I like to think about words and which ones might make good car names. I know, I know, most of the good ones are all taken. Lots of numbers lately, too, in model names. "The NEW Ford 500!!" Big yawn. Still, one has to wonder what in the world inspired Mercedes-Benz (of ALL companies!) to name one of their lovely vehicles Compressor. I'd have to vote for a number instead of that bizarre identity. Does this sedan blow a lot of hot air? Or make a really loud whooshing noise? I just don't get it. Following that lead, then, we might have:
The new Masseratti Table-saw! The Porshe Planer-Joiner! Test drive the exciting 2006 Lotus Drill-press! Cheaper cars, like Fords and Chevies, could have the cheap-tool names. Hammer, chisel, screwdriver -- well, probably not screw-driver.
I do like some of the more recent names applied to, especially, the proliferation of SUV's. (A soon-to-reverse trend?) All the best, cold, lonely, rugged, he-man states are now taken. Ditto for any word describing a trip, of any kind. Volkswagen is still busy inventing words for its cars, as if they were medicine brands. My chariot is called "Silverado," just in case I happen to be a cowboy. That's a cool name for a very ordinary truck, but I like it. It sure beats the heck out of C-1500. How dull is that one?
I'm going to go back now to thinkin' of new cool names for cars. It's a game my kids like to play while we're driving. How about you? Got any good not-taken-yet names you think would be dandy? Drop me a line, and I'll post your ideas another time.
Coffee, Buffalo Bills, Stopsigns
Labels:
Musings Etc.
Alright, then, let's get to it. This is supposed to be a place for some Random Thoughts. Here are a few of the marbles rolling around in my mind today:
COFFEE: What in the world would we do without coffee, we who drink the stuff each day? How come the pot I brew at home never tastes as good as the cup I pay for while I'm out and about? For me, Tim Horton's coffee is the very best, but Dunkin' Donuts (spelled?) is almost as good. Have to admit, tho, that "gas station coffee" has gotten better and better in the last few years. Please don't mistake this comment for a shameless plug, however. My money is firmly where my mouth is. I'm afraid to add up what I spend on road-coffee in a year!
The BUFFALO BILLS: Oh, dear Lord, how do I continue to support this team??? I wear the shirts, watch the games, and agonize over the losses. Our latest "loss" is the aptly-named JP Lossman, quarterback-in-the-rough. The Bills won this week's game without the help of JPL, but it was such a dreary showing! Am I showing my age too much by yearning for Jim Kelly and his gang of gunslingers? Parity, parity, parity -- sure makes dynasties a rarity. Hmph.
And, last, STOPSIGNS (and REDLIGHTS, too). I drive a lot, often over one hundred miles a day. (No, please, don't make me add THAT one up for a year!) Folks, I understand the need to drive thru the yellow. Sometimes you just have to! My truck weighs more than six thousand pounds, so I can't just jam the brakes when the green goes yellow. But the very idea of routinely running thru red lights and stop signs strikes me as suicidal in the long term. I've seen what a T-bone accident looks like. How can anyone want to be a part of that party??
That's all for now. Brain-sweep mostly completed for today.
COFFEE: What in the world would we do without coffee, we who drink the stuff each day? How come the pot I brew at home never tastes as good as the cup I pay for while I'm out and about? For me, Tim Horton's coffee is the very best, but Dunkin' Donuts (spelled?) is almost as good. Have to admit, tho, that "gas station coffee" has gotten better and better in the last few years. Please don't mistake this comment for a shameless plug, however. My money is firmly where my mouth is. I'm afraid to add up what I spend on road-coffee in a year!
The BUFFALO BILLS: Oh, dear Lord, how do I continue to support this team??? I wear the shirts, watch the games, and agonize over the losses. Our latest "loss" is the aptly-named JP Lossman, quarterback-in-the-rough. The Bills won this week's game without the help of JPL, but it was such a dreary showing! Am I showing my age too much by yearning for Jim Kelly and his gang of gunslingers? Parity, parity, parity -- sure makes dynasties a rarity. Hmph.
And, last, STOPSIGNS (and REDLIGHTS, too). I drive a lot, often over one hundred miles a day. (No, please, don't make me add THAT one up for a year!) Folks, I understand the need to drive thru the yellow. Sometimes you just have to! My truck weighs more than six thousand pounds, so I can't just jam the brakes when the green goes yellow. But the very idea of routinely running thru red lights and stop signs strikes me as suicidal in the long term. I've seen what a T-bone accident looks like. How can anyone want to be a part of that party??
