Kenyan-born Obama all set for US Senate (Archived 2004)

The Sunday Standard ^ | June27, 2004 | AP

[Dem Guard]

That is great! Unfortunately,my dad didn't buy many new cars.
When my engineer dad decided to sell a car it was no less than 10 years old. Naturally, being in the junker price range, I bought a series of them from him for no more than 300.00. My dad didn't really believe in body shops. He had his hammers and he pounded out occasional dents himself and bought paint at the hardware store that “approximated” the color.

[Landru]

"You're both right. Production was from the late ‘60s to the mid ‘70s. The color schemes varied according to the year."

That'd explain the *mystery*. If anyone would know about any thing in the world of 2 wheels, It'd be you, hands-down. ;^)

"They were truly evil handling bikes. But they were hard to catch below 100 mph. Nothing could touch them until Kawasaki upped the ante with the venerable Z1."

OK, I've witnessed how you handle 4 wheel animals up close & personal, so it begs the question how'd you never break your fool neck? Huh?

"The thing is, by today's standards they're average performers at best..."

Welllllll compared to your Buell, I guess. LOL!!

Lovely shot of the Sky, Sky Boy.
Pity the weather weasels were wrong, again.
Could've taken'er out for a little spin through the city, eh?

Well, OK.
Since you started this pal, best I can do is THIS.

Of course there's always THIS, too. :o)
~Have only run across maybe 3 of these, and one '69 Boss 429 (a neighbor in Fond du Lac County) survivor car.
None wanted to play *or* anything to do with Landru's Blue Jetstream, FTM. Will say this though, one of the 500KR's flashed me a Peace sign. What'd it mean? LOL
Wouldn't mind one of those Ford cars. Styling's beautiful, first rate. Performance, very good albeit a gas guzzler regardless how it's driven. Now if one were to put one on a serious diet, they'd have a real badass in a world of badasses & probably improve mileage, to boot. :^)

And to prove the Chevrolets are the real deal?
There's THIS.
The Copperhead V10's no punk, nothing to sneeze at and while some claim it looks like a clown shoe I'd have one, anytime. LOL

Braveman, while we never did THIS when out clowning 'round?
That *sound*, manna for the ears. ;^)

Car guys, the very best humanity has to offer.
Happy motoring ya'll, C'ya.. ;^)

[Landru]

"Stories??...OK, here we go. Dateline June,1965,South Bend,Ind. My dad brought home a 1965 Ford Mustang 289, 4 speed, 4 barrel, british racing green, black rag top, black interior."

*Brand* new, in '65??
Good grief!
You were one hot dude in a very cold world, pal. LOL!!

"A week later, around midnight me and 2 buddies rolled it down the long driveway (I had snuck the keys after dinner), started it and took off. Never had so much fun in my life. Drove all over the Michigan countryside. Returned about 2:30 AM...there was my dad, sitting on the front steps, smoking a cigarette, sipping a cup of coffee, looking calm...too damn calm."

BBBBWWWWHAAAAAAA!!!
Oh sweet Jesus, I can just SEE 'em in my mind's eye.
Just waiting, patiently. Your soul in God's hands, your ass in his. LOL!!!!!

"My 2 friends offered apologies, and ran like a thieves in the night. There I was, all alone, facing certain doom."

HA!!
Ain't it ever the truth.
"Dem Guard" would leave me in a lurch with my ol' man & bolt like a scalded cat for the safety of his home every time. Some pal, Pal. LOL

""Dad: 'Nice car, huh?' SJB: 'Oh yeah. Dad: 'Where did you go' SJB: 'Michigan' Dad: 'I suppose Chicago was a bit too far. OK, every father should cut a kid slack one time in their life. For you, this is it. All is forgiven. If you do it again, you will die. A corpse, understand?'"

Bet'chu understood so well that moment of clarity stands unequaled to this day. LOL!!

My old man, stephen, had the gall to have --unbeknownst to me, naturally-- taken mileage on his Dart 340 Swinger before I left on a Saturday night.
In the morning he approaches me, asks if I'd been to Chicago? I shit-u-not.
I said I'd never left the city of Brookfield (where we lived) and City of Milwaukee confines, never did too. One of those rare times he caught me totally flat footed so the honesty just flowed out quite naturally.
In a night's driving, I'd put on 500 miles!!
Like running the Pocono 500!!
Bet to his death he thought I'd lied, simply could not believe nor accept it could be done!

