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Okay. Uh-huh. And so she's going to get some money for that and take some money from the bank and then try to make as much down payment as possible to keep the monthly payment low. Uh-huh. So she's going to sell it rather than trade it in. Yeah. That's probably the best thing. You lose four to six hundred dollars a trade in. Or maybe more than that, as I've learned. Oh really. Yeah. When I bought my R X seven, I, uh, best offer I got for my other car was twenty-five hundred. Well I turned around and sold it myself for forty-two hundred. So, Oh there you go. You can do much better. I'm glad you're, you're taking care of it yourself. I, I think trading it in, they just use that as additional, they may give you supposedly a better deal on your new car you're buying, but they just, are going to give you that much less for your trade in.
Well that's fact. What I think. So, I think you're right. But strangely enough, the best I mean, the best bargaining I had made with a dealer on my car was also the same place I got the best price trade in, Interesting. but it's a place in Arlington, and I think, maybe, as you get outside the Dallas area, I kind of, I bet you it's kind of what I decided. Well, maybe because it's outside of Dallas they are giving a little bit better prices, plus I was going through that T I fleet discount program. Okay, did, did you use it at the car shop place. Well, it's before they had that. Oh, okay. I had gone over to Texins and they had a little file where they said which dealers participated in the, in the fleet program, That's right, yeah.
and what you could expect, they said, you know, a five percent over cost and then options at cost and everything. Right. Right. So, I figured out a price based on that. Yeah, that's good. But I, I guess I got a pretty good deal, because I went back to the Town North Mazda right off Central and offered them the same price as what I knew I was going to be able to get it for in Arlington Uh-huh. Right. and they said there is no way you can get this car for that price, especially if we add on the equalizer and the cruise control. Yeah. Yeah. He said, You're going to get a car that's got flood damage or hail damage. And they just laughed at me. And I went the next morning to Arlington, and they gave it to me for that price. And what's so funny, they took the car, they, I knew they were going to pull it from Town North because that's where the white one was. Is that right. And they had already told me, We located one at Town North.
So it was that same car. My gosh. Yeah, well, unless you're selling car with hail damage and flood damage I got the car off your lot for that price And you laughed all the way to the bank. Oh I did. And I laughed real hard when I took it in for the two thousand mile checkup Uh-huh. and, uh, that they required you to do. And I took it to Town North, and sure enough I saw that guy, and he recognized me. Yeah. He said, Oh, hi, Dana, and he kind of looked down and saw that car, and I'm sure he probably knew what was going on the very next day Yeah. of course, when the place in Arlington went and took the car because I told him there's a place in Arlington that's going to give it to me for that price. That's right. He said, No they're not.
Yeah. And the next day they pulled the white car and took it to Arlington. So I'm sure he knew Such a deal. So I loved it. I sat there, and I just had the biggest grin on my face. I'll bet you did. It was kind of nice. Well, Dana, it's been really interesting, I appreciate talking with you. Yeah. Good talking to you too, Don. Okay have a good evening. Okay, good luck in your car hunting. Thank you much. Uh-huh. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. Okay, what kind of hobbies do you have? Um, mostly what I do, I do do some crafts like it mentioned in the thing, and then I, I read a lot. Uh-huh. I like to read, too I was trying to think of some while, while it was, uh, talking about it, and then I, it took so long for someone to answer, I started reading the newspaper, and kind of forgot about it Oh. But, uh, yeah, I'd say reading is probably one of my biggest ones, because it's the type of thing that you can, you can do a little bit at a time, whereas, I would love to do crafts and stuff if I just had the time to do it or if I had the space. Uh-huh. I live in a pretty small apartment, and, uh, I would have to, you know, put stuff away. I have two cats, so I couldn't really leave it out if I was working on something.
Uh-huh. Reading is a little bit easier to work around. Yeah, you can pick it up and take it wherever you go. any space. That's right. I get too involved in reading sometimes that I neglect what I should be doing. That's true, I do the same thing You get so involved in what you're reading. What types of crafts do you do? I do a little bit of woodworking, well, I used to. I don't have the equipment here. We moved to Dallas about a year ago Uh-huh. and my dad had a lot of woodworking equipment Uh-huh. and I did some of that. Um, here I've mostly done things that I can do strictly by hand, um, sewing and quilting and, um, what else have I done
Things to hang on the wall. Uh-huh. Mostly just stuff that I can, you know, use right around the house or give away as gifts. Uh-huh. Right. I've been making a lot of quilts, well, not a lot, but several quilts lately. Uh-huh. So. I enjoy, uh, sewing and needlework also. I've, I've, uh, made some small things, cross stitch things. And, um back when I was in high school, I worked at a needlework shop, Uh-huh. and I, I used to do the latch hook rugs and needlepoint and things like that, and I, I still remember how to do it. It's just been so long since I've actually sat down and taken the time to do something like that. But I have recently done some cross stitch. Uh-huh. And I enjoy doing that. It's just the same old thing, it's just getting the time to do it
Yeah. I've done some cross, um, cross stitch, but I never count right, and I always have to either take it out or have my picture slightly off centered or, or something. Uh-huh It never has worked out completely. Yeah, it takes a lot of concentration. I mean, it was the type of thing, I was, I was making some little things for Christmas, and I also made a little thing for a baby gift, and, uh, I thought, Oh, I can do this while I watch T V. Wrong Right. No, you must pay all attention to what you're doing. It's, it is a lot more difficult than it seems like it would be. It took me, uh, quite a bit of time. I though, Oh, this won't take long at all. But I was wrong.
Uh-huh. It took, it took a while to do. But, it was fun, I enjoyed it. Yeah. The first project I started out one was a big one, it was, uh, it was of a lady and she was kneeling, and it was about fifteen by twenty maybe. Oh my gosh. And I, it was just too much to start with. And I still haven't finished it, because I, I stopped, and I thought I better do some simple things and work up to this because it was just so difficult to get it done. Uh-huh. Yeah. And there were so many different shadings and colors, and, and, it was just too much to begin with. And I think kind of discouraged me from doing much more with it. Yeah.
That's pretty understandable. And I've done some of the crewel and the, um something similar to that Uh-huh. but it doesn't have the specific stitches. Anyway, it's a little bit more loose, and not quite as structured, and I like that a little bit better the variety of stitches and stuff in that. Uh-huh. More like embroidery or something. I'm trying to think of anything else I do as a hobby. Um. I don't even watch T V very much. I was tonight, but Yeah. I was reading when you called. Yeah. How about movies, do you like to go to movies? Yeah I do, I do like to go to movies, and I have a V C R, so I like to rent movies,
and, um, I have, right now I have the movie channel, so I've recorded quite a few movies off of that. Um, just, I've kind of got a collection going of tapes now, and whenever I go visit my parents, they're always saying, Well, bring some of your tapes They always borrow a few of them. I was over there, they live in Duncanville Uh-huh. and I was over there at Easter, and they said, Bring some tapes with you. So they are always borrowing my tapes. Yeah. But, uh, Well we, I like to, I like to do, uh, stuff with plants. I like, um, I have a lot of plants in my apartment, and I've got a pretty small porch, but it's, it's, uh, I've got a few planters out there that I, I'll, uh, you know, in the winter time I usually plant some pansies in there,
and then in the summer I'll plant petunias, or something that's colorful and like, that blooms a lot. But haven't done that yet. Uh-huh. I kept thinking that it was going to get cold one more time, but I think we're probably past that now. I probably should go buy some. Yeah. I guess if I had a house I might enjoy gardening, some. I'm not real crazy about pulling weeds and things like that. Yeah, it's the hard work. Yeah, I like the planting, and watering is okay. It's so nice though when you have a nice yard full of flowers, it's so I mean, we don't. We live in an apartment also. Uh-huh.
