Happy Halloween.

and I'm in class......

Blog Linking 121

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Well, I checked around and the only possibility I found was this - go to "Settings", scroll down to "Global Settings" and make sure that "show compose mode for all your blogs" is set to yes. If it's already set to yes, then I have no freakin' clue. Let me know if it works. And how do you copy and paste if you have no right-click?
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Peace, love and harmony, man.
Like, let's groove on some bitchin' tunes while chillin' out with Mary
Jane. Just quit bogartin' the doobie and we'll all be cool man. Cool?
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[The song, and driving around in a '69 LTD all day has warped the mind]

Blog Linking 101

Writer, first of all - if you really want to have that song going through your head all day - just click HERE.

I'll try a little tutorial here to help you with linking, but we can always get together sometime and I'll help you with it if this isn't clear enough. First of all - if you need a better look at the pictures, just click on the one you want to see and it will give you the full sized picture. Second - there are 2 ways to insert the link - you can either type the whole thing in or you can go to the page you are linking to and copy and paste the address into the dialog box.

1. First type the words you are going to link to.
2. Highlight the words and click on the link button (circled in red in the first picture).
3. A dialog box will pop up, do not change anything other than the box that is circles in the second picture.
4. Type in the complete address for the page you are linking to, or copy it from your browser and paste it in there (I don't know if the copy-paste will work with your Mac).
5. Click "OK" and you're done.

If you have any questions - just ask.

"I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony..."

Getting home from church is hell with I-215 all shut down so they can move the new 45th South bridge into place. First of all, traffic from the freeway is diverted to Wasatch Boulevard, and the road is all clogged up with people watching. Of which I became one. Got a lot of pictures (HERE), but the best one was the one here. It reminded me of that Coke commercial from the 70's, I could almost see them swaying, hand in hand, singing about world peace. Except they were watching huge machines move a huge bridge. I also added some daytime pictures of the old mill, HERE. Anyway, seeing the whole thing was really cool, but there wasn't much reason to hang around too long, you can probably get everything from the pictures, 'cause it didn't move very fast. I was there for about an hour and I don't think it moved more than a foot.

Act my age? No thanks.

So Adele & I are out cruising in the LTD after going to a Halloween party and we end up down at the Haunted Old Mill. Remember, down in Sandy where they used to have the Haunted House every Halloween. It's all fenced in, barbed wire and everything. The parking lot is fenced in too, separate from the building. As we were out there taking pictures of the burned out building we're talking about how cool it would be to get in there and check it out. We decided that because of the barbed wire, and the need to climb fences, that we probably better not, we'll just settle for more pictures. Until these 3 in their early 20's (2 guys and a girl) show up taking pictures too. Their camera wasn't getting any good shots, so I started showing them the pictures I took. That was when they said something about sneaking in and how they'd found an easy entrance into the parking lot. Well, one thing leads to another and next thing I know Adele, these 3 and I are climbing around the fence into the parking lot. One more fence and the building is ours. We walk over to the fence surrounding the building and start looking for a way in. We go around the fence, starting up the side of the hill, out of the light and in the brush. We found a hole almost big enough to get it, but I got a little bit stuck and some really nice barbed wire tattoos, so we decided to hike further up the hill in search of a better way in. This is where Adele says something about remembering a teen horror movie that started this way, so I turn around say "Blair Witch Project" and take this picture (and a couple more). About 30 seconds later, from the top of the hill where there is nothing but Wasatch Boulevard, a bright light flashes in our eyes and a disembodied voice calls out "Trespassing, go back the way you came." and then the light goes out. Before we can even turn around the light comes back on and the voice again tells us that we are trespassing and need to leave immediately. Before he is even done our backs are to him and we're retreating down the hill, yet he takes the opportunity to remind us of our trespassing three more times before the light goes off and he is silent. Having no clue who this is we, of course, head back out to the car, and do a little debriefing amongst ourselves. Adele and I were talking about the other Halloween rituals we knew of (Emo's Tomb and such) and they seemed pretty interested, enough to ask where we were headed next. I told them we were going to head up to the top of the hill to see if we could see where the disembodied voice had come from (we'd already discussed this, and they had shown the same interest in it Adele and I had). I asked them if they wanted to join us and gestured towards the car. One of the guys jokingly said "yeah, you got some candy in there too?" (you had to be there because it didn't come out as creeped out as it sounds like). So we laughed, said our good-byes and Adele and I took off. Halfway up the hill it occurred to me that psychology is a weird thing. These 3 kids were more than willing to go into an abandoned Mill with us in the middle of the night, but wouldn't get in the back seat of my car. Adele pointed out that it's a territory kind of thing - the Mill is neutral ground, my car gives me the home team advantage. I don't blame them for not getting in the car, I probably wouldn't have either, but in reality either way could be fatal if we were homicidal maniacs. Alas, the adrenaline rush of the whole experience was too much for us older folks, and that was the end of the night. If you want to see all of the pictures from the night, click HERE. And : BOO!

