Diggin' up trash and talky talk on the best radio show, ever.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Fred, the Big Lug, Doesn’t Have Lug Nuts
In the 44-09-12 episode “Changing Stembottom's Tires”, Vic complains bitterly about being invited over to the Stembottom’s to help Fred work on his car. While Vic claims to enjoy working on cars, or “tinkering” as he calls it, he considers the work Fred has lined-up to be just manual labor. Let’s understand why…
De-mounting/re-mounting a tire is difficult, as the diameter of the rim is slightly larger than the tire’s inner diameter. A set of pry bar like tools are required to pry the tire off-of / onto the rim. More often than not it results in a pinched finger! Professional garages use a tire mounting machine which makes it much easier.
First some definitions. A wheel is comprised of three parts: 1. The tire (the rubber part that wears out), 2. The rim (the center section that holds the tire and attaches to the car) and 3. The inner tube (the inflatable bladder inside the tire – note that all new cars are tubeless and do not have this part).
Rotating one’s tires refers to the practice of changing the position of the tires to equalize wear on them and to prolong their life (this would have been really important during the war when rubber was scarce). With older rear wheel drive cars the rear tires would wear more quickly. On newer front wheel drive cars the front tires wear more quickly. To maximize the life of the entire set of tires, the front and rear tires can periodically be exchanged. Newer cars, with radial tires, require that the front and rear tires be exchanged but remain on the same side of the car. Older cars, with bias ply tires, require that the front and rear tires be exchanged by crossing sides (e.g. front passenger side tire is exchanged with the rear driver’s side tire). On a diagram this makes an “X” and is referred to as “cross switching”
On newer cars the tire/rim assembly (the wheels) are attached to the car using several nuts or “lug nuts”. The entire wheel assembly (rim and tire) can be removed easily by removing the lug nuts. But on some vintage cars, particularly those prior to 1920 or so, the rim is semi-permanently attached to the car and only the tire can be removed1. Removing just the tire (i.e. manually de-mounting a tire from the rim) is a tedious and difficult process.
Fred’s car doesn’t have lug nuts, so the tires must be de-mounted from the rims. The rims remain attached to the car. The tires must then then be re-mounted on the rim at the tire’s new position. And unlike the swapping a complete wheel assembly, the tires must be deflated to de-mount them and then re-inflated once they are on the new rim.
Fred’s old car requires all four tires to be deflated, manually de-mounted, re-mounted to the new location, and then re-inflated. To make matters worse, the tires need to “cross”, so the you cannot simply jack up one side of the car at a time.
With today’s cars, the wheels can be rotated in less than 30 minutes. On Fred’s car, with its permanent rims and bias play tires, the job may take several hours. It’s no wonder that Vic howled like a panther when he heard what Fred had in store for him!
Leave it to Paul Rhymer to make something as dull as rotating tires into an interesting and humorous episode!
-- Dave Duckert (Dave in Wisconsin)1. Popular Mechanics December 1970 p 1132. http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/411944/485438.html?1413006052
Sunday, June 25, 2017
More fan mail coming
I've been sick the past few days with a virus, but I hope to be able to post more fan mail for you, shortly.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Fan letter #13
Call Number M89-357
Fan Mail – Box 4 folders 6-11
 |
| Lucille Husting 1931 |
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Friday, June 16, 2017
Fan letter (Sacred Stars)
Call Number M89-357
Fan Mail – Box 4 folders 6-11
A secret Vic and Sade website
For those who don't remember, at one time, I had a web site that devoted entirely to Uncle Fletcher. I eventually phased it out and it no longer exists.
You also may not know about Garbled-de-Gook, a website I began a few years ago and just never finished. If you are doing Vic and Sade research, it may or may not come in handy.
You also may not know about Garbled-de-Gook, a website I began a few years ago and just never finished. If you are doing Vic and Sade research, it may or may not come in handy.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Love Letters to Vic and Sade
Thanks (again) to Dave Duckert, there is now a new Vic and Sadecast up. This one is called, "Love Letters to Vic and Sade". Dave recently made a trek to the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison and was allowed to leaf through and copy several fan letters to the show.
Dave got his family and friends together and recorded the letters, along with Sarah Cole and myself. Some of these letters will really hit home with you, either in a fun or a sad way. This program lasts a little more than 16 minutes but it packs a wallop, emotionally. Dave did a wonderful job choosing the letters for all to read, and as always, is a fine host.
I hope you will check out the show and leave Dave some feedback. He deserves it!
