Soggy Footwell: Gun Owner...

I am a gun owner. I have a valid Georgia Concealed Carry Permit. I have submitted to a State and Federal background check. I have had my fingerprints taken and on file. I have taken a gun safety course sponsored by the Marietta GA Police Department.

Why should it be any different for anyone else in the United States?

When we have events like this week’s shooting in Parkland, FL I wonder why the standards that I had to go through are not required for every citizen of the U.S.? There is a flaw in the system and it needs to be fixed NOW!

The one apparent flaw that seems to be repeated every time one of these incidents occurs is that there is not enough communication between agencies/departments to identify problems with gun purchasers. In this case, communication between the school, mental health agencies, mental health providers and law enforcement could have identified an issue with this shooter and possibly prevented him from buying the gun he used to murder 17 innocent people.

There is a bill in Congress to standardize weapons carry permits as a single platform; every state would have to adhere to a common standard and offer reciprocity across state lines. This is the first step in making people comply with a uniform process to carry and buy guns. I’d like to see a universal inter-agency database as part of this bill if it doesn’t already exist; sharing data on points such as felony conviction, mental health or security issues that would prevent someone from purchasing guns.

The elimination of person-to-person sales without any paperwork needs to be addressed as well. Currently in GA if I want to sell a gun I own to another person I can do so without the buyer submitting to any background check or other qualifications. At a minimum the seller and buyer should be required to fill out the same form I have to complete whenever I buy a gun. The transaction could be done at any local PD or through Probate Court, same process as getting your carry permit.

I know, I know…there is nothing to keep people from side stepping this process. But the honest and responsible gun owner will do this, only the illegal transactions will be made just as they are now. If it eliminates some guns from falling into the wrong hands it is totally worth it. As a legal and responsible gun owner I go through this process and everyone else should too.

Finally, I realize that the guns are not the problem but the people behind them. However, the NRA needs to move its platform from protecting the Second Amendment to ending gun violence and promoting gun safety; something they used to do fervently and now seems to be a back-burner issue. Programs to promote responsible gun ownership, to promote universal compliance with state and federal laws and general gun safety will do more to protect our Second Amendment rights than what the NRA is doing now.

Step up NRA! Protect the Second Amendment by protecting the innocent and help to eliminate gun violence, lobby for laws for responsible gun ownership and promote gun safety. Do that and no one will have to worry about protecting the Bill of Rights.

Let's see... where was I? Oh yeah.....

The only thing I can tell you is that time marches on, time is on our side and Morris Day and the Time used to be a kick-ass band back in the day.  Now I am in a position of time, having retired from active employment and becoming a "kept man" by the Missus. Dang, you should see the list of things she gave me to do today!

Anyway, it's time to get back to things car related and maybe a few other things along the way.  First car thing is that the Peachtree MG Registry will be holding their Three Square Meals and a Drive event on June 24th. This is a charity event to benefit Frankie & Andy's Place for wayward pets.  Drive will start at the Starbucks at Hwy9 and Mansell Rd. in Roswell and end up back near the start in Milton.  Departure shortly after 10 am and ending about 5 pm.

Lunch is at Fuego Mexican in Marble Hill, a stop at Fainting Goat Winery in Jasper and ending in Milton for dinner at Casa Nuova Italian Restaurant. Games with prizes and raffles to raise money for the charity along the way. Hope you can make it.

Still working on the Triumph Spit 6 with high hopes that it will be finished before the end of the year.  I'd like to get my navigator out of retirement for the Race of Fools in the spring or Damn the Torpedoes in the fall. Either way, the thing needs to be running soon so I can enjoy the b*stard.

Later! - SF

A Media Lesson for Donald J. Trump, POTUS….

“The Press" as it is called used to be newspapers and magazines/journals exclusively in print. When the concept of the "4th Estate" was established it was hundreds of years ago when Thomas Carlyle attributed the origin of the term to Edmund Burke, who used it in a parliamentary debate in 1787 on the opening up of press reporting of the House of Commons of Great Britain. Burke said, "...there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all." Meaning that the people should know about the goings on of government and to use the press to hold them accountable.

This concept was the foundation of our Bill of Rights, in that the 1st Amendment guarantees freedom of the press; the Founding Fathers knowing that in a new democracy the right of the people to know about their government and to hold them accountable was paramount.

