Making Utah look even stoopider…

From the Salt Lake Tribune, Feb 3, 2015 (no, not 1955):

"If an individual has sex with their wife while she is unconscious ... a prosecutor could then charge that spouse with rape, theoretically," said Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove."That makes sense in a first date scenario, but to me, not where people have a history of years of sexual activity."

Same place, Feb 4, 2015:

This year, lawmakers are lining up to order a special edition AR-15, manufactured by Tegra Arms in Orem, a semi-automatic rifle similar to the M16 used by the military.

The carbon fiber weapon is surprisingly lightweight, covered in a white Cerakote finish with a gray beehive pattern. The state motto, "Industry," is emblazoned on the side with a beehive. On the stock is etched a honeybee, the state insect, and the phrase "Vox Populi," the Latin phrase for "Voice of the People," which is the motto of the Utah House.

And finally, published on the 3rd of this month:

Utah lawmakers looking to make a statement want to change the oath of office and require elected officials to swear to defend Utah's Constitution first, ahead of the U.S. Constitution.

Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove, said state lawmakers are elected to act as protectors of the state and its constituents against the federal government.

Yup, our illustrious leaders thing that it is not possible for a husband to rape his wife, gave out an assault rifle as a commemorative trinket of their time at this legislative session and see the U.S. Government as the enemy.

I’m sooo proud to have them “representing” me.

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And from the “how the hell did THAT happen” file; saw this on the way home yesterday:

Dude, leave a little room between your front bumper and my back one.

At least once a month there is an accident on the road that is in front of my house.  There is a lot of traffic during rush hour, they pack themselves in bumper-to-bumper, and inevitably someone who isn’t paying attention slams into the car in front of them.

Today it ended up right in front of my driveway.   I don’t think the sedan was the one not paying attention, I just think that they were way too close to the back end of the SUV.

The Honda was behind the other two, so my guess is that they slammed into the sedan, pushing it into the SUV with enough force to slide it right under the SUV.

Now I could have the facts wrong, but this is still why I hate it when the car behind me is right on my bumper, even when at a complete stop at a red light.

Car 58, where are you?

I bought it.  A 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sahara.  With the V-6 and a manual transmission.

I just don’t have it.
The financing is set.
The papers are signed.

I just had one little snafu that kept me from taking it home today – insurance.  They can’t let you take it off the lot without collision insurance if you are financing it.  And it being Thanksgiving weekend, the insurance agent, and the company itself, are closed.

Fortunately, the office manager of the insurance agency I work with is my niece’s-husband’s-brother’s wife (and we’ve been with her agency for over 30 years, long before she was my niece’s-husband’s-brother’s-wife, so we’re pretty good friends with her).  She emailed the paperwork to the dealership, but it was right around their closing time, so I don’t get to pick the Jeep up until tomorrow (Saturday).  Bummer, but at least I don’t have to wait until Monday.

I really love getting a new vehicle, as if you can’t tell by the fact that I’ve owned 58 of them in the 36 years I’ve been driving.  But I’ve always hated the negotiating part.  And this one was grueling, it took my little brother and I two hours from my first offer until I finally got them down to $50 over my “limit”.  I had a limit set, told them that with the loan I was approved for and the cash I had I simply couldn’t go any higher.  At that point they were $400 higher than I wanted to go.  They brought in the sales manager, who whittled that down to $106 over what I was willing to pay and I told them that it really was a choice between meeting their offer and paying my electric and gas bills.  I was ready to walk out, and then he suggested we split the difference.  I was going to hold fast, until I weighed the extra $50 against having to go through the whole mess again at another dealer.  I decided that a $50 convenience fee wasn’t bad, so we kicked all the salesmen out of the cubical, I told my brother that I really didn’t need to borrow the $50 from him, but that I wanted them to think that was what I was doing.  He started sending a text to his wife like he was checking if it was ok, asked her something else and when she texted back we told the salespeople they had a deal.

Whew!  And then I didn’t even get to take it home in the end.  Oh well, at least I should be able to get it tomorrow.  And now I think I’ll go to bed so I can get up early to claim my latest vehicular conquest.  If I do, you’re likely to see some of my own pictures of it on here soon, these are from their online ad.

Wheels in motion.

Last week, the storm reminded me how hard it is to get up my snowy driveway in an old Ford LTD.

