Quality Weenie

Today in Automotive History

1960 Valiant Performs Valiantly

In a special racing series for small-bodied cars at the Daytona International Speedway, the Valiant captured the top seven positions in the 10-lap race. The Valiant was introduced by Chrysler in 1959 (the 1960 models) as a separate make. Its light handling and curvaceous European styling set the Valiant apart from other American compact cars. Over the following years, the Valiant became part of the Plymouth line, and its styling became more typically American. It retained its record for reliability and speed, however, and still has a fan club today.

I Want To Join The Bad Example Clan Because

I have big boobies and everyone knows how much Harvey likes boobies!

Do you want to join the Bad Example Clan?

Wolf Fest 06

So have you made the decision to attend Wolf Fest yet?

What are you waiting for?

I am attending, which should be reason enough for you to attend. I have actually made reservations at a hotel also, cementing my attendance.

Reservations are at:
Fairfield Inn
4000 State Road 26 East
Lafayette, Indiana 47905
Phone: 1-765-449-0083

I know other bloggers that will be staying there also. I've checked around and besides the Days Inn, the Fairfield Inn is the cheapest around.

I've also stayed at the Fairfield Inn on business and they have a nice Happy Hour (beer and wine served along with food) and they have a nice Breakfast Buffett (included in the room price also). The rooms are clean and nice, and there is even a pool, indoor no less!

Days Inn is nice but I thought it a little dingy and dark and a little dirty.

Today in Automotive History

1942 Last Chevy Until The War Ends

The last pre-war automobiles produced by Chevrolet and DeSoto rolled off the assembly lines today. Wartime restrictions had shut down the commercial automobile industry almost completely, and auto manufacturers were racing to retool their factories for production of military gear.

Today in Automotive History

1904 Internal Combustion Strikes Back

American racer William K. Vanderbilt set a new land-speed record of 76.086mph in a gasoline-driven Mors automobile at Ablis, France. It was the first major speed record to be set by an internal-combustion car. All previous records had been set by steam- and battery-powered cars.

Today in Automotive History

1979 Yeeeeeee-Haw!

The Dukes of Hazzard, a prime-time television action/comedy show, aired for the first time on this day. The show starred John Schneider and Tom Wopat as the mischievous Duke cousins, two "good old boys," who tangled with the crooked law enforcement officers of Hazzard County every week. However, the real star of the show was their car, "The General Lee," a 1969 Dodge Charger with a bright orange paint job and a Confederate flag on its roof. The car was a suitable choice: Dodge Chargers won 22 of the 54 major NASCAR races in 1969. The Dukes of Hazzard ran for seven seasons.

Today in Automotive History

1991 Early Automobile Appears On Stamp

The United States Postal Service issued a four-cent stamp commemorating the Dudgeon Steam Wagon, a steam-powered vehicle built in 1866 by steam pioneer Richard Dudgeon. Scottish-born Dudgeon completed his first steam wagon in 1857, and with the exception of its steering mechanism, the vehicle was essentially a steam locomotive, complete with a smokestack and exposed cylinders at the forward end of its boiler. The vehicle, capable of holding 10 passengers, was exhibited in New York City's Crystal Palace, where it was destroyed in October of 1857 when the Palace was leveled by fire. In 1866, Dudgeon built a second steam-powered vehicle similar to his 1857 prototype. However, unlike the first, this vehicle survived and is currently on display at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Artist Richard Schlecht commemorated Dudgeon's creation in a 1991 U.S. stamp.

Today in Automotive History

1860 New Engine Runs On Fire, Not Water

French inventor Etienne Lenoir was issued a patent for the first successful internal-combustion engine. Lenoir's engine was a converted steam engine that burned a mixture of coal gas and air. Its two-stroke action was simple but reliable--many of Lenoir's engines were still working after 20 years of use. His first engines powered simple machines like pumps and bellows. However, in 1862, Lenoir built his first automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine--a vehicle capable of making a six-mile trip in two to three hours. It wasn't a practical vehicle, but it was the beginning of the automobile industry.

Geek Help: Wireless Networks

Have some questions about setting up a wireless network. I was talking about it with someone over the weekend and they nearly had a heart attack and talked about the evils of wireless networks, so I would like to get the straight poop on it.

1 - If you have wireless - as in you have an internet provider like comcast but buy wireless stuff so you don't have to hook your computer to the wall, your neighbor can steal your wireless connection.

Is this true? I didn't think they have ranges like that.

Can I also take my computer with my wireless set up to any starbucks and use their wireless?

I was told that all wireless systems are on the same frequency.

I thought the house wireless were like cordless phones, all have different frequencies?

Is wireless less safe (ie hackers) than plugging into a wall? Even if you have a firewall?

Enquiring minds want to know.

Thanks in advance for any help with these questions.

Today in Automotive History

1912 Music on the Road

The Aermore Manufacturing Company, a Chicago concern, received a patent for the Aermore Exhaust Horn, a multiple-pipe horn powered by engine exhaust that played a chord like a church organ.

