Communion We had communion today at church (yes some of us still go to church reguarily) The pastor spoke at Comunion on the substutionary death of Christ on the cross for us. (In my place so to speak) I could not help remember having been in Israel on a trip with my Dad and seeing the Hill of Golgotha where the crucifixion took place. Tis a tall hill, devoid of any trees. It would have been a cold painful death devoid of any comfort whatsoever. I realized it is not something to trifle with. Made me stop and think. LOST POUNDS I was always big for my age. Even at 4 I looked like about 7. My weight came on as I grew up. At 17 I won the intermural wrestling championship at my high school in the heavyweight class which then was 165 and over. On my 20th birthday I was 6 ft tall and weighed exactly 200 lbs. As I aged I shrank a bit under the force of gravity to 5 ft 10 3/4 inches. By the time I was 30 I weighed 245 pounds and at that weight with still no gut I feared no man. I held that fairly well until my forties when I put on about 30 pounds in about 3 months. Why? I dont know. It may be hereditary. Evidence would suggest so. By the time I was fifty I had crept up over 300 to 306. Still for about 8 years I stayed between 304 and 306. Not the best but the lack of change stilled my fears. HOWEVER. on Thanksgiving Day 07 I weighed myself and was shocked to see 326 pounds. I knew right then I had a serious problem. I had tried all the fad diets and nothing worked . In fact I often gained while on them. Skinny folks would tell me, smirking "You just have to push away from the table Don and not have that second piece of pie." In fact I do not ever have desert except on my birthday and Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving so I did not find any humour in that. A a matter of fact skinny people are foolish when giving heavy people advice. Sort of like a celibet Catholic Priest offering marriage counselling. If you are not battling a real weight problem please keep you mouth shut. You havent a clue what it is like and no nothing about fixing it. Many like me, while having a good appetite, dont eat as much as you skinny folks do and still have a big problem. It is not that we eat all the time or cheat or gorge ourselves, it is just that our bodies either dont burn it off like you do or we are sensitive to certain foods. Often these foods are part of every diet out there but our bodies cant handle them. It was Dr David Lisowski who gave me my first clue many years ago about try just to see what happens eating nothing white. It worked and worked quickly but was too boring a way to eat and almost imposssible in many circumstances. Still he planted the idea. I decided this time the two main culprits my body doesn't handle well are bread and potatoes. (And yes I have tried mult grain, whole wheat 12 grain 7 grain etc etc.) I told my wife the day I weighed 326 that that was it for me. Next time I would be having bread and potatoes, St Peter would be serving them to me in heaven. I did allow that Christmas, Easter and my and her birthdays could be an exception. I also made it perfectly clear that I did not intend my restictions to be hers. Since she doesnt have this problem I wanted her to be free to eat as she always had. I just wouldnt be. It is now april 7. Yesterday while weighing a cylinder head I decided to see if my disipline was bearing results. I knew I was in the smallest hole in my belts. I knew I could now wear 44 jeans (and 42s today) so I suspected I was making progress. My wife had told me she could see a lot more of the steering wheel now when I was driving but I still did not ever weigh myself since that 326 day. Yesterday I did before putting the scales away. The results? 286 pounds. A loss of 40 pounds so far just from not eating bread and potatoes. Not dieting, not cutting back, just from simply removing these two poisonous for me foods from my meals. Has it been hard? NO. it is very easy. I order fish and salad instead of fish and chips. I have rice instead of potatoes for other things and if I have a hamburger I tell them no bun. So far it has been easy. Breakfast is now porridge or a scrambled eggs and cheese omlet. So will I go back to bread and potatoes when I reach my weight goal? (245 pounds) Nope, I am all done with those two foods. They were the problem for me and I suspect for others like me. I am just happy to be on the winning side again. What will my weight go to? I dont know but I do know it will be less than it was and I am still losing so I will let my body find its own sweet spot. If you are tempted to say for 5ft 10 3/4 I should weigh 160 pounds, Shut UP! That is utter nonsense. If I weighed 16O pounds I would look like I was sick. My body devoid of these foods that were not good for me will find its own happy level. I dont know where but I do know it will be a major improvement over what it was and that is enough for me. Censored! ?? Recently I wrote a poem and posted it to poetry.com. It was censored! I could hardly believe it! It had no foul language, no racial slurs or anything that might call for such an action. I am stil surpised since I have often posted my poetry there without incident, in fact, the possiblilty never occured to me. Frustrated by what I saw with friends and their daughters making terrible choices in men I wrote a sort of tongue in cheek peom called The Mating Song Of The Modern Young Woman. It was written to make folks think before they make choices that will ruin their lives and it has a hint in it for fathers to prepare their daughters for life by exlaining to them as they grow up what is and isn't a good choice in mates and why. That means not the day they show up on the door step with some scary dude but long, long before, when oppourtunity presents itself, making the daughter aware of how others poor choices have affected their well being and happiness. The poem is in my usual ribald style. Here it is, below. The Mating Cry Of The Modern Young Woman I'm looking for a man that I can live with I'm hoping I can really find a bum I've grown up with food and clothes and money I'm looking forward now to having none I wouldn't want a worker or investor Someone who worked each day for food and rent I'm hoping for a lazy good for nothing Who spends the better part of day in bed My parents tell me that my boyfriend's crazy Their scared he'll be the son-in-law from hell I tell them that he is himself a genius Its just that he has learned to hide it well. My father never