"A couple days later I asked why. He said he would have done it too! LOL!!"

Man must've been quite a man and a great father, stephen.
Mine too, I really miss 'em. ;^)

[stephenjohnbanker]

“He had his hammers and he pounded out occasional dents himself and bought paint at the hardware store that “approximated” the color. “

You gotta admit, he was resourceful ;-)

[stephenjohnbanker]

“Bet’chu understood so well that moment of clarity stands unequaled to this day. LOL!!”

I tell you, I remember it like it was yesterday!

“In a night’s driving, I’d put on 500 miles!! “

Good lord! I only put 86 on the Mustang!

“”A couple days later I asked why. He said he would have done it too! LOL!!”

Man must’ve been quite a man and a great father, stephen. “

He was indeed. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of him.

[Dem Guard]

Yeah, sometimes a bit more resourceful that I would have hoped. As a kid I would ask him for something and I never knew what would happen. I was always thinking of a shinny new something and he would tell me we could make something. Now on the face of it that was nice, but my dad is what I would refer to as a functional engineer, not an aesthetic engineer.

[Landru]

"'He had his hammers and he pounded out occasional dents himself and bought paint at the hardware store that 'approximated' the color."

HA!!
Are you telling me some of that shit brindle brown on the Olds ya'll had from your Grandmother wasn't GM factory original?? LOL And here I'd thought it was the best Fisher Body could offer all these years.

Please don't tell me the white Olds' Delta 88 wasn't all original, too!! I'd be crushed, cant take much more, might put me over the edge. LOL!!!

Now Li'l Bear & your pea green Telephone Company car with the "Bell" painted over I could understand, but leave me with my ignorance if not. LOL!!

"You gotta admit, he was resourceful"

Lloyd was and still is, DG's literally a chip off the ol' block, too. Which is why when kinds we called 'em, Little Lloyd. HA!!!!!
Guys you should SEE the stuff DG dreams up to build, an endless font of all kinds of curious contraptions.

[Landru]

"Yeah, sometimes a bit more resourceful that I would have hoped."

But who knew, DG?
You always had a natural poker face. LOL

"As a kid I would ask him for something and I never knew what would happen. I was always thinking of a shinny new something and he would tell me we could make something."

HA!!!
Sure explains the wooden shoes you showed up wearing one day, I 'spose. Which I thought somewhat odd since you're of German, not Dutch, extraction? LOL!!!!

"Now on the face of it that was nice..."

LIAR!!
You're contradicting yourself. :^)

...but my dad is what I would refer to as a functional engineer, not an aesthetic engineer."

Your Pa was and remains quite a guy, stereotypical Electrical Engineer, quiet, soft spoken and very intelligent. Not like *this* EE.

OT, you should get'cher ass up here to see your Mom & Dad while you can. Your sister's fine, but that's aside the point, too.

In fact WTH you never loaded 'em in your car when you were up, brought 'em along to visit us at Wilson Meadows made me scratch my head more than once.
I'm giving it to ya straight, ol' buddy. ;^)

[BraveMan]

. . . so it begs the question how'd you never break your fool neck? Huh?

Apparently the Lord had other plans. God knows I gave Him plenty of opportunities . . .

. . . like the time I overcooked it while wheeling, taking out the taillight and the rear fender in a spectacular shower of sparks and red plastic, ultimately saving it only to drop the bike while putting down the side stand . . .

. . . like the time I forgot about the upcoming corner with Keith on the back, smacking the curb dead on at full throttle, at night. I still can recall the flight through the air like Superman, the bounce off the grassy knoll, followed by more flight, then another bounce followed by lots of tumbling . . .

. . . or the time I hit the raccoon crossing the road while standing on the seat (never did find the raccoon) . . .

. . . or the time I rear-ended Gary's Challenger while eyeballing a cute blonde walking on the sidewalk, pushing the car out of the way, the bike landing upside down in a perfect three-point handlebar-tail section stance, pinning me underneath, leaking gas running down my back while I squirmed to free myself to no avail. I think I impressed her; she was laughing awfully hard . . .

. . . or the time . . . Well, you get the point.

[mkjessup]

FRiend, you really had me laughing about your adventure with the Mustang, I actually did something just as (no, actually MORE) foolhardy ...

