29 November 07 - 21:14So you like Wal-Mart?

Where does Wal-Mart shop?  China, of course....   I simply can't see why we keep bying inferior Chinese goods from a culture that has no respect for the rest of the world.  What you will read below is standard Chinese procedure.  They don't respect you, they will send you goods that do not meet our safety standards, and they are organized theives.

This is a copy of a typical article from a couple of years ago.  The situation is the same today.  We are selling the country, people.  We need to wake up.

Quote-------  

Counterfeit motorcycles seized at Milan show

November 21st, 2005 by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider"

The Italian finance police have seized 11 counterfeit mopeds at the Milan show after complaints from a Czech company (which I presume is Blata) over the fakes. Three Chinese citizens and one Italian were charged with patent violations. The motorcycles were perfect copies and even had the company trademark. The number of Chinese counterfeits is rising and Blata, for one, has been both a frequent target of the counterfeiters as well as an aggressive defender of its designs and products.

If the Chinese are bold enough to display fakes at an international motorcycle show, you know they are doing the same every chance they get in world markets. The suits by Yamaha against Yamoto and the fight by Blata against counterfeiters is an indication of how widespread the problem is. This problem is huge and everyone should be on alert for the deal that’s too good to be true.

End of Quote-------

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2005/11/21/counterfeit-motorcycles-seized-at-milan-show/

What was that bull those Democrat college professor types gave us about respecting the Chinese people for sending poison toys?  But, then, it is our greed that got us here.

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24 November 07 - 21:23A new Pastime for You

I have often been asked if I ever intend to write a book.  I always intend to write a book.  Hell, I want to write a ton of books, but I never do.

So now I have decided to put any books I decide to write here on the website for you to read and critique.  I figure I will be more apt to get the stories completed if you yell at me to install more chapters.

The layout is a bit crude, but I wanted to get the first two chapters in place.  The link will take you to a page with a choice of books. You have only one choice at this time, Saucers in the Heartland.  It is a story of a little old lady who collects saucers and makes a fortune selling a plate when she finds out it is the plate formerly used by Marie Antoinette to eat cake when there wasn't any bread available.

Actually it is the story of two 14 year old boys living in Little Elm, South Dakota and their adventures involving dishes.  The year is 1965 and the boys are able to drive since the State of South Dakota allows them to drive from the age of 13, if they have a good reason, such as farm work.  The boys would be called nerds if they were living in the present time frame, but they still have some interesting things happening to them.

Once you go to the Chapters Page for the book you should read the chapters in order.  This is the way books work.

Enjoy!! 

Here is your link - Books for You.

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24 November 07 - 08:08New uniform company

The word is that Musharraf is stepping down, maybe today, from his military post. This means he will need to become a private citizen and dress appropriately. I ran across this picture of Messy Mussy on the net and I am very concerned.

If this is the standard for dress of a Pakistani president, that's all right, it's just that it's the sort of thing that I would expect to see a tourist wearing in Las Vegas. Especially a hillbilly tourist who only has a few leisure suits left from the 70's.

What's with the rolled up shirt collar? Is that the taquito look? Perhaps it is a style somewhere, but I have known and worked with some former Pakistani citizens and they didn't dress anywhere near this bad.

Good luck, Mr. President. I would make the first cabinet appointment for the Minister to the Department of Clothing. This first emergency appointmentneeds to follow the emergency measures currently in place. Image is everything, and everything needs some improvement.

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23 November 07 - 07:07100 degrees in the shade

These articles are all over the place these days on global warming. Frantic yammering about this "inconvenient truth" even won Al Gore a Swedish award. The scientists are all a twitter and the warnings continue.

An example:

Quote-----

The Seattle Post-Intelligence
November 19, 2007

Global Warming: A call to action

...As U.N. scientists and leaders are warning, however, the time for debate about global warming is past. The evidence of warming is "unequivocal," the threats are real and the need for action is urgent. Indeed, we are so far along that continued warming at some level is inevitable... [citation]

End of Quote-----

Of course, there is good scientific news from the UN as well.

Quote-----

Voice of America
November 20, 2007

UN Lowers Estimate of HIV Cases

... Last year, the agency known as UNAIDS estimated that thirty-nine and one-half million people were living with H.I.V. On Tuesday it reduced that by sixteen percent to a little more than thirty-three million. Agency officials say the lower number represents better information... [citation]


End of Quote-----

Scientists are always compelled to change their conclusions when better information becomes available. Remember that there are never any "truths" in science. In science all we have available is the current best set of scientific "facts" like the 6,500,000 people that were counted as having aids that really did not.

