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Here’s wishing you and yours a happy and safe Labor Day!

In honor of Labor Day…

…I’ll be at work on Monday…

…laboring.  

-Stewart

Chris and I went to a couple of garage sales today.

I found some very important necessities!

Here is one of them:

This Pepsi sign is not only HUGE and three-dimensionial…

…but it looks great above my Pepsi Machine.

It was such a good deal, that I bought the other one they had for sale:

The second sign is dented, but still usable.

I paid a dollar for each sign.

Woo Hoo!

What a great deal on something that I really NEEDED! 

-Stewart

As I was going to get the mail…

…I saw what I thought was a blimp in the South Eastern sky.

It wasn’t a blimp.

It was a ZEPPELIN!

I’ve seen the Goodyear Blimp on several occasions…

… and this looked much bigger.

Which it is.

This thing is longer than a 747!

We were in the convertible with the top down…

…we saw it again as we were headed downtown to run some errands.

The airship moved pretty quickly.

I was amazed at how quickly this thing could do a 180 degree turn.

This airship was also pretty quiet.

We could not hear it at all above the traffic.

We didn’t have a camera with us…

…so Rob used his Droid Phone.

If you click on the above pics, they will get MUCH bigger.

When I got home, I did a bit of research on this craft.

I found three really interesting sites documenting this exact Zeppelin.

In addition, I found these stock photos of the…

…Airship Ventures / Farmer’s Insurance Airship.

For instance, the Farmer’s Logo on the side is bigger than a house!

NOT the word Farmers, but the logo at the front.

Yes, that logo is HUGE!

Also, the company that built this Zeppelin…

…is a descendant of the company that built the Hindenburg.

I thought that was pretty cool!

The following links are VERY interesting.

Here is some information about this Zeppelin.

And here is some more information about this airship.

Finally, this site tells all about the Airship Eureka.

I wish I could go for a ride in it!

-Stewart

If you have a WordPress blog and spam is an issue…

…you might want to consider downloading WP-SpamFree.

I did, and I am glad.

WP-SpamFree has blocked over 1000 spam posts…

…on this blog!

Wow!

That’s a lot of spam!

In addition to automatically blocking spam…

…WP Spam Free makes managing posts VERY easy.

Thanks WP-SpamFree!

You have saved me lots of time!

-Stewart

…and today I cleaned out the garage!

The garage got a real in-depth cleaning.

Every year, I pull out everything, clean it out and put it back.

This year I went really deep.

It looks great!

In addition, I started to take stuff off of the walls…

…as I want to repaint the interior of the garage soon.

I’ve got a bunch of garage-themed artwork that I want to put up.

I got rid of A LOT of stuff today too.

Isn’t it amazing how much STUFF one can accumulate?

Where do all these things come from?

The fun part is finding stuff you’ve forgotten about…

…or thought you had lost.

I did about 90% of what I wanted to do.

I didn’t get into the attic…

…I’ll probably do that tomorrow.

-Stewart

Wishing you and yours a happy and safe July 4th!

We’re taking the RoadMonster to a local cruise-in on the waterfront in downtown Salem.

Waterfront Park is really nice, with beautiful lawns…

…and a vintage restored carousel.

I’ve taken many pics of the RoadMonster there over the years.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Looks like it’s going to be a perfect day:

Partly cloudy with a high of 75 degrees.

Two days ago we had rain and torrential downpours…

…so today’s forecast is a treat.

After the show we are getting together for a birthday party.

Happy birthday Susan!

We have a great day planned of chilling and grilling! 

-Stewart

I hope you have a great day!

-Stewart

…arrived a little early this year.

Today I received the definitive Clint Eastwood DVD Collection.

