May 19th 2011 08:05 am Want not, waste not
Remember the Pontiac GTO? How about the Oldsmobile 442? And one of my favorites, the Plymouth Barracuda? Well, Ford now is adapting technology that will allow your car to monitor your health. That’s right, a car that takes your blood pressure. (Can you imagine?) “Vital sign” would no longer mean only ”Bridge Out” or “Watch for Falling Rocks.” It might mean you need to take your asthma medicine—while safely pulled to the side of the road, of course. Geeze, Thelma and Louise!
Posted by jimmyjohnson / The Daily Grind
87 Responses to “Want not, waste not”
John in Richmond Texas on 19 May 2011 at 8:27 am #
Fortunately food eaten while standing up has no calories. and the Pontiac Judge – what a name for a car, it’s said it was named for the running Laugh-In gag, it was supposed to have been a cheaper muscle car, I guess now we can have cars that judge the driver.
Mindy on 19 May 2011 at 8:30 am #
I gotta get a car that adheres to the admonition, “Judge not lest ye be judged.” Here come the Judge! Here comes the Judge!
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 19 May 2011 at 8:35 am #
My son recently returned to Michigan as he was able to get a job with Ford. We were discussing the technology that allows a car to park itself and both my wife and his wife said that they would never trust using it. I said that I might as long as it was another person’s car. Actually, I still have trouble using the passenger mounted mirror as I learned to drive without one, so I don’t think that I would use it.
I also do not like the keyless ignitions. I rented a car with it and left the air conditioning on for my passenger while I went inside to drop something off. When I got back he had the windows down as the car turned itself off because I had taken the fob with me. I guess I would have to get used to it.
As far as the car monitoring your health, I am not sure if I would want it monitoring my blood pressure in a traffic jam.
hc on 19 May 2011 at 9:02 am #
Oh yes, yes and yes. I had a 442 – fire engine red, wide oval tires, white racing strip and hood louvres, 4 barrels, hurst shift, white leather interior…through the oil embargo of ’72 … what a car…ah …sigh…
Now I drive a very sedate silver Fusion — my “put put” car.
Ed. on 19 May 2011 at 9:07 am #
You mean the Baccaruda, available at your Dymouth Plealer today?
(Yeah, I’m old.)
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 19 May 2011 at 9:26 am #
Seems to me Toyota has the strangest car names: Cressida, Camry, Prius [I own one], and others.
But the dumbest car name has got to have been Edsel. And speaking of suggestive natural formation [e.g., Grandmother Rock], what about thoughtless designer grills?
Dan in SWMo on 19 May 2011 at 9:47 am #
I’m going to do a bit of nit-picking here. I read the article about the combining of SYNC technology with health-related services, and I didn’t see any mention in it of monitoring blood pressure. The nearest was blood glucose levels (though I am slightly puzzled as to how they could monitor that without getting a blood sample). And why is “Edsel” the dumbest car name ever? Compared with what? “Gremlin”? If the Edsel had been a marketing success rather than a marketing failure, you would think nothing of the name; you would accept it the way you accept names like Pontiac.
Jerry in Fl on 19 May 2011 at 10:17 am #
Does anyone know what time Saturday the world is going to end? I was just wondering if I will have time to get my car washed. I understand that the Donald has decided that, in spite of a “really, really big” public demand he will not run for president and he is now debating whether it would be worth his time to accept $50 million for another season of The Apprentice. We have a show that is vey similar here in Florida. I think that we are down to the final four state employees and next week’s task should be a humdinger as Tommy Lee Jones, the sheriff in Escambia Co, likes to say.
Ruth Anne in Winter Park on 19 May 2011 at 10:25 am #
Well, Ed, I guess I’m old too. I immediately thought of ba-ba-ra-ra-cu-cu-da-da!
Dave in MA on 19 May 2011 at 10:51 am #
Steve from Royal Oak, MI
My car’s keyless ignition doesn’t shut off the car if I get out and leave with the FOB, but it won’t let them drive away without it.
HOWEVER, if my car DID shut off the engine, the passenger wouldn’t be able to open the windows as they require the car to be on.
Dave in MA on 19 May 2011 at 10:57 am #
Jerry in Fl
I hear 6:00 PM is the expected start time, in every time zone. A major killer earthquake, time zone by time zone at that time zone’s 6:00 PM….. followed by 5 months of hell for those of us who survive.
I’ll be sitting out in the lawn chair waiting to cheer when 6:01 comes with no end of the world in sight.
Dave in MA on 19 May 2011 at 10:58 am #
Oh yes, and also waiting for the inevitable “I made an error in my calculations”.
Judy in Conroe on 19 May 2011 at 11:58 am #
Glad to know the “critical” time – we already have plans to be grilling steaks and will lift a glass of wine at the appointed time. However, I am not expecting an earthquake because I am a firm believer that the end will come “not with a bang, but a whimper.”
