105 year old steam locomotive in nearby Poway is nearing boiler replacement time.. it's only been 75 years since the last one

story from http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/05/old-locomotive-running-out-steam/ 

it gets a tourist run 2wice a month, but the boiler is just OLD and patched for the last time.

the engine is a 1907 Baldwin, and is at the Poway park with the train restoration faciltiy (cool place that I went to in 2007 http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2007/06/any-day-around-trains-is-good-day.html )

Did you hear about the Ferrari on the Great Wall Of China? Huge problem when a hot head did a burn out ... so embarrased were Ferrari company officials, they publically apologized that a car they made, not drove, not owned, not endorsing this use of, BUT MADE... was dishonoring the Chinese national monument. That is a respectable thing to do

It was a publicity moment, the 20th anniversary of Ferrari's being allowed to sell in China. A dealership employee, not a Ferrari employee, so disgraced the Ferrari name in making tire tracks on the wall, that Ferrari company reps made an apology for the act of disrespect.

Wow, that is a class move by Ferrari. I hope China responded in respect and allowed that a manufacturer is not responsible for the users of a car, just for the quality of it's build. How Chinese citizens use cars is the realm of China's responsibility.Where cars are allowed to operate, how they attain the elevated top of the wall (by a crane) and what elected or appointed person gives the approval for a car on the wall... these are all the problems of a country, not a car maker.

Ferrari... classy way to handle this event
China... I don't know how they responded to Ferrari's PR

Learned about this on http://www.tripsandturns.com/2012/05/ferrari-burning-rubber-in-nanjing/

full story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18006291 but if you watch the video, you'll get all the same info

1964 Mercury gets retired by it's 93 yr old owner after 576,000 miles

Vietch is fond of noting that the car has outlasted three marriages. Mechanically, it's worn through three sets of shocks, 18 batteries and eight mufflers.

info and photo from http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/93-old-florida-woman-retires-her-64-mercury-204007316.html

Harley washed out to sea by the tsunami that hit Japan last year found on a beach in Canada

 A container that was apparently swept away from Miyagi Prefecture by the March 2011 tsunami has been found on a British Columbia island, and inside it contained a Harley-Davidson.


The motorcycle, found in the container by a local resident, bears a license plate showing it registered in Miyagi Prefecture, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said Monday. The container may be the first debris from the disaster to arrive in Canada, the report added.

The container with the motorcycle washed up on Graham Island on April 18. Peter Mark found it while he was riding his all-terrain vehicle exploring an isolated beach, the report said. The license plate on the rusted Harley-Davidson motorcycle reads Miyagi So 428.

"I gotta say, the first thing that popped into my mind when I was looking at the scene (was) I really wonder what happened to this person. I really hope this person is OK," Mark was quoted as saying.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120502a6.html

And the bike is set to be reunited with its owner Ikuo Yokoyama after he was traced by its number plate.

“This is unmistakably mine. It’s miraculous,” Yokoyama told Nippon TV when shown photos of the motorcycle.

Ikuo lost three members of his family in the March 11, 2011, tsunami, and is now living in temporary housing

The bike was found by Canadian Peter Mark on Graham Island, off British Columbia on April 18.

Peter said the bike was covered in "a lot of corrosion, a lot of rust."

He added, he "couldn’t believe that something like that would make it across the Pacific."

Reports say the motorcycle would be shipped back to Japan, and that the shop that sold it to Yokoyama would help with paperwork and storage.

this 2nd bit of info, and the photo and video are from http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4292586/Japanese-Tsunami-Harley-washes-up-in-Canada.html

Virginia DMV revokes the vanity license plate F OSAMA after the guy had it for 7 years. Recently decided it was offensive

What the hell? Here is the real brain scrambler... the plate they issued him to replace FOSAMA is 6668UP which is the devil ate you up. Now, seems like someone at the Virginia DMV got a stick up their ass, and took his FOSAMA plate to be personally creating a vendetta situation that they solved with vengeance and religious overtones.  For the full story, http://www.10news.com/news/30977511/detail.html  the owner is Rick Sanders and he is in  Gloucester, Va if you want to Google other news about this, because this 10news.com rarely hangs onto webpages for news stories very long.