Jay's Interest: April 2017

I was reading an article the other day about how few cars are now built with manual transmissions.  I have to assume that many readers of this column have fond memories of learning the intricacies of using a clutch, and I feel really bad for today’s young drivers who will never feel the awesomeness of driving a stick. I remember the first time I drove one – my dad sent me to Lincoln with a pickup full of race car tires. I had NEVER used a clutch before, but I remember he told me “just don’t come to a complete stop on a hill and you’ll be fine”. By the time I got back to Malvern I’m not sure what was more worn out, my clutch or the middle finger of every person I encountered at a stop light.

This month’s featured song is “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot. It was number 10 on the Casey Kasem Top 40 countdown back in March, 1974. I highly encourage all of you to download the song on iTunes or watch the video on YouTube.  They don’t make songs like this one anymore.

Did you know that it was National Waffle Day a couple weeks ago?? I spent the entire day not being able to make up my mind about anything….

Starting in January, 2018 we are going to start charging a monthly fee to customers who still receive their monthly bank statements by mail. So please consider signing up for email statements – they include the exact information that you currently receive in the mail, they are safe and secure, and best of all they are free.  Plus, you would get this newsletter in color!

I’ve been getting LOTS of feedback on my recent newsletters – I’m truly shocked at how many people actually read this thing. Apparently, my political stance has struck a chord with some readers, so I would just like to say this: I am probably the least political person on the planet.  I’m not a liberal, I’m not a conservative, and I don’t even know what right-wing or left-wing even means. Heck, I was going to vote for Senator McCain back in 2008 until he picked his running mate. Why?? Because he was the most qualified candidate.  But I will say this:  If President Obama had said and done the things that President Trump has said and done, I would have ridiculed him just the same. I don’t make fun of Donald Trump because he’s a Republican, I make fun of him because he invites ridicule with his words and actions. Don’t insult my intelligence with “alternative facts” and microwave cameras or try to convince me that any news organization that has the audacity to question you is fake. Just be the President. Represent our country with class and dignity and resolve. Understand that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Understand that this is a 4-year marathon, maybe an 8-year marathon. Pick your battles and quit worrying about the size of things. And again…..quit tweeting.

And finally, an older gentleman was stopped by police at 2:00 a.m. The policeman asked the gentleman where he was going at that hour and he responded that he was headed to a lecture about the effect that alcohol and tobacco have on the human body. The surprised officer asked the gentleman who would be giving a lecture at that hour of the day and the guy answered “that would be my wife”.

Have a great April!!  Jay