Friday, September 27, 2019

Car on the trestle, Fraser Canyon, British Columbia. The lettering on the back of the car reads, “Winnipeg to Victorian via Canadian Highway.”

the Third Avenue El near John Street, circa 1948.

Tom Hanks still gets a kick out of taking photos with Fiats

Autech ( Nissan subsidiary ) Stelvio, they only made 104 of them (must have lost a fortune) Zagato bodied, with functional, driver-facing mirrors inside the front fender flares, and a NACA duct for exhausting hot brake air

Huh! Well, this is different, I've never seen a 6 pack hood painted white before... nice contrast to the plum crazy purple!


sadly the available photos with this article don't have some that look really good, from a normal 3/4 view, standing on the ground. The above from the top of a ladder is ok, I guess... and the below is simply too low.


https://moparconnectionmagazine.com/plum-perfection-ed-hollands-1969-dodge-super-bee/



https://www.facebook.com/ed.holland.3576

9 working days with the union on strike has cost GM about a half a billion in profit. The result of this strike will be a 4 year contract, by the way


I hope the union carries on and gets all they can, it's not likely that they'll have another full force strike again in our lifetimes.

So, they better reach some arrangement that doesn't just bandaid over their complaints.

https://www.powernationtv.com/post/so-far-gm-has-lost-over-half-a-billion-dollars-over-the-strike

GM made an initial proposal to the union on Sept. 14 that included $7 billion in investment in eight U.S. plants and more than 5,400 additional jobs, most of which would be new hires. The automaker also offered 2% pay increases in two of the four years and a similar lump-sum payment in the other two -- smaller raises and payouts than what union members received in the expired contract. The company said it would keep health plans intact.

The union balked because GM’s proposal fell short in key areas. The raises were too small, and the offer didn’t include terms that its negotiators liked on use of temporary workers and the length of time it takes for shorter-tenured members to get to top-scale pay. Also, GM’s offer to invest in a union-represented battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio, came with a catch that wages would be paid much less than senior assembly workers.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-25/gm-s-profit-lost-to-strike-tops-500-million-credit-suisse-says

Something I heard on the radio that easily balances the scales versus the average hourly wage of the blue collar workers, is the ridiculous paycheck the CEO and boardmembers make.

The CEO, makes 22 million fucking dollars a year. I'm guessing if the CEO made 1 million a year, and the other 21 million were reinvested in the company, to some relevant use, that CEO would still do just as good of a job. I've never understood why CEOs have to one up each other until their asking salary is more than the GDP of some states, countries, or regions of our planet.

The Board of Directors of GM https://www.gm.com/our-company/leadership/board-of-directors.html
isn't as easy to get info on how much GM pays them.
For example Wesley Bush, a boardmember of GM, is also CEO and Chairman of Northrup Grumman, where he makes 24 million a year
Linda Gooden is the boardmember of Univ of Maryland, and Home Depot, and retired from Lockheed Martin as exec VP
and Joseph Jimenez, CEO, Novartis
and Jane L. Mendillo retired President and CEO of Harvard Management Company

the next 4 highest paid members get a combined 22 million https://investor.gm.com/static-files/312bb301-09c1-4b9f-b350-e4ca82fbdec2  page 42

So, though it's not simple to find what the boardmembers get paid to run GM, it's easy to see they have a variety of experience running other corporations


https://investor.gm.com/static-files/312bb301-09c1-4b9f-b350-e4ca82fbdec2
https://www.gm.com/our-company/leadership/board-of-directors.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-09-21/in-strike-at-gm-old-grievances-get-retooled-for-a-new-era

gonna fix them up someday

if a pilot landed on the wrong carrier, there was plenty of good natured hazing to assist the pilot in never living it down... "Girl Scout Troop 405" is my favorite, made from the 405 on the nose that either identified the squadron, or the plane



finding fun and humorous ways to let off steam at sea is a Navy thing, if you don't get it, that's fine. You probably did something else after high school




http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?13118

unless that is white cedar... or something else that's all air, and no mass, that truck has a very short life expectancy

The first indication that the paint shop needed random drug tests

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Watkins Glen Grand Prix Fest 2019

C5 heavy, needing every inch of the runway to lug itself into the air... or, how to sweep all the dust off every foot of runway you've got

Family history kept this old motorcycle (1915 Eagle) from being thrown away, and it was finally "conserved" not restored, to make it far easier to live with and look at, by the great grandson of the guy who got to enjoy it first


some tlc and tires go a LONG way to making it terrific to have around.


This is a neat feature under the gas tank. This little cup is for bleeding off a little gas to prime your engine or clean your tools


The great grand parents even kept a journal on their 1915 trip, a 10 week ordeal, from Massachusetts to San Fransisco


they did about 90 miles a day



the towns they mention on the western leg of trip are marked, they tried the Lincoln Highway to go see the Worlds Fair


the trip back even had a visit to Pike's Peak.

https://www.facebook.com/aepalmer
https://www.facebook.com/groups/654324954604252/permalink/2467683709935025

Keanu discusses his motorcycle collection for GQ magazine for the 1st half of the video, and then, of course, he switches to trying to sell his companies motorcycle. But, you saw that coming of course

A corduroy road / wash board road



Is a type of road or timber trackway made by placing logs, perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area. The result is an improvement over impassable mud or dirt roads, yet rough in the best of conditions

Think it's named that because of a cord of wood?

From 1910 to 1913, there was a 3 mile long piece of corduroy log road to get into Glacier Natl Park from the rail road depot.


