Will the SAFE Act Pass?

 

Once in awhile a blog post is upbeat. Not this one. The Car Story at the end is upbeat.

The Parasite who won’t die

A rich history of wealthy East Coast families shipping their embarrassing sons to the frontier continued with our present United States Senator. During his tenure as Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, he managed to lose all their reserves playing in the stock market with his hedge fund buddies. Following on an unremarkable stint as United States Senator, he now sets his sights on the Governorship of Colorado.

Residents with long memories hark to the time he bought a three day fishing license and posed for photo opportunities.

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Should he be elected, the Californication of Colorado will continue. Same result if any of the (D) candidates get elected. High probability that will happen.

His younger brother was fired from the New York Times Editor post and now works at the Atlantic.

Wyoming Nukes

Seems Kemmerer will get a nuclear power plant. There are other problems to be solved starting with water and sewer for the many new homes that need to be built. All will require the cooperation of Diamondville, an independent town intertwined with Kemmerer. There is a long history of mutual hate between the residents. Pass the popcorn.

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Man Up and Admit Your DUI

Many YouTube videos of DUI arrests show drivers getting cuffed and stuffed then being given their Miranda rights. Wyoming may be different.

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Whatever the court decides, the voters come next election will make their own decision.

Super Scammers

This comes from a long conversation with a neighbor who is buying a replacement car.

In the car biz the big bucks are made in the F&I office. Extended warranties are the cornerstone. Most are straight up scams.

A warranty from the manufacturer has teeth. As part of most franchise agreements, any franchised dealer must accept the repair and do it under warranty no matter where the vehicle was purchased.

 Aftermarket warranties are different. No, repeat no, repair shop is required to accept the warranty. Their usual reaction is no and, under their breath, hell no! The repair requires preapproval from the warranty company. The warranty company wants to pay the bare minimum, requires used parts, etc. Then, they take forever to pay the claim.

 But, WSF, I know of this or that case where there was no problem. Yes, and many people have seen Bigfoot.

Griswold for Attorney General

More good news to bolster her appeal with the (P)regressives.

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Conservative voters already know they won’t vote for her. As to the 30% of voters registered as independents, will they hold their noses and vote for her anyway?

Election security word salad. Key sentences.

She told colleagues Colorado’s election system already serves as a national example.“Colorado is a national role model for administering secure, safe and accessible and fair elections.”

Full word salad garbage.

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 Car Story

The Welsh Family

A different story for the usual. The Gillette, WY area is home to the Welsh family, generational rodeo contestants. Bob and Patricia Welsh have several children and their son, Bobby, is the focal point of this post.

Cowboy Corral Kia, Longmont, CO had many rodeo rider customers. The owner, Steve Lance, was a bull rider on the circuit for many years.

Bobby and his wife Sunny came by one evening and I put them into a Ford 350 Extra Cab single rear axel. About a year later they pulled into the lot looking for something bigger about an hour before closing time. That turned out to be a F350 Crew Cab dually. We needed to move their camper over to the new truck and there were no camper jacks. We opened the shop and backed the old truck into a vehicle lift and took the camper off. With it sitting in the air, we needed to back the dually under it and load the camper. We encountered a clearance problem and it took nearly an hour to put the new truck under the camper. We were dealing with maybe three inches of clearance. The camper was loaded, secured, and twenty minutes were spent getting it out of the shop. They had their small children with them and another hour was spent getting everything out of the old truck and into the new. About midnight they left for Texas and the three of us from the store left for the Rocky Mountain Saloon.

Doesn't everyone raise their kids in a camper on the circuit?

Bull riders are different. Twenty four hours in a day means you can use twenty four hours.

Bobby was a seven time NFR finalist. One year he was the only qualifier in a go around and won all the go around money, $52,000.

Bobby and Sunny’s son Hayden, just turned twenty, and is a NFR finalist qualifier. Bobby’s sister, Amanda is a successful Barrel Racer and a multiple NFR Finals qualifier.

Successful car people are different, too. Winners do what losers won’t.

As always, YMMV

Old Pilots, and Bold Pilots - You Decide

 

A fatal plane crash at the airport where I learned to fly  many years ago caught my attention. Yes, I’m going to second guess the deceased.

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From the article.

The flight data shows the aircraft circling in the vicinity of the airport for 25 minutes before the crash.

The Steamboat airport is tricky. North-South oriented, it is 4,500’ x 100’ with a nasty drop off on both ends. There is a high ridge to the East and a mountain to the South. That said, less than twenty miles West is the Yampa Valley Regional 10,000’ x 150’ with clear approaches.  Twenty miles beyond that is the airport at Craig 5,600’ x 100’. If the pilot had enough altitude to circle for 25 minutes, he certainly could have reached either airport.

