Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Packard Mail Truck, 1923 Washington DC, Shriners Convention, Postmaster Mooney
Hillsdale Oregon... what an eye catching roadside attraction!
1st day on the new job... great people, great pay, good commute, and it went well as first days go.
unlike the last time I had to onboard with HR, this one was cool. That last one lost her mind about dumping cig butts in the company parking lot.
I don't smoke.
But she was in hyper attack mode, no idea why
Anyway, new job hours, 630 to 3pm, so that's ok. Been for ever since I woke up that early to go to work, I kid you not, 2009 or so.
The job (and I wasn't really filled in on it, because in the interview, we only talked about my last jobs) is to be a tech lead. Well, I've been a tach for over 10 years, why the hell not.
I spent the morning in a meeting, and following along as the supervisor who was doing this job as lead, took and went through reports. Yup, the cure for insomnia, and I had no caffeine, because before you can do that, you have to learn what the new company allows at the work station, cups? Closed containers? With or without a straw? No drinks at all and only water? Yeah, that's bullshit, but that's General Atomics for worker bees, and NOT for ANYone with a desk job, just those with a work bench, the big majority. The people with permanent slump jobs can have open cans or bottles or coffee cups.
Anyway, back to this company, which pays regular pay if you get on jury duty. I like that, no wasting your PTO for unpaid Jury Duty. They have a couple other cool benefits, that I don't recall. Only 80 hours of PTO until you've been there 3 years, and that's not cool, the military was 30 days, and Raytheon was 120 hours (3 weeks). Those are "good" amounts. Less than that, you're getting mediocre benefits. I bet white collar types and especially the C suites, all get more than 80 hours to start.
It's close enough to an In and Out to get back in 28 minutes, so, that was lunch on day 1!
Monday, January 12, 2026
I imagine that there was a lot of opportunity at the time, when AAA was out there making road signs, and maps, for competition to do the same for some publicity, here the Touring Bureau of the B.F. Goodrich Company was getting the work done, just like Michelin, to get people to wear out their tires
B.F. Goodrich Tire Company starting around 1910 on the East coast, finishing in 1917 on the West Coast, to help motorists navigate early roads and use up the tires on their cars so they'd need to buy new ones (like Michelin already figured out), featuring branded signs at intersections and detailed Goodrich Route Books with maps and sign locations
The company placed a sign post every three miles along the main highway routes. Over 10,000 Goodrich Road signs were installed throughout the United States.
The earliest road signs were made from sheets of metal with dimples in them to create letters and numbers. Later versions were then coated with porcelain and painted bright colors to help them stand out and last longer.
Warning signs were typically round with a red background and white lettering for things such as railroad crossings. Signs giving directions were also circular but had a blue back-ground. Arrows would then point in the direction of a town with the town name and distance in miles printed on them. Lastly, all of these signs had the words Goodrich on top and Tires on the bottom to help promote the rubber tire maker.
a Ford parts salesman in 1937 stopping into a service station, that sold Ford gasoline. I didn't even know Ford was part of a gasoline business
A parts salesman for Parkinson-Neal Motor Co., a Ford dealership in Enid, Okla., makes a sales visit to a gas station and repair facility in that state. The traveling store would visit rural repair shops to restock Ford parts needed for repairs. It is unclear whether the gas station and garage were part of Ford's "Super Service Stations" that serviced vehicles and sold gasoline, parts, accessories and new Ford cars. The Parson's Super Station does appear to sell Ford's Benzol gasoline.
quite an advertising campaign, lined up on the waterfront in Melbourne, Australia. These rolled through Stockholm, Sydney, London and more, turning sidewalks into showrooms.
Axel Wenner-Gren was not an inventor, but he had an inventive mind that could see the possibilities of others’ inventions. Born in 1881 in Sweden to a family made wealthy by exporting lumber, he spent five years working for his uncle’s spice-importing company in Gothenburg. In those hours after school, he picked up English, French, and German and then moved to Germany, where he enrolled in business school, from which he graduated early.
In one version of the story, Wenner-Gren successfully convinced Lux to buy a patent for a home vacuum cleaner, agreeing that in lieu of cash, he would get stock in Lux based on how well the vacuum cleaners sold, eventually owning enough stock that he controlled the company.
in 1919 that a licensing agreement between Elektron and Lux gave Elektron the sole rights to sell Lux vacuum cleaners
by the 1930s Wenner-Gren was one of the wealthiest men in the world. While his name isn’t familiar to us today, his efforts to obtain the vacuum-cleaner contract for the Vatican may have spawned the Hollywood trope of door-to-door salesmen who demonstrated vacuum cleaners.
Supplying the Holy See with vacuums would not only be a valuable contract, it would undoubtedly be a promotional coup for any appliance maker. Five companies each made a pitch, and each were given a piece of soiled carpeting to clean using their respective machines. Wenner-Gren waited until the other four were done with their demonstrations, and then went over their pieces of carpet with an Electrolux vacuum cleaner. When he opened the dustbag, showing how his machine picked up dirt the other cleaners left behind, the contract was his.
Wenner-Gren commissioned a body shaped like an Electrolux vacuum cleaner to be mounted on an automobile chassis. The reaction was so positive that the company commissioned an entire fleet of Citroën-based Electrolux cars and BSA motorcycles with Electrolux-shaped sidecars to promote the brand in Stockholm, Berlin, and London.
