If you check my profile it will say I have six grandchildren....well you can bump that up by one. My son and daughter-in-law had a third son on July 14, 2009. When my wife and I stopped by to see him for these photos he was ten days old. Jager (named after Mick) Bates was six pounds thirteen ounces and eighteen inches long at birth. He has blonde hair and blue eyes,..just like his two brothers. He looks to be perfect but he has only been exposed to his family for ten days...We will give him a month or so and then begin corrupting him. We are extremely thankful.....
In an earlier blog entry I mentioned that my Dad was joined by six uncles that fought in World War II. Actually that is incorrect. My father's side of the family came to America in 1908 from the Bavarian section of Germany. Some members of his family did not migrate to America, so I had some distant members of the family that fought against the United States in World War II. Having said that, I have always had a great admiration for the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) in the second world war. While the Allies used their air forces at high altitudes, it was the Germans who demonstrated the success of close quarter air support for the ground troops. The Messerschmidt 109 was the most widely manufactured fighter of World War II, with over 35,000 of them being built. It was not the same plane in 1945 as it was in 1937 as it was continually being refined and updated. Even in 1943 when the Foch-Wolfe 190 was introduced as the successor to the 109, a lot of the Luftwaffe pilots stayed with the older plane rather to change to a new one. The 109 was the first plane to fly over 400 miles per hour. The Luftwaffe used the Civil War in Spain to perfect their tactics and find just what the 109 was capable of. It featured a cannon in the nose of the propeller that allowed the pilot to aim the weapon better, and each wing had two machine guns mounted on it. The Luftwaffe may have come up second best in the Battle of Britain, but that may be attributed to the success of the Brits use of radar as an early warning system. The Messerschmidt 109 saw its demise when the American P-51 Mustang started to appear over the battlefield. The P-51 was faster, could climb higher, and could fly farther than the 109. Still,..it was a great plane and had classic features. I have three models of the 109 suspended from the ceiling of my office.
This is a continuing reminder this blog is dedicated to the memory of Carl Stone, my older brother and my idol as I grew up. There is a car that we built that I do not have a single photo of, but I do have one of a model that my wife painted to replicate it. I had a real admiration for the Gas Coupe car of the team of Stone, Woods, and Cook. Some people thought that Stone was my brother, but that was not the case. In the early 1970's we built a 1941 Willys Coupe and of course it was painted purple, my brothers favorite color. It was powered by a 330 cubic inch Chevrolet engine, Jahns racing pistons, a Chet Herbert cam, Corvette heads with the big valves, and a GMC 671 Blower with injectors. The transmission was a Borg-Warner T-220 close ration 4-speed, and a quick change rear end with 588 gears. God,..it was fun to drive, but my brother hated it because of the heavy body. It ran on pump gasoline and went thru the quarter in the 10 second range at about 180 miles per hour. Nothing to brag about, but it was a consistent winner at Cedar Hill and Green Valley. I loved it because I got to drive it most of the time while my brother turned the wrenches and enjoyed a beer with some friends. It was a car that did not have a long life with the Stone Brothers,..but it was fun while it lasted..
