Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967

Takes her a while (~ 50 seconds) to get to it... but worth the wait.

Well, after the December 14 rear-end accident, I've had a month of dickering with the gal's insurance company - suffice it to say that they are a major corporation. Issue 1 - Where it stands now ~ they pretty much insist on totalling the car. After consideral spirited discussion their valuation is a bit over $9k, with a buy-back of $1,750. That gives me the car, and a check for about $7,300. I will be keeping the car and restoring it; there were exactly 1,000 of this model built in 2002 for world-wide sales; she's a classic. And the damage is workable - a bit of sheet metal work, replace the deck lid and "crash bumper," and replace or - more likely - repair the plastic "bumper cover." Quite frankly, I was astonished at the repair shop's estimate of nearly $6k, to which the insurance company added an estimated $1k for potential additional damage. My biggest gripe with this (after having my sweet ride crunched in the first place!) is that it will have to be re-registered with a "Salvage" title. I do not understand why, but the insurance company insists on it. Issue 2 - there is an offer of $1,900 for "Pain and Suffering." I have no idea how they arrived at that figure, and don't know if that's reasonable or not. After the accident I crawled out of the li'l roadster with a significant knot on my head from being launched upward into the tubular steel convertible top bow. When the CHP officer asked if I was injured, I stated that I had a hell of a headache - but did not mention that before he arrived I had experienced wave of vertigo and weakness that fortunately passed. My doc said I needed to get to the ER - which I did, but not 'til the next day (the only hospital in my county shut down over a year ago). I was evaluated, had a brain scan (they found one!), and told that I had classic whiplash symptoms. I had a follow-up visit with my own doc a few days later, and proclaimed on the road to recovery - but it'll take a while. So the knot subsided in a few days, the headache was pretty constant for several days and then started fading - it took about a week and a half to not be constant; now only happens occasionally. Neck and shoulders were quite uncomfortable for almost four weeks - and actually made "grunching" sounds when I'd turn my head. My gerontologist buddy said it could take up to three months, but I'll beat that - only minor discomfort now. I tend to heal well. The worst was sleeping. I still have difficulty getting to sleep; for almost two weeks every night when I'd finally start to doze I'd wake up re-living that *BANG* and the violent punt - I think I averaged maybe three to four hours sleep a night. That sucked. And for some odd reason, I've become a nervous driver. That'll pass, I'm sure! All in all, I'm grateful that no one was seriously hurt. * * * * * That all said, the car itself does not look all that bad - when I first saw it I expected the entire stern to be crushed. The impact was brutal, but I guess the thing is so light that it - and me - pretty much got launched. Didn't even deploy the attacking vehicle's air bags! Deck lids are roughly $450 - $700, depending on whether used or new, and steel or carbon fiber for new. The "crash bumper" is about $100. A used replacement plastic cover could be anywhere from $150 up, and a used starboard tail light $150. And paint ~ will likely have the entire car painted to ensure a match (Sassparilla Kid has a buddy who owns a body shop). Unforunately, it's a 3-part paint and it ain't a cheap color "Blazing Yellow Mica." Oh well. Couple thousand dollars and some sweat equity and she should be back on the road - I hope!

Apropos of nothing ~ The Doughnut Hole! [One day in 1847], a violent storm rocked a lime-trading ship captained by Hanson Gregory, a citizen of Rockport, Maine. This presented him with a problem. He was, of course, obliged to continue steering the ship through the bad weather, but at that moment he was rather busy eating a doughnut. His nifty solution: to temporarily impale the doughnut on one of the spokes of the ship's wheel. O! The doughnut hole was born. That story of course has more holes in it than the doughnut itself, but the date of 22 June 1847 is nevertheless regularly cited as being the doughnut hole's birthday. In March 1916, the Washington Post managed to secure an interview with Captain Gregory, then 85 years of age, who asserted his claim to be the inventor of said hole while "mawing" doughnuts at sea – but noted that he was only 16 at the time, and that the circumstances were rather less dramatic. "Now, in them days we used to cut the doughnuts into diamond shapes," he explained to the reporter. "They used to fry all right around the edges, but when you had the edges done the insides was all raw dough." Gregory's wheeze would eventually help to soothe the digestive systems of the Western world: he took the cover off the ship's round, tin pepper box and used it to cut "the first doughnut hole ever seen by mortal eyes." On return to shore, he taught his mother, Elizabeth, the trick. She made batches of holey doughnuts for locals in Rockland and Camden, and they agreed that the loss of a small amount of dough was more than compensated for by the doughnut's even consistency. In 1947, a hundred years after his stroke of genius, a plaque at the Nativity Lutheran Church in Rockport was unveiled to mark the birthplace of Gregory, "Who First Invented The Hole In The Donut."

