Plunkett's Car Show is Saturday, June 9

Last year I parked with three Chevys

With a little cooler weather on tap this week, conditions look great for the 3rd Annual Fleetwood Country Cruize In Bigger and more attractions than ever. There's even a rumor that Jay Leno might show up. This year the Oldsmobile Club of Canada is holding its annual Canadian Oldsmobile Summer Nationals meeting at the Plunkett show so I'll likely park with the other Oldsmobiles this year. Last year as you can see in the pic I parked with three other friends, Barry, Murray and Mario. (all Chevs)

Here are my notes from last year's show:

"Had an absolutely lovely day at the Steve Plunkett mansion in London ON . This was the second annual event of its kind and surpassed all expectations as far as the number of participants and spectators. This was my first visit to this wonderful event and all I could say all day was WOW! Hundreds and hundreds of vintage cars from far and wide. Labatts had some antique beer trucks and General Motors brought some of their latest Cadillac models and a concept car. Wendy and I saw quite a few old acquaintances including Charlie Miller and his family, Dean Glover, Ken Hill, Andrew Moffitt and his Mom and boyfriend and not to mention the small entourage with our convoy of 4 cars that arrived together. We spent most of the day wandering around looking in all the amazing cars . Many of these cars either come from far away or are not usually seen at the local cruise nights . As you can see by the flyer there was the George Barris cars of the Monkey mobile, the Batmobile, the Munster's car and the James Bond Goldfinger Aston Martin.

Around noon there was a private air show by a trio of vintage Harvard training planes. Rumor has it Plunkett donated $100,000.00 to a charity and in return the planes performed for the eager audience.

The Plunkett estate has it's own private golf course and the entire course was littered with over 500 Corvettes. We didn't stay for the dinner but the tent where the catered affair was to be held was a sight to behold . Elegant table settings on the grass floor in a huge tent for 2200 people. Someone said it was the largest catered event in London's history. A gourmet dinner under a brand new huge white circus tent. The event was catered by Custom Cuisine (London's foremost caterer) and the menu for the evening included grain fed chicken, baby back ribs, potatoes, vegetables, strawberry shortcake and coffee.

As usual I took about 200 pictures so if anybody's interested in seeing them I'd be glad to work out a way to get them to you.

When I returned to my car, I noticed I had received an invitation to participate in the Willistead show in Windsor.

http://www.willisteadclassic.com/main.html

This show is very prestigious, by invitation only and is held at the mansion built by Edward Chandler Walker, second son of Hiram Walker of Hiram Walker Distillery fame. (As you can see by the accompanying link ). Although my car is quite pristine I don't believe it's ready for a concourse d'Elegance . That is the epitome of vintage cars shows and is judged with very critical eyes. Usually in concourse d'Elegance every nut and bolt and every speck of dust is considered in the judging. Think of Pebble Beach or Palm Beach or Meadowbrook for example.

Although I was very flattered to receive the invitation, I don't think my car, without considerable work and attention to the minutest of details would measure up to the occasion. It would be fun though, to take it down there and participate in the festivities as an invited guest of Willistead. Even knowing the car wouldn't be considered in the judging, it could be a lark to take in the VIP treatment, spend the weekend in Windsor and have a fun day at the Hiram Walker mansion. Probably as close as I'll ever get to that kind of pucka pucka performance, so who knows? Maybe we'll attend!" [didn't]

As for this years Fleetwood show, the only reason I wouldn't go is rain. Can you imagine 2500 cars on a golf course in the rain? They'd need horses to pull them through the mud!

See my May 10th post further down this page..

Launching and Recommissioning "the Phoenix"

The last week of May was hot! With temperatures in the 90's and a gentle south wind, my thoughts turned to boating. On Friday the first of June, Wendy and I drove from London to Port Lambton, some 26 miles south of Point Edward on the St Clair River. When we arrived, St. Clair Marina owner Steve Coopman had the Phoenix waiting at the dock. We keep the boat here for the winter in heated storage. I looked at our decrepid old Zodiac with it's 3.3hp motor and before I left, I bought a new dingy and a brand new Mercury 15 which Steve will deliver as soon as he installs the davit pads.