ever tried to warn me To tell just the way guys really are He always left me free to make my own choice That why I have it figured out this far. copyright 2008 Don K Dulmage Anyway, there it is. I still do not see why it would have been censored . My wife and I were talking today about how fathers have a responsbilty to teach thier daughters of the pitfalls of some of these choices. During the conversation it got around to what guys think will impress a girl. I have no idea how we got there but we did. I told my wife that when guys are young or at least when I was young that we thought being strong and tough and having a nice fast car impressed the girls but I had since come to realize that being nice and being a good listener would make a far better impression that strutting around like a banty rooster on steroids ever would. My wife was surprised I knew this, I think. "Guys like you first described scare girls," she said. "Really?" I answered. "So how come you were not ascared of me?" I asked since I was a rough, tough big 6 ft 200 lbs of solid muscle when we met. We drove for a block in silence and then I heard a voice say, "Who said I wasn't scared?" OH! :>) THE MOVER! Often I meet people who are going to move away to start a better life. They may be changing countries, changing provinces (states)or just changing villages but they have convinced themselves that by moving away they will get a fresh start and all will be well. Rarely, if ever, does it turn out so. Usually after the euphoria of all new dies down the same old problems pop up one by one. They find they moved from one depressed area to another. Oh sure, the job may pay more but housing is double so it matters little. They have new friends only to find they are all a "bunch of idiots" too. They have often asked me why is that when vivisting here. My answer is always the same. "BECAUSE , BONEHEAD, YOU TOOK YOURSELF WITH YOU WHEN YOU MOVED!" We , you and me are the biggest poblems we will ever deal with. What we allow to bother us and how we react to problems and streif determine our happiness. Not the location of our home. Are we content with our lot in life? Do we live life enjoying the little things that bring us joy or do we live our life trying to impress others with our wealth and fortune. The same goes for fame. It comes not from trying. It comes acccidently and doesn't really matter anyway. Feed your interests, help others, always being ready to encourage those who are giving it their best. There is no better thing to be than someone who people say "you know he really is a nice guy." That is how you become happy. Moving has nothing, nada, nichts, diddly squat, to do with it. MARRIAGE ,WOMEN AND HOTRODDING Recently, I ran onto one of the reasons why we get in trouble occasionally. Beside being a car nut I also like music and hack around on the guitar and violins. I make my own fiddles for fun. When giving a demo at a seniors or retireries group I met a lady who picked up one of my homemade fiddles and I could tell a soon as she handled it she was a player( and not a novice either.) I asked if she had a violin to play. She said "No." I knew her before this and her husband is into cars. He has a real nice T-bird and a 1917 Model T touring. . She told him later that day that she wanted to get a violin. He said, "What the heck would you want that for?" Then she found one a month later at the distressed freight comapny for $49 but he refused to let her have it. Now, if she hates his cars I didnt feel a bit sorry for him. He has disrespected her interests and talents and deserves whatever he gets. Wives are totally unimpressed by how much stuff is worth, BTW, so making a list and writing down the figures is only going to give YOU a headache. They don't particularily enjoy car shows and drags and cruise nights either but come along because they want to do something together with you. So when they want to go shoppping and you refuse to go, don't expect that warm fuzzy feeling from her when you want her to come to a car thing with you. They married you so they could send time with you. Money, chrome valve covers, first hemi ever built, or "one of 1" means to them, absolutely nothing! In fact it annoys them when you try and con them into the fact that you do this because it is a good investment and profitable. They dont really care. Some will go along, often begrudgingly, but dont try to make your hobby and interests theirs. Instead make sure they get to do and see and go where they want to, as well. If you don't and your woman gets exasperated by your car stuff, it is hard in anyway to feel sorry for you. I know there are some women who are into cars. There is one I know myself who always has something interesting to drive but most of our woman are not really, if truth be known, all that interested. When we tell them how rare something is ,or how valuable it is, or how bad we want it, they are tempted to quote that line from the Gone With The Wind movie (Frankly Scarlet, I dont give a da...m) To think otherwise is foolishness. Have all the car stuff you want but don't restrict your woman's interests either. My wife said I should tell you all how we repaired it in our marriage many years ago, 30+ I had a 426 Hemi at the time and was centered on making it good to the exclusions of all other things or so it seemed to her One day in a bit of anger she said to me "How is it that if the hemi needs something you have to get it, but if I need something it never comes?" Stunned, I asked, "Why? What would you want?" "Well some decent cupboards for starters." she replied. We were in our second house at the time and it was not fancy, to say the least. " You want cupboards? I said. "git in the car". The Home Show was on in our town at the time and so I drove right there and went to the cupboard display. "What wood do you like?" I asked. She showed me a dark oak set. "What hardware?" I asked. She picked stuff so nice I swallowed hard. By now the salesman was there. "How big is your kitchen?" She already knew and told him exactly. He drew a plan and asked a few more questions. "How much?" I asked. He told me (I think then it was $1965.00 (1971, you could add a zero now I think))" When can you put them in?" I asked. "They will be installed in the next 45 day's" he said. "Ok," I said and signed on the line. On the way home she asked me, " How will we pay for them?" "We'll manage," I said because I had no intention of spending the rest of my days in trouble. And we did manage too. In