Year 1999 news Year 2000 news Year 2001 news

Year 2002 news Year 2003 news Year 2004 news

(Some links maybe broken due to site changes)

12/23/05

The Dodge Garage Vanilla Crescent cookie recipe-

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
lemon extract (optional) 

In a mixing bowl, cream butter, almonds, sugar & vanilla; then blend in flour once first items are well mixed. If desired add a slight bit of lemon extract for an extra bit of flavor but not much or it will overpower the almonds. A few drops of lemon is all that is required. 

Roll into 2 inch balls; shape into crescents and place on greased baking sheets. (Or if your in a hurry, just roll out and use cookie cutters, larger better then smaller) the dough should be a bit on the flaky side if done correct, if not add a touch more flour.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Pull from oven and sprinkle with powered sugar using a flour sieve.

==============================================================================

Sorry I have not been about, between work and the holidays things have really been jamming. 

Plans are to have something to take to the track this year, not 100% positive as to what just yet.

Everyone have a safe and fun holiday!

Gary 

“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” ----George Orwell

10/30/05

Updated cars for sale and parts for sale.

The CSX was sold (saved from the junkyard!) and the black Daytona is being assembled for a friend.

In other news I have a new job (a good thing) and my red Daytona Shelby might be going off to a friend of mine for a daily driver.  

10/2/05

Congratulations for Warren Stramer for breaking into the 10's, the 10 second page has been updated.

Yes it is running again- Nothing special but it beats not running at all so maybe I'll be inclined to finish the rear suspension now.

9/9/05

Irony.

Now I want you to dwell on this image for a moment and reflect, click on it for the larger image if you like. 

Here you have a woman, a mother protesting the war in Iraq where her son is stationed and is wearing a Code Pink button.

Now do a Google search for Code Pink and Jordan.

Ironic isn't it? Right out of the mouth of the president of Code Pinks she bragged about giving $600,000 to people who would kill this woman's son.

Lenin had a term for these kinds of people, "useful idiots" and it is why the Democratic party is going down the toilet.

When I called the local paper and pointed out this factoid to the editor the response I got back was "Oh"

Thanks for the heads up from Dwayne, the link section has been updated (one Shelby link has been taken over by a porn site)

The cars for sale page is updated, I have an '87 Daytona T-II car to get rid of along with a really nice '87 CSX I wish I could keep.

8/2/05

Something you will not see in the news.

Been fixing up the van the last week, I swear as soon as I make up my mind to keep it something else breaks.

7/30/05

Jimmy Carter- asshole of the month.

Carter also criticized the U.S.-led war in Iraq as "unnecessary and unjust."

1) Saddam killing 1-2 million of his own people is ok? Some with chemical weapons?

2) How about those violation of those UN resolutions? Rule of law doesn't mean squat to you does it Jimmy?

Jimmy quote- "I think what's going on in Guantanamo Bay and other places is a disgrace to the U.S.A.,"

You are a disgrace buddy, not Gitmo- I think were being too soft on people who want us dead. I think they should start hanging these killers in public and using battery cables to get info. I think this politically correct crap is a joke considering we are faced with killers who operate with no scruples what so ever. 

They would cut off your head and show the clip at 11 if they had a chance.

I find your moldy ass being parked next to Mikey Moore during the DNC convention to be a huge disgrace too.

Jimmy Quote- "What has happened at Guantanamo Bay ... does not represent the will of the American people,"

What happened at Gitmo? Scum that want us dead are locked up and fed better then most Americans and your boo-hoo'ing about it? Aww, does bad men having to wear a bra upset little Jimmy? How about having Harry Potter being read to them? I'm crying big salty tears you a-hole.

Jimmy Carter you are a disgrace to this country and the sooner you shuffle off this mortal coil the better America will be for it.

"Carter, who won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, has been an outspoken critic of the Iraq war."

Ah yes, for his work in brokering a deal to prevent North Korea from building weapons of mass destruction.

 THAT WORKED SWELL, APPEASING DICTATORS DOESN'T WORK.

Sorry, this old self important fool really pisses me off.

Gary

p.s. Oh yes- DSL is the bees knees man, holy mackerel is it fast!

7/20/05

Finally getting DSL! WooP!

SBC has a sweet deal on the "entry" level DSL for a year, since I have vast amounts of patience (you have to being on a modem for so long) and mostly use the internet for browsing and e-mail that will do just find. Heck, it's only something like 10 times faster then the connection I'm on now ;-)

Be nice to do some on-line gaming again after several years, but chances are I won't do much since it seems most of the games out there I'd like to play are rife with cheaters. As soon as one cheat is shut down, another one comes out. TOOLS!

You ever get in a discussion with someone and come to the conclusion that nothing you can say can change their mind? That their point of view is a total lie and the more evidence you come up with showing its wrong brings on bigger and bigger lies?