Maybe we can get some better information on global warming in the years to come, too.

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22 November 07 - 09:09Natalee returns to the news

I was switching channels as I went to bed last night and as I passed CNN a familiar face popped out, the face of Natalee Holloway. I had mixed feelings about her disappearance two years ago since I have a son and a daughter who are both in her age range and since I taught school for nine years (years ago).

Of course there were all the other components of a mystery, including a pretty victim, several suspects, bumbling police, an exotic location, and an American press falling all over themselves to cover the story for those same reasons.

Anyway, it looks like another round of questioning is coming up tomorrow based on the "diggings around" of Aruban authorities a few weeks back. I keep thinking that if this mystery causes me to think so much it must be living hell for her parents, relatives, and friends. Beyond that, Natalee is simply an icon for the rest of the children that have been misused, abused, and killed by predators. Pray for the survivors, families, and friends, on this Thanksgiving, of these senseless crimes committed by those who hold self gratification in the lowest sense above decency.

Have a nice day.

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22 November 07 - 08:08I'll be home

THIS IS A JOKE!!

A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and announces, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your Mother and I are divorcing; 45 years is enough."

"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son gasps. "You can't be doing this! I can't believe it!"

"We can't stay together any longer," the father says. "We're doing it tonight, I'm walking out the door. In fact, I don't even want to talk about it anymore, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."

Frantic, the son calls his sister immediately.

"No way they're getting divorced," she shouts, "Get a ticket for Arizona and meet me there tomorrow, sooner if you can. We can't let this happen!"

A moment later the call to Phoenix is connected and she literally screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. Brother and I are are both on the way, we'll be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

She hangs up.

The old man hangs up on his end as well and turns to his wife.

"Okay," he says," They're both coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way."

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21 November 07 - 07:07Ice Dweezel

Live and learn.

I knew the Linux community was really into open software, but I didn't realize the fact that Firefox is trademarked with a registered trademark (S/N 78344043) is a problem for these open software folks. The solution? Take the Mozilla software and recompile it as Iceweasel.

Ice is not a fire and a weasel is not a fox, but 99% of the software is the same because Firefox is open source, just not "free."

Geesh

Read about it here http://www.gnu.org/software/gnuzilla/ and see if you can figure it out.

Here is a quote from Wikipedia...

Start of quote-------

Debian was given permission to use the trademarks, and adopted the Firefox name. However, because the artwork in Firefox has a proprietary copyright license which is not compatible with the Debian Free Software Guidelines, the substituted logo had to remain. In 2006, Mozilla withdrew their permission for Debian to use the Firefox name, and Iceweasel was revived in its place....In August 2005, the Gnuzilla project adopted the IceWeasel name for a Firefox distribution using free artwork.

End of quote-------

Now just to make me more confused, Gnuzilla (the fake Mozilla) announced that the next release will be branded "IceCat." The reason given was that Debian (the new Linux software I am using) is already using the name IceWeasel so to avoid confusion the Gnuzilla project will change the name.

I am Iceconfused....

At least the software works, ethical or otherwise.

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19 November 07 - 21:18My Lincoln highway and Bill's sign

When I was in the second grade, I read that the Lincoln Highway ran from New York to San Francisco. I was very impressed that a highway had been named after me or at least the highway had been named with an identical name.

Started in 1912 the Lincoln Highway was conceived as the first transcontinental highway. At many points along it's route mile long patches of paved road were installed to show the benefits of pavement, which was not at all standard at that time. The standard style of highway can be seen in the photo here. That is a major highway in 1912.

Now, to add to the mystique of the Lincoln Highway, Jerry sends me an email with photos of a sign on the Casa D'Ice Restaurant and Lounge, right on the route with my name. The sign is changed periodically and has become famous.  Bill Balsamico is a rather opinionated person and I like his manner of thinking and admire his patriotism.

I especially agree with the concept of English as the standard lanquage in the United States which seems to be a theme that Bill comes back to. That's all I am going to say. The sign is located at 1901 Lincoln Highway in North Versailles, Pennsylvania. Take your own peek at the sign at [Bill's Sign Link]. I have subscribed to Bill's email service and will receive an email whenever the sign is updated.  You can do that, too, once you go to the page.

Tomorrow I will tell you about Iceweasel which is not at all related to the Lincoln Highway.

