Just who was John Chrysler?

Having known some of the history behind American automobiles and their namesakes, I thought it odd recently while watching an episode of NewsRadio on DVD, when the characters were discussing a mythical conversation between Henry Ford and John Chrysler.  Of course the characters made fun of the whole thing because surely there was no one named John Chrysler.  While a funny sitcom scenario, those who know better probably didn't find it so amusing.  For you see there was a Walter Chrysler, who eventually founded Chrysler motors and the Chrysler Corporation, but I'm getting way, way ahead of my story.

Most people know at least part of the story behind people like Henry Ford, but how much do you know about David Dunbar Buick?  Yes, there really was a person named Buick and he founded the Buick Motor Company around 1902.  Mr. Buick wasn't much of a businessman, he concentrated his efforts on research and development and is credited with coming up with one of the most significant engine designs in history, the overhead valve engine or OHV.

But as I said, he wasn't much of a businessman, so eventually a man named William C. "Billy" Durant was brought in to manage and run the Buick company.  Now Billy was a high school dropout, but he was an excellent salesman and eventually worked his way to the top of the carriage market.  In no time at all, Buick sales went from 37 cars sold when he signed on to 1,108 orders just from attending a New York auto show!

Billy was also a pretty good businessman, up to a point, but shortly after forming a little corporation called General Motors, he began to buy up other companies like crazy.  He first acquired Oldsmobile, (yes there was a guy named Ransom Eli Olds), Oakland, (which later became Pontiac), Cadillac, (named by it's owner Henry Leland after one of his ancestors, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, the French explorer and founder of Detroit), and by 1908, he had acquired a total of 13 car companies as well as 10 parts and accessories manufacturers!

By 1910, Billy was in over his head and quickly found himself overextended and out of money.  The banking interests which had backed him forced him out and assumed control of GM.  They brought in people like Walter Chrysler, remember him, to run Buick and proceeded to divest GM of some of the companies which were losing money or competing with GM.  At the time, GM was simply too big to let fail, so the more conservative bankers quickly turned GM around and made it profitable once again.

So what happened to Billy Durant?  He was not through, nor to be outdone for that matter, no he started another little company along with a new partner named Louis Chevrolet, and by 1914 had made enough money to buy out his partner and assume control.  Then just 2 short years later, he had acquired enough GM stock to once again assume control of it.  Then from 1916-1920, he once again started adding more companies to GM; Chevrolet, Fisher Body, and Frigidaire, and once again found himself in trouble. This time the forces at DuPont assumed control of GM and Durant was out for good.

Next time I discuss cars, we will talk about the many adventures of Henry Ford.

Did You Know?

Buick is currently the oldest American car company still in operation.  Oldsmobile was, until it was discontinued by GM in 2004.

The Ford family still controls the company that Henry Ford founded all those years ago.

The oldest car company still in operation in the world is Mercedes-Benz (Germany), followed by Peugeot (France).

The Curved Dash Oldsmobile was the first high-volume car in the world, 425 were produced in 1901.

How lazy are you?

To the people who read this and know me, you know how much of an expert I am on this subject, so no need to explain that.  For the rest of you, just take my word for it, I'm an expert on the subject of laziness, and in fact may be the true king when it comes to being lazy!

The reason I ask this question pertains more to the thing I am not so lazy at, computers, or more accurately, discussing computers and how to make them do what you want them to do.  This may be the key to that answer I seek, as I am not so lazy at things I enjoy doing.

In doing the thing I enjoy, I come across a lot of folks who are lazy when it comes to doing legwork.  And by that I mean simply they would just post a question in a forum on how to do something rather than  spending 5 minutes on Google looking up the answer for themselves.  (I've done that myself a few times, I am the king of lazy after all!)

In any case, since I've been active running a Hackintosh forum and starting threads on Insanely Mac, among others, I have become aware of how frustrating it is when others appear to be so lazy.  So I guess this begs the question; Is this how I appear to people who think I am lazy?  Hmmm, maybe now we are getting somewhere.

Now I'm beginning to understand why people who visit my house have a dumbfounded look on their faces, they think I'm lazy!  When in fact, as we have discovered, I'm not lazy at everything, just the things I don't like to do.  Wow, that is a true revelation, all these years people have called me lazy and it turns out it's not totally true!

Now we know what the problem is, how do we go about fixing selective laziness?  Or better yet, do we need to fix it?  My solution has always been to pay someone else to do the things I don't like to do.  But sometimes I'm too lazy at hiring someone to do it, so how to I fix that?  I think that has more to do with my procrastination, but that is another blog topic for sure.

