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GM press photo.
I like animals just as much as the next person. I grew up with cats, dogs and tropical fish in the house most of the time. When I became a teenager, however, I developed allergies, and one was to pet dander. While I haven't been able to own or come in regular contact with furry friends for quite a few years, for some reason they have found me. Strangely, more times than not, the reason has something to do with one of my cars.
Back in the mid-1990s, when I worked at CSK Publishing, some of the editorial staff got into the habit of using the office parking lot for short-term storage of cars that we worked on to do tech stories. Little surprise, I was one of those staffers. One winter evening, following the melt-off of a large snow storm that left my Hurst/Olds plowed-in and frozen in the permafrost for about two weeks, I dug it out and with a twist of the ignition key woke up the Colonnade crusader to get me home.
Though far from perfect, the Olds was dependable and what needed to work did, including the headlights… until that night. On my 39-mile drive from Saddle Brook, New Jersey, home to Sussex County, the driver's-side headlight intermittently went out and then came back on. It got really frustrating after a while.
When I finally got home, it was freezing cold and pitch black. Of course I didn't have a flashlight, but I was annoyed and was going to find out what the problem was with the headlight before I went into the warm house.
I threw the hood open in disgust and began to reach around the battery to grab the harness connector on the headlight – I ended up with a handful of fur. Though for a moment it was like a real-life episode of Fear Factor, my mind was quickly put at ease when I heard meowing and realized it was not a rat! Yes, kittens, two little tiny ones. They rode along the whole trip home, nestled between the battery and the back of the headlight – laying across and loosening the wires.
Because there was no home for them to go back to, as transient stray cats were a staple of the office parking lot, we kept them. The kids loved them, but my chest regularly tightened up and my eyes swelled from the allergies. Finally, after about two weeks, an elderly neighbor adopted them. Though we all missed them, I could breathe again.
Another interesting encounter occurred right in my driveway. Anyone who has ever worked on a car outside knows that it will invariably either rain or get dark before you are finished. On this day, it ended up being the latter. As you may have imagined, things weren't going well. I was wrenching on my '77 Trans Am on a Sunday night, and it had to get me to work the next morning. Between skinning knuckles and inadvertently dropping tools into the New Jersey quicksand that swallowed any socket smaller than 9/16-inch, I kept hearing a rustling noise over the passenger's side fender as I toiled away under the hood on the driver's side.
It went on for about 10 minutes, which is a long time when you are working in the cold dark night with a single droplight to light your way. Finally I'd had enough, this raccoon, possum, cat, rabbit, chipmunk or whatever that's probably peeing on my tire, is about to get his. I quickly jumped to the other side of the car to scare it away and found myself nearly eyeball to eyeball with a full-grown black bear! Oops. I slowly turned, picked up my toolbox and calmly (on the outside) moved toward the house. She was busy eating what could have been a small bus for all I know, but it was more likely leftover dinner from a neighbor's trash can, so she couldn't care less about the angry little Italian guy who was throwing wrenches just a few minutes before.
Did I mention that Northwest New Jersey was seemingly the black bear capital of the world in the 1990s? Of course I didn't, it would have ruined the story. Yes, they used to actually pick up the garbage cans while on their hind legs and throw them on the ground to get them open. They were about as common as squirrels in my yard.
The last story is probably the weirdest and, thankfully, it has nothing to do with me or any of my cars except for the fact that I witnessed it while driving one down the highway. Picture it, the New Jersey Turnpike, a summer Saturday morning circa the mid-1990s. My family and I were travelling southbound and had just passed the Meadowlands complex.
Rolling along at 70 MPH, on the center shoulder we saw a gray 1980s G-body Cutlass with two guys running around it chasing a mid-sized animal. They were about a foot away from being in my lane, so I started slowing down thinking that their dog probably had jumped out the window, and they were trying to retrieve it. I was incorrect. As we approached, now at about 35 MPH it became clear that it was no dog. These two individuals were trying to stuff a very alive and kicking LAMB into the trunk!
About a mile or two down the Pike, there was a New Jersey State Trooper parked on the center shoulder, so I pulled over in front of him and went up to his window. "You're probably not going to believe this, but about two miles back up the highway there are two guys trying to stuff a lamb into the trunk of a gray Cutlass." "Come again?" He said. "I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't just seen it myself." "What year Cutlass?" "1981 to 1986 – no composite headlights, gray with a landau top." "Okay, I'll check it out."
I never did find out what happened.
Now that you've read my strange-but-true tales of cars and animals, let's hear about yours!
To protect the innocent, the photo of the car depicted here is not of the actual one involved in the stories. (Actually, I'm too embarrassed to show you what my Hurst/Olds currently looks like.)
In all my years of trucking and cruisin', I've had more than my share of gory animal stories, but this one had a (somewhat) happy ending. While cruisin' in my MGB, top down, future wife riding shotgun, 2 lane road, all of a sudden, I hear a scream, I look to the right, on the shoulder, a young girl lost control of her horse, the thing got onto the road, lost it's footing, and was skidding towards me on it's knees! I yanked the wheel, missed the horse, and stopped. By then, other people stopped, and the young girl ran to the horse, that got back up on it's feet, and calmed down. Aside from skinned knees, the horse was ok. The rest of the cruise was less eventful.
My tale is not so much what crawled under my hood as much as what I came out of a convenient store to fin in my front seat.
Stopped at the quickie-mart for smokes & a pop on incipidly miserable hot muggy afternoon, and left my driver's window down on my Civic. Two kids sitting on bikes were outside the door, as kids do–sipping pop & BS-ing. I came back out to find a tiny, beautiful black kitten on my front seat, staring up at me, with the biggest green eyes meowing, "take me home, please?" I asked the two kids where it came from. They said a car pulled up at the back of my car, and a girl saw my window open, and simply plopped the kitten into my car and drove off!
Now IM a cat & dog lover, and found it extremely hard to be mad at that moment.
Long story short, I am very proud to say she (Maya is her name) has been the love of my life for a few years now! She was fixed & de-clawed when found, and ended up making the most wonderful best friend I could ever ask for!
Growing up on a farm, we always had our share of cats Barn cats we called them, as the barn is primarily where they lived. One year we had a Distemper epidemic that wiped out our entire cat population with the exception of one Tom cat which seemed to have all (9) of its lives. Winter time is usually a time when grain quotas come up and that means hauling grain (wheat, barley, whatever) to the elevator in town.
It was a chilly Saturday, about 10-15 above, actually a good day to haul grain as it didn't seem as dusty when you had to shovel the last remaining bit of grain off the floor of the granary into the auger. We hauled two loads in the morning then stopped for lunch. The truck was parked conveniently at the gate to the yard so after lunch, I just jumped in and started the engine.
Well, there was a loud 'clank' from the engine compartment and the next thing I saw was that old gray tomcat running flat-out across the yard. The engine was running but I could see that the ammeter showed no charge. I shut it down and looked under the hood.
That damned cat had climbed up onto the air cleaner to enjoy the heat radiating off the engine. When I started it, the cat jumped off into the fan. Usually when they do that, they're simply dead but this one bent the fan, broke one of the twin belts and flipped the other one off the pulleys. Needless to say, hauling wheat was cancelled for the rest of the day. The cat showed up in the barn at chore time that evening. His right side was completely devoid of fur but he was otherwise just fine. In time the fur grew back, eliminating all evidence of his miscalculation.
I think he used up one of his lives there!
Great story autobug2, you're truly a good Samaritan! Just curious, but how does a smoke rate on a miserable, muggy day? A cold beer sounds a whole lot better, just sayin'.
Hey Gordy–a man has his habits, and smoking is a tough one for me to break. As for the beer, oh, how I would have LOVED one, but not while in the car, obviously. As I recall, I got an iced tea from the fountain, because I hate the belching/burping from pop. Anyone riding with me wouldn't either LOL.
One look at that tiny black face with green eyes is all it took Gordy. Call me weak. She had that innocent look that melts hearts instantly. And she still does.