I've got a few plants here, but I'm not really knowledgeable. I feel real good if I water them and they continue to grow. You know, I feel like, Oh, I've accomplished something. Uh-huh. So I enjoy it, but I'm just not experienced enough with Yeah. I don't know too much about it either. Mine's pretty limited to my little, uh, porch plants And then the ones in my apartment, half of which don't look real healthy, but I don't always get direct sun except in certain spots. Oh, yeah. And so that's probably my problem there. But, Have you tried any, growing any, um, like fruits and vegetables or anything? I guess vegetables are in, like in pots and stuff? No, I never have tried that, just because I don't have that much space on this little porch here in this apartment or this little balcony.
Uh-huh. And my other two pots are, they're kind of, they're pretty big, and I have enough plants in them that it takes up a lot of my porch area, so between that and the chairs and the barbecue grill and the fireplace wood, there's no room for much else. But my dad, uh, my dad used to grow tomatoes and things at the house. And I'd, I think when I was real little I probably had a finger in on that every time he did it and had to be out there and watch and that type of stuff. Uh-huh. But I've never really tried anything like that since then. Well, I considered it last year and this year both, but I haven't done anything about it. Uh-huh. So. I think it would be nice to just go out and pick some tomatoes off the porch. We get lots of sunlight here, and the porch is screened in and it's pretty large. Oh, wow. So, um, I think if I just would be, if I'd do something, be motivated enough to do something, I think it would work out well.
Uh-huh. But, but there goes that motivation thing again Right. Well, I enjoy playing with my cats. I don't know if you'd call that a hobby, but I have two cats, and I gave them a bath tonight, so they're a little bit angry at me . Can you can you put them right in the water? They didn't like it too much. Yeah, oh yeah Oh, that's good, right in the tub, and it helps because its the time of the year that they're shedding a lot, and cleaning cat fur off the couch and off the floor is not a hobby of mine. So I thought, this'll help, you know, help them shed, and sure enough, boy the fur just came off like crazy once I got them in the tub. Oh, yeah. So, they're pretty content now, but they were mad at me for quite a while.
They went and hid after they, after they got dried off. Sulked for a while, huh Yeah. Well, I like animals, but we don't have any yet. We have a nine month old with another on the way Uh-huh. and we thought, well maybe when they're a little bit bigger then we'll, Yeah. or get into a house with a little more space. I'd love to have, have some animals. Uh-huh. But I like dogs and my husband likes cats. So we haven't reached a real agreement on that yet. If we get a place where we can have both, it'll be great, but until then, Yeah, I like both, but since I'm in an apartment, I just, I don't think an apartment is big enough for a dog.
Dogs, to me, dogs need a yard, even little dogs. Uh-huh. They just need a yard. Cats can deal with being inside all the time just fine. But I just think dogs need, need to be outside, though. So, I agree with you. I, if we were going to get anything now it would definitely be a cat, or even a bird or a fish tank or something, you know Something small Yeah, now that's an idea with the small babies. that she can watch, but won't take too much care. Yeah, because, you kind of, even, even a cat, you never know when they might bite or scratch or something. Uh-huh. There not as likely to as a dog might, I guess. But with little ones, I'd be kind of scared to get anything that has teeth or claws. Especially when they're not quite to the age of understanding that they're hurting, you know,
that they grab hold with both hands and then just jerk. Oh yeah. And if I was a cat or dog, I'd respond probably by biting or something. I don't know. Oh, yeah That'd be my self defense. But, Well, I think we probably reached our time limit. Uh-huh Yeah, probably so, and I'm out of, out of good ideas for a hobby anyway. Oh, okay. Well it was good talking to you. Thank you for calling. All right. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Okay, do you have any pets?
Yeah, I have three cats and a dog. Oh, boy. Sound like us, we have, Um, go ahead. Um, we just got the, the dog less than a year ago so, he's still a puppy. Oh, what kind is it? He's a mixed breed, he's part Collie, part Shepherd, and part Chow. More Collie and Shepherd than Chow, Oh, so you , the only Chow he's got is, is his tongue. Oh, he's got a blue tongue? Yeah. Oh. He's got little spots on them. We have two Chows and, a miniature Schnauzer, and recently added, a guinea pig, which wasn't by my choice, but I was out ruled,
so, but the dogs are mainly mine and my but I just love them to death. Was the guinea pig for your, for your child? Daughter, yes. Yes, as if the dogs weren't enough, had to have, a guinea pig, so, anyway she's, she enjoys her though, so that's, that's what matters. But, um, our Chows, we've had them, I'd say, right around six maybe seven years and, Really? they're, um, registered and we've been breeding them. She's had about four or five litters. Oh, my, my husband's always wanted a Chow but I'm kind of concerned about, um, with having cats, and how, how they socialize with cats. Um, which is one of the reasons why we got a mixed breed. Oh. Right. Um, because we thought they would socialize easier,
Uh-huh. um, my husband had originally wanted an and his brother has an and he, so far he's bitten ten people. Oh, man. So, Goodness. And the people that he got the from, used to have cats and they no longer have any other cats. So, It's telling, um, you know when we had, um, we had a cat when we first married, no, took , yeah, we had the cat first, and then we got, uh, the Chow. And, bring, um, bringing them in as puppies they got along just fabulous with her. Uh-huh. And, uh, you would think, you know, that they were all dogs the way she would prance around them and, and paw at their face and they'd just play and they were never, they never harmed her.
So, uh, they got along great, now I don't know how, how it would be bringing in, uh, like cat to a full, full grown dog. Yeah, I wouldn't want to bring a cat into a full grown dog, Yeah. but I, I wouldn't feel, um, hesitant about bringing a puppy in, to adult cats, Right. I think they would socialize easier. I think, so, too. Um, how, how old is your child? Five Five? She's a real . So, you had the dogs before you had the baby? Right. And I was, not really concerned about, um, them harming her, uh, I think, I think a lot of that, that, that we hear all the time is how you bring them up. Uh-huh. And ours are real friendly, they're protective,
but they're very friendly, and lovable, Uh-huh. I mean, you think they're lapdogs. You know, they'll just come jump on your lap and want to be, have their bellies rubbed and everything and, What color are they? Uh, the female's red and the male is black. Oh, I bet the black one's pretty. Yeah, he is, he's a big old thing. And, um, I was concerned about the female mainly, and as luck had it, uh, she had puppies the same week my daughter was born, so, it was kind of like, she had her babies and understood about, you know, About your baby. yeah, and that, yeah, I think that really helped and, um, my daughter, you know, since, since she's little has been playing with them and they let her tug their hair and, and get on their back or whatever
and she's, she's grown up with them and loves them to death and they love her, so. Yeah, I think it's good for kids to grow up around pets, as, as long as they don't have any allergies to them or anything. I do, too. Yeah. But I think it really helps them to understand when, when they go to other people's houses and they have pets, I see so many times kids just, you know, they, mean to animals not really understanding that the animals have feelings. Yeah, exactly, that or, or, uh, the other extreme, they're, they're terrified of them and I hate that, Yeah, Yeah. and they shouldn't be, I mean, some maybe but, but, um, like our miniature Schnauzer, she's just, she's just like, um, a little hyper thing and just prances around and jumps all over everybody acting silly,
and a lot of kids are scared of that. And which I understand because she is, you know, a lot of movement and everything but when she calms down they're so scared of her it's, Huh. it, that bothers me because she's the friendliest thing, she wouldn't you know, harm them at all and, and, and that's mainly people that have never had pets around their children, so, I think, I think it's a good idea to have them. We've had, um, in the past, we've had birds, too, uh, like Cockatoos. And parrots and, The big white, birds with the, the orange crest on top. Uh-huh. Now, the, the Cockatoos, are those the big ones? Yeah. Yeah. We've had those, and those are neat, they're messy, very messy, yeah, and loud. Are they? Oh, a lot louder than a dog, you know, a dog you can tell, stop barking, you know, or whatever.