The trip up-river was uneventful on the glass flat river as the Phoenix's twin Cats purred smoothly. I have arranged to berth the Phoenix again in the same slip as last year. An excellent spot where one can sit and watch the world go by with a great view of the marina, the fuel dock, the launch area and wave at passing boats heading in and out. With fuel costs so high, more people are chosing to party at the dock.

I buy my fuel (as do many Canadian boaters) across the river in Port Huron Michigan, but even there, costs are soaring. Gasoline is selling for $3.75 a US gallon (4 liters) and diesel (which I use) sells for $2.97 ($0.75/liter) but even so, it's way cheaper than Canada's marina price. Michigan does not add the "road tax" like our brilliant government does. I still have 8 or 9 hundred liters left from last year that I bought at a whopping $3.06 per gallon (that's even more than it costs this year!) The Phoenix holds 400 US Gal. so you figure it out! (1 US Gal = approx 3.8 liters)

Saturday, we checked everything out and went out a few miles on Lake Huron and just drifted on the flat lake, watching a sailboat race labouring in only a 10 knot southern breeze. Eighty five and sunny - another tough gin and tonic day!

My Merry Oldsmobile

Click on the picture to enlarge
It’s May already and nearly time to get out the '48 Oldsmobile. Fifty nine years old, it predates me by one year. I think it has more original parts still working than I do and it certainly has fewer wrinkles. I keep it over the winter in the underground parking at the condo in Point Edward.



Men of innovation, the Fleischers had been creating short 'follow the bouncing ball' sing-along films since the mid-1920's, and the series would continue until 1938, well after Betty Boop and Popeye had become screen superstars. It seems natural that you'd go to such a source of creativity for some effective advertising production, but perhaps Olds Motor Works had not quite anticipated the level of zaniness on display here. In this 1931 ad, rampant voyeurism and suggestive candy consumption are the order of the day, aided and abetted by the Fleischer system of ad-libbing.

I’ve enjoyed this “art deco” example of 1940’s styling for 10 years having purchased it from the Guelph area. Although the model and year is not particularly noteworthy as vintage cars go, these postwar examples are becoming increasingly rare. I like my Olds because of the unique period styling. Walt Disney had a much sought after convertible Model 66 and his cartoon characters like Donald Duck sported a stylized cartoon version of this very car. (although I never realized it as a kid) The only time I’ve ever seen one almost exactly the same was when I drove mine over to the hundredth anniversary of Oldsmobile at Lansing Michigan back in 1997. The post war models, were very popular and in high demand with a lot of them produced. In the states, a new Olds with the revolutionary Hydramatic transmission was offered free to any returning war amputee. The body sheet metal was shared by Chev and Pontiac. However since the grill was in such high demand by the custom car guys of the fifties, these cars disappeared relatively quickly from the vintage car market.

My Olds is an Oshawa Canada built Model 3500 series (called Olds 66 in the states) It is equipped with a 4 speed Hydramatic automatic transmission. This was the first automatic as we know them today, first produced in 1941. Then, during the war, they were coupled with Cadillac engines and used in army tanks. The experience GM had with the military versions, gave them time to work out the bugs and this strong gear changer went on to be used in the Allison division in heavy trucks

One of my favorite yearly car events is the huge show at the Fleetwood Farms Mansion on the outskirts of London Ontario, hosted by owner Steve Plunkett. Click here for more details. This is the third annual, although last June was my first visit to this huge event. Steve's father, a very respected doctor, made megabucks as he was instrumental in the invention of the birth control pill. Steve is a philantrophist and an old car enthusiast. Last year there were 8 charities represented, this year 40.

This year Steve's show is featuring a bigger air show, steam displays, antique boats on the pond and special guest George Barris "the King of Kustom" with some celebrity cars. Also, Peter Noone of "Herman's Hermit's" fame on Friday and three guys from Philly (Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell) on Saturday in the largest "sit down" big tent, catered dinner event ever in Canadian history. This surpasses the same record last year but in a bigger tent. Do you remember when you were younger, the huge circus tents? Well this one is bigger!