In the mid nineties, I lived in the Twin Cities and had an 86 Chevrolet Spectrum 2.5 door sedan. Originally a 4 door, both of the outside rear door handles had broke off and one of the inside rear door handles would not release the door. I also had a friend Angie, she traveled frequently for her job and her family was spread over several states. I would stay at her house and take care of her pets; a couple of cats and a medium sized mixed breed dog, named Zoomer, while she was away. Over Christmas Angie's family would rotate family gatherings to various states and I would take care of the pets. I would come back to Willmar for Christmas and I would bring Zoomer with me, the cats were fine for a day or two and enjoyed getting a break from that silly dog. Zoomer was a great companion that thoroughly enjoyed riding in the car. Returning from my traditional family gathering one Christmas night at about 10pm, Zoomer and I were passing through Litchfield near Lake Ripley and the tryptophan from all that turkey was overwhelming me. I spotted a Pepsi vending machine at a lawn and power equipment dealer and decided to stop and get a Mountain Dew. It was almost 30 degrees outside and the car was nice and warm, so I just popped out the car and stepped over to get my pop. Zoomer, excited to resume our journey, jumped over to the driver's seat and put her paw directly on the plunger that locks the driver's door. I moved to the rear door and reached for the handle that wasn't there. I took off around the back of the car to the passenger door past the useless rear door to the front door, but not before Zoomer jumped up to greet me and locked the passenger door. There I was 10pm Christmas night in a light fog in Litchfield in pre-cell phone times with my coat inside the toasty, warm, running car. Maybe it was a Christmas Miracle, at least a minor one, I saw someone out walking. I approached the man and discovered he was strolling off the big Holiday meal and returning to the motel next door. I explained my situation and he let me use his room phone to call the Litchfield Police. They responded quickly and shared a chuckle and got me on the road again. Once I learn something I rarely forget it. Unfortunately, it usually takes a couple times before the lesson truly sinks in. The next Christmas Zoomer, the Chevy and myself repeated the same scenario only this time it was in Cokato, at the Tom Thumb store, on the way to the Christmas Eve celebration and we were rescued by some friendly people across highway 12 at Holt Ford. The Christmas spirit even trumps the Chevy-Ford rivalry. Lesson well learned, but you need to adapt to new situations and technologies, like remote locking key fobs, an obstinate Olde English Bulldog, and a Ford Taurus. Some other time.
Afternoon "Crown"
Great story and I totally believe it as I had a VERY similar experience.
I was working @ a Porsche Dealer and a gentleman came in with his 928 (it was winter time and cold outside) and pulled into the inside service lane and got out of the vehicle to have us write up the service order.
He had his dog with him as well and just like you discovered the pet got excited and jumped up and hit the door lock which also locked the passenger door when depressed.
Well …. we had No idea how to remedy this and the vehicle Was blocking all the others from getting in. A real conundrum fer sure.
With these early 928's you could not just use a slim jim to get into the inner door mechanisms to unlatch it due to the factory theft prevention engineering (German over engineering yet again!) and the keys themselves were laser cut and had to be obtained from Germany needless to add.
No easy answer and I had no idea other than to try and get a tow truck to get in from the other side of the dealer service area and move several parked vehicles in the way, to at least get it out of the absolutely worst place for it to be "stuck".
The only real "fix" was to remove one of the two rear quarter windows and find someone small (like a 2 year old!) enough to crawl thru and unlock the door and shut off the vehicle.
At this point the owner just laughed (gee thanks) and said "Let me try something" ……. he went over to the drivers door window and called out the pooch's name and pointed to the door lock stalk and said calmly….. "please put your mouth on that (pointing at it) and pull it up" demonstrating with his hand and head also.
I'll be damned if the pet didn't hesitate a nano-second and do EXACLY That!
I was dumbfounded to say the least and we quickly put (Both) door windows down and got things rolling again back to normal.
I then HAD to ask of course if he (the owner) had "staged" this after training a very intelligent furry family member to do this trick and he "swore" that no he hadn't and that he was just a very smart dog!
If I hadn't been there thru all of this I don't think I woulda' believed it could have happened as it did!
I have several other stories to share which I will do down below.
Good stories, both. I never had problems with pets locking the doors but I've had it happen with a toddler who got into the car by himself and locked it up, with the keys in the ignition. Fortunately the boy's mother was able to get him to press the unlock button and we got the doors open real fast, as it was about 95 outside under the bright sun.
Amazing! Robster9
Years ago, don't laugh, I had an Irish Setter and was moving from one place to another using my '72 Chevy C-10 longbed daily driver. On one of the last trips of the move, we loaded up the living room sofa, the dog, and a bunch of other stuff and headed out. This was a big double win for the Setter because it involved two of his favorite things: riding in the back of the truck, and sleeping on the sofa. At the same time. How cool is that?
Unfortunately, because it was dark and the turns were still unfamiliar on the way to the new place, I took a corner a bit too fast.
And to this day, I remember looking in the side mirror as the sofa went horizontal and the big red dog took a giant header off the side of the truck.
The happy ending was that the Setter, somehow, had managed to land running, and other than being evidently annoyed by the interruption to his nap was none the worse for wear.
He rode the rest of the way with us in the cab of the truck, the big dummy.
So, shift work, summer time and I'm headed in to the plant at 11:00 ish, (night shift) and the windows are down, Just cruse mode, all's good. Ready for the least shift and then I re join the daylight crowd. About 2 miles into this, something fur covered moves up from the floor between my legs! Argh!! I think "skunk" so grab it and am about ready to toss this fur thing out the window when I realize it's my orange tom cat who was sleeping under the seat… He was a pleasant work companion that night.
When I lived in Ohio, I had some friends who planned a day rummaging through a string of junkyards, so I was up before dawn to head out to meet them, driving my dad's S-10. I was on one of those long straight country roads with my brights on when I saw some lump in about the middle of the road up ahead. Until I was almost on top of it, I couldn't figure out what it was – a pheasant sleeping in the road. It woke up and took off, but a split second too late. You know in the cartoons when a bird gets hit by something heavy and explodes in a cloud of feathers? That was exactly what happened that morning. My dad said he kept finding feathers in the S-10's airbox for a couple years after that.
This is a little gross, but my friend in the UP came across this Coca-Cola truck one morning. The driver, standing next to the truck, was ok, the turkey, not so much. I hit a turkey with my Saturn once, shattered the windshield, and the worst part, was buying a $347 dollar windshield for a $500 car. When the glass guy came to repair the windshield, he said this was the 3rd "turkey" incident in 2 weeks. Watch out for turkey's!
First run for a new company. Northbound in Virginia somewhere and a turkey hit my windshield. I didn't know those things could fly.
Guy behind me yells out on the radio if I was OK. All he saw was my brake lights, then the trailer wiggle and feathers flying back on both sides of the truck.
Don't know where the bird ended up, but caved in both windshields, broke the windshield divider bar and my GPS was smashed.
A cold and windy drive 30 miles to the nearest truck stop (November). Always reminded of that incident any time it rained. Never could get that windshield to stop leaking afterwards.
One of the all-time greatest lines ever uttered by a character in a TV show:
"With God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly…"
Arthur Carlson, General Manager, WKRP
When they threw them out the helicopter!
Wild Turkey & Coke … Advertisers couldn't have planed that any better.
Here's the inside view. And who said truckers have it easy. Just as a sidebar, be careful what you post on the internet. These photos were sent to my email by my friend, and not too long after, appeared on Google images! http://neveryetmelted.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/coketurkey2.jpg
I was gainfully unemployed ("surplused" from IBM) and Dad was having another of his congestive heart failure episodes (he lived for 10 more years after this), so he asked me to take his '92 Olds Alero home with me and drive it occasionally so it wouldn't sit.
It was twilight and there was a flash in the passenger headlight, a loud thump in the front and feathers galore. Took me a minute to realize that it was more than a robin that had hit me. I pulled off the road to look at the damage – if you recall, the hood of the Alero curved down and met the front bumper with grilles on both sides of the downsweep. The turkey had hit the center of downsweep, driving the hood back into the a/c condenser, both grilles were destroyed and both headlights were cracked.
I called Dad's insurance company and gave the lady who answered all the details. I must have made the comment that I couldn't believe the amount of damage the turkey had made. She replied in a lovely "Southern Belle" drawl, "Son, I'm down here in Texas, and you should see the job an armadilla can do on a car!"
While home from college for the summer, about twenty years ago, I was sleeping soundly on my day off when my mother frantically knocked on my bedroom door and said, "I need you to come outside. There's a snake in your brother's car." I could have sworn I misunderstood here, but I got dressed and went outside to find my mother staring at my brother's '93 Grand Prix. [Backstory: my brother, already graduated from college, lived in an apartment elsewhere, but would leave his car parked at my parents' house and take his old beater pickup to work, since he worked in an environment where his vehicle would get dirty quickly]
Anyway, I asked her what the problem was, and she said that she'd walked outside and noticed what she thought was a stick protruding from the driver's side front wheelwell. She walked toward the car to remove the stick when the stick…disappeared back into the car. We stood there for several minutes, not seeing anything. I assumed the snake must have left the area after she approached it. Well, in short order, the snake appeared again.
I wasn't sure exactly what to do. I didn't know exactly how long the snake was, but it didn't appear to be very large. I didn't think it was poisonous, but I didn't see it long enough to be sure. I went to get my .22 rifle, but I really couldn't use that since I might hit the car…AND it was parked between the house and the garage. Not really a good place to be firing a weapon.
After a long wait…and several appearances by the snake…in multiple places (both front wheelwells and from between a headlamp and the lightbar between the headlamps), We finally decided to drive the car out away from the house into a field on our property. This was to give us room to maybe shoot the darn thing.
Driving it out to the field was nerve-wracking. I've never been a fan of snakes…poisonous or not. I didn't know if it would be able to get through an opening in the firewall or not. Well, I drove it out there and we waited again.