That's all for now. Brain-sweep mostly completed for today.
More about me
Just so you know whose random thoughts you're reading, here's a five-minute history of the author.
Born near Philly shortly before JFK was elected Pres, in a hospital, not a taxi. Moved to New York, the rural Upstate part (not the Big Apple part), when I was a wee lad. Grew up in a very small town, nick-named "Sulfur Springs," in the Finger Lakes region. Hence, my high school was called Midlakes. Mom and Dad, me and two sisters/one brother lived in a thousand-square-foot ranch house on a quiet village street. Dad still lives there today; seems much bigger now than it did back then. I had a girlfriend when I was six, and clueless!
Went to school, got good grades, worked part-time, tried Track. Went to Prom a couple times, different girls, different years. Had a good dog who ran into the side of a too-fast car one day. He died, we cried. Graduated top five percent of my class, still clueless. Went to Community College, got a better part-time job, bought a couple different crappy used cars. Got an even better part-time job and let that one take up way too many hours. Put in my two years at the CC and turned my PT job to FT. Met some wonderful folks, made a bit of money, bought my first new car (Dodge Rampage, go figure...), moved out of the family home at last.
Met a great girl in high school and let her get away (my bad). Met another fine lady in college, but she moved away without me (ah well). Met the girl who become my very first wife on an amazing bicycle tour of the Finger Lakes just a little while later. Tried small construction and big construction, built a couple houses and made some new friends. Our friends started to have kids, and after a few years of leisure, so did we. Moved a couple times, right in the area. Tried a job in Industry. Loved the people and hated the hours. Built a big ol' house for ourselves just before my oldest son was born. The boys are more than half-grown now, living with their mom for most of the days.
Turned forty, got a bit stupid, met a girl I shouldn't have met, moved out and moved on -- had myself a mid-life divorce. Found a truly kind, sweet, loving, delightful soulmate in a new place and began a partly-new life with her and her daughter. Got better at the job I already had. Tried desperately to spend as much time as possible with my two boys. Miss them every minute they aren't here with us. Fixed-up our place, did some traveling, bought a camper-trailer, had a spectacular summer here in upstate NY. Thinking about buying a house. The place I work for is going to close down, so more change is coming soon.
Left out about a million things large and small, but got the gist of it down. Onward from here.
Born near Philly shortly before JFK was elected Pres, in a hospital, not a taxi. Moved to New York, the rural Upstate part (not the Big Apple part), when I was a wee lad. Grew up in a very small town, nick-named "Sulfur Springs," in the Finger Lakes region. Hence, my high school was called Midlakes. Mom and Dad, me and two sisters/one brother lived in a thousand-square-foot ranch house on a quiet village street. Dad still lives there today; seems much bigger now than it did back then. I had a girlfriend when I was six, and clueless!
Went to school, got good grades, worked part-time, tried Track. Went to Prom a couple times, different girls, different years. Had a good dog who ran into the side of a too-fast car one day. He died, we cried. Graduated top five percent of my class, still clueless. Went to Community College, got a better part-time job, bought a couple different crappy used cars. Got an even better part-time job and let that one take up way too many hours. Put in my two years at the CC and turned my PT job to FT. Met some wonderful folks, made a bit of money, bought my first new car (Dodge Rampage, go figure...), moved out of the family home at last.
Met a great girl in high school and let her get away (my bad). Met another fine lady in college, but she moved away without me (ah well). Met the girl who become my very first wife on an amazing bicycle tour of the Finger Lakes just a little while later. Tried small construction and big construction, built a couple houses and made some new friends. Our friends started to have kids, and after a few years of leisure, so did we. Moved a couple times, right in the area. Tried a job in Industry. Loved the people and hated the hours. Built a big ol' house for ourselves just before my oldest son was born. The boys are more than half-grown now, living with their mom for most of the days.
Turned forty, got a bit stupid, met a girl I shouldn't have met, moved out and moved on -- had myself a mid-life divorce. Found a truly kind, sweet, loving, delightful soulmate in a new place and began a partly-new life with her and her daughter. Got better at the job I already had. Tried desperately to spend as much time as possible with my two boys. Miss them every minute they aren't here with us. Fixed-up our place, did some traveling, bought a camper-trailer, had a spectacular summer here in upstate NY. Thinking about buying a house. The place I work for is going to close down, so more change is coming soon.
Left out about a million things large and small, but got the gist of it down. Onward from here.