If you were Dear Abby, what would you say?

Ok, I'll admit it. I read the advice column in the Tribune. It's at the top of the second page of comics and somehow it's infiltrated itself into my morning routine. Some have been amusing, some have been insightful and even infuriating. But nothing has compared to the cluelessness of this one from the other day :

Dear Carolyn: For 15 years now, my wife and I have carried my daughter and son-in-law financially. We have carried the loans for every house and car they have owned, given them over $80,000, and they are repaying $20,000 more in loans. My daughter recently got a tatoo, and when I inquired about it, she said it was her body, etc. I am not a big fan of tattoos on men, let alone women, let alone my daughter. I initially asked if she would remove it and she said no. I then very politely reminded her of the past 15 years of money and favors, and how we had asked for very little in return. I then asked her to please, please do me a favor and have it removed. She went off on me like a nuclear bomb about everything she didn't like about me (intrusive, controlling, etc.) and basically told me to go to hell. Hurt is severely inadequate to describe my reaction. What do you think of her reaction? [signed] - Spoiled Daughter?

I'm not going to post her response, or mine, yet. Just want to see what you all think before I do.

Cyberbullying Workshop.

Anyone with kids under the age of 18 really ought to check out this workshop on Cyberbullying.

click here to link to the info.

Another Urban Legend we can only hope is true....

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you wereblowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. Inoticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper sticker, And the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, naturally..... I assumed you had stolen the car."

There is a theory that every urban legend has core of truth, that something happened that started the urban legend. For example the legend of the lady who sold her soon-to-be-exhusband's brand new BMW for $50. Chances are someone, somewhere sold her husband's car dirt cheap just to spite him. Maybe it was $1,000, maybe it was a 3 year old Chevy. Probably not a brand new BMW. As the story gets around people embellish it and, as in the story above, the woman ends up in jail for a couple of hours. The cop probably just had her pull out all her information to confirm she owned the car. But that doesn't make as good a story.

It's really funny if you ignore the possibility it's fake.....

Oooops!

Ok, somebody wasn't paying attention when they were leaving the parking lot up at the U where I have my classes. Usually when you hit a curb, you think "Hmm, maybe I ought to stop?" not "Hmm, maybe I ought to hit the gas and try to get over it?" My opinion is that she was on the phone when it happened, but then again I have to admit a bias against driving and phones. It could have as easily been that she hit the gas when she meant to hit the brake. I don't know. But I do know that the car is resting right on the frame, and the exaust system. Although I do find it a little bit amusing, I also have to say I feel for her - unless she really was on the phone.....

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Just had a break in class, went out to check on the progress. Got out there just in time to see her drive away - the tow truck that lifted the front end over the ledge was still there. Well, I'm glad she didn't totally mess up the car, but I still think she's gonna have exaust problems in the future.

Plus one, minus one. Keepin' it balanced.