My Uncle (the one with the fuel-injected ‘64 Corvette) traded cars like horses, always had a different ride every few months or so (probably not but it seemed like it), anyway he acquired a ‘71 deTomaso Pantera, that was the rear mounted 351-Cleveland w/5-speed transaxle, in proper trim it could do an honest 200 mph on the street.

ANYhow ... I was visiting my Uncle (a few states away) and happened to have that Galaxie with me, and as it turned out I had to do a brake job on my car, and not thinking ahead, I pulled the drums and shoes and then realized ‘hey wait a minute, I don’t have replacement shoes’, so I figured my good Uncle was at work (worked at an auto parts dealer in town) and he left the keys in that Pantera, sooooo into the driver’s seat I jumped in like Batman, turned the key, listened to that Cleveland rumblin’ away and I proceeded to drive to the local Sears automotive where I picked up a set of brake shoes and assorted parts, and drove back, and I actually behaved myself, no wild acceleration, I treated that Pantera with respect. It was a scary piece of machinery.

My Uncle comes home from work. He says “ok wise guy, whats the idea of taking that Pantera out?” and I tried to play dumb asking “who me?” and he says “yeah YOU, you forget that there is only ONE Pantera within about a 100 mile radius of this little burg, and EVERYONE saw you!”

So I admitted what I did, and why I did it, and he said “next time just ask me, call me up, ok?” He wasn’t too mad at me, but I learned a valuable lesson:

Next time, take the Corvette, it’ll blend in easier. LOL

[mkjessup]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=en&v=8rCQ7ZLjJuU

[Landru]

*Superman*?????
LOLOLOL!!!!
Funny...no, great stories pal.

And you said you didn't have any, too.
Poseur. LOL!!

[mkjessup]

Man must’ve been quite a man and a great father, stephen.

He was indeed. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of him.

I know that feeling FRiend, my Dad worked in the Department of the Army for his entire career, got out of the United States Army in '44 after being wounded in the Pacific, went to school on the GI Bill and went right back in as a civilian from '47 to '88 when he retired. His specialty was electronics, from the exotic to the mundane, but I was always in awe of his talents, I had acquired a '64 Mercury Marauder at one point, and the electrical system was a bit hinky (old generator system) and to my amazement, my Dad proceeded to rewire the entire electrical harness wire by wire (to be sure there were no shorts, etc) and converted it to an alternator system (I had the alternator and parts just laying around), and to him it was just a weekend 'project', to me it was like the Almighty saying "let there be alternating current", LOL

At the risk of having '64 Corvette on the brain, I had the opportunity to watch my Dad take my Uncle's Corvette for a spin (naturally I was the passenger) and I had never seen Dad operate a clutch before, I didn't even know he knew how (and of course he did!), and when we got to some open highway, he got this twinkle in his eye and said "let's open it up a bit" and to my amazement and teenage wonderment, I watched my Dad, that ramrod no-nonsense ex-GI run through the gears on the Corvette in a performance worthy of Steve McQueen in 'Bullitt', double clutching and all, LOL - holy smokes, that was an adventure!

Well, if I somehow end up being a fraction of the man he was, I will consider that a worthy accomplishment in life. I know how you miss your Dad, I miss mine too.

[Dem Guard]

We have a kid around us that has an old impala painted florescent orange with wide blue stripes on each side. Tell me that kid gets away with anything!

[Dem Guard]

Good times!

[Landru]

"FRiend, you really had me laughing about your adventure with the Mustang..."

Aye, it was a good'un!! LOL

"I actually did something just as (no, actually MORE) foolhardy..."

Oh?
>>>all ears<<<

"My Uncle (the one with the fuel-injected ‘64 Corvette) traded cars like horses, always had a different ride every few months or so (probably not but it seemed like it), anyway he acquired a ‘71 deTomaso Pantera, that was the rear mounted 351-Cleveland w/5-speed transaxle, in proper trim it could do an honest 200 mph on the street."

OMG, I can't TELL you how many times I'd sit outside Uptown Lincoln-Mercury late on a weekend night after an evening of drag racing. Drool over the Pantera deTomaso sitting under the lights on their showroom floor!! Not many Fords I liked, but, that was one.