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18 November 07 - 21:03Debian Linux

My computer hobby has caused me to uninstall SUSE Linux 10.3 and install Debian Linux.  This is happening right now on my other computer.  I switch back and forth by pressing [Scroll Lock] twice to keep up with things.

I also learned to use a software called "Jigdo" which is a downloading system which first loads a template and then fills in the files.  I also downloaded some of the stuff the regular way.  There are 3 and a half DVD's of stuff, plus software repositories all over the place.  Debian is a Swedish version of Linux, and since I like Swedish people (usually) I thought I would give it a try.

Linspire and Ubuntu were the other two I considered as well as Fedora and Red Had, but these Debian folks use the Gnome desktop which I prefer so I am trying it.

I'll let you know what is up with Debian, it is one of the popular distributions (called distro) so, I'll see how popular it is with me!!

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17 November 07 - 11:36The North Bridge

This picture was taken in Lisbon, ND from the top of the dam. I know because I have stood in the very spot. I am not exactly sure what is in the water that crosses the river near the bottom of the picture, but I suspect that is has something to do with the North Dakota State Fish Hatchery. The bridge you see is called "The North Bridge" because it is on the north side of town, just where state highway 32 enters town in the river valley after descending a winding road from the prairie. (The road no longer winds as it was straightened in the 1970's.)

If this were taken in the 1950's or 1960's the hatchery would be just off to my right and my feet would be wet with a little bit of water. In late summer, say August, there would be very little flow of water over the dam and we would walk across the dam and slide down it. It was easy to slide because of the algae growing on it.

Beyond the bridge, again to the right, would be the clubhouse for the golf course. Behind it, there is a picket fence with a gate which has a sign on it saying, "Van's Resort." The gate opens to reveal a stairway down to a small flat area of sand held in place by a curved wooden beam jammed against the shore with stakes made from steel fenceposts. Sometimes a rowboat is tied up here.

To the left is the town of Lisbon and you will travel through the long single business district which, except for a couple blocks of houses, extends beyond the railroad crossing on the south end of town. In the approximate center of town will be a single suspended traffic light on a cable, a four way stop, or a cantilevered stop light array depending on the year the picture was taken. At one time, during the 1960's, there was a light bulb suspended over the intersection to alert the police that a phone call had been placed. The light would direct them to the city hall which was built in the current location when the Minneapolis Moline farm implement dealership formerly on the site burned up when I was in grade school. That should tell you about how old I am, if you know when that happened!

On the left, two, or is it three doors down from the bridge is Lozier's funeral home. Van and his family live upstairs, so Van doesn't have far to walk to go fishing at his "resort." Actually, I think he preferred golfing, but these would be two activities available to him.

Behind me, if I stood here would be the place where we would go fishing and the hidden ruins of the Lisbon Mill. Also, for a couple of years my friend Steve lived in a mobile home just beside the ruins.

I'll bet you would have missed all of these things if you looked at this picture and I hadn't reminded you.

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16 November 07 - 07:07More from Norway

Speaking of Norwegians (See Ole and Lena Joke from yesterday) here is the kind of thing that is funny no matter where it happens.  This is what seems to have happened over there in Norway....

Lincoln's Log Newsfeed from Oslo, Norway - November 14 2007

This starts out simple enough.  Leif Ersland (good Norwegian name here) has borrowed a nail gun from a friend to do a little work, so he intends to return it.  The owner of the gun isn't home, however, so, being a citizen of the 21st century, Lief sends a text message to the owner of the returned nail gun.

In the usual text messaging manner.  Lief enters his message and sends it off to what he thinks is the correct phone number saying, "The gun is on the cabin steps."

Done with the nail gun and with mission seemingly accomplished Leif heads elsewhere.

Meanwhile back at home, Hilde Pedersen, Lief's significant other (who knew absolutely nothing about the text message) is facing a confusing 45 minutes of intense interrogation from the police.

Since Ersland punched the wrong phone number into the old cell phone, the message didn't go to the nail gun's owner, it went to a stranger.  With all the goings on we have these days, the unintended recipient naturally called the police to report the suspicious message.

Now imagine good old Lief out there happily doing whatever while Hilde is being questioned by the police with no knowledge of what her sweetheart has done.

Hilde Pedersen was disoriented by the police questioning, since she had no idea what was going on and is quoted as saying. "It was very unpleasant."

Once they figured out what had happened, the Norwegian police were nice enough to call Hilde back and explain to her that the entire incident had been a misunderstanding.

