Jeep: Steel Soldier

(YouTube) “Best video-history of the initial creation of the “Original Jeep”. The video shows the story of the “Jeep” from its original Bantam roots, all the way through its initial civilian use.” Should come as no surprise the Jeep has a rich a history at the Land Rover but I learn something new every time I watch one of these. And there seems to be a lot of them.

The history of the Jeep is at least as rich as that of the Land Rover. The first clip below is Bill Travers, a Jeep driver with the 87th Infantry Division. (45 sec) Below that a 2 minute clip about the CJ2A:

 

Jessie (12 weeks)

Only thing better than a Golden Retriever puppy (12 weeks) is a pup with a buddy to show her the ropes. Riley is delighted to have someone around who speaks dog. Riley not entirely thrilled to share her chairs with the new pup but is making the best of the situation.

Þrídrangaviti Lighthouse

(Wikipedia) Þrídrangaviti Lighthouse is a lighthouse 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometres) off the southwest coast of Iceland, in the archipelago of Vestmannaeyjar, often described as the most isolated lighthouse in the world. Þrídrangar means “three rock pillars”, referring to the three named rocks at that location. It was constructed in 1938 and 1939, with the lighthouse commissioned in 1942. Originally constructed and accessible only by scaling the rock on which it is situated, it is accessible by helicopter since the construction of a helipad.

The lighthouse was built under the direction of Árni G. Þórarinsson, who recruited experienced mountaineers to scale the rock on which it is located. Their climbing tools did not allow them to bite into the rock near the top, and there were no handholds near the top, so they made a human pyramid (one man on his knees, a second atop him, and a third one climbing on the second one) to reach it.

Bring back personal blogging

This piece in The Verge (by Monique Judge) touches on many/most of the reasons I never stopped blogging.

In the beginning, there were blogs, and they were the original social web. We built community. We found our people. We wrote personally. We wrote frequently. We self-policed, and we linked to each other so that newbies could discover new and good blogs.

Social media wasn’t a thing that existed back then, so all our pontificating on various topics took place on our personal weblogs, and the discussions happened in the comments section of said blogs.

The biggest reason personal blogs need to make a comeback is a simple one: we should all be in control of our own platforms.

Personal stories on personal blogs are historical documents when you think about it. They are primary sources in the annals of history, and when people look back to see what happened during this time in our lives, do you want The New York Times or Washington Post telling your story, or do you want the story told in your own words?

I do think of my blog as a history of sorts. What was I reading, watching, thinking since 2002? This is where you’ll find it (if anywhere).

We are now in an age where people come on the internet to be the worst possible versions of themselves, and it’s an ugly sight to behold.

Not here.

In the past 20 years I’ve encountered countless wanna-be bloggers that never really get around to posting consistently because they get sidetracked by “setting up” and futzing with their blog. Endlessly searching for the perfect tool; the perfect layout; the perfect hosting service. They’re like “photographers” who never get around to taking photos because they’re so busy setting up the dark room. The illustration below is perfect.

Jeep: A few repairs needed

Closed the deal on the Jeep today but won’t be driving it until a few repairs are made. Needs a new carburetor and a steering box.

In all fairness, the shaft (assuming it’s the original) lasted 76 years. And it would have been interesting if this had happened while I was motoring around town.

I’m learning more about this model Jeep. The engine –an L134– is a very reliable engine. No idea when I’ll drive this baby home but I’m looking forward to the adventure.