Dean Barlow Blog » Automotive

Grass clippings

Dean — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:22:28 +0000

This is the season where people are starting to mow their lawns and blow their grass clippings out into the roadway. Every time I see some grass clippings on the road like that I think about how dangerous those clippings are to people who are riding their motorcycles. Grass clippings are very slippery, and it would be extremely hazardous to a motorcyclist to be riding along on the road, minding his own business, and then suddenly have to swerve to avoid hitting a deer or a dog or cat, and be in the middle of a section of road that was covered with grass clippings.

I want to write to a congressman to ask him/her to introduce a bill to make it illegal to dump grass clippings on a public road. I’m not quite sure which one to write to. Probably would be a good idea to write to one that rides a motorcycle, don’t you think? I wonder how to find out that information……

I think it is more widespread than imagined

Dean — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:32:35 +0000

A few years ago a good friend of mine died of some form of cancer. At the time no one told me exactly what the cancer was, but I’m beginning to think it was Mesothelioma because he ran a cement company. I’m thinking that because I just found out that there is asbestos in insulation, roof shingles, cement, brake linings, flooring products, and textiles. The “textiles” part really worries me – because “textiles” generally refers to fabrics. Does that mean carpets and fabrics?

I really didn’t realize that asbestos was in so many products that we come into contact with on a daily basis! And I just found out that the symptoms often don’t surface until as many as 30 to 50 years after the exposure to the asbestos!

With the baby boomers were born, there was a massive housing explosion that created a lot of these products to be put into the general population. I think that the repercussions are yet to be fully seen.

Just when we thought spring was here

Dean — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:37:28 +0000

We woke up to snow flurries this morning. I was rather surprised since it was quite warm out yesterday and I really thought that spring was well underway. I didn’t listen to the weather report yesterday! I was quite surprised that it continued to snow all morning long, too. Usually when it snows around here it is only for an hour or two. I had to drive in to town, and the roads were just icy enough to be dangerous. The roads had not been sanded or prepared for the weather at all, so I guess the DOT was caught by surprise too!

There were several cars off of the road, having slid into the ditch. Whenever I see that I think to myself that the people were very lucky that they didn’t lose control while they were driving across one of the many bridges on that road. That is always something I worry about with my family when the roads are slick like that. The bridges around here don’t even look like bridges – they just have guard rails on the side of the road, and I worry that any car going at the posted speed limit of 55 could easily crash through the barriers and end up in the river or the bottom of the ravine. I don’t trust those guard rails much at all.

That’s just plain wrong

Dean — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:27:12 +0000

When I go to an automotive service center that specializes in oil changes (I won’t name the chain, but it IS a national chain) that gives out $5.00 coupons online good towards an oil change, the local service center needs to honor that coupon. Last week I took my truck to the local oil change service station and had them perform their oil change. When they rung me up I presented them with the $5.00 coupon. The cashier told me that they had already totaled up my work and it was too late to give them the coupon. Too bad, so sad!

I don’t know about you, but I think that is totally bogus. I don’t know why I just accepted that instead of insisting that they re-ring the sale. Sometimes I’m just too nice. When I went home and told my wife about it, she was very upset that they didn’t give me the credit, and couldn’t believe that I just accepted it. I guess if it happens again I’ll be a little bit more assertive and ask for the supervisor. I’d rather get them upset than get my wife upset with me.

Thank goodness for the industrial revolution

Dean — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:28:12 +0000

Every now and then I will take a drive out to the country and enjoy the sights and sounds of farm life. When I was very young my grandparents had a farm, and my happiest childhood memories are from visiting them on their farm. Last weekend I decided to take such a drive and found myself driving very slowly behind a caravan of farm equipment. As you can imagine, in the country roads there are not very many opportunities to pass slow moving farm vehicles, so I just settled in for a slow ride; I was in no particular hurry.

Eventually all of the trucks pulled into a long dirt driveway and as I passed I took a look at some of the equipment that was being hauled. One of the things was a huge conveyor belt device that I could only imagine would be used for silo unloading. I don’t know what all of the other machines were, or how they are used. Sometimes I fantasize about living on a farm and driving big farm equipment. But then I think about the old sit-com “Green Acres” and start to chuckle – I don’t think my wife would take kindly to living the farm life at all!

Christmas Cash

Dean — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:11:02 +0000

Now that Christmas is over with and some folks received cold hard cash or gift cards for gifts there are plenty of people that are now ready to buy some nice merchandise for themselves for a change. A good buddy of mine is now looking online for motorcycles for sale, he would like to be on the road come spring and that is hopefully right around the corner at this point. I can only hope that he finds a Harley Davidson and not some Japanese bike. Keep it American!

The Internet is a great way to find items, so it only makes sense to look for the perfect motorcycle or ATV or any type of transportation for that matter. I used to have a motorcycle but times got hard and I started running out of time for riding it and keeping it up each riding season and ended up selling it. That was before the Internet had made buying and selling items so much easier, I’m sure I would have taken advantage of it and probably would have made out much better than I did back then.

Every well stocked garage has several tarps

Dean — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:18:08 +0000

I wish I was the genius that invented the tarp! I’d be rich! In my opinion no one can ever own too many tarps. I like to put a clear tarp over my classic truck while it is stored in the garage to help keep it clean and protect it from accidental scratches if things fall on top or if someone brushes past it. And I always keep some rope and at least one tarp in the back of my daily use truck to cover any unexpected cargo that I might need to tie down.

They make great picnic blankets in a pinch, and help keep your wood pile from being buried in the snow during the winter. A loosely draped one over top of the emergency generator can keep it dry while it is running in bad weather. They can help keep the seats of your car clean (or the trunk) when you need to transport something messy. I keep one over my jet-ski in the back yard to protect it from the elements. Don’t know what to give a guy that has everything? Give him a tarp – he’ll use it!

Signs for Everything

Dean — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 03:05:01 +0000

Car Seats

Dean — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:53:18 +0000

Evidently, it is state law that children must be seated in car seats and booster seats until they are 9 years old. That seems really ultra-conservative to me. As a kid, we had seat belts in the car, which we rarely used. And car seats were only used for babies under a year old. Once the kids could sit up straight and stay buckled into the back seat, my parents tossed the car seat out.

We all made it just fine without car seats in our toddler and childhood years – I wonder why the Government has decided to force us to use car seats for such a long time? I think the parents should have some discretion in how they want to transport their own kids.

Can’t Miss Nascar’s Jimmie Johnson

Dean — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 01:35:35 +0000

Thanks for the article from Jermaine Haynes

When it comes to Nascar, I can’t ever remember missing a race. There is just something about checking out the race for the Sprint Cup and cheering on my favorite driver, Jimmie Johnson. I know he has had a few problems in the past, but he is going to come through strong in the end and maybe win it all. I have been one of his fans for a few years now and even have a parking plaque in the garage that says only #48 fans can park here. I know its pretty cheesy, but I just love the guy.

The best way to watch Nascar is on the satellite tv in Oregon with popcorn, nachos, drinks along with family and friends. The more people there to watch and cheer the better. A few of my friends weren’t really big Nascar fans, but after a few of the race parties, they have become converts. No one else roots for Jimmie Johnson, but at least we all have something in common and something else to talk about. Hopefully, next season, someone else will volunteer their house for a party or two.