Thank You

From my real world Family to my Blogger Family, thank you so much for your kind words and prayers during this difficult time.  It means much to me that somehow, mildly disturbed electrons can make such a connection here that spans time and distance with ease. I as well as my Mother and Father appreciate your condolences. 

The VFW Honor Guard went above and beyond the call of duty. I sincerely appreciate these veterans and the active duty solders that gave of their own time and expense to perform during the ceremony.

Rest in peace Kyle, the next time we meet I will bring the coffee.

If I am to be traditionally interred, I could not think of a more beautiful place than this.


Thanks again my friends. It speaks volumes to me. Even if nothing is heard in the traditional manner. 

One of my Uncles has passed.

He was a self made man. Lived independently, built his house, a talented carpenter. Loved to fish. Took care of his Family. He always enjoyed telling stories about he and my Father on the river back in the day. Rest in Peace Kyle. 

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12:7



Obituary For: JAMES KYLE ELLIOTT | Reins Sturdivant Funeral Home



The picture is of him and his Daughter. On the river of course. 

Charline has a roomie!

Charline has a roomie, an older sister! An M1 Carbine. Looks like this on first blush.

 

First things first. Here is the wood after cleaning with Oil Soap. 

I think her name will be Suzi! Inland manufactured, barrel dated 1943. Receiver serial matches. The Garand is in good company I think! 

RIP Carroll Shelby

You made some great rides and Lee Iacocca notes in his book: "Every time Mr. Ford shook hands with that chicken farmer it cost Ford Motor Company at least a million dollars".

 Rest in Peace Sir, your legacy is secure and in many good hands. 

Zippo's!

Over at The Troopers Gal, she comments first on a great weekend and some new Zippo gear. I had to get one. I like it and it looks like this:

The cylinder in the middle has its instructions next to it. Spare lighter fluid, place for a spare flint, key ring, hook, and small screwdriver. It is very functional and handy. Who would not want some lighter fluid and a flint handy? Even if you don't have something like this:

Yeah, I collect them. They are wonderful tools and can be used for many things. I remember seeing them proudly displayed in cases such as this:

 They STILL have a lifetime guarantee and I can say if you send one back, you will not be disappointed, much like Case knives. 


If anyone has one laying around, here is the short identification chart:

Old meets new again!

Marketing vs Reality

So way back when in 2001 I stumbled across this little commercial:

So what do I do? Stumble off to the Jag store and buy Version 1.0 of one of these. I figured: "hey, FoMoCo owns them now, Lucas is nowhere to be seen and maybe they don't leak anymore". Plus you get cool photos of things that can go horribly wrong like this too! 

Its the little things with this machine. I only have 25K on it and from day one the defrost bezels have an annoying propensity to pop out of the dash. There was a recall on that too, but the factory effort was lacking. So today I resorted to this:

Ok, I had a boat load of TSB's and recalls. The Jag store *cough Scott Jaguar *cough* here treated me like a red headed step child. I finally started taking it to Knoxville TN. They at least were nice about me actually pulling up in one of these. They gave me a killer XK as a loaner too!

The A/C is back on line, the annoying low washer fluid message is gone, and now only the dead front channel on the stereo and one dead drivers side seat motor remain. For now! Sigh... Let's try some more marketing:

Ok, I feel better: Unfettered avarice imported from Madison Avenue always works, right?

In the machines defense, it is a blast to drive and does have a very rare (only 7 percent came across the pond) with one of these in it.

It is a nice TV commercial! 

So where is my flying car?!?!?

I have used X10 devices for decades to run lighting remotely in my homes. It's cheap and for the most part reliable. In fact my security system has an X10 interface and will light up the joint in a heartbeat if it goes off. I have noted that several other technologies have arrived and the ability to control such stuff from the Interwebz with mobile devices and integration with IP cameras is leaving X10 behind. So I ordered some "starter stuff" for Insteon. One thing that is a biggie for me is it is backwards compatible with X10. So today I get a Ethernet controller, two light switches, and a plug in lamp controller. I go to it on the light switches for the front porch.

Well, as they say the future is here. I hope wall switch Version 6.5 is backwards compatible V. 5.6!

Oh, and whoever threw the user interface program together for Web enabled devices, I'm glad you got a gig after designing graphics for the Atari 2600. 

I STILL don't have my flying car either!