The Bench Racers Journal

[Paul F]

Terry thanks so much for taking the effort to do this. Due to these more trying times than normal I especially look forward to your story posts. Your story is very interesting to me, and obviously many others. It also makes me reminisce on my first kart of those early years and my naive innocent childhood of the '60s. As usual I'm already trying to anticipate how the next chapter is going to unfold. As a side did you ever bump into Ron Salas during your karting? I bought a kart from him 4 years ago.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 27

The next thing dad turned some focus to is the front wheel bearings. These are tapered rollers, more commonly referred to as a Timken bearing, since the company came up with this type design. His advice was to wash them clean and remove all grease.

I ask why they shouldnt be packed in grease like he showed me on a car. He explained that for this application grease is not needed. For one, the bearings are exposed. Another reason is they dont need to be installed like a car to last 20,000 miles. These also dont take anything near the same load as a car. So there is no real build up of heat either. Still the most important reason is the amount of drag from that grease.

These bearings had been packed with grease. I noticed that when the kart came apart. Mr Cates had put it together that way. Thats why I had repacked them. Dad again explained the most likely reason for this. The kart has been used as a loaner and for people to get their first time ride in. He had spent time to make sure it would last long term without a lot of maintenance. Maximum speed was not a priority, but being near bullet proof was more a consideration.

I began tearing everything apart and did as he suggested. As I assembled the wheel this time, simply put a couple drops of motor oil on each bearing. I tightened them down and started to install the cotter pin. He stopped me again. Then went on to explain the difference on adjustments here. Let me show you the right way, he says.

When you tighten these bearings properly, only use your fingers. When castle nut just stops, back off one notch until cotter pin hole lines up. Before installing it, try to move the wheel back and forth. If you can feel a very slight movement, then it is good. If it is slightly looser to get cotter pin to fit then go with that.

For this particular use it is perfect. Tightening the bearings this way is also acceptable for light duty trailers, but absolutely a no-no for front wheels on a car or truck.

After all of this reworking I was starting to get frustrated. Just wanted to get the kart together. It wasnt until those wheels were put back on and we spun them was I completely sold on the extra detail with work now done.

Both front wheels and rear axle now spin so smoothly. Its like you could walk away and come back ten minutes later. They would still be spinning. From now on I am going to fight impatience and try my best to see things thru the right way. Even if that means everything has to be torn apart a dozen times. I look over to see those front wheels are still just spinning and spinning. Wow!

Dad kept up with offering his help. Before I was not feeling so appreciative, but now realizing more and more the importance of details. He focuses on the front end. How to set the toe in. I had always thought you wanted these set toed in slightly. He explains how it affected the steering.

After some measuring and discussion on how the kart had driven last time, he recommended initially setting the toe at 1/16" out. If this makes the kart a little squirely, then try moving in to zero. If it doesnt act funny but will not steer in to the turn very well, might even adjust it out a little bit more.

Some more setup information I had not taken in to consideration. He made suggestions about using some small spacers on the rear axle step to adjust the tread width of wheels. You dont get much adjustment here, but if it is already close, you can fine tune it for the track conditions that day.

If the width is not close, then you can at least figure out if axle needs to be longer or shorter for optimum handling.

After an evenings worth of all these details, I realized that a log book would be of extreme value. Especially if setups change very much between different tracks and even from week to week. What started out as a great project at first just turned in to real work. But now things are really working.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 28

Our big plans for the first weekend post school obligations was watching the 1961 Indianapolis 500 pre-race coverage. Me and Steve had been planning and looking forward to this race for over a month. This is the first time to see it on a color television. Steve was really pumped about that. His dad had not given in on the family pressure yet to invest in a new color tv. It would take time, but he would eventually cave. They all do.

But Sunday morning I get a call from him. Seems like he came down with something. I did notice he was quieter than usual yesterday when we were finishing the kart.

He goes on to tell me his mom thinks he caught the flu. This brings back some scary memories from just a few years earlier.

It was 1957, I was only 9 years old. Had my fair share of chicken pox, measles and always a "near deadly" case of whatever was going around any particular year. The usual colds were common growing up. But that year there was what they called an influenza like nothing seen since the Spanish Flu from World War 1.

