On this day in 1999 I moved in with the wonderful woman who has been my wife for more than 20 years.
On this day in 2004 my marvelous mom died.
For me, this day—January 9th—is a most apt metaphor for my life. I fervently wish that, just once, I could enjoy a relatively long and uninterrupted stretch of good fortune. It seems to me that such a span does occur for others.
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How to segue to something else, to anything else…
Trying to transition I will quote Thomas Jefferson via The Muscleheaded Blog:
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
Once again, I hope the promise of the future is better than history.
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On this day in 1926 the first Pontiac was shown at the New York Auto Show. From 365daysofmotoring.com (unfortunately, not a secure website) is a picture of the ad for the first Poncho:
The creation of Pontiac by General Motors as the companion make for Oakland came from GM President Alfred Sloan’s desire to create “A car for every purse and purpose.” In other words, Sloan felt that segments of the automobile market existed for which GM didn’t have a product.
LaSalle, Cadillac’s companion make, is remembered today for its styling and for being Harley Earl’s first contribution to GM design. The LaSalle was produced from 1927 to 1940. Pontiac became so successful that its parent make, Oakland, was discontinued after the 1931 model year.
The companions for Buick and Oldsmobile—the Marquette and Viking, respectively—were victims of the Great Depression. The Marquette, despite decent sales under the circumstances, was produced only for one year, model year 1930. (About 35,000 Marquettes were made.) Buick management, the GM divisions had much more autonomy in those days, felt that given the economic conditions of the day, the expense of Marquette production was not prudent. The Viking, the only companion make priced higher than its parent, limped along for three model years (1929-1931) with total sales of just 7,224 units.
Pontiac, of course, survived until the GM bankruptcy/reorganization of 2009-2010. I have written before about my affection for Pontiac and its significance in my life. It seemed only fitting to note its beginning on this day and its history fits my personal theme of the day, as well.
#YinAndYang
#LongLivePontiac
#somanycarsjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
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P.S. A picture of a recent acquisition, appropriate for today’s post.
Disaffected Musings 