Judy in Conroe on 19 May 2011 at 12:00 pm #
As for error in calculations, Dave in MA, how could there NOT be errors – not only has the original been translated many many times, but our system of timekeeping has also changed more than once.
Jerry in Fl on 19 May 2011 at 12:25 pm #
W’s one good quote: “I had faulty intelligence.”
sideburns on 19 May 2011 at 12:31 pm #
And, of course, Judy, people who make that type of “calculations” never think to start off with the text in the original language. Not only don’t they know how to read it, they assume that the translation they’re using is 100% accurate and that every word in it means exactly the same thing now as it did when it was written. And considering that their favorite translation is several hundred years old, that’s a pretty shaky assumption at best.
Boise Ed on 19 May 2011 at 12:35 pm #
Dave, that inability to operate the electric windows one reason I don’t like them. But then, my car is a 1996 Miata. During the summer, I don’t need windows anyway.
And as for Saturday, then, I suppose part of this catastrophe is going to stop at the Rockies and tap its toes wait for another part of it to roll up to eastern Oregon, so it can hit the Pacific Time Zone together. Funny! Oh, and what about the people on the International Space Station?
Boise Ed on 19 May 2011 at 12:46 pm #
Oh, and for a great take on Saturday’s hoohah, check out this week’s Doonesbury, starting with Monday (http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/archive/2011/05/16).
Phil in Sugar Land, TX on 19 May 2011 at 1:04 pm #
A series of Facebook posts from my daughter’s friends. Used without permission with names removed to protect the irreverent.
MBd: according to those who know, around 6pm on the 21st. I see a traffic jam at the pearly gates.
MM: better eat an early supper…
MBd: it should be easy to get a table at a posh restaurant around 7-ish. I’m making reservations now.
S: Is THAT today? I completely forgot!
MB: You’ve got until Sunday.
S: Pshew, thanks, I’d hate to miss it…I think I’ll put it in my calendar just in case.
MBd: I’m Jewish, so I’m stuck here no matter what. Even though we control the entire world, we didn’t get invitations to this soiree’. I probably would have avoided the whole thing, anyway, but it would have been nice to get a chance to RSVP.
MN: ?6pm Central? Or GMT?
JR: Can we do it on Sunday? I have a lot going on Saturday evening.
MB: Don’t worry Jim, I think you’re staying around with the rest of us.
M: Hebrew is generally written without the vowels…you fill them in logically. What if this is a giant type and we’re headed for The Rupture?
D: It’s a typo. We’re heading for “The Repertoire”.
M: Rapture/Rupture/Repertoire… I’m wearing a cup or jock strap, just in case.
J: According to this 6:pm in each time zone: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/18/tick-tock-goes-the-doomsday-clo.ck/?hpt=C1. It is a little early for a end of world party, I guess its OK to start it after the world is over
M: So you could stand just to the west of a time zone border and take a “wait and see” attitude. If some people to your east started glowing and rising up to heaven to sounds of the Hallelujah Chorus…you’d have an hour to repent!
Jerry in Fl on 19 May 2011 at 1:28 pm #
Does this mean that the stock market crash has been cancelled? People on Wall Street being taken up to heaven? What was I thinking?
Dave in MA on 19 May 2011 at 1:50 pm #
Judy in Conroe
The one who did the calculations assures us he knows his original languages and has carefully examined this for decades since his last miscalculation in the early 90s.
Boise Ed
HAHAHAHAHA! Thanks! Hadn’t seen that. Don’t normally follow that strip.
Today’s (may 19th) is especially funny!
Phil in Sugar Land, TX
Even better! I love the idea of standing just outside the next time zone to wait and see what happens there!
Wow, what a riot!
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 19 May 2011 at 2:47 pm #
Dan:
No your not nit-picking, I was using dramatic license. Kind of like the time the nurses were not letting me see the doctor because my insurance wouldn’t cover him. The Doctor just said “I’ll bill it to my Doctor who can”. When she took my blood pressure, she said “It’s a little high” The next time I saw him, it was normal.
Dave:
Actually my passenger saw the warning light and he quickly pushed the button to roll the window down. Which brings up another point, everyone used to “crank” the window down manually but today, most cars use a button that you push down. Yet if you want someone to open your window, you use your arm in a “cranking” motion.
billinbossier on 19 May 2011 at 3:04 pm #
So this means I don’t have to worry about bringing a covered dish to the party that is supposed to start @ 6:30, Saturday? That’s a relief. Now, I don’t have to go to Walmart again before the end of the world!
Mary in Ohio on 19 May 2011 at 4:03 pm #
Well, Henry probably thought naming a car for his son Edsel would work out as well as it did for the father of that Mercedes girl.
The retro strip had me about to comment that Arlo would never get that strip of bacon past ME if I were Janis. But if the world is going to end maybe I will just order a large meat lovers stuffed crust on Pizza Hut’s $10 deal.
My translation of the Bible mentions somewhere that the end will come when we know not.
And the popularity of the “Left Behind” series several years ago simply pointed out that even those who were sure they would be The Raptured were more interested in what was going on down here after they left; there was no series about what THEY were gonna be doing.
