Friday, August 1, 2014

Friday Fluff

I am back. Feeling mightily awful. Too much sun, airplane, and general stress produced by having the kids back in our house for their summer vacations. Hope the antibiotics work for all that.

Spent a few days in Miami--one of my favorite cities. As luck would have it, our motel in Coral Gables had its wifi go down just before we got there, and had it come back just as we were leaving.  That meant that I was almost entirely off the grid, and disconnected from the world--I am not much of a TV watcher. At first this lack of access to Drudge and all my other webby friends was intolerable, but after a bit, it became kind of nice. I forgot about Obama, Holder, Reid, Pelosi, Putin, and the other whackos who are running and ruining our country. I had wonderful coffee, great breakfasts, and totally pigged out on massive quantities of meat at my favorite Argentine restaurant in Miami, The Knife. I tormented the very nice Argentine manager by telling him I was adopting the Argentine government position on debt. I freely without coercion would have his very nice dinner, and refuse to pay. Didn't work. He made me pay. You cannot default at The Knife.

Got back to California and gave my wife her birthday present. A very nice Aussie-designed, Canadian-built "American" car, a convertible Chevy Camaro. The Aussie designers did a great job of capturing the spirit and sheer fun of an old-time American muscle car--kind of makes you wonder if the "American" spirit hasn't moved on to places such as Australia.

It's a nice machine even if I had to buy it with an automatic transmission as my wife has gotten it into her head that she can't drive stick--she most certainly can. Anyhow, the Diplowife seemed happy as a clam (are clams happy?) driving her big black Camaro around town. I, of course, would run the thing at 80 mph and above. Under the Diplowife's reign, however, I don't think the beast will ever see life above 35 mph. All of this makes the point that cars are about personal choice and, yes, having fun. The hideous progressives would deny us both of those facets of life, and force us all into absurd "Smart" cars, or, even better for them, public transportation all in the name of polar bears, children, transgender rights, or something else. Buying big fast cars is one of the few legal acts of rebellion still open.

Enjoyed being back with my dogs, and watching them behave without a care in the world. The younger one had finished destroying the screen door and done a good job of modifying one of the window frames outside. He also has eaten the cable connecting the thermostat to the a/c unit, thereby leaving me without a/c in the blistering SoCal heat. I can't punish him. He is so genuinely happy to see me. The only time I have seen anybody else that happy was my personnel guru at State when I told him I was fed up and leaving State.

Anyhow, I am back. I hope to have my head clear up and be able to start posting something useful.

33 comments:

  1. Welcome back. Hope that medicine comes in a bottle with John Wayne's image on it.

    Green Bear

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  2. "are clams happy?"

    I've never heard them complain.

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    1. Everybody is a comedian these days . . . .

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    2. Clams are considered happy because they smile from ear to ear.

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    3. Do clams have ears

      As I understand it they are related to Oysters and that master of words Lewis Carroll wrote a poem about them which implied they must have ears or they could not have interrogated the Walrus and the Carpenter.

      No matter what the experts say that has got to be a definitive work on shellfish.

      Welcome back Dip and G'day Whitewall if you are there.

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    4. Hello David. SWMBO and I do enjoy oysters. The only sound an oyster makes is a splash from swallowing with a cold beer chaser.

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  3. Welcome Back! Glad you had a relaxing trip. Nice to forget about the nightmare that is our government. Black Camaro Convertible, Yee! Haa! Soemone's gonna look cool. Their nickname with the street racer crowd is "Catfish".

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  4. Sorry to hear about your illness...and purchase. I had a Camaro as a rental once, and despised it completely. It's a car for midgets. I'll stick to the products of the Bayerische Motor Werks.

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    Replies
    1. According to my PC Handbook you are not allowed to say "midgets."

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    2. Considering that I was banging my head every time I got in or out, that was the most printable thing I could say. I liked the Fiat 500 a whole lot more.

