Smart Sighting II

Earlier tonight, at Home Depot, Greg and I parked next to a smart fortwo with the Mini. I asked Greg to snap a photo with his phone.

Although it doesn't look it, the fortwo is about a foot shorter. But I'd argue that's a negligible difference considering the passenger capacity is doubled in the Mini. And so is the fun per gallon! Admittedly though, every time a see a smart, a small part of me still wants one.

Scooter For Sale

I drove by this the other day by my work. It's a Stella scooter made by Genuine Scooter Company. Though it looks 'vintage,' I'm guessing it's only a few years old. It's a 4-speed manual and probably a 150cc. I love it!

The sign reads $2200 firm, so it's out of the question. But one can dream.

Me, My Shelf, and I

While driving around with my parents in Richlandtown this weekend, I spotted a cool Pepsi shelving unit among other items on someone's front lawn. Pops turned the Jeep around, and sure enough, there was a FREE sign taped to it.

We disassembled it to fit it into the Jeep, and I brought up to my house. I put it back together today and cleaned it up. Due to the logo variation, it's probably from the 70s or 80s. I think it helps to spruce up the garage a bit.

Ford Festiva

Most people I know think I'm crazy, but I've been casually looking for a third car. I have full faith in my current lineup in getting me to where I need to go and I absolutely love using them as daily drivers. But I mainly worry about winter conditions. I love my cars and still want to have them in ten years without having to rip up rusted floorboards in the process. I basically want a car I don't care about to absorb the worser conditions. Also, I'd like a car smaller than my Grandmother's van, since it takes up quite a bit of space in the garage.

I've been looking at the Ford Festiva, a car that was made up until 1993. It's a subcompact with a tremendously reliable and fuel-efficient, if not a bit underpowered, engine. It's only a few inches longer than the Midget and reminds me of the awesome Yugo featured in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It would allow me to position the Mini and Midget at the front of my garage side by side...so I don't have to flip-flop cars if the one I'd like to drive is in the back. This is the case currently with my Grandmother's van in the mix.

I found a guy on craigslist selling a '93 down in Collegeville, so I took a trip down last weekend to take a look. It was a pretty solid car for its age. It had one small rust spot and about 160,000 miles on it. He was a nice guy and let me take it for a spin on my own. It handled quite well and shifted very smoothly - actually almost too smooth for my tastes. Shifter cars should feel like shifter cars, in my opinion.

But anyway, the guy - let's call him Andrew - was asking $2000. Kelley Blue Book suggests $775 for such a car. I offered $1200, knowing he probably wouldn't take it, and left it that. He was pretty firm with his asking price so we parted ways. I'm glad because at this point I shouldn't be spending $1200. But I'm keeping my eyes open for something more reasonably priced.

Though I don't regret selling it, I wish I still had my MINI!

E-Break

I'm an idiot and drove several miles with the e-brake on in the Midget...even with my OCD tendencies of constantly checking it.

Anyway, when I realized my mistake and took it off, the brake pedal became scarily squishy. I was down at my parents', so my dad helped me try to adjust the rear drum brakes. My manuals were at home, but we jacked up the car, took off the wheel, removed the drum and starting looking around to see how to adjust the shoes. After no luck, Dad found a tutorial on YouTube, and we discovered we didn't even have to remove anything. There's an adjustment bolt on the back of the brake which adjust the shoes in and out. So you tighten it until the wheel stops moving freely (the shoes begin rubbing against the drum) then back if off a few flats. Repeat on the other side.

It's a pretty easy procedure and it's good to know how to do now. Brakes now work great.

What Goes Down, Must Go Up

Yesterday, September 1st, I ended my topless summer. The mornings are getting chilly, and even though I have another car, I thought it was a good time to end it. All in all, I only had a few chilly nights and situations where I got rained on...but nothing super heavy.

I was also afraid if I let too much time go by without putting it up, the material would lose it's elasticity and it wouldn't go up. It went up fine though.

All this being said, I had to put it right back down today after work. It was gorgeous out.