Day One for a brand new Blogger
This is my very first post. Will there be anything usefull here? Probably not. Have to give my fingers a chance to warm up to this concept. I often think out loud, and sometimes I make my wife or my kids laugh. Maybe something funny will occur to me here now and then. Or something wonderful, or ominous. I love that word -- ominous. As in "portent." We all must answer the question "does what I think really matter?" every day, if we are to go on. Wow, that's deep, but true! Of course, as long as what I say matters to me, then I'm OK. And if even one other person in the universe cares, then I am part of the human race. The rest is gravy.
Lamenting summer's last gasps in New York
Labels:
Camping,
gardens,
Musings Etc.,
pictures,
vacations
Where did the summer of 2008 go? It seems like only a few days ago we were dancing in the front yard, celebrating the early arrival of summer in mid-April. 
When spring's first brilliant bursts of green emerge, it seems like the summer stretches ahead with endless promise. Then, seemingly in a few short days, it's Labor Day weekend. Plans have been made, vacations taken, trips come and gone, yard chores carried out or left undone, and each gorgeous summer day savored during the brief instant of its existance.
I've marked a total of 64 Perfect Camping Nights for '08. Last year set an all-time record (for us) of 113. No way we'll match that this year; we had too many dreary or chilly weekends, several of them spent camping. Our big trip to Jellystone in North Java saw temps in the low seventies and several days of rain and storms. We spent a lovely night at the local KOA Kampground in Farmington.jpg)
gathered around the campfire wearing sweatshirts and drinking hot drinks after a blustery Saturday.
Some plans didn't work out very well. My oldest son secured a weekend job and announced he wouldn't be joining us on any camping outings. Our big trip to Sacketts Harbor for the annual 1812 Lacrosse Shoot-out tournament was cancelled when the team didn't gather enough players willing to make the 100-mile journey. A couple other summer weekends turned drab and rainy on Friday night, so we stayed home.
Other plans worked out better than expected. Sitting around the dining room table in early April with friends, we agreed impulsively to join them in late July for a stay at another Jellystone Campground near Mexico, NY. One week before the trip, my hard-working son unexpectedly announced that he would join us.
We'd already invited our nephew to keep my youngest company, so we ended up with three boys in a tent pitched next to the camper. More than twenty of us gathered on Friday and Saturday night around a big campfire. We attended one of the most amazing fireworks displays I've ever seen, honoring Harborfest in Oswego, NY -- just a few miles away from the campground.
We try each year to assemble a family and friends gathering at our nearby KOA. That outing might still happen if the weather cooperates. Our 20-foot 1980 Shasta camper was gone for a while late summer, awaiting a full set of new tires. We left it there at the shop because other plans came up, including a delightful Saturday spent at our friend's house for their daughter's Sweet 16 birthday party. I took a violent face-hit during one wild dodgeball melee; but we had a wonderful time otherwise.
Our final big trip of the year found us zooming off to Lake George, one of my favorite places. We'd considered taking the camper, but high gasoline prices flipped that decision to "hotel room." The weekend was spectacular and the resort was mobbed. Despite some serious life complications back home, we made the most of our final summer sojourn and took some fabulous pictures of the Lake George valley from the mountain nearby.
Now, suddenly, it's Labor Day weekend and another summer is ready to make way for school busses and falling leaves.
I'm sitting on the back deck under my big green umbrella, composing this farewell to the season under a spotless blue sky. The temperature has climbed to nearly eighty from this morning's chilly fifty-three degrees; the sound of lawn mowers surrounds me, drowning out the CNN coverage of Hurricane Gustav's arrival in Louisianna.
In past years we've scheduled this long weekend for a three-night camping trip. There's a huge hot air balloon festival held each year in Dansville NY, about 40 miles south of us. We've attended every year until last year - the weather was just plain awful in 07, and most of the festival was cancelled. It's a national-level balloonist gathering, though, and offers the chance to see between 40 and 70 simultaneous launches. It's breathtaking, and we've taken some almost unreal pics in the past.
Our local Country music station used to spend the whole summer building up to a major show at this fest. Past performers (for $10 tickets) include Keith Urban and Rascall Flatts, leaving a dozen others unlisted. These past two years...nothing. Even the stupid Colgate Country Showdown Semi-finals, long a tradition there, are no longer held on Labor Day weekend. Not sure why, but it certainly has reduced the attraction for spending the entire weekend there.