Of course, the Cleveland Indians ARE in first place, so maybe… |8-0)
Phil in Sugar Land, TX on 19 May 2011 at 5:25 pm #
By the way, if anyone is interested in an original Barracuda, I know of one that is sitting in my daughter’s garage in Austin, doing absolutely nothing. It was supposed to be a restoration project but hubby lost interest.
Jim in SE Mississippi on 19 May 2011 at 6:01 pm #
I understand the Japanese have built a toilet that, among other things, collects a specimen from your morning emiction; runs a urinalysis on it; and digitally transmits the result to your health care provider. So if automobiles and plumbing fixtures are able to monitor your health parameters, what’s next…a refrigerator that decides what you should eat?
“No, dammit, you can’t have that drumstick! Here, take this celery stalk instead.”
Marie on 19 May 2011 at 6:39 pm #
I fail to see the laws of physics that would create earthquakes based on time zones.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 19 May 2011 at 7:52 pm #
Dan: It’s so long ago I cannot recall what magazine the article was in; I’d guess The New Yorker in ’61/’62 or so. It came out soon after the Edsel’s demise. Apparently Ford had been going to market this new line, and conducted a project/contest or whatever [in-house, maybe] to gather possible names, stuff like Tornado, Pronghorn, Ocelot, and other jazzy entries. The “committee” considered all the suggestions, and then announced the new car would be named Edsel. As I remember it, the article deliberately ended on that anticlimactic note. I suspect that at least some of the posters to this blog were not yet reading magazine articles when the Edsel flopped. I am not the first to think the name was ill-chosen, and perhaps part of the problem:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edsel#Edsel.2C_a_difficult_name_to_place
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 19 May 2011 at 8:13 pm #
Actually, Gremlin wasn’t a bad name for a car. Gremlins were elf-like creatures who were responsible for all things that went wrong, mostly in the UK, and especially the RAF, during WW II. Kids who were in their teens during the war would remember them when the AMC Gremlin debuted in the early ’70s, and might be in the market for a mini-car named after the creatures that lightened their wartime childhood. And the Gremlin sold decently well into the late ’70s. But a car named after the boss’s son? 90 7.5
Ghost Rider 6 on 19 May 2011 at 10:15 pm #
I always had the sneaking suspicion that what really doomed the Edsel was that unfortunate vertical oval of a grille. I don’t think that most men (at that time the vast majority of vehicle buyers) were too thrilled about the idea of driving an automobile that often elicited the comment from other guys, “They should have named it the Ethel.”
(In advance: Sorry, debbie.)
Anonymous on 20 May 2011 at 1:42 am #
Actually the bible is probably the most carefully translated book in history. Is there something that can be lost in translation? Absolutely. The real sad part is that the clearest passages are often overlooked. Some “overlookers” are by those of us who should know better based upon what we profess with our mouths. Others of us choose to overlook what is clearly written because if we were the author that is how we would want it written. As Mary stated earlier, we will not know when. The prediction was idiotic. It is funny that many who view his statements as absurd are quick to believe the predictions of other men or at least give credence to their convitiction that man is going to destroy the planet. Do you remember when those great Cudas and GTOs were just dying we were afraid of the coming ice age. Now it’s warming.
As it turns out, when the end does come, it will be as a result of mankinds doing, but not for the reasons spouted by the doomsayers of our modern age.
Have an abundance of life on Saturday, and everyday that you are given.
Brevity is a simple thing and yet it eludes me.
MyWifesLover on 20 May 2011 at 1:52 am #
Darn, I just commented and forgot to add my name and email. Perhaps my words were condemned to moderation. Oh well I feel better posting whether it is seen or not.
‘Nuff said! There I did it. Sort of.
Dan Cluley on 20 May 2011 at 4:19 am #
The biggest problem with the Edsel was timing.
They began planning the car in the early ’50s when the market for mid priced cars was booming.
It went on sale in the fall of 1957 just as the US economy hit a small recession, which hurt car sales in general and absolutly killed that segment of the market. Buick and Olds sold half as many cars in ’58 as they had in ’57!
Even though the Edsel actually gained a larger market share than expected, the overall numbers were bad enough that fall, to give Robert McNamara (then head of Ford) the excuse he needed to kill the project.
McNamara had never been in favor of the Edsel, and some accounts suggest he was planning it’s demise before the first car ever hit the showroom.
Rick in Shermantown, Ohio on 20 May 2011 at 4:58 am #
Strip of 05.20.11:
I think that lizards are fairly lean and should therefore be a good source of protein.
Do they taste like chicken?
Phil in Sugar Land, TX on 20 May 2011 at 6:38 am #
Rick:
Alligator does more or less taste like chewy chicken…couldn’t say about anole, which is what Janis has probably found in the greenery.
Anoles are color-changing lizards found in the southeast and as far west as Texas. They are constantly getting in the house here, causing my wife to call for St George to move the dragon outside.