Yeah. But the birds, you, it's hard to keep them from squawking or whatever but, but they were neat, enjoyable animals to have. Well, we've thought about getting an aquarium, partly, partly for the cats, Uh-huh. I think the cats would really enjoy it, um, Yeah, with a lid, yeah, yeah, of course, um, but so far we just and starting up an an aquarium, we, we're, thinking about getting a saltwater, Oh, yeah they, and they're so, expensive to start up. Yes, yes, they are,
and in your, the luck of keeping them alive, through those first, you know, few days. Yeah. Yeah. The, the saltwater fish have so much more color and they're so, much more beautiful, I know they are. Um, the freshwater tank's just, really to me they'll, there's, most of them really aren't that pretty, no. you know, I really I really don't care much for them. Right, I don't blame you there, I think the saltwater are a lot more attractive than, I don't know, those fish are just beautiful. Just so, like you have a little bit of ocean with you or something Yeah, Yeah.
Rather than just little fish. But I don't mind having, Wren my daughter had a, like a little goldfish, a about a year or two ago Uh-huh. and it finally died and that was neat, but and they're, you know, she can't play with it, you can just look at it. Yeah, yeah. You know, you can't roll around and tussle around with it like you can a dog or a cat and, Yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't dare have a, a goldfish here because, it would probably be in a small bowl and then my cats would knock it over. Yeah. I have to be real careful about where I put things, Uh-huh.
if the cats will, will jump up on things and knock things over all the time, Oh, no. Oh, no. They're always up where they don't, where they're not supposed to be. Yes, yeah, and that's hard. that's just like kids, you know, they know that they're not supposed to do it, but they're going to do it anyway because they know they're not supposed to. That's right and they're so, independent. I love having them for that reason. Yeah, yeah, and until we got the dog, um, it was real easy to, to go to town for three three day weekend or whatever, Sure. and now, it's like a major production, trying to find somebody to take care of the dog while you're gone. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
That's right, that is hard. And, I, we knew it, but we never even thought that about when we got the dog we just saw him, oh, he's so, cute, Oh. let's take him home. Yes. You know, and then the first weekend we had him we had, we were in a apartment, in a two bedroom apartment, Uh-huh. and my husband went out of town, and left me with, with the brand new puppy, Oh, fun. and I had to work twelve hours that day, Oh, no. and so, I left the dog locked in the bedroom and I put paper all over the floor. Well, when I came home, I opened the door and there were chunks of carpet, padding everything, all over the place
Oh. Oh, no. and he had tried to dig his way out from underneath the door, Oh, no. I guess you didn't get your deposit back, did you? Well, I had the carpet fixed, Oh, good. um, I, yeah, I didn't even tell the apartment manager, who got it. Oh, okay. Oh, no. Bless your heart. But that, that was my first real experience with, with a puppy when, when we had our family dog growing up I was eleven or twelve, I think, when we first got him, Uh-huh. and I wasn't really involved in the, the paper training, and, you know, teaching him commands and stuff Sure. Yeah. so, this was, and to me, a whole new experience. Yes it is.
Only it wasn't like cats at all. No, no. I wish it was. I wish they were in that instinct. But they don't. So, Our only problem with our Schnauzer, she's an indoor dog most of the time Uh-huh. and, uh, we found, she's right at a year and we finally got her, you know, house trained and everything, uh, her only problem is trash. If you do not pick the trash up, you know, the container, and put it on a table or chair or something, she'll knock it over, Uh-huh. I don't care how full she is, so, it's not like she's hungry, it's just she wants to get into trouble. My cats do that it. If I through anything away that's any kind of meat or anything, like that, Uh-huh.
anything that, that they think is good, they'll get into the trash, Yeah. and then it doesn't matter where you put it and where you hide it, Yeah. and how, how tight you have the lid down on it, they'll get into it. I've come home many a days from work to find trash all over the kitchen floor. Oh, I hate that. And the cat's just looking at me like, sorry. Yeah, you shouldn't have left it there. I couldn't help myself. I just hate that when she does that, I just, oh, and she knows it's wrong, you'll walk in the door and she'll cower and go hide under the table. Uh-huh. So, you, she knows she does wrong.
But she, uh, she continues to do it, so. Yeah, the problem that we're having with our puppy right now he's not he's actually not really a puppy anymore he's like sixteen months old, Uh-huh. um, but he's still chewing. Oh, is he? Um, the last thing he chewed up was, uh, when we ... Okay. All set. Do you want to start? I can go ahead and start, Sure, go ahead. uh, in Dallas there's definitely a crime problem, I know it's, you know, worse in the larger cities. Um, it's kind of a concern for me, in fact, at the moment I'm thinking of possibly moving to a new apartment and, uh, it's,
I am single and female, you definitely are going to worry about the location, and, uh, you know, accessibility of people to be able to break in. I live on a third floor now, but, I, you know, I'm real concerned that I, I don't want to be on a first floor where you can have problems with things like that, and, the, um, Do they have many buildings that have security there? Some buildings do, it depends on the location. The area I live in right now, is, is real good as far as crime rate is concerned and we don't have anything at all, no burglar alarms, no guards. Yeah, yeah, well I, I went to Dallas, uh, when I worked for T I in Abilene and, uh, I'm a little familiar with the city area, Forest Lane and, you know, through that, off, off the freeway. Uh-huh. And, uh, it didn't seem like it was that congested in that, that part. You know because to me where we live out here in the north east, it, it's there are a lot of buildings very close to each other, Uh-huh. and the cities are very populated with tenement housing, where there are more than one family in a house. And with the, uh, people that are coming into the country from other countries, not knowing the language Uh-huh.
Um. and, uh, they're going to the big cities. It makes it very difficult. Uh-huh. It really does, and, and I've seen the same thing that you're talking about, uh, much more crime than ever before. Drugs of course, uh, a big part of it I think. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And, uh, I don't know, a lot of younger people, you know, into more violent crimes. Oh, yeah, yeah. that, that's really sad, you know, you got young boys or girls, that at fourteen or twelve years old that are committing murders and, no remorse, what so ever. Uh-huh. There's a lot of that going on in Dallas, too. Yeah. Yeah, it's really sad. It is
and, and I don't know if it's, uh, the family, you know, thing where they're not bonding anymore, where mothers are working all the time and, the kids aren't getting the attention that they need, or the television. Uh-huh, Uh-huh. And I, I really think that we're, we're falling by the wayside with not incarcerating these people. Oh, I agree. I think that people are getting off too easy. They're getting, they're getting paroled too easily. Uh, uh. They're just getting, uh, put on probation or something, because the prisons don't have enough room so they get, they get lighter sentences, Yeah, exactly. and some of those people, they don't deserve to be let loose. And, uh, you know, they had, uh, in fact on the news last night we were watching this, uh, man who lost his ten year old daughter. He ran out to the store for a few minutes and he had left her home alone. now ten years old, she's old enough to be alone for a few minutes, you know. Oh, yeah. And while he was gone, he had looked, went looking for a job and stopped at the store,
that's what it was. And, uh, someone who was in the neighborhood cleaning carpets, these two men, went in, raped the girl, murdered her, and the whole bit. Oh my gosh. And one of the men got, uh, I think it was seventeen years and the other one was in for, uh, life imprisonment. Uh-huh. The one that was in for the seventeen years, actually served seven, and he's out. Uh, that's terrible. And the man said, that, you know, if it weren't for the fact that he would go to jail, that he would eliminate this person himself. And then go to McDonalds and have a hamburger and not thing a thing, think a thing about it. Uh-huh. And I mean, I think that what this is going to lead to is people will take things into their own hands. And that innocent people, Yeah. I, I shouldn't say innocent, because I mean, actually if they commit a crime that they're in the same circumstances but, Uh-huh. the reasons that they're doing it compared to the reason someone else is in jail for it, you know, it's like two different things. Yeah. Sometimes when you lose someone that you really love, you do some crazy things I don't know,
Right, it's a little more understandable under the circumstances, I guess. I, I like the idea that, uh, if someone is from a foreign country, and they come to this country and uh, commit, a crime, I think that irregardless of whether they have already become a citizen or anything, they should be immediately deported. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Especially if they're found guilty of the crime. Uh-huh. You know, once they, they have been arrested and if they know beyond a shadow of a doubt, these people are guilty. Uh-huh. That's it, we don't take care of them, we don't support them, nothing, Uh-huh. I mean they go right back where they came from. Right, we have enough, enough problems with overcrowding in the jails as it is. So let, let their country take care of it. Exactly and,
We don't have, I guess too much trouble in Dallas with, well, I guess, I guess we do have a lot of people come in from Mexico, that cause problems, but, uh. But that's, uh, they're, so close, I, I don't consider Mexican people in the same category with, uh, especially like, uh, people who come from cultures that don't have the same, uh, kind of moral upbringing that we have. Yeah. Uh-huh. Like you take Asian countries, or, uh, the Eastern countries where women are like in the foreground, uh, in the background and the men are in the foreground, Uh-huh. and it's like, you know, um, they live back in where we came from two hundred years ago. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. You know, we've advanced beyond that, and I think that their, uh, mentality as far as the way they treat them and that kind of thing, you know what I mean. Uh-huh. It was amazing I went to the Far East, uh, back in October to do some training for T I and I, Uh-huh.
