Airport Day

There is no airline service at our local airport but studies show the economic impact on the area exceeds $83 million a year. Today was a 75^th Anniversary Day.

I question the timing as we are in the middle of the Greeley Stampede, a five day rodeo event and I found traffic at the airport fairly sparse.

The event has two separate areas. The “Learn to Fly” portion sponsored by the EAA and our local community college drew a crowd.

The Commemorative Air Force drew little. Doubt they made back their gas money to get here. I have no personal interest in a low level flight on a hot afternoon but did drop a donation in their bucket.

I have an interest in Light Sport Aircraft of which there were two examples.  The Kit Fox owner was willing to talk, and I found him interesting. The plane has full span flaps which are also the ailerons. When I asked him about roll rate he indicated it will roll quickly and keep on rolling.

Much of my early time building was out of this hanger then owned by Dirty Dick Nolan. He advertised in Trade-A-Plane, “Dick Nolan has $2,000,000 – buys airplanes over the telephone”.  He would finance anyone with a down payment. Since his financing was full recourse, he spent a lot of time re-possessing airplanes. In those days the hanger was isolated.

The Globe Swift brought back a memory. I delivered one and was most fortunate to only land it three times, twice for fuel. It was a ground loop just waiting to happen, but fun in the air.

Think some of our bloggers might buy one of these T-Shirts?

Bambi (and cousins)

A cousin operates a Wyoming hot shot freight service. He wore out one Dodge Dually at 432,000+ miles. He has had his share of wildlife encounters and shared this.

For those not familiar with the term, hot shot, a shipper has something that needs to go from point A to point B RIGHT NOW. Often an operation costing $10s of thousands per hour is stopped for lack of a vital part. Call a freight forwarder specialist who can get it transported as fast as possible.

A notorious stretch of highway for wild animal encounters is Colorado Highway 13 from Rifle, CO through Meeker, Craig, and on to Baggs, WY. My cousin had an encounter with a elk one night just South of Baggs.

Back in the day when I was running off site car sales, we had two car haulers we owned and operated. One night between Meeker and Rifle our driver hit a deer. The owner and general manager were making noises about making the driver pay for the damages.  Closing the office door, I gave them a short, unpleasant, lecture. Pointed out  he could have tried to swerve an 80,000 lb truck/trailer combination and rolled it and the ten cars aboard off the hillside.

 They weren’t thrilled having the Tank tell them what trees made shingles but nothing more was said about charging the driver.

Over the years I’ve hit three deer and had many other close calls. I understand in the Southland feral pigs are a big problem. That is a lot of compact meat on hoof from the few I’ve seen.

Drive safe out there!

Pissing Off (P)regressives

Meme going around bookface.

A Change of Pace

I’m a meat eater, beef and pork, with occasional chicken. Not much on fish but am examining dietary choices with a goal of weight loss and health improvement.

Tonight I will be cooking cod, which I haven’t eaten in ages.

 We, no matter our age, are influenced by our childhood diet.  My mother dearly loved salted cod which she bought in wooden boxes. Surprisingly, to me, you can still buy it that way. I was not a fan. Being a sheep rancher’s daughter, she was big on boiled mutton. I’ll eat it to be polite but mutton and lamb don’t make it over my threshold.

My mother loathed fowl and wouldn’t eat any, period! On occasions she would prepare it for the rest of the family.

For a large portion of my youth, we were poachers and mainly ate venison, elk, trout, and the occasional rabbit. My father and I refused to eat liver. In spite, my sister eats liver and onions.

Thanks to the internet, recipes are easy to find. The one I will try is a lemon/parsley seasoned baked cod.

A final note. If the package doesn’t say wild caught, I won’t buy it. I’m deeply suspicious of farmed fish.

Viper

Tripping down memory lane, prompted by a picture of a Dodge Viper, prompts a post when I allowed my inner asshole persona free range.

1992 found me working in a Dodge store on the East side of Seattle. I was hired while the General Manager was on vacation. Turned out, he didn’t like me any better than I liked him but nobody in the store could sell trucks better than me.

Yeah, the mighty Cummins!

Weird to see that wee 4 cylinder in a St. Regis cop car chassis with a pickup body.  Dakota, they called it.

 We were next to a Toyota store whose manager complained to my manager about me poaching customers off the Toyota lot. Toyota had just brought out the T-100, a wretched excuse for a truck, and I would politely suggest to their customers they step next door and see real trucks, for less money, with better warranties, etc.

(Think the T-100 wasn’t a turd. Toyota had $4,000 per truck in hidden rebates to their dealers to move them)

So on to the Viper. The dealership got one, and only one, of the first batch.  Our work schedule gave us one weekend a month off. The manager put up a spiff. Top salesman/saleswoman for the month got the Viper for a weekend. You can guess where this is going.

Yep, the Tankster was top by three units and some $8,000 in gross profit. Plus, four of the seven leases that month.  The GM was shitting bricks.

Came the weekend off, I arrived that Saturday morning ready to rumble. The GM worked himself into a sorry state trying to tell me to be careful, etc.

Took off, drove on I-90 to the top of Snoqualmie Pass, and returned to the dealership about an hour later. Parked the Viper, put the keys away, and said, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a fucking car”.

A few days later kissed and made up with the folks at the Ford store I had been working at.  Heard later the owner of the store had some harsh words with the GM about losing the top dog for three months running. Oh, well.

