Summer Shindig

This past Saturday we held our monthly shindig
at Texoma Harley-Davidson. It was a good time.
We arrived at 8:30 in the morning and had a line
of customers waiting on Momma to sew patches
on their vests and jackets. She was swamped by
customers all day long. I just helped out with the
water and ice containers. We went through a lot
of water to try and keep customers well hydrated.
T-Bones Restaurant was again supplying hamburgers
and chips for free, but this time Schwann's was
there to provide free ice cream. A couple of new
vendors were on hand this month. The most unique
was a couple that travel to rallies and gatherings to
show their upholstering business. They will rebuild
your bike seat to make it more comfortable. It's that
memory foam and I tried it out to see if it did make
a difference, and it really does. A couple of regulars
from the last couple of months were also there. A
lady applying free massages was kept busy most of
the day..and Rudy simply baffled customers with his
card tricks. This kid is gonna be something special one
of these days. The calendar model was also on hand
(in bikini) to autograph her month in the calendar, and
she also took part in the watermelon-eating contest
that afternoon. Texoma Harley-Davidson installed a
big tent with a cooling mist flowing under it. That is
where the melon-eating contest took place. Some of
the contestants look like they were about to puke over
filling up on the stuff. All in all, it was a good day and
we look forward to August 21st when we do it all over
again... See ya there.

A-10 Thunderbolt... (Warthog)

I was talking to a friend the other day when the
subject of the A-10 Thunderbolt came up..(We have
strange conversations). Actually, we were discussing
the two wars in the Middle East and some of the
aircraft used in those wars.. We were both pretty
sketchy about the plans of the government to scrap
the A-10 to the trash heap. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. The A-10 was built by Fairchild-Republic
with one concept for the engineers...build the plane
around an Avenger 30 millimeter cannon! The gun has
a rate of fire of 4200 rounds per minute. Most pilots
engage a target with short bursts of one or two seconds.
In that two seconds the Avenger cannon fires 150-160
rounds. Designed for close air support, the A-10 is perfect
for its job. The pilot is protected with a titanium 'bathtub'
built around them and the plane is designed for the trouble
it will encounter at lower altitudes. The electronic and hydraulic
systems are triple layered, so if two complete systems are
shot away, the pilot still has another way of completing the
task. Built as a Soviet tank killer during the Cold War, the A-10
had to wait in the wings until the first Middle East war in
1992 to show it's stuff. Over eighty per cent of Saddam's
tanks, trucks, personnel carriers, radar sites, skud missile
sites, and other vehicles were destroyed by the A-10. The
rugged design and basic concept of the plane reminded
pilots and engineers of the P-47 Thunderbolt of World War II
fame and they borrowed the 'Thunderbolt' name. Never to be
confused with the sleek lines of the F-18 or the F-22, the A-10
was more commonly referred to as "The Warthog." The plane
has NOT been allowed to slip into obsolescence, updated in
1978 with a new GPS system,... in 1980 the navigational system
was completely computerized,...in 1999 the A-10 was made
compatible with the night vision goggles of the pilot,...in 2005
new fire control & engagement software upgrades...in 2006
many of the A-10s received new wings..and in 2010 the A-10
is scheduled to receive a new Helmet Mounted Targeting
System so the pilot simply looks at the target and the A-10
can utilize it's weaponry on it.....AND if that big cannon was
not enough, the A-10 can still carry a bomb load of 16,000
pounds. So, the A-10 is not ready for retirement after all, but
will be with us for many years to come.

New Camera

I have ordered a new digital camera from the
Kodak people. My current camera is a Kodak Z740
and has served me well since 2005, but now I find
it is slowing down and starting to look a little fuzzy
in some photos.. The new one is a Kodak Z981
and was only introduced in January of 2010. It is
a fully automatic camera with manual overrides.
You can set the aperture and the camera will set
the shutter speed,.. or you can set the shutter speed
and the camera will set the aperture...OR you can
put it on fully automatic and the camera will do everything
for you except make coffee. The part that was most
appealing to me was the opportunity to manually focus
the camera. My current camera has always let me down
in that regard. I would focus on a subject and the photo
would be right on the edge of fuzziness. The new camera
is center-weighted metering so that should help out. That
is the metering system made popular by Nikon. I carried
my Nikon EL for over 25 years until it started to fade and
the Nikon repairman told me it was nothing more than a
fishing boat anchor. Kodak and Fuji are both planning to
terminate 35mm film production soon, and digital cameras
are the only alternative. I bought my wife a Nikon digital
but so far we are a little turned off by it. Most of the photos
in it come out brighter than the original situation. I haven't
got any results with the new Kodak since it will be delivered
sometime next week...but I do have these photos to share
with you....