Speaking of critter suprises…one year we had a number of golden orb spinner spiders take up residence in the yard. They are large (2-4 inches) spiders which spin meter-wide webs which look like golden threads and are strong enough to stop a bird. One morning my wife went out the back door in hurry and blundered into a new web between the house and the porch pillar. Talk about excitement! To her credit, she just brushed the spider off and didn’t get hysterical like Janis might.
John in Richmond Texas on 20 May 2011 at 9:57 am #
I’ve read some car history and a Ford executive, when told the name Edsel said that lost 200,000 sales right off the bat, they did however moderate the horse collar grill the second year. My favorite car names though are Stanza and Protege. I’m ashamed to admit that in regards to today’s strip, I would be the one freaking out if I got “too close” to a lizard. We had to laugh recently when we saw two lizards going at it on our porch, they were grabbing each others heads and twisting around, while another (I guess female) watched close by. We got some good close up shots, if we had been making a cheap dinosaur movie decades ago, we would have been all set
nick chick on 20 May 2011 at 1:12 pm #
Well, again I missed the opportunity to make some extra money. There is actually a website that you can contact that has promised to “take care of your pets” after you have “ascended” (since, of course, animals will not go with you). You pre-pay (of course) $135 for the first pet and $20 for each additional pet. This is the amazing part…they have had such a surge of “interested parties” that they can now only accept your application if you pay via pay pal.
Now, why didn’t I think of that?
Bill in Paducah on 20 May 2011 at 1:57 pm #
nick chick: Read a story this morning where an owner of one such service admitted he expected his policyholders were going to be twice disappointed this weekend – once when they were still here on Sunday and again when they called him to find out there were no refunds…
Mark in Boston on 20 May 2011 at 4:08 pm #
When the Bible says 6:00 local time, does it account for daylight savings time? Or is it 6:00 sun time, where noon is when the sun is directly overhead?
Or is it based on Roman time? There were twelve hours in the day (from sunrise to sundown) and no hours in the night (sundials don’t measure them). 6:00 is more or less “the twelfth hour” (remember the parable of the workers hired at “the eleventh hour” being paid a whole day’s wage for one hour’s work?) So it kind of makes sense that it might happen at the twelfth hour local solar time wherever you happen to be. Maybe a giant paring knife is held up to the globe as it turns.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 20 May 2011 at 4:34 pm #
I have just started reading an article in The Chronicle Review [an insert in the weekly Chronicle of Higher Education] entitled “The Bible is dead; long live the Bible” by Timothy Beal, a prof of religion at Case Western Reserve University. I don’t subscribe to the Chronicle, but a local university does, and your nearest college or university may also. So may your local public library or even a pastor or academician you know. I expect the article to be interesting, but also that it may be offensive to some. I don’t plan to comment on it here, where some have suggested that religion is not a suitable topic.
Mary in Ohio on 20 May 2011 at 4:35 pm #
Nick Chick – if I get there and there are no pets, then I have definitely not been Raptured.
I have also heard the Edsel grille compared to a bedpan. The family classic car mags I get seem to favor that description. (though I am old enough to remember the Edsel first hand.) Wasn’t it also the one with the push-button shifter, with the buttons mounted on the dash?
The Chevy Nova bombed in any Spanish speaking country. “No va” means “It doesn’t go.” (I had a ’75 Nova and sometimes it didn’t.)
I also read that the Doomsday predictions for tomorrow will have the whole earth shaking apart and then later terrible things happened to the unsaved. Presumably after they all went flying off into space.
Jerry in Fl on 20 May 2011 at 5:59 pm #
Worldwide there are hundreds of earthquakes every week and there have been fewer in the last week than at any time I recall. Minor earthquakes release energy that builds up in the constant movement of the plates so fewer quakes is not necessarily a good sign. I play around with the prediction of earthquakes with some success. For instance, I recently predicted that a moderate quake would hit Portugal in a few days. It hit Spain, so I consider that somewhere between a success and a miss. I look for places that do not get frequent quakes. Predicting a quake in southern California or the Aleution Islands would be like saying there will be a hurricane in the Atlantic this summer. This is as far as I will go-I expect a serious (4.5-7) quake in the New Madrid fault by the end of this year. For those keeping score that is the second major prediction that I’ve made for this year and, so far, I am very wrong in the first although I’ve noticed that the so-called experts are agreeing with me. Interesting.
Boise Ed on 20 May 2011 at 6:40 pm #
John in Richmond: I wish you could post one or more of those pictures here. Lizard action pix!
Robin in FL on 20 May 2011 at 9:59 pm #
Phil in Sugarland
Oh, I would have reacted like Janis in today’s strip–only more so–had I a) blundered into a web and b) the current occupant was still in it.
Mary in Ohio–I had an 87 No-va and nothing had changed!
Jerry in Fl on 20 May 2011 at 10:20 pm #
All things considered, the “Do Not Disturb” thingy will be on my door tomorrow.
