Cummins Diesels-

A Saturday last summer-
I had just pulled into the parking space at the WalMart in Clarksville, Tennessee and was allowing the turbocharger on my truck to cool. This normally takes about a minute or so.
During my wait I became aware of a man standing just outside my door.
He didn't look threatening. I opened my door.
"What year is your truck?" he asked.
"It's a '97."
"How much you want for it?" he asked with a smile, (with no idea how many miles were on the clock. 268,000.)
Knowing exactly where he was headed I responded "What's it worth to you?", even though I have NO INTENTION of selling my truck.
Again, he smiled.

We chatted for a few seconds and together we realized two things-
1. He initially thought I might not know the value of the truck and that he might be able to lowball me.
2. He soon realized I knew exactly what I owned and that he wasn't able to take advantage of my ignorance.
That settled, we had about a 15 minute discussion about the market for old Dodge/Cummins trucks, and parted amicably.

I had spent several months on eBay searching for the truck I wanted to buy...
A two-wheel drive extended cab Dodge Ram truck with a 12-valve Cummins engine and long bed.
I wanted a truck with a standard transmission. They are FEW and FAR between. I had to settle for the automatic.

Growing up in Central Indiana I had a friend whose Father had a pickup... a '53 Ford F100 with a Flathead V8 engine.
I LOVED that truck... loved the looks and the sound of it. It was simple and ready to do work.
It was A TRUCK!

Over the last years I've owned a few trucks-
Two Chevy S-10's that served me well during the almost 200,000 miles I drove them.
A '95 Chevy K1500 bare-bones truck that was geared WAY TOO LOW for Interstate driving that I sold within two months of purchase for exactly what I paid for it..
I wanted a truck, and knew what I'd need in the future.

As a kid my family went camping, and I had fond memories of that.
Sara Jean's indication of early stage dementia made me realize while she was still "with me" I wanted to do some traveling with her. I figured some sort of camper in our future would serve that need, but would require a truck to tow a camper. A 3/4-ton truck would be most comfortable.

I'm a HOOSIER kid; Indiana born and raised. I have been aware of the Indiana based Cummins company since Freddie Agabashian drove a Cummins Diesel powered race car in the 1952 Indianapolis 500 and shocked everyone with the power of that race car.

A few years back, Cummins had gotten together with Dodge to produce a pickup truck and those trucks had proven to be "Torque Monsters" and reliable. Buyers seeking a pickup with the power to tow heavy loads without niggling troubles have sought them out. 
Early "12 valve" versions like my truck are now respected and sought after.

-The following Sunday, literally 24 hours after being approached in the WalMart Parking lot, the doorbell at my son's home rang. At the door I found two nice looking young (30-ish?) men.
"We're interested in the truck. Are you interested in selling it?"

I LOVE my truck and I'm not interested in selling it right now.
But it's nice to know it will probably increase in value from this point forward.

 

 

 

 

Why I Wish I Was Elvis-

Elvis, like me, kept a hole puncher close at hand.
When something on television made "The King" angry, he picked up his hole puncher and made a smoking hole in that appliance.
Ruining a television meant nothing to him.
I wish I was Elvis.

Cheese Eating, Wine Drinking Surrender Monkeys !

I'm trying to find good things to say about the French.
Supporting us against the folks with terrible teeth... the British, they are our oldest ally. We must respect that and thank them.
And they build damned good things that fly.
I just hope we always remember how quickly they'll give up and wait for us to keep them from speaking some language other than French.

Religion and Politics-

This morning Sara Jean asked, "What was the first time in your life you felt as if some news item had slapped you in the face?"
I answered almost instantly... "The assassination of President Kennedy."
And those memories started flowing.

I was raised in Central Indiana... a VERY conservative, very Protestant area. (Richard Nixon carried the State there in 1960.) One of the BIG political issues about JFK was his catholic religion.
The fear of many was, if elected, would the Pope then be our de facto president? Kennedy's performance proved that fear to be without foundation and his election probably is the reason a candidate's religion is no longer much of a factor in campaigns today.
And the thought of that issue set me to thinking this morning-
Joe Biden calls himself a catholic. Some of us wish he was a whole lot more CHRISTIAN.
In my view he and Pelosi have given catholics and Christians the appearance of having no religious principles.

The memory of the political consideration of JFK's religion now seems ironic.
Can a Muslim now successfully run for the highest office of the land?