At that point you realize that you are dealing with someone that is an idiot and it's time to get out of dodge instead of further wasting your time.

Thinking about heading to the range before the end of this month and start getting some practice in. I'm ashamed to say it's been a while since I have gone, skills not used to tend get rusty. It's on my mind since I had an opportunity to practice pest control here at the house with the .357 this weekend.

3" target at over 30 feet with iron sights, maybe I'm not too rusty after all =)

Still, I think it would be nice to pick up an old hobby for a bit while waiting for other things to come around.

7/16/05

<fixed date below>

Parts page updated.

Like the console insert I made up for the Spirit? Just one upgrade I made before heading off to SDAC-15. Also installed was a new set of struts and shocks with a sweet alignment, a shock tower strut-brace that was originally on my '86 Daytona, a new wing that is in much better shape then the original & some minor tweaking to the calibration. The trip was uneventful (round trip 1680 miles) and speeds were limited to 75-80 mph while in route since I was traveling with Jon. He was towing his CSX-T with a late model Ram club cab diesel with an automatic and 4.10 gears that swills fuel like an F-14 on takeoff.

The Spirit on the other hand pulled in a very impressive 30 mpg average with one tank full pulling in 33 mpg! Very pleased with that considering the ridiculous prices of 93 octane fuel.

Frankly I'd like to say I have a good time at SDAC but really didn't as much as I wanted too. The week before a wicked chest cold of some sort came to visit and had not departed and the weather was VERY hot which wore me out pretty bad. The drive was long (with no co-driver to swap off) I had only a few hours sleep before leaving. Heather and Leah couldn't make it and they were sorely missed. 

On the other hand it was good to see all my friends and James' big wheel was pretty fun ;-)

In other news I think work on a race car is going to happen soon, just something to go out and have some fun with.

6/30/05

Back from SDAC, a long trip! I'll try to post a few notes about it in the next day or two. The long and short is Jon and I headed out for a 1700 mile round trip and didn't break anything.

Don't know where it came from but ended up in my mailbox and it contains good advice:

Dear Sons,

As your father, I believe I owe it to you to share some thoughts on the present world situation. We have over the years discussed a lot of important things, like going to college, jobs and so forth. But this really takes precedence over any of those discussions. I hope this might give you a longer term perspective that fewer and fewer of my generation are left to speak to.

Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine ( which includes WW II ). The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means.

First, let's examine a few basics :

When did the threat to us start ? Many will say September 11th, 2001. The answer as far as the United States is concerned is 1979, 22 years prior to September 2001, with the following attacks on us : Iran Embassy Hostages, 1979; Beirut, Lebanon Embassy 1983; Beirut, Lebanon Marine Barracks 1983; Lockerbie, Scotland Pan-Am flight to New York 1988; First New York World Trade Center attack 1993; Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Kohlrabi Towers Military complex 1996; Nairobi, Kenya US Embassy 1998; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania US Embassy 1998; Aden, Yemen USS Cole 2000; New York World Trade Center 2001; Pentagon 2001. ( Note that during the period from 1981 to 2001there were 7,581 terrorist attacks worldwide ).

Why were we attacked ? Envy of our position, our success, and our freedoms. The attacks happened during the administrations of Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2. We cannot fault either the Republicans or Democrats as there were no provocation's by any of the presidents or their immediate predecessors, Presidents Ford or Carter.

Who were the attackers ? In each case, the attacks on the US were carried out by Muslims.

What is the Muslim population of the World ? Over 25% - There are 64 Muslim countries. This does not count countries like Spain that are controlled by the Muslim terrorists.

Isn't the Muslim Religion peaceful ? Hopefully, but that is really not material. There is no doubt that the predominately Christian population of Germany was peaceful, but under the dictatorial leadership of Hitler ( who was also Christian ), that made no difference. You either went along with the administration or you were eliminated. There were 5 to 6 million Christians killed by the Nazis for political reasons ( including 7,000 Polish priests ). Thus, almost the same number of Christians were killed by the Nazis, as the 6 million holocaust Jews who were killed by them, and we seldom heard of anything other than the Jewish atrocities. Although Hitler kept the world focused on the Jews, he had no hesitancy about killing anyone who got in his way of exterminating the Jews or of taking over the world - German, Christian or any others. Same with the Muslim terrorists. They focus the world on the US, but kill all in the way - their own people or the Spanish, French or anyone else. . The point here is that just like the peaceful Germans were of no protection to anyone from the Nazis, no matter how many peaceful Muslims there may be, they are no protection for us from the terrorist Muslim leaders and what they are fanatically bent on doing - by their own pronouncements - killing all of us infidels. I don't blame the peaceful Muslims. What would you do if the choice was shut up or die ?

