Gas price got you down? 1955 Fuji Cabin

With Japan in a devastated turmoil, many companies scrambled for survival. Hitachi Aviation, associated with Hino and Isuzu were forbidden to build airplanes and attempted to survive by producing non-war related products. Hitachi became Tokyo Gas-Electric Manufacturing Company and merged with Fuji Automobile and by 1952 was producing motorcycles and small two-stroke engines, called Gasuden.

The Fuji Cabin was introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1955, intended as a fully enclosed motor scooter. Its sleek aerodynamic monocoque body was constructed of polyester, a bold use of this material at the time. Very well engineered by Ryuichi Tomiya, a director of Suminoe Manufacturing which also produced the Flying Feather microcar and bodies for Nissan, the Fuji Cabin featured rubber suspension, staggered seating, a cooling duct down the centre of the car, and beetle-wing motor lids. The tiny, but well engineered Gasuden motor featured a reverse gear.

1955 Fuji Cabin

Legally blind man, 78, bowls perfect game. What’s your average?

A 78-year-old legally blind man nicknamed “The Hammer” has bowled a perfect game. Dale Davis of Alta, Iowa, nailed 12 consecutive strikes and reached 300 on Saturday night during league play.

“It’s a great sport. It’s something the young, the old and the handicapped can do,” Davis said Thursday. “I guess I count as the old and handicapped.”

Davis has suffered from macular degeneration, a chronic eye disease, for the past decade. He can’t see out of his left eye and has limited peripheral vision in his right eye.

More at Yahoo! News

At least he won’t need to water any time soon…

Did they come back?

Lori and Chris Coble of Ladera Ranch [California], who lost three children in a freeway accident almost one year ago, announced the birth of triplets Wednesday night.

The babies — two girls and a boy — are listed in good condition at Children’s Hospital at Mission.

Link to cbs2.com

The children killed in the accident were two girls and a boy. The triplets? Two girls and a boy.

Invention opportunity: Beano for cows

Estonian authorities have slapped a flatulence tax on farmers to compensate the country for the methane gas produced by cows.

Farmers this week received their first ‘fart tax’ demands asking them to pay for the greenhouse gases their cattle produce.

A single cow is thought to produce on average 350 litres of methane and 1,500 litres of carbon dioxide per day from flatulence and burping.

It is thought that cattle are responsible for up to 25 per cent of methane gas emissions in Estonia.

Link

Cool dog shoes

Rescue dogs working with Chinese firefighters have been given leather shoes. [The} Chaoyang fire brigade in Beijing city have fitted them with shoes to protect their paws.

“It’s mainly to protect their feet, not for fashion,” a fire brigade spokesman told the Beijing Times. The soles are made of leather, while the uppers are made from tough, fire-proof fabric.

The department says the dogs’ working environments are usually very dangerous, and their feet are easily cut open or burnt.

Link to Well shod dogs

Deer friends

Doe-eyed Cindy would have been left all alone in the world were it not for the strong paternal instincts of the Great Dane, who is as protective of her as he is his puppies.

Staff at the Secret World Animal Rescue Centre in Highbridge, Somerset, have been caring for Cindy since she was found close to death when she was days old.

The [125 pound] dog towers over his spotted companion, who he gently nuzzles and accompanies on daily walks, ever watchful.

The two-week-old fawn returns the affection by rushing over to her trusted friend whenever she is in need of reassurance.

More at Telegraph

French Fry Holder

Cars now come with several cup holders, and this innovative accessory helps you make the most of them! French-Fry Holder holds one order of fries (and its cardboard container) close at hand! Even has a clip-on ketchup cup!

Link to French Fry Holder