Today there is a very different "Press", mainly because of technological developments far beyond Gutenberg. One thing to keep in mind is that a legitimate "press" should always question government about its actions, report those actions to the people, uncover misdoings of government and hold those and them accountable for their actions.

There are plenty of reasons to hold "opinions" about politicians and government and to publish those opinions identified as such. However, the people often see these opinions as news when they are not, see them as fact when they are not and also see them as bias when they are not.

The internet is full of things that are also associated with "the press" when they are not. Today any individual or group or organization can offer up their opinion and make it look like fact. They can sway their "facts" to represent any type of leaning, accuracy be damned as long as it gets their view point across and panders to their audience. It is difficult to weed out the good from the bad, the truth from fiction. A responsible citizenry should be able to honestly know the differences, measure the information, seek the truth and act accordingly. Democracy isn't a one-way street; it takes active participation on everyone's part.

Always ask questions, hold a contrarian's judgement on the things that seem not to be right and hold accountable those who would usurp the right of the people to an open and honest government; this facilitated by an informed populace aided by a free press.

So, Mr. President, if you don’t want media scrutiny of your claims and outlandish assertions, like the Inaugural was the biggest ever or the popular vote was corrupted by fraudulent voting, don’t make those statements.

Best Regards, ... SF

American malaise is the result of Facebook... damn you Mark Zuckerberg!

So... when I open my Facebook (FB) page it asks, "What's on your mind?" I've only had a FB page for a week and I have determined that it is the most colossal waste of time ever conceived by man. I finally had to delete the phone app because it was too intrusive and I'm giving serious consideration to deleting my page altogether. This after only one week.

But before I go here's "What's on my mind".

Some of you need to either get a life and quit living off other people's; including what they did today, believe politically and had for lunch, and stop cheating your employer by taking his/her productivity way from them by being on FB ALL DAY LONG! There are time stamps on the things you post! Get back to work!

I was amazed by one post that appeared on my page because one of my "Friends" was friends with this other person. That person complained about the things he posted getting back to his Mother and threatened people about doing it. Well, dumbass, if you don't want other people to know about things you do don't post them on Social Media! Better yet, stop doing things that would embarrass you in front of your Mother. I don't know what amazed me more, that this person was upset by this or that others supported him!

We have become a nation of weenies! And dumbass weenies at that!

I can see the value of FB for some things, mainly because it has become more of a commercial/business application than anything else. Many companies only presence is on FB, especially small businesses, because it is free, easy and can reach a broad audience that might be interested in your product or service. That's the main reason I got on there in the first place.

Now I wish I had just established the page and never "friended" anyone, it' just too much bullsh*t. So if you find that I have "unfriended" you over the next couple of days please don't be offended.

I think I'll stick to anonymous blogging instead.

Ok, now back to fun car stuff....

So it has been a while since I wrote about my LBCs (Little British Cars); the MGB Roadster, MGB-GT and my Triumph Spitfire/Spit 6, which has been in restoration for a decade.  Believe it or not it is getting closer to finalization as the exhaust is now nearly complete, all under chassis work is done except for the new clutch slave cylinder and the little bit of welding work needed in the rear is done.

Once those last few things are complete it can come down off the lift and the final bits for the interior can be installed and then the last major hurdle begins; doing the body and paint work.  Some things need attention, but for the most part it needs a good sanding and a coat of primer before final paint; which will be the same American Racing White (current base color) and adding a blue stripe.

The Spit 6, Spitfire with race prepared 2.0 liter GT-6 drive-train, used to be a race car back in the days of SCAA Time-trials classification.  I'm going for the street-able restoration, which requires things like...lights and turn signals.  So a few of these things need attention as well.

Neither the Roadster nor the GT have been out of the garage for more than a few minutes over the winter, but now that spring is here I plan on getting them out for a run or two in the coming weeks.  One of the things I need to do is top off the tanks with fresh gas and add BG-44K additive.  My LBC Mensch, Barry, swears by the stuff and he is not easily impressed. I bought 4 cans from him, one each for the MGBs and one for my wife's Volvo C-70 Turbo Convertible. 

I saved the last can for my 1985 Toyota pick-up truck; over 182,000 miles and the engine has never been apart! It's not much of a looker and I don't drive it a lot, but when you need a truck for something it's really handy.  I took it out last Saturday, threw in the can of BG-44K and filled up the tank.  Made a drive over to the local shopping center and a cruise around town and I swear, it ran better on the way home than on the way out without the BG-44K.