[Sidebar: I've never been a deer hunter…don't have the patience for it. But, while standing there, watching this car, holding a rifle, albeit a small one, we noticed, in a clearing behind the field we were in, not one, not two, but about six deer (at least one buck) grazing and watching us curiously. Almost as if they knew it was torturing me. After all, they were out of season at the time.]
Back to the snake. We watched the car for maybe half an hour…the snake would poke out and then go back. Finally, my mother called my father at work and he came up with the best idea. Just turn the engine on. Eventually, the snake would get hot and want out. So, we did. And he DID get hot. He would poke his head out, open his mouth and, apparently, attempt to suck in cool air to cool off. Then, back in he'd go. He seemed to be staying in one place, so I went over to prepare for his next appearance. When he popped out, he must have sensed me and danger, so he went right back in. Moments later, my mother screamed that he had come out of the opposite side of the car and was quickly heading across the field.
Well, this snake had ruined my day off and wasn't getting off easy. Yeah, I unloaded the clip of my .22 on him. Probably wasn't really fair to him, but that's how it goes sometimes.
My mother and I still laugh when we think about what people must have thought when they drove by. We were standing in a field, her with a hoe and me with a rifle, staring at a 1993 green Pontiac Grand Prix. I can only imagine what they thought about us…
Hi Skip, pesky snakes. When I had my farmhouse years ago (pre-divorce) I had a lot of grass to cut, and didn't live far from a river. A particularly wet year brought a lot of snakes farther from the river. While cutting the grass one day, with my older Simplicity tractor( which used a very expensive double V belt to run the mower), all of a sudden, ZING, and what looked like the belt went flying. My 1st thought, dog gone it, there goes the belt,,,,wait, still cutting fine. Poor snake didn't have a chance.
I took in a feral cat and we adopted each other. He was a barn cat but with a cushy life and warm bed. His job was to keep critters out of the barn and away from my '64 Thunderbird parked therein. On one occasion a skunk entered the premises. Ol' Tom performed his duties admirably, chasing the skunk out of the building. I could tell by oily footprints on the floor where the chase went, which included through my oil drain pan over in the corner. Looking over the aftermath, I saw a piece of 11 gage steel tubing lying on the floor next to my T-bird. It had been leaning against the corner of my building. Pulling the cover off the car revealed a dent on the crease of the quarter panel. I could deal with the smell but the dent hurt.
I learned many lessons that day including: boiling white vinegar in the barn completely eliminated the odor and; don't wash a full-featured, 17-pound barn cat in vinegar unless there's an emergency room nearby. Don't ask.
Two stories:
Me and a friend were out driving around dirt roads way up in the hills in my B2000 pickup, and we saw a dog trotting down the road. He (the dog) looked over his shoulder at us and both me and my buddy thought, "That dog is asking for a ride." I stopped the truck, dropped the tailgate and the dog jumped in. A mile or two down the road the dog stood up, I stopped and let him out, and he trotted off into the woods. To this day I maintain that dog was hitchhiking.
I worked at a sawmill summers in highschool, and while he wasn't necessarily a good guy, my boss was fun and we got along. He was also a practical joker, which is probably a bad idea when you have teenage employees. Art, my boss, was also deathly afraid of snakes, and at a mill with boards all over the place, there are lots of opportunities to collect snakes.
I don't remember now what Art had done to deserve this, but he probably did, and one day I collected four or five snakes. Knowing Art kept his sunglasses in the glove compartment in his old Chevy 2500, I loaded the snakes in there just before lunchtime. Sure enough, at lunch time he got about a half-mile down the dirt track from the mill before he went for his sunglasses, the truck skidded to a halt and he leaped out screaming my name. He didn't hold a grudge, although I did have to prove to him there weren't any more snakes in the truck.
This also works with bats. Ask me how I know.
In reference to the Cutlass and lamb story; obviously new at this. The individuals I knew that have lambs regularly sold them to persons who put them in the back seat; always need a four door to haul livestock!
I've carried lamb in the trunk of my Cadillac but that was in a cooler after being processed. It's quieter that way.
Back in '62 I got my first car, a black '60 Volvo PV544. As a college freshman living at home and a car nut, that Swedish fastback got plenty of use and I spent untold hours tuning and primping the thing. One spring Saturday I had washed and waxed it to perfection and scrubbed the interior spotless in preparation for the major date with a Blond Goddess that evening. Wanting the still-damp rubber floor covering to dry completely, I left the door widows down as I went inside to shower and get dressed in my coolest threads for what I hoped would be a memorable night. When I emerged two hours later, I was relieved to see the hard-won black finish of the Volvo had been untouched by our neighbor's siamese cat, a beast whose greatest joy seemed to be leaving it's footprints all over my car. I was a mile or so away from home, my mind full of impure thoughts about the Blond Goddess, when suddenly the most bloodcurdling screech I'd ever heard erupted next to my right ear! After correcting my panicked swerve into oncoming traffic, I looked beside me to discover that siamese cat standing on the back if the passenger seat, demanding to be returned home. I suppose it had jumped in and hidden in the back seat, waiting for the right moment to announce its presence. After the shaking settled down I turned around and drove back home to return the cat, suppressing my urge to throttle the beast in the name of neighborly relations. Unfortunately, the adrenaline tsunami it had caused didn't do my mental state any good and the evening with the Blond Goddess was pretty underwhelming for both of us. But I never again in over 50-years of driving, left the car windows down all the way while parked even in my own garage.
I was traveling with a friend in his '73 Nova when I saw something run across the road in front of us. As I started to point it out, there was this gawd awful crash and steam started to pour out from under the hood. We got out and when we got to the front of the car, there was a young owl sitting where the Nova's grill used to be. He was stunned and shaking his head, wondering what the heck just happened. The local game warden drove up on the scene a short time later and removed the owl from in front of the radiator. He had a broken wing, and some other minor injuries, but otherwise in pretty good shape. After a visit to the local veterinarian, they allowed my friend to take him home, under the conditions that he would return him to the wild once he was able to fly. Once healed, my friend took the cage to a wooded area near his house and released him. When he returned home, the owl was sitting on the light post in front of his garage. My friend opened the cage and the owl flew in like he was home. We took him to another wooded area several miles away and released him again, only to find him once again waiting on us when we got home. That owl stayed around for months. Sometimes he would disappear for a couple of days, but he would soon return again. Finally, after about six months, the absences got longer and longer until he eventually stopped coming back.
Story #1
My father and his buddy used to deer hunting. Their great system was to canoe down some of the small rivers in the Pine Barrens of South Jersey and bag one drinking by the water's edge. After all, why do all that walking in the woods? Over several years of this, they only got one deer – and that was when his buddy hit one with his '69 Monterey on the way to the river.
Story #2
My future wife and I were in a borrowed car (a story in itself…). She was driving; I was sleeping. We came over a rise on I-80 and hit a something. I jumped awake. She said "We hit a deer". No damage evident – hood was fine, no idiot lights on the dash. "Are you sure?". " I grew up in the country – I know what a deer is…". She was right – upon inspection at the next rest stop, we had 'fileted' a deer carcus. For the next several hours the car smelled like venision stew…
But then we had to return the car. "Sorry buddy and I'll take your car thru the carwash tomorrow." "No problem. I have a sales call first thing so I'll do it and you can buy me a beer". Now picture the car was a gray 4 door Chevy, and my salesman friend looked a bit Italian and wore a suit on sales calls. Over the beer he told us the car came out of the wash dripping blood colored water and all the guys working there kinda shied away from him…
When I was a "teen" I was working as a mechanic # a Service Station during summer vacation.
Us "old – timers" will remember these from back in the day when they actually WERE "Service" stations and we pumped the gas, washed the windows and "checked under the hood".
We also of course "worked on them" …… go figure.
At any rate I had just installed a rebuilt carb on a vehicle (can't really remember what it was – my "some-timer's" disease [some times I remember, sometimes I don't], of course) and was out test driving it for smoothness of operation etc. when I suddenly felt something in my shirt on my back ….. then OUCH, Ouch again !!
A "swine" bumble bee (yellow jacket!) had gotten in there and was stinging the "bejesus" outta' me.
Needless to say I was "all over the road" trying to "crush" that little "buzzard" and thank goodness no one else was around on that residential lane.
I quickly pulled over, jumped out and ripped off my shirt and the bee just buzzed away.
Got back to work shirtless and if it weren't for all the "welts" on my back I doubt anyone would have believed me.
Didn't stop me from being the "brunt" of the jokes for the rest of the day, of course.
Call me batman. Twice when I was a teenager, I hit little brown bats and both times the bat ended up entangled in the windshield wipers of our '58 Chevy Biscayne sedan (6cyl, 3 on the tree, non-synchro 1st gear. Don't laugh, I learned to heel & toe on that beast). Then about 40 years later I had one bounce off the top of my helmet while riding my motorcycle.