It is fairly obvious, selective laziness seems to be a national problem.  It comes from living in a free society and stems from the fact that we have the means and ability to act this way.  We have menial jobs in the economy that Americans no longer want to do, so people who aren't really a part of this society are more than happy to do them.

I guess my point to all of this is that people are all different.  Just because you don't like to do this or that, doesn't mean you don't excel at something else.  Most of us in our lives have met or seen someone who appears at first to be an idiot, but then we discover that person is truly a genius.  Don't be too quick to judge people, after all, when it comes down to it, they are no different than you...

Hot enough for you?

Every time we have to endure a heat wave for an extended period, we all start out talking about how hot it is.  Then as time goes on and the heat continues, our bodies adjust and before you know it, it's not quite as bad as it was at first.

One thing I have noticed, now that I'm in my fifties, the body doesn't adjust as easily as it used to.  Of course this perhaps evens out a bit by the fact that older people are usually colder than the younger set.  At least that is the case with me.

I guess my point is that young or old, rich or poor, we all have to put up with the heat to a certain degree (pardon the pun).  I suppose those who work in an air conditioned office or building don't really notice it quite as much as those who are out in it all of the time.  Of course those who are out in it all of the time get used to it, so I suppose it evens out somewhat.

In any case, I do know one thing for certain.  I hear it constantly from those I talk to out and about.  Everyone can't wait for fall to get here so we can get a break from the heat.  Of course these are the same individuals who last winter couldn't wait for spring to get here so it would warm up!  I guess you just can't please some people...

Happy Day 21,268

Doesn't sound special you say?  I beg to differ.  For this day in  my life turns out to be Father's Day, 2010.  It also means that 38 years ago, October 6, 1972 to be exact, the event which qualified me as a father happened, the birth of my son.  I guess I didn't feel that was enough to really qualify me as a father, so the blessed event was repeated on January 5, 1974 with the birth of my daughter.

Okay, now with 2 children to care for I must be considered a true father, right?  Wrong!  I've learned over the years since that being a father is a lot more than banging out a couple of kids.  There are mistakes to be made and the learning process never really ends.

Of course it's not all about mistakes, every now and then you get lucky and do something right.  You give the right advice, relate a funny story to cheer up a sad child just at the right moment, those are the times you treasure.  Not that the mistakes are not rewarding in their own way, but it's only natural that the good times are the favorite ones.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is no right or wrong way to be a father.  You simply do the best you can with what you have to work with.  You don't always succeed, but then you don't always fail either.  A lot like life itself, you take the good with the bad and make the best of it.

So on this Father's day, I would like to thank my children, Chris and Autumn, for making my job a little easier, my life a little brighter and a lot more fun at times!  You guys have been the biggest joy in my life and I love you both very much.

Gas Price Wars?

It seems to me that the old gas wars have changed quite a bit lately.  I realize times have changed, but why don't gasoline companies compete anymore?  As an example of what I'm talking about, in the area where I work recently, prices were the range of $2.41 for discount stations (Swify, Speedway, etc.) and $2.59 at the regular retailers (BP, Shell, etc.).  Then in the blink of an eye, overnight as a matter of fact, now all are at the same price, $2.75!  Okay, I can understand a price increase, but did the price instantly change to the same amount for the discount brands as well as the regular retailers?

And this seems to happen on a regular basis, the price will slowly creep downwards over the next few weeks, the price difference between the discount and regular suppliers will once again be present and then it will happen again, all of a sudden and instantly all will be at the same high price.  How stupid do they think we are?

I know, I know, what can you do about it?  It is pretty simple really, for those who can, drive less.  This has been proven overall to be the most effective solution to high gas prices and it works each time it is tried.

Not everyone can do this I know as I am one who has to buy gas daily to deliver the mail.  But for those days I don't work, I don't go out much anymore.  I've very tired of being taken for a fool and refuse to play their game any longer.  I've started walking more as well.  This has an added benefit which should be obvious.

So do your best to let the gas companies know that we are aware of what they are doing and we refuse to take part in their little games anymore.  Walk, bike, run to the local store, get some healthy exercise and save a buck!

A Very Small Bite Out Of The Big Apple!

