We'd rather be skiin'

Washington D.C. Clunker Math explained

· A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.

· A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.

 · So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320   gallons/vehicle  per year.

· The government claims 700,000 vehicles were traded in, so that's 224 million                      gallons / year.

· That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.

· 5 million barrels of oil is about   25% of  one day's US consumption.

· And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about  $350 million dollars at  $75/bl.

· So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million/year.

How good a deal was that?

And in the process, the government (federal and state) gives up the gas tax revenue on that       224 million gallons/year.    Put out of business are a lot of independent garages who fixed        those clunkers.   And this "stimulus" program saddled a lot of those 700,000 buyers with a           new car debt they could not afford and will not be able to pay.

Next ski weekend: September 26-27

We will be at the lovely Wet Set Ski Village.    

How about some Carne Asada tacos?  Burritos?  Chips and Salsa verde’?  Can you say margarita?  Si Senior!   Bring on the hot stuff and let’s get wild and crazy with hot sauce!  Hehehehe (that one’s for you Alicia)!!   

Shevy and I will be there to take a couple of rides first thing Saturday morning, but then we have to bolt to Vegas to see my friend from Michigan.  So, we won’t be dining with you folks, but we’ll be there in spirit as we lay down $10 on the pass line and roll those dice!     

So, let me know what you’re bringing and I’ll bug you again next week as a friendly reminder from the girl who now earned her waterski vanity plate!  

   

An important morality tale

A priest was being honored at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner, but called ahead and said he would be a little late.

The priest decided to say his own few words while they waited. "I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his place of business, had an affair with his boss's wife, taken illegal drugs, and gave VD to his sister. I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people."

Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and give his talk. "I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived," said the politician. "In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession."

The moral of the story is: DON'T EVER BE LATE!!!!

Top excuse for missing your opener: Gator around one ball

Our former commodore Sue S. forwarded this one along in '05 and it was such an innarestin' item it deserves preservation here in the "We'd rather be skiin' " Web Log:

Sue writes:

"Don't want to ski there!
 
This was taken by a news helicopter flying over Lake George,  Ocala FL. That has to be a HUGE gator to have a whole deer in its mouth! Are you ready to go skiing on Lake George?! If you ski at the west end of the lake -- try not to fall."

A snap of Kevin from the Regionals . . .

Looks like he placed . . . going to guess it's an overall showing,pending more details from The Man . . .

And for that, we salute him . . .

OVERDOSE VICTIMS

 

I'm  posting these graphic pictures of overdose victims not for shock value, but rather in the  hope that you will have a frank discussion with friends and  family about respecting moderation, understanding limits, and  knowing when to just walk away.

Remember...
This did NOT have to happen ...

(parental discretion advised)

 

What a Fish Story‏

 

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A True Fish Story


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A resident in the area saw a ball bouncing around kind of strange in a nearby pond and went to investigate.

It turned out to be a flathead catfish who had obviously tried to swallow a child's basketball which became stuck in its mouth!!

The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive,

but unable to because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. The resident tried numerous times to get the ball out, but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife cut the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry catfish.

You probably wouldn't have believed this,

if you hadn't seen the following pictures...

 

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle

and you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?

Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads.

Why did the English build them like that?

Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Why did "they" use that gauge then?

Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?

Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads?

Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions who occupied England for the first 300 years. The roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses - which Frebrezian horses of those centuries - sort of built like our Budwieser horses and wagon. Course that is not a chariot.

Now the twist to the story

When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs.

The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel.

The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.

and you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!

TAKE HOLD OF EVERY MOMENT

A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:   "This, - he said - isn't any ordinary package." He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.   "She got this the first time we went to New York, 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on. Was saving it for a special occasion.
Well, I guess this is it. He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothings he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died. He turned to me and said:
"Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion".
I still think those words changed my life. Now I read more and clean less. I sit on the porch without worrying about anything. I spend more time with my family, and less at work.
I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through. I no longer keep anything. I use crystal glasses every day. I'll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if i feel like it. I don't save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to. The words "Someday..." and "One Day..." are fading away from my dictionary. If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now. I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell. I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.
She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels. I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favourite food. It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come.

I would regret it, because I would no longer see the friends I would meet, letters... letters that i wanted to write "One of this days".
I would regret and feel sad, because I didn't say to my brothers and sons, not times enough at least, how much I love them.
Now, I try not to delay, postpone or keep anything that could bring laughter and joy into our lives.
And, on each morning, I say to myself that this could be a special day.
Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.
If you got this, it's because someone cares for you and because, probably, there's someone you care about.
If you're too busy to send this out to other people and you say to yourself that you will send it "One of these days", remember that "One day" is far away... or might never come. .

What your icons do . . .

when your computer is off . . .

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