Everything has a story. I realized that the gas guzzling truck I spoke about in the last post needed a little more explaining. We'll begin this story almost 3 years ago. Before owning my current truck, I owned a rather large well preserved truck. It only got 10 miles to the gallon. I used to use it to go the dump on occasion and at the time it started running like crud, it was my only mode of getting around. This was a problem. The other problem was Jonny (bad 3rd person ref) didn't have any cash reserves and was being very stubborn about taking an auto loan. After many failed attempts to fix the problems myself, I only made things worse. Why did I try to fix things myself? You see the truck had a carburetor on top of the engine and this was very rare. It was very rare in a bad way, not in a good way like on antiques roadshow. Even more rare than carburetors, were guys that knew how to fix them. I didn't know this then, but I can be concretely placed in the group of guys that doesn't know how to fix them.
One day when I was at the dump I realized that my truck had a secret admirer. This guy came up to me and said "Nice truck. You let me know if you ever want to get rid of it. Okay?" I told him that I was trying to get rid of it, told him the problems, and then told him how much I needed to get for it so I could buy another car. He said "I got 3 guns I'll trade you for it." I explained that although the 3 guns were a very generous offer I would not be able to use any one of them to get to and from work and so I declined. Not being deterred he said "I'll give you my truck and my shotgun, Whaddya say?" I told him that I was definitely interested but he would have to sweeten the pot a little. His truck did run better, but it lacked a certain style. He said "I'll throw in $100 and a truck cap." Now we're talking! I closed the deal and have been driving his truck ever since. My only regret is that I didn't hold out for a back window gun rack to hang the shotgun on.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Toyota Paseo + Male Driver = Security in one's own Sexuality
So my company is moving from 7 miles to 40 miles from my house in April. This is rather disappointing because my truck gets 12 mpg. Over the past few weeks I've been looking for a little 4 cyl. car to be my daily commuter. I was budgeting about $3K because I do not want to have another car loan. While telling my woes to one of my coworkers, he offered me his wife's older Paseo. When I asked him how much, he said "free". The car dealer would not take it on trade-in. I graciously accepted and am quite stoked about my free car.
The Pluses: Free Car great on Gas (30-35mpg)
The One Small Minus: I think this two door coupe was a very popular car for college girls to own in the 90's. (much like the Ford Probe) Consequently, the other day on its maiden long distance voyage I was checked out by no fewer than 6 pickup trucks full of construction workers as they passed me on the highway. The response was always the same, their eager faces were suddenly changed to disgust as they realized that they just ogled at a heavily bearded man instead of the little hottie that they thought would be driving.
The Pluses: Free Car great on Gas (30-35mpg)The One Small Minus: I think this two door coupe was a very popular car for college girls to own in the 90's. (much like the Ford Probe) Consequently, the other day on its maiden long distance voyage I was checked out by no fewer than 6 pickup trucks full of construction workers as they passed me on the highway. The response was always the same, their eager faces were suddenly changed to disgust as they realized that they just ogled at a heavily bearded man instead of the little hottie that they thought would be driving.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Origins of the Separation of Church and State
The following post was written by a non-historian.
I downloaded my first digital book from Google the other day. I was searching for some quotes from Thom Jefferson when I stumbled upon The Writings Of Thomas Jefferson .I've only read some excerpts so far because reading scanned pdf books in Adobe Reader still stinks a little. I am resisting the urge to print out the 527+ just so my eyes can read it on paper instead of a laptop screen.
In the introduction it talks about Jefferson's time as an active politician in Virginia a decade after the Declaration of Independence. During this time, the battle for religious tolerance was taking place in the Virginia Assembly. This was still a few years before the Constitution was written. I was amazed to learn that many of the early states had acts and laws that made it "penal" for parents to not have their children baptized. And forget trying to be a Quaker in those days. It was unlawful in Virginia for a ship master to bring a Quaker into the state. Jefferson was key in fighting the union of Church and State in Virginia and did not escape unharmed.
"Jefferson was denounced as a communist, an atheist, a foe to all religion . . ." -page xvi
Sure, in school I learned about the Salem witch trials, read The Crucible, and learned that the Pilgrims were fleeing religious persecution from England (not exactly true I understand), but I figured by the time we became a Country that stuff was well in the past. I've always assumed that the origins of the 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion was in there to protect us from King George wannabes. After all that's what Schoolhouse Rock had to say about it. I didn't know it was to protect us against repeating the deeds of our fellow Americans.
I'm not sure how Mr. Jefferson would weigh in on the 10 commandments in the courthouse issue, but I now know a little more about the historical context, his mindset and perhaps the mindset of his peers who authored the Bill of Rights. I think it's sad that Thom was in France when the Bill of Rights was being authored. I feel it would have much more explicit on some issues. Ask your kids to tell you about the origin of the 1st Amendment. I bet they won't mention Americans oppressing Americans.
I downloaded my first digital book from Google the other day. I was searching for some quotes from Thom Jefferson when I stumbled upon The Writings Of Thomas Jefferson .I've only read some excerpts so far because reading scanned pdf books in Adobe Reader still stinks a little. I am resisting the urge to print out the 527+ just so my eyes can read it on paper instead of a laptop screen.