(A long read, but worth it if you are planning a trip to the city)

It was everything I hoped for and so much more.  Although I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do, I did do a lot, and what I did do was very enjoyable. On this trip, I was accompanied by my daughter (Autumn), her significant other (Randy), my granddaughter (Jordan), my granddaughter (Carly), my grandson (Billy), my sister (Melody), my sister (Kathy), my niece (Amy), and my nephew (Russell).

Stuff I Did:

• Rode the Metro North into the City
• Took the downtown tour
• Took the Brooklyn tour
• Ate Brooklyn Pizza
• Took the uptown tour
• The Empire State Building
• Rode the Staten Island ferry
• Rode the subway
• The Statue of Liberty
• Ate at Uno's Pizza
• Walk across the Brooklyn bridge
• Walk around Times Square

Stuff I didn't do:

• Go up into the Statue of Liberty
• Go to Ellis Island
• Walk through Central Park
• Take the night tour
• See a Broadway show
• Drive in the city
• Go to Coney Island

I picked up Carly after school on Monday (06-07-10) afternoon and about 1:30 AM the next morning we began our journey.  We met up with Melody, Kathy, Amy and Russell at a rest stop on I-75 and headed towards NYC.  Although I had programmed my TomTom GPS unit (Mandy), the night before with the route I wanted to take, for some reason she decided not to use that route and came up with one of her own.  I figured this out after we headed out of Columbus, OH eastbound on I-70.

Rather than take the time to go back, we decided to continue on with the journey she had mapped out for us, which took us across PA via the PA turnpike, a toll road.  I tried my best to maintain a constant 75 MPH speed, but quickly discovered Melody was having none of it, so I constantly had to slow down and wait for them to catch up.  Despite all of that, we found ourselves in the parking lot of the hotel north of NYC that afternoon about 3:30 PM.

I think the tolls for this route added up to nearly $20, but it was an adventure and great fun talking back and forth along the way via the walkie-talkie radios in each car.  For the most part, Melody followed me, but somehow we did manage to get separated at the George Washington bridge across the Hudson river into New York.  Amazingly they showed up at the hotel shortly after we arrived.

We mostly spent the rest of that day relaxing after the long drive.  I hadn't gotten any sleep at all, so I took a well deserved nap.  I awoke to discover Autumn and her group had arrived later that evening and so began our NYC stay.  Russell had went off on his own to visit with his friends from the city as was the case most of the time we were there.

We began the next day with a nice free breakfast at the hotel. Afterwards we went off to ride the Metro North train into the city which was necessary each day as we stayed north of the city at the Hampton Inn, Yonkers.  This basically amounted to $100 a day for the round trip for my bunch which to me says a lot for staying at a hotel right in the city instead.  At least the hotel provided a free shuttle to/from the train station most of the time.  If your train pulled into the station after 10:30 PM you had to call a taxi for the ride back over to the hotel.

We kind of screwed up the tours as no one actually paid for theirs online before leaving home and therefore we had no way of doing it once we arrived.  (No printer to print out the necessary voucher.)  So we went into the city to just buy the tour packages from the service center which was located at Times Square.  To our surprise and as it turns out, good fortune, as we walked out of Grand Central Terminal, we were promptly greeted by a rep of the Gray Line Tour company where we all secured our tour packages right on the street!  The tour we chose was promptly upgraded to 72 hours for free, which saved us a bunch of money as we bought a total of 1o packages.  As it turned out, the Gray Line reps are running around the streets all over the city.

My beautiful daughter Autumn peeking around her giant of a BF, who looks a little like Mr. Clean in this shot!

As for the tours themselves, they are very informative and most of the guides are very good at their jobs.  For example, on the Brooklyn tour we were encouraged to go into one of the many local establishments to grab a slice of pizza and soda while the bus waited.  I'm sure the tour company or guide receives some kind of kick back for the deal, but it was good pizza at a reasonable cost so no one was complaining!

Of course the downtown loop was the most enjoyable as most everything of interest is located there, but the guides do a good job of making the less attractive locations seem more interesting by spicing up the descriptions with stories about celebrities who may or may not actually live there. We didn't get a lot done the first day as we were so unsure of what to do next.  It had been rainy and cool most of the day so we decided to get an earlier start the next day. We left Melody in the city who was going to join Russell to see the Lion King on broadway that evening, while the rest of us went back to the hotel.

As we mainly used our tour packages for transportation around the city, it was on the second day that we decided to use our free pass for the Empire State building observatory, located high above the city (86 floors to be exact).  Melody and her group went off on their own as they had other plans.  I believe her and Russell attended a taping of the David Letterman show while Amy and Kathy did some shopping.