uh, some of those countries were so safe, it was unreal. Singapore is very, supposed to be very safe and, in fact, Tokyo, and I thought Tokyo would be dangerous being such a huge large city with so many people, Yeah. but they, at, at the T I there, I said is there any area I should avoid. And the guy said let me ask another girl here and he turned and asked this girl, and said, can you think of any place where Dana shouldn't go by herself, or anything. And she, she thought for a few minutes and she said, no. And he said is there any place you wouldn't go by yourself. She said, no. And they said, it is so safe there that you can leave your purse on the subway Wow. and somebody will turn it in and, and nothing will be missing. They said they can just about guarantee that there, that, that would happen if you did that. I thought, boy, in America, if you left a purse on a subway, you would never see it again. Wow.
You better believe it, if, you wouldn't even have to leave it, I mean, Yeah, that's true, it would get snatched right off your arm that's true. But I was thinking boy, in Dallas, if somebody asked me if there were places you wouldn't go by yourself at night, I'd have to set them down for about five or ten minutes to list all the places out. Oh sure. I mean, I couldn't believe that she couldn't think of any place. They said, the, apparently the crime, is, just, uh, That's amazing, well, what's the difference there, do you know? I'm not sure what it is there. Now, I know what it is in Singapore, is they have the death penalty and they really enforce it, Oh, I, I believe in the death penalty, I really do.
like for drugs, for drugs they, they enforce the death penalty for that. Uh, they're just, very, very tough, and I guess maybe that's the way Tokyo is too, or Japan is too. They're just very tough on criminals. Yeah, yeah, I think that we're too easy. Uh-huh. Uh, and we take the, the, uh, civil liberties, uh, stuff too far. Uh-huh. You know like people that are in prison, I mean we didn't put them there. They put themselves in that situation. Uh-huh, oh yeah. And as far as like them, uh, entertaining the rights that they should have. Uh-huh. I mean, we educate them, we feed them, we take care of them and they no sooner get out on the street and they're back in again.
Uh-huh. I'm not saying they're all bad, but I think people who are guilty of really serious heinous crimes, do not deserve to be cared for for the rest of their lives. Uh-huh. Right. I think that they should be put away. Right, and if they're overcrowded, well, you know they shouldn't have gotten theirself there in the first place. Get rid of them. Exactly. I, I really, I, I think that that's the whole key here. This plea bargaining baloney, where, uh, you know, they plead to a lesser crime, or, uh, they plead guilty in, or, you know, tell about someone else and they, they get less time, Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Or, if they're in there and they've got seventeen years and they're on good behavior, for every year they're in they get so many less, you know, that they don't serve the full penalty. Uh-huh. I, I, I really think we're going to far overboard with all of this. Oh, yeah, I agree, because it's not fair to those of us that, that deserve a safe, you know, life to have to, Yeah,
same with drunk drivers. Right. I think it's too easy for them. Uh-huh. That if the, the laws, and, and were, were harsher and were enforced, Uh-huh. I mean you have to set an example. You have to start somewhere. Uh-huh. And I think that people know that they're going to get a slap on the wrist, they might serve a little bit of time and that they'll be out on the street again. Uh-huh. An, it, an I feel bad for the policeman, because he's out there every day facing these people. This, this craziness, you know, people with, uh, automatic weapons and, uh, all this other stuff and trying to do a job Uh-huh. Right. and let's face it, what do they get paid. Right, not much. Twenty thousand dollars a year, if they're lucky. I wouldn't do it for that.
Yeah, huh-uh, and especially not in some of these big cities, like in Dallas I mean they've had, they're up in the top, top five I think of cities that are getting policeman killed on, on, in the line of duty and that's really sad. It is, it really is. And I mean, they're the first ones that take the brunt of everything. Uh-huh. You know, and I'm not saying that they're all good either, because there's good and bad in everything, Uh-huh. but they, they're already, uh, have three strikes against them when they're out there. Uh-huh. Because they'll arrest someone and, you know, go through all that paperwork and writing a report and all this, and having all kinds of evidence and you have to even be careful how you arrest them, how you talk to them, uh, you know, what they say, Okay. What, uh, go ahead and tell me about your home Well, my home at the moment is an apartment. Oh, is that right? Yeah
I work here in Germantown, but I live in Pensacola, Florida. Oh, that's interesting. So, I own a home in Pensacola, and, uh, let's see, we are to compare homes. Correct? Okay. Yeah. Uh, my home is, well, is typical for the area. I live in a development, uh, it's a relatively, I would say, well, God, it sounds like, sounds like I'm bragging No, that's okay But it's upper middle class, uh, kind of an environment. Okay. It's a two story colonial, which my wife and I designed. Oh, that's neat. Uh, it has around thirty-two hundred square feet. Uh, five bedrooms and so forth and so on, Wow, that's large
and it is, I would imagine in terms of, of size and so forth, it's relatively typical for the area. It might be, I would say it's probably midsized for the area. There are some smaller, and there are, you know, several larger. Uh-huh. And, uh, but based, you know, in terms of, you know, in, in Pensacola, in that area of Florida it, uh, it's what now, it is, uh, probably ten years old. Oh, well, that's not too bad, Yeah. that's still fairly new. And so it's, in terms of cost and, and, and size and so forth, it, uh, the you know, housing there is extremely affordable, and, uh, compared to other parts of the country, you know, let's say compared to Maryland that same house here would probably cost three-quarters of a million dollars Well, but, Oh, you're kidding Well, do you mind if I ask what it's worth down there, I mean, what it's,
I really haven't, I really haven't, uh, when we built it ten years ago, it was, it ran around a hundred and forty thousand dollars. Okay. So, I, I would have really, I haven't really priced, you know, in the market, so I, It, it sounds like, I mean, from the way you described it a home like that here would be at least two hundred and fifty thousand Uh-huh. I mean, Dallas is a very marked up area, although right now it's a lot lower um, because of all the layoffs and everything Uh-huh. the economy around here is real poor I thought that was on the upswing again now. Well, no, not really Uh-huh. Um, the area itself, uh, the Fort Worth Dallas area, um, has become kind of depressed because there's been so many layoffs with big companies, including Texas Instruments Yes. Um, there's been tremendous amounts of, of, uh, layoffs so, really housing is real bad.