Inceptions--- The Movie

Both my wife and I are fans of Leonardo DiCaprio, so
we were looking forward to the premiere of 'Inceptions'.
I am not the coldest beer in the six-pack when it comes
to figuring out these deep movies. (I am still working
on Pulp Fiction). The basic premise of the movie is
invading other people's dreams. I was with them up
to this point. DiCaprio's character has devised a way
to invade someone else's dreams and then insert a
dream within a dream. I told you it was going to get
a little freaky. Can you believe by the end of the movie
they were dreaming into the fifth echelon of slumber?
This is about the point where I kept asking Momma,
'What the hell is going on?' She did her best to keep
me informed until the guy behind us kept making a
noise like 'Sssssh!' I don't know, maybe he had a
leak in his lip or something. I don't want to spoil
the movie for you,..but Leonardo's wife in the
movie was killed by one of his dreaming schemes
and keeps coming back to mess up his plans within
the dreams. The special effects are really good. At one
point you get to see a city block of Paris, France picked up
and stacked upside down on the next block. My right
eye started to twitch about this time. If you like
good action movies with lots of shooting and tusseling
then you will want to see 'Inceptions.' The movie
has the same director as 'The Dark Knight' if that is
motivation enough for you...

NASCAR Victory Number Two

It was a very popular win this past Saturday night in
Chicago. With all the big name drivers battling to make
the chase, David Reutimann came from behind to win
the second race of his career. The first win came last year
in Charlotte when rain stopped the race and Ruddy
was declared the winner. Reutimann has had to carry
the stigma of winning 'through the back door' ever
since. The win Saturday night was nothing to apologize
for, as he passed four-time NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon
to take the lead for good with 32 laps to go. Reutimann
and Gordon put on a show for a while, battling for the
lead. When Reutimann finally managed to pass him,
Gordon radioed his crew, 'Damn, he is a good driver.'
Reutimann is one of the favorites in the garage and it
would be difficult to find someone that does not have
something good to say about him. Reutimann came into
the sport when Michael Waltrip started his own team.
Reutimann requested car number '00' because that
is his father's number. His dad remains the spotter for
David and the two are extremely close. Earlier this year
when Michael Waltrip wanted to re-new his contract with
Reutimann, David told him 'whatever you think is fair,' and
the two shook hands on the deal. When is the last time you
heard of a major sports figure finalizing a contract with
a handshake. More than a dozen of the drivers came to
Victory Lane Saturday night to congratulate Reutimann
on the win,...including Jeff Gordon.

Dean Smith

I read today that former North Carolina Basketball
Coach Dean Smith has been diagnosed as a victim of
the Alzheimer Disease. Friends and family say he has
good days and bad. On the bad days he does not
remember those closely associated with Smith for
years. The 79 year old coach was born in Kansas and
lettered all four years he played for Topeka High School.
He was named to the All-State Team as a senior and
even played quarterback on the football team. Smith
attended the University of Kansas on a basketball
scholarship and was a volunteer coach after graduation
at Lawrence. The United States Air Force held his
attention for four years, but then he returned to coaching.
In 1958 Frank McGuire hired Smith as an assistant coach
at North Carolina, and in 1961 when McGuire was caught
cheating by the NCAA, the school fired him. Smith was given
the head coaching job and told to run a clean program. It
was never even in suspect in the 36 years he was in charge
of the basketball operations at Chapel Hill. Smith recruited
the first black basketball player for North Carolina when he
brought Charlie Smith to NC. Even though Smith led the
Tar Heels to 2 National Championships and 11 trips to the
Final Four, one of his greatest sources of pride was his
players academics. Under Smith, 97 per cent of the NC
basketball players received their degree. The rivalry between
North Carolina and Duke University is one of the best in all
of college basketball and they are two of the cleanest-run
programs in all of the N.C.A.A....and today even the Duke players
are wishing the best for Dean Smith.

World Cup Soccer Matches

The World Cup Soccer Games are being played in
Africa, and like the Olympic Games, nationalism is being
shown by all. Soccer in America is referred to as 'football'
by the rest of the world, but it has never caught on as a
real sport in the United States. I am the father of four
grown children and they all played soccer in their youth.
The game has been here, but has never attracted a
national following in the States. I remember back in the
1960's when crowds would riot over the outcome of some
World Cup games and deaths were even recorded as the violence got
out of hand. The true mark of a professional is to be able to
keep control of yourself during a period of pressure. That
leads us to Saturday's game between German and Argentina.
The coach of the Argentine team is Diego Maradona, who was
a world class player in his day. He has been a delight with his
sideline antics during the current games, but Saturday he lost
his composure. Following the 4-0 defeat of his team he became
involved in some name-calling with German fans that were
located behind the Argentine bench. Maradona's daughter and
security guards had to restrain the coach from going into the
crowd. He later told reporters it was the most disappointing
loss of his playing/coaching career. The photo of the crowd holding
a banner reads "Good-bye Maradona". Fans of any sport can be
a bit pushy, but World Cup crowds go crazy for their teams. Last
week the Germans defeated England to advance to Saturday's
game. I was looking forward to an England-Argentina match. These
two countries have never been close since the Falkland Island
war. The two countries have been at odds over those islands since
the early 1800's and it finally came to blows in 1982. The British routed
the Argentines, but it cost lives on both sides. Maybe soccer is the
answer after all.. it definitely is not as dangerous as a war.