It was close to end of the year I first started hearing about the seriousness of this pandemic as they referred to as. The schools had all types of preventative measures we had to adhere to. Now we had more to practice every week. Not just preparing in case of an atom bomb from the Russians. This Swine Flu, as it was named, had brought its wrath here and more people than I could possibly count died from it thru 1958.

After hearing about all of the deaths and crippling effects of polio from my elders over the years, this seemed to be even worse. Maybe from all the talk and coverage on the radio. It was covered constantly everyday.

The schools never actually closed here, but I remember my grandparents stopping by several times. They only lived 1/4 mile away. I had walked to their house plenty of times back then.

But when visiting this time, they refused to come in. There were both of them standing outside on the front porch and keeping distance from all of us. It was really scary to me why they were acting this way. Had they gotten sick and didnt want us to get infected?

They had come by to drop off food. They insisted we all stay at home whenever possible and avoid close contact with others.

Now they are not taking any chances. Making sure we have plenty to eat and are standing firm about staying home for our own safety.

Both sets of my grandparents had lived thru the Spanish Flu in 1918. They also had mentioned their parents living thru the Russian Flu in 1889. There were always plenty of horror stories from smallpox and polio too. Everyone knew somebody that had been affected or died from them. Both friends and close family.

Those times are ones they dont like talking about much. Seems they all knew plenty of folks that suffered or died during these outbreaks. Some friends had even died within mere hours and days of developing the first symptoms.

What kind of diseases can do this? I kept thinking. I did get Scarlet fever once. Sure dont remember much of it. I was told my fever reached 104 and not really aware of anything most of that time. When my fever broke, I did remember my mom crying while holding me tight in her arms.

One of the obvious signs of scarlet fever was a bright red rash covering most of your body. I didnt have any signs of one at all. Unlike my brother. He even had bumps on his tongue. My throat was very sore, from the strep throat, and neck was all swollen, but nothing much other than having no strength.

I sure didnt think it was that bad initially. Just a few days later, after trying to get up and around again, I did have a good idea of what a train wreck felt like. My body was limp, and absolutely no strength for a week after this mess. If I did any more than just breathe, would be completely out of breath.

Steves older sister had taken ill from the flu, but quickly recovered. His mom also had close family lost when some of these diseases swept thru. She is not taking any chances this time around.

There wasnt that much we could do then, except keep distance from anyone that seemed like they had any cold symptoms. The usual covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing. Make sure to wash hands with soap and water after being out in public. Always remember being told about keeping my dirty fingers off my face. This happened only 3 years ago but seems like a lifetime as I think about it now.

I do remember there being a rushed vaccine. It turned out to be too little too late. Didnt work as well as first expected. Not widely available until the virus had run its course. Last year I remember how much hype there was about now getting a yearly flu shot. All the newspapers and night time news covered it plenty of times over the last two winters.

Well seems the pre-race coverage got rained out. So I ended up watching a lot of reruns of previous race highlights, driver profiles, and other racing going on instead. Even watched the time trials again. Oh well, so much for making plans.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 29

Since the Indy 500 pre-race coverage had been cancelled due to rain, that time slot in TV land had been filled with previous coverage and the usual reruns.

Over the last few years , I had always looked forward to watching every episode of Lassie. Jeff Miller had moved to the city and left Lassie to his friend Timmy Martin on the farm. In real life I could never abandon my dog.

But it was Lassie who made that tough and final decision to stay with Timmy. Over the next couple of years Timmy and Lassie ran into problems and got in all sorts of trouble together. But one episode I missed that only had been aired last December.

Today this very particular episode "The Big Race" was playing again. I thought it was very fitting since it was such a monumental weekend for racing.

Timmy and his friend Willie decided to build a racing kart. It was a Go-Kart 800 kit. Seems odd that the family just barely had enough money to scrape by on, but....They could afford this kart package. It cost $129. Thats a lot of money. Especially for a toy. A very fast toy tho. Maybe Timmy finally broke in to his piggy bank.

