Sloppy's Hauler

I've been a van guy for years,

either VW buses or ford vans.

The enclosed area is secure,

one of the excuses for hauling 

a couple hundred pounds of random junk,

months after a project is finished.

Vans are easy to haul around family,

friends and in the old days a dog or two.

We did have a little Mazda b2200 for a year,

but a neighbor snatched it up in a weak moment.

When the van crapped out months back,

a friend Sloppy offered up his truck,

a beat extra-cab lowered Toyota.

I didn't seize the opportunity quickly,

and the van was running by the time he dropped it off.

I had driven in it before,

and there's a definite difference between

A 200+K mile one ton van,

and a 200+K mile mini truck,

some positive and some negative.

Well after 500 miles,

I can see why people love these little haulers.

And I didn't realize we moved around so much crap!

The gas savings alone is convenient,

as 2 gallons can last a couple days,

instead of maybe one day.

Even the kids have gotten on the bandwagon.

Jaxon is considering this or a similar one

as his first car.

It's funny even as rusty as it is,

there are guys that comment on this thing all the time.

Maybe it's the fancy wire wheels.

One thing we haven't loaded yet,

is a lawn-mower.

Thanks Sloppy!

TP

Made of White

You hear stories of the people in tornado or hurricane country,

and you wonder how they didn't prepare for a coming storm.

All their stuff strewn around the neighborhood.

Well I can feel for these people.

In San Diego it rains about 2 weeks per year.

Out of these 14 days,

there are about twice as many false warnings.

Is that an excuse to be unprepared?

Nah,

But that wouldn't make for fun reading.

These tarp setups are predominantly for shade,

but work really well for the occasional rain.

The bummer here is all my fault.

They weren't tied or weighted down.

I would have loved to see the canoe tarp flip over!

The thing is massive and was able to jump the 8 foot A frame.

The 40's tarp flipped back easily,

only a couple tweaked poles.

The canoe tarp took a bigger hit.

Surprisingly it held tight after the flip.

At first I expected to buy another craigslist special,

but we were able to rebuild it with a couple hammer smacks.

A good excuse to replace the raggedy tarp.

$30 vs $160 any day!

Of course this was all done in the rain,

and the next storm will be months from now!

Special thanks to MOW-Brett 

from the other side of he world for the tie down trick!

TP

perks

 Here's one of the perks driving a gas guzzling white van.

no turns

Dropped by my parents house,
and they were doing some major sewer line work.
Only stopped for a couple minutes,
and figured what the heck,
the worst they could say is move the van.

van parking only

Funny thing is the guy was in the hole,
and he looked at me like I was dropping off a tool,
or maybe their lunch,
and then he just went back to work.

point loma sewer line work

Just to clarify here,
I had to go down the street to unload something in one of their cars,
not a special trip just to take a couple pictures!
In retrospect,
the bummer here is I didn't go back to scratch my name in the new concrete!

210,000 - 2001 ford e350

On a special note,
the van recently broke 210,000 miles!
Which reminds me I gotta change the oil...

TP

the test

Here's a simple memory test for any wannabe toilet mechanic.

long or short?

You'd think this be a no-brainer.
The kids and I spent a couple minutes trying to figure out if we had
the long or short toilet seat.
With all the time spent on one it seems like it'd be obvious!

Well we did pick the right size - short,
but it ended up being cracked.
While standing in line to exchange it,
another guy had bought the wrong size!

TP

ultimate armageddon vehicle - VW baja bug

The boys and I rallied up for the swap meet this morning,
and pics of this bitchin little baja bug was about all we took home.

bug-eye vw baja bug - 1967?

What a simple recipe for all around transportation,
and a great way to salvage a wrecked beetle.
These are the model T's of my generation.
They used to be common,
I've had at least 3 that I remember.
The perfect gearhead car.

VW Baja Bug

Many "back in the day" memories with these things.
You could swap an engine using skateboards or bricks.
The "how to keep your volkswagen alive" book was the bible.
If your ever in need of a good read go get it.
Good stuff even if you don't have a VW.

ultimate armageddon vehicle - VW baja bug

I've always liked the narrow or bug-eye kit.
Supposedly allows room for bigger front tires.
This one had super straight body and looked like an old build.
These are the cars that feel like they're flying after 60MPH,
those cut down fenders act like wings.

baja bug interior

Definitely high on the list of Ultimate Armageddon Vehicles.

TP

goat milk

You know you're in Mexico when...

goat milk passenger

You share your taxi with a 5 gallon jug of fresh warm goat milk!
Second only to sitting next to an actual goat.
The drive was in such a rush he didn't even have time to do the rum pit stop.

mexican beetle

This clean 68 or later beetle was parked in the walk up line.
There were a couple other things I wish I had gotten cellphone pics of.
One thing was a full scaffolding,
enough to reach the top of the PEMEX overhang - over 20 feet,
built in the bed of a mid-size truck,
with a guy on top who was cleaning the sides or replacing bulbs,
even while parked on this crazy sloped driveway.