Clint Eastwood 35 Films 35 Years

Here is a description of this set:

“In 1969, Clint Eastwood began a long and fruitful relationship as a director with storied studio Warner Brothers, a creative partnership that has been one of the more long-lasting in Hollywood history. This set brings together 35 different films the one-time ‘Man With No Name’ made, either as an actor or director, through 2008′s Gran TORINO. The impressive list in full is: WHERE EAGLES DARE, KELLY’S HEROES, DIRTY HARRY, MAGNUM FORCE, THE ENFORCER, THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES, THE GAUNTLET, EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE, BRONCO BILLY, ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN, HONKYTONK MAN, FIREFOX, SUDDEN IMPACT, CITY HEAT, TIGHTROPE, PALE RIDER, HEARTBREAK RIDGE, BIRD, The Dead Pool, Pink Cadillac, White Hunter, Black Heart, The Rookie, Unforgiven, A Perfect World, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, ABSOLUTE POWER, MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, TRUE CRIME, SPACE COWBOYS, BLOOD WORK, MYSTIC RIVER, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, and the aforementioned GRAN TORINO.”

What a great collection of films!

Beautifully packaged with lots of extras.

Gran Torino is one of my all-time-favorite films.  I just watched Letters From Iwo Jima for the first time last week.  That is a great film too.

The Dirty Harry films have always been a personal favorite.

I’ve been a Clint Eastwood fan for as long as I can remember.

Here is an autographed photo that I received for my birthday back in 1988 when my wife’s step-grandmother was one of Mr. Eastwood’s personal assistants at Malpaso.  This is by far my favorite celebrity autograph that I own, and I own quite a few celebrity autographs…

We also got to go to the premiere of The Dead Pool that same year.

Clint Eastwood is THE MAN!

Eighty years old and still making excellent films!

What an accomplishment!

I am working on Father’s Day, so Sam gave me this gift today.

She also made us a great brunch of Strawberry Waffles!

Thanks Sam!

-Dad

Five Guys just opened up a restaurant in Salem.

We went there today.

WOW!

Their burgers are GOOD!

I had the juiciest & one of the messiest cheeseburgers I’ve ever eaten.

The burger was almost as messy as the chili burgers at The Original Tommy’s in Los Angeles, and those are really messy.

I ordered my cheeseburger with everything, or “All The Way”, which included:

Mayo, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, and mustard.

They wrap the burger in foil, which is a good thing.  I made a bowl shaped holder-catcher device to keep myself as clean as possible while eating this monster sized burger.

MMMMMMMMM!!!!!

The Cajun Style french fries are good and they are spicy.

Almost too spicy, but not too spicy, if that makes any sense.

The menu is pretty simple, but they have a lot of toppings, and the toppings are all free.

The portions are HUGE!

A regular size order of french fries is enough for three people.

The burgers are very big too.

Much bigger than an In-N-Out Burger “Double Double” for example.

I was all prepared to compare Five Guys Burgers and Fries to In-N-Out Burger, but they are quite different.

For instance, Five Guys offers different toppings, like sauteed mushrooms.

Also, Five Guys grilled onions taste different, and they use a sweet pickle, not dill.

That said, I now have three favorite burgers:

In-N-Out – Double Double with Grilled Onions.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries – Cheeseburger “All The Way”.

The Original Tommy’s – Double Chili Burger.

I like them all.

I cannot choose my favorite of the three.

I highly recommend eating at Five Guys!

They certainly have the best burger that I’ve tasted in Oregon.

When you go there, make sure you are HUNGRY.

-Stewart

p.s.  Five Guys cooks only with peanut oil, and they serve peanuts all over the restaurant, so if you have a peanut allergy, this place is not for you.

It’s June 2nd, but it looks like March or April…

The clouds and rain just won’t quit.

There are two automotive events that I want to take the RoadMonster to this weekend, and I am having serious doubts that the weather is going to cooperate.

Here is a picture of our planet taken earlier today.

Look at the weather system that is hovering over RoadMonster Headquarters, here in the Pacific Northwest.

Note the SIZE of that weather system.

It doesn’t look like we’re EVER gonna get sunshine here!

Seriously…

…Mother Nature.

Make it stop!

PLEASE!

-Stewart