Then twice in the last 7 years, I came to the rescue of female friends that had bats flitting about their homes. One was a catch and release using a couple of racquets. The other I managed to chase out an open vent (probably the way it came in).
And last, but not least, we were watching "China Syndrome" at an non-air-conditioned theater when a bat came in thru an open side door. Very few were aware of the visitor until it flew fairly closely in front of the projector and cast it's ominous shadow on the screen. Then pandemonium broke out.
Yet another animal "tail (pun intended)"
I was headed North on I-75 in Georgia with a friend in his 5th generation Vette conv't and I was behind the wheel at that stage.
We were in the #1 lane (read far left / fast lane) movin' along 'bout 75 MPH when I noticed from the corner of my eye just a few feet in front of us a raccoon who had miraculously made it all the way from the right side of the road over the other two lanes (it was a Thursday around 1:00 P.M. & busy) and was just on the outside edge of my lane and it was determined to make it all the way … vehicles be damned, he wasn't stoppin'.
It all happened so quickly there was no time to react or get out of the way and the right front lower valance "collected" him and with it's aerodynamic "prowess" flung him right up and past the passenger window to points behind us.
I watched the rear view mirror to be sure that no one else had an unfortunate "meeting" with the carcass and thankfully no one did, and I can only hope that his demise was instant and painless needless to say.
As soon as we could we pulled over to ascertain any damage and amazingly there was none, we continued on and as I was driving out back onto to the Interstate, when my buddy said "you should have seen the look on that raccoon's face as he went sailing by (LOL)"
During the course of this road adventure it was THE topic of discussion with everyone and my friend went so far as to find a small raccoon stuffed animal @ a truck stop where we had pulled off and covertly "positioned it" on the passenger seat when we switched places and it was his turn to drive.
He threatened to have it mounted for me upon our return to SW FL. but I was successful in keeping it hidden in the luggage for the remainder of the trip, so as to "allow it to roam free in the household" when I got home.
Several years ago, my wife had a 2000 Mustang. One day we noticed that a bird, I think it was a starling or a sparrow,… had a strange affinity for her car. We saw the bird fly out from behind the car, and return not too long afterwards. When we went to investigate, we could hear faint high pitched squeaking/chirping sound coming from the rear trunk area. We looked around the back of the car, finding nothing, but could still hear the noise. After opening the trunk and looking around, I removed the spare tire to find four baby mice in the spare tire well in a cozy bed of trunk insulation…. but no mother mouse in sight. After removing the babies and straightening out the trunk, I could still hear the chirping sound. After further searching, I found what looked like grass and twigs sticking out from the space between the gas tank and the bottom of the spare tire well, and the chirping sound also increased in volume. The bird had built a nest in that small space, and also had babies, and there was no way for me to get in there to remove it without dropping the fuel tank, which I was not going to do. While I was under the car searching, my wife told me the bird was flying around the car. We just left it and my wife continued to drive the car till she traded it off.
So we had what may have been the worlds first Ford Mustang with a two story animal maternity condo in the back.
Augsburg, Germany, 1978, we were assigned with the US Army but living on the economy.
A local citizen in the next complex fired up his car…heard a terrible noise…opened the hood to find he had helped a cat, which fell asleep on his fan pulley, go through all nine lives simultaneously. Was NOT pretty.
Had a cat do his business in my el Camino once…I'm still offended. On the bright side, I sure like the way that 73 Cutlass looks.
when I worked for the county we had a guy who ran the tow truck and worked in the steamroom. He smoked weed and drank a lot of wine. He tied up his goat to his old beat up fairlane and decided to go to the store for more wine. Well Jimmy took off and forgot about the goat. After hearing frantic bleating he stopped the car to let his clove hoofed friend in. People did a double take when they saw Jimmy driving the car with a goat passenger!
Just wondering if your H/O was a '74 or '73? I grew up in Morris County and owned a '74 Hurst Olds, in black. I bought it in 1983 in Sussex County near Newton. I sold it in 1986 to a mechanic off Howard Blvd. in Ledgewood, and then I saw it a couple of years later for sale on a used car lot in Dover. When I went to inquire about it, the owner of the car lot told me it was a one owner car?! I know it was my car from the Jensen tape deck and the factory or dealer installed alarm with key hole in the driver's fender. If this might be your car now, email me back. A friend (and cop in Randolph) had a '73 black H/O which looks completely different to those of us who know (opera window, white roof trim), but most people were always confusing us.
I had a '73 442, blue with white swivel bucket interior, based on the fastback S body. I've never seen a notchback '73-74 442 or Hurst Olds. Not sayin they're not out there though. On the flip side, I have seen '75 notch back Hurst's, but never in an S body, and have seen plenty of 75-77 442's in the S body.
I had a 75 442. Loved the swivel buckets.
My H/O is a '73. I bought it in central New Jersey around 1990 or so. I can't remember the name of the town. It was a rust-free California car at the time. Now it's a semi-rusty Pennsylvania car. I lived in Bergen county NJ in the 1980s and Sussex county until 2003. I'm surprised that I never saw the '73 in Randolph, as I definitely would have remembered it. It was probably sold by the time I moved to Sussex county.
Thanks for the reply. You have my email from this posting, send me a note directly, and I can send some pictures of my H/O. Back around 1985, I was involved in the local Oldsmobile Club and we sponsored a show and go at Englishtown. Although the go part got rained out, I have great pictures of my H/O on the starting line taken from the tower with no one else around. In those days I also had Warren Johnson's direct phone number, and had gotten Hurst to send their shop tractor/trailer to Englishtown for the event.
These responses and stories are fantastic!
"Wild Turkey and Coke" Hilarious! A reference to the WKRP and one of the greatest holiday episodes ever; flying Irish Setters; "skiddish" horse, convenience store cat; barn cat holiday; "dog-o-matic" door locks; Porsche dog trick; take a Tomcat to work day; exploding bird; "Armadilla" vs turkey damage; hide and seek snake; cat vs. skunk; hitchhiking dog; screaming Siamese cat; homing owl; Monterey deer hunter; bloody Chevy sedan; stinging test drive; bats in the Biscayne; Vette vs. raccoon; Mustang bird and mouse sanctuary; German cat flip; cat desecrates El Camino; and Fairlanes, wine and goats don't mix.
Thanks, and keep them coming!
I enjoyed all the animal & bird stories and remembered a few of my own. I will share one. I was call to a papermill for a problem when I had a committment that night that I needed to get to a performance for my child at school. I got the problem sorted out quickly but decided to take a short cut home. This was though a narrow winding road, and I was traveling as quickly as I could when I saw a large buck deer ahead of me. I was very proud that I got my van stopped before hitting him, but leaving quite a bit of my companies tires on the road in the process. However, as soon as I cam to a stop, the buck directly in front of me, he looked up at me and put his head down and charged the van, putting quite a dent in the front of the van. It was fully driveable, I was in a hurry and I went around the deer, needing to nudge him slightly to get by, but I could tell he was not hurt. The guys at work made a lot of uhuh comments about my driving but the dealer's body shop said that it was common at this time of year on those van's. They said the bucks would look at the front and see their reflection in the front window and charge that other buck.
My wife had a 67 Cutlass S convertible with a nice high compression 330 that I built and installed. It was white with a white top and black interior with a split bench seat. A pretty car driven by a pretty woman, she kept the top down most of the time.
Anyways, one hot summer day she decided to drive to her folks house and hang out in the swimming pool. I would meet her there a little later.
When I arrived I saw the Olds parked in the driveway with the driver's door open. My wife came out of the house just then and said, "You'll never believe what happened" When she got to her folks house she turned around to retrieve something from the back seat. When she looked down at the rear seat floor she screamed because there was the biggest alligator lizard she had ever seen looking back at her about 15 inches away. She fled in terror and the lizard disappeared under the front seat. She left the car………………………..
Later I put it in a nice picture frame and gave to her on her birthday. It hangs on her office wall
My wife had a 67 Cutlass S convertible with a nice high compression 330 that I built and installed. It was white with a white top and black interior with a split bench seat. A pretty car driven by a pretty woman, she kept the top down most of the time.
Anyways, one hot summer day she decided to drive to her folks house and hang out in the swimming pool. I would meet her there a little later.
When I arrived I saw the Olds parked in the driveway with the driver's door open. My wife came out of the house just then and said,
"You'll never believe what happened"
When she got to her folks house she turned around to retrieve something from the back seat. When she looked down at the rear seat floor she screamed because there was the biggest alligator lizard she had ever seen looking back at her about 15 inches away. She fled in terror and the lizard disappeared under the front seat. She left the car door open hoping it would quickly leave. A couple hours later she came back to check the situation. No lizard to be found. Instead, in the normally hidden space where the seat back meets the seat bottom,
"I found this!"
And holds up a complete and intact skin measuring 18 inches long the lizard left behind after shedding it.
