Month: October 2008

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Pre-Election Friday Fortune

I don’t know if every cookie in the Fujin had this fortune this week or not, but it’s not really that kind of place:


Opportunity awaits you on next Tuesday.

The lucky numbers were:


4   9   18   21   26   33

On the other hand.

It was three months and three days ago (July 28) that I got this fortune (along with two others):


Remember three months from this date, Good things are in store for you.

Since then, I’ve busted up my knee, I didn’t get the promotion one of the other fortunes promised, and the one vacation Barbara and I had planned for her birthday got cancelled because of (natch) my little knee problem. And I’ve got another four weeks on crutches.

So. My advice would be, don’t bet the farm on the predictions of fortune cookies.

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smart Car Updates

smart/Bakfiets comparison

A couple of weeks back, Barbara and I wandered over to see Nathan, Sara, and Everett for a photo shoot, so Nathan could put together his two–part comparison of the smart car and the Dutch Bakfiets cargo bike.

Regrettably, I wasn’t able to make yesterday’s local smart get-together. About twenty smarts and assorted hangers-on, met at the Evergreen Air & Space Museum in McMinnville, where they got a group shot in front of Howard Hughes’s Spruce Goose (photo via Mikie at the Smart Car of America forum).

smart cars in front of the Spruce Goose

Then, in order to get some other entertaining small car photos, they caravaned down to Silver Falls State Park via the Wheatland Ferry (another Mikie photo).

smart cars on the Wheatland Ferry

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And … Twins!

Smart Twins

A great morning in smartspotting. Some folks around the corner have a yellow and black (“bumblebee”) hardtop and they were just pulling up to their garage as we were leaving. Then, in the parking garage at Kaiser Sunnyside, there was a black and white hardtop. Two rows down was a virtual twin of our own red and black cabrio.

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Cutting It Close

Never again (via “The Caucus” at The New York Times)!

The last time Mr. McCain canceled an appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman” Mr. Letterman was not amused, and he has not let go of his fury. Mr. McCain has been the butt of Mr. Letterman’s disdain (feigned or not) ever since.

So when Mr. McCain found himself stuck on the tarmac here in Philadelphia, with what aides described as a two-hour delay on planes flying to Newark, he knew he had to act.
Thus began the great McCain Airlift of 2008.

Mr. McCain’s campaign plane turned around, and the campaign hired a small helicopter to whisk him, his wife, Cindy, two of their aides, and two Secret Service Agents, to their rendezvous with comedy.

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Plumbergate

I hearby christen thee “Plumbergate”:

‘Joe the plumber’ isn’t licensed
Local man focus of presidential debate

“Joe the Plumber” isn’t a plumber — at least not a licensed one, or a registered one.

…

According to Lucas County Building Inspection records, A. W. Newell Corp. does maintain a state plumbing license, and one with the City of Toledo, but would not be allowed to work in Lucas County outside of Toledo without a county license.

Mr. Wurzelbacher said he works under Al Newell’s license, but according to Ohio building regulations, he must maintain his own license to do plumbing work.

>He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio, which means he’s not a plumber.

Mr. Wurzelbacher said he was hired by Mr. Newell six years ago and that the possibility of him eventually buying the company was discussed during his job interview.

…

Mr. Wulzerbacher’s notoriety has raised the ire of Tom Joseph, business manager for Local 50 of the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters, and Service Mechanics, who claimed that Mr. Wulzerbacher didn’t undergo any apprenticeship training.

“When you have guys going out there with no training whatsoever, it’s a little disreputable to start with,” Mr. Joseph said. “We’re the real Joe the Plumber.”

Mr. Joseph said Mr. Wulzerbacher could only legally work in the townships, but not in any municipality in Lucas County or elsewhere in the country.

“This individual has got no schooling, no licenses, he’s never been to a training program, union or non-union, in the United States of America,” Mr. Joseph said.