A Publication
of the Jaguar Club of Tulsa, Inc.
February, 2005
NEW
ORLEANS CAJUN FEST
Saturday,
February 12th
7:00
p.m.
It’s
Hurricane Season in the Big Easy and we are going to do our best to keep the
party tradition of Mardi Gras alive with Food, Fun and Hurricanes.
Windy? No, actually they are
frozen and delicious!
Warren
and Carroll Werling have graciously opened their home again for a club
gathering. The Werlings live at 8511 S. Winston in Tulsa, and the party starts at 7:00 p.m.
The club is providing the food so
there will be plenty of seafood gumbo and for non-seafood lovers, a delicious
entouffe and of course a King cake. Creole
cooking tradition at its best is being catered by “D’Boat”, a popular
Tulsa eatery.
The
Werlings have a great deck on the back of their house and we are hoping that the
weather will be mild so we can sit around the fire and enjoy those Hurricanes!
Please
call the Werlings at (918) 495-3578 and let them know how many are in your party.
Remember, you do not have to bring a thing except your appetite, so come
and enjoy an evening of New Orleans style fun.
Breakfast
at the Sheraton - Saturday Feb 5th
Our
regular monthly meeting of the minds (and appetites) for a great buffet
breakfast and general good conversation. The
coffee will be ready at 9:00 am. See
you there!
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Our
newest members are Scott and Charlotte
George of Mt. Vernon, MO. The
Georges are the proud new owners of a 1997 XK8. Some of you may recognize this BRG convertible as “Mini”,
formerly owned by Don & Sandy McArthur.
We are delighted to welcome Scott and Charlotte to the club and we are
glad to know that “Mini” is in good hands and is still a member of this
group.
Don’t
worry about Don and Sandy, they are still with us and their current Jaguar count
stands at 4. We look forward to
meeting the Georges’ at an event soon.
COMING EVENTS
Be
sure to check the last page of this newsletter as we have scheduled quite a few
events for the next several months. Once
again your board is trying to get a good variety of things including both
weekend and week night dates. We
hope that there will be something that every one of our members will want to
attend. Also if you have an idea
for an event or want to help with one, please let any of the board members
listed on the last page
NEWSLETTER
From
the editor: As you can all see, our “Cat Tale” is back to health.
I would like to say special thanks to Steve
Cleveland who supplied the picture software to replace the program that was
lost. To the members in general,
thanks for your patience while I “re-assembled” my computer.
I hope I (and you!) never have to do this again!
Just
a reminder, If you see a picture in the newsletter or on the club web site that
you would like to have a copy of, just e-mail me at mmra@valornet.com
and I will send it to you.
CRUISE
CONTROL
By – Linda Young
There
have been a couple of auto accidents in the area of late that has prompted a
discussion about the use of the cruise control feature.
A recent item in the Wall Street Journal auto question and answer forum
ran this question from a California reader.
Is it safe to use cruise control in rain or on wet pavement?
WSJ: “Car makers often warn
that cruise control should be used only in light traffic on open roads and in
good weather. There have been
reports of accidents involving cruise control when the car lost traction - or
hydroplaned - in slippery conditions. Some
car makers warn that the steady throttle of cruise control - like keeping
one’s foot on the gas - could cause the wheels to spin when they hit a wet or
icy patch of road. Car-company
representatives say the cruise-control warnings reflect the fact that drivers
should be particularly vigilant when conditions are less that ideal, and
cruising along on what amounts to partial autopilot tends to lull some drivers
into a false sense of security.”
My
X-type is particularly sure footed on wet pavements due to the 60-40 all wheel
drive but, I wondered what Jaguar had to say about using cruise control.
I checked my manual and there on page 16 of section 4 under the heading
“Cruise Control” it says in RED letters “WARNING: Only use cruise control
when conditions are favorable, for example, straight, dry, open roads with light
traffic”
I
don’t have access to manuals for other Jaguar models but my gut feeling is
they have the same warning. You might check your manual just to see.
If you are driving some other brand auto with cruise control, I would bet
the same warning applies. DON’T
USE CRUISE CONTROL ON WET PAVEMENT. The
life you save could be your own.
THE
CHINA REPORT
ED.
NOTE: Club members Les and Joan Neidell are currently in China for 5 months
while Les teaches at the university. I
have printed an edited version of their first letter since arriving. For those
who might like to read the long version (more detail) I will be happy to forward
the letter.
January 21, 2005
FIRST CHINA LETTER FROM
CHENGDU
We
finally have a working computer and email so that we hope to keep everyone
informed about this astonishing experience.