I’d already been thinking about getting something that didn’t suck gas like what I’m driving now, and that would make it up the dirt road to our property.  Turning the Mercury to CNG would have done great for gas expenses, but did nothing for camping.

So I decided I wanted a Jeep Wrangler.  4 or 6 cylindar, the gas mileage will be a lot better than 10 MPG.  Made for dirt roads and 4 wheel drive so I don’t have to shovel my driveway at 11 PM to get up my driveway.  Plus, unlike an SUV or Subaru, the top comes off.  Convertibles rock!

So, I applied for a loan at my Credit Union and got pre-approved.  Now I just have to find a good one.

I think I’ll pass on the pink one though.

It’s HERE!

… Picked up the latest addition to my stables today.  It didn’t want to start right away, it took a little bit of carb cleaner.  It also didn’t want to stay running at first either.  And boy did it smoke up the neighborhood.  But it was good smoke, not the blue oily smelling smoke that says you need a new engine.  The black and white smoke that says this car hasn’t run in a long time kind of smoke.  But since it was exactly like the way my convertible ran when it sat for two years, I just kept babying it until it would idle without dying. 

… By the time we had filled it up with good gas and I got it home, it was purring like a kitten, put your hand on the front fender and you could barely feel the vibrations.  And the transmission shifts smooth as ice right after the Zamboni rode over it.  Well worth the $200 for the engine and transmission alone.  If you look at the picture (HERE),  you’ll that the front seat is in useable condition, it’s got a few rips in it, but the cushioning is still intact.  But the back seat is in perfect condition, looks like new.  It needs a new vinyl top and the paint is nicely oxidized.  There are a couple of bad rust spots right behind the back tires, repairable though, and some surface rust, but overall it’s solid.  the best part, though, is the all-but-mint-condition owners manual.

Are you kidding?

I'm addicted to ksl.com car classifieds.  There are an amazing amount of 1969-1979 cars out there for sale in Utah, and I'm always dreaming about the next one I'm going to pick up, regardless of how little money I have.  Saw this one on there for only $499.99, or anything that can maim or kill.

1978 Buick Regal. This is the car that started it all. The grand dady of the low Riderz. Listen up all you teenager wannabe smoothies. This is the car for you. Turbo V6,Carbed. Easy to work on, will turn out to be the ultimate pimp mobile. Big Back seat, fast, and fun. Head turner when you get done w/ it. Call: ***** *** @ 801-***-****, no messages, texts ok. Runs, but needs works. Will consider trades for cool stuff like guns, ATVs, Drums, explosives and stuff.  Thanks!!!! Check it out !!

Car 54, where are you?

As soon as you saw that title, did you think "Good Lord, he bought another car!"? If you did, count yourself in for 7 new blog kharma points.

I first saw this car about 3 years ago in the Shopko parking lot. I fell in love with it then, but it wasn't for sale. so what could I do. Nothing, except admire it from afar. Six months ago little bro' sees it in the K-Mart parking lot and gets to talking with the owner. Tells him about my LTD addiction and gives him my cell number in case he ever wants to sell it. Well, the guy held onto the phone number for the six months, because 3 days ago he calls me and tells me that some guy gave him my number and said I like old LTDs. We talk, I go look at it, we settle on a price and I get the money. $2,000. It's a 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire with a 429 CID Police Interceptor engine in it. The guy babied it, oil changes every 2,500 miles, ran only premium in it, and it looks and runs like he was telling the truth, plus according to the title he's owned the car since October of 1979. Dual exaust, the interior is excellent, not a single tear in the cloth apolstery and the carpet is even clean, like that could be it's original color clean. The original AM/FM radio still works, although I don't have any 8-Track tapes to see if the player works. Looks like I'm going to have to take a trip to the D.I. It's beginning to show some rust in a few places, but just surface. He already told me that I'm going to need to replace the ball joints, which are relatively easy on these older cars. The only other problem I can see is getting the back door to work properly, the one that swings out and folds down too. Well, it used to swing out, but the window didn't go down, so Danny and I tear into it, get the window to go down and then try to fold it down tailgate-wise. Big mistake, it kinds got stuck between swing out and fold down. It's closed, so I can drive the car, but the tailgate won't open either way. Overall, though, another good deal....