The economy itself around here is not too terribly bad, but housing is still real bad Uh-huh Yeah. Well, Pensacola has it's really is a buyer's market there now Yeah. This is, And it isn't because of the, well, there has been a lot of speculative building. Uh, I don't know, perhaps not in Dallas, Oh. but, uh, I'm sure people in, uh, you know, in, uh, Galveston and so forth would be knowledgeable about it, uh, Pensacola is a Navy town. Uh-huh. And home porting was a possibility a few years ago. Oh. They were expecting an influx of something on the order of fifty thousand people or more from the Navy, Wow. a new carrier was coming in and, uh, the, uh, attendant, uh, support vessels. Well, that's no longer, the case.
So, do you think, it was overdeveloped then? Oh, it's, it is. I mean, the, the number of single family units on sale is phenomenal compared to the population. Wow. And so overbuilding is, has been a real problem there. Um. So you can still get a, get a, a good house for a very, very reasonable price. And I mean good, I would, let's say typical, say three bedroom, uh, two and a half baths, on a half acre or so of land uh, reasonable construction would probably run you, uh, right now anywhere between, somewhere between a hundred and a hundred and forty thousand dollars. And probably, perhaps, cheaper, depending upon the neighborhood. Um yeah. Yeah. What about your home? Well, right now we're just renting, but it is a home. Um, Uh-huh. it's a four bedroom home It has about, I guess, eighteen hundred square feet
It's on one floor Uh-huh. Uh, we have no basement I don't know, Nor do we, but, Okay I wasn't sure. Most of the ones, you know, up north and everything do, but, um, anyway, it's, uh, it's pretty, also pretty typical for the area. Most of this area was developed, this house was built in seventy-four. Uh-huh. So most of the, it's almost twenty years old, and most of the houses around here were built pretty much the same style Uh, we have a friend that lives two blocks over, and his house is almost identical to us, except his is three bedrooms and ours is four Uh-huh. but otherwise the layout is pretty much the same.
So I, I think most of them are there was, it, like most areas that are built, um, there were probably, like two or three styles you could choose from Right. And, and, uh, that's pretty much all the houses in the area, for probably a square mile, I'd say, at least, maybe even a little bit more than that. Well, the housing here in Maryland is just atrocious. And in, in the entire D C area. I'm, I'm only about, uh, twelve miles or so from the, uh, border of Washington D C, and Montgomery County, Maryland is probably one of the most expensive, places to, Where are you in relation to Sevren? are you close to Sevren? No, we are west. Okay. Sevren is east, near the eastern shore, Well, I just, if I had, I have a sister that used to live in Sevren. Uh-huh.
And they bought their home in I, I want to say like around nineteen seventy-five or something like that, and they paid like, they, they had it built from, you know, they, they designed it and everything, and to have it built they only paid forty thousand for it, and when they left the area they sold it for a hundred and twenty thousand Oh, that's not unusual, yeah. Yeah, so I just wondered, you know, if the whole area was like that or, Well, that's, that area over there is not as expensive as in the, the immediate, you know, Washington area. Uh-huh. And so, we, uh, I was just looking, for example there is a, uh, condominium complex next to the apartment complex where I live, and I was over there recently looking at the possibility of buying a two bedroom condominium. And ninety-two thousand dollars for a two bedroom, which is essentially a two bedroom apartment. Um. Now, it was very nicely done. Yeah. I would have thought , Sounds like a lot of money though
Yes. I, I can't, I can't envision spending that much money, and on, on something along those lines. sure. Yeah. So, you know, it's, I guess you pay the piper but, Plus the, the, the taxes around here are phenomenally, high. Right. Oh, yeah. Uh, for the, and so, you, on that it's not unusual, for example, for somewhere around here on a, on a, on a, what we would, you know, what you described as your house and what I would describe as my house say, for example, in Pensacola, Florida, on that house with the homestead exemption and so forth and so on, might pay three or four hundred dollars a year taxes. maybe, you know, maybe a little bit higher than that now, Wow. Yeah. but that same house here, you'd pay almost six thousand dollars a year, taxes on it. Wow Wow, that's, So, it's, uh, so, the question of whether to buy here or move to another county, say, drive twenty more miles north, buy a condominium for approximately, uh, the same price, maybe a little lower,
but the taxes would be, you know, perhaps, maybe one-third uh, of, Really? That much of a difference? Oh, absolutely. Yeah, Wow. so, it's, it's really sad Yeah This is one, this is one of the most highly taxed areas in the country. Wow. Why is that? Do you know? I mean Well, they it, the, their, they do have an extremely good, such things as extremely good school systems, for example. It has one of the best school systems in the country. Uh-huh Uh, and because the cost of living around here is so high, Oh. public employees make great salaries around here Oh
I was reading just recently where the typical administrator in the, Montgomery County Public Schools makes, and I'm not, this is, uh, the figure, he makes eighty thousand dollars a year. My goodness That's, Wow and I, by administrator I, I think I mean, I, they didn't, they did not define it, but for example, a curriculum supervisor or principal or someone, you know, in that, uh, in that range. Well, what do you think about it? Well, um, most of the stuff up until now, in the recent months, I, I, I don't have any problem with. No, I don't either. Uh, I mean it's, you know it, I don't think it's going to change very much but No,
I agree with that. As, as far as the, as far as the mess that's developing as a result, um, you know, as a country, the United States, uh, I think our hands are tied as far as, as, as any further involvement, until the U N sanctions it. Uh-huh. Yeah. In fact, it really was to begin with. Yeah. And, uh, I just, I heard a comment on the radio this morning that, uh, you know, it, it gets to a point where, uh, if enough people are, are going to be slaughtered over there over the, the, the internal problems, um, somebody may step in again. Uh-huh. But, uh, I really think it's, it's a U N issue, at that point because it is internal. Yeah. Well, you know the funny thing I find about American opinion is that when we have gone in to destabilize a government before, the American public goes crazy. Uh-huh. And now the fact that we're not interfering with the internal rebellion in, in Iraq, they're going crazy. That's right, that's right . You know, I mean you can't please them one way or the other. Absolutely right. You know, and I, and I think that, I, I agree with you, this is exactly the right course.
I mean that's an internal problem to Iraq. It has nothing to do with us. Uh-huh. And until he starts doing something so inhumane that the U N gets involved, then it's nobody's business. That's right. Um, I mean these, these types of internal things go on all over the world all the time. All the time. I mean, yeah, I mean, Some of them have been going on for, for tens of years, if, if I understand it right in places like the Sudan and, Yeah. Yeah, and it's certainly, and it's certainly been going on over there for hundreds of years. Yeah. And it's going to continue. That's right. As long as you have so many diverse groups that are, that are vying for power, it's going to happen all the time. Yeah, that's absolutely right.
I mean the Kurds have tried it before. They've gotten their butts kicked, Yeah. and this is just another time that it's happening. That's, that's absolutely right. You know, they'll regroup out in the mountains and they'll try it again in a couple of years. Yeah, it was just, you know, it was, it's a very opportune moment for them to try. You know you, Sure, and, and, and I don't have any doubt that through some back channels that we encouraged it. You know. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But, I'm not real sure that we promised them anything. Uh-huh. I, that would have been stupid, Yeah.
and, and I don't think we did it. Everything else we handled in this seemed to be perfectly right. I don't think they would have done that. Yeah, I agree. But it just, it, it really doesn't make any difference. This is just a, a, another chapter in Middle Eastern history. Yeah, and, you know, and it, there are many of them. There's no doubt about it. Oh, sure, I mean the, the British occupied the place, the French occupied it, we've done it. It, it's happened so many times, this is, this is really nothing special. Uh, Uh-huh. Well, and, and, and so many of the, so many of the conflicts, um, really don't have a basis in, in, uh, politics or, or human rights or anything like that. It, It's, it's religious based That's right,
it's it's mostly religious anyway. and, uh, you know, by, by self-proclamation this is a holy war and it is right. Yeah. And then, uh, we, we go on from there and, Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it, it's, it's a mess. It, it's, there's no doubt about it, and, uh, Well, I, I, I think one of the big problems, I mean looking at it from the the American public's standpoints, they don't understand the Middle Easterners. That's right. They don't understand what, I mean their politics really isn't politics. It's religion couched as politics. Uh-huh,
uh-huh. And there's a big difference. Absolutely. You know, uh, we sit there and, and we think that they think the way we think. Uh-huh. And that's a big mistake, because they don't. You bet. You bet. Well, yeah, because there's no, uh, you know, there's, there's, there's a complete different set of values. Uh-huh. Um, there's, there's different value placed on human life, and, uh, right down the list, you know, possessions and, and everything else. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, what's right is wrong and what's wrong is right in some cases. That's, that's it a lot of the time. I, I was stationed in, in Turkey for, for a year and a half. Okay. And it, it was tough, understanding those folks.