Suggestions For Problem Solving

Seriously, I'm going to let my audiance do my work for me. Because I've plum run out of ideas.

Problem:

A part at work has a electrical connection to it and it must be checked in line while being built. We've had a lot of problems with lazy operators taking short cuts and not doing the electrical check. We have some solutions for the future, but it's taking awhile to build and install, it will be locking down the part and not releasing it until it's passed the electrical check.

The problem is we keep sending bad parts that don't function because they were not tested and I have run out of creative ideas to tell the customer why we didn't check it.

The latest problem is we didn't even connect the wiring to the light in our part. The customer plugged it in and kept shorting out, they pulled our part apart and found that we didn't even connect the wires to the part.

Solution:

This is where you guys come in. Give me suggestions as to why we didn't connect the wires in our part.

I can not think of anything else, I've used up all my ideas. So I figure you guys can fix my problems because I don't know what else to say.

I will keep this post at the top of the page until Wednesday at which time I will announce which suggestion I will use and write up my corrective action and hand it into our customer.

Brought To You By the Number Four

I've seen this every where but haven't been tagged, I am feeling soooo unloved. I will do it on my own.

Four Job's I've Had:

Quality Engineer
Supplier Quality Engineer
Quality Anaylst
Dairy Queen Day Manager (bestest job in the world)

Four Movies I could watch over and over:

Top Gun
Pearl Harbor
Saving Private Ryan
Chicago

Four Places I've Lived:

Westland, Michigan
Canton, Michigan
Eastern Michigan University Dorms

Sorry, Only have Lived 3 places in my life

Four TV Shows I loved to watch:

CSI - The original
NCIS
Seinfield
Family Guy

Four Places I've Been on Vacation:

Disney World
Grand Canyon
Bar Harbor, Maine
Washington DC

Four Websites I Visit Daily:

My Yahoo Page
Yahoo Stock Page
Yahoo Games
Yahoo NHL Page

Four Favorite Foods:

Mashed Potato's and Gravy
Taco's
Spaghetti
Chocolate

I've Got Chemistry Alright

Found this over at blogsis Boudicca's and wondered how I would score.

I hated Chemistry in school and nearly flunked every Chemistry class I had to take. But at least Engineering is pretty near the top also.

Today in Automotive History

1919 Bentley Motors Founded

Bentley Motors was established in London, England. A manufacturer of sports cars and luxury automobiles, Bentley was acquired by Rolls-Royce in November, 1931. From that point forward, the Bentley line acquired more and more features of the Rolls-Royce, until the two makes became nearly indistinguishable.

Dammit, I Missed Them

At work on Saturday we had a fire, in the front offices no less.

I guess we have some sort of a exhaust fan in a closet (don't ask) and it shorted out, sent a spark down onto some boxes and the boxes caught on fire. If someone didn't go up into the front offices when they did the whole place could have burned down.

Instead the front offices are wet but not soaked because, luckily for us, only one of the sprinklers went on.

So it smells up front, there are tons of huge blowers on to dry things off and the closet is charred.

But I missed the firemen.

Dammit it all the hell.

I am assuming they looked something like this:

Wolf Fest 06

Have you been over to visit The Laughing Wolf lately?

He's posted about a possible blogger get together at the Wolf Park and dinner afterward.

Several have signed on already and guess what?

I'm a 95% interesteder.

It's only a 4 hour drive for me, have done it plenty of times because we have a customer in Lafayette, Indiana.

So if your thinking about doing it, now you have the incentive to do it because I know your all dying to meet me.

So head on over and give a hearty "Count me in".

Stupid Quizzes

Found this at blogbro Contagion blog ... I'm not doing so good on the quizzes this morning.

Bad Temperment?

Found this over at blogsis Boudicca's place.

I hate when this quizzes are right, it's downright scary sometimes.

You Have a Choleric Temperament

You are a person of great enthusiasm - easily excited by many things. Unsatisfied by the ordinary, you are reaching for an epic, extraordinary life. You want the best. The best life. The best love. The best reputation. You posses a sharp and keen intellect. Your mind is your primary weapon. Strong willed, nothing can keep you down. Your energy can break down any wall. You're an instantly passionate person - and this passion gives you an intoxicating power over others. At your worst, you are a narcissist. Full of yourself and even proud of your faults. Stubborn and opinionated, you know what you think is right. End of discussion. A bit of a misanthrope, you often see others as weak, ignorant, and inferior.

Today in Automotive History

1913 First Hardtop Sedan Shown

The first closed car for four passengers was introduced by Frank Duryea at the Stanley Motor Show. All earlier cars had open cabs, or convertible tops. Frank Duryea and his brother, Charles, built the first American-made automobile in 1893. Duryea was one of the best-known names in automobile manufacturing into the early 1900s.

Today in Automotive History

1942 Automobiles in Plastic

On this day in 1942, Henry Ford patented a plastic-bodied automobile. The car was 30 percent lighter than ordinary cars. Plastic, a relatively new material in 1942, was revolutionizing industry after industry in the United States. Today most car bodies are still made of metal, but plastic parts are becoming more and more common.

