A Little Voice

While Mom and I were driving today, she talked about Daddy and how he had slowed his driving down when he realized an accident could kill his baby (me).  I reminded her of the time that Kent was taking baby Alix to the base in our van.  (The big old blue chevy van.)  He was riding on the tail of the car in front who was piddling along.  Then he said, "I could hear a voice in my ear as plain as day that said, 'why are you driving like this with Alix in the car?'  So I stepped off the gas and almost simultaneously the car's hood flew open.  The driver slammed on his brakes and fishtailed all over the road.  Thank God for guardian angels because I would have hit him for sure."

A GREAT WEEKEND

Kent and I had a mini vacation this weekend.  He got home from work on Saturday morning.  We loaded the van kissed the dogs goodbye and headed for Crawfordsville. We enjoyed the colorful sceanery of a Indiana fall day on the 2 hour drive.  When we got there, Jake met us and then took us on a tour that highlighted his classrooms and his frat.  We hung out and talked of many things.  Took him shopping for essentials and then out to eat.  At 8:00 we watched him and about 10 other actors preform "The Government Inspector" an amazingly funny play written in Russia in 1838.  It is about the corrupt dealings of all the citizens in this villiage and what happens when they think the mysterious stranger at the Inn is the Inspector General who has been sent by the Czar to investigate them.  Hilliarty ensues!  But that explains the beard and makeup on Jake's face in the picture.

Afterwards we drove back to Indy and spent the night.  We got up to do-it-yourselves waffles.  We spent the morning catching up on the news and email, then headed downtown to met Jake for lunch and the football game.  

And what a game!  Finally a win and not just a win, but an all out blowout in our new stadium.  The old RCA stadium sits forlornly next door, domeless and soon to be imploded.  We will have a great view of the skyline when it is gone.  We have lots of memories from it, but my most favorite is taking a picture of Jake in 2 degree weather on the steps after we had won the SuperBowl!

Honda!

Let em roll! Honda began mass production of the Honda Civic Sedan at the new Greensburg facility today. 

"Today is the start of mass production for Honda of Indiana...we have begun rolling the 2009 Honda Civic, and eventually we'll be making 400 cars per shift, with 800 cars a day coming out of Greensburg," said Andrew Stoner, a spokesman for Honda of Indiana.

Stoner said they are on schedule since the 2006 announcement and 2007 groundbreaking to today." It's a wonderful opportuntity for Indiana and Greensburg."

Nearly 900 employees have been conducting trial production for several months. Today's start up culminates production in stamping, welding, painting, plastic injection molding, body assembly and other areas. 

Currently, Honda is operating on one shift with plans to add a second shift in 2009, and get to 2000 employees producing 200,000 vehicles annually.

The first car rolled off the racks is kept at the plant lobby. It's painted black, called a crystal black pearl.

The rest will go to market, being transported mostly by rail.

Despite the economy, the 4 cylinder fuel efficient car is the number one seller for Honda Civic. It's an "in-demand" car and one people are turning to for fuel efficiency, as Stoner said.

The website claims the sedan gets 26 mpg in the city, 36 on the highway. The suggested sticker price is $15,400, but cost will vary on the style and features.

Honda sits on a 1700 acre parcel facing I 74 in Greensburg.

I wonder when the first train of cars will roll past  us.  The existing track was one of the reasons Honda decided to build in Greensburg.

 

 

 

 

 

Update on the "Land Grab"

To bring you up to date on the controversial property lines.  The lots in question actually run north and south.  So although Mom's lot is oriented east and west, it is actually the south part of lots 35 and 36.  When this "addition" to the city of B'ville was surveyed in 1868, Liberty street, the street that is the eastern edge of lot 36 was laid out at a 90 degree angle to Western street.  Today's surveying equipment uses gps technology and lo and behold the street is 2 degrees out of "true".  Which shifts all the property lines.  In the 75 feet of the length of the lot it shifted it by almost 4 feet and made both of our air conditioners "encroachments".  Fortunately, a deal has been struck and we should close on the property on Oct 17th.  After rehabilitation and upon it's return to market the property lines will have been officially adjusted to make everything kosher for future sales.

The sad part of this is that a neighbor across the street who I have considered a "good" friend stuck her nose so far up in this business that she is not talking to me anymore.  If we cross paths while walking our dogs, she will walk right by with out saying a word.  I don't really understand why she is mad or upset.

The Bulls!

Granpa loves the bulls.  Since they have lived here we have heard a lot about the sport, one that I for one never really knew about.  Apparently one of the rodeo cowboys had an "aha" moment a few years ago.  The most popular part of rodeos was the bull riding.  Young men would spend years roaming from rodeo to rodeo barely making a living, retiring broke in wallet and body.  He thought that if they would just start a sport with just bull riding and go from venue to venue that there would be enough interest for there to be some serious cash.  Think NASCAR with bulls and cowboys.  Well he was right.  The PBR is a very successful enterprise.  

Kent brought home a brochure from work about a month ago.  The PBR would be in Cincinnati on Oct 3 and 4, after the Elders returned to the cottage.  We asked if they would like to go and the answer was a resounding yes.  Yesterday, Mom asked Daddy if he was excited and he said "no."  BUT, when we got to the arena and were working our way down the concourse to get to our aisle, Daddy was pushing his buggy as fast as his legs would carry him.  I haven't seen him move so fast in a long time!  We had great seats, 3 rows up from the floor of the arena.  The only problem was a very steep staircase that had no handrails, but Daddy scampered down them and then back up at the end of the evening.

It was a late night by the time we arrived home.  Kent had come straight from work so he and Mom rode home in the green pickup while I drove Daddy home in the Honda.  We got home just in time to see Friday night's rides on the Versus channel.