Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

The day before Thanksgiving, when most people were planning the family celebrations and stuffing the traditional turkey, my sister Cindy Mae suddenly and unexpectedly passed away at the young age of 39.

My little sister, my only sister, was one of those rare individuals who only saw the good in people. She seemed blissfully unaware of any animosity towards her, or if she saw it, it was quickly forgotten and replaced with feelings of love and goodwill.

Cindy was chubby as a young girl and suffered the taunts of other children all during her school years. As an adult, she got heavier and heavier until she was finally classified as morbidly obese by doctors. I always wondered what that meant... I guess the "morbid" part means you are so overweight it could cause you to die. Anyway, it seems society thinks that when you are a few hundred pounds overweight you are no longer a worthy person. At least that is how my sister was treated by doctors, store clerks and others who were in the position where decency should have been freely offered. We are so much more than our outward appearances.

I know I may seem biased, but my big beautiful little sister had the biggest heart of any individual I have ever known. Because of her own size, she had absolutely no rigid standards of what others should look like. She loved us whether we had a spot on our shirt, or our hair was a mess, and wouldn't even mention it if we had a giant mark on our face. She wasn't trying to be nice or anything - she simply did not see our faults.

I don't want to go on and on about my sister, my beloved baby sister who is now gone from this earthly life. I know most of you, if not all of you, have lost someone close to you. I know you have felt what I am feeling now. I guess the point of this blog entry is that life can change in an instant. Reach out to those you care about and always be kind. You don't have to tell every person you know that you love them - just treat them with respect and common decency. And if you love them - heck yes - tell them so.

My sister and I saw each other several times a month, usually weekly - for the last twenty years. Every time we parted one of us said "I love you", and the other said "I love you too". I saw my sister 3 days before she died - and those were the last words I ever said to her... "I love you too". That is the memory I choose to carry forward.

I'd like each and everyone to consider all of this in context of the YT website community. Sometimes people say things that make us want to lash out and say words that can never be taken back. Remember that when we talk to each other in the forums we are only showing one side of ourselves. There is so much more to the human spirit than what might appear to exist outwardly. On the outside, my sister was an overly large woman who was treated poorly by the general public because she had issues with her weight. Yes, she had a problem with that. But she was more than her weight, much more. She had the purest love I have ever seen in a person, and it saddens me to think that I may never be loved as deeply and unconditionally by another again.

Be kind to one another. Let people know you appreciate them. Here today, gone tomorrow. Life can change in an instant. Sister, I love you and I'll miss you.

P.S. For those more familiar with the site - Cindy has been the one who has typed in the data for the Tractor Show Guide for many years. She spent hours and hours each year getting the Show Guide ready for the YT community. Now you know why the 2005 show guide was missing... Cindy wasn't herself for the last year and has left us now. But she always enjoyed typing in the tractor show directory data, she loved helping me and was impressed that so many people read the information on the website.

Sister, I love you. Good bye for now. Sisters Forever - Kim & Cindy

Cindy Mae, 1966 - 2005

Searching for Answers - Your Input Requested

Some serious time this week has gone into improving the search function of the Yesterday''s Tractors website. Our search engine, which was custom written in-house, searches more than 1.8 million files of tractor info to find matches to your request. For the last several months (especially in the evening) the search utility slows the whole site down to a crawl when just one or two people start searching. Others, who are posting messages in the forums, have to sit and wait for the server to finish performing it's search for someone else, before their message will even post. Frustrating, to say the least!

The first thing I've done is move the entire search function off of the main YTmag server, which is where the forums are hosted. It is now on it's own powerful server, located several miles away. The new address for the search utility is search.yesterdaystractors.com - don't worry you don't have to memorize all that - the main website will automatically take you there.

The first step of upgrading the search utility has been accomplished - it performs the searches faster now, and doesn't damper the surfing experience of people perusing the main antique tractor site.

From here I would like to take requests from the YT community for additional modifications to the search utility. The interface, the results, how things are displayed, etc. Chris will take care of keeping the guts of search engine on the leading edge - but we need input from the "end user" (that's you, in geek speak) to make it as useful as possible.

It would be best to enter your comments and requests for the search engine improvements here in the blog comments, rather than email me directly. Either way is fine though - the important point being I would like to hear from you.

P.S. Here are my own ideas for improvement so far: a) include matching photo's and their comments in the search result, b) include archived photo ads and classified ads (these would be marked as such and could be an option), c) put the description back in the results, instead of just links (google-like), d) allow a date range - default would be all.

