SD - Day # 6

Tuesday morning I helped TLE open the Kiosk as the usual, iniquitous 6:30 in the am, and around 9 am, as soon as I was sure it was going to be a quiet mornin,g I headed into Upland to pick up the 1988 Jeep Wrangler YJ to drive over to Joel's Automotive in the same city to have it checked out mechanically.  It was still in the low 40's, so I was glad to find out the heater worked just fine.  I also noticed the gas gauge was reading near empty so decided to stop and put in 9 gallons.....I was so sure it would check out mechanically (why, I don't know), and I would need to fill it up anyway to drive it "home"......plus I wanted to be sure the gauge was working, and found out soon enough it was.  Joel assigned Art, one of his top mechanics, to check the Jeep over, and he did a very, very through job taking almost an hour.  From across the shop I could see him making a lot of notes, which concerned me.....soon Joel was bringing Art over to give me the news......he had a list of 16 things that needed to be fixed.....14 of them minor things I could take care of myself.....the last two, though, were deal killer for me.....number one: The transfer case had NO oil in it.......why, and how long it had no oil in it is a mystery, but the odds are some damage has been done.....number two:  The rear main seal was leaking oil.....assuming the worst, these two items would cost about $1500 to fix.....I'm not looking for a project car, so I drove it back to Jordan's (the owner) home an gave him a copy of the problems, then headed "home".  In the end I unwittingly made a $60 donation to Jordan in form of a full gas tank......it's what I get for challenging Mr. Jello in such a flagrant manner......:D

As soon as I returned "home" I got back on Craigslist to see if any "new" Jeeps had been listed, and almost immediately saw a listing for a 1987 Jeep Wrangler YJ up in Hesperia.....not very close....probably about 45 miles away, up over Cajon Pass.  I called Arnold, the owner, and found out he works in Rancho Cucamonga, and had the Jeep with him as he was going to show it to someone in San Bernardino at 4 pm.  He told me he would call me after 4 to let me know whether it had sold, or not, and if not he would drop by RJRP to let me see it.  Unlike the 1988, this 1987 is complete....there is nothing for me to get to complete it.....it has both bumpers, with a receiver in the rear bumper so I can mount my bike rack...it has a winch, a CB, a new stereo, an alarm system, a relatively new soft top, the door skins, high lift jack, rear seat, new Weber carb, after market headers, off road lights, new seats with 4 point harnesses, etc......and, and.....it will fit in the trailer!

In the interim TLE and I had an optometrist appointment at 3 pm, so we headed back to Rancho Cucamonga around 2:20......I found out I have the beginnings of a cataract in my left eye......not too surprising as I had noticed a change in my vision in that eye going back about 6 months.....plus my mother had cataracts (fixed a few years ago), and my grandfather on my father's side had them as I recall.  Nothing to do right now, but I will have surgery in my future at some point.  In the interim he gave me a new prescription for new glasses, so I will be getting those in the next week, or so.

We stopped off at my son's office (Chris) to pick up our mail, and talk for a while, and got home finally around 5 pm......caught this sunset as we were getting back on the freeway....

I was getting ready to go outside about 5:55 to start a fire we would share with our friends, Steve and Candy, realizing I had not gotten a call from Arnold yet.....my initial thought was that he had sold it, and I would probably hear later from him.....just at that point the phone rang and it was Arnold.....he had not sold the Jeep!  I gave him directions, and within an hour he was at our campsite.  The Jeep looked even better in person, and drove great, so Wednesday I will drive into Rancho Cucamonga with TLE to pick it up and take it over Joel......sure hoping this one checks out!

After Arnold left we had a delightful time talking for a couple of hours with Steve and Candy about the RV lifestyle, and answering questions, and even though the temp dipped into the 40's we were kept more than warm by the fire.  Their late model Holiday Rambler has 3 slides.....two on the passenger side, and one very, very long one on the driver's side making their 36' coach feel very big inside.

Normally I would post tomorrow about my weigh in today, but here I am Wednesday morning having just weighed myself.....another 1.5 pounds lost for a total now of 7 pounds in 10 days......I haven't been this low (204.5) for about a year.....4.5 pounds more to break the magical 200 pound barrier....YAY!!!  I still cannot believe I have lost 7 pounds in 10 days!

Thanks for stopping by!