Tom in Glendora, CA on 21 May 2011 at 2:10 am #
I was out at the Auto Club Speedway today with a friend and one of his neighbors. We
took a lap of the track as part of a charity event. Really neat. You don’t realise how big
those NASCAR tracks are until you drive a lap. I’ve been there many times and it’s only
when you go out on the track that you see how long it really is. Of course, doing 70
takes a lot longer than 190+ mph.
My friend’s neighbor brought his pristine Olds 442. Well, almost pristine. The fuel pump started to go out on him during his lap. When we parted, he was headed to the auto parts store.
Soleil on 21 May 2011 at 3:52 am #
Phil in Sugar Land — I am an arachnophobe, and a fairly hardcore one at that. Somehow I managed to avoid the golden orb weavers for the 25 years I was in Florida. Had it been me who had walked into an occupied web, you would have heard the commotion all the way in Sugar Land.
Anoles (green or brown; there are two kinds) are ‘geckos’ in the local lingo of the South, even though they’re scientifically not geckos.
I like them, though — they’re quiet, shy, and not aggressive. And they eat bugs. Years ago I had a flat in Tampa, and the prior occupant was a filthy slob. (the property manager said they’d sprayed, but would do so again any time I wanted if it was still an issue) It wasn’t an infestation, but more than I was comfortable with, but I had a beloved kitty, so I put out a few motels, which did help. The cat would catch all the lizards who dared enter the domain of his balcony and proudly bring them inside, where they would run and hide under the refrigerator or stove…in less than a week, the roach population was ZERO.
They eat spiders, too, which endears them to me even more.
Rick in Shermantown, Ohio on 21 May 2011 at 8:49 am #
1. Too little to save, too much to throw away is what makes the cook fat.
2. A family friend had a 1967 442. Astounding car. I could not believe the power of that engine.
3. I am finding it harder and harder to resist the temptation to buy a new Mustang with the largest engine possible. Two items help me, though: A. I don’t care for the spoiler. B. I don’t like Chinese transmissions; they might be fine, but I prefer to see people over here working.
Jerry in Fl on 21 May 2011 at 10:56 am #
Buy the Mustang. That will keep at least one person in Ohio working.
Tom in Glendora, CA on 21 May 2011 at 1:16 pm #
Reading Jerry’s comments about earthquakes in CA sent me to the USGS listing for
earthquakes. Turns out that in the last 24 hours, there have been 77 quakes in CA. The
smallest was .2 and the largest 3.7 with most of them under 2. As a rule of thumb
(at least for me), you don’t feel anything under 3.
Jerry in Fl on 21 May 2011 at 1:29 pm #
True, but, if in a quiet area, you can hear them. The only thing today slightly out of normal has been a 5.0 in the mid-atlantic range. There is an old fault the comes down through eastern Pennsylvnia, New York City and east out to the area of this quake, But this was a very, very long way from NYC. That’s why they call it the mid-atlantic range.
Phil in Sugar Land, TX on 21 May 2011 at 2:26 pm #
Soleil,
Everyone here calls them geckos too but they don’t ‘geck’.
I would just as soon leave them inside too because they do eat the lesser critters, but I’ve had them die and smell bad for several days when I couldn’t find the corpse. Several months after one such episode, I found a dessicated lizard in the bottom of my washtub bass. I think he died of old age, because he was a large specimen and had evidently been living ‘high on the hog’, so to speak. But, as you say, we have very few insects inside.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 21 May 2011 at 5:28 pm #
During my FL years, we had any number of little scaly critters in our home, and I do hope they dined on the roaches & ants we also had. As I rather like spiders – and had a pet wolf spider named Farquhar living in/above the front door frame – there was no need to do in the spiders. Besides, the spiders also ate roaches, especially when I’d catch one and toss it into Farquhar’s web!
Anyway, we always thought the scaly residents were skinks…of various numbers of lines from about 5 to over 9. The colors were attractive – greens, blues, off-white, and so forth predominating. Can anyone tell me definitively if there is a big difference between skinks and anole lizards? We saw more than one drop its tail, too….
BTW, I am back from my knee replacement surgery (obviously) and it went well, according to the surgeon. According to me, it doesn’t yet bend enough, and it has been over a month. If I cannot regain enough bend, my driving days are over, and that would not be good since I’m the main household driver. I’ve also run into several ancillary problems which the first 2 or 3 docs cannot figure out. Thus, I am about to employ another set of 3 specialty “ologists”. Darn!
Ruth Anne in Winter Park on 21 May 2011 at 8:08 pm #
Skinks vs. anoles – definitely different. A nice concise description can be found in the Wildlife section (specifically Lizards) of the Corkscrew Swamp webpage at corkscrew dot audubon dot org.
Jerry in Fl on 21 May 2011 at 8:50 pm #
Curmudg- May I ask how long were you in physical rehab? Assuming that it’s your right knee, I never had any problem driving with the left foot when necessary. Have you tried that? Also assuming that you are in “the middle ages” like most of us, recovery from your type of surgery could continue to progress for several weeks yet. With proper exercise you may expect maximun recovery at about 12 weeks. My attorneys at Shuffle, Feet and Bluffum require me to tell you that I am not a doctor. Is Pensacola the only location of a store named Duh or is it a chain?
