Spotted Three Things For The First Time!!

So, I spent this morning working on the completion of United States Federal Government forms OF 612 and OF 306, long and complicated employment applications for the Department of Veteran Affairs, here in Daytona Beach. Wish me luck.

Anyway, I was pretty stir crazy after that and I knew I could ebay search for appliances for The Good Attorney or finish up that blog about VDub Sunday, or list a couple more things on ebay, or get a couple pictures of those old "F" scripted bolts from that Ford GPW thejeepjunkie and I cannibalized a couple weeks ago.

But nooooo, instead I decided, at about 1:30 pm, to fix a couple Tommy Lee sandwiches, drop the top on that oleragtop, fill up with petro, head out to parts unknown, with the stipulation I had to be home by 5:00 pm. Since I knew I didn't have long to get wherever I was going, I figured I would get on an Interstate and drive for up to an hour and get off that expressway and return home. This is the most efficient use of petro, that while is still relatively inexpensive down here, $1.87 per gallon, it is still needs to be used wisely by this cash strapped longrooffan.

While I was stopped at SR 40 and US 1, smack dab in the center of the Birthplace of Speed,

(I must insert this here...if you click on that google link, that is a shot, northbound, of A1A, Beachside, and that Bonefish Grill is located less than 1/2 mile from the Taj Mahal)

I spotted this ubiquitous Harley and on the back, above the Harley Davidson logo, was printed BABYLEE and it made me think of Lil Mom and NotSoLilJim. Good luck to ya'll on the 12 of March. You see those two are going to add another girl BabyLee to their brood, rounding that Lee family out at 2 boys and 2 girls, well that is if you determine NotSoLilJim is not a boy.

So by this time I had yet to decide the direction I was heading, north on I95 or south on I4. The thought of that family and the time we had together last summer made south the choice today.

When I got down on I4 headed toward MickeyMouseLand, I still was unsure if I would stop off in cool Sanford or try to find something cool in Winter Park or go to that die cast distributor out on SR 50.

Yeah, conumdrums. conumdrums.

So when I get down to the Orange City exit, I also see a sign for this place. And decided that was my destination this short road tripped afternoon.

Now I love quirky road signs. Remember these on my trip through St. Augustine On The Road By The Numbers and this one someplace up in farm country?

Well, today I saw a couple more duesey's.

Yeah, sometimes, geography happens.

And because we don't have the smartest tourists in the world,

this sign is necessary!!

And speaking of smart tourists, I was reminded, once again, the only kids I still like have the same last name as me. Hey you hick couple from somewhere with an accent that sounds like it's from Deliverance, if that 8 year boy is crying and still screaming at the top of his lungs that he doesn't want to be here, take his bratty *ss out of this pristine park. Either that or "Give him something to cry about." Alas, I digress, but I mean every minute of it.

Now, I have lived in Florida, in total, for nearly 25 years and in all this time I have seen a manatee in the flesh, so to speak. And since manatees love the warm water at Blue Spring during the cold winter months, the state of Florida acquired the old Louis P. Thursby homestead and made it into a manatee viewing park and, yeah, it is cool.

You can see some google image search images of the facility here and here. It is a pretty awesome place. It was pretty crowded for a mid Thursday afternoon. Lots of kids, most well behaved but a couple that needed a good swift kick.....alright I'll let it go...and lots of just regular folks who had no trouble communicating with total strangers.

Down on that boardwalk along the clearest Florida water I have seen in quite a while, Blue Spring Run, there were tons of fish of all varieties. I am not sure what these are but there are about 24" long.

And as a representation of those communicating folks, an elderly lady, well in reality she was probably just 20 years my senior...ouch!!!...pointed out the alligator in the left center, and gladly, on the opposite bank, in this image.

Following is the view of a manatee at the Blue Spring State Park by an everyday tourist to this facility.

This one has a bouy attached to it. When I asked the couple next to me what I thought it was for, although from the Carolinas, they knew. It had been injured and when treated and released back into the wild, it is bouyed for a period time to monitor its adjustment. And they had been to this park for four years straight!!

Saw this gar.



And just a whole mess o' dinner.

This is the home of Louis Thursby.

With this cool manatee sculpture on the front porch.

Got to see another manatee and then

as I was headed back to the oleragtop to get back to the Taj Mahal and I saw quite a crowd looking at this

in the center of this image, just to the left of the branch is a wide mouth bass in the middle of her nest

and a couple others were trying to get at her eggs. I know all this as the woman standing next to me seemed to know all about the habit of a spawning wide mouth bass. I didn't bother to mention to her that wide mouth bass are really good on a plate, Ya know PETA, people eating tasty animals. Anyway, momma was fighting to keep these two away and succeeded.