Dave got his family and friends together and recorded the letters, along with Sarah Cole and myself. Some of these letters will really hit home with you, either in a fun or a sad way. This program lasts a little more than 16 minutes but it packs a wallop, emotionally. Dave did a wonderful job choosing the letters for all to read, and as always, is a fine host.
I hope you will check out the show and leave Dave some feedback. He deserves it!
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
6-7-17 additions
- Added a new synopsis: 38-02-11 Nicer (episode 723 in database)
- Noted in the Character website that Rotten Davis' first name is "Harold"
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
A list of 6-6-17 additions
- Added a few things to 44-09-20 Rev. Cook's Dun Letter
- Added "Title mentioned: Third Lieutenant Stanley, President of the South Seas (unknown episode)" to the Third Lieutenant Stanley page
- Updated the FAQ (John Steinbeck was a fan of "Vic and Sade")
- Added a synopsis: 37-12-23 Vic, the Distinguished Local Luminary
- Added some (very few) details to a new episode, 33-05-26 Sade Joins the Thimble Club
- Added a new synopsis: 33-12-21 Our Friend, the Dog
- Noted in the Archive section that 36-02-21 Willard's Book of Poetry was done in St. Louis
Monday, June 5, 2017
A couple of new additions and changes
- Added a film to 35-07-04 What to Watch? and cross-referenced it in the Bijou section.
- Added a very small synopsis to a new episode: 35-12-05 Sade's Gloria Golden Hat
- Total count in known episodes is now 720.
A catalog of recent additions
- Added more details to 36-08-05 The Broken Window
- Added a new episode synopsis 32-12-11 Vic May Lose His Job
- Added more detail to 39-01-23 Mis' Appelrot's Flower Scheme
- The FAQ was updated
- Added more detail to 42-09-16 Smelly Clark's Fascinating Gold Watch
- Added more detail to 42-09-21 Smelly Clark's Broken Watch
- Re-added 38-08-02 Howard and Gumpox Have New Fields to Conquer (which had become lost)
- Added some record names to 34-04-18 Vic Borrows a Stack of Phonographs
- To the archive, noted that 43-04-2, the show re-used a script from 1934, "Vic Sings Lodge Songs"
- Added a very short synopsis to a new episode: 36-02-01 The Pink Lodge Robe with Silver Bullets
- Added additional info to 43-01-19 New Lodge Catalog, Featuring Dinnerware
- ...more coming in the days ahead!
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Crooper, Illinois and where that came from
If you are any kind of fan of Vic and Sade, you know that somewhere down the line, someone said
that Vic and Sade was set in Crooper, Illinois. It's been known to be set in other odd places too, but let's not get all into that now. Let's focus on Crooper.
The story goes this way: the dad-gummed (horrible) Vic and Sade television show is to blame. The 1957 TV show had Yamilton's Department Store in Crooper. Someone named Fred Schroeder then claimed in print that the Gooks lived in Crooper, which lies 40 miles from Peoria. Come to find out, there is no Crooper - it's Cooper. While it is close to Bloomington, it's certainly not Bloomington.
The story goes this way: the dad-gummed (horrible) Vic and Sade television show is to blame. The 1957 TV show had Yamilton's Department Store in Crooper. Someone named Fred Schroeder then claimed in print that the Gooks lived in Crooper, which lies 40 miles from Peoria. Come to find out, there is no Crooper - it's Cooper. While it is close to Bloomington, it's certainly not Bloomington.
Small details being added to episodes
When John Hetherington's book was released, I was able to obtain a multitude of information about many episodes we knew nothing about.
Since this was Hetherington's work, I felt it crucial to leave out numerous details along the way, so that left his book with a lot of "bite"; in other words, I didn't want to let the whole cat out of the bag.
However, this past week, I asked Hetherington if would be okay to share these left-out details with you and add them to the episodes of the Crazy World website, to which he readily consented. So, over the next few weeks, I will be adding that stuff.
I will also let you know on this website what I added and where. It's redundant, but necessary.
Since this was Hetherington's work, I felt it crucial to leave out numerous details along the way, so that left his book with a lot of "bite"; in other words, I didn't want to let the whole cat out of the bag.
However, this past week, I asked Hetherington if would be okay to share these left-out details with you and add them to the episodes of the Crazy World website, to which he readily consented. So, over the next few weeks, I will be adding that stuff.
I will also let you know on this website what I added and where. It's redundant, but necessary.
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