Traction & Slippage

From an article by Gary Gastelu at foxnews.com, edited by yours truly: When the George and June Schaaf Tractor and Truck Museum of Frankfort, Illinois closed recently, the machines were auctioned. Here are two. The first is the Little Oak, advertised in 1917 as a “one-man tractor” with controls that allowed the driver to raise and lower the plow without getting out of it. Restored, it is fully operational. It sold for $420,000. Photo from Google Images:

Schaaf’s Gas Traction Company Big Four 30 was the largest tractor of its day. The number refers to horsepower. It went for $294,000. Photo from GI:

Headline from nypost.com: “NYC migrants pile into vans they say are headed to Florida for Hurricane Ian cleanup.” Too bad they don’t get frequent flyer miles.

Politics in a nutshell in this NYP sub-headline: “Congress appropriated more than $5 trillion for COVID relief but almost $600 billion may have been lost to fraud.”

I’ve always hated tobacco products, even though I grew up in a house full of smokers. I thought e-cigs a good idea and immediately distrusted government’s efforts to put the kibosh on them. Excerpt from an NYP editorial, edited by yours truly: “FDA Center for Tobacco Products head Brian King said: ‘We do know that e-cigarettes’ have ‘markedly less risk than a combustible cigarette.’ A 2020 survey found just 2.6% ‘of Americans accurately believed’ this. Such ‘misperceptions’ keep ‘many smokers from switching to a safer product’ and cause ‘a rash of bad public policy decisions,’ such as ‘bans on non-tobacco flavors’ and ‘taxes that make vapes just as expensive as cigarettes.’” Anyone surprised?

Our local Dunkin Donuts has closed. It had a prime location, right across the street from the Sheepshead Bay train station. I’d guess the landlord jacked up the rent. Also, the place removed seating during the pandemic, which probably hurt business. I rarely used it. The last time I tried, in the early stages of Covid, it was taking credit card only payment. Our immediate area lacks fast food options. Subway is the only one left. I stopped going there years ago, fed up with their price increases for mediocre fare.

The floating book shop was rained out for a third straight day, and it doesn’t look any better for tomorrow.

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