Bad thoughts

[haigha]

Thanks, mD! Things are well for us. Pretty much retired ten years ago. Hope the same for you, V and your family.

How's your granddaughter doing?

Your stable still looks great!

Are you & V still enjoying chasing the little ball? I've pretty much retired from that. Got to a 5 hcp briefly and couldn't get past that. Wasn't enjoying it after plateauing as a mid-single digit player for a few years. Very much a home course hcp, btw. My local club is flat and relatively short, with tough greens.

My mechanic friend is about your age and is slowly disengaging from working. Mostly works with me and a couple other of his friends when he has time and the strength. Covid-19 almost killed him, not from the disease, but when his double hernia operation was delayed for six months. It went from a standard laser procedure to a full operation, with one surgeon giving him a 20% chance of survival. Fortunately, he made it!

Not sure how long I'll keep the X5 when he's no longer able to help me and something major comes up. He's looked after my cars since forever and still makes the occasional house call.

Stay safe!

[motordavid]

haigha,
Thank you for the kind words...
V & I are both doing well, and both chasing the ball ~3 times a week, (separately on alt days, for time apart!).

I was down to 12 GHIN a year ago, but have stumbled a bit this Spring/Summer and am currently a 16 GHIN. Oh well, love the game and it is a RetiredBum 1st world problem, so no beefing. I like the camaraderie, being outside, and some good walking exercise, esp here on our Spring/Summer/Autumn western NC mtn club course...

The TM situ I contracted 3 1/2 yrs ago still kicks my azz a bit, and these mid 70s are not one's 60s, or earlier. But never give up/never give in.

Still v tight with our only G Daughter, even as she turned 18 in June. She got into every college she applied to, but has convinced our Son and DIL she is 'leaving NJ' and going to the U in FL. So, she will be 'near us' when we do our ~5 months at our Escape Winter House, which makes us happy.

World and media are crazier by the day, but we are v comfortable, just trying to stay below the radar, and waiting semi-patiently to get back to some overseas travel and more normalcy, as we head into the 7th inning of life.

Best to you and your Fam, haigha!
Ol'UncleMotor & VZ

[haigha]

Thanks for the update, mD.

Great that your granddaughter will be near enough to visit while she's in college. And wonderful that being near you and V is a big reason for that.

Good to have some time apart. A round is a good amount, in my experience. Glad you're both still enjoying it!

I'm happy to hear that you're not giving in to the obstacles TM has created. Lots of medical breakthroughs coming. I hope one helps you put it behind you.

Agree with you on the game. I met so many great people through it and even made some money in the industry for about ten years (not playing, obviously, with my hcp).

You've described our view on the world too. Crazy and getting crazier. Just listened to a 32 minute interview from the Taliban spokesman about what's going to happen in Afghanistan. I feel terrible for those who will lose their freedoms there and for those who made so much effort to try bringing democracy and human rights to all of its people.

Closer to home, a lesson from the lock down for me is to enjoy the local state parks and hiking trails more. Also exploring lots of things and still working on my Spanish to keep my brain active.

Samanté para ti y tus seres queridos,

[dkl]

Apparently, I must really love this car because I just dropped some major coins on it (more than 4x of what the car is worth according to Carvana)!

It all started with my wife coming home from a Costco run telling me the driver's window is stuck quarter way open. Normally, I would say...no biggie. I'll just order a windows regulator and replace it myself. But wouldn't you know it, it's raining the next morning and the following day and this is with California in a drought! My lazy a$$ told me to just bring it to my indie and pay him the $500 in labor/part to replace the regulator so I don't have to deal with all that mangled wires in there. Boy...did things snowball after that...lol

While it was up on the lift, I looked and saw the oil pan gasket leak was worst than I thought and decided to just bite the bullet to have it replaced. While in there, I told him to replace the engine mounts as well as a bad oil level sensor and a few other little knick knacks. Before you know it, I was presented with this bill

[haigha]

Ouch! I hope that's all the major stuff you need to do for a long time

[dkl]

I hope so too...I just did all the cooling system last year (water pump, t-stat, expansion tank, hoses, etc)...so I'm hoping that I should be good for a while.