That all said, I keep having the fundamental question float to the surface: Whether you're a Donalt supporter or NOT, what's wrong with the basic concept and the words "Make America Great Again?" (And for what it's worth, a departed old friend's ashes reside in a box on the mantle - that box wears a MAGA hat)

Yes. Both the booklet (actually a fascinating li'l thing) and the card. I've been to Mexico and Canada when passports were not required; I'd like to visit Canada again. The main reason I broke down and got a passport when nearly seventy years of age was the "real ID" requirement. Living in california, I was unable to get a "real ID" because the last name on my birth certificate differs from that I grew up with, and from every other official record of my life. To acquire a california "real ID," I would first have to legally change my name to... my name. And, whereas in other states that can be a relatively simple and inexpensive procedure, in california it is a fairly protracted and pricy process best done by hiring a lawyer. However, for passports, the Feds have a simple solution to the problem - notarized forms completed by two people stating that you are who you are and done. Ironically, the passport qualifes as a substitute for the birth certificate in applying for the california "real ID." Doh!

So, by chance... does the dawg get a regular feeding of Alpo...?

Or, more simply stated, 680 Olympic size pools. At a buck a drop. I sure didn't elect 'em...!

True story, this: One of my frat bros received a bit of glorious news from his new sister-in-law one afternoon... "Oh, Fred! I cleaned your shotgun for you! But it was a LOT of work - I had to use a BUNCH of S.O.S. pads to scrub that black stuff off the barrel, but I got it done. It's nice and shiny now!" Sweet young lady otherwise.

Do your own math. Hint: A drop of water is just about 0.05 mL in volume, or 20,000 drops in a liter. An olympic sized pool holds about 2.5 million liters....

Simple fare. Just finished a vodka martini with multiple olives. Shaken, of course... not shtirred. . Had it not been so late I would've opted for a mug o' hot coffee with a goodly slug o' peppermint schnapps. Edit: Dang, but that Dickel looks good...!

Let's see the revolver....

I can smell it from here~!

Nobody's mentioned Arbuckle's yet.... "The Yuban brand (sometimes Yule brand) was John Arbuckle's name for his personal mix of fresh coffees for Christmas gifts. In 1935, Arbuckle Brothers Company, the first merchant to sell packaged coffee, was merged with Maxwell House*." *Good To the Last Drop 'Tain't nuthin' wrong with Yuban. When asked how I like my coffee, I have long responded with "Strong enough to float a horseshoe, hot enough to make it wilt, and if there are still a few crumbs of road apple clinging to that there horseshoe, well... it'll just add to the flavor."

Or teacher. At least in this state.... "By July of [2024], it will be illegal for public schools in [california] to suspend students for low-level behavior issues after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation banning "willful defiance" suspensions among TK through 12th grade students throughout the state."

Star Trek: Strange New World on Prime. Several "original" characters, played by new people - Ethan Peck, Gregory's grandson, is a prefectly passable Spock. Sounds just like Nimoy.... In my opinion better writing than the original series, and of course the technical aspect is far superior.

Reacher, Season 2

I go through the motions, but the reality is I'm hopelessly outnumbered by "people" from elsewhere.

That is so off base it's downright insulting.

Reminds me of the '54 Plymouth Belvedere I had while in college, about 1972. Gave a fella I worked with $20 for that car - it had a flat-head six, two-speed automatic (RNDL; no P) and a radio with a "Wunderbar." Front and back seats were like sofas; it was a marvelous drive-in movie vehicle. Also good for hauling a half-dozen college football players to the local smorgy - they hated to see us coming! I drove it for a year and half, although it did have an annoying habit of occasionally, without warning, dropping the butterfly valve outta the carb into the intake manifold, necessitating creative stopping maneauvers. Once stopped, we'd fish it out, slide the shaft back through and secure with a fresh piece o' baling wire kept under the hood for that very purpose, and back on the road she'd go! One afternoon after I'd upgraded to a 64 1/2 Mustang, I was clearing stuff outta the Plymouth's trunk as it was parked by the Golden Gate Park panhandle. Along comes some hippie, and he decides to stop and admire the two-tone beast. "Man, that car is SO cool! I just LOVE the vibes and colors!" and so on. I politely let him banter on for a bit, then pulled the pink slip outta the glove box, a pen outta my pocket, signed it, and with a flourish handed it and the key to the astonished hippie and said "Carry on, man! She's yours!" then turned and walked away. Not mine, but looked just like this: Shore wish I had that car today!

You're on track, Joe.... Sad report on the eleven o'clock news tonight: SAN DIEGO– Just weeks after a judge temporarily blocked a state law that bans Californians from carrying guns in most public spaces, late Saturday [today, 12/30/2023], a federal appeals court reversed that decision, allowing the law to go into effect in the new year, at least for now. Link

Sad report on the eleven o'clock news tonight: SAN DIEGO– Just weeks after a judge temporarily blocked a state law that bans Californians from carrying guns in most public spaces, late Saturday [today, 12/30/2023], a federal appeals court reversed that decision, allowing the law to go into effect in the new year, at least for now. Link

Who sez politicians ain't got no Christmas spirit...? Why, here's Governor Jared Polis hisself! Way to go, Colorado~!!