charlie8575

Well, it wasn't what I had in mind, but I'm working again. Part-time, but it's stable and can give me enough of a lead so I can get some other things moving. I'm now apprenticing to teach driver's ed. This was really the last thing I ever expected to find myself doing, but a friend of mine started doing this earlier this year, and was talking to me about it, and I said "let me see what happens over the summer with my other job hunting." Well, nothing happened, so here I am. The training takes some time, about 60 class hours, give or take, total, and then a test from the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which I have to pass with at least a 90%. The training consists of observing in-car instruction, observing a class, and giving in-car instruction. It's been interesting, so far I've almost been hospitalized four times! But, it is a job....and it could be a decent one over the long term. Charlie Larkin

There is actually a movement in secondary education to return to something of an apprentice/journeyman arrangement. The bright bulbs in education today finally realized a piece of paper and all the theory in the world isn't enough, and many high schools are now partnering with different businesses, governmental and private organizations to provide some kind of hands-on learning. This has always been true of vocational high schools, and now, even a lot of comprehensive high schools are moving to this model, especially ones with large, or at least well-designed STEM programs. Charlie Larkin

Gobo is now offering at-home C-41 processing kits. I'm planning on getting one and trying it. Charlie Larkin

Good to know; ditto the strip below the lettering. Charlie Larkin

Seeing that I can never get BMF to stay put (their new adhesive is horrid,) I'm actually planning on trying this for my next build to see how it all looks. There's clear to seal parts, then there's the glazed/dipped in syrup look. I'm sure that if you do it right, you can make it look very good, like other things, it takes practice. Charlie Larkin

Of course, the best solution would be for someone to issue completely correct 1968 and '69 Chevelles, but this seems to be working well so far, Bob. Charlie Larkin

That looks great, Dan. Very nicely done and a great color combination. Charlie Larkin

Boomerang runs it every so often for a few months, both the 1960s, and occasionally the 1970s and '80s ones. The original cartoon still gets my vote for the best music in a cartoon. Charlie Larkin

That's a handy guide, Jeff, but I have to ask- how did you get to it? All I could get was broken/missing links in the rest of that site and no way to move to different pages. I bookmarked it, though, and yeah, I think I'm going to grab one of these. Nice-looking car. Wonder if anyone will do a 4-door hardtop or a wagon? I'd buy them. Charlie Larkin

An hour and twenty mintues to Exit 7 from Boston? In rush hour, even going sort of against the traffic? (still plenty thick inside 128 and back to 495, even going west.) What a nasty man this Danka is! I suppose, though, it would be a bit anti-climatic if the villain was a nice guy. Great story, Mike. And very nice build. Will this be appearing next month? Charlie Larkin

Very nice, Steve. The colors work well together. Charlie Larkin

Very nice work on this, Jason. I vote for Steel Blue and the first wheels. Charlie Larkin

I used to until I lost my major sources of income. If I had still had the extra to spare a month, I still would. To me, reading the paper in the morning in one of the simple pleasures in life. Charlie Larkin

Truer words have not yet been writ upon this subject in this venue. Charlie Larkin

I have no problem giving this guy his pension. Thirty years doing that job is going to get to anyone, and while I can't excuse what happened, I can understand some of the potential underlying reasons. I would, however, make his receipt of pension conditional upon a reasonable probationary period (say 6-12 months) and some kind of psychotherapy, which I think he needs pretty badly. Charlie Larkin

No decent jobs materialized this summer, so I'm interviewing for a part-time at a grocery store running the register. It'll at least give me a little income while I figure out what I do next. The good news it it's Market Basket- back in full force!.Could actually lead to a decent career, too we'll see. I was also quite upset about Carstens' closing- great magazines. Did anyone pick up Railroad Model Craftsman, Railfan or Flying Models, yet? Charlie Larkin

A simple, if somewhat flippant explanation can be made in two words: crony capitalism. A game both sides play, picking winners and losers, and in the end, we all lose. Charlie Larkin

Lock both groups of loons in with the loons on the other end of the spectrum (the "coal rollers") and watch who murders each other first. We might do everyone a favor by eliminating a bunch of brain-damaged lunatics before they completely screw up everything and ruin it for the rest of us who can behave sensibly. Charlie Larkin

Include the two different four-lamp grilles, hood ornament and an option for the third light, and with careful selection of interior engraving, you can build an accurate 1979-87 wagon. Charlie Larkin

Yes to all of the above- possibly in multiples. Charlie Larkin

John- thanks for the refernce material. I'll send a message to you, as I'd like the high-res photos of the album and paint. Art- out with it! Mark- I agree, I'd like that wagon, too. Now that we know it was a draggin' wagon, no more excuses, time to kit it. As long as I build mine as a stock Catalina Safari, I'll buy. The only nit I'm picking- no inclusion of an automatic transmission, which would've been more common and it would be nice to have a correct early '60s Hydra-Matic available. Charlie Larkin

Very good news. Charlie Larkin

Excellent work on the fence. Very nice otherwise. Charlie Larkin

On tax-free weekend, I grabbed my Humbrol work-station (very nice product and makes my life a fair bit easier,) the AMT '61 Ford and the cans of Diamond Green Phoenician Yellow Testors lacquer. While I was out at an ultimately unsuccessful job interview Tuesday, I stopped at the hobby shop literally around the corner and grabbed the Fifties Aqua and a fresh pack of sanding film. Charlie Larkin

Tom, when I start playing with a project I picked up, I can give you the tire for a Buick continental kit. It might be a bit before I get to it, though. Nice score. Charlie Larkin