A word about assholes. They come in two varieties, usually. They are competent, or incompetent. The first are driven to succeed. The second are driven to save their own asses. I seldom had a problem working for a competent asshole. We understood each other. Neither of us was there for any reason other than dollars in the pocket (legally, mind you) and anything/anyone interfering with that effort got hammered.

Want an outstanding example? Well, you have no choice if you continue reading. President Trump. The man is a gold plated asshole with a backbone of steel. He gets things done. May be kind to children and pets but work for him and you will produce, or you will be gone. I like that.

That Viper? Maybe the most awesome wheels I ever had the privilege to drive.

Whose Ox Is Gored?

Current brouhaha in Oregon where the Democrats have a legislative super-majority but not enough for a quorum is raising a howl from Republicans.

Came across this on a blog, swiped it, and added it.

Anybody remember Texas in 2009?

 https://www.voanews.com/archive/texas-democrats-flee-neighboring-state-avoid-redistricting-vote-2003-05-15

I don’t have a dog in this fight but I do respect those, of any political persuasion, who fight tooth and nail when “democracy” tries to demolish our constitutional republic. Our system is designed to protect minorities from the tyranny of majorities (or those in power, take your pick).

Today, I signed up as a volunteer for the, “Official Recall Polis Campaign” and tossed some bucks in the pot for a bumper sticker.

Signatures cannot be gathered for a few more days. I will probably staff the local office (located two doors down from the Democrat County office) a few hours a week. We’ll see.

I’m looking forward to getting involved as I’ve always enjoyed being around people with a passion and who will put their asses on the line. Plus, per LL, need to be on the first cattle car to insure a bunk near the stove.

Enough, Already

Second day of Summer in Colorado. As this is being typed, a major thunderstorm is booming outside. Snow in the mountains. Must be global warming!

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Date/Time	Location	Amount
Date/Time	Location	Amount
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	9 SSE SPICER, CO	13.3
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	5 SSW GLENDEVEY, CO	10.5
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	1 NNW CAMERON PASS, CO	9.8
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	9 SSE GOULD, CO	8.4
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	7 SSE CAMERON PASS, CO	4.9
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	8 SSE RAND, CO	4.9
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	1 NNW BERTHOUD PASS, CO	4.2
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	5 W GREEN MOUNTAIN RESE, CO	3.5
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	5 WSW GUANELLA PASS, CO	3.5
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	8 SSE CAMERON PASS, CO	2.8
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	6 E CAMERON PASS, CO	2.8
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	5 WSW GRAND LAKE, CO	2.8
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	3 S BRAINARD LAKE, CO	2.8
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	6 W ARAPAHOE PEAK, CO	2.8
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	1 SSE LOVELAND PASS, CO	2.8
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	5 W BERTHOUD FALLS, CO	2.1
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	1 SW ELDORA, CO	2.1
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	3 SW WARD, CO	2.1
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	10 NNE SILVERTHORNE, CO	1.4
11:09 am MDT - 6/22/2019	4 S LONGS PEAK, CO	1.4

On the bright side, my sister, the insurance adjuster, will have more than full time employment in the weeks ahead handling hail damage claims. The roofer will again be busy and the hail dent specialists already have their tents erected and signs out.

Not as happy are the people in retail vehicle sales (cars, trucks, RVs) but there will be some great bargains for retail purchasers.

Summer in Colorado and Wyoming is great! It is the nicest day of the year.

Not A Life Well Lived

June 20^th received a call from the Greenville, S.C. County Deputy Coroner. “Sir, do you know Karen Regina Larsen?”

My former wife. Death notice. Needs to contact next of kin. That would be one of my two surviving sons.

Cause of death; perforated colon leading to septic shock.

This was a woman with enormous talents whose life choices lead to her spending her final days in a charity nursing home estranged from her children and grandchildren, friendless, and broke. Such a waste.

The 1964 book, Games People Play by Eric Berne, M.D. has a chapter entitled, “Now I’ve Got You, You Son-of-a-bitch”, that was her lifelong approach to interpersonal relationships. What she never acknowledged was there is a limit to how long people will play. In my case, 22 years.

I’m not her next of kin so that burden will fall on my middle son. I will give him advice, if wanted, but the decisions will be his. My guess the state will bury her in some potter’s field with no mourners.

For myself, I have little feeling left. The last time I saw her was the day after my youngest son’s funeral. My daughter-in-law, who had her in her household off and on for several years, didn’t want to cope with her and asked me to handle the situation. She was ten months younger than me and looked ten years older.

My concern at this point is solely with my sons. They are tough men and will handle her death as they have handled other problems in their lives.

Her 14 year old cat, “Pinky”, now lives with my daughter-in-law who also cleaned out the apartment after the move to the nursing home.

An older blog post still sums up my feelings.

https://wellseasonedfool.blogspot.com/search?q=thank+god+and+greyhound

Several family members occasionally read this blog and this post is as much for them as for me.

No condolences are need for me but, if you are inclined, give a thought to her sons. Thank you.

Grease Is Cheaper Than Machinery

A favorite saying of my late father. Somewhere he is snorting and saying, "I tried to tell that kid".

So, ignoring an unusual sound led to the idler pulley failing and taking out the serpentine belt. $21 part turned into an $85 repair.

I'm getting older but not smarter. 

Local Tractor Show

Small show but interesting. The big show is July 20-21 with close to 100 entries. The show is usually free.

If you like old tractors, the best collection I know of is in Burlington, CO. If you are traveling I-70, budget two to three hours to visit their museum. You will not be disappointed. Over 100 tractors, all inside an a/c building, plus lots more.

https://www.oldtownburlington.com/

It is a small town but they do things big.