fact it was no problem and the friction disappeared. I said DISAPPEARED fellows. I thought about it long and hard and finally realized I am not the only one on this planet or in this house. Her intersts are not mine and mine are not hers but if her interests are satisified she will not give me any flack about mine and so some 37 years later that is how it is. I make sure she gets to do and see what she wants and will go with her when practical, or when she asks and she makes sure my interests are fed as well. This works. If you should kid yourself into thinking that she is really interested in this car thing too, she just needs encouragement, you are lying to the guy you see every morning in the mirror when you shave. Thus endeth the sermon for the day. I will go back in the garage now and try and behave. (right after I fix the dimmer switch knobs for her in the living room. ) HOLES IN THE OZONE LAYER aka The Dulmage Effect We can't live a day now without hearing about how the ozone layer is depleting or opening up. First we blamed it on one thing, then another. Now we have decided rightly or wrongly (and I believe wrongly) that it is all the fault of the automobile. I won't even touch that subject for now. I want to tell you what I believe has really upset the ozone layer. The space program! Every year, several times a year, they are somewhere shooting a large rocket up through our atmosphere, right through the precious ozone layer that is protecting our planet. Now I am not a climate scientist but airflow I do know a bit about. Everytime we send one of those big, high temperature, fuel burning rockets through our ozone layer we create a large disruption with the molecules that make it up. A disruption (not unlike a big smoke ring) is created and the effect is like throwing a stone into pond with everwidening ripples. Except that, in the air, or a gas, the effect is greater. Why? Because the molecules are less dense and move around easier. How much greater? I am not sure at that altitude but sometimes at sea level, if doing rough figuring, I use a factor of times ten (X 10) for air over water to get a rough idea of the effect. You could do an experiment with a BBQ and a model rocket. Start your BQ and when it is good and hot load it up with recent grass clippings. Soon smoke will be billowing from the BBQ and on a good day with no wind a cloud or layer of smoke should eventually start to form. Now through this cloud launch the rocket. A donut shaped cloud will form and start to roll as a hole appears where the rocket went through. The hole will continue to grow as the air with the smoke continues (somewhat unhindered) to move. Now move this to the ozone layer. Send through that a huge rocket like the space shuttle with all engines blazing. The ozone can't help but produce this same rolling pattern and we could see it if it were not invisable. At the moment of ozone layer "puncture" the hole is probably about 200 feet across of disturbance. In an hour it has probably grown to several miles and by the next morning, who knows? A hundred miles, a thousand miles or whatever of disturbed rolling moving ozone unhindered ,by the way, for the most part by anything below it. My grandparents used to insist that the weather didn't really change until they started shooting all that stuff out into space. I used to think they were nuts but now I wonder seriously, if unknowingly they might have been right. One thing I do know. You cannot move that much mass, at that speed with that much exhaust through a gas with causing a major major disruption. Maybe it is time someone looked at this again. On top of that. Is space work really necessary or could we live without it or at least with a very reduced amount of it. The answer of course is painfully obvious. If space travel had never been developed our lives would not be measurably different as near as I can tell. Oh sure there would be no Satelite TV and such but really, seriously as someone who remembers it all from the first Sputnik is all this really necessary? Probably not! No more than it is necessary to climb Mount Everest for instance. Now that is just my thoughts on space travel and I can set that aside for the time being but this rocket disruption of the ozone later needs to be looked into. So far to date other than this blog I doubt that it has been. Don Karl Dulmage 2008 Exporting our Jobs. This applys to all of us in what is known as developed countries. Both here in North America and also in Europe, for instance. We can not go on exporting jobs. It is past time to speak up. What is the real reason for this? Sometimes, for instance, in the car business which I know first hand there is a misconception that cars built in other countres are better.Actually it is a misconception of many people in many lands that the farther away something is made from your home the better it is. In most cases it is just not so. Our vehcles are as good as anything made elsewhere and in most cases even better for our area despite the fact that we have allowed importers loopholes in the laws and such until recently that few are aware of. Like in the 70s import vehicles were allowed exactly double the polution of our vehicles by virture of their small engine size. Don't argue with me. I was in on the ground floor of polution control in Ontario and have been hired more than once to teach courses on it by the local college. I still have the old charts with the specs on them. We also know (and the autoworkers will be the first to agree) that while we help and encourage the foreign car companies to do business here,their markets are, for the most part, closed to us. Unacceptable to say the least. They would be the first to scream if we sold our cars to them but blocked theirs from coming here. The 64 dollar question then is why don't we. I have heard it all so don't tell me "two wrongs don't make a right." That is just a saying and relates to nothing. Why do companies want all their manufacturing done in Asia for instance which is currently how it is. Because they are not burdened with rules like we are. They have not yet allowed the non practical people who can barely open a safety pin to be in the position of making rules about the physical work place. We on the other hand have far, far too many regulations that handicap our industries to the point where they can not function competitively. Some of our rules are plain stupid. Some are good. Here is all we really need. If it is lifted over you you neeed