New, New Chat Thread

[trularin]

Another Babe Winkelman??? ( bet I forked up that spelling ).

Hey there folks.

[Ibr8k4vetts]

here is a slide show of fire pic. http://www.noozhawk.com/multimedia/a...day_2/?order=1

[Ron61]

Mike,

I have been watching that fire with interest as it gets close to some of the places I am familiar with. I fear that it may just be the beginning of a very bad fire season. I hope they get it under control soon.

Ron

[trularin]

That looks like some serious fire work being done.

[Ron61]

Here is a link to the latest they have posted on the fire. I liked the Santa Barbara area when I lived there, but it wasn't nearly as populated as it is now. I went to school at Santa Ynez and lived in Paradise Camp. Got to go through the Tecolote (spelling) Tunnel several times as they dug it since my Father was a Foreman and my uncle was job supervisor. All this fire is in areas that I used to hike through.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090507/...s/us_wildfires

Ron

[4RE KLR]

Good morning everyone


Ron, Mike
These fires are just the beginning of what may be a very long summer for California.

[Ron61]

Steve,

I fear that you are correct. They have been preparing fire camps and mapping possible places to try and stop fires up here for the past month as this is supposed to be one of our hottest Summers and worst fire seasons ever. I hope they are wrong on both accounts. We still have people checking into the hospital from smoke inhalation and lung damage from last years fires.

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Steve,

I fear that you are correct. They have been preparing fire camps and mapping possible places to try and stop fires up here for the past month as this is supposed to be one of our hottest Summers and worst fire seasons ever. I hope they are wrong on both accounts. We still have people checking into the hospital from smoke inhalation and lung damage from last years fires.

Ron

Ron it is really sad when much needed rain is really a curse in disguise. All that extra growth being more material to burn and all. It is like there is nothing that can help.

[Ron61]

Joe,

There really isn't much that can help. It will be in the 70s today and mid to upper 80s tomorrow and the grass is already dry and there is dust everywhere. And the rain won't help much as it also melted a lot of what snow pack we had so that won't be there to melt in the Summer. I just hope they are wrong about their Summer heat and fire forecasts but they have sure been busy the past month getting plans and setting up for fires.

Ron

[trularin]

They got a news article on MSNBC about the house the community built for some people that lost it in a fire last year. Now it looks like they may loose it again this year.

Dang

[Ron61]

Tru,

The fire down in Santa Barbara is really bad. I was looking at some pictures of it this morning and it is in places that I used to hike when I lived down there. Of course there weren't homes all over the hills way back then. I have lived in several locations in California and Santa Barbara was my favorite back until it started to grow into a big mess. I guess that is one reason I like this area. We can still go a few miles and not see another person all day.

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

I saw the news reports on the Santa Barbara fire today. Pretty bad. One guy was trying to find out where his father was. He got his family out, but hasn't heard from his dad. That has got to be the worst.

[392cobra]

Joe & Steve,
Get ready for some more weather tonight.

Standard stuff : tornados,hail,high winds,floods.

Pretty good cold front,
today tomorrow city
90 73 Dallas
90 62 Lubbock
97 67 Abiliene
111 96 Terlingua

And where some of Ron's relatives are
100 72 Roswell,NM

[4RE KLR]

Thanks Fred,
It hasn't stared to rain here yet but it is looking like it will start any minute. There is a great light show going on outside right now, so I suspect it won't be too much longer.

The lakes are up by about 4-5 feet right now so that is good for the summer. They have come up all this much in about a week. As you know the last week we have seem some hellacious rain showers.

We are all buttoned up and ready as we will ever be. New batteries in the flashlights, the emergency kits are ready, the cars are full of gas and there is gas in the garage for the generator if we need it.

Now watch, we won't get a drop.

[392cobra]

Originally Posted by 4RE KLR

Now watch, we won't get a drop.

With our history here lately,I'm betting it does.

Have getting a break from the 12 years of rain the last 2 weeks,I got a 134 mile ride in this afternoon.
Figured after 2 days of no rain we would be due tomorrow.

Headed to the counties north of DFW,wanted to see how it had greened up after all that rain.Really pretty but there are a lot of crops still under some water.Not bad though.
Humidity was about 128%.

[Ron61]

Fred,

Glad that you got a chance for a ride. If our Summers is anything like they say it is going to be I may take a vacation to Death Valley where it is only around 110/120 and gets cold at night. Been a long time since I was there anyway.
Do you remember the old TV series Roswell which was about the kids stranded here from the crash?

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

Mother nature threatened me for a while, but I didn't get anything.

[Ron61]

Joe,

That is good. I spend most of yesterday mowing the yards and working on getting the new Sears Tractor and mower that the cousin who bought my Cobra bought and had delivered to me for that upper lot and driveway. Really nice. It is just a 21 horse one but you can get a ton of attachments for it and the mower cuts a 42" swath. I hate the manual as it is a generic one written to cover every darn tractor. I am still tying to figure which bolts, clips, and rods let me remove the mower as the manual shows them in one picture for every one. And to use a blade or anything I have to remove the mower. Mechanically inclined I am not. Guess I should apply for a Govt. job as a mechanic.

Ron

[392cobra]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Joe,

That is good. I spend most of yesterday mowing the yards and working on getting the new Sears Tractor and mower that the cousin who bought my Cobra bought and had delivered to me for that upper lot and driveway. Really nice. It is just a 21 horse one. I am still tying to figure which bolts, clips, and rods let me remove the mower as the manual shows them in one picture for every one.
Ron

Good to see you are getting back into racing.Looking forward to seeing you on the track in the Lone Star State !

Motor sports: Area roundup: Lawn mower drag racing on tap at San Antonio Raceway

Track officials at San Antonio Raceway will take a break from their regular Pro Bracket Series racing this weekend to host the National Drag Racing Lawn Mower Association on Friday night at the quarter-mile track in Marion.

"There will be three classes racing on Friday night," said John Hart of the NDRLMA. "The Modified I, Modified II and Super Modifieds will be competing."

The NDRLMA machines typically hold five to 10 races each season in addition to the monthly races at SAR. Hart said races are usually held at festivals and volunteer fire department picnics. The series also competes throughout the season at Lone Star Raceway Park in Sealy.

These machines are not your typical John Deere, Toro, Snapper and Sears Craftsmen Riding Lawn Mowers. In fact, these racing machines might look similar to riding lawn mowers, but the engines that are under their hood are much faster than your average lawn tractor.

Hart said in the Super Modified class the lawn mowers are capable of running 2.8-second times and can reach speeds of 70 mph on the 150-foot course. Racers typically invest between $1,000 and $20,000 when building their drag racing machines.

In the Super Modified class the rules are relaxed some compared to the other classes. The machines do not have to look like the typical lawn mower and they can run either on diesel or gasoline fuel.

The NDRLMA action begins at 7 p.m. with time trials. The elimination rounds begin at 8 p.m.

[Ron61]

Fred,

No more racing for me. I have had my time of that and am just trying to survive now. No more fast cars or anything of that kind. I will most likely never have another car anyway. And I don't even watch most of the races any more.

Ron