There
are so many different Chinas – from the hopelessly backward to the incredibly
advanced. All this is from a very closely controlled society. For
example, it is still legally a crime to have a TV dish. The central
government tries to control information at all costs. It’s a hopeless
task of course, but that doesn’t prevent them from trying.
We
had almost 4 weeks of travel before arriving in Chengdu. And yes, we did
escape the earthquake and tsunami – although not by much. We had planned
to be in Phuket if we were not able to link up with our friends in Chiangmai.
We were actually airborne from Cambodia to Thailand when the earthquake struck.
More about that later, first I will tell you about Chengdu and the
university while the memories are fresh.
Think
of a culturally deprived backwater with a large number of students – say
Stillwater, Oklahoma as an example. Now add 10 MILLION people, and locate
it 1000 miles from the next city, and you have some idea of what Chengdu is
like. In the past few years there has been much building, but unlike
Shanghai and other industrialized Chinese cities, Chengdu is in a recession, and
ongoing construction has been slowed or stopped. The weather is as
expected – chilly and moist. Most days range between 35 and 45
Fahrenheit, but there are constant clouds or worse – an ongoing mist. Traffic
is not THAT bad, considering that 10 million people are on the move. There
really aren’t that many motorized vehicles on the road, compared to Bangkok
and Shanghai. Both of these cities make the Long Island Expressway seem
like a sea of tranquility.
The real traffic issues are not from auto and truck congestion, but from
bicycles and scooters that seem to be everywhere, and a general disregard for
all traffic laws as we know them. Bike and scooter riders NEVER have
helmets and bikes NEVER have lights. Bikes often have entire families on
them, as mom & dad on their way to work drop the kid off at school.
Today I saw a bike rider with an umbrella in one hand, talking on his
cell phone with the other, all the while negotiating a turn on one of the
busiest corners in town.
Red lights are treated as merely suggestions by all concerned –
especially bus drivers. The only means of public transit are buses and bus
drivers act as if the Indy 500 is their goal. They pull out and pass other
buses and cars, and often drive for extended periods on the wrong side of a
double line. We have seen numerous fender benders, however, we have
not yet seen a pedestrian hit, and we have been told that hitting a foreigner is
especially frowned upon.
For
a while I thought there were no storm sewers, because the streets were filled
with water from the constant mist. But today I found out that there ARE
storm sewers, the streets are simply pitched in the wrong direction. There
are large numbers of women who come out when it rains with straw brooms and
SWEEP the standing water towards the sewers.
Living Conditions:
There are many lovely and luxurious apartments available. Many of the
students share two huge and lovely penthouse apartments. The apartment we
THOUGHT we had rented was praised by its previous tenant and has been described
as luxurious by the students now living in it. We, quite frankly, are in a
relative dump, not because the apartment itself is bad, but sparse furnishings
and a disgraceful condition really adds to the discomfort we feel.
Earlier I mentioned that we think we can make it here – I haven’t detailed
the huge communication problems which exist – we will do that in the next
letter. We’re working with agent to
get a different apartment and have refused to sign a lease until the problems
are resolved.
Other
than the apartment problem and being absolutely “lost” because there is no
English spoken anywhere we are doing well. We often get physically lost
because all street signs are in Chinese characters, which at the moment we
cannot distinguish. But we were able to buy cell phones and do all the
odds and ends one has to do when setting up new living quarters. So there
have been small successes and the Chinese people on a one-to-one basis have been
incredibly helpful. We are constantly amazed at their patience with us and
their willingness to go to great lengths to help us.
Till next time. Joan &
Les
THE
PRINCE OF DARKNESS
The
recent issue of “AutoWeek” magazine had a big article about the Detroit Auto
Show. They had words of praise for
Jaguar concept car and they are well deserved BUT it seems that Jaguar is
bedeviled by an old familiar ghost. Here
is their quote as it appeared under a photo of the car moving up the ramp.
“In Detroit, Jaguar’s Advanced Lightweight Coupe rolled onto a Cobo
Hall stage with – we couldn’t make this up if we wanted to – one lit
headlight.” Maybe Coventry needs to consider and exorcism.
Lucas, “The Prince of Darkness” strikes again!