a hard hat. If it is cluttered or dangerous below you need work boots. If in the same situation and the goods you are working around are heavy or sharp you need steel toed work boots. If there is material flying in the air you need safety glasses. (grinding cutting sawing chiseling spraying etc. It is not rocket sceince. It is pretty straight forward. Anytime your eyes are subjected to danger) If it is dangerous to your skin you need protective gloves. If the danger is beyond your hands then protective clothing. Adequet ventilation must be maintained in all work areas. Work area should be reasonable as far as temperature and shade go and as far as is reasonably practical. Reasonable means the bosses can stand being there all day as well as the employess and this a shall be the test in questionable circumstances. The high officials of the company shall be required to spend a whole week all day with the workers. I remember speaking to a man I know who has recently worked in China. He told me their winter temperature is not unlike our own but the factories are unheated. So do I think we should e allowed to have such places here? No! I think such companies must be forbidden doing business with us here in Canada. It is not right that a company can sell an item cheaper here because they deny the people that made it reasonable protection and comfort.We need to blacklist them. I well remember my wifes cousin telling me about when he worked for Delco Rochester products in Rochester. He said they called them all into a meeting and warned them. "If you fellows continue to take the good money we pay you and keep buying BMWs Porsches, Datsuns and Toyatas with it soon you won't have jobs to get the money with. We have to support the industries that support us." He told me they all laughed thinking it was just a bunch of nonsense. Approximately 4 or 5 years later the plant was closed and they we all out of a job. He spent the rest of his days packing groceries in Florida. He got the message loud and clear. Learned the hard way, although to his credit he did always buy North American although not always GM. This is no joke. It is serious. More and more we are shipping our jobs overseas to countries who operate on less regualtion than we did 50 years ago. This is not right. Are we stupid? We must be! Can we do better here? Certainly! We need to put more reasonable regs in place. We need workplace regulations made by workplace people. Not some of the over-educated under-nourished and zero experienced people who now make them. One needs to have a grasp of the practical side of the sitiuation and currently practical has been totally removed from the process. What about wages? Sometimes we pay too much and that is where unions get a black eye. What is too much? Here is a standard that is reasonable. Could you,leave your union job should it end tomorrow and find reasonably close pay scale in another place? If the answer is no then you are probably earning more than you should be. However, that said, wages are for a large part offset by the extra cost of transporting goods. Especially bulky goods over long distances.So in some cases it is six of one, a half dozen of the other so to speak. What can we do about it? #1 Buy from our own country whenever we have the choice. #2 If not our own country then our own economic area. i.e. NAFTA group (North Americans from North American companies. Europeans from EU companies. Scandinavians from Scandinavian companies.) #3 Do not buy anything from countries where you KNOW the goods are made under condtions that would never be permitted to exist here. It is the right thing to do. On top of that we need a practical review board to review regualtions and remove or change what is foolishness and there are lots of them BTW. Practical review board means it must be made up of people who are or have been employed in that particualr industry. No doctors, no lawyers, no bleeding heart idle rich volunteers. It must be made up of people with hands on knowledge and experience in the industry being reviewed. What would be the benifit to us? Our children, our neighbours ,our nephews and nieces would have jobs to go to as would their children. Our industries and people would prosper and so our country would prosper and we would reap the benifits directly. Aside from the practical aspect is is also just the right thing to do! Why Men Should Go Shopping In The WInter (aka How to Beat the Winter Blues) If you are like me I find winter a bit depressing. As it gets longer into it it gets worse and even a bit of "Cabin Fever" (as my wife calls it) develops. I found a cure going shopping with her at the local grocery store. Almost every grocery store of any consequence now has automatic doors which open on your approach. Usually it is somewhere between 10 and 8 feet that the sensor begins to sense your movement. Try this to pick up your mood. First ,ALWAYS let your wife off at the door, then go and park the car. Partly because it is polite and partly (mostly!) because she would brain you with her purse if she ever saw you doing what I am about to tell you about . As you walk from the parking lot to the entry doors at about the 12 foot from the door point raise you arms. Think of yourself as Moses at the Red Sea for instance. Continue walking forward with your arms raised. At about the 8 to 6 foot point the doors will begin to open and you can walk through triumphently with arms raised. Now don't you feel like a King!? For a few minutes, gone, is that winter depression and you will feel like someone cares and was glad of your arrrival. After all they opened the doors for you just as you raised your arms! It will take a couple of trys to get the distance and timing right but pretty soon you will have it down pat. No one will ever say anything to you either. Why? I don't know why but they won't. Probably, secretly, they would like to do it as well. So do I take my own advice? Does Don ever do this? (psssssst everytime, if the truth be known:>) Is Violin Making Science or Art? I got into building violins quite accidently. When they played resonably well I got hooked on making another one and another one add infinitum. After years of engine building where everything was planned and machined to as accurate a dimension as possible I found building a violin freehand as the early pioneers would have a very freeing and relaxing pastime. Then I met THE EXPERTS. These are the guys who use a machinists dial indicator to measure the thickness of