There was nothing in what I read that tells what happened to Lief when he finally got home.

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15 November 07 - 00:48Thoughts from Minnesota

I have been going to Minnesota lately and this reminds me of my youth when I lived just across the border in North Dakota. Up there in the Northland we told jokes that fell in the category called "Ole and Lena Jokes."

In this unique ethnic joke category, Ole and Lena are two Norwegian immigrants who are "out of touch." It is the "out of touch" nature of their personalities that makes the jokes funny. I always detected a bit of the same kind of humor that was depicted on "Married with Children" in these jokes. Anyway here is a good one, as an example (and as a joke in general).

-=This is a Joke=-

Ole died. So Lena went to the local paper to put a notice in the obituaries.

The gentleman at the news counter, after offering his condolences, then asked Lena what she would like to say about Ole.

Lena replied, "You yust put in there 'Ole died'."

The newspaperman, somewhat perplexed, said, "That's it? Just 'Ole died.'? Surely, there must be something more you'd like to say about Ole. If it's money you're concerned about, the first five words are free. You really ought to say something more."

So Lena pondered for a few minutes and finally said, "O.K. You put, 'Ole died. Boat for sale.' "

-=End of joke=-

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13 November 07 - 22:20Remember this guy?

I was going to get some useful information on the net and was distracted by a set of pictures which which were described as the 50 greatest TV Icons.  Apparently at 7:00 PM CST this Friday (11/16/07) TV Land will be showing a special with a countdown of these 50 folks, even though it is on the web.

Anyway, that is not why you see the black and white photo of Ed Sullivan here.  Mr. Sullivan was 14th or 15th in the list of TV icons.  Carson will be identified as first, but, Sullivan, however, is someone I have not thought about for years.  His name caught my interest.  He reminded me of television from my childhood.

As a kid we started out with a whopping two channels in 1955 and moved up to three shortly thereafter.  The channels were, in my area, 4, 6, and 11.  They were CBS, NBC, and ABC respectively.  We watched Ed Sullivan on channel 4.  Ed never really did anything on the show, but the show was a spectacular show in its day.  It was what they called a variety show, and it certainly showcased a variety of talent.  It was his show where I first saw the Beatles, Elvis the pelvis, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and the Rolling Stones.  His show was truely not about Ed Sullivan, but about the guests, AND, he made them perform live.  When I saw them on the show, it was a true performance, not a recording with lips moving in time. I commend him for that.

Yet, Ed was awkward, spoke in an odd way, was rather stiff, couldn't sing, or dance or act or anything, yet he was on the air for 23 years.  He was quoted as answering the question, "What do you do on your show?" to which he answered, "I introduce the acts."

But the acts he introduced were often hand picked by Ed himself, and he was often the first to show an act that later became really big.  If fact, that was one of the things he said. "Tonight we are going to have a really big show."  Show sounded more like shoe, but who cared.  Ed Sullivan was going to introduce the acts, and it wasn't Ed we were watching, it was the rest of the show.

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11 November 07 - 23:33This old house

TRIVIA

Hear's an interesting bit of trivia I stumbled on. I was Googling to find a picture of a residential street scene for another project of mine and when I couldn't find what I wanted I started looking for the "Leave it to Beaver" house. For those who are younger than me, "Leave it to Beaver" was a situation comedy that ran in the late 1950's and early 1960's in original form and later was seen syndicated here and there, finally to land on the rerun network, TVLand. In all there are 234 episodes that were aired.

I found out that there are several houses where Beaver and his family have lived. The house they lived in for the first two years of the series was at 485 Maple in Mayfield. In the third year the family moved to 211 Pine in the same town. I don't think they ever mentioned the state, so it is Mayfield, USA. These two houses are apparently still on the backlot of Universal Studios. They are not in the original form, however, but it is still possible to recognize the 211 Pine location.

The new 211 Pine is on what is called Colonial Street at Universal City. This house featured a wood and stone facade and was used in the original series, then restored in the 1980's for the "New Leave it to Beaver" show. This was apparently not in very good shape when it was time to make the 1997 "Leave it to Beaver" movie so a replica was made rather than a fixup.

It is always interesting to see who moves into your house. Here is a quote from the Arizona Star which shows that a whole new generation can see the new owner of the house that Beaver lived in. Since I am a very tasteful person I will not make any beaver jokes here, although this would be the place to do it. Here is the quote:

Quote---------

"The "Leave It to Beaver" house stands in what's now the notorious Wisteria Lane from the ABC hit "Desperate Housewives." The exterior marks the home of the late Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong), who narrates the show's sordid events from her angle in the afterlife. The home is used by another character, Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross).

