2017: Year of the Truck
The Land Rover Adventure that started on May 1st will spill over into 2018. A few elements of the restoration were not up to Mr. Wolf’s high standards.
“One injector was not sealed correctly, and I think all four were missing the “nozzle washer”. I’ve ordered all new seals, and in the meantime I had a friend drive the injectors over to Diamond Diesel for testing because I was too impatient for shipping. Yep, all four were bad. I’m having them do a fancy rebuild and calibration rather than rolling the dice on some cheap remanufactured units. I am hoping (and hopeful!) that this will resolve the smoking issue.”
The injectors are and the new seals are installed but it turns out they use “an O-ring that is some goofy size” that had to be ordered. In the meantime, Mr. and Mrs. Wolf are headed down to Baja for a couple of weeks of camping so work on the truck resumes in 2017.
It’s been a journey. Almost bought a truck from the Cool & Vintage guys (Portugal); seriously considered Arkonik (UK); and wound up in the capable, Master Mechanic hands of Grayson Wolf.
I’ve been thinking about what I’d tell someone considering purchasing a vintage Land Rover (frame off restoration). They’re expensive, of course, but you can’t be in a hurry. And if you know almost nothing about older vehicles, you need a guide. Someone to keep you from making a very expensive mistake.
If all goes well I expect to meet Mr. Wolf next month and get my hands on the truck. Mr. Wolf is shooting for nothing less than perfection and I think he’ll achieve that.
Go deeper, not wider
Another brilliant insight from David Cain at Raptitude.
I keep imagining a tradition I’d like to invent. After you’re established in your career, and you have some neat stuff in your house, you take a whole year in which you don’t start anything new or acquire any new possessions you don’t need. No new hobbies, equipment, games, or books are allowed during this year. Instead, you have to find the value in what you already own or what you’ve already started. You improve skills rather than learning new ones. You consume media you’ve already stockpiled instead of acquiring more. You read your unread books, or even reread your favorites. You pick up the guitar again and get better at it, instead of taking up the harmonica.
Every paragraph in this post seemed to be written just for me. We’re coming up on a new year, a perfect time to attempt a Depth Year. Do I have the will, the determination, the focus? Unlikely.
Scott Adams: Quotable
I started this blog in 2002. Since then I have quoted Scott Adams — from his blog, his books or other publications — 114 times. More than any other writer, blogger, or public figure. I found his insights fresh, provocative and brilliant. Topics included: robots; reality; education; the universe; immortality; free will; the economy; war; religion; politics; voting; government… and a bunch more. I stopped following and quoting Mr. Adams near the end of 2015. That was around the time he became — it seemed to me — obsessed with Donald Trump and his presidential campaign. It was “All Trump all the time” on Mr. Adams’ blog and I stopped following. As did many others. This week I’ve been doing a bit of housekeeping on this blog and had occasion to reread Mr. Adams’ posts. Many of his predictions about technology were eerily prescient. Most of his pre-Trump ideas still resonate with me.
Annihilation
Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s best-selling Southern Reach Trilogy. I read the first book in the trilogy and found it… disturbing. Didn’t feel a pull to read the other two. The film is directed by Alex Garland who did Ex Machina, 28 Days Later, two films I enjoyed very much (if one can claim to enjoy 28 Days Later).