kind of sad; the fleet is fleeting

[mckitterick]

So I checked my eBay auctions and it seems that both my classic Chevy and my classic Ford pickup have both met reserves. This means that both shall be leaving the McKitterick Fleet soon. This makes me kind of sad. Here are the auctions:

1951 Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe

1962 Ford F-250 Pickup

Will I be okay with this in the long run? I shall miss them both... heck, just today I drove the pickup all over town, selling boxes of books and bringing more boxes of books up to the Center's new office.

I still own the lovely Crossfire and the new-brakes-installed Saab convertible (my cars); and the Lil' Vehicle of Danger is still in boxes in the garage, awaiting construction (another 4-wheeler); and I own the Aprilia scooter/motorcycle/land-speed racer; and I own the BMW RS100S motorcycle; and I shall soon own the Vespa VBC150 (and make it legal for road use)... so I still own more motorized vehicles than most humans. But I'll miss these, nonetheless. The Chevy is gorgeous, though I have not used it for a year; the Ford pickup is so useful and charming, though it has had to live on the street.

*sigh*

Clearing out the excess is unhappy-making, methinks.

Best,
Chris

Comments

[time-freak.livejournal.com]

They seem to be selling for stupidly low prices.

But you don't need that many cars and de clutter is good, it will make you happier in the longrun. Somehow. In ways I don't know yet.

[solan-t.livejournal.com]

Just remember. The space you are freeing up is for WORKING in, not filling back up.


If it was me, see, I would have trouble keeping track of that.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

You have to face it: you are a vehicular pack rat. Pack rats are incapable of spiritually letting go of their treasures. These vehicles will go to someone else unless the top bidder finks out (I don't think you are required to give the second person a chance if the top person bugs out, are you?) but they will always have headspace in your accounting of vehicles.

That's just how it is with packrats. Ask me someday about the 25 books I got rid of in 1975.

:)

[justaqt.livejournal.com]

Thought your user icon was so interesting I made an LJ entry out of it. Hope you don't mind. :)

[ianrandalstrock.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an interesting collection. And on the up side, you've just sold twice as many cars as I've owned in my life (although living near my parents grants me access to their cars when I want, only one has ever been registered in my name).

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I won't feel bad about their selling for low prices, because I just set the reserve at about what I paid for them; if I wanted to sell these for their book value, it would probably take a lot longer, and I'm not looking to make a profit. If that happens, though, cool!

Yep, de-cluttering my garage and my life is the goal, and being able to actually work in my garage *g*

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I should put a sign in the garage to that effect....

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

The word is "collector." Sheesh. *g*

This made me laugh aloud: Ask me someday about the 25 books I got rid of in 1975.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Some day - on my website - I shall document all of the vehicles I have ever owned. That will be fun. I think I've averaged about one per year since I was 18, and sold slightly fewer....

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

Thank you. There is a web site that has a dozen different animated prayer wheels. http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/digital-wheels.htm

Some of them are just beautiful. This one suited me.

:)

[weaselmom.livejournal.com]

You know that there is a very dark side to the term "collector," right? People who hoard animals and can't take care of them and are in extreme denial about how wretched and cruel the situation is?

I'm not saying you're doing that, so put down the ax.

Think of it this way: You aren't *owning* these vehicles, you're providing a *foster home* for them, getting them healthy and shiny and loved, and then finding new homes for them with people who will love them. Like wildlife rehabilitation.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

The *honest* word is pack rat. You know it's true.

Sigh. In 1975 I decided my books needed culling, so with much agony, I managed to weed out 25 books with no redeeming value. (I donated them to the swap shop at Ft. Riley.)

One was Dean Koontz's Demon Seed. When my son was in his 30's he bought a new copy of the Koontz book. I muttered "If I'd had a clue you were going to grow up to read junk like that I'd have kept my copy." Ick! Koontz actually got *two* royalties for that piece of garbage! Unfair!!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I like that!

I just realized: I've never worn out a vehicle since I was 19 years old. Since then, if they break down, I fix 'em and keep 'em on the road... like fostering pets, now that I think of it!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Gosh, you sure learned your lesson *g*

I've regretted selling several of the cars and motorcycles, but there was always something about them that wasn't exactly right. Which is why I keep getting new ones....

[weaselmom.livejournal.com]

Aaaand you're keeping these great old rigs out of landfills! Very eco-friendly!

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

Oh I've improved a bit. I weeded out two whole boxes of books back about 10 years ago, and I don't even remember what any of them were -- which tells you more than you needed to know about them right there.

And twice I've weeded out the duplicates for foreign students who loved SF. It gave them a lot more English SF books than they could afford to buy on their trips. One set went to Germany and the other to Argentina.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, for you that would be a labor of love. Me, occasionally I chant my way through the cars that I have owned, and the horrible deaths they have died.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Driving antique cars makes me an environmentalist.

Actually, I've taken great comfort from a Mother Earth News article I read a while back that described how even driving a gas-hog old car is more environmentally friendly than buying and driving a gas-efficient new car due to the waste and power consumption needed to manufacture a new car plus dispose of the old car.

[ianrandalstrock.livejournal.com]

That would be interesting. I actually like cars, and there are many I've thought would be interesting to own. But living the life of a poor publishing professional in New York City, that's just one hobby I can't indulge. But I'll enjoy your vicariously.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

*g*

Actually, the "poor" part hasn't been so much of a problem; it's the "space to park" thing that's perhaps the biggest obstacle. Only show-cars really cost very much, and I always sell them for about what I've invested in them, though they're not exactly free to own....

[jaylake.livejournal.com]

I'm seriously tempted to bid on the F-250. If I bought it I'd take it up to Omaha for a while...

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Koontz did a rewrite before the reissue. The first try really, really sucked. So maybe the kid could have been discouraged from reading quite so much Koontz via my old copy.