In Jawja, in April, any man's fancy turns to... boats.
My friends Charley and Ken acquired a 19-foot Boston Whaler a while back, which they now want to sell.
There's only one little problem - when the motor is run at full tilt, after about fifteen seconds, the outboard motor just... stops. BlaaaahhhhhThud.
Awww...crap.
Much discussion about probable causes ensues, with a collective opinion that there's a fuel-feed problem.
Ken sighs, and mutters to himself.
"What's that, Ken?" Says Charley.
"B.O.A.T. spells 'Bring Over Another Thousand' " says Ken.
So there you have it....
Monday, April 21, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Not-happy Tax Day
I've already paid my damned taxes.
Actually, we're getting a "refund" of the interest-free loan that we've been compelled to make to the gummint, blast their miserable hides.
My wife and I make enough that Los Federales take a large chunk, the Staties take another, smaller chunk, and then they oh-so-graciously deign to "refund" some to us.
What "they" keep would pay ALL of our bills (plus two nice dinners for four at Outback) for three months. ALL of our bills include food, electric, gasoline & insurance, but NOT clothing, telephone & cellular or satellite TV.
Once again, I am severely pissed off.
Grrrr.....
Actually, we're getting a "refund" of the interest-free loan that we've been compelled to make to the gummint, blast their miserable hides.
My wife and I make enough that Los Federales take a large chunk, the Staties take another, smaller chunk, and then they oh-so-graciously deign to "refund" some to us.
What "they" keep would pay ALL of our bills (plus two nice dinners for four at Outback) for three months. ALL of our bills include food, electric, gasoline & insurance, but NOT clothing, telephone & cellular or satellite TV.
Once again, I am severely pissed off.
Grrrr.....
Friday, April 11, 2008
Taxes and Friends
Now that my travails with the truck appear to over, it's time to comment on Taxes and Friends.
Taxes first, on the theory of getting the unpleasant stuff out of the way.
Presuming that you actually pay attention when you are doing your taxes, work out the percentage that the Feds, State (and maybe city) keep of your money. Then, factor in sales, excise, and property taxes. Assuming that you are actually in the taxpaying class, you'll be dismayed. If you're like me, you'll then be totally cranky. THEN, if you're as annoyed as I am, do a quick-and-dirty analysis of what your money gets spent on.
Grrr.....
On to more pleasant subjects.
What's a friend? Who are they? How can you tell?
OWW's definition runs like this:
My friend will come over to my house and open my fridge (He/She either has a key, or knows where the key is, and uses it whenever they please. I trust He/She - and He/She doesn't abuse that trust), see that I'm out of beer, and call me on my cell to let me know. Ten minutes later, he calls back to say that he's on his way to the store anyway, so don't worry about the beer, and what do I want for dinner?
My friend will listen to me babble on about something about which I know next to nothing, and will call bullshit on me right to my face.
My friend, when I call yelling for assistance, drops whatever he's doing and comes a-running. I'll also get a very hard time later for being semi-stupid in public. If it's really bad, I get a great silence about my stupidity.
When I'm feeling down and melancholy, my friend tries to move me along.
When I get too full of myself, my friend brings me back to reality.
When things go really well, my friend celebrates with me - without envy.
When things go sour, my friend commiserates with me - and not even one "I told you so". (Unless it involves a car's mechanical workings - which generates a few "Dummy" and "Idiot" comments. The favor is generally returned at a later date. What goes around, comes around!)
I have many nice, pleasant acquaintences.
I have a few dear and close friends.
Bob, Charley and Sharon, Tom and Kathy, Mikey, Bud, Brad and Susan.
So, today, when I was sniveling and moaning about our tax bill, Charley says "Hey! You should be happy! You're making enough money to complain about your taxes!"
Yah.
I think I said pretty much the same thing to him last week...
Taxes first, on the theory of getting the unpleasant stuff out of the way.
Presuming that you actually pay attention when you are doing your taxes, work out the percentage that the Feds, State (and maybe city) keep of your money. Then, factor in sales, excise, and property taxes. Assuming that you are actually in the taxpaying class, you'll be dismayed. If you're like me, you'll then be totally cranky. THEN, if you're as annoyed as I am, do a quick-and-dirty analysis of what your money gets spent on.
Grrr.....
On to more pleasant subjects.
What's a friend? Who are they? How can you tell?