Next time I'll make sure to have the camera ready to shoot.

TP

sweat factory revisited

Last year we had it easy with no smog checks.
Now both of our white Fords are gonna take us to the sweat factory.
Typically I'm a cheapskate for stuff like this that's out of my control.
I'll search around for deals and maybe find a coupon.
For smog it's totally different.
No deals.
There's that element of uncertainty and risk,
second only to gambling.
I'll let my superstitious side take over,
and go with statistical history and luck.
Which means going to the same guy that has taken our money for the past 5 years now.

perich brothers (and sister): sweat factory

holey chit

It's been 2 years and the same guy is at it
with the same crusty cockatoo in the shop.
I had prepared the car by checking the tire pressure,
and the all important oil change.
A short freeway cruise to heat up the cats and we were good to go.

In San Diego they have a load or speed check.
There's an automated roller mechanism in the floor.

mercury on the roller

You don't know if you pass or fail until after the information is sent to the dmv.
After all the button pushing is done,
there are a couple minutes of hope and uncertainty.
Way worse than the dentist.
The girl before us failed her test so we knew red was bad.
Fortunately the screen was all green for us.
What a relief.
One down one to go this october.
Now hopefully the old merc will last another 2 years!

TP

simple things - leg-o-matic

On friday I was driving to the shop,
and passed by an "estate sale" sign.
Of course I had to circle back and scrounge around.

leg-o-matic chair
1970

Friday estate sales are the best as it beats the weekend hordes,
but this one was a little sparse.
There was this really cool little chair though.

leg--o-matic chair
july 1970
Bridgeport Conn.

It was in the old couples room,
situated next to the window and dresser,
like they used it every day to take their shoes on and off.
Creepy.

creamy

I gotta buy anything with white or cream naugahyde,
 especially when it's only $3!

inset cushion

It's a trippy chair.
It looks simple but it's really not.
The cushion is inset in angled cut wood,
not just a cushion screwed onto a flat piece.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



My friend Chip (pronouneced cho-ip)
suggested this song for today.
Actually it's the ripping last half of a 2 parts.
Listen for the fry-gasm at about 2:40 or so.

Jerry Garcia Band - Lonesome and a Long Way from Home
April 3, 1976

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Okay,
you're thinking why is this guy so infatuated with a friggin' chair.
Enough to write about it.

wooden folding chair

Well the kicker is this thing folds into a compact package.
Usually folding chairs are tall and bulky.

leg-o-matic
JUL 1970

This chair was probably not folded for a long time,
as it was a little sticky and tricky to figure out.

little seat

This is just what we needed.
A super stashable seat that matches 70's stereo equipment.

stashable

You may remember I was trying to make some space in the living room.
So now this thing stashes away perfectly.

chair?
what chair?

And the cool thing is its not a kids mini seat.

claimed

But the kids will be hogging it up the most.

perich kids

Fun times huh?

TP

sugar sugar

Gotta love estate sales.
Creepy going through the house of a once thriving family,
but that's where ya find all the good stuff.

$2.50

The past weekend I drove by this one,
and out of all the stuff they had,
this was it for me.
A whopping $2.50!

This is my new hot cereal pot.
It's one of those Descoware cast iron type deals.
Works so good.
It must have had a hard life,
 as there's this funny old man fix on the wooden handle.
Well it's in good hands now!

sugar

The big score was this cool sugar dispenser.
I've always wanted one of these things.
Yeah it may have been easier to snag one from a restaurant,
but those times have past!

The cool thing about this one is it's one of the originals,
embossed 1959!
Wonder which restaurant the old guy snagged this one from!

Dispensers Inc.
Santa Barbara, Calif

I had no idea these things were invented out here on the west coast,
so of course I did some quick internet searching.

The Dripcut-Starline: the story of a classic sugar shaker's sweet design - Core77

Dripcut Starline | Shaker's sweet success - Los Angeles Times

In a nutshell,
the company "Dripcut-Starline Corp."
 hired Henry Keck and Bernie Craig to design a sugar dispenser.
This was about 1955.
Funny thing is they only received a flat payment for the design.
If they'd only known 35 million of them would be made!

Dispensers Inc.
dripcut-starline
sugar top no S-930
Santa Barbara, CAL.
Pat D184567
1959

I went to the local restaurant for breakfast yesterday,
and of course had to check out their sugar dispenser.

$7.07

Yep a Taiwan knockoff!

dripcut-starline sugar dispenser
1959

What's amazing about all this is I've quit drinking coffee!
Still need my daily sugar input though.

TP

steel whittler

It's taken a while.

whittled steel pork chops

I'm 2/3 of the way to 1/3 of the way.





white denim - street joy - live

Things are going slowly but surely kinda like this song.

TP