I have been a loyal Kevin Harvick fan since 2001.. February of 2001 to be precise. Kevin was put on the spot of being the driver to take over the team of Dale Earnhardt when Dale was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500. Harvick proceeded to win a Winston Cup race in only his third start with the big boys, something no other driver has been able to accomplish. His career has been an up and down venture with Richard Childress Racing. He has won on the short tracks, the one and a half mile tracks, the road courses, and of course, the Daytona 500 Super Speedway in 2007. He is a fresh face that does a good job in representing his sponsors and is well spoken when they stick a microphone in front of him. The problem is that Harvick has become a second echelon driver. Good enough to be listed as one of the stars of NASCAR, but not good enough to win the overall Championship. Whether you think the problem is with the engine department, the fabrication shop, or the race day pit crew,...Harvick is just not able to close the deal on the title. He has won the Nationwide Series (Busch) title twice, but that is not the top series in NASCAR, and that is the problem. His fans seem to think only the Cup races are the important ones...and they could be right. Harvick has come to a crossroads in his career. He has one more year on his contract with Richard Childress Racing, but he is more than financially able to buy his way out, if he desires. Tony Stewart started his own team this season, and could use Harvick for a third car at Stewart/Haas Racing. Stewart's other driver is Ryan Newman, and both Newman and Stewart drive Harvick's Nationwide cars when he is not in it. Stewart and Harvick are longtime friends and it is a good bet he will end up with Tony for the 2010 season. There is also the possibility of Harvick following the lead of Tony Stewart and starting his own race team in 2010. His shop is already turning out championship product for the Nationwide and Truck Series. It would not be that hard to adjust to the Cup Series. While others have trouble finding a sponsor, Harvick's wife DeLana is very adapt at running the business and courting sponsors while hubby is away at the race track. Harvick is definitely at a very important crossroad in his life,...but one thing is certain. No matter what course he may take, Harvick will end up on his feet because he is a winner..... no matter what the checkered flag may say.
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary. My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to. In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?' In light of recent events ... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. Are you laughing yet? Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit.
If not, then just discard it ... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein
I mentioned earlier this blog is dedicated to the memory of my brother, Carl. He was a world-class drag racer and one of the founding members of the National Hot Rod Association. Earlier I also mentioned he was a National Champion in 1957 driving a street roadster. My brother was one of those that once he achieved something, he immediately looked for a new challenge. After winning the National Championship at the roadster level he moved on to Altered Roadsters. The altereds differ from the regular roadsters in that the rules allow you to move the engine up to 25 per cent of the total wheel base of the car. These cars have a short wheel base to start with, and when you move the engine back you get something that is extremely hard to steer. When they come off the starting line it is always in a wheel stand with the car looking up at a 35 degree angle. When he decided to move on to Funny Cars I was one of the happiest members of the crew. We had a little too much common sense to stay in the Altered Class for very long. Those cars are akin to playing Russian Roulette with an automatic....Eventually someone is going to get hurt......
I have a good friend that had a motorcycle accident last October...He was pulling a trailer behind his Harley Davidson and the weight in the trailer pushed him through a curve and off the road. The bike & trailer rolled over twice and my friend, Rick, suffered two broken vertebrae in his neck and three in his back. It sounds crass now but at the time we were relieved that was the extent of his injuries. The doctors said his injuries were within an inch of killing him. I always thought I was a die-hard Harley-Davidson fan, but Rick was not out of his neck brace and the back support when he bought a brand new 2009 Harley Ultra- Classic. The old bike was written off as a total loss. Rick had a couple of surgeries but as of this writing he is in good shape and has returned to work. He is one of the crew that makes the annual trip to Fredericksburg that I wrote about in an earlier blog entry. Thanks to his hard headedness, and a little devine intervention, he has returned to riding and loves his new Harley...
Here is something you will never hear from the national media... 'Wal-Mart is better at responding to emergencies than the Federal Government'. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast there was a lot of harsh comments about how long it took FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to respond. Some comments say it was a week before FEMA even showed up in Louisiana and Mississippi. Wal-Mart was on the scene within 48 hours with its own fleet of trucks to bring water, blankets, clothing, and other essentials to the hurricane victims. I know this because I am a member of the Wal-Mart Private Fleet of trucks. Two and three truck convoys went to W/M stores (or where the store had been) in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The doors of the trailers were opened up and the merchandise was handed out without charge. Never heard that on the nightly news, huh? More recently, when Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast I did remember to take my Kodak with me to record the event. Wal-Mart dedicated over 400 trucks to the upper coast of Texas and all of Louisiana. We were massed at Reliant Stadium in Houston and then dispatched in groups of two trucks to various places that needed assistance. I took water and MRE's (Meals, Ready to Eat) to the city of Splendora. The people there had been without water and electrical power for over 36 hours. I got a police escort to the city hall where a crowd of over 500 people were waiting. They broke out in cheers when they saw the Wal-Mart truck coming.(There is NO Wal-Mart store in Splendora) We lined up the trucks so that townspeople could drive by and get water, ice, and MRE's without getting out of their cars. Firemen, high school footballers, and others pitched in to help out. It took nearly 24 hours to empty out the trucks and I told the townspeople that more trucks were on the way. It was really a heart tugging experience...but one that probably would have put a smile on the face of Sam Walton. The photos prove my point...but I will bet you never saw anything like this on TV....
