Adventures in Auto Repair

Son's Contour came home on a tow truck. Snapped serpentine belt. Choke each year when I drop $170 or so for AAA+ but we seem to always use it.

The culprit.

Needs to be stretched before you try to install it.

Where it goes.

It is cold, the wind is blowing, I'm old and decrepit, and I'm not broke. Solution?

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x876ea3d062cc6d9f:0x85906ad55a9b576d!2m16!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m10!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e4!3m1!7e115!4shttps://picasaweb.google.

Yep, I wimped out. Remember a few years ago putting a water pump in that car. Not fun! Replaced the serpentine belt at the same time. Tight quarters putting a breaker bar on the tensioner pulley. Easiest from underneath.  

Pacific 12 Conference

Another post where WSF lets his sarcasm flow. You have been warned.

Another defeat for SJWs (social justice warriors). High on the hate list of SJWs is college football. Why, all that public attention should be focused on them and their causes.

Despite their best efforts, two college football program crippled for years by SJWs are now playing for the Pac-12 Championship.

What happened? Money. College football generates enormous revenues for the institutions. The indentured servants who perform may end up with a mediocre degree, if they don’t suffer permanent physical damage, but cost the institutions a fraction of the revenues generated.  Problem is, the alumni dollars don’t flow if the programs don’t  produce championships, or at least winning seasons.

Hence, the SJWs have reluctantly backed off while still keeping their image intact. No matter how far out in left field a professor might be, they don’t want their paycheck to bounce.

Lies, Liars, and Damned Lies

From every Blade of Grass

  http://every-blade-of-grass.blogspot.com

 comes a link to CBS New’s Will Rahn and his confession of news bias. Remarkable.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/commentary-the-unbearable-smugness-of-the-press-presidential-election-2016/

Jumping on the way back machine I remember a newspaper reporter neighbor. We lived on a four block long street with no intersections that paralleled a main corridor two blocks away. The corridor had numerous school crossings and low speed limits. Impatient drivers would duck over to our street and drive past houses full of kids dangerously fast.  The wife and I drew up a complaint/petition letter to the city asking for something to be done.

Going door to door for signatures the newspaper reporter refused to sign. His explanation was, as a reporter, he must stay neutral as a matter of ethics. His wife said, “I have no such restraints. Give it to me and I will sign it”. I must say I respected his position.

Yeah, yeah, WSF, is there a point to this tale?

Why yes, there is.

Many jobs bring with it some loss of liberties. Government employees can’t run for public office. Medical personnel are obliged to treat people they otherwise despise. Military members give up a lot.

Ideally media people should be like my old neighbor. That ethic has long since eroded. It is refreshing to see at least one member of the 4^th estate “gets it”.

Once again I am so thankful for the Internet. Let the (P)regressives bemoan “False News” as we great unwashed rejoice in having some chance of learning the truth.

 IMO. YMMV

Millenniums

Thanksgiving dinner was an occasion for learning. My sister always gathers an “eclectic”  group.

My grandniece is attending an Iowa Junior College on a soccer scholarship. She brought two teammates with her. One is from Australia and one from Arizona. Poised and articulate, all three are impressive but the culture barrier with me was immense. None of the music I mentioned, movies, movie directors, or movie actors I mentioned were known to them. Such a fossil I am.

My niece is a long term public health worker in Nevada. She isn’t in a cozy office but out on the gritty streets dealing with the VD and HIV  population. Gutsy woman. I often disagree with her but respect her opinions. She is someone who has walked the walk her entire adult life.

My sister keeps a defacto halfway house. Usually has two or three people staying there that have fallen through the cracks of society and are trying to make it back. She is no pushover, it is a clean and sober house and all pull their weight. For me it brings into focus how hard it can be at the bottom of the barrel and how few people are around like my sister who willing to give a hand up.

Other than a brief conversation with my niece, I avoided politics.  What didn’t escape my notice is the young people gathered have always had Obama in their life. Trump represents a yawning unknown for them, and they have grown up in a Progressive dominated environment. They remind me of Army draftees, circa 1963, thrust in a world they didn’t choose to join, resentful and full of fear.

