Maid-Rite in Denver......

I was on my way to pick up some parts today and I saw a Maid-Rite in a little mall. I went on with my business thinking I will stop and get some burgers on the way back home for Jodi and I. Jodi has never had a Maid-Rite burger and thought she would like it.

Well, on the way back I stopped and to my surprise, there was a sign on the door that said "Closed till further notice". I was angry because I got hyped up for one. I haven't had Maid-Rite since 1982. When I got home, Jodi looked them up and found their website. There were only three in Colorado that were open and the one was closed. We found that the one that closed, the franchisee did not follow the franchising rules and ultimately went out of business.

We found one that was open in Aurora and called them and quickly went over there. This was a brand new Maid-Rite restaurant in a brand new mall. Very nice place. Jodi and I had two burgers each with fries and ice tea.

We talked to the lady that owned the restaurant and found that Maid-Rite is newly franchising in Colorado. We talked about my Great Aunt Anna that worked at the Rock Island, IL Maid-Rite for years in the 1960's and 70's. I remember eating there when I was in high school.

The X-Files

A few years ago we saw that the X-Files TV series was out on DVD, but we never got the set while it was available. So last year I found the whole series on iTunes and downloaded a few episodes from season one to watch on the plane to Italy. After I got back, we downloaded the whole first season and we watch them on our Apple TV. Last night we downloaded season four and we will be watching them this afternoon. If you like the X-Files, they are $29.99 per season on the iTunes Store.

Larry Griffith Challenger Wins Gator Nationals...

Last month, my friends Larry Griffith and Larry Pontnack won the Gator Nationals in Gainsville, FL, with driver Charlie Fitzsimmons turning in a masterful performance behind the wheel. Charlie won in the A/SA class and then went on to win Stock Eliminator. This is the first National win for the two Larrys and the first time ever to make the cover of the National Dragster. Mopar Muscle Magazine did a nice article on the win as well. Not bad for a couple of old guys. It comes when it comes.

I was not able to go this trip, but I plan on being with the team at the US Nationals, in Indianapolis, in September.

Update on Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 8:42 AM by Jim Guzzo

After the win, the two Larrys went to Detroit and picked up two bodies in white for two new cars. Griffith told me that one will be a Super Stock Car. This is just like the old days.

Saturday Fun

Today I went to Ft Collins to do a little work. The compressor was bad on this 631E Cat Scraper. To get to the compressor, one has to drop the belly pan with a come-along. This machine was pretty clean and I got finished fairly quickly.

After I was finished, I serviced the air conditioners on three other machines. I was back home in mid afternoon.

Greek is Good!!

 

A couple of weeks ago, Jodi and I went to our favorite Greek restaraunt, Pete's Gyro Place. It is an old restaraunt, but Pete serves the best Greek in Denver. Located on East Colfax and Detroit St.

Jodi and I both ordered this fantastic Greek Salad. We try to get there once a month or so, but haven't been keeping up. If you come to Denver, you have to go to Pete's. We have been going there for years.

Michelangelo's Moses...

This morning I was watching Moses in a movie and it got me to thinking of last year when Melissa and I were in Rome. I took this photo of the Michelangelo sculpture of Moses that is in the Church of Saint Peter in Chains - San Pietro in Vincoli Oppio (Italian) and is part of the tomb of Pope Julius II. This sculpture took Michelangelo forty three years to complete. The reason was that the Pope Julius II kept commisioning him to do other things such as the painting of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

Church of Saint Peter in Chains, San Pietro in Vincoli Oppio (Italian)

See more of our Italy Photos

Slammed With Business

This last few weeks I have been busy with air conditioner work on a lot of equipment. This particular Dozer had a suction line blown on it. I had to disassemble the left side of the machine and the right side of the machine and the cab floor to change the line. I had 19 1/2 hours in this machine getting the AC up and running. This is a fairly new machine and they are getting more compact and harder to work on.

We hope this is a sign that business will get better.