the belly or back as they carve it. They use only wood from the south side of the tree and some even have a height between the roots and the first branch that the wood must be cut from. They have an abundance of theories on why Strad made such good violins. Some say he cooked the wood in a chemical bath and some say he used it natural. One fellow suggests that every violin Strad made if air is blown through the f hole will produce a note exactly 514 cycles. The book I saw this in was supposedly a reprint form 1885 with updates. This must have been an update because I don't think they had the abilty to measure things like that in 1885 nor with repeatable accuracy. I remember when I started making mine I was asked by a friend where I got my "tone woods". "Right here in Home Depot" I replied. I thought he was going to faint dead away. I think he is still in shock and yet that violin while not likley to ever see exotic service in the local symphony orchester is still a very playable and decent sounding instrument. I have in fact made several from off the shelf wood from the lumber store or at least a large protion of the violin is from that. I have also made them from trees that I cut down and sawed into usable portions on my table saw after I rough cut them with my chain saw. Some of these are my favourites. There is something about cutting down a tree and eventually winding up with a musical instrument that I very much like. So if you are from the sceintific school of violin making and believe the belly always makes the note d when struck after the f holes are cut and the bass bar installed and regardless I might add whether it is a 4/4 , a 3/4 , a 1/2 or what have you. I want you to know I think you are sick sick SICK! I believe violins are made from the heart. I no longer measure the graduations of the top and back but do them by feel until I like the deflection or springyness. I have a feel for which wood will work and so far it seems to be reliable. The key is in the dissimilarity of the back and belly woods.That is the ultmate factor and just to verify that I built an experimental one where both top and back are the same wood. It plays but it has no music in it. I believe that young Tony Strad was a gifted fellow who took some of his fathers unsatisfactory firewood and began making instruments. Like all violin makers he wondered what happens if I .............? and so he was committed to making many instruments in search of the perfect one. I don't believe for one second that he was there measuring everything with absolute precison. I believe he worked from the heart , With good instincts and a feel for the wood and the instrument he became better with each one. Seems most of the experts I have met have yet to build their first one. However I know first hand that once you have that done your attitude and opinion on a lot of things will change as you build more. You will see. There are also, to be sure, those among us who can build a exact copy or so near exact as to be astounding of an original violin but I prefer to build them freehand. My design, my dimensions ,my choice of woods, etc. It is for me a lot of fun. I am not trying to build a classic that will be worth thousands years from now. I am just trying to build an instrument that I can play on just for the pure enjoyment of it. So far the 9 I have worked on. (6 done 3 in some stage of completion) have been for me most interesting. I hope it never changes. So to the question science or art? I say art and from the heart of the builder. You might disagree but that is my take on the subject. I HATE SMALL PRINT! Now that I have reached the ripe old age of 50 plus my eysight is not what it used to be. When I was younger I could read the very tiniest print when visiting the doctor and checking the eye chart. Even after a couple of eye injuries I could still do that, but that was yesterday and yesterday's gone! Now, like the rest of the mortals around me, I struggle daily to see just basic things. Electronic devices have to be the worst. Yesterday I found myself with eye glasses on and a strong strong flashlight trying to read the switch labels on our bedroom television. It is not a tiny thing but your run of the mill semi portable unit with built in DVD and VCR. What would it hurt to have a large "ON" on the front instead of "on". Is there some reason I should not be able to see it? Of course not! Even the remote is beyond reading without glasses and a strong light. The more I thought about it the more I realized everything electronic is that way now. I remember being unable to read anything on my digital shortwave radio and having to take it to a window and hold it up to the light. After a while I was able, with my strongest glasses, just to make out which button I needed to press. And just so you know, my eyes are not that bad. I am just slightly into needing glasses for reading and still do not require a prescription set. What about people who have severe needs, never mind just a bit stronger than what I need? They find it imossible, I am sure. So whoever these carrot munching young engineers and designers are, today we need to get the message to them quickly. PUT DECENT SIZED PRINTING ON YOUR PRODUCTS OR WE WONT BUY THEM. There is no excuse for this current mico print. I believe that before a product can be sold in my country it should be tested by 10 grandparents and four great uncles. If it is OK for them then it will be OK for the rest of us. We often wonder why kids can run all this stuff and we find it difficult. The answer is simple. They can still read the little print and we are only guessing. Time we spoke up and became a voice for change. That is my view. I have also as you may have noticed increased my print size by one while writing this. Charity begins at home they always say so I am taking my own medicine. DON"S POETRY Yup, 'tis true. Don has been writing poetry since 1957. Most is long lost but with the online poetry available now he has published a few on Poetry.com. Here is a link to one which is called The Experts. http://www.poetry.com/Publications/display.asp?ID=P2744613&BN=999&PN=1 if you are on the poetry.com website search under poet's name Don Dulmage and Don Karl Dulmage to see the rest. One of Don's favourite Poets was Robert Service who wrote the Cremation of Sam McKee and Goodby Little Cabin, Goodby. His style is probably influenced by the raw rough style Robert Service used. Probably because he likes it! Adding too much to a proven