Well,
after everyone had a good snicker about that little mishap the praise was heaped
on the car. The Jaguar Advanced
Lightweight Coupe or ALC, as it is being called, is the second Jag to be crafted
from aluminum. The low weight, V-8
power and paddle-shift automatic promise to deliver Coventry’s most fun drive
yet. The designer, Ian Callum, was involved extensively in the design of Aston
Martin’s DB9 and Vanquish. While the car bares some resemblance to Astin
Martin, the ALC is pure Jaguar. The
reviewers were impressed and their comment was it “leaves us wondering what
other surprises the cat has up its sleeve.”
If
you want to see the car check out the Autoweek.com web site and click on Detroit
Auto show. They have several
pictures of this sleek new prototype. Let’s
hope this cat goes from the “concept” to reality.
CABIN
FEVER CURES
By
– Linda Young
Well, fellow sportsmen, it appears that
we have been “one-upped”. A
recent “Autoweek” magazine spotlighted the “Power Tool Drag Races”. Yes, angle grinders, chain saws, belt sanders, circular saws,
drill motors and skill saws built into lean, mean racing machines (Well, some of
them, anyway).
The crazies, er, engineers gather once a year at the Ace Junkyard in San
Francisco (Ace International Race Way for the weekend)
to race their machines down a 75ft long, two lane 12” wide wooden
track. Need the wood to provide
traction for the blades, brushes, chains or what ever that propel the racer.
This makes our jet powered 2-liter bottle racers look tame.
Over the several years this event has been run the promoters have
perfected the runoff area to a buffer zone of mattresses, junk yard debris,
discarded sofas and cushions. There
are also breakables to provide effect when racers braking systems failed which
means somebody didn’t pull the plug quick enough.
Tension
is high when the “flag girls” dressed in duct tape bustiers, hot pants, knee
pads and steel toed boots take to the track to start the races.
These home built machines represent the time and money of the racer
especially since no manufacture in his right mind who puts “do not remove
safety shield” on his product would give these guys money!
The
contestants are hardy souls who have graduated from some of the finest
engineering and design schools in the country.
Many are veterans of “Junkyard Wars” and “Battle Bot’s” TV
fame. Kind of makes you wonder
about the schools that educated them, doesn’t it?
The creations are considered art forms and many certainly do express the
social, political or anarchistic attitude of the builders.
The opportunity to insult, outrage or defame is most definitely equal
among entrants.
The
details of this event are available for all to see at www.qbox.org. (parental discretion is suggested). Click on “past shows” at the top of the page for a list
of pictures. Be sure to check out
the pictures listed under “Team KISS”.
They tell a pretty good story about this event.
Ok,
are you thinking about that old Skill Saw in the garage that you haven’t used
in years? Who has a back yard that
is at least 100 feet long? We will
need several 200 foot extension cords. I’m
sure we have some electricians in the club.
Just
for grins, if you looked at the web site mentioned above, just send me a note
about what you thought (mmra@valornet.com).
I promise I will not tell anyone you visited the site.
After looking at it myself I just can’t help but believe a lot of these
people own Jaguars or some other English car.
They just seem like the right kind of folks!
JAGUAR
PRINT ADS
By
– Linda Young
Have
you seen the latest series of print ads from Jaguar?
They feature words like “envy”, “lust”, “greed”, and so
forth. The most recent issue of
“Jaguar Journal”, Mike Cook, the Editor had an opinion about these ads.
I have an opinion, too. Do
you? I’d like to hear from you
about what you think of these ads. E-mail
me at mmra@valornet.com.
Next month I’ll tell you what I think and see if we agree.
WORLD
TRAVELER NEWS
Seems as though our club is full of
travelers lately. Sue Neil and Jim
McGowen just returned from Florida. Stan
“Surfer Boy” Lackey is back from a month in California. Ken and Georgia Snoke went to Antarctica (ask Georgia about
the penguins). The Neidells are in
China for 5 months. The West’s
and the Young’s are on the way to Mexico on Friday.
How come no one set me a post card?
FOOD
FOR THOUGHT
- Why
do people constantly return to the refrigerator with the hopes that
something new to eat will have materialized?
- How
do those dead buts get into closed light fixtures?
- Why
do old men wear their pants higher than younger men?
CLASSIFIED
Classified
ads are free to club members. To
place an ad e-mail to mmra@valornet.com or call (918) 258-8320.
For
Sale: 1976 XJ6C.
BRG with biscuit interior. Paint
and interior in very good condition. Nice
driver, low mileage, A/C works! New
Dunlop tires (all five), original 8-track, rebuilt transmission, factory tool
kit, manuals, parts book and Delanair manual.
Drive anywhere. Always scores high in driven class. Asking $12,000. Call
Richard Crump (918) 587-3939 (w) or (918) 541-7378 (cell)
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