Then another wide mouth bass swam up and momma was all cool with his presence. Our fish fact finder mentioned that the only way he would allowed in that shallow depression was if he was her lover. Those two fish then appeared to become amorous, oblivious to our presence. A gentile Southern woman, with a beautiful accent, to my left, commented " You know, it is not polite to look at this". Everyone, I mean everyone, burst into a hearty laughter. I decided to end on that great note that it was the excellent time to mosey on down the road.

But not before catching an image of this cool state owned truck. Even with the short roof, this truck is pretty cool.

So am heading home, trying to stay on roads previously untraveled by me and I end up on Dunlawton out at I95 about 15 miles or so south of the Taj Mahal. Now I have been at this intersection before and realize, as I passed Williamson Blvd. that I had not been on that roadway south of the Daytona International Speedway. So I decided to whip a Ueee and head back and get on Williamson Blvd.

As I was stopped at a place to turn into a shopping center to hang that Ueee, I noticed a 68 Camaro was stopped in front of me turning in that same strip center. While thinking it was cool, I really didn't think more much of it until a 72 Chevelle ragtop pulled up behind me and then I spotted this Dodge Polara coming at us in the other two lanes of traffic and turn right into the same plaza.

Could it be?

Yeap, I had stumbled upon a cruise in and, of course, had to stop for a couple shots to share with ya'll.

The first two are that Dodge Polara, and yeah, I knew what it was, just not the year, and have forgotten it by now.


While there were other cool cars, we all know what pedestrian Cameros, Chevelles 47 Fords, 66 Thunderbirds look like, well at least I do. Therefore, I wanted to share this with you

this Kaiser Frazer Henry J. I had never seen one of these previously, that is in person.

Pretty sweet oldie.

And check out the lines of that rear window. For a car designated to be inexpensive, that touch is unexpected.

This is a stock certificate for Kaiser Frazer Corporation.

It is pretty spartan inside, much like the olestationbus.

Pretty cool hood ornament also.

Interesting nose on this old coupe. And check out that chopped and lowered Chevy Panel Van in the background. Interior needed some work though.

And after that, I passed this three wheel fordor just up the street!! It is a Zapcar Xebra.

So the title of this post?---Spotted Three Things For The First Time!!---Manatee, Henry J, and Zapcar!!!

And all are cool!!

I have to tell you, it has sucked this past year, living literally day to day, at least I have a roof over my head, thoughtful and loving relatives and friends, and a cool blog audience. But I am hoping Change is coming and I continue to have Hope. I just pray, literally, it is soon.

Having all that and seeing the three new things I saw today allow me to

Celebrate Life.

From The Daytona Beach News-Journal

These boys are either stoned or stupid, or both.

Bike Week Starts This Weekend

I'm gonna find a couple bucks and buy these biker babes a drink.

Power Wheels

No, jeepjunkie, you cannot get BBB to buy this flatfender....No snow around here....



thanks CarDomain

Just A Sunday Drive

Ya know, sometimes just busting someone's chops is just alot of fun.

As The Good Attorney said when I mentioned a 1983 poster of him on the National Champion Nebraska Cornhuskers team brought nothing on ebay..."Hey, do ya have to say that now, I am in the room". No, but damn is it fun!!!

So after attending that VDub show where I saw this and this, I was heading east on Dunlawton Avenue, returning from Port Orange. It was still early in the afternoon and I didn't really want to spend this, yet another, Chamber of Commerce Sunday at the Taj Mahal, doing a blog.

Yeah I know, sometimes it is about me.

So I passed over that high bridge, yeah you Counters know what they are by now---even what I was driving, over the St. John's River and when got across that bridge, I headed south versus north toward the Taj Mahal.

Now as the CDM, Jonco, and maybe others, know, there is not much down that barrier island peninsula other than this



Yeah, that is the much beloved CDM lighthouse down there in Ponce Inlet that I love to tease the CDM about!!!

So much so that I have to get a shot of it from the Beach!!!

But I will say this about Ponce Inlet, other than allowing the lighthouse restaurant to open, no matter what CDM says about how good the food is, the building is kind of tacky, to me, in comparision to the real lighthouse. But I can tell you there is alot more tacky sh*t over in MickeyMouseLand.

However, this new construction building housing a 7-11 convenience store is sure sweet. But gas is 10 cents more a gallon than the old one just up the road. I could go into such a tirant about zoning, structural standards, architectural requirements and blah, blah, blah, but I won't. Just know this kind of stuff costs both the builder/landlord/owner/tenant/andyouan'me a ton o'money. I am ready for that discussion.