I think Barry is right, the stuff works miracles to clean fuel systems and de-carbonize the valve train.  It's not cheap, but it works and you only need to add it about every 20-30K miles.  I'm looking forward to adding it to the Volvo to see what extra performance and drive-ability might be reclaimed.

Later! --- SF

And another thing.......

Well that didn't work...!  Fourteen months later and my promise to post more yielded absolutely nothing.  My only excuse is that the same hindrances that kept me on the sidelines in 2014 raised their ugly heads in 2015 as well.  I am hopeful that 2016 will be different.

It is a bit in one way already.  According to the federal government I have already turned 60 years old.  Good for me that I've made it this far. Turning 59 1/2 on February 12th (an extra day because of the leap year) causes the powers that be to consider me to be 60, so I can now access my IRA & 401k funds without penalty. Yippee! I get my own money back.

On the writing front there is a strong possibility that I am the featured Op-Ed contributor to the Ellijay Times-Courier this week.  The hospital there is in danger of closing and it is all because of the short-sighted Georgia government not accepting the additional Medicaid funding due to them. Since over 20% of Gilmer county lives below the poverty level and the median income is $10k below the state average there are a bunch of people with an eligibility gap that seek free care at the hospital ER as their primary source of health care. Free care which gets no reimbursement to the hospital, which they eat, but can no longer afford to do.

So I wrote a letter to the editor pointing these things out. He liked it so much that he asked me for a photo and background info to run it as an Op-Ed piece.  Now this will not sit well with the Republican majority in Gilmer county as this viewpoint is farther left than they can see.  But it doesn't change the facts one bit and the hospital will still close, which is bad for business. Which is a very Republican stance, so I guess I am screwed either way.

Anyway, thanks to my good friend D-Ray for pointing out to me that The Soggy Footwell needed to be updated with something a little more current than December of 2014.

While I've Been Away....

I guess I should be more pro-active in my writing, over a year since the last post here is way too much.  My New Year's Resolution is to post more on here and to make the content informative and relevant.

So for now I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas - Happy Holidays - and a Happy New Year!

Where has the time gone... Updates to my MG adventures.

I realize it has been months since I have written anything on this page, but I have a good reason...life happens!  With the ever increasing success at my job (yes, I have a real job too) I have been seriously strapped for time.  I guess I shouldn't complain about obvious job security due to success, but it does cramp your style for some of the things you love.

You find less time for your cars, other hobbies and most importantly your wife and friends.  I have been trying to correct that over the last few months, especially the wife and friends part.  My wife, Kathy, is the best and I'm sure that those of you who know her already know that.  The woman actually let me buy a boat this summer and that has helped me to keep connected with the other friends in my life.  We have enjoyed the boat very much over the couple of months we've owned it and have made time to have friends out for days on the lake, which are very relaxing and really help keep in touch with all of the friends around Atlanta.

My MGB Roadster has, unfortunately, taken a time hit because of all of this.  Yet, I have still found time to do some things with it.  One of the projects I started over the winter was to convert the wire wheels to bolt on. Everyone wants what they don't have and I was luck enough to find a Peachtree MG Club member who wanted to do the swap in reverse, so my wires went to him and the bolt on hubs came to me.  Add some really cool Retro Sport Le Mans style wheels in 15" and we're off.  However, the best laid plans...

Since the car had been sitting for an extended period of time the battery had gone flat and I used my jump box to get it going again.  Except that I hooked it up backwards and tried to start the car frying some wiring... and the alternator, and fan relays, etc...  After doing some of the work myself the car went to British Car Service in Marietta, GA and I let Barry Rosenberg handle the rest.  Got the car back and the battery went flat again.  I started looking around for the reason and found that I had accidentally switched the trunk light to the "ON" position and the burning bulb killed the battery in a couple of days.  Well, live and learn!

Speaking of Barry and British Car Service, they are hosting one of the area Garage Parties this Friday, August 16th at the shop on Canton Rd. in Marietta.  The shop is just east of the Canton Rd./Hwy 5E. exit off of I-75N.  For those of you familiar with the area they are just across the road from Rib Ranch BBQ and next to Casteel HVAC.  I've been to some of the Garage Parties, both at area shops like Brian Fuller's Hot Rod shop and Chuck Beck's Porsche shop in Villa Rica, as well as garage parties in private homes.  They are a great event for tire kicking, story swapping and general car related entertainment for the evening.  Stop by if you get a chance, party starts about 8pm.