The Chrysler building, among others, as seen from the observatory of the Empire State building.

The view from the top of the building is simply breathtaking, once you finally get up there.  As with most things worth doing, the time it takes in line and for security checks, etc. do detract from it a bit, but it was still worth the effort to see this site.  This picture was taken looking northeast towards Queens.  The Chrysler building was the world's tallest for awhile, as were a lot of the buildings in New York at the time they were first built.

We got done with the Empire State building too late to catch the last ferry to the Statue of Liberty, so we took the one to Staten Island instead.  This free ferry has been in the news a lot lately as it crashed into the dock no less than twice recently.  Thankfully, our trip was much less eventful, but I did get some great pictures of the Statue of Liberty as well as the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

Autumn, Randy, Jordan, and Carly had to get back home on Friday so they left very early that morning for Indiana.  Russell went off on his own again, so only Melody, Kathy, Amy, Billy and I were together on Friday.  So we decided to do the Statue of Liberty first so we would be sure to be in time for the ferry.

Magnificent Lady Liberty herself, as seen from the ferry approaching Liberty Island

The main reason why these things take so long to do is because of the lines.  It took 2 hours just to wait in line for the ferry, but wait we did and finally we were on our way.  The ride to Liberty Island is much the same as the one to Staten Island, but of course you can get off at the statue which we did.  By the time we stood in line as long as we did and then walking around Liberty Island, I was far too tired to actually walk up all the steps to enter the base of the statue.  But I did get some good pictures and video as well.  We were all too tired to stop at Ellis Island on the way back to Manhattan, so that will have to wait for our next trip to the city.

Once back on the main island, we were once again too late to catch a ride for our next attraction, so we decided to catch a bite to eat instead.  We found an Uno's Pizza at the South Street Seaport to satisfy our hunger and also pick up the necessary info on the best way to get over to Brooklyn so we could walk back across the bridge. We were told where to find the nearest subway entrance which would take us under the East river and drop us right where we needed to be.

It was at this subway entrance that we encountered a true New Yorker who helped us scam the MTA out of a dollar, while making ten bucks for himself by swiping old metro cards which he collected and have 2 of us go through the turnstile at a time.  Actually it was great fun for us to see how people in the city operate as well as bringing us closer together while we bunched up to get through!

Billy, Kathy, Melody, Amy, and someone who looks like Rush Limbaugh rushing by, on the Brooklyn bridge

As promised the short one stop subway ride under the East river brought us exactly where we needed to be and our walk across the famous historical structure began.  I had been waiting a long time to do this and I have to say that this was the highlight of the trip for me as I am a big bridge buff and this walk, filled with the sights, sounds and history of New York City was the greatest!   I can only hope that I get to do it again some time.

Times Square at night, can't beat the sights and sounds.

As tired as I already was, I told Melody and Kathy that I would go to Times Square with them so they could shop being as they had been nice enough to do as I wished earlier in the day.  Once again the subway was called on to get us there, it was nice that everyone was so helpful in telling us which trains to take and where to transfer, etc.  After a couple more short train rides we found ourselves in the middle of Times Square which was simply amazing during the evening hours with all the people, sights and sounds.  Billy and I stood out on the sidewalk to take in all the events happening around us while Melody, Kathy and Amy did their shopping.

As it got late quick, we found we were too late once back at the Greystone train station to make use of the shuttle, so the hotel called a taxi for us.  I can only imagine this must of been what is known as a gypsy cab as there were no markings at all, just a plain looking, rather small Nissan.  Five minutes and $15 later, the five of us found ourselves back at the hotel.

After a good night's rest, we said our good-bye's as they planned another route home and Billy and I departed the hotel after checking out.  This time I made sure that Mandy understood my intentions by purposely programming a stop which would guarantee going the way I originally planned to go.  This worked perfectly as once we were well into PA, I just told her to find a route home, which was the way I wanted to go all along.

The trip back home took roughly 12 hours after several stops for gas and food, as well as construction delays and such.  There was however, quite a difference with tolls on this route.  We paid exactly 75 cents to go across New Jersey, and that was it!

If I ever go back, I will definitely do it different.  Here is a list of the way I would do it next time:

• Fly instead of drive
• Stay at a hotel in the city to avoid the costly train rides in and out of town
• Buy a 7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard
• Better planning for sightseeing times to see more sights in a day
• Bring more warm clothes!