So this year it turns out we've passed up one of the most idyllic weekends of the entire summer. We worked all day Saturday, attended a family picnic Sunday, and spent today just puttering around. As I continue to watch the storm surge into New Orleans and surrounding parishes, I can't help but count our blessings. We've had a long, sweet summer after all. Though it seemed to pass us by in the blink of an eye, that's only an impression and not reality. Fall is on the way now, and could easily bring spectacular days to enjoy before winter takes over.
When spring's first brilliant bursts of green emerge, it seems like the summer stretches ahead with endless promise. Then, seemingly in a few short days, it's Labor Day weekend. Plans have been made, vacations taken, trips come and gone, yard chores carried out or left undone, and each gorgeous summer day savored during the brief instant of its existance.I've marked a total of 64 Perfect Camping Nights for '08. Last year set an all-time record (for us) of 113. No way we'll match that this year; we had too many dreary or chilly weekends, several of them spent camping. Our big trip to Jellystone in North Java saw temps in the low seventies and several days of rain and storms. We spent a lovely night at the local KOA Kampground in Farmington
.jpg)
gathered around the campfire wearing sweatshirts and drinking hot drinks after a blustery Saturday.
Some plans didn't work out very well. My oldest son secured a weekend job and announced he wouldn't be joining us on any camping outings. Our big trip to Sacketts Harbor for the annual 1812 Lacrosse Shoot-out tournament was cancelled when the team didn't gather enough players willing to make the 100-mile journey. A couple other summer weekends turned drab and rainy on Friday night, so we stayed home.
Other plans worked out better than expected. Sitting around the dining room table in early April with friends, we agreed impulsively to join them in late July for a stay at another Jellystone Campground near Mexico, NY. One week before the trip, my hard-working son unexpectedly announced that he would join us.
We'd already invited our nephew to keep my youngest company, so we ended up with three boys in a tent pitched next to the camper. More than twenty of us gathered on Friday and Saturday night around a big campfire. We attended one of the most amazing fireworks displays I've ever seen, honoring Harborfest in Oswego, NY -- just a few miles away from the campground.
We try each year to assemble a family and friends gathering at our nearby KOA. That outing might still happen if the weather cooperates. Our 20-foot 1980 Shasta camper was gone for a while late summer, awaiting a full set of new tires. We left it there at the shop because other plans came up, including a delightful Saturday spent at our friend's house for their daughter's Sweet 16 birthday party. I took a violent face-hit during one wild dodgeball melee; but we had a wonderful time otherwise.
Our final big trip of the year found us zooming off to Lake George, one of my favorite places. We'd considered taking the camper, but high gasoline prices flipped that decision to "hotel room." The weekend was spectacular and the resort was mobbed. Despite some serious life complications back home, we made the most of our final summer sojourn and took some fabulous pictures of the Lake George valley from the mountain nearby.
Now, suddenly, it's Labor Day weekend and another summer is ready to make way for school busses and falling leaves.
I'm sitting on the back deck under my big green umbrella, composing this farewell to the season under a spotless blue sky. The temperature has climbed to nearly eighty from this morning's chilly fifty-three degrees; the sound of lawn mowers surrounds me, drowning out the CNN coverage of Hurricane Gustav's arrival in Louisianna.In past years we've scheduled this long weekend for a three-night camping trip. There's a huge hot air balloon festival held each year in Dansville NY, about 40 miles south of us. We've attended every year until last year - the weather was just plain awful in 07, and most of the festival was cancelled. It's a national-level balloonist gathering, though, and offers the chance to see between 40 and 70 simultaneous launches. It's breathtaking, and we've taken some almost unreal pics in the past.
Our local Country music station used to spend the whole summer building up to a major show at this fest. Past performers (for $10 tickets) include Keith Urban and Rascall Flatts, leaving a dozen others unlisted. These past two years...nothing. Even the stupid Colgate Country Showdown Semi-finals, long a tradition there, are no longer held on Labor Day weekend. Not sure why, but it certainly has reduced the attraction for spending the entire weekend there.So this year it turns out we've passed up one of the most idyllic weekends of the entire summer. We worked all day Saturday, attended a family picnic Sunday, and spent today just puttering around. As I continue to watch the storm surge into New Orleans and surrounding parishes, I can't help but count our blessings. We've had a long, sweet summer after all. Though it seemed to pass us by in the blink of an eye, that's only an impression and not reality. Fall is on the way now, and could easily bring spectacular days to enjoy before winter takes over.
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