If you can get here for this huge 3 day event, I know you wouldn't be disappointed. You don't have to be a "car nut" to tour this wonderful estate with horse barns, fountains and a golf course.

End Of An Era. It's Over!

Early Saturday Wendy and I were on deck and ready to orchestrate the removal of most of the furniture from Wendy’s parents place. It was very upsetting for everyone, but we knew we had to get through it. We busied ourselves boxing up books, old sewing stuff, yellowed letters and pictures and what-not. Wendy has been working here for a couple of weeks straight, weekends included, boxing up and sorting a seemingly endless collection of memories, functionally useable, and functionally obsolete or useless junk. The job is harder because decisions have to be made (most of which would be much easier for an outsider) about items that represent the life memories for a very closely knit family. Howard and Gene and the three “children” and their two each children see things in every box that reflects the past. Eleven people’s lives, all touched by some part of each item in that house.

Wendy’s brother Brad and his son Mitch from Richmond Hill arrived before noon and began loading Brad’s large trailer with items previously tagged for Wendy’s other brother Doug. Shortly after one o’clock Doug arrived after taking time off work and one load of treasure was dispatched to Thorndale much to the chagrin of Doug’s wife Daphne.

Around 1:30 I went over to Waverley and got Gene. Wendy felt; in all good conscience, she had to have her Mom there to help everyone gain some sort of closure. Certainly as her mind fails, the closure would seem less important for Gene, but for everyone else there needs to be a feeling that “it’s over”. No one is sure if the decision to bring Gene over was a good one but I think everyone would agree that it helped themselves ease their own conscience and it really had to be. At least Gene could see that the items were going to family members for future use. I’m glad Wendy persevered against the advice of social workers who advised that it would serve no purpose. Wendy was correct that Gene had a right to at least see the end of this era. For her to see it was time to move on.

By later in the day you could see that the tension was continuing to build so I suggested that Gene go with me back to Waverley. During the drive back, the confusion in her mind and the sadness and emotion of it all was too much for her. She pleaded with me to turn around and go back but I pressed on, confident that for all concerned, the day must end. (whether one wants it to or not) I could see that there would be nothing to be gained by anyone for us to return, not now or ever again! It’s over!

If You're Looking For Adventure!

US Militia Men recoil after a shot at the British "Redcoats" Photo by Tim /06

The Battle of Longwoods
Click here for Info

Heritage Days Weekend

May 5th & 6th, 2007

We went to this last year and really enjoyed it. Our very good cruise friends Pete and Donna from Orillia Ontario are re-enactors and they told us about it. It's just like going back in time as everything is VERY authentic. They use real guns and cannons. (although they do fire blanks in an attempt to preserve the hobby)

You may not know it, but this area of Canada was part of the United States at one time. This re-enactment depicts the American troops defeating the British and seizing the land. The actual battle took place only a few miles west of the park back on March 4, 1814. Canada, at the time, was only a British colony and didn't formally become a country until 1867, 33 years later. I guess when you think of it, the original difference between a Canadian and an American is only defined by a dotted line on a map determined a relatively short time ago.

Good food too; although the booth on rubber tires is not authentic, the Optimist Club offers back bacon on a bun as well as pancakes and sausage, and the usual hot dogs, burgers and fries. Of course they all taste better outside. (and they serve fries with vinegar, a Canadian standard, since we did finally win).

The setting is extremely beautiful - especially this time of year. I think Longwoods is one of the nicest parks I've seen in Ontario. Let us know if you are coming and maybe we can get together.

Sixty One Years of Accumulated Treasure

The waking days of the past couple weeks have been predominantly consumed by the difficult job of sorting and disposing of Wendy’s parents' stuff over at their riverfront home of over 60 years. Wendy has gone the extra mile, cleaning, doing laundry, sorting, boxing, and coordinating this whole exercise. What a girl!

Wendy arrives for dirty work.