He/She/It-

I'm grateful to GOD Sara Jean doesn't have a PENIS.
How in the world do we find ourselves in Bizarro World?

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

"I've noticed you've not updated your blog in a while" she said.
Yep.
-Don't know if you'd call it "writer's block" or simply lack of excitement/motivation to put words to page.
But I continually find myself asking "Didn't I already address that subject?" Or "I've beaten that dead horse 'way past death". Whatever.

This election seemed like sunrise after a long stint of bad weather for Sara Jean and me. We're smiling, and looking forward to the future with lefty heads exploding so often we get "tired of winning".

"Morning in America."
"The shining city on the hill."
Anything that irritates Rosie O'Donnell these days makes me happy.

We're in Destin Florida. We watched the election returns here while in touch telephonically with a couple sane friends here. It was glorious.

I'll try to do a better job of updating here.
In a few months the blog will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
There may be confetti, cake, and ice cream. (I'm still eating low-carb so don't depend on that!)

Wise Stuff That Came Out of My Mouth:

I'm sure I'm not the first. But while my son was growing he'd sometimes express extreme displeasure at the way his life was unfolding. Frequently I would reply,
"If you wanta keep gettin' what you're gettin', keep doin' what you're doin'."
I know... this is a corollary to "Doc, it hurts when I do THIS!"
SOMETIMES my son would actually listen to me.
Someone needs to have a frank talk with voters.

But would it do any good?
The country needs to take a look at the things we're doing and stop hitting ourselves in the head with that hammer. Sadly, it appears close to half of voters are masochists.
(Hope and Joy!)

Some medicines are hard to take because they are distasteful, painful, or have uncomfortable side effects. (Or some combination of all those.)
Our country has Cancer.
I think it's time for radiation and chemotherapy.

Retreat!

(Click the "YouTube" link if necessary to watch.)

Those with military service smile at this video.

A couple years ago I had dropped Sara Jean off at a military hospital for her to go to the Pharmacy and pick up her medications. Doing that was taking a little longer than normal.
Waiting in our car I was watching four children in a playground across the street, playing on a swingset.
Suddenly the kids stopped swinging, simultaneously turned to face the same direction, and placed their right hands over their hearts.

I knew instantly what was going on. I got out of the car, faced the same direction as they, and offered the hand salute as "Retreat" was sounded.

The incident brought a question to mind:
These "military brats" are being brought up in homes that know the sacrifice our servicemen and women make in order to protect and support the Constitution of the United States.
They know how to pledge allegiance to the flag.

And, unfortunately, they ARE different than most kids today.

How Far Is "Too Far"?

I'm trying to add photos/videos here to better make my point, and "Blogger" has clamped down on posting photos we may not have the "right" to share.
So I need your imagination to make this post work.
Imagine the image of Kathy Griffin holding the decapitated, head covered in blood of someone who looks suspiciously like Donald Trump just below here. (If you're not aware of the sickening photo, go look it up now):












You won't need imagination for this one:

Is this okay?
Would it be okay for me to post an image or video of Vice President kneepads being raped and murdered?
I don't think so.

How do we heal from the evil and madness that our media is promoting now? How do I reconnect with friends now that I know how naive/stupid they are?
Lord be with and guide us.

Let's Do "True Communism" !

We hear so often... "Communism would work if it wasn't perverted by people like Joseph Stalin!"
It's hard to reason against that argument.

If Clem and Ziggy and Herbie all got together to plant a garden for the "benefit of all", and for which they had spent an equal amount to buy seed, then all contributed an equal amount of work to till the soil and plant that seed... then all three spent an EQUAL amount of "sweat equity" to cultivate, water, then harvest and share the fruit of their labor-
That would be true communism.
What are the chances you could get three Alpha Males together to do that?
How often have we seen this scenario tried?

When the Pilgrims first landed at Plymouth Rock... they tried it.
And if it had not been for Native Americans they would have starved.
It's why we now have a holiday called Thanksgiving.

But I'm ALL FOR trying it again.
And this time I want to be in LEADERSHIP of this attempt.
I want the Dacha.
I want the fine car that others will envy.
I want to be able to LOUDLY rail against anyone trying to take advantage of my poor, disadvantaged brethren.
And I want to be able to determine who owns the guns while my considerable security force protects me.

Where can I sign up?
Want a piece of this action?