Model Citizen – DUI not withstanding?

Drunks

Sadly, am all too common story. At least he didn’t kill anyone.

Wolves, Again

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What is missing is wolves take the easiest prey available. Like domestic calves. What is also missing is wolves don’t have boundaries and will leave National Parks as they please. 

Sister Kink and Hardball Politics

As I’ve written before, I was once her boss. I recommended her for manager of a used car lot we opened in Windsor, CO. There, she became acquainted with Dudley Brown, founder of the Rocky Mountain Guns Owners. She successfully won two terms in the Colorado House of representatives. Term limited, she won an at large Weld County Commissioner. She lost her try during the primary to run for the newly created US House of Representatives seat. Now she is up for re-election. Her opponent is a GOP insider, former wife of Ken Buck, a five term Congressman who decided not to run again.

That picture is certainly unflattering.

My calling her Sister Kink has nothing to do with sex. I never knew, or cared, about her personal life. What griped my ass was her insistence in putting some twisted kink in every car deal. Not illegal, but also unnecessary.

My point of view was; people come to the car lot to buy a car. Let them!

Lori seemed to need to complicate every deal. I should add Lori didn’t appreciate my management style.  In that she had a lot of company. The owner wasn’t a fan of my management style but was a fan of my results.

Will I vote for her? Likely. An outsider with attitude vs the comfortably entrenched appeals to me.

Well Cared For

Pita is one of Banner’s neighbors. She rides around like a queen and ignores Banner. He shrugs, as three other female dogs in the building are all over him when they get the chance.

As always, YMMV

 

Damn Drunks

This morning one of the hospitals we service had a belligerent drunk in the Emergency Room. The town is too small to support a detox facility. I felt so sorry for the staff trying to deal with him. A Deputy was standing by to haul his sorry ass to jail once the medical staff cleared the transfer.

I don't have a problem with people who over indulge but keep their manners (and aren't on the road). The assholes get to me. In the younger days when working crowd control, I enjoyed throwing their sorry asses out. I wouldn't have made it as a police officer, lacking more than rudimentary tolerance.

But WSF, what kind of drunk are you? Sunshine, I don't need alcohol to be obnoxious.

End of rant. YMMV

Sad Ending for 2013

My sister got a call tonight from a coworker asking my sister for help. The coworker doesn't have a driver license, and received a text from one of her sons that he had been in an accident a few blocks from my sister's house. Please go there and check it out.

Young man caused an accident. Was under the influence. Is now under arrest. Is still on probation from some earlier infraction. The only good news was no one seriously hurt.

So, jail, bail, a tow bill, impound fees, vehicle repair and probation revocation. Court, lawyers, fines, more probation, classes, random whiz tests, and an ignition interlock (and that is a maybe). Depending on his past record, maybe three years in prison.

I have no sympathy for the son. The burden will fall on the mother. Her I feel terrible for. I've been in her shoes, and it hurts! 

You can talk tough love all you want, but, that is your child. You don't stop being a parent.

So many friends, family, and coworkers have been hammered by this problem. A favored cousin was killed by a drunk driver. She had one of the happiest marriages I've ever witnessed, and two young sons.

Here is hoping for a sober 2014. A special thanks to all the first responders that deal with the blood and carnage. Stay safe and go home to your families at the end of you shift, please.

Not Up To Unalaska Standards, But Not Too Shabby

From the Peoples Republic of Boulder.

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_24058944/boulder-da-drunken-horseback-riding-prosecution-could-be

Wonder why he is headed North when his destination is SSW?

Dating After Divorce

Dating after the end of a twenty two year marriage was difficult for me. Some of the “dates” were scary. I’ve been challenged to tell at least one dating story.

Friends invited me to a country western bar, the Silver Spur, to be exact. The promise was an introduction to one of their friends who would meet us there. The evening went as planned and their friend was easy on the eyes. She also drank much more than the rest of the group. As the evening winded down, she asked me to drive her home as she had a couple of DUIs and couldn’t risk another. Anticipation?

She gave me the name of the Mobile Home Estate where she lived. I knew the place. As we drove there, she passed out. When we arrived, I couldn’t get her to wake up. I finally went into her purse and found an address on some mail. Using that I found her unit. The keys in her purse unlocked the door. Now what? Did she live alone? Was a husband/boyfriend/significant other going to come out of a back bedroom and blow me away? She had a porch with two lawn chairs. I fireman carried her from the car and deposited her in one of the chairs. Still out.

Finally, I tossed her purse and keys inside and left her sitting there. It was summer so she wouldn’t freeze. Sitting up, should she vomit, there was a good chance she wouldn’t choke. Yes, chivalry was dead.

Never spoke to her again. The sad part of the story is, that was my best date that month.