If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could only save one of them, would you go to lunch or read the paper?

Q: What to do on a Saturday afternoon when it's 98 degrees and you have an hour or so of free time?
A: Go to the local Nash/ Rambler/AMC car show, the Cactus Classic.



I get lots of blank stares when I tell people under the age of 40 that we got a Rambler. They think we bought another house. Nope. Nash Motors made cars until 1954, and then were bought by American Motors Corp. (AMC) that made cars under the Rambler name. In 1966 they began phasing out the Rambler name and manufactured cars under the AMC name, making models like the Gremlin, the Marlin, the AMX, and later the Eagle, the Pacer, and some others that disappeared from the American scene. Roy Abernathy took over the helm in 1965 when George Romney decided to run (successfully) for governor of MI. That began the slide.


Abernathy decided to abandon the kinds of cars that made Rambler a very successful brand - small, economical sedans that got good mileage but also had all the comforts of much more expensive cars - and move to edgy vehicles and muscle cars. Those later AMC cars get most of the attention these days. The Ramblers just aren't interesting. So this car show in a church parking lot in north Phoenix was mostly AMC cars.

For me the benefit was talking to Doug Galvin, the owner of the SoCal business Galvin AMC. He and his son are the source for parts... and knowledge. That's where I got the new radiator and 6-blade fan. I had no idea he'd have a booth there, but I sure took advantage of his expertise. Good guy, and I learned a ton about my AC system, the alternator options, and getting a mirror for the passenger side. Well worth the drive over there.

I'm feeling generally recovered from the jet lag and looking forward to tomorrow.

I'm doing battle with United Airlines. They gave Pam $400 in vouchers for getting bumped from a flight last fall. Those vouchers can only be redeemed by booking a flight over the phone with them directly. They can't be used with an internet booking. So is it really fair for them to charge us their $25 fee for booking through an agent on the phone? I think not!

I'm waving the white flag with the IRS. Whatever it is they say I should have done re. the now defunct Capital Property Maintenance I will gladly do and suffer whatever consequences they deem appropriate. I know when I'm up against superior force and the IRS easily fits that category.

I'm hoping Pat has the fenders ready for pickup tomorrow afternoon. That will complete the body portion of the VW project.

We'll be attending the taco party next door this evening but only briefly. I want to get to bed early and be fresh for tomorrow. And it's going to be HOT on their back patio.