So who are we at war with ? There is no way we can honestly respond that it is anyone other than the Muslim terrorists. Trying to be politically correct and avoid verbalizing this conclusion can well be fatal. There is no way to win if you don't clearly recognize and articulate who you are fighting.

Can we lose this war ? We can definitely lose this war, and as anomalous as it may sound, the major reason we can lose is that so many of us simply do not fathom the answer to the second question - What does losing mean ? It would appear that a great many of us think that losing the war means hanging our heads, bringing the troops home and going on about our business, like post Vietnam. This is as far from the truth as one can get. What losing really means is : We would no longer be the premier country in the world. The attacks will not subside, but rather will steadily increase. Remember, they want us dead, not just quiet. If they had just wanted us quiet, they would not have produced an increasing series of attacks against us over the past 18 years. The plan was clearly to terrorist attack us until we were neutered and submissive to them.

We would of course have no future support from other nations for fear of reprisals and for the reason that they would see we are impotent and cannot help them.

They will pick off the other non-Muslim nations, one at a time. It will be increasingly easier for them. They already hold Spain hostage. It doesn't matter whether it was right or wrong for Spain to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Spain did it because the Muslim terrorists bombed their train and told them to withdraw the troops. Anything else they want Spain to do, will be done. Spain is finished.

The next will probably be France. Our one hope on France is that they might see the light and realize that if we don't win, they are finished too, in that they can't resist the Muslim terrorists without us. However, it may already be too late for France. France is already 20% Muslim and fading fast. See the attached article on the French condition by Tom Segel.

What does losing really mean ? If we lose the war, our production, income, exports and way of life will all vanish as we know it. After losing, who would trade or deal with us if they were threatened by the Muslims. If we can't stop the Muslims, how could anyone else ? The Muslims fully know what is riding on this war and therefore are completely committed to winning at any cost. We better know it too and be likewise committed to winning at any cost.

Why do I go on at such lengths about the results of losing ? Simple. Until we recognize the costs of losing, we cannot unite and really put 100% of our thoughts and efforts into winning. And it is going to take that 100% effort to win.

How can we lose the war ? Again, the answer is simple. We can lose the war by imploding. That is, defeating ourselves by refusing to recognize the enemy and their purpose and really digging in and lending full support to the war effort. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. If we continue to be divided, there is no way that we can win.

Let me give you a few examples of how we simply don't comprehend the seriousness of this situation.

President Bush selects Norman Mineta as Secretary of Transportation. Although all of the terrorist attacks were committed by Muslim men between 17 and 40 years of age, Secretary Mineta refuses to allow profiling. Does that sound like we are taking this thing seriously ? This is war. For the duration we are going to have to give up some of the civil rights we have become accustomed to. We had better be prepared to lose some of our civil rights temporarily or we will most certainly lose all of them permanently. And don't worry that it is a slippery slope. We gave up plenty of civil rights during W. W. II and immediately restored them after the victory and in fact added many more since then. Do I blame President Bush or President Clinton before him ? No, I blame us for blithely assuming we can maintain all of our Political Correctness and all of our civil rights during this conflict and have a clean, lawful, honorable war. None of those words apply to war. Get them out of your head.

Some have gone so far in their criticism of the war and/or the Administration that it almost seems they would literally like to see us lose. I hasten to add that this isn't because they are disloyal. It is because they just don't recognize what losing means. Nevertheless, that conduct gives the impression to the enemy that we are divided and weakening, it concerns our friends, and it does great damage to our cause.

Of more recent vintage, the uproar fueled by the politicians and media regarding the treatment of some prisoners of war perhaps exemplifies best what I am saying. We have recently had an issue involving the treatment of a few Muslim prisoners of war by a small group of our military police. These are the type prisoners who just a few months ago were throwing their own people off buildings, cutting off their hands, cutting out their tongues and otherwise murdering their own people just for disagreeing with Saddam Hussein. And just a few years ago these same type prisoners chemically killed 400,000 of their own people for the same reason. They are also the same type enemy fighters who recently were burning Americans and dragging their charred corpses through the streets of Iraq. And still more recently the same type enemy that was and is providing videos to all news sources internationally, of the beheading of an American prisoner they held. Compare this with some of our press and politicians who for several days have thought and talked about nothing else but the "humiliating" of some Muslim prisoners - not burning them, not dragging their charred corpses through the streets, not beheading them, but "humiliating" them. Can this be for real ? The politicians and pundits have even talked of impeachment of the Secretary of Defense. If this doesn't show the complete lack of comprehension and understanding of the seriousness of the enemy we are fighting, the life and death struggle we are in and the disastrous results of losing this war, nothing can. To bring our country to a virtual political standstill over this prisoner issue makes us look like Nero playing his fiddle as Rome burned. . . totally oblivious to what is going on in the real world. Neither we, nor any other country, can survive this internal strife. Again I say, this does not mean that some of our politicians or media people are disloyal. It simply means that they absolutely oblivious to the magnitude of the situation we are in and into which the Muslim terrorists have been pushing us for many years. Remember, the Muslim terrorists stated goal is to kill all infidels. That translates into all non-Muslims - not just in the United States, but throughout the world. We are the last bastion of defense.

