430,000 Acres of Scorched Earth

The country’s biggest wildfire (so far) this year has burned nearly 430,000 acres of eastern Oregon. Fortunately for us it started about 40 miles north and east of us and because of the prevailing winds that generally blow in those same cardinal ordinates, we were never in any danger from the fire.

Our air has been smoke filled, mostly not from the Bootleg fire, but from others in northern California. Last summer I took a picture of the smoke filled skies in the direction of Mt. Shasta (25 miles south and west of us) and commented that the mountain was invisible because of the smoke. I thought that it was unusual, but apparently it is an every summer occurrence during our 5th season here in Oregon, Fire Season.

This morning on the way to our weekly shopping trip to Fred Meyer the Ladybug turned over 1/10 the number of those scorched acres…43,000 miles.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Impractical Yellow Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 26, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2014 Lamborghini Gallardo 1953 Dodge M37 1973 BMW 3.0CSi
Rear and side views are very limited and it is so low even the slight ramp on my driveway would make this bottom out. This is too large a vehicle and the nearly 70-year old mechanicals and ergonomics would make driving a chore. Because this is a European-market car the speedo is in kilometers per hour and the radio may not work here.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 1970 Porsche 914-6 Sold for $102,500 on 7/25/21
Off-Road: 1999 Land Rover Discovery II Sold for $18,499 on 7/20/21
Touring: 1950 Plymouth Deluxe Suburban Sold for $45,000 on 7/26/21

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

A Whimsical Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 19, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1970 Porsche
914-6		 1999 Land Rover
Discovery II		 1950 Plymouth
Deluxe Suburban
I could almost afford a 914, but not a numbers-matching 2.0L flat-six version… I really picked this over anything else on auction week just based on the orange color. I don’t know what to say about this pick, so it is a good thing a picture is worth 1,000 words.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 2006 Honda S2000 Sold for $32,500 on 7/14/21
Off-Road: 1970 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 Bid to $31,000 on 7/17/21
Touring: 2010 BMW 328i Sports Wagon Sold for $38,027 on 7/13/21

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Blue Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 12, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2006 Honda
S2000		 1970 Toyota
Land Cruiser FJ40		 2010 BMW
328i Sports Wagon
If I was making 25% more money than I was in 2004, I’d have bought one of these instead of a Miata. Although, when we finally do buy a 4×4 vehicle it will probably be a Wrangler, this is so cool looking. There were two BMW wagons available on BAT when I looked, but this one is just a bit nicer IMHO.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 1973 TVR 2500M Sold for $29,000 on 7/11/21
Off-Road: 1944 NSU Kettenkrad Sold for $129,500 on 7/9/21
Touring: 1991 Nissan Figaro Sold for $23,000 on 7/9/21

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Quirky Kars Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 5, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1973 TVR 2500M 1944 NSU Kettenkrad 1991 Nissan Figaro
A rare hand built English car with an American V8. A motorcycle front, tank sides and 2 rear seats. So quirky it’s cute and I’d like to own one.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 1972 Lotus Elan +2 S130 Sold for $45,750 on 7/2/21
Off-Road: 1986 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ45 Pickup Bid to $47,500 on 7/5/21
Touring: 1969 Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback Automatic Bid to $7,878 on 7/1/21

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Just Another Edition of SORT
As of Monday, June 28, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1972 Lotus Elan +2 S130 1986 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ45 Pickup 1969 Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback Automatic
It is called a +2 because it has rear seats but they are just kid sized. Toyota’s answer to the older Jeep Gladiators. Had one of these when on Guam, it too had an automatic too.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 2006 Lotus Sport Elise Sold for $55,555 on 6/25/21
Off-Road: 1980 Mercedes-Benz 300GD Sold for $50,000 on 6/22/21
Touring: 2011 BMW 328i Wagon Sold for $25,250 on 6/22/21

Adventures in Online Ordering

On the afternoon of June 15th I ordered a couple items from Home Depot online for our continuing effort to put our stamp on the new House of Bogardi. One item was a matching bathroom mirror for the vanity we bought at the store because they didn’t have one there. The other item was a small flush mount LED light to put in the hallway to replace the ugly contractor grade item that hung from the ceiling there.

The mirror shipped on the 17th with an expected delivery date of the 21st, but there was a late truck so it was delivered a couple days late. No big deal.

The light was a different story. It was shipped the day after ordering it on the 16th with an expected delivery date of the 19th. It left Arcadia, CA (basically LA) on the 17th and then it fell into black hole.

JUN 16
11:21 PM
Arrived At FedEx Location ARCADIA, CA
JUN 17
10:35 PM
Left FedEx Origin Facility ARCADIA, CA
JUN 18
10:46 AM
In Transit MT SHASTA, CA
JUN 19
8:00 AM
In Transit TROUTDALE, OR
JUN 20
8:01 PM
In Transit TROUTDALE, OR
JUN 21
8:02 PM
In Transit TROUTDALE, OR
JUN 22
8:03 AM
In Transit TROUTDALE, OR
JUN 22
8:03 PM
In Transit TROUTDALE, OR
JUN 23
8:03 AM
In Transit TROUTDALE, OR

On Monday the 21st when I checked the status there was a note that said if there is no update after 3 days to contact Home Depot. So on the morning of Thursday the 24th I did just that and gave them a call. After only a couple minute wait I was connected to a very helpful Customer Service Rep. When I explained the situation, she thought the same thing I did, FedEx lost the package. She gave me two choices, she could open a ticket with FedEx or she could cancel the order and refund my money.

I said, “I’ll take the refund and probably just reorder the light.” She said, “Hold on, I’ll see if they are still in stock.” She said they are available and we proceeded to order a replacement. As she was telling me that I should get a confirmation email shortly, up popped the email. I thanked her and we hung up. Later that evening the new light shipped with an expected delivery date of the 30th.

This afternoon around 2:00 I heard a truck stop out front, we weren’t expecting anything, so I figured it must be for a neighbor, until the door bell ranWhe I opened the door a FedEx truck was just driving off. That’s right, sitting on the welcome mat was a small white box that could only be one thing, a small flush mount LED light.

Because my friendly Home Depot CSR already has the light marked as returned in their system, so she could refund my money, I guess I’ve got a free light.