To compound the challenge and augment the effort required, there’s a very unsightly shed located right beside the house. I remember years ago my friend David teased Howard, chiding him about the imposing structure. “What is this Howard? The packing crate your boat came in?” Not only has this shed, and another one beside it that we tore down two years ago totally blocked the gorgeous view of the river for around 50 years; it has I’m sure, also been the brunt of the neighbors’ comments for just as many years. Needless to say they would not miss its prominent place in their backyard views of the river panorama.

A view from the neighbor's yard.

Wendy’s brother Brad and his son Colton came down to stay at the house over the weekend with building demolition on their minds. “The neighbors should be buying the beer!” Brad exclaimed as we began carrying the loot out of the “depression era styled” structure piling it in the driveway. Radial arm, table and band saws aged by rust more quickly than normal because of the dirt floors, leaking roof and lack of winter heat were dragged in procession to the looming pile. The building contained thousands of items including a gasoline engine from a “Dispro" boat, two antique outboard motors, several sailboat masts and exotic hardwoods hidden for many, many years.

Stripping the shed.

The building; emptied of its museum vintage collection of things “too good to throw away” and “could come in handy some day” now stood precariously. Since it was stripped of its cladding and braces it had no integrity left to support the ton or so of joists, plywood, tar paper and corrugated tin that was its roof. There it stood impossibly, defiantly. The roof suspended twelve feet in thin air, the structure swayed slightly like a boxer sways right after the knock-out punch, just before the fall. Colton stood at a safe distance, and as we all stood by with our cameras ready he tugged the rope as lightly as you’d pull a rowboat to shore. In two short seconds we now had a new heap of rubble to sort through.
Click the arrow to see the movie


Goodbye old shack! Tearing down is certainly quicker than building.

In a new pile, beside the “treasures”, we placed old, rotting building materials including tar paper, corrugated steel and fiberglass panels, two by fours and sixes and chewed plywood full of bugs and mice pellets. Moldy tarpaulins and cans of paint and lubricants of all types complemented the heap. Nails and screws both from the inventory within and also extracted from the building itself littered the ground.

Neat stuff and garbage share the driveway.

Throughout the day Sunday a community spirit evolved as Wendy's other brother Doug and son Dougie came by to assist. Wendy displayed racks of Howard's extensive quantity of clothing and was thrilled to see that most of the garments found new owners within the family. My son Tim and Colton removed nails from many good timbers and sorted them into a separate stack of recyclable lumber. Howard would be happy to know that some of his old shack will likely end up at Brad’s cottage on Crow Lake in the form of a dock or shed.


Trying on clothes.

All this week, Wendy has been up before six, heading over with son Tim to work at the task of packaging up the rest of the items in the house. I usually go over later to help with the carrying but its not really my place to make the decisions and Wendy really does work well alone.

Dental Work Continues.

Back to Dr. Carr and my root canal at 10 AM. He was all finished in half an hour and I was relieved of another $695 for a grand total of $1600. (He does not bad for an hour and a half, but worth every penny I'm sure) Now I was left with only temporary fillings to protect all this valuable work, so I lucked out when Beth, my regular dentist Dr. Ted Gillis’ secretary called and announced a cancellation.

At 2:30 I was back in the chair getting reinforced fillings, one permanent, the other awaiting my next (May 17) appointment to get a crown on the tooth with the largest filling. Only $385 for this half hour job. The consolation prize is I’m paying all this with Mastercard so I get Air Miles. Maybe in some small way this will all lead to another cruise.

All in all, the whole thing has been physically painless. I told Ted I’d nodded off during my root canals. He said he hoped I wasn’t snoring. “Gosh, I hope not!” After he finished today he laughed “By the way, you fell asleep here today you know… And you were snoring!” Embarrassing or what? I know it won't help me live any longer, but I do get along well with my doctors.

Spring is Finally In The Air

Click the picture to enlarge
Spring is ready to burst forth and my thoughts turn to Point Edward. If you've ever been there or not, or you want to see what this Great Lakes paradise looks like, click here. I post this not just to brag, but to entice you to come and visit us this summer.

