At last month’s meeting we voted to change the club bylaws, Standing Rule, Section 1. The vote passed and this rule now reads

"The regular monthly business meeting shall be held at 6:30 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month"

The location (Maggie Mae’s) was removed, thus allowing us change our meeting location.

Speaking of meetings, we hit a snag in changing our meeting location at the last minute.

While finalizing last minute menu details we were informed that a minimum of 20 meal orders is required for each meeting at Old Chicago’s or we’ll be charged $50 per meeting to ensure adequate wait service. Well, this is not really feasible for our club finances.

So unfortunately, we’re meeting at Maggie Mae’s Restaurant one more time for March.

Attention, all club members: Please be on the look out for another suitable meeting location to host our monthly meetings. Many of us in the club would like to move on …

Many men have had love affairs with their cars. Buster Mitchell wanted to make it official.

Jilted by his girlfriend, a beret Mitchell decided he wanted to marry his true love – his 1996 Mustang GT. "I’ve been broken-hearted and hung out to dry, so I am going to the courthouse and try to marry my car," Mitchell said before trying to get a marriage license Thursday in Knoxville, Tenn. Mitchell, 28 didn’t get very far in the application before the clerk dashed his dreams. It was after he listed his fiancé’s birthplace as "Detroit," her blood type as 10-W-40 that his plans sputtered.

Mitchell said he isn’t giving up. He plans to try to a couple of wedding chapels in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Hi Again! Ramblin’ around on this planet for as long as I have has given me the chance to observe many things. So I feel that I’m a pretty good at it. The other day when I was taking the faithful Toyota out to get it warm so I could once again prove to the state that I was not contributing to the brown cloud. I had the chance to put my observing powers to work. And I found that the art of merging into traffic is on the endangered list!

The Toyota is not known for its mind-blowing acceleration. A good running 3 cylinder Geo Metro with its "high tech fuelie" motor is cause for some serious soul searching before engaging in a cross -walk to crosswalk drag race! This means that when merging onto the interstate every available inch of the on ramp is to be treated as a precious jewel.

With this in mind I started down the on ramp from Filmore to I25 following a LARGE mid-seventies vintage GM station wagon. As he ambled down the ramp I knew the Toy and I were in trouble! As he neared the end of the ramp he decided it was time to display the fantastic braking power of his beast by coming to a stop! Yikes! One of the dreaded ‘Too shy shy’ mergers!

After this adventure I have come up with the following list of the more common types of mergers that I have encountered in my travels.

The Too shy shy - these timid souls are afraid to assert themselves anywhere. They tip toe down the on ramp and are either too slow to even consider moving into traffic moving at the blinding speed of 55MPH.Or they let you think that there may be some hope that they will be close to a speed that can safely merge only to dispel the thought by showing you their great late braking techniques at the end of the ramp.

The I am the center of the universe - these people are generally so important that talking on the cell phone, drinking coffee, and taking notes are all more important than concentrating on driving. They enter the on ramp at least 10 miles per hour over the posted limit, charge down the ramp never looking to see if there is a hole to merge into and then expect we mere mortals to make a place for them.

The Hey! You lookin’ at me - these people start down the ramp looking you in eye. They never vary their speed and they maintain eye contact with you the whole time. They feel that the cold, steely glare should be enough to intimidate you into backing off so that they will have a space to get into. It is quite interesting when they happen to have a Too shy shy merging in front of them!

The so you got a hot Mustang!? - these poor souls haven’t a clue! Generally they are driving some true "collector" car such as a Ford Pinto, AMC Eagle, Plymouth Cricket or Chevy Vega with enough crud such as cigarette smoke, kids finger prints, or dog slobbers (at least I think the thing riding shot gun was a dog) on the windows that they can barely see. But, somehow they see you and then set out to prove to you that their car is faster than your Mustang. Discretion being the better part of valor I let them blast by me in a cloud of unburned fuel and oil smoke rather than find out that last month given the choice between buying a pack of smokes and fixing the brakes they picked the pack of smokes!

Whatever happened to looking to see where there was a hole in traffic, looking to see that the ramp is clear, and getting on with the job at hand - get up to speed and merge into the hole you picked out?

Well, once again my crystal ball is broken. At the last meeting I said that the Pueblo Mustanger’s show and the Abbey show were on the same weekend. Not so! The Pueblo show is May 8^th & 9^th and the Abbey on May 22^nd. I thought I had gotten my crystal ball fixed when I did not buy Cobras at $6000 in ‘66. Anyhow, I hope that we can have a good turn out for both events.

I have gotten some information on the 20^th International Mustang Meet in Cody Wyoming on September 3-6. Entry fee is $35 and the banquet is $20 per adults and $10 per child. Hotels range from $40 to $75. I will have some flyers at the next meeting.

I don’t know about you but I’m ready for the upcoming good weather. This talk of the car shows and the Roundup gets me up like nothin’ else. This year’s round up plans to bigger and better than ever. Ford Motorsports and SVT are bringing a ton of stuff and with this being the 35^th anniversary of the Mustang the Roundup can only be great!!

After talking about how well my crystal ball works I almost hate to bring this up but........

The 1999 Mustangs and here I mean the low number or unusual color/option cars stand a chance of becoming very collectible do to the fact that the fire in Mustang plant has production down to very low levels!

A couple of tips for the next time you need to do some touch up painting in the engine bay of your pony. One, use aluminum foil to mask off things. It conforms better to the odd shapes encountered on the motor or firewall. Two, use a "Scotch-brite" pad to rough up the surface of parts that don’t need sanding before painting them.

A good read for us "motor heads" Old Tractors and The Men Who Love Them by Roger Welsch. Although he writes about tractors many of the helpful hints on dealing with spouses can be applied to Mustangs.

Well, enough ranting and raving! Looks like a good summer ahead of us. I hope to see at the next meeting and for sure on the road behind the wheel of your Mustang!.......Ross

February’s bowling was a blast! We lost by 13 pins. The AMC’rs averaged 351 to our 338 (for three games). The pot is up to $53! Come on down. We need your help if we’re going to pull this one out of the fire this month.

The next event is Saturday March 27, 7 PM at Peak Bowling Center 2861 North Prospect (two blocks south of Filmore). Come join all the fun.