Saturday, August 2, 2008

Shows of August 2

Well, I did not make it to any of the shows today, thanks to V&M rentals of Gorham. Their sloppy work and cheapie parts insured I would have a lot of extra work to do yesterday rebuilding my tractor and mower deck. And so, today I had to get caught up with the mowing.

It would not be a problem if my yard was average, but it's not. I have almost 15 acres, and at least 10 of that requires mowing. No small task!

I do hope that some of you who went to the shows will submit pictures and/or feedback. It is always appreciated.

Perhaps, if the weather is not too bad, I may get to the Kingston show tomorrow...or Oxford...

Friday, August 1, 2008

Guess Who?

36 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 currently are defendants in lawsuits
and 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is? Give up yet? It's the 435 members of the United States Congress! Believe it or not.

Why do we let these people keep representing us?

Now for the lighter side:

An elderly man suffered a massive heart attack. The family drove wildly to get him to the emergency room. After what seemed like a very long wait, the E.R. Doctor appeared, wearing his scrubs and a long face. Sadly, he said, "I'm afraid he is brain-dead, but his heart is still beating."

"Oh, Dear God," cried his wife, her hands clasped against her cheeks with shock!!! "We've never had a Democrat in the family before!"

V & M Revisited

You probably recall the serious issues we had with V & M Rentals of Gorham last spring. They charged us two and a half times more than the estimate, and after "fixing" our tractor and giving it a tune-up, it was no longer capable of starting or running. I had to get a real mechanic to get it going.

Well, it just gets worse. The brand new mower deck they over-charged me $700 for is burnt out already, after just three months. The bearings are gone, the belt fell apart, etc. Come to find out, though my machine is a Husqvarna, and V & M is supposed to be a Husqvarna dealer, they did NOT replace the Husky deck with another Husky deck. They snuck in a generic no-name cheapie unit, apparently.

To make matters worse, when I tried to replace the "new" deck with the old one (at least that one works), I discovered that the old one no longer fit - V & M had to make modifications in order to put the cheapie deck on.

After several hours in the machine shop making parts, I was finally able to get the old deck back on.

Since V & M did not even bother responding to the Better Business Bureau in regard to our complaints, this time I went straight to Husky. I told them everything from the beginning, and suggested they review the "authorized dealer" status of V & M. I also advised them that, since V & M was acting as their agent and had decided to be unresponsive, I was going to resubmit the complaints to the BBB and name Husqvarna as the company that is ultimately liable.

Husky was not happy to hear this. Well, I said, I am not happy that their rep apparently was a crook and a moron, either, who robbed me of $700 and ruined my $2500 tractor, so we're even. (Well, not really.) But one thing is certain - they should not count on me ever buying another Husky product.

So, why am I writing all this? Only one reason - many of you are our friends. And if this horror story keeps you from being taken as we were, then it would all be worthwhile. To the wise, I suggest avoiding V & M unless you have a masochistic side and enjoy pain :o)

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Kool site - for an eatery

As you may have noticed, HotKarz has linked to a little restaurant, Two Trails Fabulous 50's Diner. One reason is because the creator of the site, Janie Howard, has done such a super job of incorporating a lot of interesting stuff. This is not just your typical "diner website".

If you haven't checked it out yet, you should. I think you may enjoy it. You can find it at www.twotrailsdiner.net. When you get there, find the fun stuff by clicking on ABOUT US.

Ainslie's Bust

For two years we have wanted to get up to the "big" cruise-in at Ainslie's in Gardiner. It's about an hour and 40 minutes from our home, so it is not a cruise we can go to often.

I called ahead - fine. I checked Weatherbug - they said rain, but it would be over before the cruise.

So, we headed out. But when we got there, we were told it was canceled due to rain. It wasn't raining, so we thought we would just hang out to see if others would show.

We waited an hour and a half - only one other vehicle arrived, and that was our own Tom Penney, of the Shapleigh area.

I got to thinkin' that maybe the folks up north are not as hardy as us in the south - a little moisture doesn't shut down many cruises here abouts. We just open the umbrellas :o) It just struck me that the only ones who showed were folks from down here in York County.

Well, to say we were disappointed is putting it mildly. We may not get another opportunity to get to Ainslie's.

On the way home, we did hit a downpour at Freeport, and the rest of the way home. And Weatherbug updated to say the same was happening as far north as above Augusta, so I guess it was just as well that they canceled.

And now it looks like rain for Saturday. If that changes, I expect I'll shoot up to Andover. But I gotta tell ya, if the weather looks "iffy", I'll not be making that trip - it's two hours, and that's too much to gamble. If clear, it's Andover. If it looks like a fair chance of rain, I'll just head up the hill to Parsem - it's close to home.

Whatever y'all decide to do this weekend, good luck to you all.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Casco Day Parade

Contributed by Cheryl Page:

"What a wonderful parade to go to !!! so many cars to see and all in the parade. After the parade, Stan went and parked near the concession stands so we could pick up his mom . Everyone wanted to see the car so he put up the hood . A lot of the Seeds Of Peace kids from all the torn countrys took pictures of the car sat in the car. That is what it is all about as far as I am concerned - to see the look of a child face from a torn and ravaged country what joy!!!!"

Thanks for sharing, Cheryl :o)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Island

Fortunately for those intrepid fools who ventured out early this morning for Mackworth Island, the weatherman was 100% wrong, and we were not fools, after all. The weather could not have been more accommodating.

Having not been there before, I was impressed by the beauty of the area - the woodland walks, the shore - just grand! Thank you for sharing, folks!

While the show was rather small, it far exceeded my expectations. Fairly well organized. Pleasant and relaxing setting. Fine hosts. Good music. We had a good time.

The only thing that really raised an eyebrow is how a kit car (and there was a class for kits) was registered in another class, and (not surprisingly) took first place - as I have often stated, kits have a very distinct and huge advantage over the real thing, and should not be in the same class as the real thing. And while it was not surprising that it won, what raised the eyebrow was the fact that the judges were either unable to tell it was a kit, or did not care. In either case, it was a mistake to allow a kit to get away with a move like that. If a kit wants to play imposter in the wrong class, fine. But for judges to give it the nod is just wrong.

Otherwise, a near-perfect show. Thank you to the hosts!

P.S. Don't forget - the last scheduled balloting for the Super Cruise trophies (6 of 'em) will be held at Sonny's Convenience Store in Lyman tomorrow (Monday) evening, weather permitting. There is yet to be one "mystery" ballot location before the awards are presented at the Kiwanis Show in Standish on August 10th, but I will give you a hint - we plan to hold it this week sometime! Good luck to you all!