P.S.S. My promise to you - any changes we make to the search utility will be done in such a way as to not make it complicated. You'll be able to just type stuff in and hit the button, or you could choose to select a bunch of parameters to narrow down or improve the results.

Okay, let's hear from you!

About that Old Forum Software ...

I've been having an internal battle with YT's old forum software for about 4 or 5 years. The rest of the internet world has moved on to the more modern software with all it's bells and whistles. But the problem with the new forum software available these days, as I see it, is the registration process. Oh, it's painless at first glance, but when you happen upon a forum and get the urge to express yourself or ask a question, you find that you have to jump through hoops to fill out a form, register, wait for a password to be sent to you via email, then click a link, type in a secret code and finally become a registered user. By that time I've forgotten what I want to say!

I would venture to say that YT's discussion forums are the most highly trafficked on the internet that do not require a person to register. Sure, there are a few other sites out there in www land that use the older forum software. But they don't have a huge amount of traffic and it seems no one is bothering to remove the spam and advertisements.

What YT has (thanks to our background in computer programming) is the option to register your "handle" or name in the forums. What happened is our forums were so open and friendly that once in a while a "ne're do well" would post a derogatory message and say he was "Joe from Illinois". Well the real Joe from Illinois would never say such a thing and is appalled that all the world attributes the derogatory message to him. So... YT made it an option that you can set a password on a particular "handle" or name and no one else can ever post as you. For example, I have voluntarily registered and password protected "Kim". Only I can post using that name.

People who are new to the forums though can post a message if they want without registering, waiting for a password to be sent via email, etc. Just today I received an email from a fellow that was requesting my help in the forums. He has never posted a message in any discussion forum and hadn't a clue what to do. Luckily, I was able to tell him what link to click on and told him to just type a message and click on the "Submit" button. The fellow didn't even need an email account to receive a "secret password".

We have quite a few members in our community that like the simplicity of the forums. On the other hand, we get quite a few complaints from the younger folks who think us old farts must be living on Mars. They are looking for all the bells and whistles and the "bumping" newly replied to message so the top of the list etc. I hate to lose their interest but DARN it's real hard to please everyone. Old-timers (sorry for the terminology) may remember that I've tried to do that twice. Twice I've tried to migrate the forums to the newer software. The first time it was darn-right mutiny. People complained, packed their virtual bags and left. That was an eye opener for me and I wasted no time bring the old forum software back.

The second time I tried to upgrade the forum software it was received a little better, but still about 50% said "stop messing with a good thing". Again, for a second time, I scraped the new forum software and went back to the archaic but comfortable "wwwboard" software that has been around for 10 years and outdated for at least 5.

I'm not sure what to do at this point. Do we just keep using the old software, patching it when it breaks, and ignore new technology as it moves on without us? I'm worried about losing the young people. Who will look after our tractors when we are too feeble to post forum messages? The young people have spoken and say they want the new forum software. The older set (yes that includes me) prefers the old software. Part of the purpose of the YT site is to keep these old tractors going from generation to generation. How do we bridge the two, software speaking?

I have a few ideas but will have to present them later. I think we are going to have to compromise on both sides. Meanwhile, I'm actually proud to see that we are still able to have such a vibrant virtual community using our old software. And I see people in their 70's and 80's being able to post messages because the process is simple. No registration, no password (unless you choose to have one).

Part of my responsibility though is to make sure YT doesn't die off with the generation that founded it. I'd like some opinions and comments on how to move into the newer technology without losing the confidence of the older crowd.

What's in Your Shed, Beside Old Tractors?

The people in our antique tractor community have spoken. Sure, they like their old tractors. But they have other interests too. I found the following discussion, gleaned from the Tractor Talk Discussion Forum, fascinating and it gives us a little peak into the lives of our comrades. What follows is the original question as posted to the forum and many of the replies:

QUESTION:

Just curious what you other tractor "Folks" have in the shed to play with when the seasons change and the tractors are tucked away like sardines for the winter? I have met so many tractor folks that also have a deep love for old cars, pickups and trucks of varying tonnage. I used to be into cars and pickups and was working on the winterization this week so had to , of course, take them for a little spin and get the cobwebs out, pump the tires and check all the fluids and gas line antifreeze and a little stabilizer. Currently I have a 65 Impala SS 327 300 hp with camel back heads, a 67 Olds Toronado with 425 (front wheel drive of course), 71 Chevelle with 350 Edelbrook 4 barrel, and 79 Gmc Cabellero with 267 v-8.

