Sunday

I've never been a big fan of Michelson's, but give the guy his props: with the field wilting around him (Tiger and the flora included), Phil reached up for the brass ring, grabbed a firm hold, and put his name on the Claret Jug with a brilliant final round 66 at Muirfield.  He was the only guy to finish under par for the tournament...on a course that had the best golfers in the world muttering unmentionables after almost every shot.  Here, Here to Phil.

I finally washed Margret yesterday for the first time this year.  She still spiffs up pretty nice.  The next step is to get her into the dealership this week for routine maintenance.  There's a guy at the place in Bettendorf who's been around forever who I've been using for this work the last couple of years.  (The older guys down at the car repair place in West Davenport both retired...and the son doesn't do his best work on cars twice as old as himself.)

The original Margret was not all that reliable.  Daddy bought her for me going into my senior year at ND.  I had signed up for the USAF, received ROTC scholarship money for junior and senior year, worked the farm in the summers, and I think the folks thought I had earned the car.  That and I probably was relentlessly arguing for my own wheels.  I had no say on the car that Daddy ultimately bought for me.  

At the time, 1970, she would have been less than half as old as the Beater is today.  Things went reasonably well in the Fall, but I think that her alternator/generator failed on a weekend trip back to Iowa, and my buddies and I spent a night someplace South of Chicago while it was repaired.  That fix didn't work long.  I had no money, so the car sat for 2-3 months until I could buy new parts.

We must have done some work on the car after senior year because I did several long drives after I entered active duty.  I drove to Witchita Falls, Texas for my initial base of duty (three months of training), and I had at least one round trip back to Iowa that summer for a wedding in Iowa City.  Then I eventually got to Dover, Delaware in the Fall...and I know that I was back to ND for at least two games that year.  (There may have been a St. Mary's girl involved with that scheduling.)  I have no recollection of any car trouble on any of those trips. 

(I really haven't had huge problems with the new Margret, but that said, I won't take her any further than the other side of the river for half-price bottles at the Chop House in Moline on Friday nights.)

The original Margret was traded-in on that hot little two-seat Datsun 240Z in the late Fall of 1971.  Surprisingly...maybe...I never thought about it until now...but...on an historical basis...I always had a great deal of affection and positive memories from the Datsun...but not so much from the original Margret.  Now, I can say without reservation that the new Margret is the most enjoyable car I have ever owned.  And the Datsun is just another line-item in my history book.  Kind of funny how the road twists and turns through the years.

Not much else to add for Sunday.  Make it a good week in your neighborhood.

BCOT