"A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life." - Muhammad Ali

Pretty clever, huh? When the car's high enough, turn off the ignition. 

All done? Pull the plug and put it back in the bag. 

The fix on Pam's car took less than an hour, and much of that was spent figuring things out. Now we have to decide if we're selling or keeping it. According to Kelly Blue Book a used '05 xB in average condition (hers is at least that) with 100,000 miles should bring $7,500. That's more than half what we paid for it when we bought it new. It's been a great car for running around town (wouldn't want to take another cross country trip in it) and with gas prices as high as they are this may be near the tipping point for getting the maximum selling price out of it. Hmmm.

From time to time I get phone calls pitching a product, service, or seminar for our church. My favorite came this morning from a gal with a thick southern drawl.

"Yes, I'm calling to see if you got our brochure for the 'Maximize Manhood' event." 

Seriously? Somebody actually thought that was a good name for a Christian men's gathering?

I'm pretty disgusted. The dr. put me on an antibiotic this afternoon and told me I can't exercise for the two weeks I take it. He said one of the side effects of this drug is tendonitis and the risk of rupturing a tendon is too high for any exercise, including biking.

I've been working my butt off (literally), doing two-a-days for the last month, trying to recapture the level of fitness I had before all my heart troubles this summer. I'm finally there, both on the bike (a.m.) and at the gym (p.m.). Now, two weeks of nothing. 

The pharmacy called 30 minutes ago to say the Rx is ready for pickup. I'm going to do a killer ride tomorrow morning before that first pill. I may not be able to walk when I get off the bike but this ride has to hold me for two weeks. 

With the spare time I suddenly have I'm going to swap out the the Rambler's alternator. The original isn't dead but it's dying, as evidenced by a flickering idiot light and a new battery slowly losing its charge.

This car came equipped with a 35 amp alternator. I'm putting in an alternator from a mid-70's Chevelle that is almost a perfect fit (requires a special bracket I ordered online) and puts out 60 amps. That's an indication of how quickly cars evolved even during that period of time. Louise has a radio (AM only) and that's about it. Even the wipers don't use electricity; they're vacuum operated. By the 70's even modest cars could be ordered with electric windows and power seats. Now cars are rolling collections of electric devices to warm your buns, defrost your mirrors, provide a live video feed out your rear end, and, if you're driving a Cadillac, shake your booty if a car enters your personal space. 

Cars come with some seriously big alternators these days. 

When we lived in Michigan, our house on Porter, we'd get lots of kids on Halloween. One year I decided to respond to, "Trick or treat!" with, "OK, I'll take a trick."

Most of them looked at me with total confusion. Couldn't figure out what that meant. But my favorite was the boy who walked from the porch onto the front lawn and did somersaults. 

I gave him extra candy.