Another big surprise. Like nobody would see this coming. They managed to scrounge up  an old spare lawn mower engine. Not just any lawn mower engine mind you. But a McCulloch lawn mower engine. I knew McCulloch had made a lawn mower...but it was powered by a Westbend engine. This engine was a real Mc10. It even came equipped with a clutch. There was a Palmini ram air horn on the carburetor that looked something like an ancient wide mouthed blunder-buss. The motor was also bolted to an angle mount that happened to fit the kart perfectly.  How lucky could Timmy get? From lawn mower to gokart without any modifications.

The local track Timmy raced on was only a dirt oval. It was even close enough to just drive the kart there. Out there in the country where your next door neighbors lived miles apart, you could just hop in the kart and putt-putt your way to the track. Can it get any more perfect? Gotta love Hollywood.

Something else I always thought was odd. I liked to watch the show Fury too. Just like Lassie came on every week. It is about a kid my age with an awesome horse named Fury. What caught my attention was how similar the two ranches looked alike on both Lassie and Fury. They actually looked identical. Maybe just a coincidence I dont know.

I had worked on a McCulloch mower recently. Steves dad picked up one a few years ago at a garage sale for cheap. Not that great of an investment as he soon found out. It looked almost brand new, but wasnt running at that time. Fortunately the motor was very solid and reliable, mostly. Well almost. Some times. Ok not really at all. Not too bad on power for its size, this Westbend engine had proved its worth in other stationery applications. But not so much here on a lawn mower.



I actually had found one of these McCulloch mowers last summer. Helping dad with a trip to the local dump. Sitting there is all its lack of glory. I recognized it immediately. From earlier magazines featuring the very first karts and what was used for a motor. It was in sad shape. I couldnt resist. It came back home with me. Unfortunately it was locked up solid. That crankshaft was now a permanent part of the block.

The little engine when attached to a lawn mower base had a bad tendency to seize up the crankshaft pto bushing. There was a long snout hanging down to help support crankshaft and load from the cutting blade. Sometimes the seal would work its way loose or just fail altogether. Getting good flow of lubrication down there seemed to be a problem. Seems that cutting overgrown weeds were not a good idea. Imagine a lawn mower not being able to cut high grass? Hmm. Sometimes when cutting tall Johnson grass, it would get wrapped around the crankshaft and just wreak havoc on that little seal.



Already a couple of times now I had disassembled that mower and replaced that bushing. This was what the problem turned out to be the very first time. I even had to replace the crankshaft. The crank had twisted and nearly sheared off we found out after he bought it. During assembly, I even cross drilled some extra holes hoping to get better lubrication there.

This last time I got really brave with a not very educated hypothesis of mine. I thought about some way of getting gas/oil mix down there on the pto side crank trying to bypass the carburetor.

Last year I found an older Clinton chainsaw in someones trash pile. Obviously the first thing I did was tear it completely down just to see how it was made. After banging my head against the wall finally figured out how this carb did what it did. But I got the idea from here and tried to adapt the concept to Steves dads basket case mower.

The idle circuit was actually an indirect path that bypassed throttle valve and first lubricated the crank pto bushing and needle bearing on flywheel side. What was really odd is how the Tillotson carburetor accomplished this by running the idle circuit thru a small hole drilled next to the pulse hole for fuel pump. The pulse hole was plugged and not in use. Instead crankcase pressure was routed directly to the middle stack on carb. Fed by a hose connected to the intake manifold. This carb was your normal looking Tillotson but had an odd way of routing everything to make it work.




Without discussing this with Steves dad, I tee'ed into the fuel line to carburetor. Then using 1/8" copper tubing and brass fitting, ran a line down and fed the bushing directly. After connecting everything together I ran into a bigger problem than was expecting. Now the engine was running way too rich and wouldnt idle long before  loading up and die. Several attempts to resolve this failed. 

But I came up with one thing that finally showed big promise. Leaning down the low speed needle on carburetor helped out greatly. The needle was nearly closed before the motor would at least try not to flood out as bad. But now it would not rev up.

The next modification I did was add a shut off valve on that fuel tee. Now I could control the amount of fuel running down to the pto bearing. I had narrowed down the issue to the low speed jetting now must now be way off. Obviously since I am bypassing the idle circuit completely and feeding fuel directly into the crankcase. But due to my inexperience and complete lack of knowledge, isnt working as I had first thought.