Why the critter chose my wife's car as a molting chamber we will never know. Molting can take a while and the animal will be blind and vulnerable. We don't know long it took but I was quick to point out that this tiny drama took place just 2 inches from her butt and without her suspecting a thing. That gave her the willies.
My wife is still kind of a girly girl. If she finds a spider in the shower she shrieks and insists that drop everything and I come whack it. Once, one of our cats dropped a tiny and live field mouse at her feet causing her to dance about and actually squeak "Eek a mouse! Damn cat! Eek!"
It just makes me love her more. Heh,heh.
Later I put the skin in a frame and she has it hanging on her office wall.
Many years ago in Guyman Ok, a batterd cab over pulled up for fuel, you could see it had been laid on it,s right side, I asked the driver what happened, he said he hit an eagle & it came thru the right side windshield straight thru the sleeper curtan & was not dead only angry & tore the hell out of his codriver & that he had run off the road & laid it over in all the excitment, he said the codriver was still in the hospital & would be for some time
Several years ago I was plagued with a spider building its web in front of the drivers side mirror on my 85 Mazda RX-7. In spite of clearing the web several times, it would reappear within a couple days. Turned out it was living inside the motorized mirror pod, probably thought it a neat shelter from the elements. Finally got him out by applying water until he gave up his grip and was flushed out. No more 'web sites' in front of the mirror anymore!
Another incident occurred with my wife's Mitsubishi Eclipse. Checking under the hood to see if all was well, I discovered a stash of broken and whole walnuts atop the battery. Clearing the nuts, I rechecked it a few days later and found nuts starting to accumulate. Cleared the nuts again, this time removing the battery for inspection under it and discovering a small cache of unbroken walnuts. It appeared a small creature was using the area for safeguarding his stash. After removing said stash, the area remained free of nuts from then on. It probably felt its secret spot was discovered by something else and was time to move on to a more secure location.
I repaired the back door latch on my wife's 1989 Suburban one night around 10:00 pm in Houston before leaving for a business trip to Cairo, Egypt. The first day there I was called from a meeting and told to call my wife who promptly told me that I had locked our solid white cat in the car – during August! It survived for three days after relieving itself many times and losing a ton of white fur in the dark blue cloth interior. The cat had a habit of sneaking through any door that you opened and despite checking the car in the dark, I missed him. Removal of the fur from the new white interior was fairly successful but the smell was always there even after attempts by several detail shops. I had to buy another Suburban to make peace in the family. As my wife called my office to get in touch with me, I was known as the Cat Killer after that. The cat, however, lived.


text: Home > Mom > Work and Money > The Top Swap Sites for Baby Gear The Top Swap Sites for Baby Gear PRINT Parents have always relied on clothing and equipment hand-me-downs as a way to keep up with their babies' growth spurts. Online recycling sites have made the circle of givers much bigger. And with the economy and the environment in such bad shape, that's welcome news. While eBay and Craigslist are obvious places to turn when Baby is too big for her swing or needs a new high chair, parents are also using targeted sites. Swapbabygoods, for example, is restricted to baby and mommy items only. Swaptree specializes in books, music, movies and games. Not all sites traffic in straight swaps. Handmedowns is a monitored clearinghouse for classified listings in 30 different locations – you can buy, sell, or donate goods from coupons to clothes. But on some, like Swapmamas and Kizoodle, no money changes hands; if you don't find something you want to trade for, you accrue credits for future swaps. Sometimes swaps happen unconventionally. Swapbabygoods, like many of these sites, has community boards. In a discussion about making your own laundry detergent (cheaper and just as effective as store-bought, moms reported), one mom said she couldn't find an ingredients and another offered to send it to her as a swap. Of course, swapping a large item like a crib with someone across the country is impractical. That's one reason for the rise in local swap options - many are part of local parent groups' online hubs. San Francisco mom Sarah wanted a different baby bathtub; she posted hers on the local parents' site and traded it for a model that suited her better. "You get things, use them (or don't) and then pass them on through these online communities, and that's pretty great," she says. And Brooklyn mom Barbara has gotten a wooden rocking horse and a cardboard playhouse through a local Yahoo parents group. Cruwys says that she's been "blown away by the generosity" of Swapmamas participants, many of whom have just given things away. "There are people out there that really want to help people, especially during these hard times, and this is a supereasy way to do that." Swapbabygoods.com Region: National, but Texas, Florida and New Jersey are especially well represented. What you'll find: Baby and mama items for sale, swap, and swap for credit, plus community boards. How it works: Simply list what you've got and/or search for what you need. Sample swap: Fisher Price Musical Swing for boy's clothing sizes 12 mo. and 18 mo, or $30. Swapmamas.com Region: National, but moms are forming regional groups too What you'll find: Swaps, swaps for credit and giveaways of mom, baby and kid items, and services. How it works: Mom community meets swapping on this friendly site. The idea: If you get to know someone through their profile, you'll feel happier swapping with them. Sample swap: Pair of pink cowboy boots, girls size 7 for free. The recipient's baby wasn't even walking yet - they're serving as nursery decoration till she grows into them. Handmedowns.com Region: Like Craigslist, Handmedowns has separate sites for 30 metro areas. What you'll find: Baby, kid and parent stuff, plus services like childcare and child photography, and unwanted coupons How it works: Buy, sell or give away - think CL for families Sample swap: Pali Oak Crib with Storage Drawer for $150 (retails at $900) Kizoodle.com Region: Nationwide; you can also use the site to set up your own group. What you'll find: A so-so selection of baby, kid, mom, and dad stuff, plus lots of unwanted coupons. How it works: Swap with any member using Kiz Credits. Start by posting your stuff in your Kiz Store - when you sell something you earn credit to spend (you also receive credits for signing up). Sample swap: The First Years massaging teether for 50 Kiz credits Swaptree.com Region: National What you'll find: Books, music, movies, games for the whole family How it works: You make a list (by barcode - it's listed on the back) of books, CDs, DVDs or video games you want to get rid of and this super high-tech site immediately sends you a list you can swap them for. Or, if you know what you want to receive, the site notifies you when your swap is available. Then it figures out the postage and lets you print a mailing label straight from the site. You just have to drop your item in the mailbox. Sample swap: Wild About Books by Judy Sierra for Walt Disney's Cinderella (the book) Lookatabook.com Region: National What you'll find: Books for the whole family, including Baby How it works: This is a "buy" site only. Sample swap: The Cat in the Hat for 99 cents. Freecycle.org Region: Global. Hundreds of local groups exist across the U.S. and the world What you'll find: Whatever you need - furniture, maternity clothes, baby clothes and gear… How it works: Freecycle is for giving and getting free items. After you've subscribed to your local group (you'll need a Yahoo ID), you can offer a giveaway or ask for something you need - but not as an exchange. Sample swap: Wanted: breast pump, bottle warmer, milk storage bags, clothes for an 18 month old; offered: boys clothes, crocheted baby sweaters, Graco Snug Ride car seat 3PREVIOUS ARTICLE MOM NEXT ARTICLE4 PRINT

subset: commoncrawl


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In Glasgow
Njisane Phillip and Quincy Alexander will be on show at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome here in Glasgow, Scotland, today, in the qualifying round of the Commonwealth Games men's sprint.
The Trinidad and Tobago cyclists are hoping for fast flying 200 metres times as they bid for favourable draws for the first round of the event, which will also be contested today.
Alexander is listed to ride in 15th position, while Phillip will be the 23rd cyclist in action in a field of 27. The qualifying phase is scheduled to start at 6.01 a.m. (TT time), while the first round gets going at 8.03.
At the 2012 London Olympics, Phillip just missed out on a sprint medal, the T&T wheelman finishing fourth. The Olympic gold medallist, Englishman Jason Kenny is among the cyclists who will bid for the Commonwealth title here in Glasgow.
T&T will see action today in seven sports—cycling, hockey, netball, squash, swimming, table tennis and triathlon.
At the Glasgow Hockey Centre, the T&T women face South Africa, and the men tackle England.
The netballers, meanwhile, take on regional rivals Barbados at the SECC (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre).
Eighteen-year-old Dylan Carter will swim in lane one in the third of four men's 400m freestyle heats. If he is among the eight fastest in the heats, Carter will return to the Tollcross Swimming Centre later today for the final.
At Strathclyde Park, David Cottle will fly the T&T flag in the men's triathlon.
At Scotstoun Campus, T&T squash player Charlotte Knaggs faces Sri Lanka's Naduni Gunawardane in the women's singles round of 64, while her teammate Kerrie Sample tackles Welsh player Tesni Evans in the round of 32. In the men's singles round of 64, Colin Ramasra will do battle with Sri Lankan Ravindu Laksiri, and Kale Wilson squares off against Australian Cameron Pilley.