OWW's definition runs like this:
My friend will come over to my house and open my fridge (He/She either has a key, or knows where the key is, and uses it whenever they please. I trust He/She - and He/She doesn't abuse that trust), see that I'm out of beer, and call me on my cell to let me know. Ten minutes later, he calls back to say that he's on his way to the store anyway, so don't worry about the beer, and what do I want for dinner?
My friend will listen to me babble on about something about which I know next to nothing, and will call bullshit on me right to my face.
My friend, when I call yelling for assistance, drops whatever he's doing and comes a-running. I'll also get a very hard time later for being semi-stupid in public. If it's really bad, I get a great silence about my stupidity.
When I'm feeling down and melancholy, my friend tries to move me along.
When I get too full of myself, my friend brings me back to reality.
When things go really well, my friend celebrates with me - without envy.
When things go sour, my friend commiserates with me - and not even one "I told you so". (Unless it involves a car's mechanical workings - which generates a few "Dummy" and "Idiot" comments. The favor is generally returned at a later date. What goes around, comes around!)
I have many nice, pleasant acquaintences.
I have a few dear and close friends.
Bob, Charley and Sharon, Tom and Kathy, Mikey, Bud, Brad and Susan.
So, today, when I was sniveling and moaning about our tax bill, Charley says "Hey! You should be happy! You're making enough money to complain about your taxes!"
Yah.
I think I said pretty much the same thing to him last week...
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Car Stuff
Actually, it's that double-de-damned truck.
My Dodge Dakota decided that it no longer liked it's radiator.
Sigh.
Replace the radiator, plus the coolant. $248.57 and four hours later, I'm good to go, right? Plus however much it's gonna cost 'cause the A/C radiator/condenser had to be removed, making necessary an airconditiner service. (Trust me, if you live in Jawja, and summer-time is coming up, you NEED an air-conditioner in your car.)
Nope.
Then I find that in addition to the radiator, the thermostat's gasket was el-sucko.
Awww....CRAP!
$5.94 plus $0.36 tax plus two more hours got me a truck that doesn't puke coolant all over the place.
Ah, well.
When you own a vehicle with 99,548 miles on it, you have to expect something is going to break. So far, the rest of the bits and pieces seems to be holding up OK. With a little care, I should be able to get at least another 50K miles out of the engine/trans/rear-end.
I hope...
There is one good thing to come out of this.
My neighbor Charley was kind enough to lend me a car for the last two days.
A Jaguar XJ6, the sedan with that gorgeous 4.2 litre DOHC in-line 6-cylinder beast under the hood. NOT a stop-light Grand Prix vehicle. Not at all. But, at 75 MPH, when you stick your foot into the throttle, you sink back into the seat under a fairish accelleration which continues in a rather ghastly almost-quiet until you look at the speedometer and find that you're moving along in vigorous violation of any speed law in the land (unless you're in Montana).
That Jag has over 150,000 miles on the odometer.
I think I want one....
My Dodge Dakota decided that it no longer liked it's radiator.
Sigh.
Replace the radiator, plus the coolant. $248.57 and four hours later, I'm good to go, right? Plus however much it's gonna cost 'cause the A/C radiator/condenser had to be removed, making necessary an airconditiner service. (Trust me, if you live in Jawja, and summer-time is coming up, you NEED an air-conditioner in your car.)
Nope.
Then I find that in addition to the radiator, the thermostat's gasket was el-sucko.
Awww....CRAP!
$5.94 plus $0.36 tax plus two more hours got me a truck that doesn't puke coolant all over the place.
Ah, well.
When you own a vehicle with 99,548 miles on it, you have to expect something is going to break. So far, the rest of the bits and pieces seems to be holding up OK. With a little care, I should be able to get at least another 50K miles out of the engine/trans/rear-end.
I hope...
There is one good thing to come out of this.
My neighbor Charley was kind enough to lend me a car for the last two days.
A Jaguar XJ6, the sedan with that gorgeous 4.2 litre DOHC in-line 6-cylinder beast under the hood. NOT a stop-light Grand Prix vehicle. Not at all. But, at 75 MPH, when you stick your foot into the throttle, you sink back into the seat under a fairish accelleration which continues in a rather ghastly almost-quiet until you look at the speedometer and find that you're moving along in vigorous violation of any speed law in the land (unless you're in Montana).
That Jag has over 150,000 miles on the odometer.
I think I want one....
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