Joke on me

Was sitting out by the gathering table and a few of the other people where
there too. I was offered a car to buy, only $300.00! Wow, figured it
couldn't be as bad as the one I'm running now, that was until I saw it. It's
a blue Chevy El Camro(sp?) you know that pickup that's not a pickup, a car
that's not a car. The joke? 1st it was first owned by the park manager and
then sold and that guy sold it again to a guy who drove it like H*ll and now
it has a blown motor.

It would be good for the scopes, but that bad motor is a stoper.

Are the car gods trying to tell me something or just having fun on me?


--
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond

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Starlord wrote:
Was sitting out by the gathering table and a few of the other people where
there too. I was offered a car to buy, only $300.00! Wow, figured it
couldn't be as bad as the one I'm running now, that was until I saw it. It's
a blue Chevy El Camro(sp?) you know that pickup that's not a pickup, a car
that's not a car. The joke? 1st it was first owned by the park manager and
then sold and that guy sold it again to a guy who drove it like H*ll and now
it has a blown motor.

It would be good for the scopes, but that bad motor is a stoper.

Are the car gods trying to tell me something or just having fun on me?

I once bought a "little old ladie's" Morris marina ;-) they were built
from compressed FeO2, then painted. This one smoked like a train but
that was reflected in the price so I bought it for £150. A lump from
the breakers was £30 and 2 new wings another £40. I only wanted it
for the 11 months MOT it had. 8 years later it took us down for the
solar eclipse and was still running when I flogged it. By that time it
had a 1800 TC Bseries engine, 5 speed Honda box, riley 1.5 rear axle
with oversize drums. Long range Sherpa tank, 3 different coloured
wings....what a pig :-) I did a similar thing with my old man's Minor
1000.
Then there was my "racing Land-Rover".....but that's another story.
Now I pick out a new one every 3 years from the disabled Motability
scheme, they start every morning (Oh, joy) and everything is paid all
in (tax,ins, service,recovery etc..)
jc

Starlord wrote:
Was sitting out by the gathering table and a few of the other people where
there too. I was offered a car to buy, only $300.00! Wow, figured it
couldn't be as bad as the one I'm running now, that was until I saw it. It's
a blue Chevy El Camro(sp?) you know that pickup that's not a pickup, a car
that's not a car. The joke? 1st it was first owned by the park manager and
then sold and that guy sold it again to a guy who drove it like H*ll and now
it has a blown motor.

It would be good for the scopes, but that bad motor is a stoper.

Are the car gods trying to tell me something or just having fun on me?

If you were a car person, you could grab a running motor from the
wrecking yard, drop it in in an afternoon and have a vehicle. Old cars
from the 60s and early 70s are trivial to work on and can be kept
running indefinitely; comfort is another matter. Insurance is just
liability, and registration charges are low. In this case I'd look at
interior and seating, which are difficult to fix up, and at the body for
rust (out where you are it shouldn't have any rust no matter how old it
is - you easterners hear that?) and tires. You can get that old running
motor for $150 and pay a local kid $100 to drop it in.

Solves the telescope transport problem.
Only problem is having the time/energy/knowledge/tools to do auto work
yourself.

When the manager had it, he DID put in another engine, but he had the useage
of the building out near the well to put the car into and use an A-fram
engine host and all, that area is his storage now and full and all I have is
the area infront of my trailer. I could get a rebuilt chevy short block
engine for about $200, the cars not old enough yet to skip the smog testing.
When the manager had it I drove it on trips to town to pick up stuff for
him, so I know it.

I am thinking one thing, in the car ads these things go for good $$$, and
I'm thinking I could get it and then turn around and sell it for a good
amount to pay for another good car. The old Mad Max V0.5 car I run now is
one that everytime it starts, I say Thankyou to the big junkyard in the sky.
With the holly 4bbl it'll pass everything on the road but the gas station,
($3.21 a gal now).


--
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond

Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
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www.sidewalkastronomy.info
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Blast Off Online Gift Shop
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Astro Blog
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"lal_truckee" wrote in message
...
Starlord wrote:
Was sitting out by the gathering table and a few of the other people
where there too. I was offered a car to buy, only $300.00! Wow, figured
it couldn't be as bad as the one I'm running now, that was until I saw
it. It's a blue Chevy El Camro(sp?) you know that pickup that's not a
pickup, a car that's not a car. The joke? 1st it was first owned by the
park manager and then sold and that guy sold it again to a guy who drove
it like H*ll and now it has a blown motor.

It would be good for the scopes, but that bad motor is a stoper.

