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Car Blinker

Raoul Pascual — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 03:06:05 +0000

Raoul’s 2 Cents

Joy in the Morning

It’s been another busy week. Last night my brain was just fried and I had to sleep early. I’m so glad the week is almost over.

Someone left my business card in Rex’s desk (not his real name). The card was just sitting in front of him. He didn’t know where it came from. He was intrigued because he and I share the same last name. There aren’t many Pascuals where I live. In fact, the only other Pascuals I know are my relatives who live in the East coast. It was weird when he called because neither of us knew where to start. Nice guy. We hit it off and we hope to meet each other one day.

Another interesting call I got was from a singer who was popular in the late 70s. Belen (my good friend from college) worked with Beckie (not her real name) on some recordings in the past. Belen learned that Beckie needed some logo design work for a new product Beckie was launching, Belen remembered that I designed the logo for the GRAMMY awards and she referred Beckie to me. We had a long talk. I even prayed with her.

I enjoyed those calls from new friends and I remembered that life is good. Pandemic or not … busy or not … there is good in this world. There’s always something to look forward to. I’d like to think that God knew I needed a break and allowed those conversations to refresh me.

King David was no stranger to sorrows and he poured out his grief in many of his Psalms. Yet he understood that no matter the hardship of the day, there would always be joy the next day. This Psalm was one of my Mom’s favorite verse:

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
    and give thanks to his holy name^.
For his anger is but for a moment,
    and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
    but joy comes with the morning.
— Psalm 30: 4-5

Be safe, be healthy, and look forward to another day! TGIF people!

Raoul

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Ed of Studio City, CA for sharing this joke.

Video: When China Meets India

Thanks to Ray of Burbank, Ca, USA.
This got me laughing for several minutes. Love the last comment of the guy in tech support.

Video: Venn Diagram Career Path

Thanks to Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C.
Hilarious logical way of deciding one’s career path.

Video: Blacks Attack Chinese Couple

Thanks to Chris of Cebu, Philippines who shared this video. This might upset some viewers.
Restricted. Proceed with caution.

Don’s Puns

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. who sent this pun.
Dean Martin’s unrecorded verse.

Parting Shots

Thanks to Raffy of Buena Park, CA

Thanks to Naomi of North Hollywood, CA

Thanks to Maling of Caloocan City, Philippines

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When YOU Visit Germany, Here’s Something YOU Gotta Do!

John Clayton — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:12:23 +0000

It’s probably the most unusual, even weird, tourist attraction you’ll ever come across. The fact that the motivating force that moves it forwards and backwards is about as powerful as a “Made in the West” lawnmower is equally bizarre. Yes, its power (?) plant is a 500cc two cylinder stroke engine. Some have called it a “Relic of the Cold War,” while others have referred to it as a showcase for the vast difference between East and West Germany in the bygone days when both were separate countries.

One of the Tour guides explains the skimpy, lawnmower type Trabant engine to US media. Photograph by John Clayton

It is the Trabant, and I drove one. Or tried to.

What, you may well ask, is a Trabant? It’s the amalgamation of some sort of manufacturing process that produced a car for the citizens of East Germany in the years 1957 to 1990. And I drove one, or attempted to do it in Munich and Dresden, but NOT as an inhabitant of East Germany, but only when the lowly, “Tricky Trabant” became a tourist “Must-drive-one-magnet” after the Berlin Wall came down, and Germany became one country.

Here’s our fearless (?) Traveling Boy journalist John Clayton on his 2nd attempt to drive a Trabant in Munich. One wonders if the tour guide was calling to see if ANYONE was available to convince John to REALLY take a test drive. Photograph by John Clayton

Auto buffs will tell you that it took the dubious title of “The Worst Car Ever Built.” There’s an old fairy tale about “Old Mother Hubbard” and when she went to the cupboard it was bare. The same might be said about the Trabant – one’s suspicion is that it left the place where it was assembled totally unfinished, because its interior is completely devoid of any decorations or design work. Yes, it IS barren!

Along with a group of fellow American travel journalists on a press visit to (a now unified) Germany one of the first “things” we were shown in Dresden was a group of – as they are more commonly known – “Trabis.”

Incredibly, considering what the Trabant actually is, they even had a Convertible version. The 2 shown were there for visiting US travel media to drive one. No one acted on the offer. Photograph by John Clayton

A reality that I found fascinating on this visit, was that whatever we were shown any sort of “tourist related temptation” (!) in what WAS East Germany, every single one was run, managed or owned by a West German! The Easterners had not got used to commercialism, or what was involved in making a profit.

