WE'RE BACK!

Last Thursday, March 1, 2012, I was cleaning up my google accounts and I deleted several unused email addresses.

In doing so I deleted my primary account and this blog.

It was horrible!

But we're back now!

And I am sooo HAPPY!

Carlson on the Roof.

Saab 96
Erik Carlsson aka “Carlsson on the roof”

The expression “Carlsson on the roof” originated from the children’s story Karlsson på taket by Astrid Lindgren, in which a Karlsson character lived on the roof of an apartment building. The name was given to Carlsson as a result of his habit of occasionally rolling a rally car onto its roof. In the Safari Rally, he even rolled the car intentionally, to escape from a mud pool. When journalists later doubted his story, he proved it by rolling the car again. The Ford factory team then tried the same stunt with their Ford Cortina, causing more damage to the car than had occurred during the entire rally.

Erik Carlsson has done a number of unusual things during his rally career. During one rally in the UK, he needed a spare part and happened to find a brand new Saab 96 on a parking lot. He and the mechanic quickly started disassembling the car when the rather upset owner discovered them. The co-driver managed to defuse the situation by explaining that Erik was a factory driver for Saab and the owner would be given a new car. In the end Erik could keep driving and they remained friends and still exchange Christmas cards. At the time, rally regulations often stipulated penalties for damage to the car at the finish. Towards the end of the rally, Erik’s car had acquired dents to both the front fender and one door, so to avoid the penalty points they stopped and switched the door and bumper with the support car. Then it looked a bit suspicious to have a clean door and fender while the rest of the car was covered in mud and dust. As they had no water they used the spare gasoline to wash off the car. Reporters covering the event were impressed that they had had the time to wash the car before arriving at the rally finish. After the finishing festivities, Erik Carlsson looked out the window from his hotel room and saw the support car parked outside: clean, but with a dirty door and fender, still with the starting number visible in the dust.

Icy Roads St. Louis 1949

I don't know where I got these photos from, they are identified as "12-12-49 Icy"

For some reason I think these are taken in St. Louis, MO. I had a time figuring out the sequence.

Photo 1. A car heading up the hill has it's hood up and looks like a left front fender smashed. A Jeep 2wd wagon is sliding avoiding hitting a Ford woody wagon. Over the top of the wagon is a truck. A wrecker and another sedan is on the side of the road heading downhill.



Photo 2: Better shot of black Buick with front end damage. Two other sedans are sliding down the hill. It looks like the jeep barely missed the Mack truck


Photo 3: Nope, the jeep clipped the left rear of teh truck. The two sedans finished their slide, looks like one slid into the sedan that parked on the side of the road--which may have hit a light pole. 1949 Ford coupe, 1948 Chevy pickup, and what looks like Mack city truck in background.


Photo 4: Police are on the scene. and cars are moving up the hill. It looks like a lamp pole got smashed also. That Chevrolet, going around the Jeep, with the Chevy Pickup following, thatlooks like a brand new car.

Loopholes Allowed for Long Vegas Vacation

You gotta love that headline!

From Amanda Becker, Roll Call Staff, comes this interesting story: Loopholes Allowed for Long Vegas Vacation

Here's the money quote:

Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.), for example, flew to Las Vegas on Jan. 8 for a four-day trip, leaving the city Jan. 11. The association spent about $2,000 on hotel accommodations at the Wynn Casino, airfare and meals for Long and his wife. A post-travel disclosure form filed with the Ethics Committee shows that Long spent Jan. 8 in Las Vegas at his own expense, leaving two and half additional days to attend the conference and sightsee. Long’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

And this great rollcall photo by Bill Clark: The Consumer Electronics Association spent about $2,000 on hotel accommodations at the Wynn Casino, airfare and meals for Rep. Billy Long and his wife. A disclosure form shows that Long self-expensed one day of the four-day trip to Las Vegas.