The LTD is in getting the dual exhaust put on it - it should sound a lot like the convertible when it's done. That's because they have identical engines in similar cars. And I decided to give the truck to Danny, making a little more room for the cars I am actually going to be doing something with. That means I'm down to a measly 4 cars - of which 3 are legal. I've been driving the '69 around pretty regularly the last week or so, and it's been doing great. No problems with the starting and charging systems anymore - seems like replacing the regulator did the job. I hate it when the regulator goes out - it's always the last thing I think of. But the good thing is that the car waited until we got back to SLC before breaking down. Nice car. Anyhow, there are the 4 cars that currently reside at my house. The convertible needs a new paint job and some body work from the tire explosion of ought-7. Other than that it's running the way I want it to. The Subaru, of course, is in fine shape - I don't need to do anything there. The '69 is getting the exhaust, needs a new vinyl roof, signal switch and back shocks. Eventually I'll need to replace the upholstery, but other than that the car is in great shape. I decided that I'm going to keep the BMW looking the way it is for now - give it that kind of eccentric professor look. But it still needs some front end and carburetor work to get it in good running order. Car 54? you ask. Look, I just got car #53 a week ago, do you think I'm already thinking about the next one?.......... Ahhhh, you know me too well. Anybody see a '69-'70 LTD wagon out there for sale?

Ventura Highway to I-15 all the way home.

I know it's been a week already, but here it is;

The flight left Salt Lake at 11:05 am on Saturday. Actually we left about 10 minutes late because of technical difficulties. I don't know what it was, they wouldn't tell us, but I figured 10 minutes to make sure the plane is safe - that's OK with me. The plane was one of those tiny little jets, my head touched the ceiling as I walked down the aisle to my seat in the back. Row 11, there were only 13 rows and half of row 13 was the toilet. The flight was uneventful, but in an airport so small there was only one guard checking passengers, it took them almost 45 minutes to get my one piece of luggage that we checked. We figured that they were so small that they didn't want to start the luggage carousel for only one plane, so there were waiting for the other 3 plane loads that showed up to get there before cranking it up. Lucky us, we were plane #1. Meanwhile Skip, the boyfriend of the lady I bought the car from, is circling the airport, in the LTD, waiting for my luggage to show up. All this and the only things in the luggage were a blanket and two pillows (so we could sleep in the back on the way home). I should have just bought them there.

Finally we're in the car headed over to Laurel's house to take care of the paperwork. Being an old car which of course is not in perfect condition, I'm beginning to get buyers remorse. I'm thinking "What the hell am I doing flying all the way out here to drive back in a car that is almost 40 years old? We're gonna break down in the middle of nowhere and be stranded for a week!" Fortunately Alex and Danny were very optimistic about the car, so the remorse didn't get overwhelming. We get to her house, I drive the car around the block, Alex, Danny & I assess the things we are going to have to take care of before we hit the road, Laurel gives us the history of the car, I give her the money orders and we're on our way.

First stop : Discount Tires. At first Laurel had said the tires were fine, they had a lot of tread on them, which they did. Before we even came out, though, she mentioned that Skip had said I ought to put new tires on before driving back. They were in great shape, he said, but they were kind of old and had been on the car a while. Flashing back to the tire explosion in the convertible because of dry rot, I immediately decided that would be job 1 when we got there. Danny had arranged the whole thing from Salt Lake. Called a couple places nearby, got the best deal, had them get the tires from one of their other stores and all ready so that when we showed up we pulled into a bay, walked over to "The Hat" for lunch and the car was ready by the time we got back. Stop #1 - a success.

Now "The Hat" is not your ordinary fast food place, it was suggested by someone Dan & Rae met on a blog. We ordered 3 pastrami sandwiches and 1 order of chili cheese fries for the 3 of us. The pastrami sandwiches were huge, stuffed with excellent pastrami. The chili cheese fries, well, they were huge. Alex didn't even get to his sandwich, Danny & I gave up half way through. The fries filled us up. One order between the 3 of us. Worked out good, the sandwiches were reallt appreciated halfway through the desert between Barstow and Vegas.

