First…some good news, for a change. The results of my latest thyroid ultrasound were better than ever. Even the one growth (of about six) on my thyroid that appeared “troublesome” in the past no longer seems to be. All growths were small, <1 cm. The doctor said I could have more imaging in two years, but that wasn’t strictly necessary.
My TSH levels have always been in the normal range although sometimes with some interesting fluctuations within the range. Whatever is ailing me is almost certainly not a function of my thyroid.
More than 52,000 new cases of thyroid cancer and more than 2,000 deaths from it occur every year in the US. Women are 3 times more likely to develop thyroid cancer. Heredity also seems to be a major risk factor.
Second…the months of April, May, June and July of 2020 are the four highest months in terms of views/visitors in the history of Disaffected Musings. If the average of these four months could be maintained for an entire calendar year, that would represent a doubling of these figures compared to 2019. Obviously, people being home much more is playing a role in the increase in blog activity. I am grateful for the increase in views, but I will continue to ask for the sale. Please feel free to tell your friends about the blog and to pass along the URL (https://disaffectedmusings.com), please feel free to click on any (or all) of the related posts at the bottom of each post, please feel free to “Like” any post and to submit thoughtful comments.
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Speaking of the history of this blog…it was inevitable, I guess. Where Is Cristy Lee? is now the most read post or entry in the history of Disaffected Musings, even surpassing the About page.
I first published the post about Cristy Lee in January when she didn’t appear on the Motor Trend broadcast of the Barrett-Jackson auction from Scottsdale. Of course, we later learned that broadcast would be the last on Motor Trend, at least for the foreseeable future, as whenever the Barrett-Jackson live auctions resume (now tentatively scheduled for late October, also from Scottsdale) they will be broadcast on History and fyi.
As I suspected when she joined the cast of Garage Squad, Lee left All Girls Garage after season 8. Her departure, and the departure of Lou Santiago and Jared Zimmerman from Car Fix, are almost certainly due to financial considerations. As I have written before, it is show business. The current hosts of both shows, which are produced by the same company, are almost certainly earning less than the previous host combinations. Of course, I am “obliged” to show a picture of the lovely Ms. Lee, this time from her website cristylee.tv that I don’t think is actively maintained.
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Here’s a still from a video on the minion of the Evil Empire, also called YouTube, of a 1961 Pontiac Ventura bubble top. Ever since seeing a 1962 model on TV at the Mecum auction from Arizona in 2019 I have really developed a hankering for a car like this:
I think the Mecum car went unsold at a high bid of $62,000, so a car like this is not in my future barring a lottery win. I do, however, have a long history with Pontiac and will always have a soft spot for the make. What is life without dreams?
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Disaffected Musings 
I’ve never been a big fan of most of the “fixit” shows. Most tend to gloss over the drudgery and highlight the “glamorous” parts. It’s rare that you see them fighting for 30 minutes with a rusty bolt, and then having to spend 2 hours CAREFULLY drilling out the broken one or the bloody knuckles from when the wrench slips off that rusty bolt (and the cursing that follows). Most also don’t show the hours that are spent getting a car prepped for paint, or the hours that go into getting the panels to fit well with decent gaps. Same for rebuilding the powertrain. There is no possible way to rebuild an engine in one day, and have a proper rebuild. I could replace the bearings and rings in a motor and have back together in one day, but that not a full rebuild, it’s only a stopgap repair.
I understand it’s “show biz”, and they have a time frame to get the show into. Unfortunately this creates unreal expectations for some when they want other to do restoration or repairs on a vehicle. They can’t understand why someone wants $12,000 to paint their 1970 Pontiac LeMans because they don’t show all the prep work on whatever show it was they watched.
Just my $.02
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Thanks for the comment, sir.
No question that the “fix-it” shows can create unrealistic expectations. That’s one reason I liked FantomWorks. They would show that the builds could take more than a year and could cost six figures.
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I too am a fan of the early 60’s GM “bubbletops”.
The only “fix it” car show I prefer to watch is Stacey David’s Gearz. Unfortunately he is no longer on Motor Trend TV but on some obscure MAV Channel. He is much more informative and tries to educate than all of the others. There are a couple of the shows out there which are nothing but an endless display of products from the sponsors who want their products hyped. Those get an endless pass from me.
I too miss Cristy Lee and her knowledge. I most miss Jessi Combs more as she was a real “mechanic” and not afraid to get her hands dirty. Her unfortunate accident and passing on her land speed record try deprived us all of her talent and skills.
I am happy for you and the results of your thyroid tests. Keep up the doctor visits to keep it under observation as he recommends.
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Thanks, Philip.
Summer is almost over and soon the Arizona weather will be lovely.
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Ha, ha, ha Fat chance as it was 113 F in Tucson yesterday. Phoenix was 118 F on Thursday and 116 F yesterday. Some folks say Phoenix only has two temperatures Hot and Oh My Gosh. No attempt from here to discourage you from moving to Arizona. Oh, and on the day it hit a record 122 F in Phoenix in 1991, I had to sit in the car in the line for the emissions test.
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I think dry and 115F is no worse than the humid and 90F we get here.
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“Dry and 115F” is a relative term. 115F and 25 or 30% humidity can be quite uncomfortable during the August rainy season. However, not as bad as the 98F and 98% I experienced one summer day in Detroit.
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Dewpoint, sir. We have dewpoints of 70 or higher. It’s rare in Phoenix to have dewpoints of even 60.
Besides, everything is a tradeoff. 75 degrees in December beats 35 and windy. If that means four months of heat so be it.
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Why do you think we still live in Arizona after 69 years for me and Beverly’s entire life. If I want to go play in the snow on Christmas Day, I just have to drive about 10 miles up the mountain in my front yard and have a snowball fight if the Lord blessed us with snow on the mountaintop on that day.
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Wow! What a beautiful Pontiac. Those years for GM created some of my favorite automotive designs. As a teenager, my doodles of cars always tended to look like G-M products.
Glad to hear your positive report from the doctor.
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Many thanks, sir.
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Congratulations on the positive health reports!
My dad held 3 licenses – Class A Mechanic, Industrial Mechanic, and Millwright. I remember back when it was ‘The Nashville Network’ and used to have ‘Two Guys Garage’ and ‘Shadetree Mechanic’, he’d always say “oh yeah, I could it all that done in an hour too, if I had a shop that was always ready for me to walk in, tools laid out, nothing breaks…” But let’s face it, no one is going to tune in to watch a guy spend half an hour searching for his 3/8” socket or cursing a rounded rusted nut.
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Thanks, sir.
Yes, we should never forget that TV is a distillation of real life, sometimes an excessive distillation.
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