We have been criticized for many years as being 'arrogant'. That charge is valid in at least one respect. We are arrogant in that we believe that we are so good, powerful and smart, that we can win the hearts and minds of all those who attack us, and that with both hands tied behind our back, we can defeat anything bad in the world. We can't. If we don't recognize this, our nation as we know it will not survive, and no other free country in the World will survive if we are defeated. And finally, name any Muslim countries throughout the world that allow freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of the Press, equal rights for anyone - let alone everyone, equal status or any status for women, or that have been productive in one single way that contributes to the good of the World.

This has been a long way of saying that we must be united on this war or we will be equated in the history books to the self-inflicted fall of the Roman Empire. If, that is, the Muslim leaders will allow history books to be written or read.

If we don't win this war right now, keep a close eye on how the Muslims take over France in the next 5 years or less. They will continue to increase the Muslim population of France and continue to encroach little by little on the established French traditions. The French will be fighting among themselves over what should or should not be done, which will continue to weaken them and keep them from any united resolve. Doesn't that sound eerily familiar ?

Democracies don't have their freedoms taken away from them by some external military force. Instead, they give their freedoms away, politically correct piece by politically correct piece. And they are giving those freedoms away to those who have shown, worldwide, that they abhor freedom and will not apply it to you or even to themselves, once they are in power. They have universally shown that when they have taken over, they then start brutally killing each other over who will be the few who control the masses. Will we ever stop hearing from the politically correct, about the "peaceful Muslims" ?

I close on a hopeful note, by repeating what I said above. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. I believe that after the election, the factions in our country will begin to focus on the critical situation we are in and will unite to save our country. It is your future we are talking about. Do whatever you can to preserve it.

With Love,

Dad

5/9/05

A blast from the past (requested by someone looking for the link & sawzall mayhem)

http://www.thedodgegarage.com/ddg_horizon_fun.html

In regards to the "TV repair" below- 

A friend of mine was moving and had no room for the set in his new apartment, combine with the fact it needed a power supply and you had a large item he just didn't wish to deal with. So he called me up and said he had this 48" TV that just need the aforementioned power supply and I said, sure drop it off. Turns out the "power supply" is a 12" x 12" PCB with enough electronics on board for a cruise missile guidance system and the set has virtually no support from the manufacture that I could detect. Not willing to to toss $300+ into a TV that might turn into a black hole of repairs every 6 months I decided the best course of action was to send it on it's way.... but the damn thing was too big to fit into the van... hmmm.

The only thing that was removed before hand was the rear mirror as flying mirror shards can be bad for your health and my only regret is I did not do as someone else suggested before hand and use the set for some target practice with the .357 ;-)

Still plugging along and getting things in order, I see a light at the end tunnel.

Car report:

Daytona- Still intact resting behind the house, just fired it up the other day to get the fluids flowing.

Reliant- Hiding under car over, no action as of yet and no hurry.

Van- Still zipping along, 290k showing on the clock now! The thing still runs great but is starting to show it's age and I'm thinking about replacing it with a newer 96-99 Sport van. 

Spirit R/T- Refinement of vehicle continues, minor repairs, finally made time to replace melted back bumper cover and rusted bumper, had to go through state emissions (flew right through on first shot, not bad for heavily modified SOHC with 53 pph injectors and 3 bar calibration, heh.) Just picked up a new wing for the back as the old one is looking flaky.

Might make Englishtown this up coming weekend with my buddies Jon and Tony, look for the skinny guy with the Summit Racing hat. 

Thanks to those who sent their condolences in regards to my brother, it is appreciated.

4/9/05

General spring cleaning of site, pruning of some seldom used pages, update and consolidation of sale page.

Need a TV fixed? I do that as well.

http://www.thedodgegarage.com/video/tv_repair.mpg

1/27/05

From the "just when you think it can't get worse dept".

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?s=2857570

Missing Essex man's body found

Essex-WTNH, Jan. 25, 2005 11:00 PM)  The body of an Essex man missing since Sunday has been found. 49-year-old Robert Donovan lived in his boat at Dauntless shipyard. Donovan's vehicle was found near his boat but an initial search of the area turned up nothing. The state police dive team found the victim's body underwater. Investigators say it looks an accidental death by drowning.

I'll be back... whenever. 

Take care.

1/23/05

Parts for sale page has been updated, the Daytona is being parted out due to lack of interest by both seller and buyers.

Gary

1/20/05

Meet the new year, same as the old year.

Hello! I'll try to post more later today, busy morning.

Gary