Scotstoun Campus will also host the table tennis events. France-based Rheann Chung is expected to lead the T&T women's team into battle in group three matches against Tanzania and England. And in the men's team event, another France-based pro, Dexter St Louis will be in the spotlight for T&T in group two matches against England and arch-rivals Barbados.
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, in Manchester, England, St Louis made the headlines when he won twice against the host nation in T&T's 3-2 defeat. The five-time Caribbean men's singles champion is eager not only to repeat those heroics here in Glasgow, but wants his team to go a step further and upset the English.
"I'm hoping…but not a repeat in that sense," St Louis told the Express, "a repeat in the sense where Trinidad could win the match entirely. If we eliminate all the distractions before us, we could really do something good."
The 46-year-old T&T player declared that his English opponents are well aware of his capabilities.
"I think they will be more afraid of me," said the smiling southpaw. "It's a new generation of young players--Liam Pitchford, Paul Drinkhall. For me it's really a pleasure to play against them. They know me, they know what I did before. I think we respect one another a lot, so we will see how things go."
St Louis, Chung, Curtis Humphreys, Aaron Wilson, Aleena Edwards and Ashley Quashie arrived in Glasgow on Tuesday, after competing at high altitude, at the Pan American Sport Festival in Mexico City, Mexico. The other T&T players, Yuvraaj Dookram and Catherine Spicer have been at the Games Village for more than a week.
Chung was outstanding in Mexico, earning bronze in the women's singles. In the men's singles, St Louis reached the last 16, and Humphreys, the round of 32.
St Louis said he was not satisfied with his Pan American Sport Festival performance.
"On a personal note it didn't go too well. I had a lot of breathing problems. Even though I only lost one match, at the end of the tournament, I would have likedto play in that particular tournament in another condition. But so be it. It's not an excuse, but the system of my play isn't really structured for altitude."
St Louis praised Chung for her medal-winning performance in Mexico, adding that he expects her to do well at the Commonwealth Games.
"Rheann could do something against England. She has to be careful interms of how she plays, how she diverts the ball, and stuff like that. But she really could do something good. It's a question of how much energy you have left after Mexico, because Mexico really took a toll on the body."
Team T&T today
(All TT times)
4.30 a.m. – Table tennis, Women vs Tanzania
6.00 a.m.- Swimming, Dylan Carter, Men's 400 free, heat 3
6.01 a.m. – Cycling, Quincy Alexander, Njisane Phillip, Men's sprint qualifying
After 6.00 a.m. – Squash, Singles, Charlotte Knaggs, Colin Ramasra, Kale Wilson, Kerrie Sample
7.50 a.m. – Table tennis, Men vs Barbados
8.03 a.m. – Cycling, Men's sprint 1st round
9.00 a.m. – Hockey, Women vs South Africa
10.00 a.m. – Triathlon, Men, David Cottle
11.00 a.m. –Table tennis, Women vs England
12 noon – Netball vs Barbados
12.40 p.m. - Table tennis, Men vs England
2.00 p.m. – Hockey, Men vs England
2.16 p.m. - Swimming, men's 400 free final


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Tag Archives: The Dan Dakich Show
Dakich drives change with his radio show
Non-profit organizations could take a lesson from Dan Dakich about how to mobilize a community. When he speaks, people listen. And they act. Best known for his work as an ESPN college basketball analyst and former coach, Dakich is host of … Continue reading


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I made a discovery a few months back, and it's one you need to know about.
I discovered that the history behind the everyday objects that surround you is controlling your thoughts, moods, and emotions, and you probably aren't even aware of it.
Something that has this much power over how you feel needs to be fully understood, and I'm writing this post to help you do that – to help you understand the power of the everyday objects around you and how they influence your mood.
I Am A Strange Loop
About 6 months ago I read a book called "I Am A Strange Loop." The book is as weird as its title suggests, but it's got some clever ideas in it, and if you like to read you should check it out.
In the first chapter of the book, the author tells the story of an encounter he had with his mother. This encounter took place a few months after the author's father had passed away.
Even though several months had passed, both he and his mother were still grieving. He had lost his father, and she had lost her husband of many years.
During the encounter at the heart of this story, the author and his mother were talking over the kitchen table, sharing their grief.
As they talked, the mother was holding and examining an old photograph of her deceased husband, and in her grief she stated that the old photograph was useless and meaningless – just an old piece of paper.
Her son replied to this, and it was his reply that led to the discovery I made about the objects around us and the power they have to control how we feel. So here is his reply:
"In the living room we have a book of the Chopin études for piano. All of its pages are just pieces of paper with dark marks on them, just as two-dimensional and flat and foldable as the photograph of Dad — and yet, think of the powerful effect that they have had on people all over the world for 150 years now. Thanks to those black marks on those flat sheets of paper, untold thousands of people have collectively spent millions of hours moving their fingers over the keyboards of pianos in complicated patterns, producing sounds that give them indescribable pleasure and a sense of great meaning.
Those pianists in turn have conveyed to many millions of listeners, including you and me, the profound emotions that churned in Frédéric Chopin's heart, thus affording all of us some partial access to Chopin's interiority — to the experience of living in the head, or rather the soul, of Frédéric Chopin. The marks on those sheets of paper are no less than soul-shards — scattered remnants of the shattered soul of Frédéric Chopin. Each of those strange geometries of notes has a unique power to bring back to life, inside our brains, some tiny fragment of the internal experiences of another human being — his sufferings, his joys, his deepest passions and tensions — and we thereby know, at least in part, what it was like to be that human being, and many people feel intense love for him.
In just as potent a fashion, looking at that photograph of Dad brings back, to us who knew him intimately, the clearest memory of his smile and his gentleness, activates inside our living brains some of the most central representations of him that survive in us, makes little fragments of his soul dance again, but in the medium of brains other than his own. Like the score to a Chopin étude, that photograph is a soul-shard of someone departed, and it is something we should cherish as long as we live."
I thought his words were wonderful, and I'm sure they gave some comfort to his mother. His words also helped me to see several of my own photographs in a very different light.
To think of photos of people I'd lost as "soul shards" was a profound idea to me, and it changed the way these photos made me feel: they'd once made me feel sad, bittersweet, but now those same pictures made me happy, almost joyous.
This story that the author told of his encounter with his mother made a big impression on me. So big, in fact, that these ideas stayed on my mind for some time.
And here's where my big discovery came.
How the History Behind an Object Has the Power to Control How You Feel
Because of the story in the "I Am A Strange Loop" book, I was now seeing the photos of people I'd lost in a very different way.
I was finding pleasure in looking at these photos, so I started placing them in more prominent positions around my house so that I'd see them more often.
The result? I was thinking about these photos a lot. Specifically, I was thinking about:
- the people in the photos
- the places in the photos
- the occasions in the photos
- the stories behind the photos
- the history behind the photos
Everything was positive in these photos. I loved the people in them, I loved the memories they had captured, I loved the occasions they reminded me of, and so looking at them and having them on my mind felt good.
But what really struck me was the history behind the photos.
These photos were just pieces of paper, and would be meaningless to anybody who didn't know what was behind them.
But for me, these photos had real history behind them. And just a glance at the photos was all the time it took for all that history to come rushing back.
And I didn't need to consciously remember the history behind the photos. I didn't have to cast my mind back and sit reminiscing for extended periods of time.
The history behind the photos just kind of washed over me whenever I looked at them. It was as if a moment's glance at a photo would leave me with a new mood, one that came on me instantly without my being aware of it.
And that mood would positively affect me for minutes, even hours.
This was a big realization for me – that pieces of paper, inanimate objects, had history behind them that could affect my mood.
So I started to expand my thinking, asking new questions. Did all objects have histories behind them? If they did, were all the objects around me affecting my mood the way the photos were?
It didn't take long for me to realize that the answer to both of those questions was yes.
Pretty much all the objects around me had histories behind them, and so those objects were affecting my mood – just like the photos were.
How the History Behind an Object Determines Your Moods, Both Good and Bad
When I'd first noticed that the objects around me had the power to affect my mood, I'd never considered that the changes they caused could be negative.
All I knew to start with was that the photos I was looking at were lifting my mood, improving it.
But once I saw that all the objects around me had histories behind them, I quickly became aware that objects could have a negative effect too.
Here's how this works in a nutshell: all the objects around you affect your thoughts, your emotions, and your moods, and it's the histories behind the objects that determine if your thoughts, emotions, and moods are improved or made worse.
- objects with positive histories improve your mood
- objects with negative histories worsen your mood
You keep hearing me refer to objects, and everyday objects, and you might be wondering what I mean by that.
It can mean anything – literally any physical object that you see or interact with where you live, work, exercise, anything.
Here are a few examples so you can see that I really do mean anything:
- photos
- furniture
- art
- books
- CDs
- DVDs
- clothing
- toys
- childhood possessions
You could name any object and it would belong on that list. And almost every object you name would either have a positive history or a negative history.
I'm sure there would be some objects that would have a neutral history, one that was neither positive or negative.
But for most ideas, the history would be positive or negative.
