One for the "Bulletin Board".....

Today I had a couple things happen. One was an e-mail from a buddy I was stationed with in the USMC! The other was a phone call....



Last week I was cleaning out my shop and ran across 3 old Champion spark plugs in a box. I knew they didn't fit anything I had so I asked about them on a few forums I belong to. A man from Stevens Point, Wisconsin told me that he had a use for them. During our e-mails back and forth, I mentioned that I was stationed with a fellow Marine who was from Steven's Point - Pat LaBarge. I mentioned that I remembered pulling Pat's 396 motor out of his Chevelle by slinging a rope over our shoulders and under the motor. We struggled, but we did it! I told the spark plug man (Jim) to "rough him up a bit" if he ever saw Pat!



This morning I recieve an e-mil from Jim with Pat's address, then about an hour later, I recieve an e-mail from Pat! I guess that Jim had looked in the phone book, called Pat up and talked to his wife. Pat's wife and I have never met, so she wasn't sure Jim had the right guy until he told her about the motor pulling incident! She had heard the story! She called Pat at work and he sent the e-mail! We haven't seen or heard from each other since 1984. It was nice to contact an old buddy and I appreciate Jim's effort to go the extra mile to get us in touch!



A big problem we are having in this state (Nebraska) is Property Taxes. A few weeks ago our Governor, Dave Hieniman, made it known that he was going to introduce legislation into this years session of the Unicameral, concerning income and sales tax relief. I wrote the Governor an e-mail a couple weeks ago concerning this matter and urged him to include Property Tax relief as well. This evening at 7: 50 pm, the phone rings. The caller ID tells me it is "the Governor's Office". I answer the phone and it is the Governor, live and in person! He called to tell me that Property Tax is also a concern of his and his "package" to the Unicameral does include measures for relief. I know that, being Governor, the man has a busy schedule, so it was nice that he would take time to first, read my e-mail, and second, to call me personally to discuss it. He said we will need help from local governing bodies and a cut in spending. We will al be waiting to see if his plan does work and passes. He's only been in office for a few short months, but he has been working to make things better. Let's hope he continues!

On a note for those who don't know what the Unicameral is - All states have a Legislature that is patterned after the US Congress - two "houses" - the Senate and the House. All states except Nebraska, that is! We threw everyone into the same house and let them fight it out together!