Yeah Yeah. You know, it, they, they're, they're so completely different culturally and socially and and religiously, Uh-huh. it's just, it was very strange. I believe it. It was very interesting. Yeah, yeah, I can, I can, I can believe that. Yeah, I, I don't claim to have an in-depth understanding by any means, but, uh, Now I, shoot, I, I think some of these people that they claim as Middle Eastern experts don't, don't have a clue sometimes. That's probably true, that's probably true. You know they, they sit there and, and read their books and then proclaim themselves an expert. Uh-huh. Well, I'm not real sure that's, that's appropriate.
No, no, that's, that's, uh, a, a little bit of background study has never made an expert in any field. No. But, uh, Well, I sort, that sort of goes to my pet peeve about the education system in this country, too. Yeah. And we make experts by reading books. That's right. You know, and the Japanese and the Germans and everybody else make experts by doing. Uh-huh, absolutely, Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I, uh, I, I guess you work for T I. That's right, yes. So you guys are well aware of the problems with the Japanese markets and everything else.
Right, right, that's an everyday occurrence. Yeah. It's, it's like our car industry, the only reason our car industry hasn't gone down the tubes is because the Japanese, you know, came into it and helped, us out. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I agree. Yeah, it's, it's, uh, there, there is, there is, it's an overall problem in, in, in this country understanding, uh, foreign cultures, or even accepting them. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And, uh, it, it, it bites us over and over again, the, the, the, Yeah, and until we, until we start changing our educational system, I mean we're, we're going to be, we're, we've already been overtaken, but it's going to get even worse later. Uh-huh.
I mean looks who's, looks who's getting the engineering degrees and the, the math and the science and everything. That's right. It's not us. That's right. You know, we, we've got folks running around here who get, who get degrees in basket weaving and you know, underwater psychology, or some, some ridiculous stuff like that. Uh-huh. Absolutely. And, and where are the engineers coming from? Uh, well, they're, they're coming from various places, and a lot of them are going back there. Yeah, exactly. That's My, uh, my roommate is a, uh, he's getting his doctorate in industrial, well, it's not industrial engineering, it's human factors. Okay. His degree was in, uh, industrial engineering. I see.
Uh, and he's from the Philippines. Yeah. And the only reason he came here was because the education is so much better for those who will go after it. Right. He has no intention of going back to the Philippines because there's no jobs. Sure, okay. You know, uh, but I, I see it all too often. I mean we've got loads of foreign students Uh-huh. and they're coming here, going after the hard degrees and then they're going back to Korea and Japan, and Hong Kong and everywhere else Absolutely. and they're applying it there. That's right. And I don't know, it's, to me it's amazing. I don't know what we're going to do as a country. We're, we're going to become dependent on these other folks sooner or later. Yeah,
you know, every, every, the, the country's got a problem with, uh, with quarterly reports and annual statements and things like that. Uh-huh. And the long, long-range views are, are just kind of, become a thing of the past. Yeah you, And, uh, I don't, I don't think there can be anymore long range planning. I think it, it's, it's sticking your finger in the holes in the dike. Uh-huh. You know, it, oh, here's a crisis. Well, let's plug it up. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I don't know what the answer is. It's far beyond me. Yeah, that's for sure. That's, that's the way things have gotten.
Yeah, all we can do is keep plugging. Yeah. You know, I, I wonder, I, I read in the paper just last week, I B M's unveiling their new laptop computer. Uh-huh. Well, at a price tag of six thousand bucks, I don't know if they're going to have a whole lot of takers. No, absolutely. now I have the I have the I B M, P S two Okay. but I'm sorry I got it. Yeah. It's slow, it's, uh, there are many better machines on the market right now for a, Yeah. the only reason I got it is because I got it through an educational purchase plan through the school Okay. Okay. and I saved forty-eight percent,
Uh-huh. so I said, yeah, if I can have an I B M for forty-eight percent discount, I'll take it. Absolutely. But up to that point I had I had always said I would never have one because I wouldn't pay that kind of money for their name. That's right. But That's absolutely right, yeah. now you watch, just sure as anything, the Japanese are going to come out with a laptop at half the price with more stuff on it. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah, the, the, unfortunately the way the, the way the high tech market goes, by the time you can get, get something in your hands, Uh-huh. um, It's already outdated. it, it's, it's obsolete, and, uh we're, we, we fight that battle every day here at work,
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I, I can imagine. and, uh, I, uh, years ago, I remember when I had a T I ninety-nine. Put all the money into the expansion box and all this, that and the other Uh-huh. and, uh, things just kept changing so much and I kept getting rid of them, and I finally said, well, you can't do this That's right. You've got to buy something and stick with it, so I so I just, That's right. at an opportune time I got one that, that suited my needs and I've just stuck with it. The only thing I've done to it is just add a, uh, add a mouse and a hard drive. Okay, yeah. And that's all I plan to do.
Of course, I'm limited on memory now because I've got the low line. I got the model twenty-five. Oh, okay. So I'm stuck with six forty, but I'm not a power user so it doesn't matter. Yeah. Well, that, that's, that's the key, you know, whatever works for you. Yeah. And, uh, if it does the job, then that's, that's what you need. Yeah, now my roomie, on the other hand, he is a power user. He's, he's looking now to get rid of his. He's got a three eighty-six and wants to get a four eighty-six. You know, this kind of stuff. Uh-huh. Well, on this subject of invasion of privacy, yes, it's very easy for anybody to find out about you. Your, Well, I don't really like that very much. Yeah, uh, the special on channel thirteen that was broadcast, I think, last week or so ago, it detailed how this one person went about finding out this particular from this particular person his home mortgage, how much he pays for it, what his payments are, uh, his, uh, Social Security number, driver's license, any kind of records he may have. Uh, their credit card and the status of their credit.