However, I guess if you can't have lighthouse themed restaurant or actually live in a lighthouse, you can build a lighthouse themed home. It is true I saw this oceanfront home while heading north on A1A. Well, at least some portions of the construction industry are still working.

And just for the Kid and thejeepjunkie, I got this two for one shot.

And since I have that yellow sticker in the lower left corner of the windshield of the oleragtop, I headed back to the beach the soonest moment I could. Once I got there and headed off to the Taj Mahal, with that ocean on my right and the condos on the left, I never realized there was a pier down in Ponce Inlet also...

And yeah, it was a busy Sunday on the beach that day...

In addition, there is almost nothing wrong with a cute girl in a bikini... but know, there isn't one in this image.

So, that's it...

Just a fun cheap cruise around and another opportunity to

Celebrate Life.

This Is Why

I always try to remember to carry a camera with me.



This is a 2009 Audi R8. Not nearly as cool as the Honda ad though. Here is a link to a bit more about this, base price, $109,000 two seater.

While it is not my cup of tea, the roof is way to short for me.

I do, however, appreciate the fact this automobile was derived from a race car and, not just any race car, the Audi R8 thru R10 racecars dominated the American Lemans Series since their introduction. Last year, they won the series with a diesel racecar. You heard me correctly, a diesel.

I am sure the Complaint Department Manager will love to get that tidbit of information, although he probably already does have it.

Yeah, so I was headed over to thejeepjunkie's shop to get a little cash from that special account to provide a bridge loan to my personal account to cover a day until my Paypal cash came through. Note to self, never end an auction on the weekend, you lose a day or two in the resultant cash flow. This provides a causal, or is it casual, relationship between the amount of money spent on shipping and the amount of cash available over at America's bank. Yeah, Bus, that is a poke at you, just for fun!!

Well, I am stopped at Mason and Beach Street, after crossing one of those high bridges, and you know I had to be in the oleragtop since in the olestationbus, I only use this low bridge, and I look over to the south and see this sweet Supercar, on a level with its sister, Lamborghini Gallardo, another Supercar whose roof is way to short for me.

So it was pretty cool to see. The first one I have seen in person and I am happy to be able to share that spotting with you. I certainly don't remember seeing one of these over in Sl-Ocala.

Anyway, how far can I digress I ask?

I look over, see it and grab that cheap Polaroid and shot that 23 second video for you.

And the ability to do that helps me

Celebrate Life.

History Buffs Help Me Out

I got this email from thefoamguy and I have absolutely no idea if it is true but it sure seems, at least to this olelongrooffan, to make sense. What do you think?

THE 1500'S
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water.

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying It's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor.

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a ..dead ringer.

So whaddayuthink?

Yep, I'm Loaded Up On VW's

A few posts back, I commented on how I rotate the diecast I have on the tables in the Taj Mahal. In that post, I included an image of the glass table beside my favorite chair that had a few of my 1/43 diecast VW's on display.

Well, here is my coffee table. There are three on that table. And the green bus on the floor beyond? the Bus sent me that as a part of a sweet traveling museum of car stuff he thought up and I initiated. By the way, that horse book on my coffee table is going to the Kid's sister.

So I was out at the VDub show on Sunday and picked up a couple souvenirs. Note the relative word in that definition is inexpensive. I passed on by any more diecast as the cheapest one I saw was $5.00. No, I picked up this Karmann Ghia emblem for two sawbucks. The dude was asking $5.00, when I countered with a two bucks, he kind of laughed. When I related to him it wasn't really in that great of shape and was only going to be wall art, he laughed and said that since "You have a Grand Am shirt on, I'll do it". I picked up that shirt over at the Roar before the 24 with the Kid last month. And as cheap as I am, it has GrandAm's old logo and I found it in the clearance bin at their booth. Got it for $8.oo!

And look again at the above image. In it are three VW's and a VW emblem I have had since I owned my Jetta. That yellow and blue bus on the second shelf is a panel bus wearing "Michelin" logos. Didn't plan on these being included but wait until I get to the Citroens!! There are two of them in the image above alone! Also, a early series Bronco thehorsefarmer and the barngoddess favor, half of a CJ2 fire jeep thejeepjunkie enjoys, and a Dodge Power Wagon.

I included a close up of that Ghia emblem to show you the condition of it. I don't think it was in good enough condition to be worn on any worthy Karmann Ghia.

I then slid on around the corner and saw a guy selling, of course, more VW stuff but he had a bin full of hubcaps. I asked how much were they? $5.00 a piece. I mentioned that I have BMW, Mercedes, Corvette, Chevrolet, Jeep and other hubcaps I can't remember hanging on the walls in the living room of the Taj Mahal and would he take a buck for the hubcap in the worst condition? He laughed and said "Yeah". And it is proudly on display just under the ice scraper thehorsefarmer had delivered to me via thejeepjunkie. That is the olelongrooffan's chair just to the right of that $1.00 hubcap.

