Ace-Garageguy

I don't know about where you are, but the vast majority of industrial / office parks near me are going belly-up, businesses that were going strong for years just gone, and most properties for lease. 'Bout the only endeavors that seem to be healthy and even expanding are government and medical facilities. I drive around every month or so to get an on-the-ground idea of the reality of the current economy, and frankly, it's scary.

Sentence rulebreakers to compulsory remedial English classes, with whippings.

Fence posts can be whittled down to make baseball bats if you have more time than money, and you can use the leftovers to make matches.

And that, boys and girls, is one of the ways motorsports facilities become strip malls and car lots and fast-food joints and ticky-tacky housing developments.

Unfortunately, all the contractors I've talked to so far want more to move it than I paid for it, so there may be some delay...

I figgered I'd be able to close out my roof-tarping project today based on this AM's NWS local forecast: Today Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly between 4pm and 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84. South wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. The live NWS radar, however, has been tracking a large thunderstorm coming this way since dawn, and I'm just now hearing the thunder. Oh well. Guess I'll do laundry instead.

Unfortunately, the trend in hardware engineering is towards "zero prototypes", where items, even complex and highly-stressed things like automatic transmissions and engines, would be "tested" in simulation and then taken directly to production with no physical prototypes ever. What could possibly go wrong? EDIT: Actually, it would probably be just fine if the simulation software and metrics were all perfect. But as this latest incident proves conclusively, GIGO is alive and well. The early failures and particular failure modes of many of today's engines and gearboxes should be a red-flag to manufacturers that there need to be more greasy hands in the automotive development process, and more stringent real-world testing procedures. Oh well. It's not my dog, and every time I bring something like this up as it applies to vehicles, I'm shouted down by the "how much better everything today is" crowd.

Exactly. But there are millions who won't heed the message. Stuff happens, whether deliberate or through incompetence. Best to be prepared.

Summer nights here have been rainy lately.

I'd like to have it, but I don't have anywhere to put it, especially after I just spent all my money on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Buttercup Chardonnay is available in cans.

Putter in the garden a little and grow some nice vegetables to eat and flowers for the table.

Afor u cun proof-reed yu gotta be abel to reed.

Endeavor (HMS) was the name of the research vessel captained by James Cook, and in 1770 was the first European ship to reach Australia.

"Rare" is a steak that still moos.

Needed: Responsible buyer to take over the Brooklyn Bridge and several lovely ocean-front condominiums in Nevada, priced to sell. https://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/oceanfront/usa/nevada/las-vegas

Bubble-gum chewing redheads still get my attention.

I knew I'd seen that thing before, but I just couldn't place it. Thanks. EDIT: I just checked and you are 100% correct...no surprise there.

Not really. The oil filler on those Chevy engines doesn't come out of the timing cover. It goes through the intake manifold. Very different.

Offer sincere thanks for whatever is good in your life every day, and you'll reduce your stress and anxiety levels.

I like pie. EDIT: Seriously, I always wanted to do something based on this body shell, and have a couple incomplete gluebombs just for that. However, I had no idea the kit had a flathead engine, as my bombers don't. Guess I gotta get one too.

"Journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step", but you have to take it and keep going.