All the Cars, Part 7: 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham diesel

Car/Body/Engine: 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham / 2-doors, coupe / 5.7L V8 diesel engine, 120 HP

Features: 3-speed AT, A/C, RWD, seats 5

Owned?: yes

Purchased for/from: Traded my (non-functional) 1981 Ford Escort and my 1983 Dodge Ramcharger for it with a guy who wanted a truck and wanted to fix the Escort.

Summary: Easily the most balanced (between power and miles per gallon) diesel vehicle I have owned, as well as the most powerful. Delivers a fairly consistent 23-27 miles per gallon of diesel, has no trouble accelerating to freeway speeds (and beyond). Front seats are comfortable, although the cushions are worn, while rear seats are extremely comfortable, as they still have nearly-fresh cushions. The most trouble-free diesel vehicle I have owned thus far, and the only one with consistently-working air conditioning.

What I Like: Everything works, plenty of power, reasonable fuel economy, comfortable, reliable, unique and somewhat rare.

What I Don't Like: I would like to someday get the vinyl topper replaced as well as paint the outside and restore the interior. Ideally, I would also fix the cruise control.

What Happened to It: Sold to a guy from California, who was going to use its smog-exempt status to make it into a gasoline-powered sleeper car.

All the Cars, Part 6: 1983 Dodge Ramcharger

Car/Body/Engine: 1983 Dodge Ramcharger, 2-doors, hatchback / 5.2L V8 gasoline engine, 143 HP

Features: 3-speed AT, RWD/4WD, seats 5

Owned?: yes

Purchased for/from: $750 from a guy with lots of vehicles in his front yard.

Summary: Purchased for snowy roads on a motor delivery route. Used as rarely as possible for that purpose, as the 10-12 miles per gallon of gas essentially negated any money I made delivering on the days I drove it.

What I Liked: Lots of room, powerful 4WD system (rarely got stuck anywhere), sweet-sounding engine.

What I Didn't Like: Terrible fuel economy, HORRIBLE snow/slick road control UNLESS in 4WD.

What Happened to It: Traded (along with my non-functional 1981 Ford Escort) for my current car, a 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham diesel.

All the Cars, Part 5: 1981 Ford Escort

You may remember my series of posts describing the various cars I've owned over the years. I realized that I now have 3 additional parts of this series to write. So here goes...

Car/Body/Engine: 1981 Ford Escort, 2-doors, hatchback / 1.6L 4I gasoline engine, 68 HP

Features: 4-speed MT, FWD, seats 5 (theoretically)

Owned?: yes

Purchased for/from: $600 from a guy who wanted cash to buy a motorcycle.

Summary: this was the first gasoline car that I had owned since the van. I really loved this car, it was always reliable, fuel efficient, and was the vehicle that I drove on a newspaper motor route in central Washington for two months during the winter. Although it wasn't big enough to handle thick or deep snow, it's front-wheel drive system made for excellent handling on very treacherous icy mountain roads.

What I Liked: Plenty of headroom, 35 miles per gallon of gas, smooth manual transmission, incredible reliability.

What I Didn't Like: The 1.6L 4-cylinder engine would sometimes struggle getting up steep and long hills, however the lack of power was more than worth it to me for the fuel efficiency.

What Happened to It: Attempting to free the car from a snow drift, the engine died. Afterwards, the car would turn over, but refused to start again. I traded it and my 1983 Dodge Ramcharger for my (current) car, a 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass diesel. Hopefully he saved it, I'd hate to think of it going to the crusher.

Romney Wins the Election! Obama Loses the Election.

Truthfully, the title of this post is the opposite of true. However, I figured someone should step into the void of "Romney wins the election" and "Obama loses the election" Google searches.

Romney lost, Obama won. Sorry if your search led you here.

On the other hand, you also may have stumbled into a great(est?) blog.

Tally Ho into the Great Unknown

It is time for a brief update on everything.

- I highly enjoyed my visit with Ben at the beginning of August. I don't follow or really know anything about soccer, but watching the Seattle Sounders major league soccer team beat the team from L.A. with David Beckham was a ton of fun (David Beckham was on the L.A. team that lost, that is). I now have a better understanding of why soccer is so widely enjoyed around the world: the fans create the excitement. Never before have I so consistently paid attention to what was going on at a live sporting event, and the only time I have ever felt that same level of audience energy was years and years ago when my father and I would go watch the UW Huskies play football.