Next stop was the nearest auto parts store. We checked and topped off all the fluids. We replaced the brake light switch, air filter and picked up a bunch of tools so we could make repairs if necessary. Stopped off at a grocery store for munchies and drinks and then hit the road. Everything went great, the car was running wonderfully.

Until we hit the first big hill out of the LA valley. It started cutting out, pingging and wouldn't go up the hill faster than 45 MPH. Being too stressed over what I was going to do with the car when I flew us all back to SLC, Danny and Alex talked the whole thing out and figured out the problem. Timing and a good clean for the carb. So the next stop we pulled off the freeway, passed an open parts store to find a closed one where someone told us about the open one we missed, and returned to the open one. I cleaned the carb, Dan & Alex set the timing - by ear. If you haven't worked on cars before you may not realize how amazing that is. Timing is set at something like 4 degrees above top dead center. Off one degree and you can notice it. Took them 15 - 20 minutes messing around with it, but when we got back on the road and hit the next big hill; no pinging, no hesitating, no choking out. The car pulled up the hill at 75 smooth as silk. Yup, Alex & Dan, automechanical idiot savants. Just kidding, they're not idiots. (Oh, did I mention, at the beginning of the trip I declared the car a "no asshole" zone, we were actually nice to each other over 90% of the time.)

The rest of the trip went like clockwork. Pulled into Vegas around 11, had a burger at In-and-Out burger then stopped in Mesquite to get a little sleep. We decided that we could either drive through the night and get home around 3, sleeping until noon and messing up our body schedule. Or we could grab a few hours of sleep, get home around noon without experiencing "jet lag". The only room we could find in Mesquite was the "Honeymoon Suite" at one of the casinos, and despite being out of the price range, we decided the three of us just didn't want to stay there. So, we hit the road again, found a room in St. George, got 6 hours of sleep and headed home.

Now, we made it 700+ miles without the car breaking down on us. Had a few issues that we fixed and got cleared up, but the never just died. Until we hit the 6200 So exit on I-215. Just died. Found out the regulator died, the battery just completely drained. The good thing is the car did it less than 4 miles from Alex's house. He just called up Marijke, she came by with jumper cables and, other than waiting for a while because she had to get the cables back from Jenn, we were on our way again. Dropped Danny off at home and then I went home. And immediatly replaced the regulator. Cars been running great since then. Anyways, if you want to see the pictures, click HERE.

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air

So, we got the car home. All 700+ miles and it didn't break down until we hit the 6200 So. exit of I 215. But it's up and running again, tucked away all warm and cozy in the garage. I got a great car. New paint, rebuilt engine, solid body, no body rot at all and a history. Yeah, the lady who sold it to me had a bunch of old cars she rented out to movie makers. Here's the list she gave me of the movies it's been in :

• Zodiac Killer
• Psycho w- Anne Hesche
• Bringing up Brady
• Apt Pupil
• Split Decision
• Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (it was the taxi Johnny Depp rode in)
• Ali
• The Wedding Planner
• The Kid
• Metal God (Rockstar)
• Frailty w- Bill Paxton
• Pentagon Wars
• Unsolved Mysteries
• Come get Happy
• Lanshy
• Almost Famous
• My Sisters Keeper
• Autofocus

Anyhow, I'm exausted. Have to tell the story of the trip, with pictures, later.

It's good to be home.

Happy Birthday Shirley

tomorrow - the 13th

Josh, Dylan and Paige in Moab.

They are just so damn cute I had to put this on here. For those of you who don't know, from top to bottom, Josh and Dylan are my nephews and Paige is my grand-niece.

Um, yeah.

Pictures like this from the internet are always a little suspect in my opinion. Except this time, because it's not off the internet. A friend of mine was in Puerto Vallarta last week and stumbled upon this shop. And I trust him, so I beleive it when he said "I had to laugh when I saw this place, and they wondered why I refused to shake hands." This one I'll vouch for.

