Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Saturday, April 04, 2026
Saturday, March 21, 2026
Jimmy's Aunt Lurleen deserves recognition for being the only person in Pecos County history to treat a transmission like a suggestion rather than a mechanical necessity.
she drove everywhere with the throttle half pressed and the brake lightly engaged, which caused the Oldsmobile to move through Fort Stockton like a confused tugboat.
The transmission eventually surrendered.
Most people would repair the transmission.
Lurleen simply continued driving the car in second gear for the next four years.
She said it simplified things.
I once asked her why she didn’t get it fixed.
“Well Jimmy Don,” she said, “it still goes forward, and I ain’t planning on racing anybody.”
Friday, March 20, 2026
you might not recall the name Suzi Quatro, but in the 70s, she was a significant pop culture character... both in rock music, and acting on Happy Days as Leather Tuscadero, the younger sister of Pinky Tuscadero, an old flame of Fonzie's
She was born in Detroit, and opened for Alice Cooper in Chicago in the winter of 75, and was on Happy Days in 7 episodes. She had a famous duet song in '78, "Stumbling In"
She was on the cover of Rolling Stone! Jan '75
Quatro moved to the UK from Detroit aged 21 in 1971 and only discovered in January that her US driving license was only valid for 12 months after entering the country, meaning she's been driving illegally here since 1972.
"Can you believe it?" she continued. "I only found out in January because the US laws changed too, and they won’t renew your American license unless you can prove you have been in the particular state your license is from for the last six months, and of course, I can't. I live here. So I needed a British license.
"I'm 75, for god’s sake. I’ve been driving since I was 16."
Quatro took her test on Wednesday 18th March and thankfully passed at the first attempt.
Breaking the good news to The Mirror, she enthused: "I passed! I’m so pleased. It’s such a relief. I got a couple of minors, nothing big.
"My husband was so pleased. He sent messages all over the world to friends of ours. He’s so proud. At 75 it's quite an achievement."
Wednesday, March 04, 2026
Coolest thing I heard of lately, a crossing guard put her thoughts to paper, and made 14k a month from that venture
Christine Tyler Hill turned her morning shift into a feel-good and lucrative venture with a subscription base, launching a mail delivered newsletter in January and quickly scored 2,000 subscribers, with thousands more on the waiting list.
The business now brings in about $14,000 per month.
Christine Tyler Hill, 36, took a job as a school crossing guard in Burlington, Vermont, after years of working as a designer and illustrator. She was looking for a way to feel more connected to her community.
Each weekday starting around 7:30 a.m., she spends 50 minutes managing a crosswalk near a local school. The post exposes her to the same faces and varying weather each morning, giving her a steady stream of small moments and details to write about.
Her venture started in late 2023, when she took the crossing guard job and began writing a monthly “cloud report,” which she posted on social media. The report included snippets of her day — like photos of a handwritten thank-you note from a child and snow falling on a store.
Her venture started in late 2023, when she took the crossing guard job and began writing a monthly “cloud report,” which she posted on social media. The report included snippets of her day — like photos of a handwritten thank-you note from a child and snow falling on a store.
Hill has since decided to monetize her side hustle and start a mail club. In January 2026, she debuted the club to her 33,000 TikTok followers in a seven-second clip, explaining that for $8 a month, she would handwrite and illustrate an eight-page magazine chronicling observations from her job and send it out to subscribers. It only took a few days for Hill to get her first 1,000 subscribers.
Sunday, February 15, 2026
Saturday, February 14, 2026
wears a great dress, enjoys hanging out for a photoshoot with a great ol truck? That's marriage material boys. You better find her before I do, I'll charm the hell out of her
I wish I'd been in college / university in my 20s instead of the joining the Navy the weekend after graduating high school. I probably would have met a large number of women, and tried to charm the hell out of several of them, and gotten married to someone wonderful, and had a happy life.