The Words "ROOT CANAL" Instill Fear... Sort of Like "TAX AUDIT" or "SUIT 'N TIE EVENT"

Yesterday I went in for my dreaded root canal. The endodontist, Dr. Carr took another x-ray to determine his strategy. He explained the procedure to the minutest detail, exclaiming that he was going to do both teeth in this one visit. After a relatively painless injection of local anesthetic and a short wait, he and his assistant began their work in a methodical, efficient, almost monotonous procession of procedures. Drilling, reaming and packing my teeth took most of an hour.

What a surprise. To say the whole thing was painless would be an understatement. At the end Dr. Carr said “I think you actually nodded off a couple of times. Sorry we woke you up with all the noise. You were great.” “You were too! Thank you.” I replied. He had completed one root canal and packed the second, and more severely infected tooth with a disinfectant which he’ll remove and complete next week.

That was it! My wallet was $875 lighter, and I have an appointment to come back next Tuesday. It was about as interesting as a getting a filling, and somehow almost anticlimactic... in a warped sort of way. But hey; I said my prayer, so I guess I'm now committed to brushing three times a day!

If you’d like to know more about a root canal and the procedure involved go to:
http://www.animated-teeth.com/root_canal/t1_root_canal.htm
Check with your dentist, and maybe you can have one too!

You Should Read And Decide!

I always thought it was a brilliant idea to freeze the water bottles so the water would stay cold longer - according to this internet article, it's NOT such a great idea! Truth or Fiction - you decide.

CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL
1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin.

So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper.
It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.

Cover food with a paper towel instead

This all seems to be a load of hooey. Click here to read an article from TruthOrFiction.com You decide, but I'm not buying into the idea that freezing water in a plastic bottle will harm anyone. I'll continue to do so. You can't believe everything you read on the internet. (my opinion) Ever heard of plastic ice cube trays and bins?

I Find Out I Need Not One, But Two Root Canals!

My worst dental nightmare is now a reality. Next Monday I get Root Canal number one for $750. Next comes #2 for another $750. Then the teeth must get Crowns to prevent them from splitting. I can only imagine that with such a Royal name that they will have a Princely cost. No group dental plan, so there goes the price of another cruise. Oh well... Ya gotta eat!

On Da Dog's Trail

Da Dog

Tim, we managed to track down the Dog house and the bail bonds place as we told you. Here is the pic of me and Dominic, Dog's son.

Donna, Pete, Cheryl and John were on a mission before they got on the plane to come home. They had to go to 1381 Queen Emma St. in Honolulu, the site of Da-Kine Bail Enforcement. This is the office of TV personality and reality show star, Duane (Dog) Chapman. Donna is a particularly ardent fan. Unfortunately Dog was apparently away in New York when they got there.

Cheryl at 1381 Queen Emma St

Donna

and John and Cheryl pose with "the Dog" cutout.

Back to Low Carb. Oh No!

Back Home, Safe and Sound.

Back Row: Tim, Barry, John, Cheryl, Peter
Front Row: Wendy, Holly, Donna

Wednesday - Honolulu and Homeward Bound

Room service neglected to bring our coffee at 6 AM so we slept is until 6:15AM when John called and woke us up. We were all to breakfast at 6:45 since we are allowed to exit the ship early if we are prepared to carry all our luggage off by ourselves. This is one part of the “Freestyle” program promoted by Norwegian that we all enjoyed. Everything worked out well and we were off the ship and driving West on H1 by 9 AM. We had never had time to visit the west end of the island last week so our first stop was the Marriot Hotel, near the marina. This is a beautiful spot. It would prove to be a jewel among the thorns so to speak.
Hundreds of "homeless" people live in tents on the Western coast of Oahu.
Deciding to drive north for ten miles along the coast we now see why the western coast is not shown on the tourist maps. This is obviously where people who have less money (or no money) live. It was our only glimpse of extended poverty that we’ve seen on these islands. It’s interesting that even though these people have very little money things are quite tidy and they still have million dollar views. I guess if you have to be broke this is the spot to be.