[motordavid]

dkl,
Good job tossing a few bucks at your E53!

Nothing like unrequited love, and one having a Jones for our old Xs!

In the scheme of things you won't 'miss' the dough and you get to keep on rolling down the road in your E53 when you are in the mood for it!
GL, mD

[dkl]

mD,
It wasn't that difficult of a decision, actually. At least I tried to rationalize it this way:

Let say that I can sell it for $3k and not put much more money into it, what else can I get to replace it with that's in good a shape as the ol' gal? If I add the repair bill to that, anything else decent that I can get for $6.5k or $7k without needing immediate work to bring it back to decent shape? Is there anything else in that price range that I would rather drive? My answer came back with a big resounding NO.

Maybe, I'm just too attached to my cars as I've only owned 5 cars throughout my 35 years of driving...3 of which are still currently with me! The X5 is the longest I've owned of any cars (18 years coming up)!

Sounds like I'm beginning to talk myself back into keeping the car since the Original Post

[srmmmm]

That's 9-10 month's worth of new car payments, so the repairs pay for themselves in less than a year.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by dkl

...Maybe, I'm just too attached to my cars as I've only owned 5 cars throughout my 35 years of driving...3 of which are still currently with me! The X5 is the longest I've owned of any cars (18 years coming up)!...

I've been too attached to many of my 25-26 vehicles I've owned (either outright, or shared with my spouse) in the 55 years since my first (1956 Chevy 210 4-dr sedan) in 1965. It was given to me by my Grandmother after my Aunt suddenly died at 38; she had planned to give it to me on my next birthday (16), in two months. I grew attached to it (probably due to sentimentality), though a younger brother stole it and totalled it two years later.

I seem to keep all my vehicles too long, thru some sort of attachment: sentimental, having nebulous dreams of fixing them up again, or what?? I 'm not sure why. My record attachment was 27+ years, to the '66 Chevelle I bought to restore, but ended up racing instead, then traded at long last for my current obsession: my '01 X5.

Long-lived vehicles that I've owned and cared for:

'66 Chevelle Malibu 2-dr hardtop, Onyx black 1994-2021 27+ years, a once a week "daily driver" (weekend racer), converted to a dedicated drag racer (full cage, spool, 4.88 gears, etc.), with various engine/equipment variations, from 327c.i. (L-79 clone) street, to 427c.i.(431)/646 rwhp dragracing.

'86 Chevy S-10 Tahoe extended cab, Charcoal Gray Metallic, 1986-2004 18+ years, 2.8l v-6 (three rebuilds), daily driver

'04 Chevy Silverado WT 2500HD reg. cab, Summit White, 2004-2021> 17+ years ongoing, 6.0l v-8, daily driver to dedicated #1 trailer hauler (beefed trans, springs & shocks)

'98 GMC Sierra 1500 ext. cab, Fire Red, 2007-2021> 14+ years ongoing, 5.7l v-8, family transport, #2 trailer hauler (beefed trans, tuned engine, springs & shocks)

'08 Cobalt LS (SE) 2-dr coupe, Slate Metallic Gray 2008-2021> 14+ years ongoing, 2.2l 4cyl, wife's car

'09 HHR Panel, 2-seat utility van, Summit White, 2009-2021> 13+ years ongoing , 2.2l 4cyl, daily driver + utility usage

Other long-lived/kept vehicles were:
1)'88 Fiero 1998-2017 19+ years (engine died in 2005, given away in 2017)
2)'92 Olds Achieva SC (Quad 4) 2005-2017 12+ years (parked in 2009, needed timing chain + CV axles)
3)'69 Chevy C-10 1997-2004 7+ years (restored in 1999, traded for '65 ChevyII -never restored- + trans-braked Powerglide racing transmission, 2 spare engines, various other parts)
4)'75 Chevy C-10 2002-2007 5+ years (rebuilt engine, trans, rear end; partial trade for '98 GMC + DIXON ZTR mower)

all others (of 25 total) were kept for 5 years or less

'01 BMW X5 3.0i (acquired in May 2021) will be my last (planned) vehicle; I hope to have it as long as the Chevelle (27+ years)