In the introduction it talks about Jefferson's time as an active politician in Virginia a decade after the Declaration of Independence. During this time, the battle for religious tolerance was taking place in the Virginia Assembly. This was still a few years before the Constitution was written. I was amazed to learn that many of the early states had acts and laws that made it "penal" for parents to not have their children baptized. And forget trying to be a Quaker in those days. It was unlawful in Virginia for a ship master to bring a Quaker into the state. Jefferson was key in fighting the union of Church and State in Virginia and did not escape unharmed.
"Jefferson was denounced as a communist, an atheist, a foe to all religion . . ." -page xvi
Sure, in school I learned about the Salem witch trials, read The Crucible, and learned that the Pilgrims were fleeing religious persecution from England (not exactly true I understand), but I figured by the time we became a Country that stuff was well in the past. I've always assumed that the origins of the 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion was in there to protect us from King George wannabes. After all that's what Schoolhouse Rock had to say about it. I didn't know it was to protect us against repeating the deeds of our fellow Americans.
I'm not sure how Mr. Jefferson would weigh in on the 10 commandments in the courthouse issue, but I now know a little more about the historical context, his mindset and perhaps the mindset of his peers who authored the Bill of Rights. I think it's sad that Thom was in France when the Bill of Rights was being authored. I feel it would have much more explicit on some issues. Ask your kids to tell you about the origin of the 1st Amendment. I bet they won't mention Americans oppressing Americans.
Monday, February 26, 2007
On Thoreau's Civil Disobedience 1
I finished up The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (that explains the last post) a while back and needed another book to start. When I finish a really good book I feel the need to wind down a little before stopping for a while. The rebound book almost acts as a cool down run (if I ran) for me. This time I grabbed a Thoreau anthology. The last time I read any Thoreau was in high school. I have revisited a lot of those freshman English books recently and they are so much better than I remember. Maybe it's because books like 1984 really appeal to middle aged men like my high school English teachers and now me.
Thoreau: I started reading the first paragraph of "Civil Disobedience" and I was amazed at how timely his comments are about standing armies. I gained a little sense of relief that the current leaders were just as evil as the leaders of the past.
"Oh no you don't Mr President, you don't have the monopoly on evil" -James K. to George W.
The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure. - H.D. Thoreau
Time Machine: Now, if you substitute just one word in the above paragraph you will magically thrust Mr. Thoreau forward some 150 years. Now H.D., as he would like to be called, would probably write in a Blog. This is now a commonplace thing for eternal whiners to do. And he would have probably written the same above paragraph in his blog, except for one word. But what is that word? (Hint: Replace Mexico with a word that rhymes with MyBack.) The more things change . . . .
Thoreau: I started reading the first paragraph of "Civil Disobedience" and I was amazed at how timely his comments are about standing armies. I gained a little sense of relief that the current leaders were just as evil as the leaders of the past.
"Oh no you don't Mr President, you don't have the monopoly on evil" -James K. to George W.
The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure. - H.D. Thoreau
Time Machine: Now, if you substitute just one word in the above paragraph you will magically thrust Mr. Thoreau forward some 150 years. Now H.D., as he would like to be called, would probably write in a Blog. This is now a commonplace thing for eternal whiners to do. And he would have probably written the same above paragraph in his blog, except for one word. But what is that word? (Hint: Replace Mexico with a word that rhymes with MyBack.) The more things change . . . .
Organic Chinese Baby French Beans Through the Center of the Earth
Some time ago, my wife and I brought some freshly purchased frozen green beans to my in laws' house for dinner. They were purchased in the new "Wild Harvest" section at our local (read proximity only) Hannaford's grocery store. The bag had several wonderful pastoral images on it. Pictures of freshly harvested green beans were accompanied by a sunset silhouette of a farmer carrying a basket of produce. The logo, which said "Woodstock Farms", lead us to believe that these beans must have come from Vermont. Green beans from the green mountains perhaps? On another part of the bag was a peaceful affirmation:
Seasonality: Harvesting crops at the height of ripeness, bringing them straight to market and shortening the distance from the farm to you, preserves the flavor and freshness of each season. Eating food in season honors the rhythms of nature's cycles.
I turned over the package to read the nutritional facts and kill some time when the phrase, "Product of China", popped out at me. After realizing that they were not referring to the packaging I was dumbfounded (I could have said speechless, but I am seldom without speech.) "Shortening the distance from the farm to you" was a little bit of a stretch. You can't find a farm much farther from me than one in China. You can be sure that this summer we will be planting a few more rows of green beans for our freezer. Perhaps if I have some extra, I'll send them over to that organic farmer in China to say thanks.
One more thing, they were called Baby French Beans. If we still aren't getting along with the French I wonder if they should be renamed Baby Freedom Beans. And yes, the beans were rather tasty. Lesson learned.
Seasonality: Harvesting crops at the height of ripeness, bringing them straight to market and shortening the distance from the farm to you, preserves the flavor and freshness of each season. Eating food in season honors the rhythms of nature's cycles.
I turned over the package to read the nutritional facts and kill some time when the phrase, "Product of China", popped out at me. After realizing that they were not referring to the packaging I was dumbfounded (I could have said speechless, but I am seldom without speech.) "Shortening the distance from the farm to you" was a little bit of a stretch. You can't find a farm much farther from me than one in China. You can be sure that this summer we will be planting a few more rows of green beans for our freezer. Perhaps if I have some extra, I'll send them over to that organic farmer in China to say thanks.
One more thing, they were called Baby French Beans. If we still aren't getting along with the French I wonder if they should be renamed Baby Freedom Beans. And yes, the beans were rather tasty. Lesson learned.
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