Let me show you exactly how this works – how these objects with positive or negative histories affect how you feel.
An Object with a Good History
I have a photo of my cat Scoobie on my chest of drawers in my bedroom. I had him for 17 years, I loved him lots, and he passed away 2 years ago.
For a long time after he'd gone, it hurt too much to linger on his memories or on random thoughts of him. But now that time has healed the wounds and the memories are no longer raw, remembering him makes me happy.
So now, every time I wake up in the morning or go to bed at night, his photo is often the thing I see.
When I see the photo, I don't consciously do anything, and I don't intentionally have any thoughts at all. But here's what happens anyway:
- I'll see the photo, just a glance, nothing more
- he'll be on my mind for a moment
- a montage of memories of him will flash through me
- anything negative on my mind will give way to positivity
- my mood will improve, even if only slightly
- my improved mood will remain for several minutes
I'm unaware of all the things in that list that happen to me in the moment, but they do happen. When I force myself to take note of what happens, everything on that list above takes place.
And that's how something as simple as a photo with a positive history can improve my thoughts, my emotions, and my moods.
It's also important to note that when the above sequence of events happens, there's no place for negativity.
You can only ever be in a positive or negative state of mind at any one time, so while the photo causes me positivity it is also preventing me from having any negativity inside me at that moment.
That's a big deal, because if you can create enough of these positive moments during the day then the negativity never gets a moment to get in.
An Object with a Bad History
I had a terrible time at school when I was a teenager. I had no friends, I was bullied, and things were always bad.
One of the worst things about that time in my life was the 2 times per week that I had to play rugby with the school team.
I would get singled out during the game to be tackled hard, and it would usually end up with the whole team piling in on top of me so that they could all get a hit in.
I would get called names throughout. I would get singled out in the locker room before and after the game, physically and verbally. My clothes would get thrown in the shower.
All the stuff that asshole bullies do.
Anyway, all this stuff happened 18 years ago. But for some crazy reason I always kept my rugby shirt from back then.
I'm nostalgic by nature, apparently even for the stuff that reminds me of terrible times, because I'd never thrown that rugby shirt out and for many years it hung in my closet with my other clothes.
I didn't ever stop to think that this was causing me any harm, but that changed not long after I made the discovery that I'm talking about in this post: that the objects around you have the power to affect your mood.
I quickly realized that the rugby shirt I'd kept all those years had a massively negative history associated with it, and that every time I saw that shirt hanging in my closet I was being affected in a negative way.
The reaction this shirt caused was very similar to the reaction the photo of my cat caused, except this one was purely negative.
Here's what would happen when I saw that shirt in my closet, and all this would happen without me thinking anything – it would all be automatic:
- I'd see the rugby shirt, usually just out of the corner of my eye
- a montage of unpleasant memories would flash through me
- anything positive on my mind would give way to negativity
- my mood would worsen
- my worsened mood would continue for several minutes
It's important to note that during all these events and for some time afterwards, there would be no place inside me for positivity.
Remember how I said that you can only ever be in a positive or negative state at any point in time? Well that's true here too, so that stupid shirt hanging in my closet left no room for positivity inside me for several minutes every single day for years.
Crazy, right?
Everyday Objects Have the Power to Change How You Feel
I'm hoping by now you're starting to see the power of the objects around you, and how they all have the power to change your thoughts, emotions, and moods.
The 2 examples I just gave you will hopefully demonstrate just how these simple objects really do have the ability to make you feel great or terrible, depending on the histories behind the objects.
But is there a way you can actually make use of all the ideas I've shared with you in this post? A proactive way to improve your thoughts, emotions, and moods using the power of the objects around you?
Actually, there is, and it's really simple.
I call it "The Object Inventory," and it's a great way to make sure that you're surrounded by as many objects with a positive history as possible, while at the same time eliminating as many objects as possible with a negative history.
The Object Inventory
Step 1. Process 5 Objects a Day
Each day, starting from today, randomly process 5 objects around you. These objects can be in your home, your place of work, your backyard, anywhere you spend time.
All you need to do to "process" an object is:
- look at an object
- think about the stories behind it
- ask yourself what images it stirs in you
- ask yourself what emotions it causes in you
- ask yourself if the object's history is positive or negative
Processing 5 objects a day should only take you a few minutes, and the rewards will be worth it.
Step 2. Surround Yourself with Objects with a Positive History
When you encounter an object with a positive history in your daily processing, place that object in a prominent position.
The more you see objects with a positive history the more benefits you'll get, so keep them where you can see them.
Step 3. Get Rid of Objects with a Negative History
When you encounter an object with a negative history, get rid of it.
Most of the time, throw it in the trash like I did with my rugby shirt. Or, if it's an object that you can't or don't want to throw away, place it in the attic or the basement, or put it in storage.
Just get it out of sight and out of mind so that it no longer causes you even a single moment's negativity.
Step 4. Maintenance
After a few weeks of processing, you'll get through all the objects that surround you, and you should then have all the positive objects in prominent positions and all the negative objects should be gone.
When you reach that stage, it's all about maintenance.
And all that means is that you stay alert and aware of the objects around you, either old objects that resurface or that you missed in your processing, or new objects that make their way into your life.
Ditch the negative stuff, and surround yourself with the positive stuff.
The result will be frequent exposure to objects with positive histories and infrequent exposure to objects with negative histories.
And that'll mean far more positive moments in your day than negative ones.
The Takeaway
I really do believe that the objects that surround you are one of the most dominant forces in your life when it comes to your thoughts, emotions, and moods.
And the great thing is, when you develop an awareness of the power these objects have, as you've now done, you give yourself the ability to control how you feel in a way you've never known before.
So use what you've learned – keep this stuff in mind:
- keep yourself open to the idea of the objects around you having a huge impact on the way you feel
- start to care what objects are around you at any given time
- stop subjecting yourself to unnecessary negativity that objects with negative histories can cause
- complete "The Object Inventory" to take full advantage of the power that simple everyday objects have over you
- make it a habit to never let an everyday object make you feel bad ever again
I hope this post helps you. It was a hard post to write because it's a weird concept to get your head around and there was a lot of personal stuff in there for me.
But I enjoyed writing it anyway, and I really do hope you use the ideas I've shared with you.


text:
And who believe in the Revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the Hereafter.
Qur'an 2:4
Qur'an 5:41
O Messenger! let not those grieve thee, who race each other into unbelief: (whether it be) among those who say "We believe" with their lips but whose hearts have no faith; or it be among the Jews- men who will listen to any lie -will listen even to others who have never so much as come to thee. They change the words from their (right) times and places: they say, "If ye are given this, take it, but if not, beware!" If any one's trial is intended by Allah, thou hast no authority in the least for him against Allah. For such – it is not Allah's will to purify their hearts. For them there is disgrace in this world, and in the Hereafter a heavy punishment.


text:
Hula 2
Robert Cazimero
3 in stock
From the liner notes:
It became clear to me at an early age that music, particularly the voice, was something I had no choice but to develop. It was a natural path for me to take. It also became obvious that I was born to dance hula.
Hula is a huge part of who I am. I dance hula; I study hula; I teach hula. I sing so people can express the music in this important form of dance that defines my culture. Hula extends the meaning of that music, tells its story physically and through the heart of its people.
Hula and Hula 2 have been labors of love. I was and continue to be humbled by their success inside the hula and Hawaiian music community; by the visitor to these lands and to fans of Hawaiian music around the world. I take this opportunity to thank you for your support, for your appreciation of the music and the dance.
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Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.


text:
Seek and ye shall find. . .
There is a way to get past your "troubles." Albert Einstein said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
To find a solution, we must change our perspective of the "problem."
When we view a "problem" as a "problem," we find ourselves focusing on the "bad" that has happened. Something inside of us senses a threat and we begin to panic. We react or overreact. We place blame on things or people outside of ourselves. We see ourselves as the victim. And we get stuck in a pattern of thinking that only serves to exacerbate the "problem."
Look at Uncle Al's quote again. He makes a very important point that we must keep in mind. We must understand that we created the problem with our thinking in the first place. Since we created the problem, then we must own it before we can move forward. We must take responsibility for its creation.
So, how does one view a problem as something other than a problem? Uncle Al tells us to view it from a different perspective. In other words, see the problem as an opportunity in disguise. He encourages us to move beyond old assumptions in order to create new, improved results. If we look where we've always looked, we'll find only what we've already found. When we switch our thinking from "problem" to "opportunity," something interesting happens. The brain shifts into a creative mode, and then options begin presenting themselves; creative energy is generated and released. Seeing the problem as an opportunity opens the door to learning what needs to be learned and to discovering an effective way forward. We become empowered. We are no longer the victim. We have taken responsibility.
Uncle Al's words are not idle words. They force us to self-reflect on our part in what we are creating in our lives; they challenge us to examine our thinking and our approach to "problems," and they direct us to take responsible action.