It was time to get brave or chew bubblegum. And I dont like  Double Bubble. Another brain fart popped into my head. I didnt know if it would work or not, but only one way to find out. It was during the winter when I had plenty of time to tinker on the mower.

I disassembled the carburetor and traced out the fuel circuit. Using Marine Tex Epoxy I plugged up the small orifice in low speed circuit that controlled idle.

Now I was in uncharted territory in my limited knowledge of small engines. Was not sure if what I was thinking would work or burn up this fairly new but completely unreliable mower. How could I get blamed if it failed again?  And again? This had been the only thing consistent about the mower so far.

I fired up the engine and crossed my fingers. By adjusting the extra shutoff that fed fuel down to crank bushings, I could get the engine to idle now. Actually idling smoothly. I rev'ed it up but would hesitate and nose over too much.

If I opened up the low speed needle a lot, would fix the hesitation, but now engine was loading up too much. I kept working between these two adjustments until engine was running well. My confidence was riding high and felt the problem may have finally been resolved.

A small amount of fuel was now being pulled in thru the bypass line and had to lubricate the pto bushing first. This was what now replaced the low speed circuit. Well more or less. For now I say more. Good confidence boost. you know. One downside I noticed immediately is the choke had to be relied on heavily just to get it started now. Otherwise not much difference. Except the bushing was not brazing itself to crankshaft anymore.

There was always a downside when repairing this mower. Steves dad was very happy now that is was working. On the other hand, Steves mom would give me that death stare. She runs a tight ship under that roof. Time spent constantly fixing things over and over dont fly with her. Fix it once or find a replacement, so time and money are not wasted repeatedly.

She was so sick and tired of the problems this mower had given. She had already decided this mower needed to be replaced with a new one. Repairing it was not something she considered an option anymore. But I put a kink in her decision to replacing it.

When she would finally make up her mind about certain things, then it usually became law in that house. This is not a place I liked to find myself. And not the first time I had crossed this line here either. This must mean what is said about being stuck between a rock and a hard spot.

It seems that Steves dad had also been interested and reading those kart magazines. There was an advertisement for Steens synthetic oil. All kinds of claims were made about it. Steves dad had made a call to the company. After some back and forth about the problems this mower had been experiencing, he decided to purchase the oil. John Steen had all but guaranteed his oil would resolve the problems with the failed pto bushing. Especially on this particular motor. He had a lot of experience with the issues and had helped out Duffy Livingston a few years earlier with the exact same troubles. He highly recommended the Steens "C" synthetic oil.



Steves dad was so completely sold on the assurance from John, he insisted I remove all of my improvised repairs and put it back to the way it originally was.

I was very skeptical at first, but gave in to his demands. I tried to make every effort to improve on anything that could help as the engine was reassembled.

After the mower was back to the way it was, I completely disappeared for the afternoon. Did not want to be there if this oil was a complete failure. Sure enough that engine did its job over and over again. That synthetic oil cost about $7 a gallon. Yikes. A normal quart at 7-11 is only thirty-nine cents. At first this doesnt seem to pan out on cost, just to keep that mower running. But with the regular motor oil it took 16 ounces to a gallon. The synthetic only took 4 ounces. That did bring the average operational costs back down considerably, but still a little bit expensive on paper.

With each passing week when Steve cut the grass, I was expecting a call afterwards. But as of now the oil is proving to be superior to anything else that we knew was available. With that two cycle mower it really just plows thru any patch of grass. Doesnt bog or lug down like the normal 4 stroke usually operating a mower these days.

John Steen even boasted about Richie Ginther using Steens "C" oil in his Ferrari 250 GT at some SCCA race in Palm Springs back during the 1958 season.



Richie was leading the race with two laps remaining, and cutting a turn too tight had unknowingly torn off the oil drain plug from the engine. Richie still ended up winning that race. When the engine was later torn down to check for damage, there was no signs of any scoring to the bearings, pistons, or cylinders. What argument can you give to that kind of testimony?