So what's in your Shed?

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Just one: 90 GMC 4x4 dually with the 454. Yee haw!

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Doing a ground up resto on an 82 Silverado short stepside,nearly finished. . 10. 5:1 468 bigblock, motor dyno'd at 565 hp so should come in just over 700hp with the nitrous I got on it,full manual TH400,9" ford rearend with lincoln disc's etc. . 98 Jeep Wrangler with lift and 33x12. 50 mud slingers. . My dads 48 8N(torn down), 1938 JD unstyled A on round spokes(almost finshed) and a 51 JD MT,(just got),the MT is stuck and is for sale in the classifieds.

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1914 American LaFrance
1917 Republic
1923 Stutz
1927 Ahrens Fox
1929 Mack
1931 Seagrave
1936 Chevrolet
1942 Seagrave
1965 Kenworth

All of these are fire engines. We also have a 1927 Ahrens Fox ladder truck but it's not been delivered yet. There's a bunch of other stuff out there also. I'm not sure when we lost our mind!

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'48 Chevy 2 door Fleetline Aerosedan, '40 Buick Special Straight Eight 2dr. , '41 Chevy Pickup with 14600 actual miles, '59 Ford F100 292 V8 w/factory four wheel drive, '72 Dodge Polara, '68 Chevy pickup with 327, '67 Plymouth GTX 440 with factory 4 speed and Dana 60, '68 Plymouth Satellite, and a few others.

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1965 Chevy Subrban with a warmed up 350 V8 still in the early stages of rustoration. Just got done putting a new set of plugs in er' this afternoon. Edelbrock 4bbl carb and intake, mild cam bored . 030 over, double roller timing chain. Dynoed @ 275HP.

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My tractors are actually used all year (2 JD A's '50 & '52, '55 JD 70D, '53 70gas & '49 TO20 fergy) but my toys are '38 plymouth coupe '40 plyouth 2dr sedan '47 int truck '52 reo big truck and a 67 chevy 4wd pickup

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'm MOPAR 63dodge Polara max wedge,64dodge golden aneversrie,65dodge 426 Polara 500,69dodge super bee,70dodge 440 six pack chalenger. 64 plymouth sport fury 426,64 plymouth belvedere 426 max wedge. 68 baracuda,67 plymouth 440 gtx,69 ply 440 gtx,65 valient slant six,67 ply sport satelite 383 and a 61 dodge pioneer the most ugly. Tractors IH 22-36,Reg,f20,h,m,400,460,560's,706,806,1206's. OLiver 66, 88,770,880,1650,1750,1855's one with fwd. MH 44. case 700,930. Two jd that I farm with.

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My main toys other than the three tractors are a 1961 5000 lb capacity Hyster forklift model HE50 and a Model H Scoopmobile loader, probably late 40's. There's a picture of the Scoopmobile in the galleries under Tractor Photos. I recently got rid of my Adams road grader with the old IH diesel for power.

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Tractors include a '49 Farmall Cub with belly mower, a '50 Farmall M with model 31 loader, a '50 Farmall MD, and just welcomed a '55 Farmall 400 Diesel to the Family. Cars are a '65 Pontiac GTO with 4spd, 389 CID, Tripower, 3. 55 posi and a '66 Pontiac GTO with 4spd, 421 CID, Tripower, A/C, and 3. 23 Posi. Also play with three-'89 Arctic Cat Cougar 500's. Great to hear about other 'toy boxes'. Keep 'em coming!

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1945 Farmall M, 1968 Camaro RS 327/4 barrel, 1980 Chevy 3/4 ton 4X4, 1970 Subaru 360 micro car, 1992 full size Blazer, Cub Cadet 1512 Diesel, Grasshopper 721D with snow blower, Yamaha Grizzly 600, Yamaha G1 golf cart, and 2002 Trailblazer (wife's).

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Well, I have a restored 1952 John Deere A wide-front, a 1955 JD 70 Diesel standard undergoing restoration, and a 1955 Ferguson TEA20 that needs work. Those are the ones under cover. Outside I have whats left of a '48 John Deere D, a 1953 50th Anniversery edition Mercury M-600 truck in beautiful original condition (been in the family since new), a 1951 Maple Leaf 1700 3-ton truck, and lots and lots of implements. I'm going to be busy for a while, restoring this stuff.

