"Fortune knocks but once, but misfortune has much more patience." - Laurence J. Peter

Lee Iacocca died yesterday at 94. Henry Ford, Harley Earl, and Lee Iacocca are the trinity of car designers, builders, and marketers. Iacocca gave Ford (us) (me) the Mustang and Chrysler and America the minivan. He was a master marketer - "If you can find a better car, buy it!" and knew what American wanted even when we didn't. Ford made arguably their biggest mistake in the company's history when they fired him. He walked down the street to Chrysler where they were more than happy to give him a job. And he earned ever cent they paid him.
Fascinating man, fascinating story.

Bob & Marla attended the church I pastored in Prunedale, CA for six years from 1976 to 1983. Bob was 1/3 of our running group and we trained and raced for the better part of six years, usually pounding the pavement six days a week. We did more 10k's together than I could count, Bob always coming in well ahead of Don and me. Don died several years ago and is with the Lord. Great guy. Bob & Marla now live over in the Sacramento valley, he retired as a captain with the CHP, and they now travel all over the world together. Yesterday they were in Florence, OR an hour due west of us. So we drove over to the coast to meet them at Mo's for a seafood dinner.
We sat there for four house of chatting and laughing and if you told me it was 45 minutes I wouldn't argue with you.
Some people stay in your head. Others stay in your heart.
Oh, and 40+ years later I think I could finally beat Bob in a race of almost any length. But he has bad knees. I'm just old.
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OK, I'm back. Life is crazy here with extra work, vehicle, and social business. People from church come out to see adorable baby goats. We love having them and enjoy watching children Oooh and Ahhh. This week we plotted the schedule for the Adult Ed classes I'll teach and coordinating them with the lady's Bible study series and youth ministries. Now I need to write up a brief description of each of the six courses so they can prepare the various promotional pieces. My departure for Brazil is a 33 days away and I still have lots of work to do. Michelle needs all my slides and handouts so she can translate it all into Portuguese.

Two people live in MoHo and there are four vehicles parked here. One of them is in pieces while it gets a repaint. That's going well when it's going, but other vehicles demand more immediate attention that keep me from making consistent progress on Sally.
The truck we bought six weeks ago has doubled in price if you add in what I've spent on reparis since owning it, and another, potentially more serious issue has popped up. I'm ready to take a loss just to get rid of it but until I sort this latest problem nobody will offer me more than scrap value for it.
Pam's Blazer keeps plugging along, and I should be grateful for a 21-year old vehicle that runs and drives. The dozen of things that don't work are irritating but not terminal or issues that prevent us from getting from Point A to Point B.

As soon as he saw I bought the 2000 Dodge truck David says, "I wish I'd known you were looking for a truck. I have one that's been sitting in my barn for three years, and it's a much better truck."
The plan was to sell the Dodge before buying David's, but with this new issue and our need for two reliable vehicles we stepped out financially to make the transaction. David sold it to me for far below market price. I told him I'd only accept his gracious generosity if he did nothing to it beyond backing it out of the barn, so now I'm cleaning it up. Leave a farm truck in a barn for three years and watch what happens. Dust from the hay field next to the barn gets e v e r y w h e r e. And barn mice find the perfect spot to set up their happy home.
I'm currently trying to get the heater/AC blower out because it was one of those homes. It's so full of mouse bedding that the fan won't blow, which is probably a good thing because that would only blow around the horrible mouse urine smell even more. Chevy apparently didn't think that blower motor should come out easily so they buried it behind the truck's central computer unit which is behind the glove box. Then they held it in place with six 7mm bolts (tiny) and put one of them in a location that requires a special fitting to reach. Which I don't have. And am hoping to find today. Because with that computer unit out the truck can't be driven no matter how much we need a second vehicle.

Oh yeah. For those who are interested, it's a '92 Chevy 3/4 ton heavy duty, 4WD, extended cab long bed that is in terrific condition apart from three years worth of barn dirt, dust, and rodents.

So here we are on July Fourth. Pam has to make a Joanne's run to get some fabric for a project she's undertaken for her mom. She'll drop me at the donut shop so I can work while she does that (think: cinnamon roll!), then we'll go get that tool, and get home so I can put the "new" truck back together. If that goes OK I may do the welding I've planned on Sally's fender so I can get it prepped, painted, and back on the car.

There's more, but I need to shower, get dressed in real clothes, and be ready to leave in about 90 minutes. If there's time before we go I'll continue vacuuming out the Chevy's interior.