The ones at dinner are not special snowflakes. In fact, sports are their way up the ladder and it is damn hard work. They have my total respect. What is disheartening is their shared culture and my culture is nearly alien. 

For that, I have no immediate answer.

Why Shillary Lost

Once again WSF goes off his meds and explains why Shillary lost the election in a simplistic way. You have been warned.

Many people, me included, were offended by Shillary’s “Basket of Deplorables” speech. What we tend to overlook is the other “basket” she described. From her speech.

"But the other basket -- and I know this because I see friends from all over America here -- I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas -- as well as, you know, New York and California -- but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they're just desperate for change. It doesn't really even matter where it comes from. They don't buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won't wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they're in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well."

What I took from that was, oh your poor people. We, the smart people, need to take care of you. There, there, it will all be alright. Smug, patronizing and demeaning remarks lapped up by an audience many ordinary people feel uncomfortable to be around.

For people still sitting on the fence, their silent reaction was probably, “Fuck you bitch. Just get the hell out of my way and I will take care of myself and my family”.

What people label as “privilege” should be labeled “tribalism”. We tend to identify with, and protect, family, clan, and groups that are similar to us. It has been the survival mechanism of humanoids throughout history. You see the same behavior in all species.

 In this country we have moved beyond that in many respects because we use our intellect.  What we have on the (P)regressive side is a demand to have the “privilege” without having to do the work to earn it. I believe few people favor barriers to individual success and a safe environment to grow and prosper. 

What Shillary and her fellow travelers demand is various groups must prosper to the determent of other, in their view, less deserving groups. That, more than any other reason, cost her the election IMO. As always, YMMV.

(P)regressives Freaking

A site I visit (but don’t support financially) is Common Dreams. Like to see what the moonbats are bleating about.

Occasionally there is something there of value but mainly it is a (P)regressive cheerleader that is oh so serious, just ask them.

Today nine out of ten articles are attacks on Trump.

https://outlook.live.com/owa/?path=/mail/inbox/rp

It is getting harder to understand their point of view because they seem to have invented a different vocabulary. What their words mean to them doesn’t mean the same to me.

They should be thanking Trump as they have had trouble raising money to keep their site running. With all the (P)regressives now foaming at the mouth their fund raising should be easier.

Hillary won Colorado. According to the Secretary of State analysis, the largest block of voters were women 40-65. Sorry ladies, unless you find a better candidate, you won’t see a woman President in your lifetime. Next time pick someone who isn’t corrupt to her core, just saying.

Yes I Am Deplorable

Received this from a friend.

Making Nice

See where Obama is calling for everyone to accept the results of the election blah blah blah.

My cynical and suspicious mind thinks he is laying the ground for a Gerald Ford - Richard Nixon situation. I think we all know some real ugly shit will be coming out from Shillary's emails, the Clinton RICO, and  at what level Obama is involved, just saying.

Nah, couldn't happen.

Seldom Seen, Buick Reatta

Buick Reatta 1988-1991. Could have been a classic but the quality control was terrible. They were unreliable money pits. Any over five years old were nearly sale proof. Other than Credit Unions, few lenders would touch them.

GM earned their decent into bankruptcy. Take the Pontiac Fiero. 1984-1988. Fun cars, utterly unreliable with a reputation for catching fire. The 2nd generation with a V-6 was a great car but too late to undo the damage of the money pits before it. Same money bought you a Toyota MR-2. Great car but my rotund body couldn't slide past the side bolsters.

You can have great engineers and great designers but lose your customers by seeing how damn cheap you can build them. Dodge Intrepid comes to mind.
In 1993 it was miles ahead of the competition. However, the rear seat was terrible. Blasts of cold air coming from the door handle area just right to hit the legs of a child in a car seat. So much noise coming in from the trunk the rear seat passengers couldn't hear the front seat passengers talking. 

Ford? Using cheap plastic parts in their automatic transmissions which failed around 60,000 miles.

Still, it made me smile today in Scottsbluff to see that older car carefully maintained and still going.

Oh No, No Snow

Once again, Nature shows who is boss. All along the Colorado/New Mexico Rockies there hasn’t been enough snow for the ski resorts to open. A huge negative economic impact for the tourist industry but a boon to commercial travels and truckers.