I'm going to try to post something more frequently and also add some pictures of the car and the wheel swap.  I think it looks really cool!

SF

The GA Legislature is try to get into your collector car!

The Georgia Legislature is at it again, trying to impose an additional tax on hobby and collector cars.  Two years ago they tried to do this as part of a legislative overhaul of the tax code.  That effort failed, in part due to the resounding negative input from the public, both collector car owners and lobbying groups alike. Now they are trying to re-introduce this portion of the code revision as an adjustment to the ad valorem tax structure on cars older than 1986. They want these cars taxed at FAIR MARKET VALUE!  DUH? What exactly would that be?

Georgia law does not require a title on pre-1986 vehicles.  In fact, current regulations do not provide a mechanism for pre-1970  vehicles to obtain a title! So the newly instituted title tax does not effect these vehicles.  Then someone took a look at the registration data for the State of Georgia and suddenly realized that there were a bunch of vehicles that would not be subject to this new tax.  BUMMER!

So leave it up to the Georgia Legislature to try to find a fix to a flawed piece of ill thought-out legislation that nobody took the time to take beyond the glorious revenue number that they thought it would generate.  Now the question is: have they thought this one out?  I doubt it.

In fact, the bill has no provision or mechanism for re-evaluating the fair market value of these vehicles.  So a 1968 Ford Mustang that someone drives as a rolling restoration could be taxed at the same rate as a fully restored trailer-queen that is a true show can and is hardly if ever actually driven.  If they use Barrett-Jackson numbers as a guideline expect to pay more in ad valorem tax on this Mustang than the owner of a new Mercedes will pay for his car.

Make your voice known by signing this petition to be sent to the top legislators in the Statehouse.  Tell them exactly how you feel.

http://signon.org/sign/stop-georgia-from-raising?source=s.icn.em.mt&r_by=6901718

SF

The Continuing MG Saga, and a Merry Christmas!

It's been a while since writing last, but I have been very busy with work and doing some business traveling that has kept me occupied.  Now that the holiday season is upon us I thought it would be a good time to say Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Merry Kwanza, Happy New Year, blah, blah blah.  I also wanted to update the progress on the MG Roadster as it takes another turn in its evolution.

The little red roadster we call Scarlett, well my wife does anyway, was born with wire wheels.  Always a desirable feature until you have to maintain them; they take a little more work than bolt-on wheels.  You are also stuck with few options for changes as after-market splined wheels are only available in the minilite reproduction version.  So I decided to change the car over to bolt-on wheels.

Amazingly, there is always someone who wants what they don't have so I was able to find a local MG club member who had a bolt-on car and wanted to swap hubs and buy my wheels.  This allowed me to move to a 15" Retro Sport Le Mans style wheel; very 1970's looking as the original American Racing version. So after a few stumbles, like getting the right sized sockets for the front and rear axle nuts - they are not the same size on both ends of the car and are also huge - I was able to make the swap.

Of course the "while I'm at it" syndrome and some needed maintenance led me to also re-do the rear brakes and flush the system and install new brake hoses all around.  This is where it got interesting as the proportioning valve in the braking system decided to lock out the rear portion of the system and not allow bleeding to occur.  A couple of phone calls determined the solution, open both a front and rear bleeder and allow the system to equalize, and we were on our way.

Except I've now had to do it multiple times to get the braking system to bleed properly and I'm still not done as I inadvertently left the key in the on position and drained my new battery to nothing.  We are re-charging as we speak.  Perhaps this weekend I will finally finish the job!

I've also completed the "Garaj Mahal" project; 3 bay double-deep 1,100 square feet of work space with a 9,000 lb Atlas two-post lift!  More on that next time along with some pictures once I figure out how to post them.  Can you say Garage Party!

SF

Transition to The Soggy Footwell... Goodbye Examiner.com!

