The Daily Mail is a British daily tabloid newspaper published in London. It is the United Kingdom’s second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. The editor of the travel section was looking for Halloween story ideas and came across our photos on Flickr. He asked if they could use the photos in a story and I said yes. Not sure why UK readers would be interested in 50 year old Halloween photos from the U.S. Perhaps they were on deadline and just needed a story.
Land Rover headed back to San Diego
The ride up to Mr. Wolf’s shop in the Bay Area was on open transport truck. Only thing available on short notice. Last night he sent it back to Lucra Cars in an enclosed truck.
Looks like it had some pricey company. Perhaps one of you car guys can ID these high-end rides.
No idea when I’ll finally get behind the wheel but if I had to guess I’d say December. Gonna call it a Christmas present.
Distraction
I’m re-reading Distraction by Bruce Sterling. Published in 1998, it is/was frighteningly prescient. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts (does that first one remind you of anyone?).
“He’s like a not very bright child who can be deceived and managed, but not reasoned with.”
“The American national character realty wasn’t suited for global police duties. It never had been. Tidy and meticulous people such as the Swiss and Swedes were the types who made good cops. America was far better suited to be the World’s Movie Star. The world’s tequila-addled pro-league bowler. The world’s acerbic, bipolar stand-up comedian. Anything but a somber and tedious nation of socially responsible centurions.”
“It always offended him to hear his fellow Americans discussing the vagaries of “white people.” There was simply no such thing as “white people. That stereotype was an artificial construct, like the ridiculous term “Hispanic.” In all the rest of the world, a Peruvian was a Peruvian and a Brazilian was a Brazilian— it was only in America that people somehow became this multilingual, multinational entity called a “Hispanic.”
“Political reality in modern America was the stark fact that electronic networks had eaten the guts out of the old order, while never finding any native order of their own. The horrific speed of digital communication, the consonant flattening of hierarchies, the rise of net-based civil society, and the decline of the industrial base had simply been too much for the American government to cope with and successfully legitimize.”
“Knowledge is inherently precious even if you can’t sell it. Even if you can’t use it. Knowledge is an absolute good. The search for truth is vital. It’s central to civilization. You need knowledge even when your economy and government are absolutely shot to hell.”
One car too many
Reply
From the day I decided to buy a vintage Land Rover the plan was to make it my everyday vehicle. I’d sell the MINI almost immediately. Friends and concerned strangers urged me to hang on to the MINI, if only for a few months, to make sure I could make do with a 40 year old truck. So I rented one of those U-Store-It places to keep the MINI, even though I’m not entirely comfortable with having two vehicles. The Land Rover is still a month away. Maybe six weeks.
In the meantime, the MINI’s value as a back-up ride has… diminished. Might have a crack in the head gasket which is an expensive repair. $1,500, maybe two grand?
I paid $24,000 for the MINI in the fall of 2011. The Blue Book value is around $5,000, perhaps a bit more. But that’s WITHOUT a serious engine problem. Do I invest $2K to fix the car in order to sell it for $5K? If I’m doing the math correctly, the car is only worth $3K at the moment.
I’m almost completely ignorant in these matters because I’ve always driven cars (Toyotas) for 300,000 miles or more. Then I’d buy a new one. Zero experience with used cars. And more importantly, I refuse to fuck with buying/selling used cars.
So I’ll keep the MINI until the Land Rover arrives but keeping it in storage no longer makes sense. I haven’t figured out what to do with it but I will. The local high school has a career center with an automotive program that accepts donated vehicles for the student to work on (for practice or to fix and sell). I might donate the MINI.
What I’d like to find is a “concierge seller.” Someone that finds a buyer and takes a commission.
I was a little surprised at how quickly the MINI lost value. And how difficult and expensive it was to maintain. And, yes, driving a 40 year old truck will have a new set of surprises.
Tracking my keys with Tile
I misplaced my car keys (again). This time the key fob was attached to a Tile tracker. The iPhone app showed the keys being close but I couldn’t hear the chime so I assumed they were outside. The app displays a small green circle on a map and the tile/keys is located within.
In the screencast above the blue dot is me, moving around relative to the circle. I hurried this demo a bit and the app was playing catch-up. The device and the app work better in practice than my demo suggests. I’ve been impressed so far.
Old Trucks
Nietzsche and Thus Spoke Zarathustra: Becoming Gods
Going for a drive
Not sure what it is about these two photos that appeals to me. I assume they were taken by Mrs. Wolf at the recent Land Rover meet-up. It’s probably loud as hell but these images seem so still and quiet.
“Terrorism is a racist term in the U.S.”
“Terrorism is a racist term in the US. It means white people were harmed by people who aren’t white. If the shooter is white, he’s just crazy.”
— Dave Winer
Houston, we have a problem
The Northern California Land Rover Club held a rally in Hollister, California this weekend and Mr. Wolf took The Truck down to show off and test drive. He discovered some “issues” that have to be addressed and will almost certainly delay the delivery date. But that’s why we went with Mr. Wolf in the first place. Here are some photos from the rally:
For my money, nothing captures the Land Rover mystique like this 1951 Series (1) truck. I think he said these guys drove it down from the Bay Area (with the windscreen down!)
Serious off-roaders love to make their trucks go where they shouldn’t be able to go. Mr. Wolf called these “tank traps.”
So The Great Land Rover Project has hit a bump but — as you can see — Land Rovers love bumps.