Are the car gods trying to tell me something or just having fun on me?

If you were a car person, you could grab a running motor from the wrecking
yard, drop it in in an afternoon and have a vehicle. Old cars from the 60s
and early 70s are trivial to work on and can be kept running indefinitely;
comfort is another matter. Insurance is just liability, and registration
charges are low. In this case I'd look at interior and seating, which are
difficult to fix up, and at the body for rust (out where you are it
shouldn't have any rust no matter how old it is - you easterners hear
that?) and tires. You can get that old running motor for $150 and pay a
local kid $100 to drop it in.

Solves the telescope transport problem.
Only problem is having the time/energy/knowledge/tools to do auto work
yourself.

Starlord wrote:

...the cars not old enough yet to skip the smog testing.

Fergettiboutit.

" ($3.21 a gal now)."

Here in Finland gasoline costs about $ 6,98 a gallon at the moment and
people still don't seem to care. They just keep on driving. I wonder how
much the gasoline really have to cost before it begins to have effect on
people's driving habits.

Luckily I have my own yard so don't have to take my telescope anywere. My
problem is that in summer the nights are too bright here up north for
stargazing. Too cold in winter and too bright in summer. Well, such is life.
Good luck with the car anyway.

Tommi

Tommi Laine wrote:
Here in Finland gasoline costs about $ 6,98 a gallon at the moment and
people still don't seem to care. They just keep on driving. I wonder how
much the gasoline really have to cost before it begins to have effect on
people's driving habits.

Demand for gas is very inelastic: large changes in P yield relatively
small changes in Q. The few people who switch to mass transit or
cycling are largely swamped by the people who don't want to give up
the convenience or the experience of driving.

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html

Out here in the High Mojave Desert cars are something that are mostly Must
Have, it's a almost 5 mile walk to the supermarket for me, pulling the old
radio flyer wagon and that means a totaly time of 5 to 6 hours and in summer
it means leaving home around 5pm and getting back about midnight and I put
big reflectors on the wagon so cars see me walking along the road. The one
bus that runs between some of the towns out here is a two or three times a
day and even then there's only one bus stop that's a 3 mile walk and with my
bad knees any of the walking is painfull for me. I've had to do it and it'd
take me up to 3 days to recover. They are the same reason I can't use a
bike, 10 mins on a bike and it's all done for the day and I've had these
knees since I was 18 and in the army.

So I do what I can to save gas, not going anyplace until I have too, wich
means days at a time before I go get any food supplys.


--
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond

Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
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Astro Blog
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"Brian Tung" wrote in message
...
Tommi Laine wrote:
Here in Finland gasoline costs about $ 6,98 a gallon at the moment and
people still don't seem to care. They just keep on driving. I wonder how
much the gasoline really have to cost before it begins to have effect on
people's driving habits.

Demand for gas is very inelastic: large changes in P yield relatively
small changes in Q. The few people who switch to mass transit or
cycling are largely swamped by the people who don't want to give up
the convenience or the experience of driving.

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html

Starlord wrote:
Was sitting out by the gathering table and a few of the other people where
there too. I was offered a car to buy, only $300.00! Wow, figured it
couldn't be as bad as the one I'm running now, that was until I saw it. It's
a blue Chevy El Camro(sp?) you know that pickup that's not a pickup, a car
that's not a car...

Such vehicles never really caught on in North America,
though Ford (Ranchero) and Chevrolet (El Camino) both tried.

They are popular in other parts of the world, where they're
called "utes". Older readers may remember vehicles called
"sedan delivery". This is in very much the same space,
a light-duty commercial vehicle based on a passenger
car chassis.

I've always rather liked the Australian Ford Falcon Ute.
(http://www.ford.com.au/range/falconute/models/)
Utes are very popular in Australia, and there are
magazines devoted to them.

Cutest I've ever seen was a Mini-Minor pickup.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

(Brian Tung) wrote in :

Tommi Laine wrote:
Here in Finland gasoline costs about $ 6,98 a gallon at the moment and
people still don't seem to care. They just keep on driving. I wonder how
much the gasoline really have to cost before it begins to have effect on
people's driving habits.

Demand for gas is very inelastic: large changes in P yield relatively
small changes in Q. The few people who switch to mass transit or
cycling are largely swamped by the people who don't want to give up
the convenience or the experience of driving.


The cost of mass transit also goes up when fuel prices increase. Outside of
peak times, trains and buses are often run with a low percentage of
occupancy. In this case their overall efficiency is actually worse than
private motor vehicles.

Klazmon.