Instead, I was too penniless to give college a try, didn't want to see about 200k in college loans without a responsible plan on what to get a education for. (As in what education, for what career possibility, that would in turn pay off the student loan.)
And so - still single, and finishing up a blog post.
See one of my other sites for similar photos https://isonlyskindeep.tumblr.com
Sunday, February 01, 2026
Saturday, January 17, 2026
Luella Bates, the first female truck driver to receive a New York driver's license.
Ms. Bates and the other women tested each of the behemoth trucks by driving them over a 75-mile course. These runs had to be completed before a truck was delivered or shipped
In January 1920, Bates drove a Model B to New York City, where she attended the New York Auto Show.
Bates was such a hit in New York that Four Wheel Drive decided to use her skills even further. Later that year, they sent her on three transcontinental tours throughout the United States.
Luella would undergo several whirlwind tours across America in her trusted Model B truck. Her first tour would take her to approximately 25 towns, beginning in Kansas City, Missouri, and finishing in Bellefontaine, Ohio
descending Laurel Hill grade between Bedford and Chambersburg, Pa, July 9, 1919
entering Chicago Heights in 1919
F.W.D. in city parade in Sacramento California September 3, 1919
The advertising scheme introduced the idea that the FWD truck was easy to steer, as evidenced by a woman driver.
Luella would undergo several whirlwind tours across America in her trusted Model B truck. Her first tour would take her to approximately 25 towns, beginning in Kansas City, Missouri, and finishing in Bellefontaine, Ohio
These 3-ton trucks (chassis #8044, #8175, #13325) distinguished themselves by navigating challenging terrains in Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada without assistance. Their ability to traverse muddy and sandy stretches unaided set a commendable record.
descending Laurel Hill grade between Bedford and Chambersburg, Pa, July 9, 1919
the F.W.D trucks are seen only occasionally in the 1919 military convoy films because of their reliability.
F.W.D trucks rarely broke down, making them less dramatic for film scenes. In contrast, scenes of other trucks struggling in mud were more visually entertaining, leading to more screen time for less reliable vehicles.
entering Chicago Heights in 1919
F.W.D. in city parade in Sacramento California September 3, 1919
During her final tour of 1920, Bates took the southern states by storm. She was now known as "our girl driver."
In Pennsylvania, they swapped the carbs from Model G to Model M Strombergs, and found a 25% increase in mpg
In Oklahoma, she defied the police and took her truck across a flooded road, hauling meat for a packaging plant. This courageous venture led to the sale of ten trucks for Four Wheel Drive and much admiration for Bates.
In 1922, Luella left the FWD Auto Company and moved to Milwaukee. She later married Howard Coates and had two sons. She died in 1985 at the age of 88.
Her granddaughter is the actress Ashley Hinshaw, who married Topher Grace
the Kaiser Darrin prototype was first unveiled at the Los Angeles Motorama in 1952, just two months before the Corvette.
Automotive stylist Howard “Dutch” Darrin took it upon himself to create the fiberglass-bodied roadster himself, proof of concept for the industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, who was staunchly committed to the production of family cars.
Kaiser hated the car, of course, and it nearly didn’t make it past the prototype stage—except that Kaiser had brought his wife along to see it, and she declared that the car was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
Thursday, January 08, 2026
Tuesday, January 06, 2026
Mrs. Minnie M. Blandin, 74, who at the turn of the century was president of of the Racine Mfg Company that made bodies for 32 makes of 'horseless buggies,' sitting in a 1904 Franklin that ran the San Francisco to New York in 33 days in 1904. (phoot from Nov 1937
Minnie married the founder of the Racine Novelty Co, Frederick Franklin Blandin. The Racine Novelty Mfg. Co. / Racine Mfg. Co., was one of the nation’s largest production automobile body builders.
They also made storm aprons and curtains, wood and metallic bodies, battery boxes, spark coil boxes, tool boxes, dashes, fenders and automobile tops, piano stools and ironing boards
the company grew from 400 employees to 1200 in 10 years, and by 1917 were manufacturing 80 touring car bodies and 15 closed bodies daily.
