The Adventures of Me & My Shadow #62 in VA, MD 06/28/01
0 miles this trip, odometer now 9809 total, miles this year 9485.
From MD, Hi Everyone!
I did not get the results I was looking for by speeding up my heart. My blood pressure and pulse look about the same and I am still short of breath. I guess my old heart is just worn out, I hope it doesn’t expire before the Defibrillator battery does. I suppose I should be looking for a replacement of some kind. I’ll talk to the Doctor next time I see him about it.
I brought my daughter Jenny’s old car (250,000 miles on it) up here to use when I put the old GMC up on blocks for the TLC that it has earned. On Friday I went back to Jenny’s to see my Grandson Cody in a TAG (talented and gifted students) play "Midsummer nights dream", the play was great. I also got to see my Great-grand-daughter Madison (five year old) play "T" ball. The kids had fun and were learning the game. When I was there a week ago I saw my Great-grand-son Christian (eight year old) play a little league game. An adult was pitching the ball so the kids could hit it, the kids were having fun and becoming more skilled in catching, throwing and hitting. Yesterday I saw my Grand-son Cody (ten year old) play a little league game. I was impressed at how much they progress in five years. It is a whole different world than my world was when I was that age. I was very impressed with both of the pitchers, they were pitching like professionals. It was a pitching dual. After thinking about what I had observed, I believe that the pitchers and catchers were the only ones having fun. The pitching was way ahead of most of the kids, they could not hit it and their only hope was to get a base on balls. I thought about the speed of the ball and the distance it travels on a little league diamond, it is in the catchers mitt in the blink of an eye. Most of them were called out on strikes that they never took, hoping for balls. A few got to first base on balls and very seldom did one get a hit, they were not having fun and they were not getting practice hitting, fielding, running and making snap decisions as to where to throw the ball. I believe the coaches were more interested in winning than in the kids having fun. I was never a ball player, even when I was a kid I had work to do that I enjoyed as much as playing ball. When I was in the Navy and young I remember choosing up sides and playing ball. We never kept score but we sure had a lot of fun. Like I said, It’s a different world today and it’s not all good. If they would rotate the pitching duties to all the kids I believe they would have more fun. Who cares who wins or looses if you are having fun. They ended the season with Cody’s team being the champions and Cody was picked for the All stars Team. He sure didn’t get it from me. So far the All star Team he is on has won two games, if they keep this up they will soon have to go across the bay to find competition and this can be expensive. I wonder, if they go over there and win, could they get the losing team to refund the $20 per car round trip bridge/tunnel fare?
After I got the old GMC up on blocks I took both mufflers off, not to replace them they were OK. I had to move the tailpipe forward, when I ran over that rock out in Oregon that took out the left muffler it also shoved the tail pipe to the rear. I also wanted to replace the flanges on the tail pipes with the swivel style that came with the new headers. This would require some welding down under the coach after I got everything lined up. Now I have used the arc welder since I was a teenager and I learned to weld with acetylene while I was in the Navy but this is a different world now, I now have a wire welder and I have not yet mastered it. My eye sight is not what it used to be and even with a halogen light under the coach I messed it up bad and it takes me forever to get down under and out from under the coach. So I gave my son Jeff who never welded any thing in his life some instructions and he had it mastered in no time. He got down under the coach and started welding. I could tell by the sound of it that it was going well and when he finished it looked like a professional job and that is one hell of a place to weld. I accused him of doing other welding and he reminded of when he was a teenager. I had forgotten about the time when he came out to Nebraska to visit me. I was working at the Dehy Plant and I now remember teaching him in 15 minutes everything I know about welding with the Arc welder and the gas welder and giving him some scrap iron to practice on. Unlike Cody playing baseball, I can say that Jeff inherited his welding ability from me and he is pretty damn good at it.
Work on the coach is going slow, I keep running out of steam and I am not as fast as I used to be. I find things to do for Jeff & Alexis and even with the price of gas coming down (I saw it for $1.299 at one place} I couldn’t justify the trip to CA for the Western States GMC fall rally. I have sent my fee in for the fall International GMC rally in Niagara Falls in Sept. and I plan to take in some week-end rallies with the Sunshine Statesmen & the Tidewater Crabs GMC Clubs after I get the coach work done.
Cody’s All-Star team lost two games so they are no longer in the competition and that is OK, Now they don’t have to worry about the bridge-tunnel fare. I’m sure it was a good experience and they learned something.
Have a safe and happy Forth of July.
Till next time, Dallas or Dad
Me & My Shadow & Gus on the road.