- I am moving back to El Reño at the end of August. The past few weeks have been spent figuring out how to fit all the essentials in my car.

- Which brings me to the point that I will be sad to leave Ellensburg, as I seem to have finally established a group of friends here that extends beyond Chris D. Oh well. Friends do not equal jobs, in the case of Ellensburg.

- Jelly (my dog, for those who may not know) is doing great, although she now demands that I carry her outside when my roommate's dog is roaming around loose downstairs. I can see why: he always seems to corner her and in general act dominant and annoying. I'm betting this is partly the result of my roommate's (irresponsible) decision to let the dog keep his balls.

- I finished 1st out of about 40 people at a Magic tournament in Yakima the week before last. I will miss playing Magic when I get back to Reno. Ideally I will be too busy working at a job to miss it too much.

- The air is finally not smelling like smoke all the time here after that giant fire that occurred in the area. Apparently the fire started and consumed homes right smack in the middle of the area where I used to deliver newspapers. Glad I wasn't working that job anymore when that happened! Actually, I'm glad I'm not working that job anymore even when nothing happens.

- Oh yeah, and of course all the Master's degree stuff is done. I'm just waiting now for them to mail me my bound thesis and post my degree. Hopefully at some point in the near future I will have time to attempt to get my thesis published somewhere, but for now with trying to find a job it is near the bottom of my current priorities.

- Ellensburg and graduate school have certainly included varied experiences, ranging from extreme highs to extreme lows and everything in between. Although I certainly have some regrets, I do not regret coming to Ellensburg and CWU, and (overall) enjoyed my time here.

- I watched the movie version of Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz" and enjoyed it greatly. Sort of. It almost hurt too much in seeing myself in his story, only, you know, I did all the messing up that lead me down my road to misery and shame, not my family (which is not to say that Donald Miller did not lead himself down that road, but more to say that he seemed to have precipitating factors which could potentially "excuse" him for it a bit). God continues to be inescapable for me. I just need to learn how to handle that in a way that doesn't involve my usual Step 1 of "give up".

- Sorry to end that on kind of a negative note, I'm really not doing bad or anything, my mood throughout this post has been in line with each portion: "Yeah! That was fun! Anticipation! I'll miss them. Doesn't seem too smoky today. Haha that newspaper job was not fun! Woohoo! My Master's degree is done! Oh I saw that 'Blue Like Jazz' movie. It was good. Man. Now I remember why it was good. Good reminder, I guess."

can't wait to see everyone in Reno.

Thank you, pizza.

Pizza is just the best.

A few of my favorites include:

Hawaiian - a classic mainstay with the perfect blend of sweet and salty (I prefer real, thick chunks of ham and a little zest with onions or peppers)

BBQ Chicken - whoever thought to add BBQ sauce to pizza is a genius (no BBQ chicken should ever go without cilantro)

Bleu Cheese, Bacon, Chicken, and Onions with a ranch sauce (a.k.a. known in Port Orchard as the "Bay Street Bleu") - while no crust will ever match that which accompanied Todd's famous Bay Street Ale House pizza crust, this mix, or really any mix involving specialty cheeses added to the tops of a pizza just sends so much flavor and richness to the pleasure centers of one's brain that indeed no pizza has ever done as much for personal satisfaction as this one - I've seen some establishments attempt similar combinations and call them "BBQ Chicken Ranch" or "Cordon Bleu Pizza" but no, just NO!

In conclusion, thank you, pizza.

Saying goodbye to GOBIAS...

After having moved and after having realized the extent of my collection of...less than essential possessions, I have decided to give GOBIAS up for adoption. He's been my figurehead, standard-bearer, and guardian Nazgul for over three years, but I've come to the conclusion that I have no place for him, and thus he no longer has a place in my life.

So, while there are many complex and twisted deep emotions pouring over in me at this time, I want my little undead king to spread his Fell Beast's wings and fly, fly away into the world of LOTR collectors' items.

My walls will soon be adorned by a set of ______________________ and I can't wait to share them with The Boring Things and the world.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271015110177?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1156