One year ago today: July 12, 2023, they kept the money.
Five years ago today: July 12, 2019, artwork and such.
Nine years ago today: July 12, 2015, I dislike backing tracks.
Random years ago today: July 12, 205, the original duckie photo.
Good morning after an 11 hour snooze. We have a series of problems to solve in the correct order with no transportation. You can examine the list. One, the Volvo loaner in TN is only good for 15 days. That’s almost up. My van is in the yard here with no nearby transmission shops. I have decided to keep JZ in the loop, he needs a reliable vehicle and he’s had terrible luck finding things on his own. So I begged a ride off Wilford to the auto mall. As I’ve learned with the locals, they are always too busy to lend a hand, so the deal was he dropped me off.
A lightning strike took out my kitchen A/C (my newest unit), though I was able to jam it on full blast and operate it by pulling the plug. It makes an intermittent beep, but I’ll disconnect the beeper until the dust settles around here. As long as my cheapest oldest A/C in the east bedroom is faithful, we’ll ride this one out. Also, a rat got into my cat food and both my grit supply and backup supply. What a mess, splattered grits everywhere. But never cry over spilled grits, mainly because they are so cheap.. Other than that, the place is okay. I’ll be back in motion soon.
Here’s how. Just so you know, a series of hardships have hit in succession. This will test my mettle, just to see if I can get out of this one without resorting to credit botheration. Not so easy because my system was never designed to take triple hits. Hey, that’s still three more than the average dude prepares for. My thinking remains steady on how to get this behind us without incuring debt. Let others rely on that tempting credit-car easy out—so they can wonder later what in hell they were thinking. I’d rather leg myself the money so to speak.
I found a small Hyundai for $3,000. I did not haggle the price since that is almost a gift from a dealer I trust. So where do I find the $3300 to carry this? Don’t forget the taxes! This is where I can give you some factors to juggle. First, this is not “lost” money, because the stolen KIA was insured. This is a heart nothing more than the old American truism that you need a car to shop for a car. We are surrounded by fake rent-a-car ads and with shysters only too willing to “help”. The immediate task is to bypass all that rotten dealing by getting something on the road.
Oh, and about taking care to always back my vehicles into the driveway. The tow truck driver was able to get a picture of my house by pulling up the address. The untrimmed tree by the door says this photo is less than a month old. If you think you are off the grid, wrong, Google is obviously making more money photographing your residence than they would updating their maps or crappy systems. If these photos had shown license plates, I’m certain Google would abuse that information as most they could.
In other required blog items, during the radiator repair traffic made it necessary to often stand in the grass in the ditch. I was wearing sandals, hey this is the height of summer. I’ve got myself a string of painful nettle or insect bites, small but blistering. And they burn ferociously but careful do not disturb. Blog rules I must mention any condition that might affect my general health, so at the expense of sounding like some oldster with the complaints, I point out one of the primary motives to get this blog on-line was to record medical issues. Because I thought I was dying, but that is another tale from the trailer court.
From Chatelain magazine.
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The Hyundai is compact, with about the same wheelbase as she is driving now. It’s a van, not a car, so we’ve sent text to see if that’s any barrier. If not, I’ll temporarily shift my van insurance, or add it to my policy. That would make one less thing the Reb would have to worry about. Where do I find $3,300 “temporary” dollars? Work with me here. This photo shows the last of my cash lying on the side of the freeway 18 miles north of Ocalla. Radiator, fluid, fan, these guys worked hard.
The reverse is not true, the other cars up to now were in her name although I was the principle. But this Hyundai would be in mine and that puts a stop to any chance of her letting one of them drive it. Sorry, pal, this is America, you are over 21, get your own car. The thing is, as soon as I get my van on the road, she may like the Hyundai, if not, JZ needs it. All this is hypothetical and nothing goes according to plan. So, the idea is I float the money needed for all this at the risk of something else going wrong. I do not see how the average American can weather this without a credit card.
So it’s clear, this brings many on-going sequences to a standstill for quite a while and puts everything and everybody on notice until the first week of July. If anything more goes wrong, we will be in deep doo-doo. The above is a last ditch maneuver so nobody fret. We’ve asked for a extension on the Volvo, the Reb wants a photo of the Hyundai, and either way, for $3,000 I don’t want to get caught with no vehicle again. Do you have any idea how hard is was to get anyone around here to give me a lift. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a societal thing these days to be unable to help and the people who have excelled at needing help are to blame for that.
ADDENDUM
Back home, and one more tube sold. Two days of rough travel and I arrive home to find that smart rat has been busy. How does one trap the smart ones. He shuns bait, avoids the traps, and hides in the attic. Let me check for news. Big Lots is nearing bankruptcy. CNN tacitly admits it knew Biden was a klutz from day one, but were paid to shine him up.
