From Horseless Carriage to Muscle and Power

Did we actually go the way we should have–when Goodyear and Firestone had us rip up all the trolley tracks?

There’s so much talk in political circles about Racism and Fascism, and quite frankly, I think most of us have it wrong. Talk of Henry Ford was that he was a prejudiced white boy. It may have been the haters of industry that were angry Ford was not only the first with the production line–but paid wages well above any other manufactured good in the US. Sound familiar? He set the standard for the rest of the better part of a century, and his goodwill to a fair wage pushed other manufactures to follow his model. T– that is, and I don’t mean MSTR!

Where the English** came up with boot, I’ll never tell--but the tides they-are-a-changing! Our leaders, as well as the rest of the world, are waking up to the fact that the wars between nations are all well orchestrated by–not necessarily the Brugge*

*Lots of places have different names in Belgium. There are a couple that really sound alike, are written similar, or are completely different. Hmm how ’bout them sprouts!”

For example: Brussel – Bruxelles, Dinant – Dinant (different pronunciation), Doornik – Tournai, Aalst – Alost, Oostkerk – Oisquercq, etc… The preferred way you call it, is usually determined by the language you speak. If you’re talking Dutch, you’ll probably say Brugge, if you speak French, you’ll say Bruges, if you speak West-Flemish, you’ll say Bruhhe, and if you’re from Anderlecht you’ll say boerderij…

**But from the land that brought us the Knights of Ni and a revisionist Camelot! (That’s not got much Spam in it!”)

Anyway, let’s zoom to the halcyon days of American Dream Cars–Muscle and Power:

And less we talk of daddy taking away your fun, how about the Charger?

Okay, hot rods, they aren’t, but check out Toms Refurb on YouTube! That’s where the Mustang stable lies!*

*Somewhere in the tri-state area where Maryland, Delaware, and Penna. Maybe Mexico!!!

So why would I want to re-invent history? So we could come out of our pods with a single middle finger lifted, and get back to community commutes?

Dear Milan,

Thanks for the historic ten streetcars (above) you gave San Fran with our 2006 purchase of 250 Bredas! Below is the last Breda Streetcar on November 12, 2025 crossing Church St.

No freeway eminent domain. No boomer congestion exurbs that have parking lots the size of football stadiums. Nope. Just reading a good book or paper or striking up an interesting conversation with our neighbors.

One of the treats of classroom training at Muni is the vintage videos with footage of San Francisco in the 1970’s. They show equipment smoothly flowing down Market Street with virtually no traffic and no delay. Screech forward to today’s reality—the sound of spinning tires, rad acceleration on the pedal, and long horn blasts—that are heard daily.   

Before a meeting with a friend, he inspired me with a title for this chapter, and he had already come up with initials for this common occurrence heard trip after trip in his cab: C.H.S., compulsive honking syndrome. Or as I jokingly added, a part of a person’s Compulsive Horn Disorder, C.H.D.!  A person with CHD may develop CHS if they do not catch the infection early on in their behavior pattern. For once set in the firing pattern of neurons, only through a meditation routine not unlike that followed by a Master Jedi such as Yoda, can the disease be remitted. Or, perhaps, by now reading The Dao of Doug.

The good news, just in: each one of us can change our habits by awareness of staying true to who we really are, and not reacting to a perceived slight by an ‘effing moron or douche bag. In slowing down my body movement by quiet time each evening, I get answers. Find your time. Can you do it in the morning, or is before bed better? In this case, I am an evening person. My do list check-off is an up and at ‘em energy best suited to the morning hours. 

I never would have known this had I not stopped to question and analyze why I was jumping to conclusions or rushing to judgement about a person, place or thing that at first appeared to be in conflict with my path. Just like an automobile butting-out from the curb, double-parked, and giving me the horn, simply because they could not see the pedestrian crossing in front of me against the light. In fact, there are several common flow patterns that lead to compulsive horn syndrome, and once understood and quantified, this can provide the Dao (the manner of living) of non-reaction to breaking compulsive horn disorder. Below are the situations that can trigger CHS and lead to permanent disability with CHD.