SNL

Just a great pic.

Former WalMart Employee
I went to the Super Target 4 miles north of our house looking for a seat cover for Stealth Reliabity. Given my great aversion to shopping it will surprise no one that I've never been in a Super Target before, never mind that one.
After walking through most of the store I stopped to ask an employee in the electronics department: "Do you sell automotive stuff?"
Response: "Yes, it's in the automotive department."
I just stared at him. He eventually told me where that department is.

History Being Made?
I watched the Preakness today, the second leg in horse racing's Triple Crown. Big Brown won the first of the three, the Kentucky Derby, two weeks ago, going away. (That was the race at which the second place horse broke both ankles and was put down.) Today Big Brown was so far out in front coming off the last turn that the jockey eased up and he coasted to the win. Three weeks from today is the last in the series, the Belmont Stakes.
This horse has only run in 6 races in his entire career, including today, and has won all six by ridiculous margins. Assuming he wins Belmont, and unless something goes very wrong that's as close to a sure thing as you get in horse racing, he'll retire to stud. He'll be way too valuable for that to risk an injury in another race.
Even if you don't follow horse racing you should plan on watching the Belmont. It should be a spectacle!

Bucket List
I don't really have one. I have stuff I would like to do, but if I get a terminal diagnosis Monday I won't feel cheated because I didn't get a chance to _____. That said, since I was in High School I've wanted to build a car. My dream is to build a Factory Five Mk3 roadster. But the $$$ involved are probably forever beyond reach. Besides, Wayne gave me a really excellent die cast model of a Cobra that sits on my desk. Quality model!
So I've been thinking. Over the years we've had a '67 Beetle, a '61 Ghia and a '72 VW bus. We loved all three.
VW engines are about as straightforward as they come. Four cylinder pancake, air cooled, basic carb...nothing trick. And one person can pick one up. OK, maybe not an old person, but you get the idea.
So I did some poking around on the internet this afternoon at what's involved in rebuilding a VW 1600 cc engine. Looks doable. Plenty of kits out there at reasonable cost, and several books with good reviews for guiding one through the process. So what if I found a used engine and rebuilt it in the garage? Then I would find a used body - probably a Beetle or a Ghia - restore it and drop the rebuilt engine in. You can buy virtually any and every part of a Beetle, from door seals to gas pedals, factory reproduction, at any one of several suppliers, incl. J.C. Whitney.
So I figure 2 years +/- for the whole project. More if it takes it; so what? But when I'm done I will have built a car, a head turner at that, for relatively little money. It will get great mileage and be fun to drive. After 60,000 miles (the lifespan of a VW engine), take it out and rebuild it again. I read one guy who said it took him about 20 hours to do the second time around.

If you'd like to donate to the Rebuild a VW Fund, contact me ASAP.
Or maybe you should wait until Pam gets home and I talk to her about my idea. It could be that she won't think it's such a good one.

As Ready As I'll Get
Tomorrow is G-Day. I hit another bucket of balls this afternoon, which was probably a waste of $4, since everything I know and think I know about swinging a golf club will vanish when I step up to the ball at the first tee.
I used to tell my anxiety-ridden first semester homiletics students that when the time came for them to preach their first sermon in class they shouldn't hold themselves to unrealistic standards. "If you get through the experience without wetting your pants you should consider it a success." I think I'll be reminding myself of that counsel tomorrow, about 1:00 p.m.
Politicians talk about lowering expectations heading into a key primary. That's not a realistic option in this situation since they can't drop any further.
BTW, if you're interested, you can get a great aerial view of the course on Google Earth. Just south of Camelback Rd. and just west of Dysart in Litchfield Park, which is north of the I-10 in Goodyear AZ. Zoom in; I'm the guy staring in disgust at the lake off of number 6.
If there's no post tomorrow evening you'll know why.

White Flag
I turned on the AC this afternoon. When the inside temp gets north of 82 it's time. We're on a plan with the utility co. that includes weekend rates at 50% of normal, so we are more inclined to splurge on the weekends.

Wise Guys
Tomorrow we'll look at James1:5-8, on wisdom. The Greek word is sophos, but James uses it in its Hebrew sense (hakmah). Huge difference between the two concepts. It's the difference between Socrates and Solomon.
I'm praying I'll do justice to the text. It's powerful stuff.