My wife and I took a cruise back in 2007 and we are still talking about it... We left Galveston, Tx on a Sunday and sailed to Jamaica...then to the Grand Caymen Islands... and then on to Cozumel, Mexico, before returning to Galveston... The trip itself was a pleasant surprise. We had packed Dramamine pills just in case, but we didn't need them. The ship was smooth and steady.. The time in each port was a little too short for a real stay, but the tour people keep you on a tight schedule. Jamaica was extremely poverished but the people are super nice... The same can be said for the Grand Caymens.. They even have a Harley Davidson dealership in Georgetown, Grand Caymens!! Naturally I had to have a tee shirt from there... Cozumel was mostly a rebuilt tourist facility. A hurricane the year before had wiped out the coral reef and most of the coastal city. Now everything is new and the vendors are after you as soon as you come off the ship. My buddy bought a hand-made chess set made from polished marble.. It started out at $135 and he ended up getting it for $30. NEVER pay the starting price on anything. Negotiation is the name of the game here.. The nightlife on board the ship is excellent. The meals are out of this world and one of the many shows at night allowed us to see Stevie Wonder...He is still great.. It was a fun trip but we were glad to see TEXAS come into view the following Sunday...
I lost one of my pets a couple of months ago...His name was Gus...a stripped tabby cat. I am NOT a cat person, but Gus was not just a cat. From the day my wife brought him home he attached himself to me. Anywhere I wanted to go, Gus was right there checking out the scene....He grew into a super cat...hell on varmits and bugs...but a favorite of the neighbors. That turned out to be his downfall.. Coming home from across the street he was struck by a car and killed.. I was heartbroken for over a month, and Momma could not stand it any longer. She talked me into a new Schnauzer puppy and he has brought the smile back to my face. We call him 'Cosmo'.. His markings are called Phantom. His lower legs are silver, along with his mask on his face, but the rest of him is cold black. The girls are gonna line up for this handsome dude. Momma's dog is a Wired-Haired Fox Terrier and she has been extremely tolerant of Cosmo. They are friends and play well all day long,..even around the food dish.
I have done extensive research with the man in the mirror and have found that Texoma Harley Davidson is the best dealership in North Texas. The bikes are relatively the same at each dealership,..so price is what most customers are looking for. I have purchased two motorcycles from this dealership and have always received a super deal.. The employees are friendly and always ready to help... If you are looking for Harley Clothes,..you came to the right spot.. Wendi, Liz, Janice, and all the rest will not only meet & greet you, but even order something they may not have in stock at the moment... Stephen is in the Parts Department and will find that piece of chrome you have been looking for. If it is a little more involved, the parts department will work with the technical shop to make sure your 'pride and joy' is running in top shape. Billy, Kelly, Chris, and Tommie are all in the sales department and they are not afraid to quote you a price over the phone(903-892-2530). No gimmicks here. Texoma HD always has a wide selection of new bikes on the floor of this new dealership, and the used bikes are gone over by the service department before they are ready to deliver. The dealership is only as good as the man at the top,..and James Mayer is determined to run a solid ship. Selling Harleys is the name of the business and Texoma Harley has always had great sales since moving to this location. Hot Dogs and Cokes are free for lunch throughout the summer...so come on by and check out the place....U.S. Highway 75...exit 64... on the west side of the highway in Sherman, Texas... You can't miss it !!