What was the reason why somebody was trying to find out all that stuff? It was just as a demonstration to show those who were watching it how easily obtainable information is on any single person. Oh. And it was, mostly it dealt with, uh, marketing companies, these, uh, direct marketing, associations. Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. That was the primary subject. That's how they obtain information about segments of society and group them into age brackets, uh, their habits, their hobbies, their income. Um. And they're able to do that through all the manipulations of the computer. Well, that, that's not really good. I don't know, I guess that's an invasion of privacy. I'm not sure that that's an everyday thing, though, at least not for, you know, an individual. Uh-huh. Something that I feel is a, is a, pretty much an invasion of privacy is something that's really so common that it's accepted as the norm now, is the the open office concept. The open office? Uh-huh, where they have the, you know, the little partition dividers, throughout a, a large room
Yeah. and, and people have little cubicles. Well, that's all fine and good, but you don't really have any privacy at all. Not insofar as maybe making conversation with somebody, I suppose, because it, you can easily be overheard Right. and they get, I suppose any items that you have laying out can be easily seen. Yeah. Yeah, there's, there is, And, and it's not, it's not just that, it's, uh, the whole thing about, you know, if, if you're trying to concentrate, well, it's rather hard, sometimes it's almost impossible to do because, um, you know, your, uh, your time , your space is, is not your own space. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And I work in a situation like that and I, I really kind of have a problem with that. Do you work with, uh, mixed company, male and female or,
Oh, yeah. Is there anybody who doesn't? Well, there are a few out there. Um. It's, I suppose it depends on who you're working for and where at. Yeah. But, um, my own environment is open totally. There are no cubicles. There's nothing to block anything. Um. So, yeah, but, um, I guess we're changing ever so rapidly in the devices of communications that anything can be obtained from anybody's record, Yeah. or the computers, the, the big advent of that, I believe, because it, they can all hold such large data bases on anybody that all you have to do is touch a button and it appears in front of them, Uh-huh. and you don't have to, I, I know the government sells information to private companies about individuals or families. Uh-huh. That's no secret,
and it shouldn't be that way I don't think. Yeah, I don't, I don't think that's, that's quite right either. I mean it's not really government for the people and by the people, I'll tell you that. Yeah. So, Hum, what do you think could be done about it? Uh, the only way it can change is, um, if, if everybody bands together. It's just like we need to get rid of these clowns that's serving in the office. The only thing really that can be changed is for us to, everybody to say, we've had enough of you, out you go. But, uh, I don't see anything like that to occur unless everybody bands together to do that. Uh-huh. It has to be one common ideal goal for that to be done. Um, I don't know, it's, it's still a, a free, I suppose, country insofar as we're, we're able to obtain information. And I wouldn't be for total banning of, uh, all information or, it's mostly the private information that we're all concerned about. But it's, it's hard to define uh, a lot of those boundaries. Yeah.
It really is. It's something that, something that I've just had a, a dealing with is like a credit bureau. Uh-huh. Well, they take, they take my name, which is a very common name, and my last name is even more common Uh-huh. and they they check that name against, uh, their list and they find several. And without even bothering to try to match up any other information at all, they just report everything under that name. So you've received a lot of, uh, flack? They don't, they don't even check my Social Security number. Um. And companies are paying them good money to report accurately, and they're not, they're so lazy. They're just not doing it. I mean they just find your name and they match it up. Uh-huh.
You know, and that just drives me crazy because they're, and then they want, then, you know, to get it removed they say, well, you know, you have to write this, write this long detailed letter and everything like that to them, you know, and then it takes three weeks and all . And I'm like, baloney. Uh-huh. You messed it up, you fix it. Is that usually what you tell them in the letter? No, what I've taken to doing lately is calling the company that they report Uh-huh. like, uh, uh, recently I was reported as having J C Penney accounts and I don't. So I called J C Penney and I said, uh, I just wanted to let you know that the credit agency you're using is incorrectly reporting the information that you're providing to them. And they say, uh-huh, because they really don't want to pay for a service that's not being done properly either. Uh-huh. So then they can call the credit bureau and say, hey, you know, we're paying you good money to report this properly and you're not doing your job.
Good idea. So that's what I've taken to doing lately, and it seems to work pretty well so far. Uh-huh. Well, that's good. Uh, any other problems? Not that I can think of. Yeah, I, I guess I've just about run out of, Yeah I, I can probably go on, but it's, it's, uh, I'm clouding up right now. Oh, yeah, I probably better let you get back to work. Well, it's nice talking to you. Okay. Maybe again. All rightie. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. I don't know what the, the last thing I've done as far as car repairs go is, is change oil and filter an, and that kind of stuff. I haven't gotten really involved in anything, uh, extensive in car repairs in, oh, oh, probably a year or so. I think the last thing I did of any significance was change the water pump on an Oldsmobile. Yeah, I had a similar thing, that I've worked on cars ever since I was, uh, a kid And that was some time ago, but I've gotten to the point where, uh, the newer cars are getting so complicated to work on that, uh, oh, most of the cars I buy, I try to buy as simple a car as possible. Yeah, I know what you mean. So, you know, changing the oil, changing the spark plugs and most of them now, you know, you don't go through the ignition stuff anymore because that's all solid state or, or fuel injected Yeah, or fuel injected, and so there's, so there goes the carburetor and if the fuel injection system breaks down, there's no way in the world you're going to work on that. Yeah. No
there's no way. Somebody once said, uh, I had a car that said fuel injection on the side of it and a woman asked me what that meant and I said that means that I can't work on it. Oh, yeah, yeah, basically that's it. You know, they've gotten so complicated or so high tech that, uh, the guys, average guys can't really go out in the, in the garage and do a whole lot of repairs, uh. Yeah, I've got, uh, an eighty-four Chevy van that's, uh, a one ton van with a camper conversion on it. Yeah. It's got the, the, the good old three fifty, standard engine in it. Absolutely. Regular gas engine, and that engine I understand, I can, I can actually work on that engine. Yeah, I used to have, uh, Chevy van, it was a short van, that had the, the three fifty in it. Yeah.
Uh-huh. And basically it, it was a motor and you didn't have all the other junk around it, Right. and you could get to it to work on it. Yeah, I had to change the water pump in that, here about a year ago. And it was really fairly easy. Take the grill out and the radiator out and you can just stand there and work on it. Yeah, the hardest part about, uh, water pump changes is getting all the junk off, before you can get too it. Well that's true You're right, you know, by the time you've finally got down to it, I was hoping I could remember where all those other things went. Well that's kind of the way I was, I tried to remember as I took stuff off where it went, and I don't think I had too many nuts and bolts left over when I got it all put back together. A few years ago I had an Oldsmobile diesel
and, uh, the, uh, it, after about a hundred thousand miles the injector pump went out on it. And, uh, I bought it when we were living in Lubbock, when I came back here, I brought the car back here and, uh, I don't know, diesels got pretty unpopular and you couldn't sell the I mean, though for what you could get for one, you might as well drive it over a cliff. And, uh, the injector pump went bad so I found a outfit down here to rebuild it. And, uh, reinstalled that and that was probably one of the most miserable things I had gotten into in a long time. I don't think I'd know where to start with a diesel. Oh, well, it, you know, diesels don't require mechanics, they require plumbers. Well that's true. And, uh, I think the closest thing I've come to, to a diesel is, I've worked for a tractor repair shop, uh, when I was in high school and, uh, we used to overhaul farm tractors basically, Yeah.
and they were nearly all, all diesel, but as far as cars I've never, never been involved with them. Well the injector nozzle and stuff in, you know, the big diesel farm tractors, you know, what are about the size of your thumb, and Well, yeah, and you you can get to them. yeah you can get to them, and the ones in, in the diesel cars were little tiny things and just almost impossible to do anything with. Well I, I've had a lot of good service out of that car, but, uh, uh, I finally gave it to my son and he drove it literally into the ground, you know Yeah. He was out at Tech and he, he finished it off. I'm, I guess you're right the, the diesel has almost fallen into unpopular status. I don't know exactly why. One of the reasons is
I, I'm beginning to wonder is, where do you get gas at. I I don't know if it's still, uh, limited like it was, I don't notice it, probably because I What, the availability? Huh? You mean the diesel availability? Yeah, I don't, I don't notice but maybe because I'm not looking for it. Yeah, well I'd bought, uh, a G M C diesel pickup and, uh, loved that thing, you know, I really liked it. But it turns out a pickup wasn't what I really needed, Yeah. and it was the van that I needed then, to buy the, you know, traded it in on the Chevy van. But, uh, sure enjoyed it. But you got the, the three fifty in the van?