Now there was one really major bummer to all of this. Steves dad didnt want the Steens catalog when his order was shipped. The catalog was free with order but postage would have cost an extra 15 cents, because it had to be mailed separately in an envelope. Oil was the only thing he was interested in from them. Arrgh!

[Blaine Robert Young]

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST TRIPS DOWN MEMORY LANE IN AGES !!!

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 30

Tuesday finally came around. From the weekends disappointment to this race finally underway, there had a bunch of discussion going around around about old tried and true verses new engineering developments. Some even referred to it as revolutionary. Alrighty then....

Of the 33 entries all but one were running conventional tube axles front and rear. 30 of these were equipped with the conventional torsion bar suspension. This had proven reliable and been the normal for years now. But this year there were two cars using coil spring with damper style shocks that had been developed by Monroe.

All of the pre-race chatter from the announcers and even continuing during every caution they were commenting about one particular car that had made the field. It was Jack Brabhams Cooper Climax. He started in the lucky number 13th position.

The announcers kept going over how much different this car was compared to all of the others in this years field. Its wheelbase was six inches shorter. The tread width, measuring from center to center of tires, was on average of about three inches wider. The car sat up noticeably taller too. It looked like a grass hopper in a swarm of beetles as one announcer had described it.

One big difference was the engine was in the rear of car instead of front design like the other entries. This wasnt something new, but never had proven to having a big advantage from previous years attempts.

There was one major difference in this car with its all four wheel independent suspension. It used a coil and damper system like those other two cars had been equipped, but developed by Armstrong in Great Britain.

They kept going on about this car was focused on and centered around last years Formula 1 design. With the engine in rear of car the frontal area was much less, that should reduce drag in open air. This is comparing against the other front engine entries.

Something that was repeated over and again was engine size and weight differential. This car was powered by the Conevtry Climax built engine. The engine was 80 cubic inches smaller and about 150 horsepower less that the 32 other competitors.

Another thing in its favor, this car was about 500 pounds less weight. But 150 less horsepower sure was a lot to give up even at that weight difference. Once you get these cars up to speed that weight didnt seem to be as much a factor. Maybe it wasnt as they were going on about.

For the last few years that I have been more interested in this race, didnt usually favor any driver in particular, but had my eye on either Parnelli Jones or A J Foyt. Eddie Sachs won pole position two years running and seemed to be a highly likely candidate from many of the commentators.

I never focused on anyone that started in front. They usually hold the lead early on, then seemed to drop out or crash before any chance of proving their driving skills. Anyway it isnt a real race to just lead the whole way. That is boring.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 31

Last year I remembered that horrible crash at start of the 1960 Indy race. There was almost no mention of it at first. Not until a caution flag came out during the race before any announcements of it was made.

There were stands set up in the infield of the northeast turn. This is one place many of the freak accidents occurred during the race. It was not uncommon for portable scaffolding to be assembled here that rose more than 30 feet up. You could get a much better view of the action around the track from a higher perch.

Right at last years Indy 500 start when the spectators all stood up at the drop of the green flag, one set of scaffolding tipped over and crashed down to the ground. Most of the people on this scaffolding tried to jump off and out of the way as it fell.

Some less fortunate spectators were the innocent victims seated on the lower stands below. They were trapped and crushed from the collapsing mass of timbers and piping. Not to mention the weight of bodies that were not able to get clear.

Watching that footage during a caution was sad to see. With all the shouting and screaming at start of race, the spectators either didnt notice or didnt bother about the situation for several laps. Two people died from the scaffolding falling and 50 people were injured and sent to the hospital.


Back to todays race, the flag finally drops after two laps with that awesome gleaming Thunderbird pace car leading the way, pulls off the track. John Hurtubise jumps into the lead and holds on to it for 36 laps. After a pit stop, Jim Rathmann took the lead, then Parnelli Jones relieved Rathmann of this position two laps later.



On lap 50 Paranelli Jones takes his first pit stop, then Eddie Sachs finally gets his chance to head the pack. Rathmann had some engine problems and dropped back. Jones takes back his lead after a pit stop and holding on during a yellow flag caused from a 5 car pile up in front of the pits.