combination can be one of the worst things you can do. Even though often well intentioned and though one may be being helped along by "The FrIend" or by popular opinion of the local crowd, engine combinations that really "cook" are often somewhat fragile. By that I don't mean unreliable. What I mean is a seemingly small variation to the combo can ruin the combination completely. More often than not its is what is added to the mix that ruins it. My friend and mentor H Wilson once told me many years ago that knowing what to do is certainly very important but knowing WHAT NOT TO DO is just as critical. I happen to agree 100%. This little story that I wrote, just for fun, in a way illustrates the point graphically. THE TATTOO BY DON k DULMAGE (CPYRITE2007) At first everyone couldn't help but noticing her beauty. Even old men felt their hearts flicker when she walked into a room. Then one day she met "The Biker Dude" He was exciting to be with and even though he was a rough character she found that somewhat attractive. One day he told her he thought she should have a tattoo. She wasn't sure at first but he suggested a discreet one that no one would see. That wasn't so bad an idea to her so she agreed and had a nice design tattooed on her lower back just below the belt line. For some reason a few weeks later as the thrill of this new man began to wear off she noticed he had kind of a strange smell. Just for a second it crossed her mind that his hygene might not be up to normal standards but she dismissed the idea as she really wanted to be part of the crowd. Occasionally she got teased because she was so neat and some of the others in the group suggested that she didn't fit in. "Why she doesn't even have a tattoo!" they had said. "I most certainly do!" she told them but when asked to show it she found the idea of displaying parts of her that were normally covered still a bit too much so she made no furher defence and let it go. Her boyfriend, Bubba came up with an idea as they talked it over later. "You could get one on your ankle" he said. That way they could see it and would leave you alone. I agree too, " he went on. " I don't want nobody looking at your backside or anywhere near it except me. " It was funny that as he spoke she hadn't noticed till right then how fat he was not to mention how bold. She ignored that thought however and went along with the idea. The next day they had a nice twisted barbed wire tattooed on her left ankle. It looked pretty good too. Very artistic in a wierd sort of a way. She was proud of it and wore a skirt to the office the next day. From the moment she entered the office she knew she had made a big mistake. Everyone was staring and several made comments. None were very complimentary. The trouble was the tattoo was there and there was nothng she could do about it. By the end of the week she was feeling a definate coolness toward her from her former friends and co-workers. She made up her mind to quit. "To heck with them all!" she said as she left the office for the last time that friday. "They are all a bunch of geeks anyway. Who needs them?!" Bubba was thrilled. He didn't seem to care that she had quit her job. He had plans of his own for her. Now that her appearance didn't matter for her job he thought she should get another tattoo to celebrate the occasion. Out of spite for her wounded pride she agreed and told Bubba he could decide which one to get. Bubba went whole hog (pun intended) this time and when she was done she had a large green snake curling around her calf winding high up on her thigh. She was a bit shocked at the sight of it. It was a lot bigger that she thought it would be but Bubba liked it and so did the rest of the gang so she decided it was ok with her. It felt nice to belong even if this was a rougher crowd that she was used to. A little voice inside tried to warn her but she choose to ignore it. Over the next three months Bubba drove her on his Harley to several of the very best tattoo artists in the country. Pretty soon much of her body and even some of her neck was covered in black, blue, green and red ink. She had to admit the art-work was definately unusual. It had always fascinated her how people could draw like this, either with a pencil, an airbrush or a tattoo needle. Now that she was covered in this art she felt she had finally arrived. Everywhere they went Bubba showed off her tattoos. She had even lost her shyness and was not the least bit embarrassed when Bubba would display for his friends her orignal first tattoo. It seemed more fun to be one of the gang than to worry about modesty. Then one day, out of the blue, Bubba dropped her. Just stopped the bike, told her to get off and drove away. There she was, all alone. No means of providing for herself and no place to call home. She realized the very first thing she must do is get a job and right away before things got any worse. She had never had trouble getting work before. Usually a smile directed in the right place, a toss of the hair along with her excellant qualifications was more than enough . She hadn't ever really realized how much of that was based on her good looks and neat, respectable appearance. She was about to find out. Right away she realized though, that something was very wrong. Most of the places she went would not even give her an interview. "I am the same person I always was ," She thought. There is nothing missing from who I was before but even now she forgot about the "added part." She didn't realize that even though underneath all the tattooing she was exactly the same person she always had been that people in general have a great deal of trouble dealing with somone who looks to them like the lizard from the black lagon. No matter how pretty or nice she was, it was in fact, covered over by snakes, scales, barbed wire and symbols totally obliterating the beauty she had been born with even though, in truth, it was still there. Unfortunately no one could see or enjoy it now. It was was gone forever, never to be seen again. And so it is with motors and set ups of cars as well. Even though the original engine design lies there untouched and unmolested from its intended state it is often burdened down with stuff that is neither compatible nor necessary and this stuff will more often than not turn a killer combo into an also ran. It is one of life's hard lessons, this one. The lesson being to realize if you follow the crowd you will always be at the back of the pack. Discipline is the key to success.
