Bids For 9-1-1 Equipment Accepted.

The Jasper County 9-1-1 Board voted to accept bids this week for radio and telephone equipment for a planned Emergency Event Communication Vehicle.

According to County 9-1-1 Director Bill Cade, he Board is moving ahead with plans to add a mobile communications and command unit to the resources available to emergency responders.

"The Board has set aside a budget amount of $135,000 to acquire and equip a vehicle for use at emergency scenes as well as an adjunct to the 9-1-1 Call Centers," said Cade, "and if necessary to support the local dispatch points around the County."

Cade said that despite what has become what he calls "the expected negative tone of some media reports," the Board has continued to seek ways to improve the public safety services to all Jasper County residents and visitors.

"We at the County 9-1-1 Center work hard at doing a good job," says Cade, "we sometimes do make mistakes but we meet monthly with every fire, medical and police service we dispatch to identify problems and get them resolved.

NASCAR to the Max

Though the concept of NASCAR racing is simple, be the first driver to complete the predetermined race distance, there are countless factors and decisions that go into having the winning car. To the novice fan, there are many terms and technical details that are discussed that may complicate their viewing pleasure.

Wedge, loose, tight, camber, and setup, are just a few of the terms that are mentioned during the course of a race to describe why a particular car is or is not performing as it should. There are several resources to help fans of every level. Two websites that will be of particular interest to NASCAR fans are www.nascar.com and www.thatsracin.com. Both sites are updated at least daily with nascar.com also having live updates during qualifying as well as the race. Both sites include links to information that will benefit every level of fan including definitions, rumors, fan club information, points updates and so forth.

Another resource that fans of all levels may find beneficial is "NASCAR for Dummies" by NASCAR superstar Mark Martin. Martin’s book covers all aspects of NASCAR racing but puts them in laymen’s terms. The serious fan will also find much of the information very useful. The book has information on all of the tracks the Winston Cup Tour visits including the track length, how to get there as well as ticket information. The book would make an excellent Christmas gift for the NASCAR fan on your list.

There are two magazines that would make excellent last minute gifts. "NASCAR Illustrated" is a high gloss monthly publication that highlights several drivers, teams and crews in each issue. It includes lots of action and still photographs as well as two pull out posters in each issue. "Winston Cup Scene" is a weekly newspaper style tabloid. It covers all NASCAR series’ including Winston Cup, Busch Grand National and Craftsman Trucks. It also includes driver, team and crew profiles, but focuses more on the actual races themselves including statistics, updates, behind the scenes reports, rumors and previews of upcoming races.

I read once that rabbits always return to their trail to confuse anything tryin’ to follow ‘em. They will run in a circle and come back to close to where they were jumped up.

The article I was readin’ made rabbit huntin’ appear to be a pretty simple task. Take your dog along to chase the rabbit and just wait until the critter makes the full circle.

Now I’m not sure the short legged dog I grew up with was a decent rabbit chaser. We did manage to scare up a rabbit or two, but I never saw ‘em again. After a bit, the dog would come sniffin’ tryin’ to pick up the trail. I’m guessin’ the dog is a critical factor in the art of rabbit huntin’ as described in the article. Bein’ smarter than the rabbit doesn’t make much difference if ya don’t have a dog that will hunt.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

The first car I drove in 1978 was a Saab with a two-stroke, slant-three engine. Friends jested that this was a lawnmower engine, because I had to add a quart of oil to the gas tank every time I filled it up. I took their remarks as a great insult ... to my lawnmower, which is a very nice machine.

Do two-stroke engines exist on the planet anymore? My father still owns this masterpiece. Would you guys refuse to work on it if it rolled into your shop? And most important, what kind of prayer would you recommend before shooting it between the headlights? -Bill

TOM: There are tons of two-stroke engines around these days, Bill. They’re in just about every chain saw, weed whacker, snowmobile and gas-powered nose-hair clipper on the planet. But they’re not used in cars much these days, at least not in the United States.

RAY: Two-stroke engines have great advantages. Because every other stroke is a powers stroke ( as opposed to every fourth stroke in a common, four cylinder car engine), two-cycle engines provide a lot of power and torque in a very small size. That’s why chainsaws use them. Do you think Lenny the Lumberjack wants to schlep a 25-pound four-cycle engine halfway up a spruce tree? I should say not!

TOM: Plus, two strokes have the added advantage of being able to be used upside down, since they don’t have oil-filled crankcases. So as Lenny is falling backwards out of the tree, he can still prune a few limbs on his way down.

RAY: The problem with the old two-cycle engines is that they ran very inefficiently and created a lot of pollution.