Minor Confession Thread

My manager is in currently here on a work permit, with green card process "almost completed".  "Almost completed" has been going on for months though, through a lot of angst, cancelled trips and other shenanigans associated with being able to tend to family back in France.

That was all squared away so that he and his family could take a trip back to France, and he'll be returning at the end of next week.

While catching up with him, I asked him how much it might be worth to him to be able to return without someone making a call that could detour he and his family through a concentration camp in Louisiana.

Two cars parked next to a barn caught my eye one day. I didn't have any money at the time, but I made a mental note of it.

Periodically, I would drive through the neighborhood and check on them. They never moved. I decided that if I ever saw someone outside, I would stop and ask about the cars. That never happened, but I always kept my eye on the classifieds to see if they ever came up for sale.

About a month ago, I drove by the house, and the cars had moved up to the main driveway. A few weeks later, an ad came up on FM and I recognized the cars. I sent a message and asked if i could take a look. Today was that day.

One car was better than I had expected, one was much worse. The price was not unreasonable from the start,  and it kept dropping as I looked them over, even without me making any kind of an offer. Eventually, I was actually offered a third car for free, just to get it out of there. It was truly junk, but I kind of wanted it.

I left with no cars.

Maybe I'm growing up, or maybe I'm just getting lazy. There was a time when I would have dragged them all home and immediately dove into the money pit. Today was not that day.

I'm not usually a patient person, but the first time that I saw these cars was in 1986.

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

^It's taking everything I've got to keep from calling this guy back...

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

You saw them, you slept on it, and you still want them.

Am I missing something here?

In reply to DarkMonohue :

I want one of the three. I don't know if he will split up the group, and I have no place to store any of them inside.

They've been outside since 86. Storing them outside for 2 or 3 months while you figure out logistics is nothing to these cars.

I think I'm going through a midlife crisis.

I'll be turning 44 next month and have been thinking a lot. There are a lot of things I still want to do. I've never really been into motorcycles but I keep looking at them. It started with small dual sport motorcycles; Yamaha TW200 and XT250, older Suzuki DRs, Royal Enfield Himalayan, etc.

Then I started reading about he CF Moto Ibex 450. It's a lot of motorcycle for the money. It's very competitively priced in the midsized dual sport/adventure market.

But then I found something right in that same price range that is weird and a bit controversial. It's a used Can-Am Ryker Rally. These are looked down upon by every facet of the motorcycle crowd. The biggest buyers are the elderly and people missing limbs.

I have been researching everything on these the past few days. I think It would be something fun and is definitely not mainstream. I couldn't give two E36 M3s if it's not a "real bike". The fact that it annoys the bike community makes me like it even more.

But at the end of the day, it's a chunk of money for a toy. Money that could be saved or used for improvements on the house. And I don't think my GF would be into it. It would be strictly for me.

I'd been looking at various cars for a second car and one thing that I realized is that all wheel drive IS350s command a premium but all wheel drive IS250s are practically worthless on the used market and I like the sound of small sixes better than the larger ones.  The difference is like 20-25k for the IS350 and 7-10k for the IS250.

Cheaper and newer than an E46 325xi and no BMW problems?  Hmm.

Off to see if they made a wagon and how unicornish they are if so.

Sorry Pete, no IS wagons since the original IS300 sport cross. 

In reply to Sonic :

So if I bought an IS250, I need to keep my 40 year old unicorn Volkswagen for station wagon duties.

Oh no.

There's a group of like 15 people, all related to one of my neighbors, that I have drank with, partied with, and cooked for for 5 years. I still don't know any of their names. 

I just did a brake job in exchange for a smoked pork shoulder. 
 

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

Somebody got ripped off.

I think the GMT400 is pretty much the best looking trucks ever made and really can't see anything looking better in the future.

I just had a stupid idea to buy a Fiero and replace the rear suspension with a Miata rear suspension, and while we're being stupid let's also replace the transverse drivetrain with a longitudinal one, like a Subaru or maybe a VW four/Passat transaxle setup.

This post could have stopped after ten words

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

While I fully endorse the limitless freedom of imagination, there's something that rubs me all the wrong ways about taking the specialness of any particular car away in favor of pedestrian stuff.

Maybe I've had too many people snort in bemused derision at whatever teacup I was driving and suggest it would be improved with a smaw block Chivvy.

That's the beauty of it, there's little special about having the front of a four cylinder Celebrity behind you.

Antihero said:

I think the GMT400 is pretty much the best looking trucks ever made and really can't see anything looking better in the future.

They really were the high-water mark of GM truck styling, although I think the '17-'18 Silverados were pretty good looking too. But the GMT-400s are just great trucks in general. Comfy, tough, dead-nuts reliable workhorses.

I now own 16 wheels and 12 tires for my MR2 Spyder. This feels weird.

Antihero said:

I think the GMT400 is pretty much the best looking trucks ever made and really can't see anything looking better in the future.

I was watching Rockford files last night thinking the same thing about the square body. It doesn't get much better than this, IMO

Peabody said:

Antihero said:

I think the GMT400 is pretty much the best looking trucks ever made and really can't see anything looking better in the future.

I was watching Rockford files last night thinking the same thing about the square body. It doesn't get much better than this, IMO

I always get a chuckle out of the fact that the GM name for what we call the "Square Body" was....."The Rounded Line."

In reply to Peabody :

I think what really makes it is the two-tone job.  The body lines are absolutely classic, but that red inset with the trim around it just turns the knob to eleven. 

You guys just keep on being wrong.

https://www.hotrod.com/features/1107clt-1972-chevrolet-c10/photos/

Gott im Himmel, I ain't never felt so blame tired. I mean it's like there's just no pep in the step, no air in the tank, no whoop in the old whoop and ride. Just pushing this old corpse off the couch feels like lifting about twice the already humbling figure I currently crush the scales at.

Might be I'm just not good at getting old.

In reply to DarkMonohue :

I'm not trying to be the bringer of gloom, but that sounds like how I felt before I had my heart attack last summer. When was your last check up? Have you ever done a stress test? How about a calcium scan?

 I lost 60 pounds since June and I feel like I should lose another 10-15 more.