Recently, I ran onto one of the reasons why we get in trouble occasionally. Beside being a car nut I also like music and hack around on the guitar and violins. I make my own fiddles for fun. When giving a demo at a seniors or retireries group I met a lady who picked up one of my homemade fiddles and I could tell a soon as she handled it she was a player( and not a novice either.) I asked if she had a violin to play. She said "No." I knew her before this and her husband is into cars. He has a real nice T-bird and a 1917 Model T touring. . She told him later that day that she wanted to get a violin. He said, "What the heck would you want that for?" Then she found one a month later at the distressed freight comapny for $49 but he refused to let her have it. Now, if she hates his cars I didnt feel a bit sorry for him. He has disrespected her interests and talents and deserves whatever he gets. Wives are totally unimpressed by how much stuff is worth, BTW, so making a list and writing down the figures is only going to give YOU a headache. They don't particularily enjoy car shows and drags and cruise nights either but come along because they want to do something together with you. So when they want to go shoppping and you refuse to go, don't expect that warm fuzzy feeling from her when you want her to come to a car thing with you. They married you so they could send time with you. Money, chrome valve covers, first hemi ever built, or "one of 1" means to them, absolutely nothing! In fact it annoys them when you try and con them into the fact that you do this because it is a good investment and profitable. They dont really care. Some will go along, often begrudgingly, but dont try to make your hobby and interests theirs. Instead make sure they get to do and see and go where they want to, as well. If you don't and your woman gets exasperated by your car stuff, it is hard in anyway to feel sorry for you. I know there are some women who are into cars. There is one I know myself who always has something interesting to drive but most of our woman are not really, if truth be known, all that interested. When we tell them how rare something is ,or how valuable it is, or how bad we want it, they are tempted to quote that line from the Gone With The Wind movie (Frankly Scarlet, I dont give a da...m) To think otherwise is foolishness. Have all the car stuff you want but don't restrict your woman's interests either.
My wife said I should tell you all how we repaired it in our marriage many years ago, 30+
I had a 426 Hemi at the time and was centered on making it good to the exclusions of all other things or so it seemed to her
One day in a bit of anger she said to me "How is it that if the hemi needs something you have to get it, but if I need something it never comes?" Stunned, I asked, "Why? What would you want?" "Well some decent cupboards for starters." she replied. We were in our second house at the time and it was not fancy, to say the least. " You want cupboards? I said. "git in the car". The Home Show was on in our town at the time and so I drove right there and went to the cupboard display. "What wood do you like?" I asked. She showed me a dark oak set. "What hardware?" I asked. She picked stuff so nice I swallowed hard. By now the salesman was there. "How big is your kitchen?" She already knew and told him exactly. He drew a plan and asked a few more questions. "How much?" I asked. He told me (I think then it was $1965.00 (1971, you could add a zero now I think))" When can you put them in?" I asked. "They will be installed in the next 45 day's" he said. "Ok," I said and signed on the line. On the way home she asked me, " How will we pay for them?" "We'll manage," I said because I had no intention of spending the rest of my days in trouble. And we did manage too. In fact it was no problem and the friction disappeared. I said DISAPPEARED fellows. I thought about it long and hard and finally realized I am not the only one on this planet or in this house. Her intersts are not mine and mine are not hers but if her interests are satisified she will not give me any flack about mine and so some 37 years later that is how it is. I make sure she gets to do and see what she wants and will go with her when practical, or when she asks and she makes sure my interests are fed as well. This works. If you should kid yourself into thinking that she is really interested in this car thing too, she just needs encouragement, you are lying to the guy you see every morning in the mirror when you shave.
