The Public Works meeting is in a to-be-continued state. Sam Proffer, Director of engineering, reported the costs of six different computer bids from three different vendors as options for the two new computers the department is in need of.

Many options were put on the table, such as buying a refurbished computer from Dell.

A refurbished computer is one that has been sent back from a company due to an order that exceeded needs. Refurbished computers have no defects and a one-year warranty, but cost as much as $1000 less.

"We should try and get as much as we can because we don’t do this very often," said Proffer.

The committee will consider the options and will have another meeting to decide the final answer. The computer has to be purchased by June 30th.

Thanks to United Methodist Youth Ministry and their pick-up, the city was able to write off three property maintenance cases and they picked up around 42.2 tons of debris.

NASCAR to the Max

Last Sunday’s Sirius Satellite Radio 400 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI appeared to be headed for a Tony Stewart versus Sterling Marlin showdown until the race’s late going. Marlin remained in contention until a missed shift after a late race restart allowed several front runners to pass and he ultimately finished sixth. Stewart battled to the end but was only able to salvage an eighth place finish. Marlin did garner the five bonus points for leading the most laps.

Kurt Busch appeared to have little chance of winning during the race’s early going. During each of the race’s nine caution periods, Busch’s crew made numerous changes to his car’s chassis, attempting to give their driver a car that could challenge the leaders. All of the adjustments and changes paid off in the end as Busch held off Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon by over six car lengths to claim his third win of the season.

This week’s race will be held near Sonoma, CA at the Infineon Raceway. The track is a 10-turn, 1.949-mile road course that will test the driver’s ability to turn right as well as left. Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon typically run well at Infineon with Ricky Rudd also having several good finishes there recently.

Silly Season, the time of the year when driver changes and rumors of driver changes run rampant, used to start in late summer or early fall as the season wound down. Recently, with the pressure from sponsors on the teams to perform, Silly Season has started earlier and earlier. Steve Park and Jeff Green were the first victims a few weeks ago with the drivers essentially swapping rides. Last week, John Andretti was unexpectedly released by Petty Enterprises. The most recent victim was Morgan-McClure’s Mike Skinner who failed to qualify last week.

Several online sources including ESPN.com and thatsracin.com are reporting that Nextel, a wireless communication service provider, will be announced as the sponsor of NASCAR’s premier series replacing longtime sponsor Winston. The "official" announcement is scheduled for 10:00 am eastern time this morning.

I called a cell phone number the other day and the party wasn’t answerin’. A canned voice message came on thankin’ me for usin’ such-and-such a service but the person wasn’t available. I expected to hear an answerin’ machine take over, but instead the message said please call later. O.K.

Then, for some reason, this enthusiastic voice informed me that this was "message 28-TU." He made it sound like that should mean somethin’ to me.

I’m sure all the phone company messages have some type of code name for identification, but I just can’t figure out why they feel I should be privy to that information. There are things I just don’t care to know.

By the way, we started our twelfth year doin’ the Mornin’ Mail yesterday.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Metcalf Auto
Supply

Click & Clack
TALK CARS

By Tom & Ray Magliozzi

Dear Tom and Ray:

We are looking for a recommendation for an auto club that provides reliable roadside assistance. I say "reliable" because AAA left my husband stranded outside for three hours in 10-degree weather. The driver who finally showed up said AAA had only called him half an hour ago. Does anybody provide quality, reliable roadside assistance? Thanks! — Frances.

TOM: It’s a good question, Frances. Roadside assistance works something like medical insurance these days. There are four major providers, and those providers have deals with garages all over the country.

RAY: For example, AAA enters into an agreement with Vinnie’s Towing and Charm School to cover a certain geographical area. The deal says that when AAA calls, Vinnie’s will go out and tow the stranded car for a predetermined, set fee, which is typically much lower than Vinnie’s normal rates.

TOM: So, when you call AAA’s toll-free number, they call Vinnie’s. But if it’s 10 degrees out and Vinnie is overwhelmed by cars that won’t start, it might take him three hours to get to you, or he might choose to serve his regular (i.e., higher-paying) customers before he comes to get you for AAA chump change.

RAY: Now, there are other companies that put together networks for roadside assistance, but it’s possible that Vinnie will belong to one or more of them, too. Just like your doctor may take both Blue Cross AND the Tri-State Death Plan. And as far as we know, none of the national towing networks stands head-and-shoulders above any other in terms of reimbursement rates. But from the scuttlebutt we hear, AAA seems to be particularly disliked among many garage owners.