text:
Watch the archived presentation below
Do you want to prevent employee injuries and deaths, as well as avoid heavy OSHA fines? Do you know if your company is at risk?
Electrical safety is essential for all businesses, but there are many companies that do not know all of the facts about keeping workers safe. Your company may be at risk for employee injury and death, as well as fines associated with non-compliance. Join us for a free one-hour webinar regarding arc flash compliance. This webinar is geared towards all businesses and will focus on best practices that companies should adopt to keep employees safe while maintaining full electrical safety compliance.
In addition, the webinar will include:
Brian McCauley, Business Leader, Electrical Safety, Salisbury Assessment Solutions
Brian McCauley is the business leader, electrical safety, for Salisbury Assessment Solutions, a division of Honeywell Safety Products. In his role, McCauley oversees business in an emerging market as more and more customers seek solutions to NFPA 70E compliance for their electrical safety needs.
Salisbury was acquired by Honeywell in 2008 and has continued to flourish ever since. Salisbury by Honeywell is the industry leader in electrical safety equipment, has 2 factories in the U.S. and employs roughly 450employees.
McCauley has been with Salisbury by Honeywell for 10 years and began his career with Salisbury as a regional sales manager in Texas. He then moved on to implement a national accounts division for Salisbury in 2006, which had remarkable growth in the three years he ran it. Over the past 10 years, McCauley has seen a major change in the market regarding compliance needs for electrical safety, and it has become apparent that each customer has their own electrical safety needs. McCauley feels that each and every day, Salisbury's products and services are helping make a difference in the lives of electrical workers around the world.
McCauley resides with his wife, Laura, and their 2 daughters in Frisco, TX. He holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Texas Tech University (class of 1998) and completed his MBA in 2013 from North Central College in Illinois.
Kyle W. Morrison, Safety+Health magazine
Kyle W. Morrison, senior associate editor, covers occupational safety and workplace safety regulation for Safety+Health magazine.


text:
Terps Fall To Gonzaga, 81-59
A night after pulling off a shocking upset of No. 5 Michigan State, Maryland came back down to earth against a Gonzaga squad that simply was too big for the Terps to handle. Three Gonzaga starters were 6-foo-8 or taller. Maryland has four players on its entire team that are 6-foot-8 or taller and only one of them (Braxton Dupree) played more than eight minutes tonight.
After suffering their first loss of the season, the Terps now must prepare to face a Georgetown squad that has some size of its own (Anyone ever heard of this Greg Monroe fella? I've heard he's not too shabby.). Sunday's third place game of the Old Spice Classic will mark the first time Maryland has squared off against Georgetown in a regular season contest since Nov. 26, 1993, back when the Hoyas played at the Capital Centre and Joe Smith wore a Terps uniform.
But back to tonight's game. The Terps appeared to wear down significantly as the game wore on. Gonzaga was a much more physical team than any other team Maryland has faced this season, and it was apparent the Terps were unprepared to deal with such cirmcumstances.
Three Up:
1. Defense. Sure, Gonzaga shot 52.7 percent from the field, but the Terps intial defensive attack was not the issue. The problem was that Maryland kept giving up rebounds and allowing the Bulldogs to take second and third cracks at the basket. Which, of course, was a by-product of Gonzaga's superior size.
2. 1,000-point club. Greivis Vasquez entered such company with a three-pointer about six and a half minutes into tonight's game. He became the 47th player in Maryland history to record at least 1,000 career points. He also led the team with 16 points against Gonzaga.
3. Burney, Goins & Pearman. They played. Not much, but they played. Jerome Burney entered the game for six minutes in the second half after Braxton Dupree air-balled a jumper. Steve Goins and David Pearman entered the game in the final minute of the first half. (Hey, I had to come up with three positives from tonight, okay?)
Three Down:
1. Rebounding. All those second and third shots of Gonzaga's that I referrenced earlier? They came about because Maryland got owned on the boards. Actually, that's not fair. For a good part of the first half, the Terps hung with the Bulldogs and actually held the rebounding edge at halftime. But Gonzaga's size quickly wore on Maryland in the second half. The Bulldogs finished with a 41-30 rebounding advantage.
2. Shooting percentages. Let's run down the list: Landon Milbourne -- 3 for 11; Cliff Tucker -- 2 for 6; Eric Hayes -- 3 for 10; Sean Mosley -- 2 for 7; Dave Neal -- 3 for 8. Maryland shot 37.3 percent from the field and 7.7 percent (1 for 13) from three-point range. Greivis Vasquez was the only player to score more than eight points. That simply cannot happen if the Terps expect to be successful this season.
3. Assist-to-turnover ratio. Maryland only gave up 13 turnovers on the night. However, the Terps only recorded 13 assists. That, my friends, is a push. The Terps strength lies in its ability to transform high-intensity defense into transition points. But if that strength is negated by iffy decision-making, Maryland will have to make up for it in another area. Judging by tonight's performance, those other areas might be hard to come by.
Steve Yanda
November 28, 2008; 9:16 PM ET
Categories: Men's basketball
Save & Share: Previous: Game Time Approaches
Next: Good Morning, Boston
I didn't know Georgetown and Maryland are going to place. Now I'm glad that the Terps lost. Dang shame that our two local powers have to travel all the way to Florida to play. BTW, Maryland and Georgetown played in the Sweet Sixteen (MD 76- G-Town 66) during the 2001 NCAA tournament. Did you forget about that?
Posted by: nicefellow31 | November 29, 2008 12:32 AM | Report abuse
1993 wasnt the last time both teams played each other. They squared off against each other in the ncaa tournament in the early 2000s.
Posted by: JamesJ3 | November 29, 2008 5:06 AM | Report abuse
Lest anyone forget - Georgetown still owes MD a home game. The 1994 Joe Smith debut game was to be a home/home match-up. When Gtown lost, they did not honor the return game at Cole. Yesterday, the announcers forgot about both the 1994 and 2001 (?) NCAA game and made a statement that a MD/Gtown match up hasn't been discussed - they said that is what a Gtown rep stated. Guess they didn't bother to ask a MD rep for the REAL story. GO TERPS!
Posted by: TerpGrad | November 29, 2008 8:18 AM | Report abuse
My bad. I meant to say it was the first time they've faced each other in the regular season since 1993. Thanks for the catch. I'll make that edit now.
Posted by: Steve Yanda | November 29, 2008 8:38 AM | Report abuse
I was at the game in 1993 at the old Cap Centre, and there were more Terp fans there than Hoyas. Could have been because their arena was close to College Park than Georgetown. I thought we had the makings of a great local rivalry that would've matched anything in college basketball, but JTII wimped out again.
Posted by: ecglotfelty | November 29, 2008 9:08 AM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.


text:
Most of us viewed 9/11 secondhand, through a television lens. Arlington poet Steven Ratiner had a more remote vantage point: the relative isolation of the Isles of Shoals, off New Hampshire's coast.
Ten years later, he takes us back to the rocky, windswept island where, on that day, he found a voice to give expression to the grief welling up in all of us.
– Click to hear Steven's story.
– Watch video of Steven reading his poem in Star Island's Gosport Chapel.
– Poem text, provided by Steven Ratiner:
"On The Morning We Heard They'd Blown Up The World"
In an old stone chapel,
on a tiny crag of granite,
ten miles out from the continent —
this little maplewood pump organ
carved and pillared to look
like the doorway to a child's church.
Her two feet pumping the broad pedals,
stoking the bellows, building the pressure.
Then the organist tugs out the wooden stop
(why stops? aren't they the start,
the opening of the passageways,
the charging of the reeds?)
And her fingers plunge, again and again,
the sounds mounting, chord upon sinewy chord,
stop after stop — dulciana, diapason,
flute, baritone, forte — a barrage of invisible wings
beating the air as the Bach Prelude swells,
buffeting the whitewashed walls,
hammering the cold stone floor.
She plays until the tendons
stand like bow strings across
the backs of her hands.
And then, mid-phrase, she stops —
and the bellows fail,
and the grand paradisiacal sound
expires into silence.
Now she pulls the one stop
that's lost its name piece
and intones a C from
four octaves deep in the organ's well — Om! —
its overtones like blue flames
shimmering about a dying fire.
She pumps and plays
this single dire note —
and the chapel walls resonate,
as do the lungs behind our rib cage,
and the heart, that tiny storm-struck island,
adrift in its bitter sea —
the wave carrying beyond us
toward home, that darkened shore.
And when it feels
there is no peace left
in all creation — the organ breathes
and still, she plays more.


text:
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This position is a broad-based role, with core responsibilities of (1) assisting with the firm's external communications, and (2) proposal submission needs as follows:
The ideal candidate will have a minimum of two to three years of communications/writing experience. Lake|Flato seeks a committed, self-motivated, organized and detail-oriented individual who anticipates issues and thrives on creative, independent problem solving within a deadline-driven (quick-paced) environment.
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