DeLorean Garage Time

Since getting back home my car parts have been arriving every few days via FedEx and I am about ready to start removing the old and installing the new. As I have been removing access panels and other parts, getting in to the hidden recesses of the car, I am seeing far too many future projects that will have to wait.

My current DeLorean to-do list includes repainting the fascias (bumpers), installing a new alternator (need more amps), new fuel pump and baffle, rewiring the cooling fans and fabricating a fiberglass piece broken off of the rear louvre. The fuel accumulator needs to be replaced as well and one came yesterday in the FedEx truck, but I may need to take the car to a shop where I can get it elevated a little more. It would be too tight to do it on my ramps and getting the vehicle higher witout fabricating more support might not be very safe. If I had known that I would be doing this stuff when I built the garage, I would have built in a mechanics pit!

Stupid Dogs

There are many web sites dedicated to stupid dogs. It is not necessary anymore to own one. Type "stupid dog" in your browser and you will find endless hours of fun.

If you really need to own one you may also find ways to use it to make a living, or at least part of a living as evidenced by some of the web sites exposing themselves to the world.

This is a depiction of a stupid Beagle, if you were wondering. You can buy a print of this for $1,800 at uniquedogart.com

Or you could just get a Beagle and have hours of fun at just part of the cost. Well, maybe it costs more than that to own a dog and we really don't want to know how much more.

El Sol – Daylight Saving Time, or; why do we save this?

Thank you very much Benjamin Franklin for writing an essay on Daylight Saving in 1784 while you were in Paris. What were you thinking? (Please answer soon as there are many other questions I have for you.)

The standardized observance of time has come about largely because of the economic needs of commerce. Our lawful use and observance of a standard time has only been around in the U.S. for about 90 years with the passing of the Standard Time Act of 1918 by Congress. It only took Congress about 35 years to act, as the railroads had been using a standardized time system since around 1883. Yes, you may draw some parallels to the politics of our time and the glacial speed limit of a multiple party government, but would we really want all of the laws that a more time efficient government could impose?
We are not talking about bottling up a little sunshine and letting it lose later for some extra warmth, or are we? This is the day that we humans have taken it upon ourselves to think that we have made some special impact upon the laws of physics. The Earth is still spinning at the same rate, and the number of minutes of sunshine has not magically changed. This is just a convenient attitude adjustment; possibly an energy saver, and certainly a convenient and easy way to have a few extra moments to enjoy the evenings of summer. Think of this in the terms of the words of the song by Jimmy Buffet; “changes in latitude, changes in attitude”. This is like dropping to more southerly latitude overnight. An instant vacation.
If you have never lived in southern Arizona, I will explain that the southwestern deserts are not in need of any more time at the end of the day waiting for the sun to sink below the horizon. If the sun could actually start its setting at around noon it would be heralded as a great boon during the summer months. When I used to live there (my native State) we would rhetorically ask a tourist if they knew the difference between night and day in southern Arizona, to which they would shake their head in the negative direction. And then we would tell them that it gets dark at night. Not cooler, just dark. Many summer nights there it is still 100 degrees Fahrenheit while we were watching the news at 10 PM. That was the big city where asphalt and rooftops have conspired to harvest the daylight heat and then slowly release it over the course of the night. The Navajo Nation, which is partially in Arizona, has chosen to go their own way and observe Daylight Saving Time, but they are at a much higher elevation and probably more connected to the economies of neighboring states than they are to the Capitol of Arizona located a mile closer to the center of the earth and much further south. In my opinion, the Navajos have pretty much always gone their own way, sort of like Benjamin Franklin.

Response to rhetorical question posed by Mr. Biesbolfan.

Question: Why do we have to stay connected all of the time and have cell phones with us? This goes for other electronic connection devices as well.
Answer(s):
6. So that your spouse can call and let you know what you need to pick up at the store.
5. So that you can call your spouse from the store and ask on what aisle the desired item is located.
4. You need to know, every moment of the day and night, that you can reach out to anyone in the world just in case you find THE answer to the universe and want to share it.
3. If you do not use the device all of the time it will not wear out and you would not have any reason to purchase another one.
2. The faster we can make the pace of life, the more you will have to buy stuff needed to keep up with the fast pace of life.
1. You must stay connected or my business cannot put advertisements in front of you to tell you that a happy lifestyle demands that you must own the stuff that I sell.