MooPig Tech Coroner :: "Remember East Germany?"

After the Wall came down, Volkswagen bought the Manufacturer and Dismantled the Buildings
Retrieved By Pat Darnell  |  Feb 19, 2013  |  Bryan TX

[Picture LINK]  A Trabant 601 expense in 1988 approximately 12,700 marks, which was 10 to 17 times the monthly salary of a well-paid worker.

Edmunds.com calls the 1957 Trabant, a two-cylinder, two-stroke engine compact from East Germany, "one more reason why communism is evil."

Page 3 - 10 Worst Cars of All Time - TheStreet: ""Over the years, the Trabant has become an underground poster child for bad global cars," Oldham says. "It was produced for a long time, but never got better, never [embraced] any technology improvements" despite 30 years in production."

Today, 2013, John Deere "GATOR" MSRP $15,499.00

'via Blog this'

There's a guy down on Boonville Road, Hwy 158 toward Huntsville who sells four-wheelers that have more horsepower than the East German beauty, "Trabant." Get 'em while they're young!

____________________________Reference
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11381094/3/10-worst-cars-of-all-time.html
http://www.achterdemuur.nl/trabant.htm
http://www.fourwheeler.com/roadtests/bed_toys/129_1011_2011_john_deere_gator_xuv_825i/photo_03.html

MooPig FWD Email Department :: "Senior Moments"

Get out Your Old Rubberized Rain~Coat
Retrieved by Pat Darnell | Sep 9, 2012 | Bryan TX

[Picture LINK]

from: laketravis.com
 September 3

Being Green

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truely recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.

But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.

We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off.

[Picture LINK]
___________________Reference
http://www.designeronline.com.au/products/Senior-Moments-Luggage-Tags-(Set-of-2).html
http://www.bilgebucket.com/?p=2278
http://www.bilgebucket.com/?tag=rnc

MooPig's "One Hundred Years"

What is different today from a hundred years ago?
Re framed by Pat Darnell | Jan 12, 2012 | Bryan TX

The report, "Climate: Observations, projections and impacts," examined how climate change will modify the weather in 24 countries around the world. Floods, heat, migration: How extreme weather will transform cities (George Webster, for CNN. January 2, 2012)

[PHOTO post by GearHead 1920 Model T Ford LINK]


What Difference Does a Hundred Years of Humanity Make, Anyway? 

by Jean Kinzel  ::  ‎1911 Ford Model T

The year is 1911 --- One hundred (and one) years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1911:
************ ********* ************
The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.
Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph..
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower !
The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour.
The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
A dentist $2,500 per year,
a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year,
and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births took place at home.
Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION.
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard."
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month,
and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from
entering into their country for any reason.

The Five leading causes of death were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5.. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.
The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was neither a Mother's Day nor a Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and only 6 percent
of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter
at the local corner drugstores.

Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion,
gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels,
and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health!"

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help ....
There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A. !

Geez, try to imagine what will be said about 2012 in another 100 years.
'via Blog this'



__________________Reference
http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/effect-global-warming-cities
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/23/world/asia/climate-change-impact-cities/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6

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Taxation without Respiration... give me a breath!!!!

Smells like French fries, looks like French Fries, Ummmm... tastes like French Fries:

Or so this article says from March 6, 2007 -- "Epiphanies about energy security and fairness notwithstanding, this story certainly reinforces decades worth of conspiracy stories about oil companies quashing competition by lobbying for unfair regulations..." (Laumer, J; 3/6/07)

Illinois Man Fined Thousands And Threatened With Felony Prosecution For Using Untaxed Biodiesel

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03. 6.07

Business & Politics
Via Daily Kos Diary, "...David Wetzel, a 79 yr old retired chemist from Decatur IL had been using recycled vegetable oil in his 1985 Volkswagen Golf diesel car for 7 years. This January, " the State of Illinois Dept. of Revenue sent 2 "special agents," Gary May and John Egan to his house. The two agents threatened the couple with felony charges and asked them to post a $2,500 bond!"

According to the Herald & Review, where the full story is explained, a Republican State Senator has introduced a State bill "...which would curtail government interference regarding alternative fuels, such as vegetable oil..."

I would agree that the bond is not acceptable, $2,500 bond," Watson said, adding that David Wetzel should be commended for his innovative efforts." (His car) gets 46 miles per gallon running on vegetable oil. We all should be thinking about doing without gasoline if we're trying to end foreign dependency."" (read the rest at: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/illinois_man_fi.php )


If you can't do the time; don't use the... slime?

Decatur man greases skids for veggie oil fuel with state Senate testimony

By HUEY FREEMAN - H&R Staff Writer /Thursday, March 1, 2007 11:59 PM CST
Wetzel told the committee how revenue agents visited his home one morning, telling him he had to pay fuel tax on each gallon of vegetable oil he used. He was later told he had to apply for a supplier's license and post a bond, or he would be charged with a Class 3 felony. Wetzel declined to apply because he did not fit the revenue department's definition of a supplier, which includes storage capacity of at least 30,000 gallons.

"I have no problem paying the taxes, but somehow they've got to make it easy," Wetzel said.

Three other men who have converted their vehicles to run on vegetable oil also attended the hearing.

David Ogden of Shelbyville, owner-operator of a vegetable oil-propelled semi truck, told the senators he was also threatened by the department of revenue with Class 3 felony charges. Class 3 felonies are punishable by up to five years imprisonment.

In an interview, Ogden said an agent once stopped him on the highway, telling him to stop immediately, because he did not have a supplier's license. However, he had that supplier's license.

"They're harassing me," Ogden said. "He's out there swinging his badge around. I was legal, and he didn't even know it." (read the rest at: http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2007/03/02/news/local_news/1021539.txt )

ELMERS Service, Est. 1955

A Statement of Quality and Performance

If your vehicle is put together with a portion of workmanship, be that portion ever so small, and if it conforms to the notion of street-worthiness, be it ever so stretched a notion; ELMER'S Service since 1955, will expend the effort to bring your vehicle to your expected level of performance.

All vehicles are not built alike. We would submit to our clientele, that Henry Ford's ideas of inter-changeable parts and mass production is not an organic idea. In practice we cannot rebuild your autos out of the local NAPA Auto Parts.

For example: a skilled surgeon today may replace a dying person's heart maybe with a well heart, still the body may reject the new organ clinching the destiny of the patient. Yes we at ELMER'S are surgeons, and we do want you to be our patient. Our transplants cost less than a heart transplant, though.

However, it turns out our efforts are not immune to failure of new parts we install in your machines of the highway. Sadly your organic body, and your auto both are neither perpetual motion machines.

Whether your auto is used according to specifications, or abused to beyond its limits, ELMER'S Service will bring systems online to balance your machine's conceptual with its mechanical standards. We take mechanical failure very seriously. We are preoccupied with discovering patterns of failure, and after market burdens you place on your machines.

After all, internal combustion is a 30% efficient machine and can be prolonged at this output for unlimited years, or it can be gradually degraded to less performance over a short period of time. Regardless of condition, bent, warped, froze, locked, or blown, we at ELMER'S put our objective wrench on each and every challenge. We fix the machine with a smile and present our invoice for fair remittance.

ELMER'S Service offers no small print. Rather we are due recognition of our professional understated exasperation of worrisome mechanical and structural failure. The trigger to our joy is that you, our customer, ask us to please continue to fix your cars as they disintegrate, and smile with us as we usher in the next 100 years of quality care for your automobiles.

Furthermore, if you need credit, you will want to go to Helen Waite, our Credit Manager.