After almost three years of writing on Examiner.com about collector & classic cars, I  have decided to give that up in favor of this blog, The Soggy Footwell, which I started earlier this year on a lark.  I wanted to have a different outlet for some of the things I wanted to write about that didn't fit the format at Examiner. As they have become more and more stringent on their requirements, it has become less and less fun to write for them.  When I started at Examiner it was because I was out of work at the time, I was looking for something to keep my mind sharp, and a few extra dollars above and beyond my unemployment checks sounded good at the time.

Although I never made more than beer money, it did provide me with an outlet as well as a way to keep my already feeble mind from deteriorating any further.  Now that I have been gainfully employed once again for about two years, I am leaving mind deterioration up to my employer!

So I hope you will find this content just as fulfilling as the previous content from Examiner.  I still plan on writing about car stuff in the greater Atlanta metro area, but this will give me the opportunity to do different things as well.  Posts may not be as frequent as in the past, but I hope the quality will be just as consistent.

For my friends in the Peachtree MG Registry and the Georgia Triumph Association there is a charity tour on October 27th to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in combination with the annual Three Square Meals Drive.  We will be leaving from the Starbucks at Hwy 9 and Mansell in Roswell at about 9:15am or so, but come early for coffee and snacks if you want.  Lunch is at Wolf Mountain Winery and Dinner is at 61 Main Restaurant in Jasper. Get back with me if you want to attend as I need to give both restaurants a head count the week before.   All donations will go directly to JDRF and no contribution is too small to help a good cause.

Thanks and see you soon!

Returned in the rain from MG2012

I attended the MG 2012 National MGB Convention last week and, you guessed it, drove home in another driving rain storm.  Again, water seeped in around the top corners of the hood/top, running down the insides of the doors and making small puddles on the floor.  Again, the mystery leak that appears from below the dash dripped water onto my left leg, with a corresponding leak on the passenger side.

I was then reminded of a conversation I had at MG 2012 about water leaks in the MG.  A fellow I was speaking with about these drips asked me if I had ever had the windshield washer nozzles removed from the panel where the wipers and center vent reside. I replied that I had when the car was painted last.  "Did you seal them when you replaced them?", he asked.  Hmm....I don't think so.

He then went on to explain that he had the same problem which was resolved with some small rubber o-rings and the miracle product, RTV.  I will pursue this at my next opportunity.  The good news is that the boot/trunk arrived back home relatively dry, just a little dampness which could have been from condensation it was so small.  I believe that the boot/trunk problem has been resolved. 

BTW, the MG 2012 MGB National Convention was awesome!  I've only been to a couple of these things, but this was a really great event.  The host club out of Atlanta really put on the dog and we were all treated to a super event.  Besides the show there was a cruise-in at a local drive-in theater where over 100 MGs showed up, I heard.  I didn't count them but there sure were a lot of MGs there.  Really great event, makes me want to go to next year's event, but I think it is in Oregon.  Maybe the 2014 show will be back east again.  Maybe it won't rain.

Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends.....

MG ownership is somewhat masochistic. You will put up with abuse from the vehicle over and over and over again. My MGB Roadster, or Tourer for you purists, is not a show or trailer queen.  I actually take the damn thing out and drive it, though not as much as I would like.  Nevertheless, it is perfect in its imperfections, if you get my drift.

I was out with a group yesterday when the car suddenly sputtered and died, no apparent reason. I thought immediately of the ancient SU fuel pump residing in the trunk. Every now and then you have to bang on it to get it to work properly. I thought of this first as, you guessed it, it has happened before.  Also, one of the license plate bolts that I had recently slathered with RTV sealer to stop a trunk leak is also part of the rear wiring harness grounding strap.  If this was loose the whole car dies.  Neither was the case and just as mysteriously as the car had stopped it started again.

Off we went to our next stop were I noticed that the temperature gauge was rising unexpectedly.  Pull into our stopping place, raise the bonnet/hood and noticed that the water control valve was leaking onto the distributor.  I am unsure why the engineers at the MG works in Abingdon, UK thought it was a good idea to place hot water next to an electrical component, but they did and we now have to live in constant peril of water ruining a perfectly good distributor. 

Because of driving in the rainstorm that caused this whole thing, I had opened the knob on the dash to get some warm air up to the windscreen/sheild to keep vision at a premium.  What I didn't realize was that the water valve was faulty and leaking on the distributor causing spark to go away.  Fortunately, turning the knob back to off sealed the valve and the leak. But it is another thing that will need fixed, again.