CarFreak

The roast beef melted in your mouth.

I don’t get it, vendors were packing up to leave yesterday. Why even bother showing up. Was the weather too nice for them? Did they want rain?

Including yesterday afternoon

An older friend got stopped & questioned for riding his mobility scooter if it was registered by a Security person late Tuesday afternoon. He was moving at ‘walking speed’. Meanwhile people of all ages & very likely NOT handicapped were blasting by in 4 & 6 person gas golf carts, Honda trail bikes, bicycles, all sorts of other vehicles.

Pics from back in the day 'B.A.' (before asphalt)

1. Potluck meals at meetings will often encourage wives who don't generally attend. 2. Auto-renewal of membership dues (optional). I try hard not to be but often I am a procrastinator for no reason at all. I know I am going to send my dues but often will delay doing so. 3. Some clubs that I am a member give non-members virtually the same benefit as dues paying members. There should be a difference. For example, to register for our annual swap meet or show, non-members pay a modest $5 more. Meanwhile members are paying $25 (minimum membership level) to sustain the operation of the club. Meanwhile this same club will refuse to send newsletters by email because they might be shared!!!!! Let's share the newsletters to promote the club but encourage non-members to join by increasing the price difference to participate in our events.

Mid 1980s, purchased a 1964 Cadillac convertible to drive home to the Midwest. Also had two more cars on the trip; one tow-barring the other. Since the Cadillac would be towing a 10' enclosed Jartran (like Uhaul) trailer, added some Monroe air shocks before we left. Got as far as Provo UT, southern part of the state when the rear end dropped - one of the air shocks blew. Due to the weight of the trailer and weak coil springs, the car was leaning enough that the rubber gasket on the outside of the air shock was rubbed through. Checked the local parts stores - nothing. One of the stores called their Salt Lake City warehouse and yep, the shock was available but it would be 3 or 4 days to have shipped. Found a spot to leave the Cadillac & trailer, plus the other towed car. Drove to SLC; was there the next morning when the warehouse opened, got the new shock and returned to Provo. On the way back, stopped at a lumber store to buy a 2x4 which we had cut in short lengths. New shock installed, 2x4 pieces shoved into the coil springs and we were back on the road. Cadillac also had a cracked timing cover so it used about FIFTY (50) quarts of oil on the 2300 mile trip.

Regarding bicycles, last year I bought a folding bicycle that I had been searching for a while. My friend was in a mobility scooter (he can't walk / has handicap placard) and we were wandering back to our vehicle to stash it. I sat on my new bike and pushed myself along with one foot on a pedal slowly making our way through a pretty empty area. Some Security Guard stopped me in the far northeast corner of the Red Field and told me that I couldn't ride the bicycle in the Swap Meet. I explained about just buying it and how we were making our way back to our truck in the Handicap Lot. Then I asked why didn't he do something about the autos & trucks, the speeding golf cars (these lifted gas powered higher speed vehicles are cars, not carts). And as A Woolf mentions, I inquired what was being done about the idiots of bicycles careening through other swap meet visitors trying to walk and not be run over. Mr Security Guard didn't answer and I continued to push myself along on the bike another 150' to the Handicap Parking lot. I was seething a bit this year watching how many bicyclists were riding and weaving around pedestrians and golf cart drivers expecting pedestrians to get out of their way!!! One of these days there is going to be a serious injury and unfortunately the Hershey Region & AACA will likely be the ones suffering through lawsuits for their apparent disregard of enforcing their own rules.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm ordering the Diamondbacks.

I’ve been searching for a replacement tires for my 1942 Cadillac. 7.50x16 are the recommended factory size but I’ve been running 7.00x16 for the last 20 years. I ordered a set from Coker and when unwrapped there were many dozen different sized pimples all over the sidewall. Coker was really good about taking them back as a return and I’ve been trying to find something else for many months. I realize there are a limited number of manufacturers at this point. I’ve tried the usual suppliers Coker, Universal, Lucas. Any other suggestions? I’m looking for a tire that has a period correct appearance. Thanks a lot

https://www.collarcityauctionsonline.com/servlet/List.do?auctionId=754

I read that and thought maybe an ALF? 😁

In our attached garage there is a Big Maxx ceiling mounted natural gas heater. It WAS hooked up to a Nest Thermostat until about a month ago. Appreciated being able to set a schedule, be notified if the temp went below a certain point, be able to adjust it from my phone, etc. One day, noticed the smell of gas and realized the generator was leaking. Quickly turned off the Big Maxx until the fuel could be cleaned up and the fumes cleared. All good, we thought. Of course, Murphy waited until we were 120 miles away, staying at a hotel and conveniently temps were dropping. Got a notice no heat in the garage. Would it bother the cars? No but there was some stuff in there we didn't want to freeze. The Nest message indicated something about a loose wire and you had to be on-site to fix. Home that night and could not figure out the problem. Pull out the manual, read the blinking lights and start messing with the furnace. Could get the furnace to run by clearing a tube which could possibly be explained as 'frozen condensation'. Would have heat for a while then it would quit. Repeat by clearing the tube, heat again then at some point it would quit again. This went on for several days. Offered a home-cooked meal to an HVAC friend and he stopped by grumbling about the Nest tstat. Yep, that was the problem - pulled it off the wall & reinstalled an old school version. Friend explained his company won't work on any problems that involve a Nest; they'll either advise the customer to change the tstat or refuse the service. In our area the Nat Gas company offers free home energy assessments which generally include Nest tstats free or cheap. Have the more expensive Ecobee for the house which does have better features. There's a Nest in the barn workshop for the Big Maxx there and knock-on-wood, no problems yet. That's 150' from the house and yes, nice to be able to have a programmed warm up time or be able to adjust from the house. Bought the Ecobee at Costco while the Nest were acquired with points so no real money out of pocket; the Nest which caused the garage heater problems is sitting on a shelf now, likely won't be reused while the house Ecobee and barn Nest are still working fine.

Bought a double-wide TP scat blast cabinet on an impulse as a late Christmas gift several years ago. I spoke to a rep and he was not very good because I was new to the world of blast cabinets and asked what he would recommend. He didn't recommend much; said what I was ordering was very good. Yeah, but I ended up ordering a vibrator later, the carbide nozzle, the vacuum system, etc. Really wish he had been a better salesman but ultimately got where I wanted to be. One complaint about my cabinet is a lot of scat escaped through gaps; wish it had been designed better to keep the material inside. The following Hershey I spoke with the Manager @ their Hershey tent and explained the problem. He took a piece off one of their lesser machines and suggested I use it to upgrade my machine. No charge and did help. Agree on having a compressor to handle the job.

From 1974 to 1995, National Highways were limited to 55 mph. Not that everyone (anyone?) drove that speed but '15 over' was 70 mph. Now with 70 mph speed limits, many vehicles often travel upper 70s, 80 mph. A couple years ago I was commuting with a late 1980s 9c1 and even though it was pretty modern, albeit without ABS, what seemed fast was hardly keeping up with traffic. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nixon-signs-national-speed-limit-into-law