Wondering about Motors.

I got wondering about motors for motor vehicles.  I have had quite a few different vehicles in my life and thus quite a few different motors.  I would imagine that all of you have owned multiple motors.  Just how many different motors have you all owned?  I got wondering about how many different vehicle motors I have had.  I am going to exclude motors like the Briggs and Stratton that were on lawn mowers or the Evinrude and Mercury motors for outboard boats.  Have had motors on motorcycles, too, but not going to include them.  Just multi-wheeled highway vehicle motors.

The first question that comes to mind is what was your first car?  Mine was a 1955 Desoto similar to the one pictured below except mine was a four door sedan, but it was the same color:

 

I believe it had a hemi engine in it.  It had an automatic transmission but only had a couple of gears, like low and high.  Therefore, it was a little sluggish off the line, so to speak.  I really liked that car.

I have had GMC, Chrysler, and Ford products and therefore their motors.  I have told you before about my '57 Chevy convertible.  I have had V-6, V-8, V-10, and even one to four cylinder engines on bikes.  But, all through my life I have had only gasoline engines.  Then I got my last RV.  It has a Cat Diesel engine in it.  Now, I must say, that engine really impresses me.  My RV has a GVW of

26,600 and, therefore, need a big engine.  I can set the cruise control for sixty mph and it will stay there, rock solid, on sixty up and down the hills and mountains, and that is towing my Jeep Liberty.  Now they tell me that Caterpillar does not make engines for vehicles any more, just stationary engines.  That is quite a loss to the new RV buyers.

What motor is in your RV or truck or car?  Do you remember your first one?  Bundle up, it is still COLD outside and have a great day, you hear?

Wondering what to have for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is coming up, so what are you planning to have for that customary yearly feast?  Turkey and all the trimmings is the traditional dish.  But wouldn't it be challenging to come up with something special?  I mean really special, like something that you have never ever had and probably never even dreamed of having.  How about some stakes or a roast from some extinct dinosaurs?

What!?!?!?  I bet you thought you read that wrong or that I am finally loosing my mind, right?  Actually, there is a place where you can get some dinosaur meat.  And no, it ain't from an ancient beast that was dug out of the ice in some glacier.  There is actually a company that sells a kit named, "Dino Dish Grow "N" Harvest Kit".  Now Dino-Dish, from the makers of this year's highly anticipated Dial-A-De-Extinction, allows home cooks to print stem cells of a select extinct animals, choose which cut they want and then grow their own dinosaur meat.  The kit includes a pocket 3-D printer, stem cell starter, and tabletop lidded meatbox that is temperature and humidity controlled.  At this time kits are available for five different dinosaurs.  Of course, you know, it probably tastes like chicken (grin).

Now that I have made you hungry (or sick to your stomach), enjoy lunch and have a great day, you hear?

Wondering about some Ancient Inventions.

We seem to underestimate the mental capacity of humans that lived hundreds or thousands of years ago.  The fact is, we are no smarter than they were, we just have the advantage of thousands of years of history to learn from, but it seems some people have to learn everything for themselves.  There is no evidence at all that the human brain has evolved at all during the last fifty thousand years!  Do you know that some of the things that we attribute to modern times were actually invented back many, many years ago?

Let us take a metal that has been used and associated with modern man, say aluminum for instance.  Archaeologists have found aluminum ornaments in a tomb of a Chinese soldier who died in the year 297.  And what about gun powder?  We picture the ancient people fighting with stone tools and wooden spears.  No, I am not saying that they came up with guns in that year, but they did discover gunpowder.  In a quirk of fate, they were trying to come up with an elixir of immortality when they discovered something that has caused enumerable deaths throughout history.

I just thought that you may get a kick out of some of this information.  It is wet and cool out there today, so keep your powder dry and have a great day anyway, you hear?

A Fall Overcast Day

Yesterday was mostly overcast, which is unusual for here, and guess what?  This morning there is a line of thunderstorms going through.  This disturbance is being caused by a cold front which is passing trough our area.  The temperatures will be way below normal.  Here is the  forecast for the next seven days:

 

It is going to be a cold, wet next few days.  It is way too early in the season for such cool temperatures.

I took a walk around my driveway yesterday and, even though it was cloudy, tried to get some pictures of the fall colors.  All the oak trees are still green but some of the other hardwoods are changes colors.  So, come, take a short walk with me.

