Jordan Independent - cars - Comments

Update: I’m about halfway

Brandon — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:02:39 -0500

Update: I’m about halfway through my music collection in iTunes, and my playlist for this year’s summer cruising is currently about 260 songs long. When I get through all my music, I expect that number to jump to around 400, and then I'll whittle it down to 20 or so for a one-CD playlist.

Is it weird that I am this excited about making a playlist? Yes, but I’m OK with that.

I think I’ve already got

Brandon — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:26:12 -0500

I think I’ve already got one possibility for an addition to the list: “Getting Better” by The Beatles. What could make a day brighter than the Fab Four letting you know that things are on the way up?

A couple of other songs that have recently popped up in my mind for consideration on the summer playlist are “Lloyd, I’m ready to be Heartbroken” by Camera Obscura and “Beautiful Day” by U2. And I’m thinking I should include an Elvis Costello song and maybe on by The Jam.

I think maybe I’ll make it a double CD this year.

You can never go wrong with

Tom Schardin — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:46:14 -0500

You can never go wrong with Eric Clapton.

One of the best songs ever - no doubt in my top five of all-time.
Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7_Ldy1XDOU

Remember, "It's in the way that you use, boy don't you know."

The theme song from "Shaft"

Mathias Baden — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:35:29 -0500

The theme song from "Shaft" -- seriously? Hee hee.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

No-duh thought of the day:

Mathias Baden — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:08:21 -0500

No-duh thought of the day: If you're always cleaning your car, it's always clean. If you're always leaving it dirty, it's always dirty. Go figure.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

I haven't cleaned my car,

Andrew Link — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 13:07:08 -0500

I haven't cleaned my car, especially the inside, since last spring. And driving in the flood damaged areas down here didn't help the outside or inside.

See, here’s the thing

Brandon — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:40:22 -0500

See, here’s the thing about cleaning: it’s never done. I cleaned my car on Friday night and Saturday morning. I even washed the inside with these fancy wipes I bought at the store, and I washed the chairs with Oxy Clean to get out a few stains (what stained the chairs, I don’t know and I don’t want to know). But now, only a few days later, the car is already starting to get dirty again. I can’t stand it.

The same thing happens with my apartment, and that’s why I never clean it.

Spit shining?

Mathias Baden — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:00:12 -0500

Spit shining? Ha.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

My first car was a total

Brandon — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:40:36 -0500

My first car was a total lemon, but it was still my favorite car ever. Here’s the story:

I wanted to buy some late 1960s model Ford – I think it was a Fairlane. Anyway, my dad and I went to look at it and drive it around. I couldn’t take the car for a test drive, though, because I didn’t know how to drive stick yet. My dad drove it and said it probably wasn’t the best car for me. One of the reasons may have been the high price and the hole in the floor of the backseat.

I was pretty upset, and I wanted to buy it anyway. But the next day, my dad came home from work and told me he had found the car for me – and he was right. We went and looked at a 1984 Toyota Van (that was the model name – “The Van”). Again, I couldn’t test drive it – it was a five-speed manual transmission. But I knew I loved the car as soon as I opened the door:

The seats folded down into a bed
There were places for curtains on all the back windows
There was a built-in mini-fridge between the driver’s and passenger’s seat
It looked like both the Mystery Machine from “Scooby Doo” and a toaster

I was in love. I named it the Archduke Ferdivan. It couldn’t go faster than 55 miles an hour, because the shaking became unbearable at that speed. You had to flip up the driver’s seat to get to the engine, but the battery was was underneath one of the back seats. It had the winter weather traction of a ski, and slid around the road and into ditches every time it snowed. It was awesome.

My dad actually drove it more often than I did – he filled the back with tools while we built a new house. But I learned to drive stick and drove everywhere I could. Until one day, about two years after I bought it, on my way home it started to rattle more loudly than usual. That night, it didn’t start. The next day, it took an hour to jump start it enough to drive it into town. It never started again. I traded it in to the dealer for $500 back off a new lemon (a Chevy Lumina that needed to go to the mechanic about once a month, but that's another story).

I can no longer drive the Archduke, but I still love it.

Excellent, Mathias! All

tphillips — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 11:51:13 -0500

Excellent, Mathias!

All but my two most recent cars were "lemons"... but I drove them until they literally died on the road and were irresurrectable. (My dad was a mechanic!)

First was the 1976 Mercury Comet... It died somewhere along I-75 between Lexington, KY and Cincinnati during 1984...

Next, was the 1980 Ford Pinto (purchased when the Comet died) that I drove until the transmission, which was automatic, only had third gear (and no reverse) ... Since the body was in good shape, my dad inserted the transmission from my sister's 1979 Pinto into it and she drove it for six more years.

The 1987 Chevy Cavalier purchased in 1989 with 17,000 miles on it turned 200,000 miles and promptly died at 200,010 miles sometime in the winter of 1991.

I then bought a Toyota Paseo and drove it across country several times (including the move to MN). When I couldn't stand having my two dogs literally breathing down my neck from the back seat, I donated it to TPT and bought my Explorer...

Great room for the dogs and comfy on road trips... but the 15 miles to a gallon is a bit annoying...

T.Phillips

Wow! You guys are

Mathias Baden — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:18:48 -0500

Wow! You guys are troopers.

As a child, my family made an annual 32-hour trek to Florida. We all love Disney World.

But as an adult, the longest I've gone is 14 -- Shoreview almost to Dallas on Jan. 1, 2000. We slept in a church parking lot under a glow-in-the-dark green cross. Between the two drivers and the deadbeat in the backseat who never got behind the wheel during a four-day trip, we couldn't go any further in a day. From Dallas, it was on to New Orleans. And the drive back to the Twin Cities was about the same 14 hours.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

4 1/2 days --- Inver Grove

Jason Allen — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:37:35 -0500

4 1/2 days --- Inver Grove Heights to Fairbanks, Alaska. Me and my daughter, my nephew and his grandmother made the trip last year in a motorhome. We averaged 19 1/2 hours a day in driving. Saw some amazing wild life along the way. Traveled up the Alaska Highway. I would encourage everyone to do it once....but only once.

30 hours, Jordan to San

TresaKnox — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:41:44 -0500

30 hours, Jordan to San Francisco - 3 drivers, 2 kids. And we had a great time (except the snow storm in the mountains on my turn). Our kids have taken several long trips this way with us and travel great - among them 22 hours to Myrtle Beach, SC and 15 hours to Ft. Collins, CO. We've traveled since our kids were babies, as my family does not live locally - 4 hours is a short trip for us. Good music, DVDs for the kids and books on tape.

Winona, Minn. to

Andrew Link — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:27:43 -0500

Winona, Minn. to Springfield, Mass.... 18 fun hours. Split between three drivers. Thankfully!

Wow! Driving/riding for an

Brandon — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:21:42 -0500

Wow! Driving/riding for an entire day at a time must be awful! I’ve been on long driving trips like that, but I always had to stop and camp or stay at a hotel for the night, because it was getting too awful.