This is a “tongue-in-cheek” Trabant poster on display in the “Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum München” (to give it its full name) in Munich. It is well worth visiting, and the motor cars and other forms of transportation are nothing less than mesmerizing. Photograph by John Clayton

I asked our West German tour guide to give me a briefing on some of the facts about the Trabant. He stunned me by noting that a 10 year wait was involved, because the State was the only outlet that produced them, and – incredibly – there was no such thing as automobile showrooms. Once you actually got to order it, you were told there would be an additional wait of 13 years before it was delivered. A few moments later a colleague of our guide came over to me, and said “the nearer one lived to Berlin, would make the wait much shorter.” He never explained why. Weird!

I didn’t have the courage to drive one in Dresden, so I was delighted to hear when we arrived in Munich, we’d get to drive a Trabant! There are many places and organizations where you can rent or drive a Trabi in Germany, and I highly recommend you go online and type in “Renting and driving a Trabant in Germany.”

Putting my courage in my back pocket I knew I absolutely had to drive a Trabant in Munich. However, as I gingerly eased and squeezed myself in, I noticed a huge lack of “Things.” Our entrepreneurial West German guide answered my query by saying, “The 1980s Trabi had (now get this!) no tachometer, no indicator for either headlights or turn signals, no fuel gauge, no rear seat belts, and no external fuel opening door.”

All of the American travel media group were fascinated by the Trabant, and this was the first time any of us had actually seen it up close and personal in Dresden. Photograph by John Clayton

After hearing all this, I instantly realized I could not face the traffic in “Magical Munich,” and opted for the Trabant experience of just sitting in one, and looking at them, and finding out more about this strange and peculiar … car? Unit of machinery? Or even automotive joke?

Interestingly, many Americans after seeing and trying the Trabant, wanted to buy one which was – many years ago – another source of profits for West Germans to get involved in. However, locating an ever increasing LACK of original Trabis became a huge challenge. During their lifetime (one can hardly say BUILT!) from 1957 to 1990, over 3.76 million were made. Or “Produced.” Contact John:

jd******@gm***.com

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Deadly Golf Gun

Raoul Pascual — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 14:25:16 +0000

Beyond Travel

It’s vacation time here in America.. I enjoy looking at travel pictures but you know what? I bet nothing can compare with a video I watched recently about the pictures taken by twin travelers way way past our atmosphere.

I’m talking about Voyager 1 and 2. These glamorized robotic space photographers were only supposed to transmit deep space images for 4 years but it’s already been 4 decades since its launch in 1977 and it’s still sending images. Pretty cool for a machine equipped with a computer with 2,400 times less memory than our cell phones. Traveling 38,000 miles an hour, they estimate it is currently midway between our sun and the next sun (Alpha Centauri) which is 4 light years away. Now that’s what you call traveling!

What do the closeup images from Voyager tell you? For me, it shows how insignificantly small we are and how magnificently awesome God is. I think this is how God is kinda showing off.

John the Baptist (remember him?) said “He (Jesus) must increase , but I must decrease.” I think we should do the same — recognize this disparity between who we are and who HE is.

Of course, some may disagree. Despite all those incredible lessons of creative genius in pictures, some believe these mind boggling celestial bodies are a consequence of an impersonal Big Bang. They laugh and say believers of an intelligent being that orchestrated this dance of gravitational pull between planets requires a lot of faith. But the evidence from my neck of the woods tells me these scoffers may be the ones brainwashed in their brand of faith. In fact, it may not even be FAITH but a simple case of DENIAL. What do you think?

But you know what’s even more amazing than all those pictures? It’s realizing all of that was made for you and me. Makes you feel special doesn’t it?

Of course, this is just me.

“He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”
— Psalm 147: 4-5

TGIF people!

Murder Mystery at the Golf Course

Shared by Don of Kelowna, B.C.

Here’s a classic:

Candid Camera: Scratched Car
Sent by Art of Sierra Madre, CA

“Sorry, I hit your car.”
Different reaction from men and women.

WATCH VIDEO

Removing the Cast
Sent by Don of Kelowna, B.C.

The patient meets her handsome doctor. Short and funny.

WATCH VIDEO

Gordon Ramsey’s Perfect Burger
Sent by Sam of Los Angeles County

Gordon’s really enthusiastic about teaching you how to make his “perfect” burger. I admit it looks delicious … gi-normous may be a better term. Then he starts bragging about his famous neighbors.

WATCH VIDEO

Don’s Puns

From Don’s collection of puns

Parting Shot

Thanks to Naomi of North Hollywood, CA who shared this photo

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