Jerry in Fl on 21 May 2011 at 8:54 pm #
“Maximun recovery” is a medical term. Ignore that.
Mary in MT on 21 May 2011 at 9:00 pm #
it’s a couple hours after 6……is anyone surprised that we’re all still here?
A Mindful Webworker on 21 May 2011 at 9:02 pm #
You guy-uys! Stop stimulating memories! ;-}
Recently, I saw a ’68 blue Mustang that could have been my first car. For sale sign in the window. Stopped the kids & talked about it, but sigh! the old man is not in the market. Rare to see that exact car, but it was!
But I’ve never ever seen the one for which I traded in that beloved ’68. Checking biomemory mnemonic: “1970 Mustang Mach I 351 4-in-the-floor Hearst shifter.” Yeah, that was it. As muscle as any car I’ve ever owned. Had a flip-up tail instead of a spoiler. No great ugly wide stripes on the hood, just tasteful pinstripes. No big ugly hood scoop, just the little side ones IIRC. Red exterior = instant ticket on entering small towns. Red and black interior (trashed the first time I took a girl to Tulsa’s classic Pennington’s drive-in on The Strip; great story, but I’ll save it). Couldn’t keep dogs and other drivers from denting in the right-front panel, though. I mean, cursed: same dent, over and over. Eventually sold it dented.
So, I’ve been meaning for a long time to search the web for its likeness. Inspired by ye olde car pharts here, I searched for pix and you know what? There’s Pontiacs that look like it, sorta, some similar Mustangs, but even online, not one that looks like mine! This is not it: http://www.cruisenclassics.com/70fordmachone.htm
As the statute of embarrassment limitations has (nearly) passed, I’ll confess I got talked into trading that in on the Bic Lighter of vehicles, a Chevy Vega hatchback with the guaranteed-limited-lifetime aluminum engine. Taught my wife to drive on that one, though.
John in Richmond Texas on 21 May 2011 at 9:05 pm #
Per Boise Ed request, Ha! Ok got to facebook – John Czach (me) 2 lizard pics
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 21 May 2011 at 9:10 pm #
Jerry/FL: Yep, right knee; the left was done back in ’08. I am now 32 days post-surgery. My thought on insufficient bending is from my memory of how quickly the other knee responded. Of course, at my advanced age (more than three score and ten), my memory may not be perfect…. Physical therapy is in progress and will continue 2 or 3 times per week for another month or so. BTW, are your attorneys similar to the late Johnny Carson’s favorite firm of Dewey, Cheatum & Howe?
Ruth Anne/WP: I will have to give it a look. Should it make any difference, I lived in Melbourne while in FL – is there a geographically specific distribution of anoles/skinks?
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 21 May 2011 at 9:38 pm #
I didn’t have time for a thorough search, but anoles and skinks are different families of lizards. There are several genera of anoles, with who knows how many species, and Wikipedia says there are some 1,200 species of skinks. Both families occur in N. America, and I don’t know where else, but I expect you can search it out. True geckos are a different, Old World family of lizards. Iguanas, another distainct family, are I think, New World only. There was a good Mexican restaurant in North Branch, MN called “The Green Iguana” but it died during a major street repair that interfered with access.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 21 May 2011 at 9:58 pm #
Having now seen pictures and read descriptions, I believe we were blessed with both skinks and anoles in FL. We had some critters which were solid lemon/lime green and others with multiple lines of colors parallel to their respective spines. I do not recall any brown ones at all. They were all approximately the same size, but we never really measured. All in all, my entire family was delighted to be able to view them, by any name.
Phil in Sugar Land, TX on 21 May 2011 at 11:55 pm #
Mary in MT;
We’re packing the house and will be headed north June 16th. June 23rd or thereabouts, it’ll be Phil in Missoula, MT.
Tom in Glendora, CA on 22 May 2011 at 2:03 am #
Jerry in Fl – It’s not only in quiet areas that you can hear earthquakes coming. I was living
in Los Angeles when the Coalinga quake hit CA in 1983. I could hear that one coming my way. It sounded just like a huge bowling ball, and I was the headpin!
A Mindful Webworker – I thought the Ford Pinto was the Bic lighter of automobiles.
Jerry in Fl on 22 May 2011 at 5:13 am #
I’ve never owned a Bic lighter. Are they really that bad?
Jerry in Fl on 22 May 2011 at 5:32 am #
Re Duh, I looked it up on the net. Duh. Pensacola is the only store. It is fun to visit and is always good for some laughs looking at what people consider valuable. Next time I see an old piece of furniture by the road I’m going to take it home, beat it up with a hammer, splatter paint all over it and put a five thousand dollar price tag on it. I may open a store called Whatever, You Know.
