Monday Musings...

If you liked the weather we had late last week, then you're sure to have no fondness for the weather THIS week.
It's raining here in the Heartland this morning, with dropping temps throughout the day, with perhaps a touch of some snow showers (no accumulation) later around midday. Rest of the week looks clear with highs in the mid-upper 40s, warming up a tad by the weekend.
And now that THAT'S out of the way, lets see what we're waking up to this soggy Monday...
*** Head of the CIA has affair, resigns when story is outed.

General Petraeus never did so much for me...not in the way that Patton or Schwarzkopf have.
And to have an affair with one's BIOGRAPHER?
Methinks something smells a bit rotten in the state of Denmark...AND the current administration.
This man's got a chest full of "fruit-salad", so it doesn;t all track right with me on this sudden resignation.

Actually, I think (former) Lt.General McChrystal should have NEVER resigned over the relatively minor flap caused by Rolling Stone magazine, and would have made a better (imho) head of the CIA, and at least HE didn't have a propensity to have a soiree with his biographer, as Petraeus has.
Anyone remember the media headlines that read General Betray Us???

That was an ad taken out in the NYT by none other than the MOVE ON.ORG (Soros-backed) progressives.
Michelle Malkin's website (my link to her site is at left) is replete with articles regarding this organization, and how they are working to "fundamentally change" America.
Here's the specific link:
http://michellemalkin.com/category/moveonorg/
Now what better way to change America than from within...by whatever means you can manufacture, even if it involves the head of one of our most important SECURITY aspects of this nation?
And this was known BEFORE the election, but was withheld until AFTER the election...talk about "timing", hmm?
There are a few other members of the Obama administration poised at the "OUT" door, and you will see them making their respective exits soon enough. Thing is, WHO will be replacing them, and how will THEY fit into this progressive agenda?
Stay tuned for more on this kids, because it's no longer a conspiracy THEORY to change the face of this nation...it's FACT.
*** We took the Wfieymobile into the shop, and they had it ALL day Friday, so when the lovely Mrs. Bobby G. walked down to get the car, and it wasn't done yet, she became a little more than perturbed.

The shop stated that "the car wasn't running right" after they put the radiator and water pump back in..."like it wanted to cut out", and they "believed" that water had gotten into someplace it shouldn't have...

Okay, now this (to me) is a "WTF???" moment...!
Water pumps and radiator swaps are pretty much straight-forward...at least they USED to be. They're both "bolt-on" repairs...
You UNBOLT the bad part, replace it, and BOLT the new one in...it's not like you're tearing down the lower half of the engine block.
Or, at least it SHOULDN'T be.
Well, suffice it to say, we were ONE car down this past Saturday when we went grocery shopping.

Not to fear, as the "Batmobile" was ready to take to the streets again.
What we wound up doing, was getting Wifey a (dare I say it, living in the ghettohood?)...RENTAL car (that word RENTAL gives me the skeevies).

Still, with groceries packed into the hatch area of my Pontiac (may they R.I.P.), we set off to the FWIA and the rental agency (based there) to get Wifey a car (the repair shop stated they'd PAY for it, too...damn straight!).

I dropped her off, and headed home to unpack the groceries.

She came home less than a half hour after me with her "temp" car...

A 2012 Chevy Impala LT (flex fuel), with only 5K (and change) on the odometer...

((...AHEM...))

Now, I tried NOT to laugh, because I knew, in spite of the fact that it was NEW...and had MORE horsepower than my meager 1983 V6 Firebird, and LOTS of "gadgets" inside, that it was a cookie-cutter product "of our times", and by that I mean...it's a LAZY-PERSON'S CAR!!!

To begin, I don't much like the exterior styling (if one may call it that)...looks JUST like an Altima...or a Camry, or damn near any other 4 door sedan of similar size. Just change the front and rear fascias and presto...an "Anycar"...for the "anyman or anywoman".

The INTERIOR, while relatively well thought out (they didn't screw up the DISPLAY GAUGES yet), seemed eerily similar to both MY car and the Wifeymobile. And that is where it ended.

Too many "things to play with" inside...things to divert one's attention from the primary reason to be BEHIND THE WHEEL in the first place...and that would be TO DRIVE somewhere.

The "entertainment center" takes up the entire CENTER part of the dashboard-console...totally a waste of space.

I thought electronics were supposed to be getting SMALLER?

The seats seemed "cheaper"...maybe it was the bolstering? But they did operate in like manner to Wifey's 1996 Caprice (thankfully, as they were in need of adjustment to "our" specifications - so we could "fit" the car to our backsides and view outside the vehicle).
Basic adjustments (lights, wipers, etc) were easy enough to familiarize oneself with...even with the "auto-on" headlight feature (another waste).
You have to rock the light switch to the left to disengage the auto-on setting. Then you can MANUALLY turn them on (it's like perpetually driving in a damn funeral, otherwise). Wipers were still on the left stalk (turn signals too).
Oh, the ONLY way to open the trunk is from the INSIDE (or with the remote key fob)...no external lock any longer...gotta love that, right?
(not)

I said it was also a FLEX FUEL car. That means you can dump ANY blend of gasoline up to 85% ETHANOL into it, and it will still run, provisionally-speaking.
If you go with regular fuel (87 octane 10-15% ethanol, as most ALL fuels are these days), you will supposedly get around 31 MPG (highway)...BUT (uh, oh, here it comes) if you place E-85 (85% ethanol) down it's throat, the mileage DROPS to about 26 MPG (highway).
Wow...how "cost-effective" is THAT???
(not very, Bob)
Sure makes the case to NOT use ethanol, doesn't it? Then again, I've stated here a few times that you ONLY get back about 75% of the "power" with ethanol that you would NORMALLY get by using REGULAR GASOLINE...not that hard to do the math here, right?
Fewer miles per tankful and damn near the same price...helluva way to BILK the driving public.
Anyway, we're hoping to get by THE Wifeymobile back today...(crosses fingers), and it better be running as well as when we dropped it off last Friday, because it WAS running fine - just had a coolant leak.
*** Lastly today, I miss the days when you could easily give your TRUST to someone else, be it the MECHANIC fixing your car, or even those in authority in our very own government....days when they basically EARNED that trust, don't you?

Trust is one of life's invaluable tools...we NEED trust at someplace, or sometime....there's no getting around it.
And when we GIVE trust, we expect it to NOT be misused, or abused in ANY way, because it's damn hard to FORGET when trust IS betrayed.

We "trust" our government (more importantly those within it) to make the right decisions concerning our NATION...and not necessarily in each of our lives.

That's where we learn (hopefully) to TRUST in our OWN knowledge and wisdom.

For, if we cannot trust ourselves, how in God's name can we even begin to trust others?
And when we DO trust others, and they let us down, how difficult is it to sweep it aside and move forward, especially if such "trust" results in costing US either in time, money, resources, or whatever else we have?
How many "second-chances" are we to permit before we say "enough is truly enough"?

I say if others KNEW more about what they were being tasked to perform, be it running a nation, or getting an engine to run correctly, we might all fare better in the long run.

But in the meantime, such instances will become little more than a crap shoot, as we try to place our trust in something or someone that is in desperate need of making better decisions...or learning their craft.
Would we trust an electrician to perform brain surgery?
How about trusting a railroad engineer to put a roof on your house?
Trust such as those would be misplaced beyond all comprehension, right?
Once trust has been lost, it has to be RE- EARNED, and none of us should willingly give it back out for free.
Everything has it's price in the world, and sometimes, the cost is more than we were originally told.
Do have yourselves a good week.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.