This was a lucky break for whoever would be the lead car this lap. For the next 23 laps Jones remained there uncontested, since it was under caution. Leaders would receive $150 a lap. This was some easy money for that part of the race.

By lap 90 A J Foyt and Ruttman both had taken their turns leading some laps. But after that is was just Sachs and Foyt swapping positions for rest of the race. A J Foyt ended up taking the checker flag for his first Indy 500 win.




There were several cars worth noticing. Cliff Griffith drove the McCulloch Engineering sponsored car. It was painted up bright yellow and black. Its a shame engine problems took it out on lap 55. That was a good looking car.

Another entry was driven by Don Davis. His sponsor was Dart Kart by Rupp. At lap 49 he was involved in a crash that took him out for the remainder of the race.

Looking at the stats I noticed chassis builders like Trevis, Eperly, Watson and Kurtis made big numbers. But Offenhauser engines dominated the field with 32 of the 33 entries.

That one lone oddball engine entry was driver Jack Brabham with the British Cooper/Climax car. It started in 13th position and mostly uneventful throughout the race. Despite all types of speculation, it did manage to stay together and finish a very respectable 9th. There may be some changes in future chassis design due to this showing.



For my first week of summer break from school so far was going well. The actual Indy race was exciting. All the prerace hoopla started with the usual bands, music, and celebrities. Mel Torme sang the traditional  "Back Home in Indiana". I can remember back far as Diana Shore singing. Tho I had no idea who she was at the time. It was the first Indy race I watched.

Mom liked to hear Mel Torme. She told me Mel Torme was a true musical prodigy. He did a excellent job singing that song. Yea, whatever... thinking to myself. She then mentioned "The Christmas Song" was one of her favorites.

She told me that about 10 years earlier another well known vocalist, Morton Downey, also did a great job singing "Back Home in Indiana" at the 500 race a couple of times. I had no idea of who that even was. My eyes roll while she is going on and on. Way before my time. Obviously thinking this only to myself with no chance of words escaping my mouth. I kept very tight lipped.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 32

So the 1961 Indianapolis 500 is now officially in the history books. This was AJ Foyts first time to win here. Watching him drive and battling all the time to maintain a steady lead, definitely showed some great driving skills. Not to mention a couple of impressive pit stops. A pit stop could be a make or break for some decent drivers.

It would really suck for a good driver to actually loose his big chance over a fumble in the pits. That would also be a hard one for the pit crew to deal with. To think they are the ones that lost the race, not the driver. Yikes! I would be willing to bet this wont be the only time AJ Foyt wins one here at Indy. He is just too good not to be a repeat offender.

Well Steve called me up to discuss the race. His mom actually let him watch it in his room. I couldnt imagine actually having my own personal tv. Just for me to watch in my bedroom. Thats for rich folks. Doing this for Steve probably took a lot out of her, since she seems to think he has the flu. That is extracurricular activity you dont do when sick. Normally her home remedy for most ailments is a honey and whiskey mix that gets heated up, then off to bed for the duration. Sorry if you are from Kentucky that would be bourbon. So I know Steve has gotten a lot of rest since last Saturday. Maybe even a hangover if getting heavily medicated.

He didnt sound ill on the phone and seemed to think he was almost cured. Must be the high percentage of alcohol killed off that nasty bug. Who knows. He commented on the Jack Brabham car. Even tho it cost a small fortune for that one car to be built specifically for this race, and be obsolete next year, didnt fair too bad. We talked about some of the finer points of the race and called it a night.

For the next few days I had to help dad at work. They were short handed with some employees on vacation. I wasnt excited about it, but was getting paid in real money. That makes for a convincing argument there. For $1.75 an hour, I guess it was worth putting up with some inconveniences in my very busy life.

Really, working at the Sign Shop wasnt so bad. It just didnt have the appeal of something mechanical that makes noise. I didnt have to get there until 9 am. Then only worked till 3:30. But got paid for a full 8 hours. It was boring for the most part. We printed signs for Safeway grocery stores. All of the big window signs and those smaller price labels for just about everything on the shelves.

