Alzheimer's a Bitch

Gramps - Mom - Alysse - Me

Last weekend I went home to visit my family, specifically my grandfather who has Alzheimer's.

My mom had called to tell me that he was getting much worse. The kind funny man that I grew up knowing was now angry, physical, and argumentative. So I told her I would make the trip and come see him. I called my brother's and we planned to get together Saturday, go visit him and see what we could do to help.

Well when we we arrived he was just setting there sleeping. My mother woke him up, since it was also almost lunch time. He just stared at us for 15 minutes while we tried to talk with him. We talked with other patients in the memory care unit. We watched one attempted escape, and laughed when she turned herself in immediately.

The only reaction we got from gramps was when mom asked him if he wanted help to go to lunch. He shook his head yes, and then shuffled off with mom to his spot in the dining room. So the body is still there, but the mind is gone.

What do you do to reconcile your memories of the man that was versus the shell that still exists. This decorated war veteran, who I once heard tell a TSA agent when the metal detector kept going off, "that's shrapnel from when the ____  got me in Korea." This is the guy who sang, "I Love to go swimming with bow legged women". Which always got hum called Donald Clarence by my grandmother. This is the guy that took you on your first duck hunt at 4 years old? The guy who stopped taking me to the bar when I was  four because I kept sliding off the stool? Or got you hooked on big american Lincoln's and Mercury's? Was a UAW member through and through?

My favorite story of all time was that he had Carotic artery surgery to remove a blockage. He was waking up in the recovery room, and was being attended to by a sweet young red headed nurse, and grampa was hitting on her and asking for a sponge bath. He kept it up until she was replaced by a large male nurse.

I don't know, but I'm glad my daughter and my nephew's got to meet him and know him prior to this terrible disease taking his mind. Because he is just a shell now. A loved shell, but a shell. I have resolved myself to this fact. Hopefully someday this disease will no longer exist. But for now it does and its a bitch!

My review of Spirit Airlines vs. Southwest

I took a trip to visit my family over the weekend and I decided to try Spirit for the first time. Now having reviewed them I saw that many folks had a negative opinion of them.

I would like to say I am currently involved in building the new North Terminal and Concourses for the New Orleans Aviation Board. So I am exposed to a lot of folks who build airports for a living and that have definite opinions about many things. I would say that some of my coworkers are not big fans of Spirit. So I had a somewhat tainted opinion prior to the trip, but I tried not to let that sway my opinion of them.

I decided to try them as an experiment into the super cheap airline. I want to see if it could really save you money, and how hideous could it be? So I did a little research prior to booking the flight.

Almost everyone said to get a big front seat. That the remainder of the seats are the narrowest, least amount of reclining and least amount of legroom of any carrier.

Spirit has big front seats. They do not have any a First Class. You pay extra for the seat, but that is all you get. You still pay for carry on or checked bags. You still pay for snacks and water on the flight. You just get a big seat.

he booking was extremely easy using their website. They clearly tell you what is included and what is extra. You can get these seats as cheaply as you can by deciding to allow them to assign your seat, and printing your own boarding pass at home, or using your smartphone with an electronic boarding pass. Both of these items have a cost if the airline has to do them. $10 to print your boarding passes at the airport.

All of these fees, and pre-planning required of the traveler directly impacts the experience for everyone traveling on your plane. The plane boarded quickly, there was no one complaining about no room in the overhead compartment. Most folks bring one personal item and then check bags, since spirit makes the checked bags cheaper than a carry-on. The less brought onto the plane the quicker the turn around.

 All of the staff for the airline was extremely friendly,  from gate agents to the crew. Then the flight left and departed on time. Not much more that you can expect from an airline.

Now to the real question, did I save any money. I can say unequivocally yes. I had a pleasant experience and I saved money.

The amount of savings depends on the choices you make regarding the "extra's" you choose.
I used Southwest airlines as a basis for comparison. For a trip from New Orleans to Cleveland, I chose a weekend more than 2 weeks away, Leaving Friday afternoon and returning Sunday morning. The cost of this itinerary on SWA was $466. This included all fees and taxes.

The "bare fare" for the same flights on Spirit were $206, which included fees. If you would like to add a carry-on, you would have to add $70 for the round trip. If you have a checked bag, you have to add $60 for the round trip. So you include these items to be apples to apples with South West then your total is $236. You've saved $130.