Tom in Glendora, CA on 22 May 2011 at 1:02 pm #
Jerry in Fl – The Bic lighters are cheap, but very good. They light every time. Pintos had
a problem with their gas tanks. In rear-end collisions, they could become alight easily.
Thus the connection to Bic lighters.
Boise Ed on 22 May 2011 at 1:04 pm #
John in Richmond, thanks for the lizards. In the first shot, their heads make them look like miniature iguanas! The second looks like they were trying out for a 1950s Japanese movie. Wonderful!
sideburns on 22 May 2011 at 1:58 pm #
Tom, an earthquake may sound to you like a bowling ball coming, but I have a different, more sinister reference: it’s the only thing I’ve ever heard that sounds like a B 52 raid from about ten miles away. I know because I used to watch them from off-shore back in ’72 when my ship was in Tonkin Gulf.
And, BTW, I understand that back in WW II, the Japanese nickname for what we called the Betty (their main bomber) was the “flying Ronson” because they caught fire so easily. (I gather they had no self-sealing fuel tanks and not enough armor.)
Mary in Ohio on 22 May 2011 at 4:26 pm #
Well – thank goodness you’re all here. I was afraid it was just me and the kitties, the Elkhound, and the Beagle that didnt make the cut.
Curmudge: I have not had knee replacement, but rehabbed a broken knee cap and it wasn’t til the last scheduled therapy session that I could flex it enough to fully push the pedal around on the stationary bike. And, as I had a stick shift, my first experience driving was nearly a disaster: I could exert enough pressure on the clutch to engage it, but lifting/bending my knee enough to put my foot ON the pedal in the first place was agony. And that was 9 years ago, so I’m sure being older than you were at the first one is a factor. Hang with ‘em!
I don’t know that Chevy Vegas have such a reputation for flammability as the Pintos, but the rank right up there in unfavorable reviews.
Going to FB to chk out lzrds.
Tom in Glendora, CA on 22 May 2011 at 5:46 pm #
sideburns – I was there too. But a bit inland, near Bien Hoa. I worked at HQ, II Field Force.
On the maps, there was no mention of B52′s. Their strikes were called “heavy artillery warnings”. I’m sure that fooled everybody.
sideburns on 22 May 2011 at 7:27 pm #
If you were there during the Easter Offensive, our ship may have helped you. Our code name at the time was “Grand Opening,” as it was our first WestPac. Only one tube, but it was a 5″/54 and we were able to reach to the back side of the second mountain back a few times with 70# shells. This isn’t the time nor the place to re-fight that war; I’m just glad we both got back safe and sound, although I later developed an “artillery notch” in my hearing because of all the shore support we sent out.
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 22 May 2011 at 7:51 pm #
Sideburns: You can get a notch like that a block from home. Wife got distracted at under 30 mph, veered into a tree, and set off an airbag. Left a dead spot in her hearing, possibly in part from the increased cabin pressure from the bag’s exploding. If you’re going to have an auto accident, best to have a window slightly open.
Jerry in Fl on 22 May 2011 at 10:43 pm #
I worked with a guy that bought a new Vega, paid it off in 3 years and sold what was left of it for $50. On the other hand, I own a 72 Riviera that still looks new and none of the electric windows have ever stopped working. Try that with a new car today. I don’t hear any bowling balls or bombers coming, but I have been feeling a hair off the bubble this weekend so I leave it in your capable hands. Peace.
sideburns on 23 May 2011 at 1:06 am #
Yeah, Emeritus, I know. However, I’ve never been the type that enjoys loud noises for their own sake, and after testing the VA conceded (their word, not mine) that it’s service connected. Only 0%, mind you, but even that’s enough to put me nearer the head of the line than those vets lucky enough to be in perfect health.
Llee on 23 May 2011 at 8:01 am #
Dan, Mike (in MO) are y’all okay? Rough afternoon/evening. And now the sky is dark again? ANOTHER storm? Hopefully no tornado this time but the rescue crews sure don’t need another storm.
hc on 23 May 2011 at 8:33 am #
Thoughts to all in Joplin MO – and Minneapolis MN – Mother nature is not being nice to the mid-west this year.
A Mindful Webworker on 23 May 2011 at 9:27 am #
Will a late post on Friday’s page even be seen? Let’s find out.
Tom in Glendora, CA #comment-39046
Ah, yes, the Pinto fireball. I’ve never had a Bic explode, though. By the metaphor I just meant “disposable.” Aluminum engine: Good idea: light weight; bad idea: had a rep for freezing up for good after so many miles. Sold it to my brother-in-law, and he and his wife drove it to Mexico and all over the place and eventually sold it, so I guess it lasted a good while.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Vega#Engines
Also used in — among others — the Pontiac Astre, whatever that was.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Astre
The Chevy Vega: the Worst Detroit Car Ever? “But even worse than the Pinto, many readers insisted, was the Chevrolet Vega.”