While digging up a street in Michigan’s Grand Haven Township, a team of construction workers recently unearthed 100 feet of a corduroy road that dates to the Civil War era under 168th Ave. The road was built in approximately 1855, when the area was a logging town.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/corduroy-road-civil-war-era-found-michigan-180964229/
https://www.facebook.com/GHTownship/posts/1464847620220106

Another was found (Halfway between Buffalo NY and Detroit) in Waterloo, Ontario, under King St, in about 1800


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-corduroy-road-site-attracts-tourists-1.3545442

today is the 50th anniversary of a rock album named for a road, but which made a crosswalk famous. Abbey Road, a rock n roll masterpiece.


It was on August 8, 1969, that photographer Iain Macmillan scaled a step ladder to get the right angle, and  snapped the photo that would change Abbey Road’s future forever.

The following month they would release an album named after the northwest London street where it had been recorded, and that album’s iconic cover would seal the street’s fate.

Abbey Road, the Beatles’ final album, is their strongest and the best summation of the foursome’s best qualities.

By the way, that guy above Lennon's shoulder was made famous by this photo too!


Read  https://www.thedailybeast.com/abbey-road-at-50-inside-the-beatles-glorious-farewell  for a comprehensive analysis of the bandmates, and who was essential for which songs, and what caused the break up (Lennon's heroin use with Yoko, of course) it's fascinating.

I was born long after they they broke up, so, in time to enjoy all of their work, movies, and individual work (Ringo's music was so 70s (No No Song), and so was Wings, and Imagine, and George's triple album All Things Must Pass)

The world has been a better place because of the Beatles making music

https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/08/the-beatles-abbey-road-album-cover-photo-london-crosswalk/595726/

he got his kid a Corvette bed and that was real cool, until the kid turned 5 and saw a bunk bed.... and wanted a 4 post climb up into type bed... so the kids dad was inspired, and came up with a 4 post garage lift FOR that Corvette bed! Genius!

a PZL TS-11 Iskra hidden away in the middle of the Polish country side, probably crash landed there and not worth the effort to remove

Google street view of Loch Ness shows that the Stig is out there

nothing to see here, what're you staring at? That's just a truck bed, most trucks have them

she's a good catch, but he's pretty fast. She'll have to be really good to catch UP to him, as he's got a good truck and a nice headstart

In a move aimed at reducing air pollution, the Governor of California signed a law that will require 18-wheel tractor trailers to pass a regular smog check.

On Friday, Newsom signed Senate Bill 210, which requires the California Air Resources Board to set up a pilot program over the next two years and after that put rules in place for truck smog checks.

The new law applies to trucks that weigh more than 14,000 pounds. That includes delivery trucks, dump trucks,18-wheel tractor trailers, tanker trucks, farm trucks and others. The law does not include buses.

And under landmark rules finalized several years ago, the board required that by 2023, only trucks that are model 2010 or newer can be driven on California roads. That rule was required because older trucks pollute far more than newer trucks, but it was fought vociferously by the trucking industry.

Nothing in the news article mentions trucks coming in from Mexico. So, as long as it belongs below the border, no one in California govt gives a shit if it's polluting, or has a drivers license, registration, insurance, etc

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/20/smog-checks-required-for-big-trucks-under-new-law-signed-by-newsom/
http://knuckledraggin.com/2019/09/how-to-kill-an-industry-with-the-stroke-of-a-pen/

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

great sharks tooth grin variations on the planes of the 363rd Fighter Group


Two different Virginias, two different types of mouth shapes, eyes facing in opposite directions




http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?13365

Check out the scoreboard, 363 Fighter Scoreboard


the normal bombs, and brooms, but they are separated by a hammer

http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?13365

morning radio show traffic reporter name

Juan Milanour
Lisa Neukar

I get a kick out of stuff like this, from listening to AM 1000 WLUP, night show from something like 8 to midnight, in the mid 80s, and the DJ was named Bradburn, and he did a couple voices, and one was the sports reporter which he named Jim Shorts.

That guy had a LOT of talent

So, as the world changes, and entertainment stops being about the broadcast networks, and more about podcasts and simply watching people enjoy themselves and a celeb guest, a lot more programming is popping up like the old Top Gear show.... just goofing around for fun





I didn't even know that Steve Austin had a tv show. Looks like it's on the USA network

https://www.powernationtv.com/post/watch-steve-austin-take-on-dale-earnhardt-jr-in-go-kart-race

According to the tv show, " A unique interview-based series hosted by retired WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Steve Austin retired from the ring in 2003 and has since continued being in the public eye through various acting roles, but in his new series, some celebrity friends join Steve in exciting surroundings. His famous guests swap stories about their lives and careers during one-of-a-kind, custom-tailored adventures in different cities across America. In this unique interview format, there is no studio, no couch, and no cue cards, just a good time with some great friends."

Guests include Trace Adkins, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Gabriel Iglesias, Becky Lynch, Baker Mayfield, Rob Riggle, and Sal Vulcano.

and in the episode with Gabriel Iglesias, they drag race with late 70s Trans Am and Camaro at Fontana





I'm a fan of Iglesias... he's a hoot!

https://www.usanetwork.com/straight-up-steve-austin
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-j3ieTWKII7PH3O1JkF8GcyY-9_igl3L

Sabu (played Mowgli in the Jungle Book) and his Rytecraft Scootacar in 1937


https://www.automania.be/liste-marques-auto/rytecraft-london-wc1-1934-1940

There's no word on the Cadillac behind him, I suspect he had the Caddy for driving around Hollywood, and the Scoota for getting around the movie studio lot

a fight at a stop sign between who has the right of way, scooter riders, or bicyclists

Clark Gable and a Power Wagon

Wyatt Earp and his 1926 Packard 326 Opera Coupe

Clark Gable and his 1937 woodys