Thus endeth the sermon for the day. I will go back in the garage now and try and behave. (right after I fix the dimmer switch knobs for her in the living room. )
The ENCOURAGERS
These people are a gift to the rest of us. I have been fortunate to meet a few in my day. Two have been very helpful. One is Huck Flindal of the Belleville Road Angles Hot Rod Club. Huck is the fellow who gave me the nickname "Big-D" which my email name comes from. He always treats me better than I deserve. I met him about 1968
Another was the late Lorne Cole of Wooler who helped me learn to buy cattle during my farming years and taught me a lot about life and business. I can remember him sitting just within earshot at the main cattle auction here coaching me quietly when I hesitated on buying a feeder steer. "What would that look like after 3000 pounds of corn Don ?" I would hear him softly say. I knew then to jump in and go for it. No one ever knew he was coaching me. Of course they never knew when he was bidding either till it was too late. I remember with fondness the one time he lost it on my behalf. I would on a given day buy between $3000 and $8000 worth of cattle. Even after several years of sucessful buying the auctioneer never seemed to know my name but would motion in my direction and say "sold.. over there..." One day without warning Lorne Cole jumped up and shouted at the auctioneer. "When a man buys $6000 to $8000 worth of "dang" cattle on a weekly basis you should at least know his "darn" name , not just say "over there!" Needless to say it never happened again. From that point on all my cattle were sold to "Dulmage. " I had become an actual person.
So thank you Huck and thank you Lorne for the encouragement you have given me. May I remember to pass it on to others.
Skepticemia, a dreaded disease.
After years of watching people with this dreaded disease I have decided to give it a name. I believe they are infected with skepticemia. It doesn't really matter what you or anyone else suggests, these people know why it won't work or shouldn't be done. Nothing is right and everybody is wrong. They tow their little black clouds with them stealing joy throughout the land. Often, when confronted with a new idea they will tell you, "If it was that easy someone would already have done it." I was thinking about such people the other day, wondering what purpose they actually serve. None, as I see it. They are a veritable blackhead on the landscape of hope and discovery. A pimple as it were on the bubble of the joy of living. They should be avoided at all costs. I don't mind a little realism but an overdose of sketicsm or sketicemia is a real hard thing for me now to take. Too many times, more than I deserve, life has handed me an interesting and challenging problem which has led me down an extremely interesting road of discovery. I could never have planned for some of the things that have happened, however, had I had the dreaded disease of Sketicemia I would never have taken the opportunity to find out where these things would lead. So if you are interested in discovery and inventions or out of the norm ideas, avoid people like this like they had the plague. In a way, they actually do. Not only will they lead totally unproductive lives but they are out to make sure you do too. There is an old saying that says, " It is hard to soar like an eagle when you hang around with turkeys." It may be truer than you think.
Potential trouble.
One of the big problems I have had to deal with is people following only half the instructions when running a combo. Until now I have been patient and helped them though. These are not seemingly big things to them but they are critical to the success of the whole package and I have learned that they just dont seem to really understand how important doing it ALL really is. Here is one of those actual examples. For this engine I specified a certain size of crank pulley to go with a certain size of fan pulley which the customer already had. I told him which one to use and where to get it. After he started driving the car he phoned and said it overheats in traffic. Not real bad, but enough to make him nervous. Never mind him! I thought. "I get real antsy when someone is cooking one of my engines. I asked immediatley about the bottom pulley. "Oh I couldnt find one and anyway my friend ("An EXPERT" of course) said it wouldn't make any difference." I almost blew my top. The almost "no difference" was actually 175 RPM at idle which is more than enough so make a significant difference in cooling. "I'll get you one" I said and hung up. The next morning I drove to the exact place I had told him about and removed the pulley I had told him about, paid for it, cleaned and painted it and went to his place to help him install it. The result? Instant and total cure even in 90+ weather stuck in traffic.
Often I see fellows who want to run electric fans. Despite all the claims I have not yet seen one that could handle an OR engine build in stop and go traffic but still people want to try. My wife says this is why I must stay retired. She says I carry these worries with me. "You can tell them, you can write it down, you can warn them but they dont hear a word you say", she says. "You wind up investing your time and sometimes your money as well, just making it the way you told them it must be in the first place." It is true. Now that I am retired though I have taken a different approach. I say nothing. I am too tired and worn out to fight and I am no longer in the business. So If you have one of my motors and you are doing something I told you not to you are now on your own. Don't phone here! I already told you what to do.
Why are I so specific? Is it because I am a crusty old guy who likes to give orders and see you jump? No, it is because I already tried that or have helped someone deal with it in a similar installation and have learned over the last 40 years just what works well and what does not. If you are running one of my combos I want it to work well for you with no problems.
Why? Because it reflects on me, that is why. I don't care what the parts guy says or the salesman on the phone or whatever. It doesn't change anything. If you want it to work like mine then you must do it that way too. When you get a 4150 pound car with a flat top 440 with a flat tappet cam running below 11.40s then you can branch out and try whatever you want (although chances are we may have already tried it) Until you get here (11.40s) you will make the quickest progress with the least trouble following the specific directions I gave you.
bravenet.com