In 1918, the company got the contract to make 500 metal life boats to support the WW1 effort, but the other companies in Racine were just as busy, making cots, shoes, guns, tents, and airplane parts
Monday, January 05, 2026
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
do you remember the wheatfield in Brooklyn I posted about in August? Ethan Hawke is making a movie about it
Agnes Denes, a pioneer of ecological and land art known for work on a monumental scale, will be the focus of an upcoming documentary
The untitled project will explore a prodigious talent who continues to make art at the age of 94. Denes, born in Hungary in 1931, has been based in New York for decades and it was in Manhattan in 1982 that she created her most celebrated piece — “Wheatfield – A Confrontation,” that saw her plant and harvest “a field of golden wheat on two acres of rubble-strewn landfill near Wall Street and the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan,” https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2025/08/agnes-deness-wheatfield-confrontation.html
FirstGen Content’s Girson originated the project. “Like so many, I had somehow never heard of Agnes Denes when I first saw the iconic photograph of Agnes in her wheatfield,” he said.
“That project, like Agnes’s singular career and enduring belief in the human spirit, represents the highest ideal of art—and art’s vital role in our shared human experience. That Agnes spent years as a neglected-yet-revered working artist in New York City adds intrigue and complexity to her story, which we are excited to share with people when the film is ready.”
Sunday, December 28, 2025
Tuesday, December 23, 2025
What a cool thing to pass down to your kids and grand kids.... what you did, what you were a part of, the work you did to help the cause of freedom
When any employee left the company and at the end of the war they all had to hand over their id card
But for some reason this family that worked for Boeing for 5 generations, and eight of this family were building the B-17, had a way around that.
I'm glad they did, this is very cool
Sunday, December 21, 2025
Ellie the model T girl! There is hope for the future of model t's when people this young are enthusiastically experiencing driving T speedsters. Damn shame it's as expensive to make one as it is to buy a weatherproof commuter with AC, air bags, and anti lock brakes
She worked to get the car running and built a racer body... Shortly after getting her driver's license, she started to drive her T racer to school.
This fall at the Ogunquit beach auto show she took the peoples choice award of 2nd place out of 245 cars in attendance
Saturday, December 13, 2025
Mariya Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya was a Soviet tank driver and mechanic after her husband was killed fighting in 1941 She sold her possessions to donate a tank for the war effort, and requested that she be allowed to drive it.
In 1925, she married a calvary school cadet, Ilya Fedotovich Ryadnenko. The pair adopted the name Oktyabrskaya—”October,” an allusion to the Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsiya or October Revolution. By all accounts Mariya enjoyed being the wife of a Soviet Army officer and got involved in the “Military Wives Council” and trained as a nurse in the army.
After her husband was killed on the Eastern Front, she refused to remain a passive witness to the war. She sold everything she owned, donated the money to the Soviet Army and asked not just to contribute but to fight. The request was extraordinary for the time, yet the Soviets agreed.
The tank was built at the expense of the plant’s mostly female workers.
She trained hard as a driver-mechanic and treated her T-34, which she affectionately named “Fighting Girlfriend,” like a living extension of herself. Her skill surprised commanders, but what truly set her apart was how fearlessly she moved under fire, often jumping out to repair the tank while bullets snapped around her.
On the battlefield she developed a reputation for stubborn bravery. She pushed through anti-tank fire, destroyed enemy positions and inspired the soldiers fighting around her. In 1944, after another bold charge, she was seriously wounded while repairing her tank under heavy fire. She never recovered. Her death only deepened the legend: a woman who turned personal loss into fierce resistance, who insisted on fighting for her husband’s memory and her country’s survival. The Soviet Union later honored her with the title Hero of the Soviet Union, a recognition that still carries
Sunday, December 07, 2025
before and after, same car
Yes, I see the steering wheel is different, but if you look at the rest of this guys facebook page, you'll see he sells Porsche steering wheels.
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