The fact these two guys so willingly played "Let's Make A Deal" with me meant they must have thought I was a pretty cool guy. But I really think things are so slow in discretionary spending, even a buck is a buck.

But in doing the math, that shirt was $8 minus the $3 saved on the Ghia emblem minus the $4 saved on that old hubcap, the price on that shirt, I have worn only twice, is now down to a buck. I can't to wear it again. Maybe it will soon be making me some money!!

And the other really cool thing I got from the hubcap dude is this

(0\ I /0)

and that knowledge really allows me to

Celebrate Life.

A Trio Of Bloggers

There are a couple bloggers I have been following for a while and I find them pretty hilarious. Where's My Jetpack? has a series called the future guy and I thought I was catching all of them.

Well, tonite, Drivelling Deb, an occasional commenter on By The Numbers and a Maine lover, not that there is anything wrong with that, did a post about getting tagged by a dufus with no name and since the Queen Drivellor is so hilarious, I thought I would check out this dufus. Well, this dude posted the following image of the future guy. Since I don't know who is responsible for creating this funny image, I will give all three of them a "shout out".

Click to enlarge for us old eyes.

And it is the users of Facebook and Tweeter, who resemble the individuals referred to in this image, who allow me to

Celebrate Life.

I Blogged Alot This Evening

and published in various order so be sure to look around and all the way back to here.

Jeff Gordon Fires His Entire Pit Crew

NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon has announced he has taken advantage of a new “Stimulus Package” program to employ inner-city youth by firing his professional pit crew, and replacing them with ex-gangbangers.

The decision to hire the boys was inspired by a recent documentary on how unemployed youths from street gangs were able to remove a set of wheels from a car in less than 6 seconds — even without proper equipment. Gordon’s existing pit crew could only do it in 8 seconds, even with the benefit of hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of high tech machinery.

The scheme was hailed as an “excellent and bold move” by Gordon’s management team, as most races are won or lost in the pits.

At the crew’s first practice session, not only was the inexperienced crew able to change all 4 wheels in under 6 seconds, but within 12 seconds they had changed the paint scheme, altered the VIN number, and sold the car to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for 10 cases of Bud, a bag of weed, and several photos of Teresa Earnhardt in the shower.

thanks to that funny dude from the town famous for thejeepjunkie's favorite cold beverage

Please Say It Ain't So!!

I sure hope #6 is not expanding to my neck of the woods!! I'll move!! Car stuff be d*mned!!

Ahhh, Hurricane Supplies

Saw this license plate over at the VDub show today. If I didn't already own about 40 license plates, and I had a job, this one would be on my wall right now.

For the uninitiated, ABC with their name in blocks like this, is the name of a Florida chain of liquor stores, referred to, affectionately by olelongrooffan, as a purveyor of hurricane supplies.

And I spent alot of yesterday and today thinking about the men in my family. You see, at one time or another, we have all 6 of us have owned a VW product as have a couple of my sisters, also. I still think it was started by TheGentlemanFarmer and those glasses unintentionally captured in the above image, well I think it is a sign from another world. Look at the photo in this blog and at the only pair of glasses in it. Yep, I am sticking with a sign from somewhere!!

Celebrate Life

Those of you who have been Counting Along With Me, know the story of the Celebrate Life magnets my brothers were instrumental in recreating last fall.

Well, around Thanksgiving I got an email from a woman who's parent's Uncle was a Presbyterian minister in Texas and in Fort Walton Beach, but had passed eight years ago.

It turns out on a file cabinet and a briefcase her parents had inherited were original Celebrate Life stickers. She had googled Celebrate Life, found us, and was interested in getting a few of our magnets for her folks for Christmas. I sent five of them over to DeBary, Florida, about halfway to MickeyMouseLand.

This morning, I had an email in my inbox from her Dad mentioning they would be in Port Orange at theVDub Show and one of the Celebrate Life magnets would be viewable on the rear of their newly painted Type I. Well, if You Have Been Counting Along With Me, you know I located that dude and got a shot of the internet found and sold Celebrate Life magnet!!

But I had forgotten about these buttons that were around also!!! They had gotten two of them in that estate also.

Talk about a trip down Memory Lane!!

I sure would like to know how these items got in their Uncle's possession! Just another mystery I cannot seem to solve. Guess I will have to wait until I see TheGentlemanFarmer again.

and that is What I Saw Today.