The first one is obvious, 12-13 hours driving is just crazy.  You are far too tired to do anything once you get there so that day is completely wasted.  A lot of hotels in town provide free shuttles to and from the airport, this is the way to do it. The initial cost might be more, but it's worth it in the long run.

Hotels in the city are more expensive, but when you figure in the cost of the daily train rides and travel time wasted, I think this is a much better option.  It might take a bit of research to find one which would be suitable, but again, well worth it.

After riding the subway during this trip, this is the way to get around.  They go most everywhere you want to go and if not a city bus does and the card is good for both.  When in New York, do as the New Yorkers do!

Poor planning resulted in a lot of wasted sightseeing time with this trip.  For example, seeing the Empire State building before going out the the Statue of Liberty.  Both could have easily been done on the same day, but the ferry to the statue doesn't run after 3 PM, so we should have done that first.  The observatory of the Empire State building is open until 2 AM, so you do the math.

The last one is more for me personally, but I got cold a lot of the time we were there.  I was more comfortable the first day as I wore long pants and took a jacket, but the rest of the days I wore shorts, but at least I took my jacket with me every day.  The wind in NYC does blow a bit among the buildings and early part of June can be a bit on the cool side.

Besides that, we got rained on several times while on top of the double-decker buses and it can get mighty chilly when you are wet and sitting in the wind!  The tours all provide plastic ponchos, but the don't generally pass them out until it starts to rain.  By then it's too late.

All in all I had a great time in NYC, but will definitely do things differently the next time around.  Will there be a next trip, most definitely, I really enjoyed it!

The Big Shock!

After my experience in Cincinnati, I thought I'd better check to see if anything similar is happening with the Brooklyn Bridge.  Guess what:

USA TODAY

After some further checking, it appears the painting will take place in the later phase of the work, so I don't think it will affect my plan to walk across the historic structure later this week.

It does appear some traffic lanes will be closed, but I wasn't planning on driving across it anyway.  At any rate, a check of the many webcams with views of the bridge did not indicate any problems with pedestrian traffic on the bridge.  Whew!  That was close!

The Big Disappointment

I was all excited this morning, got up kind of early for a Saturday, after shower and donning some walking clothes, I made the 40 mile round trip to pick up my granddaughter, Carly.  Shortly after we arrived back at my house, my grandson Billy and my other granddaughter Jordan, along with her friend Nicole, arrived for the big trip to Cincinnati, Ohio.

You see the plan was to walk across the John A. Roebling suspension bridge and further tryout my new Sony MHS-CM5 bloggie HD video camera by taking some video of the experience along with the Cincinnati skyline.  I thought it would be an excellent prequel for the kids to see and learn a bit about the history of the bridge before we do the same in NYC on the Brooklyn bridge.  Seemed like a good plan.

After our 45 minute drive from the house, we arrived in Covington, KY, which is directly across from Cincinnati and quickly made our way to the place I planned to park for our walk.  A funny thing happened as we drove down the street for the bridge approach, there in the roadway were barriers which read Road Closed.  We quickly learned why when we caught our first view of the magnificent structure.  It was closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic for painting!

The kids thought it was very funny, but me not so much.  My magnificent scheme to teach my grandchildren a bit of history had resulted in a huge flop!  So much for my plan, but at least we got to stop by White Castles for lunch on the way back home and I got to spend some precious time with 3 of the most important people in the world to me.  Not such a big disappointment after all when you think about it.

The John A. Roebling suspension bridge (completed in 1866)  across the Ohio river between Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY, is not quite as famous as the Brooklyn bridge (completed in 1883), which John also designed, but was built under the supervision of his son Washington after the death of John which was the result of an accident while surveying for the bridge.

The Power Of Exercise

I'm probably the least likely person to be talking about this subject, but with the NYC trip coming up, I felt the need to get out and walk a bit yesterday.  I thought surely a walk around the courthouse square would be about half a mile, but then I measured with the car and it was only a quarter mile!  But I did walk about it twice, so I made it a half mile altogether.  I could have made it around twice more easy which would have been a mile.  BTW, that is how far it is to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

The surprising part was how much better I felt after the brisk walk.  My knee has been hurting for several days from arthritis, and after walking a short time I didn't even notice it any longer.  But I did have a restless night with some aches and pains I have not felt in awhile.

I plan to do this every evening after the sun goes down to give myself a fighting chance to walk around NYC without so much pain.  And besides, with my present weight loss plan, it can't help but benefit that as well!

Update:  Just got done with 4 times around (1 mile), not too bad at all, I'm ready for NYC!