your weapon and how your state’s laws apply to its use. I see online that Oklahoma requires a firearms safety and handling course be satisfactorily completed prior to applying for a concealed carry permit, so that might be a good approach to take, even you don’t plan to apply for a permit. The OSBI web site even allows you to search for state-certified instructors by OK counties.
For Mindy, not from Indy.
A reminder of the Mindy that used to frequent the Village and her epic battles with bamboo:
http://www.gocomics.com/comic/explore/537759/19