The big window signs were nearly tall as I was. They were silk screen printed using a stencil cut out for whatever was being advertised. Dads main job was something that took some patience and talent, I thought. He sat there most of the day and hand painted each stencil with a small brush. The lettering was in a form of brush stroke font.

To be clear, for the large window signs, there was a set of numbers to trace out with. But all of the numbers and lettering on those small price cards were done free hand.

The stencil was cut from something very much like wax paper. He would cut each letter out with a very small and extremely sharp knife. These knives were nothing but simple in construction. Dad would hand make them to fit for his purpose. I was always amazed to watch him cut those stencils so precisely.

After a day of cutting there was usually a big pile of very small thin lightweight pieces of the stencil material dropped around the floor everywhere. Anytime I used to drop by, just grab the door open and walk in. With that rush of air following me inside, those little scraps would fly up everywhere on top of the tables and any place in between.

Dad would always yell about not letting the door fly open and then close real fast. It was a regular occurrence to the point I thought was funny. Well it wasnt funny after the last time a few years back. Granddad gave me a not too happy scowl and stuck a broom in my hand. No further discussion was needed what to do with it.

Every letter dad cut out from stencil was identical to the next. He painted them so easily with fluid strokes but they all looked exactly the same. Cutting them out of stencil didnt take any longer than time to paint each one. Painting each letter was no different than someone signing their name on something.

The next step is take that stencil and lay down, top a piece of paper on table under the silk screen frame. That stencil gets centered and frame is set down over it. They pour paint on silk at one side and run squeegee across. Then lift the screen up and put tape on edges of stencil. The paint is what holds stencil to silk. Taping just keeps stencil from trying to peel itself off.

All I had to do was just grab the corner on each piece of very large paper as the silk screen frame was lifted. Next step is slide it over to the stack of pickets. Then lay over another picket for the next sign.

All of this was done in one fluid motion. With two or three people. Whoever was pulling the squeegee would first place a thin stack of the paper signs on table. Drop the screen over and by hand run that squeegee across to force paint or ink thru the stencil. Next he would lift the silk screen frame. I would then reach up to grab the fresh wet sign as it was just starting to peel off from its on weight.

It would usually start peeling off the silk just soon as the frame was being lifted up. By timing it just right, I grab the corner and hold the sign as frame goes up. The sign never rises any higher. It just peels off and glides over in midair to the pickets. Nobody had to stop and wait. Soon as that sign was pulled away the silk screen was dropped down again and squeegee was run back across the other way.

There was one really big downside to this. It went on all day, just about the same every day. When these large signs were painted, they would be left to dry. Yeahaw, I get to move around for a few minutes while the stencil is changed with a different one. Another run of smaller signs are printed in groups on a large piece of material much like a recipe file card. Then those get sheared down to individual pieces about the size of a legal envelope.

These small signs were then sorted, stacked in piles next to each other on a long table. A person would go down the line and pick one of each up to be sent to every store. It was amazing to watch how fast some of the employees could collect these one at a time. Wrap around a rubber band each set and repeat until those stacks disappeared.

There were two sisters that were twins, Polly and Tira, both well in their retirement years that could do this so fast would make you dizzy just watching. They had a system worked out so well that would rival any mechanized equipment out there on the market. If only the Post Office had these two ladies working for them.

I tried a few times. Get that rhythm going and could do it fairly fast, but one hiccup then some of the sorted stacks would be scattered all over the floor. I am talking in the thousands. Thats lost valuable time. Time they didnt have to waste. These adverts went out like clockwork every week, rain or shine, no excuses.

This did start to give me a taste of what it is like actually "working for a living". It obviously is an acquired taste as you get older. But right now, left a very bad one in my mouth. A taste I didnt like at all and couldnt see how it would get any better over time.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 34

Today, this afternoon, the walk home did me some good. Got rid of some of that workplace tension that really builds up. Maybe not a good sign if this is what I get to look forward to. I took a shortcut across the field and down the dirt road. Sometimes when its really warm, I can find a horned toad out somewhere with all this white rock protruding from the ground, just out basking in the sun.

Once I found a whole litter of the critters. These little creatures sure are something neat to see. It is amazing how prehistoric their appearance is. They nearly disappear in the rocky surroundings. The color and shape really do a good job of camouflage. Natures way of preservation I guess.



