GM's 100 Millionth Small Block

GM is claiming it has just built it’s 100,000,000th small block!
After reading the GM media release it is obvious that this number isn’t
just the small block us old guys think of. It includes all the V8s (think
LT and LS) considered “small” (versus those we know as ‘big blocks’)
and even some V6s. The V6s are the 4.3 engines that are virtually the
familiar “small block” V8, just missing two cylinders.
Anyway, the trivia is fascinating for, again, us old guys who grew up
adoring the ‘GM small block’!
For those of you who want a few hours of diversion to cope with this
winter’s lull in cruising, head to http://media.gm.com/100Msmallblock
for all the details right from GM.
 

Don't Plug In Cars Inside Garages

Winnipeg's assistant fire chief is advising people against plugging in vehicles inside garages or running heaters. Bill Clark says anything from a frayed cord to something falling on the element of an in-car heater could spark a fire.  "I'm certainly not a fan of [plugging in while in a garage]. I mean, my car in the garage, I never plug it in," he said. "It's not a good idea, not a good idea at all." Numerous recent house fires have started in the garage.

Ray Is Off To El Salvador

Ray has left for El Salvador today and will be back at work next week Thursday. He along with others are in the process of helping the village of La Linea – about 3000 people – relocate to a new location because the ground under the current village is unstable enough that the next major storm will send everything crashing down the mountain side. About ½ of the families in La Linea have been living in “temporary plastic shelters” for the last 2 years.

A new piece of land has been purchased, architectural drawings for the village have been completed and money has been collected for a water system.

The purpose of this trip is to meet with community leaders to put final plans in place and find out from them exactly what Build a Village needs to do to help them make this new village a reality.

Click the link below if you are interested in learning more about Build A Village.

Build A Village

Winter Survival Kit

Now that winter has finally arrived in Manitoba, West Park recommends all drivers carry a winter survival kit with the following items:

 Warm winter gloves, toque and boots
Blanket or extra clothing
Bag of sand
Shovel
Ice scraper and/or snow brush
Candy or chocolate bar for energy
Extra windshield washer fluid
First aid kit
Hardcopy local map (not just a GPS unit)
Flashlight and batteries
Flares
Waterproof matches
Battery jumper cables
A fully-charged cell phone

Besides West Park's recommendations for the winter emergency kit that were mentioned above, I also carry the following in my winter emergency kit:
Tow strap
Candles
Multi tool
Scarf/Balaclava

 My winter clothes are all old items I don't wear any more (or you could purchase at MCC), all of the tools are "extras", so everything stays put in the duffle bag I use as my winter emergency kit. There is no transfering of stuff from vehicle to vehicle or in and out of the house. The bag stays in my vehicle all winter long.  - Jer

Just unveiled... Buick Encore.

The Encore is a compact luxury SUV but it's even more compact than most. It's about six inches longer than the truly tiny Nissan Juke. You can expect to see more SUVs of about this size from other luxury automakers but General Motors is already boasting that the Encore is roomier inside than upcoming small SUVs from Audi and BMW.