Cars too precious to drive

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I had lunch with my friend and former co-worker, Phil, a couple of days ago. Phil is a polymath in the truest sense of the word and one of the smartest guys I know. And he owns a 1970 GTO that he restored so I wanted to get his thoughts on my Great Land Rover Adventure. He asked if I planned to keep my MINI and expressed some concern when I said I did not. Why would I need two cars, I asked?

A little background. Phil spent countless hours and not a little money restoring his GTO. His first car as a teenager was a GTO so it has a lot of sentimental value. So it’s a lot more than a vehicle for getting around town. He certainly wouldn’t drive it up and down the gravel road that leads to my house. There are other considerations, of course, but I got the strong sense that ‘having’ the GTO is more important than ‘driving’ it. (Another co-worker has a restored ’67 Camaro and it stays in the garage most of the time, too)

When Mr. Wolf locates that perfect Land Rover (and fixes it up), I’ll have no such investment. No sweat equity. No ’skin in the game’ as they say. It will be the only vehicle I own. If it gets dusty and dinged coming up my hill… well, so did the MINI. If it gets dented, I’ll have it fixed.

Who knows, perhaps I’ll come to feel differently about my Land Rover after a while. But leaving it in the garage while I drove my ‘other’ car would feel like keeping my dog in a kennel and only taking her out for a walk on weekends.

“Meditation is awareness”

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I have some bad habits and a couple of good ones. Perhaps my best habit is daily mindfulness meditation. I sit on a cushion for 30 minutes (sometimes as long as an hour) and concentrate on my breathing. That’s it. That’s my meditation practice. It’s the best half hour of my day.

And I haven’t missed a day for the last 271 days, tying previous record. My longest streak is 371 days. I’ve been practicing meditation for years but didn’t start keeping track of my sessions until November, 2014, when I started using an app called Equanimity. It times my session and keeps a simple log.

That first streak (371 days) was broken due to a bout with pneumonia. I started over and made it 271 days before I missed while out of town at my 50th high school reunion. So now I’ve set my sights on 371. If I can make it to September without missing a day, I’ve not a new streak. And I will have only missed two days in the last 1,000.

I can’t control the quality of my meditation sessions but I do have control over whether or not I sit every day. Which is important to me.

Title quote from Meditation Now or Never by Steve Hagen

1965 Land Rover Series 2A 88

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Mr. Wolf continues the search for my Land Rover. He’s still focused on a Defender 90 but based on recent conversations, we’re broadening the search to include the Land Rover Series models. Produced by the British manufacturer Rover company, this model was inspired by the US-built Willys Jeep. Fun facts: In 1992, Land Rover claimed that 70% of all the vehicles they had built were still in use. And all three of the Series models could be started with a front hand crank.

This Series 2A is a good example of the iconic Land Rover look that makes me weak in the knees. And check out the dash.

I’m no kind of handy with with a wrench or a screwdriver but even I get a warm glow when I look under the “bonnet.” Someone said when you lift the hood of a Land Rover you can see the ground. Sigh.


Series model or Defender 90, I’m confident Mr. Wolf will find the right Land Rover for me. I’m eager but in no hurry because the search is at least half the fun.