I'm Back!

Wow! After dealing with some very busy holiday's, various projects and my computer taking an enormous dump and ultimately losing everything on it, I am finally back here. I had login issues and my computer would let me even browse around here without freezing up. Not sure what caused that, but since I got a new hard drive, it works fine now.

Unfortunately, I lost some things that are not recoverable. One of the things that disappeared was the Window Stickers. I did have some of the data stored on a remote hard drive , some of it is not recognizable to the new hard drive. Paper copies exist of mine and John's, but nothing salvagable digitally. The program I created that made it into a template is floating around in cyber space somewhere.........if anyone finds it, let me know and I'll alert NASA!

Not only did I lose this, I lost pictures, email addresses, phone numbers and website logins and passwords. I know, I know, I have learned my lesson about storing this stuff on the computer, but it was easy at the time to make spreadsheets in word for easy look-up, but ultimately cost me in the end! I now have a paper notebook with EVERYTHING written in ink! Funny, how I had to go backwards and write it all down!

All is not lost though, I do have the masters, but need to make changes before I can print them. The hardest part is recreating the recreation of the fonts and text I made and stored. If all goes well, I will be able to create them again, like before. It's a lot of work, but it needs to be done.

Computers...You just gotta love'em!

Chad

Chad, I had been wondering what happened to you, so thanks so much for providing the update.

Glad to hear that you're up and running, and looking forward to seeing your posts during the future.

Thanks, it's great to be back ! When I have more time, I will browse around and see what everyone has been up to. Until then....


Chad

Chad.....I didn't recognize you with your sunglasses on. I guess that all you big stars have to post incognito. How have you and your family been? It's been a mild winter here so far, one small snow (3-4".) Did you get any of that nasty stuff that hit up that way? I hope you can get your project straightened out before spring. This forum has been a little slow for a few months, but now that our cars are tucked away, maybe it will get more active......John

John- Big Stars? OH..you must mean "Leverage"! I was in the season finale titled "The Last Dam Job". Man, I got to tell you, what a fun experience. I look forward to doing it again.

My family has been great, thanks! Christmas was good for my Son. That kid has so many freakin' toys. Now he has even more of them! With that comes more batteries as well. Replacement batteries cost almost as much as the toys themselves, I think.

I don't have much time in front of the computer these days, but I am working on the window stickers again, mostly late at night. My day starts at 6 AM and stops at around 7 PM after dinner (My wife doesn't cook) so not only am I the main provider, but the head chef as well. I watch TV with my Wife Tina and my 4 1/2 yo Son Wes until about 11:30.

Tina and Wes go to bed, then I browse the internet and work on my finances until around 1 or 1:30 AM, it depends how I feel and I hit the rack. I've never been a big sleeper, so it works okay, I guess.

Being in a car accident many years ago has left me with a messed up neck. I was hit from behind at 50 MPH while sitting at a stop light. It separated C1 & C2, causing my head to go forward to the right and back to the left on impact. The damage is not repairable and I live with constant neck pain and severe headaches that are debilitating. Good or bad, I have to take painkillers for the rest of my life to even function. The real bummer is that I can't ride a motorcycle anymore because I cannot wear a helmet...at all!

Okay, sorry about the boring stuff and enough about me. We have had the mildest of winter's that I can ever remember. December was the driest and warmest on record. We got about 4" of snow, but it was gone in two days!

I do need to tinker with the '59, though. It needs a new timing chain, but I keep putting it off. I guess I just don't want to crack open the engine like that, since it's never been done before. I will, but I'm funny that way.

Alright.....more later....

John- This link is for you. Do you recognize this location? If so, share what you may know.

I thought the Pontiacs in the picture was cool!

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012/02/02/levittown-pennsylvania-1960s/#comments

Chad.....I know that place very well. Goldbrand was a used car dealer, for many years in the 50's and 60's, with a not so impecable reputation. Later on they became a new car dealer for Subarus, in that location. Ironicaly, in the late 70's, the owner of Reedman Pontiac retired, and they took over that location. Reedman Pontiac was where my parents and I bought all of our new Pontiacs. Goldbrand went out of business and that building became an adult book store, and currently is a Dollar General type store. The last time I was down that way, the lot in the picture was still vacant.
That McDonalds was one of the first in southeast Pennsylvania. An original golden arches with walk-up service, long before inside seating or drive-up windows. The guys I hung out with in highschool and I frequented it often. Two 15 cent hamburgers and a 20 cent shake.....50 cents total and you still had half a buck for 2 gallons of Esso. One night, with a gang of buddies in my 1956 Ford Sunliner, I went flying out of there, heading toward Goldbrand, and my door flew open (all Fords of that era had crappy striker plates.) I almost ended up on the ground in the oncoming trafic lane, or worse, run over by my own car! Ahh to be young and imortal and immoral again.
When I bought my new 1965 GTO from Reedman Pontiac, I traded in my 1959 Catalina. Reedman never put that car on his used car lot, because of its age and the transmission starting to slip. Look at the car directly behind the blue convertible. Does that look like a Cameo Ivory Catalina sport coupe? Wouldn't that be an irony after all these years?.....John

John- What a great story! Very cool, that you know about that particular area. I wonder if that Cameo Ivory Catalina SC is the same one! Now, THAT would cool! You grew up in a time when I always felt I should have, the great 50's. My Dad graduated High School in 1959 and has told me some of the neatest stories. He is 70 now and I enjoy listening to them. A dollar for 2 cheeseburgers, shake and enough left over for 2 gallons of gas.....Too bad those times are long gone! Good times!

Holy Crap! How time flies! My computer is really getting bad, so I'm on my wife's tonight. I guess I'm going to have to break down and get a new one. I'm tired of it being so unreliable. Anyway, I 'm getting off a nasty cold and installing nearly 1000 sf of bamboo flooring in the house. Never again! My knees are shot! The bedrooms are all thats left with carpet and are going to stay that way. I will hire a professional when the time comes for this.

The "Leverage" shoot went off without a hitch and I made $500 for about 3 hours work and all the coffee and donuts I could consume. I still cannot divulge the story, but my car was used in a scene involving the main characters and the trunk. If I told you any more, I would have to...well nevermind! When the episode is about to air, I will pass the info along for all to see. I promise.

I have some great possibilities about appearing in "Grimm" on NBC, hopefuly it pans out, we all love watching the show. I've grown quite fond of it, especially my 5 year old!

Hope all is well, more later!

Chad