Color foliage next to the RV:

 And looking northeast:

 And just looking up:

 Looking on down my driveway toward my son's home:

 Love the black limbs among the colored and green leaves:

 And this last one looking back toward where my RV is parked:

 

Now that wasn't a very long walk, was it?  It didn't tire me out at all.  The thunderstorms are rolling through and my oldest pup is terrified of them and is snuggled up to me and shaking like a vibrator.  She has a hard time on New Year's Eve and around the Fourth of July when they sell fireworks here in Texas.  Seems we have a lot of neighbors who must save their money all year to stock up on fireworks just for those two nights.  I get more bang out of seeing the way Mother Nature paints the leaves.  Now, you all take a second look at all the beauty around you and have a great day, you hear?

Wondering about Old Presidents.

I got wondering about some of our past presidents.  The first thing I discovered was that some of them had different names than they were born with.  Some were only a little different but some quite a bit more.  For example:

Bill Clinton - born William Jefferson Blythe III

Gerald Ford - born Leslie Lynch King

Dwight David Eisenhower - born David Dwight Eisenhower

Calvin Coolidge - born John Calvin Coolidge

Woodrow Wilson - born Thomas Woodrow Wilson

Grover Cleveland - born Stephen Grover Cleveland

Ulysses S. Grant - born Hiram Ulysses Grant

The first two on this list were really different.  Did you know that President Abraham Lincoln was the first non-Christian president?  Also, three presidents had little or no schooling.  They are Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, and Andrew Johnson.

Did you know that two people who eventually became president avoided the draft?  During the Civil War, Grover Cleveland was drafted but paid a substitute $150 to take his place, which was legal at the time.  Also, Bill Clinton avoided the draft during the Vietnam war by going to college in England.

There are just way too many stories to tell about the presidents of the U.S. and it would take way too many blog postings to cover them all.  So, I will stop at these for now and hope that you all have a great day, you hear

Wondering about Neanderthals

Have you ever been called a Neanderthal?  It is supposed to be a derogatory remark.  But weren't they the ones that taught modern man how to use tools?  Yes, but they are never thought of as teachers.  What are your opinions of neanderthals?

I was reading about the fossils that were unearthed near Dmanisi, Georgia.  No, not the state of Georgia, but the Country of Georgia.  Here is a picture of one of the skulls they found:

He is staring right at you!!  So, you may wonder what he would look like if he were alive.  Well, it just so happens that I found an illustration that an artist did, showing how they may have appeared.

When we hear the term "Neanderthal", we think of a dim witted brute that is bent over, dragging their knuckles on the ground.  But that isn't the case.  They walked straight up, just like we do.  So, why do we have that impression of them?  Well, it just so happens that one of the first discovered remains that were reconstructed was bent over with a severe case arthritis. I bet you didn't know that, I didn't.

They were good artists but were not good talkers, since their vocal chords were incapable of making a lot of the vowel sounds.  But they did paint the walls of their caves and themselves.  Now, you know if someone calls you a Neanderthal, you can stand up straight and have a great day?

Wondering - Finding an old friend.

This last weekend at the flea market, my wife found an old friend.  They hadn't talked or seen each other since my wife was a young girl.

Well, actually, it was not a person but a doll.  It was a doll that she had long, long ago.  Oops! I shouldn't have said that.  No, it wasn't that long ago. . .

It was like meeting a new friend that had fallen on hard times.  She was a mess.  She was really dirty and her clothes were filthy.  So far my wife has washed the doll's clothes three times.  She says that she now has to order some special shampoo and some new clothes and some new shoes and some. . . well, you get the idea.  This bargain doll is not going to be such a bargain after all.

I guess I will show you the doll's picture.  This was after she was given a bath:

 

 Her nail polish is wearing off and will need redone:

But her toenails seem to OK.

My wife is now on the Internet shopping for doll clothes and accessories.  This IS going to be expensive.  She says that just the underwear will cost eighteen dollars and of course all well dress Miss Revlon dolls have to wear a lot more than that.  There are lots and lots of accessories, too.

My wife also brought home this little fellow.  The first thing was to give him a bath, too:

My wife is still looking at the accessory catalog on line and she is naming off all she needs to get.  Glory be, this is going to cost me an arm and a leg for sure.  Any of you want to donate? (grin)

At one time, my wife was into doll collecting big time.  She had over a thousand.  She about gave them away by selling a whole car load of them to another collector that was drooling from the mouth.  Hey, we all have to have our fun and my beautiful wife deserves dolls if she wants them.  Now, you all have a doll-ichious day, you hear?