Yeah, yeah the three fifty regular gas engine. Yeah, that's what I like because, they've got plenty of power, and, uh, if you treat them right, they're not the gas guzzlers I think that they've got the reputation to be. Uh-huh. I'm convinced that, uh, Detroit or whoever it is made a major mistake, years ago when they stopped putting the small V eights in and went to the fours and some of the sixes. Yeah Uh-huh. I'm convinced that the small V eight like the, the Mustang's original two eighty-nine or some of the Chevy two eighty-threes, were good little V eight engines that were not gas guzzlers Uh-huh. but they had enough power pull all this weight. Yeah. And the four cylinders just don't have it. I think that little, the little Chevy V eight when it started out in sixty, in fifty-five, I think was two sixty-five, something like that. Yeah. Little, you know, not whole lot more than the, than the, than the six cylinder that I think was like about two thirty-five or so. But, uh, they kept boring that block out to where you could a get a four hundred, small block four hundred that was, uh, the same block, you know, just, just kept boring it out and boring it out and stroking it a little bit more, an. I think those those little V eights could have been made to be pretty powerful little engines, if they would have gone with it,
but. Well that was, uh, that was a short stroke engine it could really wind up. Oh, yeah. The two little cars I've got now, bought a Mitsubishi Mirage here a couple of years ago and, and it was normally carbureted and it's fairly easy to work with because there's not just a whole lot in it to go wrong, and you know changing the plugs and stuff. Yeah, that's kind of like, the, the first, well my first car was a fifty-six Mustang and, uh, over the years, uh, all I had a, uh, Dodge pickup several years ago, and, uh, I can't remember the size of the engine it was a three oh, seven or something like that, Yeah. but, uh, I remember working on those cars, you'd open the hood and there was basically nothing in there but an engine, and a few things. Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Now, you open the hood and it's scary. Yeah. Like you say it takes a plumber to figure out where all this stuff goes. The friend of ours over here, he's got, uh, sixty-five, or sixty-six Mustang the six cylinder. Yeah. And, uh, I was look under the hood of that the other day and like you say, you can see the road. Yeah. It's amazing. Well if you had to you could climb up in there and do what you needed to. You yeah, you could stand in there if you really wanted to, I guess. My dad's got a new, um, I guess it's an eighty-nine or ninety, uh, Chrysler something or other. It's one of those transverse mounted V sixes, front wheel drive. Oh, yeah. And, uh, he was showing it to me and we're looking under the hood and everything's nice and clean and, you know, you can see the three spark plugs there in the front. And I said well where are the other three. And he'd never really thought about it.
Yeah. And he says well, hopefully I won't have to change them, before I trade it off. Yeah, it's going to be a problem getting back there because it was shoved right up against the fire wall. Yeah. So they just about complicated the things so much that shade tree mechanics can't do much with them. Yeah. Well when they went to the, started with the newer engines, you know, when they started putting all that pollution control stuff on the older engines is where they started getting into so much, you know, trouble. Because the three fifty with all the, you know, like well, actually, I guess, within a couple of years ago anyway was the last I've paid any attention to it. The three oh five was that, that, V eight that they put in the, the three quarter and, and half ton van. Uh-huh. And it had all the air pump and, uh, uh, I don't know, all that, all that stuff. Right. Yeah the anti-smog pumps. And all the anti-smog stuff. And, uh, boy that was, uh, really a mess back under there under the, in that van.
And all that stuff loads the motor down. Uh-huh, uh-huh. So it's trying to push the weight plus have all this drain on it from all sorts of belts and things. But that's one good thing I've got a, uh, eight ninety, uh, Chevy Blazer now and it's got one, uh, belt on it a serpentine belt. Oh, it's that one that's about, uh, what an inch and a half wide. Yeah. Got a bunch of groves in it. I haven't had to replace the thing yet. It looks like it would be, uh, better than having, I've got an, an Olds Toronado that, I think's got six belts on the sucker. Yeah. And I had to get all those off, you know, when I was replace that, uh, water pump. Yeah. And, uh, I had to struggle with that for a while to figure which belt goes where. Yeah, it's kind of like the inside dual on a truck. You know, when one of them breaks, it's not the outside one,
Oh man. it's, it's the, it's usually that power steering or something that's way back in there. You bet, everything else's got to come off first. Everything's got to come off. Well, it's a pleasure meeting you. Yeah, and we'll, uh, how many times have you done this now? Is this, Uh, I've got, uh, five stickers here from T I, so I guess I've done probably, uh, I'd say seven or eight of them. Yeah, I hadn't, uh, hadn't, not gotten any calls here in the last, uh, this is the first one in a week or so. Yeah, I haven't gotten any calls in two weeks, so I don't know, if, if it's tapering off, or what. If it's winding down or what.
I had a difficult time the past couple of times of getting, uh, answers. Finding a taker. So it sounds, it's taken them ten, fifteen minutes at a time, so, people are either not, maybe they're burnt out or, yeah. Yeah, well. Anyway let you go. Thanks for talking. Okay, all right. Bye-bye. Okay, so do you do a lot of cooking in your family? Um, I do some every now and then, I, I work and my wife's home during the day so she usually ends up doing most of it. Oh, yeah.
When I was single we used to always cook, around the house. Yeah, do, do you like to cook. Huh, yeah, I really like it, Yeah, yeah. um, there's a few dishes, like, I, I grew up with the, um, you know, having Polish and Ukrainian food. Oh, really. And my wife, she likes Italian and stuff, Oh. so we, we definitely have different tastes, so. Yeah, yeah, but that's neat though, because you get to have different stuff Uh-huh. Yeah, I'm not, I'm a pretty bad cook
I'm pretty bad. My husband is really good, he put himself through college working in restaurants. Oh, wow. And, uh, he's much better cook than I am, so, when I was home I still cooked a lot and I was in to a lot of vegetarian stuff. And now, I went back to work about a year and a half ago so, one of the things that he took over was the cooking and the kids are thrilled, they're really happy, that I don't cook anymore. Uh, they're like, uh, preferring it now, right Yeah, they say oh dad, let dad cook mom, let him do it But, um, so, so do you all, do you have kids? You obviously have one. Yeah, two, uh-huh.
Okay, you have two. Yeah, one is, uh, nine months and the other is two and a half. Two and half, oh. Yeah, that's the hard part is cooking with, uh, kids around because, uh, I was just going to say, makes a difference in what you eat doesn't it Or are you not at that stage yet? Yeah, it does Yeah. We try our hardest to get them to eat what we, eat, you know. Right. And my sister, uh, she's the master of the fast order grill, you know, Oh, yeah. she can make, uh, she makes six different meals, but. Oh my gosh.
Like to have one thing, you know, one likes chicken nuggets, the other one like hot dogs, Oh my gosh, I couldn't and then she makes noodles with, uh, with, soy sauce or whatever, Yeah. so, all things. Boy, I couldn't do that, I But, um, yeah, our favorite, let me think, I was thinking of the one recipe that, uh, that we made. I guess the thing that always turned out the best for us was something we thought looked really fancy but was real easy, and that was, um, uh, scallops, uh, scallop, um, What's that. Oh really. it has a French name, it basically means that it has a Swiss cheese, cream sauce with it and you pour it over rice,
Oh yeah, what's, what is that, Saint Jack or something. Yeah, uh. Scallops Saint something, or, yeah, . Yeah, I can't even remember what the recipe's name is anymore, Yeah, yeah. but, uh, it was basically just ground up Swiss cheese and then, uh, standard cream sauce base and then, uh the scallops. Really, with scallops. An, and it sounds sort of funny but it tastes really good. No, no, I'm from New England, so we, we had, um, a lot of seafood before we moved down here. And, uh, that sounds delicious to me. Yeah.
That sounds great. Yeah, but, uh, I think, we're just thinking of having, a, uh, dinner party. We went to this dinner party the other night that was kind of like a game, they had, uh, a murder mystery, Uh-huh. and you came dressed as one of the characters and you had to solve the mystery during the dinner, Uh-huh. and it was really fun and so we, we were thinking we wanted to do, you know, we were going to try doing it ourselves, but we're trying to decide what can we serve because at this one the hostess was pretty busy running around trying to get stuff ready for the table and that kind of interrupted the game, so, so I was thinking there's this Beef Bourguignonne recipe that I've tried before that's pretty good Right, yeah. and then you can make that ahead and you can just leave it in the pot on a stove until you're ready. Uh-huh.

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