"ANYhow...I was visiting my Uncle (a few states away) and happened to have that Galaxie with me, and as it turned out I had to do a brake job on my car, and not thinking ahead, I pulled the drums and shoes and then realized ‘hey wait a minute, I don’t have replacement shoes’, so I figured my good Uncle was at work (worked at an auto parts dealer in town) and he left the keys in that Pantera, sooooo into the driver’s seat I jumped in like Batman, turned the key, listened to that Cleveland rumblin’ away and I proceeded to drive to the local Sears automotive where I picked up a set of brake shoes and assorted parts, and drove back, and I actually behaved myself, no wild acceleration, I treated that Pantera with respect. It was a scary piece of machinery."

YES it most certain was all of that, and more!
Closest thing to the second best Ford I'd dream about, the Ford GT. Awwwww hell, add the Cobra AC, too. LOL!!

"My Uncle comes home from work. He says 'ok wise guy, whats the idea of taking that Pantera out?' and I tried to play dumb asking 'who me?'..."

BWWWWWWHAAAAAAAA!!!
Yesssssss!!
Obviously smarter than I, mk.
You could at least Lie on the Fly!! LOL

"...and he says 'yeah YOU, you forget that there is only ONE Pantera within about a 100 mile radius of this little burg, and EVERYONE saw you!'"

Oh, geshhhh. Of course, makes perfect sense. People were probably waving and you thinking, WTF?

"So I admitted what I did, and why I did it, and he said 'next time just ask me, call me up, ok?' He wasn’t too mad at me, but I learned a valuable lesson: Next time, take the Corvette, it’ll blend in easier. LOL"

Bingo.

Just *like* growing up in a smaller community where just about everyone knew you, your folks. Especially the cops.
Was damned tough to get a way with anything!!

Great story, mk.
This uncle, a very cool guy. ;^)
Thanks for sharing, kiddo. :^)

[mkjessup]

Oh he's still a cool guy today (my Uncle), still tinkering with cars, here is a picture of some of our history, my Dad is on the right (saying 'hold still, they're taking our picture!') my Uncle is on the far left, and in the middle is my GrandDad. And the little troublemaker with the cap that won't hold still? I have no idea who that is, lol

[Landru]

Simply absolutely positively gorgeous mk!!
You owned a copy of one of those MONSTERS!!??
Good grief, the very epicenter of Ford's glory days produced that mean machine. ;^)

Hey, Dem Guard!
Surely you remember "Myron". The old man who worked late in the grain mill at Reinders' Bros sacking birdseed? He lived across the street from the grain mill and his boy (much older than us) HAD a Galaxy 427 twin can car. Black, I can still see it parked in Myron's driveway. Remember?

Guys FYI DG & I used to work at a grain mill in HS. Hustling rock salt, unloading rail cars full of seed etc.
"Myron" was an ancient old goat who'd worked for the Reinders' family forrrrrrever.
We used to see him pull out a flask of whiskey, take a swig when he thought no one was looking? Well we was looking since we was hiding, having a smoke on the clock!! LOL

Say mk, the *lore* back in the day was cammer 427 was prone to snapping one or the other cams. To your knowledge was there ever any truth to that?

Dem Guard can tell you about the kid who lived across the street from me. We called 'em "Boneass", if you saw this string bean you'd see why the name.

Anyway this goofball was a died-in-the-wool Ford guy, bought a '63 Ford Galaxy from an even odder kid by the name of Osmond.

Only Boneass' car had a 390, not the cammer and really not enough HP to move all that Detroit iron. Certainly not in the same league as the uber lightweight Dart 340, any way.

Nonetheless he'd earned every penny he'd paid for that car, it was his first ride, had a sterling new deep blue paint job. He was sooooo proud.

One night Boneass, who loved his beer, was CHASING some imbecile throughout the entire neighborhood. A rat race! Lots of hills, streets barely 1.5 lanes wide and because ol' Boneass was probably stewd, he loses control of his beloved Galaxy 500 390. ! LOL

These days one pulled a stunt like that, drunk or not & it's go to jail, diectly to jail yayada. But not then, not in those days. Can't recall exactly WTH did happen to ol' Boneass, but, that broken car sat across the street for a longest time, front end slightly elevated. LOL

An addendum to Boneass.
Was idling away some time one day, googling names of people from the past, Dod Ol' Boness' name & it pops up on a legal recording. He was charged, and convicted on his 3rd DUI.