End of Quote-------

If you study the pictures you can see that there has been a bit of remodeling, but Bree is definately living where Beaver grew up. Its a small world, isn't it.

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10 November 07 - 22:08Dad's can be wild, too

-=This is a Joke=-

DAD AT THE MALL

I took my dad to the mall the other day to buy some new shoes. We decided to grab a bite at the food court. Next thing I knew my Dad was watching a teenager sitting next to him. This particular teenager had spiked hair in all different colors: green, red, orange, and blue.

My Dad kept staring at the boy with the multicolor hair. It was definately making the young man nervous.  Every time the teenager would look our way, he would find my Dad was still staring at him.

When the teenager had enough, he cocked his head in my Dad's direction and sarcastically asked, "What's the matter old man, never done anything wild in your life?"

Knowing my Dad, I quickly swallowed my food so that I wouldn't choke when I heard his response since he usually had a good one.

In classic style Dad did not even bat an eye as he delivered his response,

"Got drunk once, had sex with a peacock.  I was just wondering if you were my son."

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09 November 07 - 02:14I Remember Art - Entertaining without the Crap

When I was a youngster a man by the name of Art Linkletter had a daytime television talk show called "House Party." He did not need fights between people on the show to entertain or sexual innuendo to attract audiences.

As a portion of the show he would interview a small group of kids who would talk with him and say the darndest things. Art Linkletter became known for this portion of the show, "Kids say the Darndest Things."

My Mom forwarded this to me and it reminded my of Art Linkletter. Although this is not his work, it is too good to not share!!

Read what these kids said!!

By the way, that's Art in the picture, he is 95 years old.

--------------------------

JACK (age 3) was watching his Mom breast-feeding his new baby sister. After a while he asked: "Mom why have you got two? Is one for hot and one for cold milk?"

STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom good night. "I love you so much that when you die I'm going to bury you outside my bedroom window."

BRITTANY (age 4) had an earache and wanted a pain killer. She tried in vain to take the lid off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom explained it was a child-proof cap and she'd have to open it for her. Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked: "How does it know it's me?"

SUSAN (age 4) was drinking juice when she got the hiccups. "Please don't give me this juice again," she said, "It makes my teeth cough."

DJ (age 4) stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked: "How much do I cost?"

MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple that were hugging and kissing in a restaurant. Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his dad: "Why is he whispering in her mouth?"

CLINTON (age 5) was in his bedroom looking worried. When his Mom asked what was troubling him, he replied, "I don't know what'll happen with this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in?"

JAMES (age 4) was listening to a Bible story. His dad read: "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt." Concerned, James asked: "What happened to the flea?"

TAMMY (age 4) was with her mother when they met an elderly, rather wrinkled woman her Mom knew. Tammy looked at her for a while and then asked, "Why doesn't your skin fit your face?"

FINALLY..

The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget this particular Sunday sermon...

"Dear Lord," the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. "Without you, we are but dust..."

At this point my daughter leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little four year old girl voice, "Mom, what is butt dust?"

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07 November 07 - 22:35Get your mileage info here

 

- =NEWS FLASH= - 

Many news reports are telling about the steady movement toward $100 per barrel oil.  For example:

Quote - - - -  

USA Today - 11/7/07 - By George Jahn, AP - VIENNA — Record oil prices edged closer to $100 a barrel Wednesday amid expectations of declining US supplies. ...

End of Quote - - - -

With that in mind, who makes the best mileage-mobiles today?  Here are the statistics by catagory.  As usual, the fat dumb and happy United States car industry has none of the leaders in the high mileage categories.  They do have their tank sized vehicles that do well in their own idiotic categories.  Did you know that the Mini-cooper which is listed as a minicompact below is not the miniest car in Europe, or even Jolly Old England?  We are such energy pigs.  Shame on us.

Here are the latest statistics, not more than a month old.  Note that the Toyota Prius Hybrid gets better mileage in town than on the road.  Also, how many can name all of the hybrid cars on the market made by US automakers?  I couldn't find one.  Help me out here.  Anybody?