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A 52 Stage I Super M factory LP. Probably next falls a project. A 50 model Farmall M we are the original owners of. My Moms old 1949 oldsmobile convertable that need to be restored (frame off) It has the flat head "Big Six" with the Hydromatic automatic tranny. Huge chrome front and rear bumpers. Red too. This is a project that will take a major commitment. one that I don't have the time and energy or resorces to do at this point in time.
Later,

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79' T-Bird one owner, last year of the big boats
76' Power Wagon Clubcab, one owner
70' Dodge 400 2-1/2 ton

T-Bird on the list to be restored. Power Wagon is heading out the door. Dodge 400 makes a great trailer.

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LOTSA(too many?) toys: '79 'Vette, '79 Shovelhead, '46 flathead Trike, Starduster bi-plane (in the works), trail bikes. . . . . . . . . I need to build a BIG building or have a sale! ps. . . . my wife ain't laughing.

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My toys are a 68 BSA Mark IV Spitfire and a 71 DT1 Yamaha 250 Enduro. Fun and fit between the tractors.

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95 440 xcr snowmobile, 1975 120# blue eyed farm girl( the only thing here that'll I'll never pay off) 1986 Chevy cheyenne,. . . . . Hmmmmmm. . . . . Boy I need some more toys for the winter.

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'73 Vette, '98 Mustang Gt, '04 2500 4X4 QC Ram PU, '05 Scion XB

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52 Chev Delux 3/4ton PU and 41 Piper J5 Cub. Helping friend restore 46 J3 Cub.

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69' Plymouth Roadrunner, original interior, hot 383, six pack hood, 3:55 limited slip, BFGoodrich Radial T/A all the way around, candy apple red.
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1964 Ford Galaxie 500XL convertible, 1967 Mustang, 1952 Ford club coupe, 1947 Ford Super Deluxe, 1915 Overland model 80 touring car.

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In addition to the old green tractor, I've got a 1937 Buick Special, 1940 Cadillac Sedan, 1956 Chrysler New Yorker, 1964 Dodge 440, 1976 Harley Davidson FLH, and 3 Case/Ingersoll Garden tractors. Pretty much all of these except the Garden tractors are used in the same seasons as the JD, so they all rest in the winter. My wintertime driver is a 1986 El Camino.

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Along with my tractors I have an interest in old Motorcycles. I have a 37 Indian chief, 47 Indian chief, 36 Indian 4 cyl. which is in the process of being brought back to life. when I can find the time and money. Also a 68 Yamaha DT1. Stan in calif

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'66 Olds Cutlass convertible, '28 Model A Special Coupe (bone stock), '52 Hudson Hornet Club Coupe


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'46 White WB-22 flatbed (tractor hauler), '69 Dodge D-600 (old work truck), '72 Corvette (350, 4 spd, headers & 4" side pipes) sweet little car :-)

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64 GMC 1/2 ton, 39 Ford 4 door sedan, and a 71 Yammaha RS1 350. Just sold my 34 International 2 ton.

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Putting up a 30 x 40 shop. Got a 1976 Corvette Sting Ray, a 1980 Camaro Z-28 and a 1965 MG-B to play with as well as spruce up the 8N and the 861D.

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1948 Harley FL chopper. Hoping to build a decent "77-"79 F250 this winter.

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I've got a '68 Camaro and a'70 Opel GT which have been in storage for nearly 30 years. Both were in excellent condition when I put them away but I'm sure need a little TLC now. I also have a '70 Triumph mototcycle. It is 100% factory except for tires and exhaust. It was just ridden last week. I also have a vintage bicycle. Lots of other little odds&ends. I try not to collect too much as time is SO limited.

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'78 Yamaha XS750E Triple, with "issues". Debating whether to make it a winter project or cut my losses and re-"cycle" it.

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Girlfriends 70 chevelle that she bought brand new. Looking at a 46 dodge military panel truck.

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1979 Ford Bronco. 351M, C6 Auto w/manual valve body, twin sticked NP205 transfer case, 6 inch lift and 38. 50x15 Super Swamper Boggers.

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95 Impala SS, 68 IHC 3/4 t Pickup. Both get used, need brakes lines on IH so is sitting right now.

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Not much, a 1962 Corvette, ground up restoration, 327-360 plus hp, the Harley was stolen some time back, never did get another one. Oliver 1855 restored and used to pull a 10 shank chisel plow.

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So, What's in Your Shed?