Electrolux contracted with coachbuilders Karosseriwerke Drauz in Heilbronn, Germany, and another firm in Denmark to do the fabrication.
Harold Brown owned a Texaco station in New Smyrna Beach and advertised it from there to Alaska.
built the structure for the back of the truck so they would have a place to sleep on an extended trip to Alaska.
Harold Browns daughter used the structure as her playhouse after they returned from Alaska.
I bet they wish they'd installed some rail adapters instead of testing the cars suspension for miles. Notice that the left front fender is removed, that must have been done to make it easier to steer on the Florida East Coast Overseas Railroad.
Because of his failing health, the job of bringing the train to Key West was rushed. Shortcuts were taken to hasten the project and ensure that Flagler saw his dream come to fruition. The railroad engineers were successful, and when Mr. Flagler’s railcar arrived in Key West, it did mark the beginning of daily railroad service operating between railroad depots at Miami and Key West. One of the lesser-reported stories about the railroad is that it was not officially completed until 1916.
Henry Flagler died on May 20, 1912. He never rode down to Key West aboard his private railcar on the completed Over-Sea Railroad project.
It was decimated by the Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and the railroad was already in a poor state financially so they were unable to rebuild it. The state of Florida bought what was left of it and turned it into the original Overseas Highway.
Here's a strange thing... a heated steering wheel, that's quite poorly designed, or failing catastrophically
A 2024 Tundra owner’s thermal imaging revealed a staggering temperature disparity, with the top of the steering wheel hitting a toasty 114°F while the inner underside sat at a bone-chilling 35°F.
The beloved Rosie’s Diner, once in Little Ferry, New Jersey, and home of the famous Bounty paper-towel commercials with Nancy “Rosie” Walker, is on the move again.
So... Monday... do not think you can mess with Monday and get away with it. In fact, I recommend staying home in bed instead of going out
I went out to get a haircut, as my new job starts tomorrow... 630 am
Seemed the sensible thing to do, but then, when I got out of my car at the barber, I smelled antifreeze. I popped the hood on the commuter, and saw some steam... and that's when I suddenly went from poor to broke.
We are all just a moment away from it, some have homes by rivers, and poof, one hurricane, one flood, and it's all gone. some have trailers, and one tornado rips through and it's gone. Or a house in California, a million dollars worth, but one wildfire. Gone.
So, I got off lightly compared to so many. All I lost is the remaining space on my credit card. One radiator is 800 bucks, that's what it cost to replace the one in my 69 Dodge, that's what Hyundai charges too... ironically, for one 1/3rd the size. 2 hoses, the upper and lower, and a new radiator, and it's more for the labor at the dealership than the parts.
It's 2 or 300 just to troubleshoot and determine exactly what is broken or leaking, and since I am guessing that the upper tank cracked from the cooling fins, but regardless I am determined to prevent a colling system problem from happening in the next 5 or 6 years for trouble free use of my commuter. So, I told my old pal, who's been my service adviser through the replacement of the Turbo, under warranty, and the engine, and the trans, all under warranty, that after the testing, and figuring out the problem, I require that the radiator and upper and lower hoses get replaced in addition to another part if that happens to be the case.
Plus 50 a day for the rental car
And the estimate, on the parts and labor for just the radiator, and the analysis of what IS the problem, is 2400. That's the start, then they add whatever else has broken, or is highly likely to break in the near future. I suppose I really should insist on a new water pump, as long as everything is going to be torn apart. I bet labor just to replace the water pump is a 1000. If that were to happen at a different time, that is.
So there it is, my 10 year old, 103000 mile Veloster, blew a hole in the cooling system the day before I start my new job. A month ago, I could have replaced that damn thing myself, saved all the money from labor, but now? What, after work, after the engine and coolant chills down to where it's less than scalding, and as long as nothing goes wrong, have it all back together in time to get some sleep? Not likely.
Sunday, January 11, 2026
A trio of National race cars built in Des Moines, Iowa in 1932 which used a Briggs & Stratton 1 cyl. type Y motor, used as a attraction in department stores as a give-a -way to bring customers in, and at State fairs. There were 20 built
Steel bodied with a 4 cycle gas motor that got 60 miles to the gallon, and a top speed of 8 mph. Built by National Sales & Mfg. CO, of Des Moines, Iowa
There's a bunch of spare tires under the deck. That's quite the home made truck bed
the famous aviator Roscoe Turner, with the 3 most famous trophies in aviation, that he earned and gathered together for the 1st time, the Thompson, the Harmon, and the Bendix Trophy
If why he's famous escapes you, from the rare times I've posted him (not very often he shows up in pop culture, that's for sure) it's possible you recall him always being photographed with Gilmore airplanes and his adorable pet lion cub
there once was a time 100 years ago, when billboards were built to be appealing so we'd look at the advertisement between the pillars
a Bugatti mini 2 seater with an aluminum body and 4 cylinder, in 1927/28
This is a photo by Jacques-Henri Lartigue, of a rally check point in 1927
Bugatti Type 37 Coach 2 door « La Cage à Mouche » by Million Guiet, cabriolet 1927 (cn 37125) with 1460-W1 (F), #189 Concours d’Elegance Femina au Bois de Boulogne, Paris (fr), June 1927 with Odette Renou
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