Month: July 2023

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

August Eve Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 31, 2023 at 4:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata 2005 Porsche Cayenne 1963 Dodge Motor Home
Unlike my first Miata this has power windows, headrest speakers and cruise control. Even though this is a luxury Porsche SUV these are an amazingly competent off-roader. If I had a different set of parents I might have summer vacationed in one of these as a kid.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 2002 Toyota MR2 Spyder Sold for $12,750 on 7/27/23
Off-Road: 1991 Land Rover Defender 90 Sold for $95,000 on 7/27/23
Touring: 1972 Citroen D21 Station Wagon Sold for $47,000 on 7/27/23

40 Posts to the End?

I joined Instagram in early 2018 as a way to kind of recreate a photo of the day blog I had back in the very early 2000’s. I wasn’t really thinking of it as a social media thing. So much so that that first post didn’t have a caption of any kind and nary a hashtag. Slowly I started to add captions, descriptions and hash tags, but I still really wasn’t using it as a “social Media” platform. I started following some accounts and started gaining followers, but I was not doing a lot of commenting. I was only liking photos that I actually liked, not just automatically liking something because because the follower was liking everything I posted.

Slowly over time Instagram has added more and more ads and has tried to become more of a video site instead of a photo one. Now every third post in my feed is a photo from some influencer I don’t follow or video of some sort or an ad for something. Bleh. I’m thinking that I’m going just quit the ‘Gram.

From that first Instagram post in February 2018 until yesterday, or 1,990 days, I have posted 1,960 pictures (pretty close to one a day.) The number 2,000 seems like a nice round number for my last IG post. I could do it ten days from today, but then the post count will be 1,9xx, so I’ll wait until I get an even 2,000 posts and then quit.

I’ll still leave my account there though in case someone I’m actually friends with wants to DM me. Also, because Donna uses it to look at a couple of accounts that she’s interested in too. Maybe I’ll create a second account with no posts at all just so I can click on explore and waste some idle time.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Penultimate Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 24, 2023 at 4:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2002 Toyota
MR2 Spyder		 1991 Land Rover
Defender 90		 1972 Citroen
ID21 Station Wagon
Very Miata-like, but with the engine in the middle. It has rear jump seats that are ideal for your squad. This will draw a curious crowd whenever you stop.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 2020 Porsche Cayman GT4 Sold for $124,567 on 7/19/23
Off-Road: 1994 AM General Hummer Sold for $72,000 on 7/22/23
Touring: 1995 Ferrari 456 GT Sold for $74,500 on 7/21/23

82,000 Points on a Chart

We are only a little over two weeks away from 7 years of ownership of the CTBNL and in that time frame we have driven it almost 35,700 miles. If you look at the chart above you will notice that there is a really noticeable change in the trajectory of the mileage numbers between the left side of the red line to the right side. During the first 38 months of ownership we put a good portion of 30,000 miles on the car, so that works out to an approximate average of 790 miles per month. That red line indicates when we moved from Aiken to Klamath Falls. Since then in 46 months we have added just under 6,000 making the average around 130 miles per month.

There are several reasons for the decline in miles for the Miata. First up is winter, in Aiken it got driven practically year round while here it is luck if it gets driven every 10 days or so and then for just a quick local spin. But probably the main reason is that we no longer take real road trips in it anymore. Since we have been here we took one 3 day trip to the coast in it. We’ve almost aged out of road tripping in entirely.

Now when we go somewhere we usually take the Mini. For comparison, during those same 46 months here in Klamath Falls the Minis have travel 19,000 miles or over 400 miles a month. That could have been higher too because we made three trips (2 to Santa Fe & 1 to Granite Falls) in rentals for various reasons.

Yesterday on a 30 mile morning drive, the CTBNL it rolled past the 82,000 mile mark.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Another Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 17, 2023 at 4:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2020 Porsche Cayman GT4 1994 AM General Hummer 1995 Ferrari 456 GT
I just can’t help myself when it comes to this car, I am seduced by its looks. The perfect vehicle when you aren’t kidding around for off-roading. The GT on this stands for Grand Touring unlike the Porsche to the left.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider 1600 Sold for $60,000 on 7/11/23
Off-Road: 1975 Ford Bronco Sold for $129,000 on 7/14/23
Touring: 1967 Mercedes-Benz 250SE Coupe Bid to $42,250 on 7/12/23

39,000 Little Dead Bugs

Since we returned from the Washington state trip a little over a week ago I have been meaning to wash the thousands of dead bugs off the front of the Mini. But because we have been pretty busy I’ve never gotten around to it. Add to that it has been, like most of the country, pretty dang hot and the only reasonable time to wash it is pretty early in the morning.

I am promising to get to it this weekend though. Either on Saturday if we get back from the downtown farmers market early enough, which is unlikely. Or Sunday after breakfast and the morning show, but then again Sunday is bike riding day and the best time to ride is also early in the morning…

Sometime yesterday, or maybe the day before, while running errands or shopping the Mini rolled through the thirty-nine thousand mile mark.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

I Need A Mechanic Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 10, 2023 at 1:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider 1600 1975 Ford Bronco 1967 Mercedes-Benz 250SE Coupe
I would love to buy this, but there probably no 60’s Alfa mechanics anywhere near me. For this one there is probably going to be someone around here that could wrench on this. Just like the Giulia Spider I’d be wondering where to find a reliable M-B mechanic locally.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Bid to $45,250 on 7/5/23
Off-Road: 2003 Chevrolet Silverado Sold for $24,702 on 7/9/23
Touring: 2001 Chevrolet Suburban Sold for $45,000 on 7/6/23