Today in Automotive History

1900 Ford's Second Automobile

The Detroit Automobile Company finished its first commercial vehicle, a delivery wagon. The wagon was designed by a young engineer named Henry Ford, who had produced his own first motorcar, the quadricycle, before joining the company. Ford soon quit the Detroit Automobile Company, frustrated with his employers, to start his own company

Today in Automotive History

1913 World's First Hardtop

The world's first closed production car was introduced: Hudson Motor Car Company's Model 54 sedan. Earlier automobiles had open cabs, or at most convertible roofs.

Today in Automotive History

1901 Texans Strike Oil

In the town of Beaumont, Texas, a 100-foot drilling derrick named Spindletop produced a roaring gusher of black crude oil. The oil strike took place at 10:30 a.m. on this day in 1901, coating the landscape for hundreds of feet around in sticky oil. The first major oil discovery in the United States, the Spindletop gusher marked the beginning of the American oil industry. Soon the prices of petroleum-based fuels fell, and gasoline became an increasingly practical power source. Without Spindletop, internal combustion might never have replaced steam and battery power as the automobile power plant of choice, and the American automobile industry might not have changed the face of America with such staggering speed.

Today in Automotive History

1958 Japanese Cars Arrive In California

The Toyota and Datsun (later Nissan) brand names made their first appearances in the United States at the Imported Motor Car Show in Los Angeles, California. Previously, these auto makers had sold in the U.S. only under American-brand names, as part of joint ventures with Ford and GM.

Today in Automotive History

1980 Chrysler Saved

Jimmy Carter signed a bill authorizing $1.2 billion in federal loans to save the failing Chrysler Corporation. It was the largest federal bailout in history. The "Big Three" American car makers (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) had suffered through the 1970s, as Japanese competitors led by Honda and Toyota outperformed them in quality and price. Chrysler, which lacked the vast cash reserves of GM and Ford, was brought to the brink of bankruptcy by 1980. The federal bailout, which required Chrysler to find billions in private financing in order to receive the federal money, brought Chrysler back from the brink. Lee Iacocca, the charismatic executive largely responsible for Ford's successful Mustang, joined Chrysler in late 1979, and engineered the company's return to profitability during the 1980s.

What Was In Your Stocking?

You Christmas Stocking Will Be Filled with Money

You've either been really really good this year... Or Santa is trying to pay you off!

Today in Automotive History

1924 Chrysler Builds His Own Car

Walter Chrylser, a General Motors executive who had pioneered the introduction of all-steel bodies in automobiles (instead of wood), introduced his first motorcar. After his departure from GM in 1920, Chrysler had breathed new life into the failing Maxwell Motor Company. The first Chrysler-built Maxwell was put on display in New York City's Commodore Hotel, where it drew admiring crowds. In 1925, the Maxwell Motor Company was renamed the Chrysler Corporation.

Big Ol' Jet Liner

I am off, flying in the wild blue yonder. Only today the yonder is rainy and foggy.

Flying down to Georgetown, KY and flying back tonight. Well actually we will fly into Lexington and then drive to Georgetown but I think you get the idea.

I hate flying in and out the same day, takes a huge toll on me being that I hate flying and all that stuff.

But I do get to torture a co-worker, the brave soul that is sitting next to me on the down and return flight. There is talk of awarding him a medal tomorrow.

So catch you on the flip side.

Today in Automotive History

1955 New Packards Roll Out

The 1955 Packards were introduced to the public on this day. Corvettes and Thunderbirds were upping the horsepower ante, and Packard struck back with the Packard Caribbean, the first V-8 Packard and the debut of highly stylized cathedral taillights. The era of the mighty tailfin was beginning.

Today in Automotive History

1899 A Name For The Horseless Carriage

An editorial in the The New York Times made a reference to an "automobile" on this day. It was the first known use of the word.

How did the automobile get it's name? From Wikipedia:

The term is derived from Greek 'autos' (self) and Latin 'movére' (move), referring to the fact that it 'moves by itself'.

New Years Resolutions

Found this over at blogsis Boudicca's

Your New Year's Resolutions

1) Get a pet pig 2) Eat less tuna 3) Travel to Japan 4) Study warrior dancing 5) Get in shape with whitewater rafting

It's kinda of funny seeing that I work for a Japanese company and they keep trying to get me to go over to the mother company.

And the girl puppy is a regular pig, she burps just like her dad so pet pig is sort of true.

Friday Doggie Blogging

Since I didn't get a chance to post a picture on Friday, I will do it today instead.

The as promised picture of the puppies in their new reindeer ears!

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

This blog will get back to it's usual format this week, as I am back at work after a glorious 2 weeks off.

Ugh, now I remember why I hated work so much and wanted that much time off.

Today in Automotive History

1994 Chrysler's Neon Hits The Road

The Chrysler Corporation introduced the Neon compact car on this day. The Neon, a sporty plastic-bodied economy car, quickly became a popular car, particularly among young drivers.