Heck yes he was excited. I remember the day our Dad installed a hoop on the roof above our garage door. Nice neighbor.

 

I only had plywood and a hoop nailed to a tree But I did have a tire swing .My dad drilled a hole in the bottom so it wouldn't hold water a be a mosquito hotel

 

We had a basketball hoop on our garage for decades. After many years and many games the pressboard backboard gave way and the metal hoop came off. The rest of it stayed up there for years until we had siding put on the house and garage and the contractor took it down. That happened at pretty much every house in the neighborhood.

 

Ya he sure was! My parents had a walkout out basement and had a huge concrete patio the full length of the house in back. Dad put up a hoop back there and we spent many an hour playing pick-up games with neighbor kids and just my brother and I with my Dad.

 

Norm, Hydro-lectric had been around a long time, and have been advertising in Hemming's for years as well. Careful with the pit, as you probably know, vapors and fumes are heavier than air and will settle into the lowest area. Keep it ventilated. We played basketball as teens at my buddies house, a backboard up the garage. many games played there. We played a lot of football on the grass of the local firebarn in those years as well. The firebarn is gone, and they are now building apartments in it's place.

 

Grand opening. The Ford car looks like a '40. This was Muskegon Township, later annexed into the City of Muskegon in 1969. About a block from my parents house, and 200' from my buddies house.

 

Dan - I love old photos like this! Thanks for sharing!

 

Breakfast for Dinner, my wife's wonderful French Toast made with the extra thick Texas Toast bread slices and a pile of Bacon! Yum!


A small package came in the mail today addressed to my wife. She handed it to me and said, this is just for being you! I am not worthy, but I sure am lucky!


Our oldest Grandson Gabe, the beneficiary of the new basketball hoop. This is his latest school picture and it struck me how grown-up he's starting to look.

 

Sorry Chris Every time I see a plaid shirt this pops into my [demented] ,brain Seriously, a fine looking young man

 

Chris, I have several old pics of buildings in Muskegon. I like that old stuff. I had breakfast for dinner on Tuesday, eggs, hash browns and bacon. O.J. to wash it down.

 

Very nice.
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Thanks Jim! Monty Python stuff cracks me up, seen that one many tines and cracks me up everytime!

 

Dan - Your Tuesday dinner sounds good, I enjoy traditional breakfast food for dinner. I enjoy history and architecture in general, so the pics of the old buildings I really enjoy! Appreciate your comment on the little present from my wife! She's a keeper!

 

My dad bought me a basketball goal and hung it in a tree in the late 80s that was right up against the driveway. It was 10'0" to the top edge of the rim then, and 20 years later, it was still that height. Tree died, and it came down with it. I would replace the net and scrub the mildew off every summer. Good goal. Shots deflected by tree branches were played as live *****.

 

Jim - You like plaid?

 

I remember when I was very young my oldest sister got a basketball hoop/backboard. But it was never mounted to the house by the driveway because Dad worked nights and us banging a ball against the backboard all day would keep him awake. Kinda odd the random things you remember from your early years.

 

Good 4o'clock everyone.

Looks like my wall guy didn't make it in. What a shame. I probably won't notice the difference.

That's a cool looking building Dan. You might remember Clint posted a picture of his shop in Colorado. It was an old service station from like the 30s. The building pretty much looks the same now, but it's funny how the surroundings have changed. I would love to live in an old firehouse.

Breakfast for dinner, what's the big deal. Haven't you guys ever heard of Awful house?

Chris that's nice that your wife gave you that medallion, but couldn't she have just told you? I'd tell my wife mushy stuff every day.

When I was a lad our school pictures were sitting on a chair in front of a grey backdrop. If I wouldn't have been wearing different shirts, all my grade school pictures would have looked the same. I changed very little over the years, save for getting a little bigger.

So Norm how was the meeting with Wet Pants?

Okay I guess I'll settle in to doing nothing. Hope everyone has a good Friday.

 

So-so. It was tough to measure enthusiasm from either her or her husband. It didn't help not having a functioning power top switch. We'll see.

 

Happy Friday Mike - Yep, you're certainly the Breakfast for Dinner King! As for the little medallion from my wife, I know it's hard to tell from the pic, but it's actually a Keychain. The point is, after you've been together a long time, most couples probably don't say the "mushy" stuff nearly as often as they should. Outwardly, I'm probably more of a romantic than she is, the Keychain was just her way of reminding me how she feels. As for Gabe's school picture, kids can still get a standard school picture, or parents can substitute their own, but it has meet certain minimum requirements (physical size, file size, etc.). Gabe's picture was actually taken by my Daughter at Gabe's Great Granpa's Farm in southeast Missouri. Hope you guys get out early!

 

Norm - Just curious, did both she and her husband test drive it?

 

Chris I thought the image of Gabe was superimposed on a farm background, or it was a background picture he was standing in front of. Shows what I know. That was nice of your wife to get the keychain for you.

Norm that doesn't make any sense. The woman initially had a panty-meltdown upon seeing your car. And now you are met with ambiguity. Did you actually see the panty meltdown yourself, or was this a fabrication by the person who told you she had a panty meltdown? Or, was it a negotiating pokerface whereas they act casual in the hopes of not spilling their excitement, thus you not seizing on their energy and gouging the hell out of them.

We're doing okay this morning, no one is in a huge hurry, though we should finish by the time we go home. The ultra-slow wall guy has given me 24 wheels since 4am. I've been reading a lot of wikipedia.

 

Thanks Mike! Don't know what your plans are for the weekend, but I hope you have a great one!

