"Fashion is what you adopt when you don't know who you are." - Quentin Crisp

One more day of craziness.

I left early Wednesday morning and drove through to my folks' in Seattle. The place where they live, the Ida Culver House, is on lockdown because of a flu outbreak so the dining room is closed. They don't like the box meals that get delivered to each resident's room so we went out to eat for almost every meal. When you're 94, as both my parents are, that becomes something of a production.

I spent Wed. and Thurs. night at my brother and SIL's place, a nice, easy place to lay my head, which is about all I did there.
As opposed to actually sleeping, which seemed to elude me both nights.

Thursday afternoon I drove out to Rick and Alisa Landreth's to look at a car they have for sale. It was their son's first car but has been sitting in their garage for about three years. Alisa sent me some pics through Facebook and that led to this trip.

I came home the new owner of a '66 Mustang coupe. (They also made a fastback and convertible.) It's not the much more collectible 283 cu. in. V8 with a stick shift; this has the 6 cyl. 200 cu. in. engine and an automatic. But an early Mustang is an icon (they came out in mid-'64), this one will get good mileage, and unlike the truck Pam will be able to drive it.

Rick is a car guy, literally raised in the car business, and has taken good care of this vehicle, making necessary repairs through the years and upgrading some of the car's mechanicals. Cosmetics need some attention, but that makes it a good candidate for a "rolling restoration" - a car that can be driven while it's being fixed up. On rainy days I can work on the interior and when the weather improves I can start on the body.

One of the nice things about early Mustangs is that their popularity means almost every part in or on the car is available as a reproduction. Whenever possible I'll use what's already there, cleaning up and repainting things like the center console. But a replacement for the badly cracked dash pad are available and reasonably priced.

If I can sell the truck for close to what it's worth we'll come out well ahead, something we need to do
after a year of settling into life on Baker Rd. I need something to haul hay, feed, and such, but I can buy a trailer frame from Harbor Freight, build a box for it, and have what I need for >$500.

The Mustang will be delivered via a carrier in a week or so; shipping is being arranged now. I hope to have the truck ready to list at about the same time. I'm praying for a quick and good sale to replace the money we took out of savings to buy the Mustang. We wouldn't normally do that - buy one car before selling the other - but this was an opportunity to buy a car that, while not extremely collectible and destined for perpetual appreciation, won't lose value, will be fun to drive, and turn a few heads once it's spiffed up.

The people are the best part.
Rick and Alisa are as good as they get. I've known her parents all my life, she's a chip off her parents' block, and Rick fits into the family perfectly.

I stopped on the drive home today to visit with Cory Hodgson who is staying with his family at his MIL's outside of Portland. They're home from serving in Tanzania, having left there along with their colleagues in a very unfortunate set of circumstances. (Nationals sometimes get some screwy ideas.)

I'm past exhausted, in part because I've been awake since shortly after midnight last night. Too much stuff in my head.
I've got to be up and out early tomorrow morning, about 6 a.m., to drive two hours north to attend an all-day seminar on the various aspects of raising goats. There are two sessions before and two after lunch, with about six subjects to choose from for each of those. I'll learn a ton...if I can stay awake.