The Land Rover is done

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Mr. Wolf has thoroughly vetted my truck and pronounced it done. If you’ve been following the story here you know what a laborious process that has been. He knew he was sending the truck to someone who doesn’t own a wrench (I’ll get some! I’ll get some!) and wanted to find and fix everything he could. He’ll arrange for transport and when we have a delivery date I’ll post it here. Tentative plan is to unload in one of the parking lots of the Capital Mall west of Jefferson City.

Now that he has the truck shipshape, Mr. Wolf added the badge I had made. I think I can safely say this Land Rover is one of a kind. Thanks entirely to his tireless efforts.

UPDATE: Not so long ago the idea of naming a vehicle would have gotten some serious eye-rolling from me. Any reference to the Land Rover would probably start and end with “the truck.” Now I’m not so sure. Depending on how much personality the truck acquires, I won’t be surprised if I find myself referring to “Mr. Wolf.” If the truck lives long enough to acquire a soul, it will be because of his efforts.

700 Days

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I started meditating in 2008 but didn’t make it a regular (daily) part of my life until November 30, 2014. At least that is the date I started keeping track. Since then — as noted here previously — I have missed just two days, for a total of 1,343 days on the cushion. Today’s practice was 700 days without missing.

I sit for either 30 minutes or 45 minutes depending on what’s going on. I am a firm believer in making meditation a daily part of one’s life, if only 10 minutes.

I hope to share “1,000 Days” with you next year.

Land Rover: Re-wired

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By any estimation, the people that did the restoration on my Land Rover did a half-assed job. Fortunately my guide through this jungle is a bad-ass mechanic (specializing in vintage vehicles) who has been finding and fixing shit for the last six months. His latest report:

“Finding all kinds of wiring issues to sort out! All lighting wiring. I only caught them because the right front parking light was inop. Then I realized the left front turn signal wasn’t working, either. It was a very well hidden mess, too. Cleverly tucked away where it couldn’t be seen.”

“I pretty much rewired the whole nose of the truck, what a mess that was. I pulled the steering wheel and instrument cluster for a few hours of recreational cursing, but it ended well. Glow plug light, high beam indicator, “Luces” indicator. Everything works with the exception of two indicator lights: one that says “starter” (I can’t fathom why you would need a light to tell you the starter is engaged) and the generator light. I couldn’t find any wiring or the bulb holder for the generator light, so I left well enough alone.”

“Also re-sealed the valve cover, hopefully that does it. I’m going to drive it home tonight, and if the valve cover gasket holds we might… be there. I will do an oil change tomorrow.”

We might be there. :)

Land Rover: 08.02.18

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More photos taken at a job site where Mr. Wolf was working. And he continues to find and fix stuff:

“Unfortunately the valve cover re-torque did not stop the oil leak, so I’m trying to source a new gasket quickly. Right front parking light isn’t working, and it’s not the bulb, I’ll trace that out. High beam indicator not working, no big deal. Electric fan temp sensor relocation worked nicely, she stays right in the middle of the gauge now.”

The Last of the True White People

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“The ‘last of the true white people,’ as they called themselves, they realized they were never going to get America back, and all they could hope for was to make it really unpleasant for everyone else to live there.”

From Albert Brooks’ novel 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America. Published in 2011.