Last winter snow started early and stayed late. Spring followed with a lot of moisture making the prairies greener than I’ve seen them in many years. Now they are going back to brown.

This time last year my SHTF winter backpack went into the Prius I drive 500 miles a day three days a week each start of shift.This year, other than unpacking it, checking the contents, replacing batteries, etc. it hasn’t been touched.

A mild winter isn’t good news. The areas East and West of the Rockies are high desert. Water is life.

On a personal level I’m enjoying the mild weather. Soon enough I will be driving in Wyoming blizzards.

You take the bad with the good and I do it gladly to live where my roots are.

Feel The Rage

People out in the streets protesting the election.  You Tube Videos of people crying and raging. Why?

WSF, World Class Philosopher, and a legend in his own mind, has the answer.

Trump voters have had years of drip, drip, drip put downs, erosion of rights, mocking of beliefs, and one loss after another. They developed emotional scar tissue  and toughness. Finally, they found someone to rally behind who said, “It is past time for this shit to cease”.

The (P)regressives have been on a roll. A few minor setbacks but mainly “winning”. They have convinced themselves of their own righteousness. To the rest of us deplorables, it has been their way or the highway.

In one night they lost it all.  They have never experienced a loss. How dare we deplorables do this to them? They don’t know how to cope, having never needed to cope before.

Full disclosure. The mean spirited side of me is enjoying the hell out of this. Yes, I’m deficient in many Christian virtues. So, sue me.

As always YMMV.

Breaking Patterns

One great thing about Trump’s victory is he will be able to nominate one or, more likely, several Supreme Court Justices.

Let us hope he breaks entrenched traditions by nominating people who DID NOT attend Harvard or Yale Law. Surely, other law schools graduate qualified jurists. 

Political Rant

Lost amid the election news static is the news an entire armored brigade, the 3^rd Brigade, 4^th Infantry Division, being deployed to Europe for a nine month rotation. Also going are aviation assets of the 10^th Mountain Division. Current plans are for a permanent rotation, that is, a new unit every nine months.

https://www.google.com/search?espv=2&q=3rd+brigade+europe+deployment&oq=3rd+brigade+europe+deployment&gs_l=serp.3...3496.27822.0.28615.55.36.0.3.3.0.196.3345.21j12.33.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..25.24.2069.0..0j0i20k1j0i131k1j0i67k1j0i10k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1.EvVOV9r_t_s

Supposedly this is to deter the Russians from expanding into Ukraine. In other words, another fucking red line in the sand.

The unit in question is a crack unit. The 4^th Infantry may be the best in the Army. Any Russian General worth his vodka will simply bypass the 3^rd because the European units on the flanks aren’t worth shit. The European countries haven’t spent more than a pittance on their own defense for decades.

Once again the American taxpayer foots the bill. Maybe if Trump wins he will start billing the Europeans for our services. Yeah, that has a fat chance.

Back in the day I clearly understood why I was in Germany. The Russians were likely to invade (maybe) if the USAREUR forces weren’t there. A secondary reason was to keep the various factions from starting another European war.

This movie clip is somewhat long but the last minute or so may have the best political commentary I’ve heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hYBuK9q-NI

Many will say our affairs are so intertwined as to make a simple solution impossible. Bullshit. Our affairs are so intertwined as to make any simple solution extremely painful. There is a simple solution. We inform the Europeans they can pay for their own defense, period.

What I see is our people once again being put in harms way by leaders without the guts to back them. More to the point, no damn concern for their well being other than what political fallout that might result.

Examples:    1983 Lebanon Barracks Bombing, Saudi Arabia 1996  Khbor Towers bombing, Africa 1998 Embassy bombings, and, not to be forgotten, the 2012 Benghazi Consulate attack. 

My deepest apologizes to those who lost love ones in other attacks, like the USS Cole, that I haven’t listed here.

I’m sure those who follow naval affairs can point out scores of times ships have been put in harms way, or air assets of both the Navy and Air Force misused, on orders of people who couldn’t be trusted to run a newspaper stand in a PX.

