Why Am I Blogging On Friday Afternoon?

Because I am headed to a site in the Great Smokey Mountains tomorrow morning. I'm sure there will be a photo op sometime between here and there (I'm not driving). We'll see.
Gary Johnson

Old B-17

My dad sent me this today. I had actually played on that one when it was parked at the old Wheelless Airport in Dothan, AL in the early 1970's. They had been converted to crop dusters and then just parked. Unfortunately, this one crashed in May of 1976 when an engine caught fire. Here is a link to the site; lots of interesting images of old warbirds.

A little history of Wheelless Airport: The Whelless' donated the land to the city of Dothan so they could build a golf course on it, but the Wheelless' kept the rights to the surrounding properties, so they could build houses adjacent to the golf course. Click here for a Google map. Note the "Brannon Stand" intersection in the old and new maps.
Gary Johnson

Moooooo

 

Somewhere in Chilton County, Alabama 5-5-09.

Caption contest, anyone?

Suggestions from the cast:

1)There's gotta be a Cinco de Mayo party around here somewhere.

2) The grass may not be greener, but there's more of it.

3) How am I suposed to hitchhike without thumbs?

TTFN

Gary Johnson

Pedigree

My screen saver is really just a slide show of all of the pictures in "My Pictures." This popped up yesterday while I was reading a deposition. It(the picture, not the deposition) was taken around 1960. This was a franchise Goodyear tire store in Dothan, Alabama that my grandfather founded in 1948. It's also the reason that I have been able to do my own brake work. I've never paid for any brake work on any vehicle I've ever owned. I just wish I could afford the equipment to mount and balance my own tires. I've had less than pleasant experiences at several of the local franchise tire places. Gotta run.

Gary Johnson

Is "data" singular or plural?

I know it's the plural of datum, but it just doesn't sound right sandwiched between "these" and "are." Like, "These data are." Here is what Oxford says. Basically, it's on the way out. It's still the preferred usage in Britain, but here in the colonies I vote for identifying it as an "uncountable noun" as in the word "information." There is no such word as "informations." "These information" sounds just as bad. I say forget proper and let's go with what sounds right. Here are some of my favorite examples of the inconsistency of the English language:

laughter -daughter
good - food
I could go on...

I'll dedicate this one to Kevin Ruggiero, who talked me out of doing it the right way.

Gary Johnson

We should all be here:

Going on right now at Barber Motorsports Park. But, we've got people mapping a site where the police paint is probably still wet, and I have a shareholder meeting at 1. Now there's something I thought I'd never say.
Gary Johnson

Vear, Inc. Sponsors Hoover East, Southern League Nationals

April 2009: Some of this is going to be older information. I have been wanting to do a blog for a long time, but as Dr. Robinson says, "We have a lot of straight to-its and right to-its around here but not many round to-its." (My phone rang twice while typing this).

The Nationals (machine pitch) finished the regular season in 2nd place with a record of 10-1-1. They started pool play as Team A in pool #2. The one regular season loss was by an unheard of (at this level) score of 2-1. They won their first pool play game while the #1 team lost theirs in pool #1. Go Nationals!
Gary Johnson