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/flowchart/2008/12/19/the-chevy-vega-the-worst-detroit-car-ever
Went from a Mach I V8 to a 4-cylinder toy. What WAS I thinking? Still, in 1979, we had a sprout business and twice a week packed coolers full of different kinds of bagged sprouts and toodled around town delivering to groceries and restaurants. The hatchback Vega was great for that. Can’t imagine doing that with the Mach I! Utility is the determinant. The old 2-door Scout served until the twins. Too hard to get sleeping tots out of the back seat. A good old Astro was our first family wagon.
Mustang, Mustang Mach I, Vega, Scout, Suburban, Travelall, Astro, and Quest. Wish I still had ‘em all. Except the Travelall. It nearly killed us. Couldn’t get rid of it fast enough. Eventually saw it parked on the street, wrecked up.
This is also not my Mach I, At least, not as I remember it:
http://www.kwaree.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/img_0517.jpg
Llee on 23 May 2011 at 1:36 pm #
So distracted this morning I skipped the comics. On a day like today they’re needed even more! So having caught up with the important things in life….I agree with Arlo. Spray sunscreen??? Where’s the fun in that?
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 23 May 2011 at 3:33 pm #
What’s wrong with this couple? Wife enjoyed having me rub it on as much as I enjoyed doing it.
Jerry in Fl on 23 May 2011 at 7:31 pm #
Bad situation in Joplin. I really wish that I was physically able to go help in Alabama, Missouri, etc. I know that the Red Cross can use our donations. Tomorrow is already predicted to be a bad day for tornados. I also see that the last 24 hours has seen the least earthquake activity worldwide that I’ve ever seen and that is not neccessarily a good thing. Hurricane season is about to start and tomorrow I will fill up my extra gas cans and make sure that my generator is in good running order. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Jim in SE Mississippi on 23 May 2011 at 7:38 pm #
I can’t feel too sorry for Arlo over the sun screen…he got to scrub Janis’ back last Wednesday under what were arguably much more interesting circumstances.
Not to be hypercritical (since consistency has never been one of my strong suits), but did anyone notice that “sun screen” changed to “sun-screen” between panel one and panel two? Probably either is correct.
The first and only new car I’ve ever owned was a 1972 Vega. As I recall, I paid $2300 for it off the dealer’s lot, drove it for four years with no problems, and sold it to a young lady for $1200 to use as a college-commuter car. She drove it for another four years, without any major problems. Not exactly in the same league as “Super Truck,” but it filled the bill. The overall quality of the vehicle’s construction left something to be desired, but hey, I wasn’t expecting a Mercedes. And it surely was cheap to operate. Of course, the fact that I did all the routine maintenance myself and could buy gasoline for 32.9 cents per gallon in ’72 probably had a lot to do with that.
Welcome back, c ex-p. We missed hearing from you. Hope things progress well with the new knee.
Jerry in Fl on 23 May 2011 at 8:32 pm #
I tried to research hyphenated words once and, as I understand it, some words are hyphenated and some are not. The rule appears to be that there are no rules. Strangely, non-hyphenated is a hyphenated word.
Jim in SE Mississippi on 23 May 2011 at 9:41 pm #
Yeah, and you’d think hypercritical should be hyphenated, wouldn’t you? Maybe the rule is now that it’s whatever “spell check” says it is. Well, what-ever.
Lindy from Eureka, CA on 24 May 2011 at 2:11 am #
In response to the WW2 Ronson reference above, more famously, the M4 Sherman tank was called a Ronson in reference the advertising slogan of a popular cigarette lighter of the day.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Sherman#…
‘Early Sherman models were prone to burning when struck by high velocity rounds. The Sherman gained grim nicknames like “Tommycooker” (by the Germans who referred to British soldiers as “Tommys”; a tommy cooker was a World War I era trench stove). With gallows humor, the British called them “Ronsons”, after the cigarette lighter with the slogan “Lights up the first time, every time!”, while Polish tankers referred to them as “The Burning Grave”. This vulnerability increased crew casualties and meant that damaged vehicles were less likely to be repairable. US Army research proved that the major reason for this was the use of unprotected ammo stowage in sponsons above the tracks. The common belief that the use of gasoline (petrol) engines was a culprit is unsupported; most World War II tanks used gasoline engines and petrol was unlikely to ignite when hit with armor piercing shells. At first a partial remedy to ammunition fire was found by welding one-inch thick applique armor plates to the vertical sponson sides over the ammunition stowage bins. Later models moved ammunition stowage to the hull floor, with additional water jackets surrounding the main gun ammunition stowage. This decreased the likelihood of “brewing up”.’
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 24 May 2011 at 8:00 am #
Wasn’t quite sure where the blog was going when we started talking about “skinks and anoles” The print was small and I thought maybe you discussing the skunks and anoles in Congress. There sure are a lot of them.
John in Richmond Texas on 24 May 2011 at 8:15 am #
Oh gosh no, you know how it goes, people always say “but MY congressman is OK” (we’re sweating out redistricting in Texas, we pick up four house seats, don’t know where we’ll wind up, but if I’m in a new district, I’m running)