I however had no luggage to check or carry on. I did however decide to get a "Big Front Seat", and this added $92 to the "Bare Fare". So I spent $298, and I got a very comfortable seat. I save $168 on my trip from New Orleans to Cleveland.

So my overall review of Spirit is that I will definitely use them again. If you need to hit the road on a limited budget, this is definitely an airline that you should check out.

Overabundance of unloved dogs...

I was reviewing my blog to see what I could do to get more folks looking at what I'm writing about and I actually realized that one of the items I said I was going to ramble about was dogs. I have been remiss in writing about some of the best friends I've ever had. Four legged friends that is.

I was blessed that my parents had dogs in our house from a very early age. From these animals I learned compassion and responsibility among many other things. They were companions that helped fill my days.

These four legged friends are a gift and it seems that not everyone takes the commitment as seriously as they should. I try to help as much as I can by donating to rescues so that some of these pups can get a second chance. They are spayed or neutered and then adopted out.

I say all of this to let you know that my heart really goes out to these pups. I wish there was more regulation on these puppy mills. I wish all of the irresponsible pet owners would immediately spay and neuter their animals since its the right thing to do. That way we could cut down on the number of unloved dogs.

We had a slight tragedy at the end of last year, our 14 year old schnauzer Jo Jo, after having a splenectomy, succumbed to whatever cancer had caused the enlarged spleen. We were all heartbroken because she was the sweetest dog ever, except to Jessie.

We acquired her as a rescue. Her original Owner had failing health so she could no longer care for poor Jo Jo. So that is how she came into our family. She loved us and we loved her back.

Jo Jo 

But then she was gone, and it left quite a void. We couldn't stop thinking about her, including Jessie. The entire time that we had her, Jessie and Jo Jo ate from the same bowl. They could do math, one would only eat half the bowl and leave the other half for whomever was next. Jessie looked for her, and could't figure out where she had gone.

Based on our experience with Jo Jo we had decided that when the time came for a new furry family member we would be adopting from a rescue. We started looking in June, and we just couldn't decide when the right time would be.

In late June one of the rescues we follow and support posted a Facebook message that they were rescuing 25 dogs from a hoarding situation. That they did not have room, and that they were having an emergency adoption event the next day. They wanted folks interested in adopting to come the first night, and then have fosters come the following day.

We arrived early and we saw a cute pup. We asked to see her. Ash sat on the ground and the dog crawled in her lap and sat down. I then immediately knew that the skinny, stinky, bad haired dog was our next pup. Just wagged her tail and wanted her belly rubbed.

Well she went home with us that night and we now have a great new member of our family. Her name is Lucy, and she is a purebred mutt. She loves everyone. Enjoys laying with you to watch TV and Loves when you get home. Hopefully she'll be a good sister to Jessie for a long time.

Lucy 

So please, when its time for your next pet, please save a pup. The more folks who get rescue dogs will be that many less pups that help continue the puppy mills.

Torino Fuel Tank Swap - Cheap Gas Tank Breather Valve

Saved a little money getting a gas tank breather valve for my replacement tank from Bronco Graveyard.com rather than from a car restoration or amazon.




This is the link to the part I purchased:  http://shop.broncograveyard.com/1980-1997-Ford-Bronco-and-F-Series-Truck-Gas-Tank-Breather-Valve/productinfo/30259/

This is the link to the part I did not purchase: http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_fairlane_torino/fuel-tank-vent-valve-ranchero-torino-1972-1979.htmlhttp://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_fairlane_torino/fuel-tank-vent-valve-ranchero-torino-1972-1979.html

and this: http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_fairlane_torino/vent-valve-seal-fuel-tank-rubber-torino-ranchero-1972-1979.html

$74 vs $22. I know which one I'm going to get.

Again thank you Bronco Graveyard for not gouging..

Jerry Pournelle Passed Away!

I just saw a headline about his passing and it saddens me.

Here is the link to an article that describes him much better than I ever could..

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/09/11/science-fiction-writer-jerry-pournelle-offered-fact-based-hope-future-glenn-reynolds-column/651515001/

I can say that his novels Lucifer's Hammer and The Mote in God's Eye both permanently hooked me on science fiction. He had a lot of help from Heinlein, Clarke, and Asimov. But he was up there with the definite Master's of Science Fiction.