Subaru sellout

I miss the cars from the 60's and early 70's. You could tell a Chevy from a Ford from a Chrysler. You could tell a Toyota from a Datsun from a Mazda. And you could tell an American car from a Japanese car from a German car from a mile away. Not so today. Every small car is a Toyota Corolla. Every midsized car is a Taurus. And now, Subaru has started phasing out it's unique look. Other than the 4 wheel drive, one of Subaru's characteristics was doors without the bar around the window. And a quirky look to it. Here comes the new 2008 Subaru Impreza, the new version of the car I own. Well, now it has rims around the windows, and even worse, it looks a lot like the Mazda 3. Almost identical. Look below. The car in the middle is my Subaru. Without Googling either car, can you tell which is the Mazda and which is the Subaru?

Now, you may ask "who cares?". In which case you either are new to my blog or you are not very observant. Ever since, when I was less than 3, I yelled "Daddy's car" over and over every time we passed the Rambler dealership, I've cared.

And I was going to buy a brand new Impreza as soon as I graduated from my Masters program. Not anymore.

Happy Birthday Amy

Happy Birthday Jim

Cleanup, aisle 6, seat 2!

Scene 2, Act 5.
Science class at an undisclosed high school. Girl in the back has her hand up.

"Yes, Jane?"

"Uh, Ms. Goebel, can I use the hall pass?"

"Jane, it's 'may I use the hall pass'"

"Uh, ok. Ms. Goebel, may I use the hall pass? My water just broke."

Ok, I embellished the story a little bit. Her water didn't break. She did go into labor in science class and the free clinic did say they wouldn't admit until after her water broke. Yeah, we're not your grandpa's high school anymore. There was one pregnant student last year that I was aware of, she gave birth during the school year and still managed to graduate with her class. And she's already enrolled at SLCC.

Midterms, ya gotta love midterms.....

Just got done with the first mid-term of my graduate school career. Hip, hip, hora zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Yeah, don't ever romanticize those good old days of cramming for midterms and finals. They're not so great. But there is a euphoria to being done, knowing that, good or bad, you got through it and don't (hopefully) have to do that one again. Now I'm gonna go home and sleep. Ciao.

Thank you Rachel

Christmas and serial killing.

First it killed Thanksgiving, completely absorbing it into it's commercial frenzy. Now it's taken Halloween. Today, October 3rd, 2007, I saw my first "things you can buy for Christmas" on the morning news, and earlier this week I was at Home Depot and saw the Christmas tress and decorations out. I hate the ever burgeoning Christmas Season. Despise it. I like Christmas day, when the family gets together and eats a lot. I've even gotten to a point in my life where I can appreciate the religious aspects of Christmas. I cannot stand what the commercial enterprises in this country have turned this season into, and the other holidays they have sacrificed for profit.

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May Halloween and Thanksgiving Rest In Peace.

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Only 448 shopping days left until Christmas 2008!

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

I'm standin' here outside the door,
Already I'm so lonesome I could cry,
So kiss me and smile for me,
Tell me that you'll wait for me,
Hold me like you'll never let me go.....

Man, that's been fried into my brain from long ago. Back in the Churchill days when I'd sing that with the english teacher on my team. (She used it in one of her lessons and I'm not really sure how it became tradition for us to sing it to the class every time).

Anyway, the deal is set. I've booked the flight. Danny, Alex and I are going to be leaving a week from this coming saturday, and hopefully we'll be back that evening, or early the next morning. Yeah, it could all be a hoax, there could be no car, or it could be a big pile of junk, but it's a hell of a lot of lying just to see me waste a lot of money flying people out to California. The lady sounded honest and she had nothing to gain. Of course I do have an alternate plan - rent a car and drive home - just in case somehow it does fall through. But I don't think it will, and that's the risk you take buying a classic car over the internet. The convertible worked out fine, I'm counting on this one doing the same.

Only time will tell.........

I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...