 

Thanks Chris. My plans for the weekend? Chores. And it's going to rain here and there. I might go look at a car but not sure. It isn't what I want but I'm not having any luck at all finding what I want, so this might be an acceptable substitute. We'll see.

Looks like we're about finished. It will be a quick lunch at the Awful house today because Mom has a doctors appointment at 2. Though the lead still has his knickers in a bunch so we won't leave before noon. Hm. It's going to be a really quick lunch.

 

Chris/Mike - Only she test drove. He sat in the back seat. She was all frick'n giddy about wanting it via the phone & text messaging. They appeared to be rather odd ducks, IMO. Individually, they were odd, collectively they were "interesting". It bothers me "none" if they elect not to purchase - I love driving it. She reminds me of a look-at-me, show-off type; he reminds me of a know-it-all done-it-all type.

 

Norm - Here's my take and 2-cents for what it's worth. As "Sexy" as your car looks, and I personally think it's gorgeous, if she has never driven a car from that Era and was expecting it to drive and ride like a modern sports car, the overall "feel" of the car may have been a rude awakening for her??? Lord only knows what she would probably think of mine with the extra heavy duty suspension components. Then again, maybe a good stiff ride is just what she needs!!!

 

Good afternoon guys,

Partly sunny and very warm (73°) and humid here at 2:30. It's not raining yet, but it's coming. Severe weather predicted this evening between 6 and 9pm, with chance of tornadoes, heavy rain, hail, and high winds. Batten down the hatches.

Two car events I'd like to make it to tomorrow, both cruise-in type events. One from 10 - 2pm at a VFW in support of St. Judes Children's Hospital and the other starting at 4:00pm down at the DQ in DeSoto that I've posted picks of several times. I'm sure the roads will be fine for the DQ one later in the day, the morning one may be iffy?

Got a b-day party to go to on Sunday for one of our Grand Nephews at my wife's brother's house. I really haven't heard any recent news about his Pacreatic and Kidney cancers, and what they're doing or not doing. We may hear some more news tomorrow. My BIL is not very good with sharing that kind of news with my wife. It frustrates the hell out of me because I know she worries about him constantly.

Hope ya'll have a great weekend!

 

My Cutlass rides like a dream compared to my Jeep, and the Jeep is 27 years newer.

I really think people should learn to drive in the worst riding / handling car there is, just so they can appreciate things such as how fast they are going, how much stopping distance they need, etc.

 

Mike, back in '84 when I was looking to buy my first house, the city had just put this firestation up for sale. I could afford to buy it, but I just didn't have the cash to turn it into a home. this is what it looks like now, they did a great job with it. It had a 1940's eight burner stove with oven when I went through it, and what you see on the left as windows, was a 40' long garage for the firetruck.

 

She won't be getting a stiff anything from me. Since I rebuilt the suspension the car rides so much better. I really would have liked to R&R the body-to-frame mounts, but I'm skeptical. How many are there - eight or thereabouts? I'd have to review & perform a little more research. I know most of the guys replace them when/if they remove the body from frame. I believe I've seen a couple guys replace them w/o having to remove the body. I think the tricky part is not stripping the - nut on the bottom? Going from memory, can't recall. I suppose if the nut strips or the bolt turns I could leave that one body-to-frame mount in place and see just how many I can R&R? I suspect if I "REALLY" want to do that, I'd go at it w/ some degree of commitment.

 

Dan - Cool renovated fire station home. Nice.

 

The power top SW is on its way from Florida - should arrive on Monday. I think I'll pull the speedometer/odometer gauge & the fuel gauge tomorrow & remove the nonfunctional (TU) SW.

 

Dan, cool pic tanks Norm if you just find one frozen bolt consider yourself lucky, Its a big elephant to chew on

 

Jim - That's what me been tink'n.

 

Kenneth - I'm sure that is true. However, comparing an off road 4x4 vehicle to a sports car is comparing apples to oranges. I stand by my original comparison.

 

Norm - I'm sure it rides much better since the suspension was rebuilt. It just might not have been what she was expecting, especially if she has never driven anything like it before? My car did not have the body mounts replaced during the resto, it was not a "frame-off".

 

Sports car? It's a Cutlass Supreme convertible.
But yeah, it seems like a sports car compared to the Jeep.
And the Cutlass seems like a luxury car compared to the V70R. Which seems like a luxury car compared to the Z4.


Norm,
Be sure to disconnect the battery before removing the top switch.

 

Kenneth - That's good advice. I always disconnect the negative terminal whenever I work on any of the car's electrical components (i.e. when I removed the power top circuit breaker a couple days ago). It takes all of 60 seconds to remove a battery terminal end. I've watched (supposed) mechanics never disconnect the battery - dumb $hits.

 

I am not OCD...I despise the OCD acronym. I believe the mental health profession exists just to coin phrases for normalcy. If a person chooses to perform a feat, an operation, a task, something I believe anyone would normally conclude as the correct way to do something, the mental health professionals are quick to "label" the person - as often is the case those who do things the right way are deemed **** and OCD. They can suck my nards.

 

Dan - That is a really cool renovation converting the firehouse into a home.

Here is a pic of what is arguably the most iconic building in Battle Creek. It is celebrating it's 80th anniversary this year. It was originally completed in 1943 and was named the Percy Jones Army Hospital. It treated more than 95K injured soldiers coming home from WWII and the Korean wars. It was later named the Battle Creek Federal Center and is now named the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center after former U.S. Senators Phillip Hart (MI), Robert Dole (KS), and Daniel Inouye (HI), all 3 of which were treated there after returning home from WWIi. It is now home to the headquarters of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), responsible for procurement and distribution of both basic and speciality supplies for all of the DoD. It is quite a spectacular looking building/complex.



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