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    3. We bought a Fiat 500 in January, for my wife to leave at the airport when she travels; she didn't want to leave her prized MB in the car park. Funny thing; with the arrival of the Fiat she hardly ever drives the MB. She just loves the Fiat to death; and I understand why, it is a great fun car.

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    4. My last tolerable Camaro was an '85 Berlinetta. Lovely car. Downhill since.

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  5. Does the Camaro have a positive traction rear end? Or are they even made anymore? Anywho, welcome back.

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  6. Can I join this site without going through google. I'm convinced those guys are no good communists.

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  7. I am 6'4" and can fit into a Holden Commodore, your Chevy, with ease. It's the only vehicle I've ever owned where I don't have to slide the driver's seat all the way back for leg room. Holden has been an Aussie icon since 1948, even though it is a General Motors company. Several years ago its advertising slogan was: as Australian as meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars.

    I recognise the desire for a bit of retro here. In January I gave myself a birthday present: a Kawasaki W800 motorbike and I love it. Read some more here: http://farcanal.blogspot.com.au

    Cheers from the Land Down Under.

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    Replies
    1. I always liked Holdens and noticed that GM would often produce a "new" design for the US market that was surprisingly akin to the Aussie Holden.

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. Modern automatic transmissions are better then manuals, the shift points are right where they should be, the gear selection is optimal to engine performance. There are no humans that can match the shifting done by the automatic. About the only thing a human can do better is leave the transmission in first gear and smoke the tires longer. A properly shifted manual still sounds better though. Maybe because the engine rev's a little to high before the next gear is selected and the squawk you get between second and third. Sometimes even between third and fourth too.

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    1. It's that smoke and squawk that was necessary to impress the girls.

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    2. Whitewall knows of what he speaks

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    3. Whitehall,

      "It's that smoke and squawk that was necessary to impress the girls."

      AND to keep the driver from dying of boredom!

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    4. Don't forget the G force that pushes you back into your seat. It feels gooood!
      James the Lesser

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    5. James, "Get your motor runnin'"......

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    6. Whitewall,
      Not only does it impress the girls, but breaking the tire loose is a VERY satisfying way to snarl at imports. God bless the high performance American V-8.

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  10. No internet in Miami and you think YOU had it tough? We had to go an eternity without Diplomad II!

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  11. The man can be taken outta diplo service but, the diplo service cannot be taken outta the man. This sentence for instance:

    Under the Diplowife's reign, however, I don't think the beast will ever see life above 35 mph.

    An "undiplomatic" fellow, given the context, (the beast) mighta gone with "reins" probably to his detriment.

    As always this site is educational.

    Good to welcome you back Sir!

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  12. Congrats on the Camaro. Morning at your house must be a blast, going into the garage and going, "Eenie, meenie, miney..." I covet an '09 XKR Portfolio myself (That color! Those wheels!), although the F-Type coupe is awfully sexy. Maybe when the mortgage is paid...

    Cheers.

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  13. Welcome back, Dip!

    As an old consular officer, I have a sneaky suspicion that maybe the Argentine manager at The Knife immigrated here because he thought he was moving to a plaace where the government is a lot more responsible than the one sitting in BA.

    As for Polar Bears, I understand that there are Inuit folk who prefer them to beef, and think the pelts make great rugs.

    And how dare the folks who'd rob us of our cars appeal to the well-being of children! They're the same folks who've made abortion the sacrament of modern womanhood and would place very vulnerable children in the care of LGBT's.

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    1. "They're the same folks ..."

      Kepha, these folks have the ability to withstand cognitive dissonance to a degree that would choke a whole legion of horses. (Not to mention polar bears.) I do know understand how they can manage it.

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    2. Make that DO NOT understand...

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  14. Arkie, you are supposed to understand out of cultural necessity, that when you feel the need to unwind a pickup of any sort that has that kind of engine....always drop the tail gate first. Less chance of wind against the transom.

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  15. off for awhile to do R&R with the family-
    good luck with health issues, Dear Diplomad- some of us don't want to think about getting by without you.
    I'd sign my name, but detest being tracked by some stupid - oh never mind...

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