Chamber Announce Move.

The Carthage Chamber of Commerce will be moving soon to their new location, 402 S. Garrison, in the old Great Southern Bank Building, according to Executive Director Max McKnight. They should have possession by November 1st, and will move into the new location shortly after, McKnight announced at Tuesday’s regular City Council Meeting.

The new location will provide more space overall for employees, and an opportunity to upgrade organization’s image, says McKnight.

"A thing we like to do and be aware of is supporting the community as a whole, even though we won’t be on the Square anymore, we’re still downtown," said McKnight.

The Dry Gultch, which occupies the store next to the current Chamber location, will be expanding their store into what was the Chamber space after the first of the year, says owner, Deborah Lavite.

The Carthage Convention and Visitors Bureau will also be moving along with the Chamber, to the new Garrison location.

NASCAR to the Max

In a twist from several races in the recent past, the winner of the UAW-GM Quality 500 in Charlotte, NC was not determined by who could stretch a tank of fuel the farthest but who had the fresher tires. Ryan Newman, who has won several races this season by conserving fuel, looked to be on his way to another win when he pitted late in the race and took a full load of fuel which would enable him to finish the race. Though Newman gave up a lap, it was expected that he would inherit the lead when his competition pitted later. When the leaders pitted, Tony Stewart also took new tires and was eight seconds in arrears to Newman. Stewart began his pursuit of Newman and, though slowed slightly by lapped traffic, had caught Newman with ten laps to go. An old NASCAR axiom says "Catching someone is one thing, passing them is another." Stewart stayed in line behind Newman and applied steady pressure. With seven laps remaining Newman’s car bobbled slightly allowing Stewart to take the favored inside line for the pass. Stewart maintained the lead over the final laps to claim his second victory of the season.

The secret to Newman’s fuel mileage has been revealed and rather than cheating as alleged by his competitors, Newman is using a SMALLER carburetor than allowed. The team reportedly gives up only two horsepower but gets ½ mile per gallon better fuel economy which equates to 11 miles per tank of fuel. At a 1.5 mile track that 11 miles per tank would allow an advantage of about seven laps. That would explain how Newman is able to complete the race, do his victory lap and celebratory burn out with fuel to spare.

Jeff Gordon seems to be stuck in a rut. A rut however, that would satisfy most other drivers. The four time series champion has finished the past four races in fifth place.

The series now heads to the paper clip shaped .526-mile Martinsville (VA) Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the spring race here.

I heard talk about a guy that was one brick short of a load the other day. I’d have ta figure that most get the feelin’ they don’t know all they should at some point or another. I’d lived a lotta years ‘fore I heard the expression "not the sharpest knife in the drawer."

I grew up hearin’ ‘bout those bein’ one card short of a deck, ladder not reachin’ the top rung, and bein’ a half a bubble off.

Typically these were not judgemental statements, but just observations considered as fact.

‘Course usually the statement was followed by the observation that the person had many admirable traits also.

I’m sure I’ve lost a brick or two along the way. If ya find it, put it on your pile, if ya think it’s worthy.

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:

What is the formula on the gas pump all about? (R+M)/2 — what’s the R? What’s the M? — James

TOM: It’s all about octane, James. Octane is a hydrocarbon that, when burned in an engine, has a very high resistance to engine knock, or pinging.

RAY: But since it’s very expensive, you never actually burn octane in your engine. The gasolines we use contain no octane. The octane rating simply measures how closely a gasoline compares to pure octane in suppressing knock.

TOM: So a fuel rated 93 octane will resist knock and pinging like a mixture that’s 93 percent pure octane.

RAY: There are two different methods used to determine the octane rating of a fuel. There’s "R," which stands for "research." The research octane number (RON) is determined in a lab with a test engine running at 600 rpm, which represents a low-compression, low-knock situation.

TOM: Then there’s "M," for "motor." The motor octane number (MON) uses a test engine, also in a lab, at a higher rpm. That’s supposed to represent higher-speed, higher-temperature operation, where knock is more likely.

RAY: Why is the second one called "motor" when it’s also, technically, "research"? Done in a lab, too? We have no idea. Why not L+H for "low" and "high"? Or S+F for "slow" and "fast"? Or if it’s going to be meaningless, why not S+R for "Siegfried" and "Roy"?

TOM: Anyway, the way they get the number on the pump is by averaging "R" and "M." Or, put mathematically, "(R+M)/2." So, if the RON of a fuel is 93 and the MON is 87, the octane rating you see on the pump is 90.