"To err is human; to forgive, infrequent." - Franklin P. Adams

I feel mostly recovered from my all-night drive across CA and AZ. As soon as the sun was up this morning I went out to wash the trailer and get it ready for storage. I didn't realize how filthy it had become over 3,781 miles of travel (the official tally). The weird thing was the black stuff. On the left side there were a few little spots, flecks of a black, almost tar-like substance. When I got around to the right side I realized there were lots of them. Water didn't take them off and Windex didn't either. I hesitated, but eventually tried paint thinner and that worked quickly and completely. That led to the discovery that even where there weren't those flecks, the right side had the same stuff as a thin layer of black film. It covered the whole right side. Huh?
My working theory is that semi's are the culprit. I'm a firm believer in "Keep right except to pass," so semi's would have been almost exclusively to my right as I pulled around them. A couple of times I had one to my left if there were three lanes and a semi was in the middle with me to his right (probably desperately looking for the next exit and a bathroom). It must be a petroleum product, either an exhaust byproduct and/or engine oil leaking out of seals and getting atomized in the wind. Hence paint thinner worked.
Unless you have another theory.

 
Here in Phoenix the problem is UV rays and heat, the former especially damaging even to a wood surface with eight layers of spar varnish that includes UV protection. So Pam bought remnants of awning fabric and stitched up a cover for Thelma. It doesn't have to be pretty - it just sits in an RV storage yard out of site from almost everyone - but it has to stand up to the intense sunlight and heat. The plastic tarp didn't, but awning fabric should, at least for a few years. She said sewing something that big even on her other, heavy duty sewing machine was a wrestling match so it better last at least that long. But with her skills and judicious shopping she figures we've got $90 in the thing, WAY cheaper than having one made out of official blue fabric.
I'm going to put a layer of plastic left over from the lily pond between the trailer and her cover over where the top vent and the doors are to add a layer of protection from the two or three times a year it rains.

About an hour after leaving Bruce and Debby's I hit a stretch of 101 that was reduced from two southbound lanes to one because of construction. We had plenty of notice and traffic already had things slowed well below the speed limit. I got over into the right lane as soon as there was an opening.
There are always some who rush right up to the choke point and then dive in. Their selfishness and refusal to play well with others BUGS me, so as we neared that spot I hugged the rear bumper of the guy in front of me. At 5 mph it was easy to do. Sure enough, here comes a young guy in a Honda who has decided I'm his preferred target.
Sorry, dude. I'm not going to reward your bad manners.
After several feints which I steadfastly resisted he came in earnest. It was clearly a game of chicken, and at the point when he was so close that I could no longer see his front fender I decided that a) the principle wasn't worth the damage to my car, and b) it also wasn't worth the horrendous delay a collision would inflict on everyone behind me.
No sooner had I stabbed on the brakes and he'd pulled in front of me than I saw another car to my left. This one caught my attention because it was black and white with very bright red and blue lights flashing on the roof.
I immediately slowed again to let him in, and before we'd gone another 100' he had the guy pulled over onto the right shoulder. JUSTICE!!
What do you suppose that fit of selfishness cost him?

Monday, after Bruce put his plane back in the hangar, we went over to a nearby hangar where a fellow pilot who must have been about 70 years old was working on a project out in front of the large  hangar door - a vintage Boles Aero very much like this one. Bruce told him I'd just built a teardrop and that got the conversation rolling. He gave us a look inside his near pristine trailer (early-50's if I remember correctly). But then the real fun began. Inside the hangar was a large car hidden by a tan cover. When Bruce told him I was a car guy he took us over, pulled back the cover, and showed us a very rare pre-war Cadillac. He rattled off the year and model, but for the life of me I can't remember either. It was a two door with the extended trunk and the BIGGEST chrome headlights (prob. nickel plated) you've ever seen. A cracked rear window was the only flaw I could see. Then we went to his other hanger next door where he uncovered another three cars. Two were equally rare pre-war luxury cars owned by a friend. The third was a '68 Camaro with the largest engine available that year, again in perfect condition. (He likes muscle cars.) In each case he said, "This is one of only ___ made" and the second number was ridiculously low.
I don't remember his name. I was struggling to maintain consciousness and take in the beauty of those cars. But I can tell you he was friendly, open, and willing to stop his work and spend time showing cars to a guy he'd never met. When I told him I was doing a nut and bolt on a '62 VW he smiled. Way below his level of involvement in the car hobby. But he quickly commented that the fun was in the process without regard for the value of the vehicle.

You know what I thought as Bruce and I were heading back to the house? I told Bruce this is one more reason that I get angry at President Obama's vilification of the wealthy. I assume this guy made his money honestly. He was friendly, open, and had no detectable snobbery despite our involvement at opposite ends of the automotive spectrum. Whether or not the President would own up to it he has to realize his comments create an "us vs. them" attitude along economic lines. So a few hours after getting a tour of some very high value cars from a man who stopped what he was doing for someone he'd never met and will never see again I had an encounter with a punk in a Honda whose selfishness got him signed up for the program with John Law.
Yeah, that's my take on it all.




I promised some pictures of Bruce & Debby's wonderful place. Here are just a few of only the outside, and only the back. They have an acre and it's filled with trails that lead to wonderfully quiet spots taylor made for conversation or a good read. And chickens!