So if you get a chance read one of his books and understand why its a loss to us all.

What's happened to my country since 9/11??

What an incredibly different world we live in today versus sixteen years ago!

Decline in Personal Freedom's.

Our reaction to the hijackers was to suddenly invent a complete new Government Department. Which I think try's their best, but just seems like a boon-doggle. 

I've had my 83 year old, Korean war vet grandfather pulled out of line because he set off the metal detector. He tried to tell the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) agent that it was, and I quote, "God damn communist shrapnel." This didn't get him off the hook. so when they searched him, they found his pipe knife and confiscated it. Really, a 83 year old man that can hardly bend over and take off his shoes is going to hijack a plane with a 2" blade. There you go, good old common sense escapes them. 

Meanwhile I was on another trip, and I was at the gate waiting for my flight, and the lady across from me proceeding to pull two 8" long metal knitting needles from her hair and started knitting away. They either missed them, or since meta knitting needles are not on the contraband list they let her keep them. Again, common sense seems to not be present.

 Never Ending War

For the life of me I cannot understand why we cannot extricate ourselves from Afghanistan. We invaded in October 2001, which means we are quickly approaching the 16th Anniversary. We have disrupted the Taliban. We have used it as a base to locate and kill Osama Bin Laden. We have tried to bring them out of the stone age, which I really don't think they want. So why are still there?

We tried to leave but the government that we helped install doesn't seem to be able to support itself or maintain democracy. We have not won their hearts and minds, so lets get our young men and women out of there, or just annex it and make it another US Territory and eradicate the vermin. I prefer removing all of folks and letting the whole thing implode.

There seems to be no establish goal that is being work towards. Which is how any issue is resolved. You decide what the solution/outcome is to be and work towards that end.

So I ask my government officials to just decide what they are truly trying to achieve in Afghanistan. They enact a plan to achieve that goal with no reservation, just 100% of the determination of the American military.

Unfortunately this won't happen because there are now too many special interest groups and businesses making a killing. So common sense will not prevail and we will probably still be in Afghanistan when the next president takes office.

We have a new Cold War.

How lucky can we be? 

The giant evil that hung over us while I was a child and then when I went in the Air Force has suddenly returned? How did that happen? Russia has an extremely rich dictator, who enjoys making our politicians look incredibly stupid..

If you can explain that to me in 50 words or less, please do! 

China is a new Economic Competitor.

Wow. They decided to become Capitalistic Communists... Who say that coming? They have 20% of the worlds population. They have been buying US government debt for who knows how long. Now they using all they oil and polluting the shit out of the environment. Luckily they are still buying our coal. God forbid we use it.

I guess I should start taking some Mandarin lessons.

So actually nothing really changed.

So looking at everything that has occurred, I would have to say that really nothing has changed that much. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, but history is just repeating itself.

I just hope we can figure all of this out without totally destroying our country and the world.

1973 Torino - Old Car Truth's

Yesterday I was working on the fuel system in the Torino. I am getting it ready to support the fuel injection system. One of the first items I decided to do was to replace the old fuel tank with a brand new tank. I wanted to to do this in order to make sure that no old debris clogged up my new system. This change would also enable me to install a 27.5 gallon tank from a later year Torino in lieu of the stock 22 gallon tank.

This whole process is going to be part of a video that I am making on installing the Holley Sniper system. So I won't go into this in any great detail right now. I would like to say that by removing the tank after 44 years exposed one of the "Old Car Truth's".

The Truth in this case is that working on these cars leads to other work that is required. So if you are working on your own vehicle you must be prepared to be distracted from the initial goal to take care of an issue that you did not know when you started working on the current task.

With the old tank removed I discovered that there was no undercoating above the tank. It had surface rust, and a little more serious rust. So rather than continuing with the fuel system install I now have to take care of the rust and then paint the area. I could just leave it alone and move on, but I can't. I know its there so now I need to fix it. So that's what I'll do.

The next "Old Car Truth" that was exposed by this fuel system install is that you never have all the parts you need to finish the project immediately. With changing tanks, I need to order a breather for the top of the new tank. between 73 and 74 they made a few changes between the tanks other than the capacity.

Now mind you I'm not complaining, I am just stating fact. I will continue plugging away because I cannot wait to drive the car with fuel injection and I want it done prior to Cruising the Coast in October.