"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left." - Oscar Levant

Blogger went down for almost 24 hours. I wanted to post last night - really I did - but couldn't. So this absence doesn't count, right?

Since we last talked I've worked on Ilsa, and ran into my first real snag. The driver's side wind wing (for those of you too young to know that term, it's the small triangular window in front of the main window) is held in place by four screws hidden under rubber weather stripping. One of them came out. Because moisture got trapped under that weather stripping those screws rusted beyond anything PB Blaster could eat through. On two of the other phillips screws the head just twisted right off. On the last the screw actually came part way out before the grooves in the head rounded out.

I went to NAPA and got a new drill bit, a tap and new screws. The plan is to drill out the old screws, tap new, slightly larger threads and use the new, larger screws when re-assembly time comes. Unfortunately, the drill bit is too long to fit in that triangular section of the door frame. So tonight I'll go out and get a shorter bit and be read to proceed in the morning.

In the meantime I have everything else on that side of the car removed. All the chrome trim strips, the weather stripping on the door, the glass, the front and rear turn signals and the door hardware. I've also removed the interior panels and trim on that side. I'll just keep working my way around the car until everything is off inside and out, and it's ready to send to paint.

Dennis Rodman turned 50 today. He looks 80. I heard that to celebrate his b'day he went for another tattoo but they couldn't find a spot on his body for anything bigger than a nickel.
Janet Jackson turned 45 today.
I'm old.

The European Union seemed like a threat to the U.S. economic future when it formed and established the Euro, a Union-wide currency. They became a huge power bloc. Now the question is whether they'll make it to the end of the year. Greece is near default for the second time in two years and the Union has no choice but to bail them out. Germany, the only really solid economy of the lot, isn't thrilled about continued calls to bail out messed up economies, with Spain waiting in the wings.

That wasn't a basketball game, it was a 5 on 5 brawl.

Remember when pro teams and their respective cities were automatically associated with one another even in the minds of people who didn't follow the sport? The Browns went with Cleveland. The Supersonics and Seattle. Now? I'm totally confused. And the team name often seems unrelated to the city.
Memphis Grizzlies? There aren't any Grizzlies in Memphis. Have there ever been?
I head the Sharks are advancing in the NHL playoffs, which will finish sometime in August. I have no idea where the Sharks come from.
Quick! Where do the Lightning play? Hint: it's not where the Thunder play. Can you name the sport for each? I couldn't re. the Lightning if I hadn't looked it up. And I only know the Thunder because they used to be the Seattle Sonics (they dropped the Super part because they were anything but).

I always get worked up about my sermons. As the week progresses I get more and more eager to preach. That's part of the problem with the 24 hours afterward. Expectation always exceeds realization, the verbal delivery never comes close to the mental delivery that preceded it. But this week's message has been on my mind for several weeks. Which is to say I'm especially dialed into this one.
We'll see.