Once in a while I am lucky enough to catch one. These guys are fast and hard to trap. They dont really have any sharp teeth, but will clamp down on your finger and not let go. When I was just a little kid about 7 years ago my oldest brother played a trick on me. He got me to stick out my finger and let one of them bite down.

That was the first time I actually had been up close to a horned toad.  It was a big one too. My brother was going on about how they shoot blood out of their eyes to blind their prey. He said if it got shot in my eyes, I would be blind forever.

Naturally when the horned toad bit down I screamed bloody murder as it clamped to my finger tip and would not let go. I didnt have any idea of what would happen. My considerate brother just stood there and laughed his arse off.

Not knowing any better I jumped up and down shaking my hand wildly and the little bugger just bit down harder. I sure didnt see anything at all so funny that one time. Still dont now either. But there is not anything scary about these ancient creatures. They are really docile and fun to play with.



Super cool little dude. You can turn one over and rub its belly. That prickly little ancient looking creature would just go straight into a trance. It would lay there forever after that little massage. Sometimes I would have to nudge it a few times just to bring him out of a coma. Then set the little guy back down and let him continue on his daily routine. The baby horned toads running around are not any bigger than the tip of your finger.

I think this is one little creature you wouldnt want to be bare footed around. Accidentally stepping on one might be painful. For you and him.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 35

Back down to earth after some lighter thoughts have put me at ease and getting to be a kid again. Being 13 isnt all its cracked up to be. Way too many things that get so involved. There are more responsibilities that just get in the way of me being myself. I wonder if there is a way for me to stay twelve for a few more years. Yea that would work. Maybe at least until I got tired of being 12 and ready to step up to level 13. I walked up to my house and there is Steve. He is just pacing back and forth under a Mimosa tree in the front yard. Where the heck have you been? I called half a dozen times.

Sorry, Steve, dad had to make some errands and I decided to walk home. Oh, well that explains it. I was wondering if you were just pissed off or tired of me bugging you so much all this week. Well Steve, now you are the one that brought it up....No, you idiot!. Why would you think that?

Steve did mention that if I had called him much as he had been bugging me, that he would be a little perturbed. I told him I completely understood in his situation about being couped up all week. Especially how strict his mom was about certain things. She also demanded he apologize for all of those calls over the last few days. OK, Steve I am waiting...For what? Your apology, you idiot. Alright, how about this. BITE ME! There, are you happy now?

Wow! I am sensing so much pent up frustration. Did you miss confession this week? So Steve, are you over the flu already?. You arent still contagious?? I sure dont want to get some life threatening respiratory infection that could leave me near death. By the way that didnt last the usual few weeks of suffering. What gives? I inquired in my usual very sarcastic tone.

Na, I think it was just some 24 hour bug. Mom might have gone a little overboard on it this time. He heavily emphasized the word "might" Anyway, she released me from jail. But just to be on the cautious side I cant go too far or for too long this weekend. Dont want a relapse of what ever it was or leave myself vulnerable for something worse.

Well, I spent this week, as you know, working and am done with it for a while. It totally sux. I need to get back into rhythm with something greasy and messy. Hopefully something noisy too. Think your mom will let you spend the night? I need to work, ok work is not the right word to use there. I need to do something constructive. We really need to finish the kart. I was hoping to maybe get a chance to race this summer.

Hmm, that would be a real long shot, but I can ask her. The worst thing she is going to say....Steve, stop right there. She is most likely to rip you a new one for being so irresponsible after just getting over some serious ailment. Yea Terry, you are right. That definitely sounds more like what I would expect to hear from her.

We fumbled around the garage for a while until Steve had to go home for dinner. They eat fairly early and you dont come to the table late. I, for some reason didnt feel so motivated to get anything done on the kart project at the moment. Steve said he would let me know if spending the night or not. But dont expect anything or make plans that wont likely take place.

As he walked off I was just thinking how good a home cooked meal sounds tonight. Then maybe sit back in an easy chair and relax for a while afterwards. Woh! Why does that sound like my dad talking right now? Holy frijoles, I am growing up to be just like my father!