This stuff just makes me feel good!

Play one or two, or play em all.

It's all good!

Enjoy.

Slow Turnin'

Cry Love

Perfectly Good Guitar

Thunderbird

Have a Little Faith in Me

You can thank me later.

I've owned a lot of Chevys in my life. Mostly during the 60s, 70s, and 80's, and they all had one thing in common. Cheap interchangable parts. Any small block V8 ( and most big blocks, with a little tweaking ) they ever made will bolt right in to any Chevy car or truck made since 1955. Rearends and transmissions are all pretty much an easy swap.

I've owned a '52 Coupe, a '56 210 two door sedan, a '57 BelAir, a '57 Nomad wagon, and a '69 Stepside pickup. I put new engines, transmission, and running gear from much newer Chevys in every one of them. I don't have pics of them all, but I have a few.

The '57 Nomad-

It came with a 283ci small block and automatic tranny. I swapped that out for a 375hp 396 big block and Muncie Rock Crusher 4 speed using all Chevy parts.

This 450hp 396 I built in '89 to put in my '69 pickup came from a '74 Chevelle.

The pickup came new with a 307 and 3 speed on the column shifter, which I replaced with the big block rat motor and a Turbo 400 auto tranny.

Anything was possible and cheap parts were everywhere. Junkyards were full of them.

And it's still that way, if you happen to be lucky enough to own any of that Bowtie rolling stock.

But I don't.

I'm modernized! I drive a Nissan 4WD pickup now. Parts are year and model specific now. Most of you may remember the engine had to be replaced last year. Had to be the exact same engine, too! Couldn't find a good junkyard engine, so went with the Jasper remanufactured model. Only set me back $5,002.

This week, I had to have the distributor replaced. But, it's not just a distributor. The ignition coil and the cam position sensor are built in to it. And it's not just year and model specific, it's VIN specific. You don't find one find one laying in a parts store. Had to order one from Nissan. Now, back when I built that yellow 396 big block, I bought the best high performance Accel distributor and coil on the market, the two cost me about $100, total.

Here she is, nestled in her new home.

Check out the price on this one hour distributor swap!

Yep, that's proof positive I don't drive a '57 chevy anymore!

On the plus side tho, with the new distributor that Jasper engine has really came to life! Runs smooth and strong, power curve seems to have no end!

Every cloud does have a silver lining, doesn't it?

http://projecthappy.xanga.com/730613405/cat-fights-and-conversations/?cref=front-featured

is number two in Featured Weblogs with no recs and only four comments. How the heck does that happen?

On July 20th 2010, I will have been married to this lovely lady for 39 straight years.

That means I've bought 38 anniversary gifts, and I'm running out of ideas!

Any anniversary present suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

39 years. Wow! That's 16 years longer than I was single!

But, who's countin'?

Time flies when you're having fun!

Karen and I going to a get together at the home of our daughter Raymona's new in-laws that she's calling "The Celebration of the Wedding of Raymona and Bill". It's supposed to start at one o'clock and last til whenever.

Karen made a beautiful fruit tray with some really delicious dip.

So I jumped in and made my world famous shrimp-macaroni salad.

Can't have a family gathering without it!

The mixin' in process.

That stainless bowl is about 20" inches in diameter. That is alot of salad!

The finished masterpiece.

TA DAAA!

If there's any interest in the recipe, just ask and I'll post it later.

This get together is going on until whenever so don't know when I'll be back on.

Wonder if there's gonna be any beer?

*****************************************

Our new son-in- law Bill and our daughter Raymona.

New grandkids Emily and Evan.

They had a really nice turn-out!

These are some really nice folks. Our family just got a whole lot bigger. I love it!

This is the in-laws dog Penny, would you believe she's only 2 years old? Wow, that's a big dog!

And yep, they had beer. Altho, I didn't drink any. Making up for that now that I'm home!

****************************************

Recipe for shrimp-macaroni salad.

Cook 3 cups elbow macaroni in 5 quarts boiling, well salted water.

Cook a bit longer than usual, you want it plump and tender. It'll firm up when chilled.

Drain, and rinse in cold water til cooled, to stop the cooking.

Drain again.

For the sauce mix together-

1 and 1/2 cups mayonaise ( and, no, you can't substitute Miracle Whip here. That would be just..........................nasty)

1/2 half cup bleu cheese dressing

1/4 cup spicy brown mustard

1/4 cup Italian dressing

4 tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce

1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

To the sauce add-

one small onion, finely chopped

two carrots, shredded

three stalks celery, thinly sliced

two heaping tablespoonfuls of sweet pickle relish.

In a large bowl, place the drained macaroni, two pounds of cooked shrimp (reserve 18 or so to place on top), cover with the sauce mixture and gently fold together with a large spoon or spatula.

Pour into a serving dish and top with the reserved shrimp, shredded cheddar, a little paprika and parsley, cover and refrigerate til well chilled.

Bon Apetite!

*something borrowed*

but, not blue

The Real Reality. . . 

"YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY"
Actually, you learn something old every day. Just because you've just
learned it doesn't mean it's new. Other people probably already knew it.


"YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (When you die)"
Well... that depends on what it is. If it's your dark blue suit, you
can certainly take it with you. In fact, not only can you take it with
you, they can probably put some of your things in your pockets.


"TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY"
Not necessarily true. Today is another day. We have no idea what
tomorrow is going to be. It might turn out to be another day, but we can't be
sure.
If it happens, I'll be the first to say so. But, you know what? By that
time, it will be today again.

As a Vietnam Vet that loves this Country and the Grand Old Flag that flies over her, I salute them and everyone who has ever served in uniform, on this 234th Birthday of the United States of America!

Hope everyone has a fabulous, fun, and safe 4th of July!

*************

Derogatory comments will be deleted!

*****

*Edit*

Started out as a slightly stressful 4th. Woke up this morning to find the AC on the fritz, so had to call the service dude out on a holiday. OUCH!

Supposed to be 95 here today and very humid, so didn't really have much choice.

Turned out to be a faulty start capacitor, easily fixed and only set me back a little over $220.00. Could have been a lot worse!

Came back from a trip to Kroger's to find Karen's computer infected with the AVSoft virus. Took about 3 hours to get rid of it with the help of system restore, MalwareBytes Anti- Malware, and CCleaner.

But, it's getting better. House is cooling down, and Buddly Crocker stopped by to fire up the grill and the deep fryer!

Oh Lord, that was soooooooo good!

Mmmmm! Grilled Chorizo sausage with hot brown mustard, homemade sweet potato fries with Sweet Baby Ray's dipping sauce, chicken and pork tamalitto's with salsa, and of course, beer! Bricker will disagree with me on that last one, but sorry pard, I don't have access to all those Canadian brews like you do every day. You could always send me some?

Soon as it gets dark we'll be packing up some beers and a couple of deck chairs and heading down to Riverfront Drive for the big annual 4th of July party. Music, good peeps, cold beer, apple pie moonshine and fireworks!

Who could ask for anything more?

Have a great 4th of July, Xangamigos!