Remember Your First Car ?

My first car was a used 1955 Ford. It was unpainted and the dealer wanted $300. I offered him $285 with a new paint job. He agreed and two days later I went to pick it up, but it wasn't ready. I asked the receptionist the status and she said the car was in the upholstery shop.

Upholstery shop? I walked to the shop and there it was, Painted midnight blue with new upholstery. I knew that wasn't in the agreement and the salesman said, "They accidentally re-upholstered your car. That wasn't in the deal." I told him, "Well, you can call it good will or, if you like, you can put back on the old upholstery." He just smiled and said, "Enjoy your car."

My Ford had a 272 cubic inch engine with a manual three speed transmission. Of course, being young, I immediately bought a conversion kit and moved the shifter to the floor. Adding some blue lights under the dash with a toggle switch, I was ready to go.

Back in the day, power steering, power brakes and air-conditioning were non-existent (with the exception of bigger, more expensive cars) but I didn't know the difference and I was a happy camper. The Ford was faithful during our years together and we spent many a night at the drive-in movies, It was a happy time.

I've added some of my other cars that I've had over the years for your dinning and dancing pleasure.....

The News As I See It: Rachel Dolezal in Spokane, Washington was president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP but was exposed as a white woman who was pretending to be black. A lot of people are upset, especially her white friends who thought they had at least one black friend.

Dolezal, who claimed for years that she was black, made an appearance on the "Today" show. I don't think she's learned her lesson because for the first hour she pretended to be Al Roker.

Congrats to the Chicago Blackhawks, who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Stanley Cup. Though there was some controversy when the Blackhawks’ parents revealed that they’re actually Whitehawks pretending to be black.

It was a beautiful weekend in Miami. The weather was so nice, I went to the beach without sunscreen for a few hours and I was elected to run the Spokane NAACP.

Hillary Clinton has released a 14-song Spotify playlist to go along with her 2016 campaign. The weird part, though, is that it’s just "Eye of the Tiger" 14 times.

Beachgoers in Florida have been warned about deadly flesh-eating bacteria in the water. Of course, in Florida, everyone ignores a warnings, especially hurricanes.

Saying "Spoiler alert" doesn't fix that you're still about to spoil something. It's like somebody saying, "No offense".

For some reason, this Cadillac was always my favorite

This Date In History: 1775; The Battle of Bunker Hill took place during the American Revolution. 1885; The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere. 1928; Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman.

1944; The Republic of Iceland was established. 1963; U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no locality may require recitation of Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools. 1972; Burglary of Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, DC, started the Watergate political scandal.

1994; O. J. Simpson's slow-speed chase by the police, watched by millions on TV, ended in his arrest. 2002; Australian scientists announced that they had "teleported" a laser beam - breaking it up and reconstructing it in another location.

Picture Of The Day: Hillary Clinton will be soon traveling to address the NAACP. In the past, she's faked a Southern accent to blend with her Southern crowds, but I don't think she'll resort to any new tactics.....

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) I have a large seashell collection, which I keep scattered on beaches all over the world. 2) Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll buy a stupid hat. 3) I was winning a Trivia competition last Saturday night until the last question, which I got wrong. The question was "Where do women have the curliest hair?" Apparently, the correct answer is Fiji. 4) One of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man is "That’s okay" which means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you’ll pay for your mistake. 5) Throwing pregnancy tests into the shopping carts of random couples at Walmart is the only silver lining in my day.....and that's five !

Today's Horoscope: Gemini - June 17th: The evidence for love is staring you in the face but you can't see the forest for the trees. If you find this is true for you, I think the best thing to do is to stop wandering into forests. Wandering is dangerous. Had this been an actual emergency, I would have fled in terror and you would not have been notified.

Birthdays: James Weldon Johnson, author, educator 1871, Igor Stravinsky, composer 1882, M. C. Escher, artist 1898, Dan Jansen, skater 1965, Venus Williams, tennis player 1980.

The AREA 51 Retirement Home Bar And Grill: A lady was walking past a pet store when a parrot said, "Hey, lady! You’re really ugly!" The lady was furious and continued on her way. On the way home, she passed by the pet store again and the parrot once more said, "Hey, lady! You’re really ugly!"

She was incredibly ticked now, so she went into the store and said that she would sue the store and kill the bird. The store manager apologized profusely and promised he would make sure the parrot didn’t say it again.

The next day, she deliberately passed by the store to test the parrot. The parrot said, "Hey, lady!" The woman said, "Yes?" The parrot said, "You know...."

One Sunday morning, the priest saw little Davey staring up at the large plaque that hung in the church's foyer. The plaque was covered with names and small American flags were mounted on either side of it.

Davey asked the priest, "Father Donovan, what is this? Father Donovan replied, "Well, son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service."

They stood together quietly, staring at the memorial plaque. Little Davey softly asked, "Which service? The 9:00 or the 10:30?"
 

The Hits Just Keep On Coming: My thanks to my pal Jack for his contribution to today's stories.

The elder priest, speaking to the younger priest, said, "You had a good idea to replace the first four pews with plush bucket theater seats. It worked like a charm. The front of the church always fills first now."

The young priest nodded, and the elder priest continued, "And you told me adding a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, so I supported you when you brought in that Rock 'n Roll Gospel Choir. Now our services are consistently packed to the balcony."

The young priest answered,  "Thank you Father. I am pleased that you are open to the new ideas of youth."

The elder priest said, "All of these ideas have been well and good, but I'm afraid you've gone too far with the Drive-thru Confessional.'' The young priest protested, "But Father, my confessions and the donations have nearly doubled since I began."

The elder priest said, "Yes, and I appreciate that, but the flashing neon sign, 'Toot 'n Tell or Go to Hell' cannot stay on the church roof."

A man picked up a girl in a bar and took her home with him. After some preliminary drinks and talk, they got undressed, climbed into bed and started going at it.

After a few minutes, the girl started laughing. The fellow asked her what she found so amusing. She replied, "Your organ, it's a bit on the small side." He replied, "Well, It's not used to playing in cathedrals."

That's it for today, my little sea horses. Remember, when a man holds a woman's hand before marriage, it's true love. After marriage, however, it is usually in self-defense. I'm heading over to AREA 51 for happy hour.

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More on Friday.

Stay Tuned !