TWO-SEATER CARS
Audi TT Roadster ........................................... automatic ................22/29
Mazda MX-5 ................................................... manual ....................22/27

MINICOMPACT CARS
Mini Cooper Convertible ................................. manual ...................23/32
Mini Cooper Convertible ................................. automatic ................22/30

SUBCOMPACT CARS
Toyota Yaris .................................................... manual ...................29/36
Toyota Yaris .................................................... automatic ................29/35

COMPACT CARS
Honda Civic Hybrid ......................................... automatic ................40/45
Toyota Corolla................................................. manual ....................28/37

MIDSIZE CARS
Toyota Prius Hybrid ........................................ automatic ...............48/45
Nissan Versa .................................................. manual ....................26/31

LARGE CARS
Honda Accord 4-door Sedan .......................... manual ....................22/31
Honda Accord 4-door Sedan .......................... automatic ................21/31

SMALL STATION WAGONS
Honda Fit ........................................................ manual ....................28/34
Honda Fit ........................................................ automatic ................27/34

MIDSIZE STATION WAGONS
Volkswagen Passat Wagon ............................ manual ....................21/29
Volkswagen Passat Wagon ........................... automatic ...............20/28

SMALL PICKUP TRUCKS
Ford Ranger Pickup 2WD .............................. manual ...................21/26
Mazda B2300 2WD ....................................... manual ...................21/26
Toyota Tacoma 2WD ...................................... automatic ................19/25

STANDARD PICKUP TRUCKS
Dodge Dakota Pickup 2WD ........................... manual ...................16/20
Mitsubishi Raider Pickup 2WD ...................... manual ...................16/20
Chevrolet C15 Silverado 2WD* ...................... automatic ................15/20
Dodge Dakota Pickup 2WD ............................ automatic ................15/20
GMC C15 Sierra 2WD*................................... automatic ................15/20
Mitsubishi Raider Pickup 2WD ....................... automatic ................15/20
Honda Ridgeline 4WD .................................... automatic ................15/20

CARGO VANS
Chevrolet G1500/2500 Van 2WD ................... automatic ...............15/20
GMC G1500/2500 Savana 2WD .................... automatic ................15/20

MINIVANS
Dodge Caravan 2WD* .................................... automatic ...............17/24
Chrysler Town & Country 2WD* ..................... automatic ...............17/24

SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES
Ford Escape Hybrid FWD............................... automatic ................34/30
Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD ............................ automatic ...............34/30
Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD ......................... automatic ................34/30
Jeep Compass 2WD....................................... manual ....................23/28
Jeep Patriot 2WD ........................................... manual ....................23/28

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

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03 November 07 - 23:33The hour comes back

As I "fall back" with my clock to end daylight saving time, it always feels like getting back something that was taken from me.

The idea of daylight savings time seems sound enough, you take an hour from the beginning of the day when most people are usually sleeping and put it on the end of the day when most people are awake and you save an hour of daylight.  It is actually more like daylight redistribution, but the official name is daylight saving.

I know that this is the day that, in the past, I have gone to church an hour early.  Not to worry, the extra hour at church in the fall makes up for the hour I missed in the spring.

The really bad part of this, however, is that it happens at 2:00 AM, thats the middle of the night.  Although I usually stay up and make the change at the official time to avoid legal complications,this year I am going to do it before I go to bed.  At least the clocks all cooperate.  The worst was the dash clock on my 1975 Ford.  It automatically adjusted it's accuracy based on being reset.  The hour forward in the fall made it run fast for about the same amount of time as daylight savings time would last only to run slow after the adjustment in the spring.

Anyway, I am celebrating my extra hour tomorrow by using it for sleeping.

What will you be doing with your hour when you get it back?

Later....  Or is that earlier?

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01 November 07 - 22:37What's with the naughty guys (and gals)

The latest one I am reading from the journalistic dumbos regards Sir Ian Blair, Commisioner of the Metropolitan Police in "Jolly Old."  In a typical lawyer simplification of reality, a decent law enforcement officer seems to be getting a bad rap in England (or Great Britain or whatever).

People are demanding he resign!!!  What is with that.  It seems that any time a person in a high profile job has a bad go of it (as they say over there) there are people demanding they resign.  A Noble Laureat cites his personal beliefs and it offends black people, better get rid of him.  A radio shock jock offends some basketball girls, better eliminate him, too.  Now a high ranking police officer makes a life and death boo boo (which is the nature of the job, by the way) and out he should go.

Stop it.  This is the kind of stupid short sighted reasoning that leaves society in a lurch over and over again.

When will the people that want things their way learn to balance their judgement and learn the ability to balance a disappointment against a total record. 

Jeesh.

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