Now we couldn't see THAT coming all those years ago, eh? LOL!!

[mkjessup]

Simply absolutely positively gorgeous mk!! You owned a copy of one of those MONSTERS!!?? Good grief, the very epicenter of Ford's glory days produced that mean machine. ;^)

Nooo, I regret to say that I never owned a 427 cammer, I DID own a 427 Side Oiler that resided between the fenders of my '63 Galaxie, the ironic thing is that I could have bought a cammer from a mechanic in Kensington Maryland that needed cash in a hurry and was willing to let it go for a mere $1000 and of course I was about 950 bucks short dammit, lol

Hey, Dem Guard! Surely you remember "Myron". The old man who worked late in the grain mill at Reinders' Bros sacking birdseed? He lived across the street from the grain mill and his boy (much older than us) HAD a Galaxy 427 twin can car. Black, I can still see it parked in Myron's driveway. Remember?

Guys FYI DG & I used to work at a grain mill in HS. Hustling rock salt, unloading rail cars full of seed etc. "Myron" was an ancient old goat who'd worked for the Reinders' family forrrrrrever.

We used to see him pull out a flask of whiskey, take a swig when he thought no one was looking? Well we was looking since we was hiding, having a smoke on the clock!! LOL

But you never ratted him out did ya? ;)

Say mk, the *lore* back in the day was cammer 427 was prone to snapping one or the other cams. To your knowledge was there ever any truth to that?

To the best of my knowledge, that was just a bad rumor with no basis to it HOWEVER, because the 427 Cammer engine was based on the standard 427 block design, it required a dummy shaft and cam gear to ride in the standard position where a camshaft would ordinarily reside in the block, I heard (don't know for sure) that those dummy shafts had some issues once you got up over 6000 rpm. (the 427 SOHC was conservatively rated at 616 horsepower at 7000 rpm with the dual 4-bbl Holley configuration). The Cammer was originally intended to challenge Chrysler's Hemi in NASCAR (it was said that Chrysler intended to introduce the Hemi into NASCAR competition, and the Cammer (being a true Hemi design as well) was the equivalent of the Soviet 'Doomsday Machine', i.e., "if you race your Hemi, we'll unleash this even more awesome and destructive SOHC Hemi", lol

Dem Guard can tell you about the kid who lived across the street from me. We called 'em "Boneass", if you saw this string bean you'd see why the name.

Anyway this goofball was a died-in-the-wool Ford guy, bought a '63 Ford Galaxy from an even odder kid by the name of Osmond.

Only Boneass' car had a 390, not the cammer and really not enough HP to move all that Detroit iron. Certainly not in the same league as the uber lightweight Dart 340, any way.

That's odd, the 390 traditionally had plenty of oats to move those big Fords around, I've had a few of them and except for the bore diameter, they're very similar to the 427. (427 = 4.23 bore x 3.78 stroke, 390 = 4.05 bore x 3.78 stroke, the difference, yea the BIG difference was in the heads and breathing)

Nonetheless he'd earned every penny he'd paid for that car, it was his first ride, had a sterling new deep blue paint job. He was sooooo proud.

Uh oh, I can almost see where this is going...

One night Boneass, who loved his beer, was CHASING some imbecile throughout the entire neighborhood. A rat race! Lots of hills, streets barely 1.5 lanes wide and because ol' Boneass was probably stewd, he loses control of his beloved Galaxy 500 390. ! LOL

I will lower my FoMoCo flag to half-mast in belated memory.

These days one pulled a stunt like that, drunk or not & it's go to jail, diectly to jail yayada. But not then, not in those days. Can't recall exactly WTH did happen to ol' Boneass, but, that broken car sat across the street for a longest time, front end slightly elevated. LOL

A true indignity to all Ford lovers.

An addendum to Boneass. Was idling away some time one day, googling names of people from the past, Dod Ol' Boness' name & it pops up on a legal recording. He was charged, and convicted on his 3rd DUI.
Now we couldn't see THAT coming all those years ago, eh? LOL!!

Didn't need a palm reader for that, LOL

[mkjessup]

Have to (as they say in Texas) ‘take care of some BIDNESS’ and may not be back until later tonight or tomorrow, have a great evening guys! :)