The revolting disclosures of Clinton Inc. and the (P)regressive rot are coming from within our own government. Being a civil servant doesn’t preclude one from being a patriot. Should Shillary be elected and take office, I expect a coup. Painful as I find the prospect, I think I will welcome it.

As always, YMMV

   

Political Rant

Lost amid the election news static is the news an entire armored brigade, the 3^rd Brigade, 4^th Infantry Division, being deployed to Europe for a nine month rotation. Also going are aviation assets of the 10^th Mountain Division. Current plans are for a permanent rotation, that is, a new unit every nine months.

https://www.google.com/search?espv=2&q=3rd+brigade+europe+deployment&oq=3rd+brigade+europe+deployment&gs_l=serp.3...3496.27822.0.28615.55.36.0.3.3.0.196.3345.21j12.33.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..25.24.2069.0..0j0i20k1j0i131k1j0i67k1j0i10k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1.EvVOV9r_t_s

Supposedly this is to deter the Russians from expanding into Ukraine. In other words, another fucking red line in the sand.

The unit in question is a crack unit. The 4^th Infantry may be the best in the Army. Any Russian General worth his vodka will simply bypass the 3^rd because the European units on the flanks aren’t worth shit. The European countries haven’t spent more than a pittance on their own defense for decades.

Once again the American taxpayer foots the bill. Maybe if Trump wins he will start billing the Europeans for our services. Yeah, that has a fat chance.

Back in the day I clearly understood why I was in Germany. The Russians were likely to invade (maybe) if the USAREUR forces weren’t there. A secondary reason was to keep the various factions from starting another European war.

This movie clip is somewhat long but the last minute or so may have the best political commentary I’ve heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hYBuK9q-NI

Many will say our affairs are so intertwined as to make a simple solution impossible. Bullshit. Our affairs are so intertwined as to make any simple solution extremely painful. There is a simple solution. We inform the Europeans they can pay for their own defense, period.

What I see is our people once again being put in harms way by leaders without the guts to back them. More to the point, no damn concern for their well being other than what political fallout that might result.

Examples:    1983 Lebanon Barracks Bombing, Saudi Arabia 1996  Khbor Towers bombing, Africa 1998 Embassy bombings, and, not to be forgotten, the 2012 Benghazi Consulate attack. 

My deepest apologizes to those who lost love ones in other attacks, like the USS Cole, that I haven’t listed here.

I’m sure those who follow naval affairs can point out scores of times ships have been put in harms way, or air assets of both the Navy and Air Force misused, on orders of people who couldn’t be trusted to run a newspaper stand in a PX.

The revolting disclosures of Clinton Inc. and the (P)regressive rot are coming from within our own government. Being a civil servant doesn’t preclude one from being a patriot. Should Shillary be elected and take office, I expect a coup. Painful as I find the prospect, I think I will welcome it.

As always, YMMV

   

Contemplating A Trump Victory

Being a person of low character, a grudge holder, and of asymmetrical compassion, I am enjoying a mental image of what will happen after a Trump victory. Among others.

The angst of Establishment JEB! RINOs as they contemplate eating shit and sucking up.

The 1,000 “lawyers” employed by the Environmental Protection Agency polishing their resumes.

The sick feeling in the guts of (P)regressives as they contemplate the repudiation of their sacred “beliefs” by the majority of their fellow citizens.

The disbelief and denial of the American Mainstream Maggots (h/t BloviatingZeppelin) as they realize their opinion of themselves is greatly exaggerated.

The sick feeling of portfolio managers heavily invested in alternative energy schemes.

The disbelief of the Acela corridor inhabitants in general.

The petty whining of the trust fund babies in denial.

And the list goes on.

Yes, the mean, vicious part of me is hoping for his victory.

What will really happen? Not too much. The inertia is beyond quick changes of direction.

Subaru Rant

Sharing the road with Subaru drivers, I've decided there are three distinct types.

Hot rodders, usually younger, in WRXs. There are not many and they move right along.

Suicidal fools found on snowy roads in the High Rockies during winter. Again, not many and they don't impede traffic until they wreck.

Then we have the majority. Shit for brains, head up their asses, and oblivious to their impact on those of us unfortunate enough to share the road with them.

The  Subaru will usually have this bumper sticker, among others.

YMMV