"Why waste time learning when ignorance is instantaneous?" - Bill Watterson

If I lived in a place with downspouts I think I'd need one of these.

Preachers are not big fans of 3-day weekends. In my head I'm happy that families get the opportunity for a trip out of town to break the routine. But when I stand up to preach on a Sunday morning....

Because I'll get the engine back the end of this week or early next I'm working on a shopping list of the bits and pieces I'll need to finish assembly - gaskets, hoses, fittings, factory reproduction decals, etc. I also need a few larger items like a new exhaust manifold (I'm converting to dual exhaust), an alternator (upgrading from a generator), and an air cleaner.

The air cleaner is turning out to be the tricky one. Up until the early 60's when car makers switched to paper filter elements they used an "oil bath" filter. Think of a Bundt pan with a loose fitting lid over the top. The air comes in under the lid, is forced down over the top of the oil, then up and down the center hole into the carb. As the air passes over the top of the oil any particles are snagged and held there. Every few thousand miles you change the oil in the Bundt pan, rinse and refill, and be on your way.

For some reason finding an oil bath filter off a '59 Chevy truck doesn't happen easily or cheaply. I can't see paying $70 on eBay, so I'll keep hunting the old Chevy forums.

I'm going to break one of my own rules here and write about a family at Pathway. I don't do that except in very general terms and without names to preserve the privacy of those fine people who never signed up to be blog fodder. But in this case I think you'll understand.

John McCure is a cop and Nichole is a stay-at-home mom for their four kids, all adopted. Aaron is 12, Evan is  9, and the twins Macy & Brynn are 7 (I think). Evan has autism, but has made huge progress since they brought him home as an infant. The dad in me says at least part of that progress is because of the great therapy he got from a certain pediatric OT, but John & Nichole are incredibly patient and wise parents.

In a group of remarkable kids at Pathway, Evan is a favorite. You gotta love a kid who says what's on his mind the instant it pops into his head. No filters, just Evan. And that kid is crazy smart, especially with math. He's already skipped a grade.

But being Evan is a tough job, and sometimes it overwhelms him. Kids at that age can be brutal, making fun of what they don't understand. And a peer without impulse control, who sometimes has meltdowns when things don't go well, gets ridiculed or worse. That starts a downward spiral that Evan can't stop and that breaks his parents' heart.

On the ride home from school after a particularly rough day, hearing about Evan's hurt at the treatment he'd received from classmates, Nichole decided it was time to turn the car around and go talk to his teacher. During that conversation she saw that Evan was holding a stick covered with red ants crawling back and forth.
"Evan, you'd better put that down or those ants are going to bite you."
"No, these ants are my friends. They don't make fun of me; they just like me 'cause I'm me."
[Evan, I like you!]
That led Nichole to go home and Google autism and animals. And it turns out there are several significant studies on the effectiveness of therapy dogs for children with autism. And, there's a group here in Phoenix focused on that particular use of therapy dogs.

[I tell people I believe in coincidences if you spell it with an upper case C. That applies to sticks with ants on them.]

But enough of my description. Go watch the brief story the local NBC affiliate did on Evan:
http://www.azcentral.com/videos/news/local/phoenix/2014/08/31/14895821/

And then, if that touches your heart like it does mine, go here:
http://servicedogforevan.com/
You'll read John & Nichole's description of Evan, his struggles, and how we can help.