First impressions?

1. Gorgeous ride. Seriously this suspension is really really good. It's so incredibly smooth on road. I feel this is going to be a great road trip car. There is a botched sewer repair/pavement patch in an intersection where I turn left all the time. It's unsettled every car I've ever driven over it. My wife and I both independently drove it in the Landy and both remarked to each other, it's the only car to not lurch sideways in that intersection.

2. Roomy, nay cavernous. At 6' I can lay down in the back. That's not common for SUVs (and a reason I was considering a suburban).

3. Power is very much there, but in an understated way. It never really feels like it's working very hard, I suppose that's what a luxury SUV should do.

Really, really looking forward to camping in this thing. My only wish is that it could've been green over tan but you can't have it all I suppose

The console fridge:

The offroad bits. So many options!

Soooo much light in the cabin:

And here's the Land Rover in its natural habitat, the local coffee shop

So Baxter decided to move out. We thought she'd live with us over the winter but apparently she had other plans! She started going outside an hour or two at a time, then all day. Now she's been gone for three days and two nights.

She's plenty sharp (teeth, claws, and brain, lol), so I think she'll manage fine. I hope so anyway. I'll miss her climbing into my hoodie but I won't miss her eating the keys on my laptop. Goodbye and godspeed, wherever you are!

Went out for coffee today and my wife and I spotted a squirrel pup on the sidewalk next to the auto parts store. It was alive, alert and waiting for its mama… who never showed.

So, what are you gonna do? It’s living with us now. It likes drinking puppy formula from a dropper, climbing my sweater, and sleeping curled up in my beanie. I think I’ll call it Baxter.

I’ve been reading all afternoon about squirrels in the house, apparently they’ll bond with you but still can be easily reintroduced to the wild at about 6 months of age, so the plan is help it through the winter and turn it out in the spring. It’s very healthy seemingly, no signs of injury, sickness or parasites. But man, can it ever sleep!

Wish Baxter and me luck oppo!

My wife called up the stairs "Hey beefchips, you got a big package!"

I told her I know, then I told her "Oh you meant in the mail"

Stoutly braced in the middle of the box, cocooned in bubble wrap, we found a jerry can. Neat!

But an observant observer will notice that this can has latches...

That's right, it's a present for the alcohol enthusiast who dabbles in overlandiness Rocks glasses, shot glasses, space for bottles, and a picnic set for cheese and charcuterie. C'est parfait.

It's even lit with interior LEDs! Check it out!

Thanks Senna! Now, off to shop for external fuel can holders...

Thanks secret senna, this is amazing! I cracked up when I saw the shirt, my wife came into the room and immediately stole it Loving the book and hotwheels too, it's good to have distractions on the desk. Thank you!!

@sn4cktimes To brighten your humpday, here's Baxter fighting some stuff

@jordan I notice "all of the above" is not an option...

Yesterday was a yuuuuuge day for my broken leg!

I'm walking

and I'm driving!

And today after breakfast I'm going to try and ride a bike.

The damn leg ought to be strong enough to hold my weight, given all the metal scaffolding in there LOL:

She’s a die hard fan. Me too. If I could get one for less than a small fortune… sigh…

From Rad Envy for those interested

No car news, since I can't drive or really even walk. Instead I have fascinating medical updates!

A week ago Friday I felt a stabbing pain in my left chest. I couldn't breathe without pain, I was way short of breath, my pulse was thru the roof, and I thought I was having a heart attack.

The ambulance came and found a clean EKG, so they took me to the ER to find out what the heck was wrong.

They took a chest x-ray and then I waited. The gunshot wounds and the car crashes got precedence... OK. The pain died down a bit so it was fine.

The doctor saw me finally and said "well, there's an anomaly on the x-ray, but we don't see it as serious. Since the pain's gone I'm going to send you home. If the pain comes back see your primary care doctor."

This is where I fucked up. I should have told him no, something is wrong with me, you've got to find it. But I didn't. I just wanted to go home and sleep. So for the better part of a week, until I could see my primary care doc, I was limping along with four of these bad boys in my lungs:

[image stolen from google cause I don't have my CT data:]

Blood clots! My primary got so mad about the ER doc it was amazing. He told me I have textbook pulmonary embolism symptoms and I need a CT scan immediately.

Found the clots, got on blood thinners, feeling better. But yeah that's a week of my life where I could have been a lot healthier.

TLDR, fight for yourself in the hospital and clinic, cause no one else is going to do it for you.

@Spasoje said in What's your dream road trip and car for the job?:

@beefchips My friend did this in a Lada some years ago! It was some organized rally, and he loved the experience.

He also still has the Lada.

That is awesome, do you recall who organized it?

@CB I want to drive the silk road from Europe through the stans and into China. Probably the best vehicle for that would be something you can buy in central asia already, so there would be lots of spare parts etc. Hilux perhaps?

@HFV_Junkyardin great news! Always a lot of fun to learn something new, and doubly so when you can make money doing it

@tophercrowder who could have guessed that investing in a tech startup in the middle of a wild bull market could ever go wrong? /s

@Chariotoflove said in One paragraph horror story:

@EssExTee $2K? What could possibly go wrong?

Paging @AkioOhtori this is even better than the studebaker.

Better? Perhaps. More hilarious? Definitely

@Mr-Ontop said in I finally have something nice to say about Hyundai:

@facw so....a button is better.

Yes, if it only needs one touch. If more than one, voice IMO. I hate screens and menus

@Demon-Xanth nah they’re just parking it down low, to avoid unnecessary stress on the system

@Mr-Ontop the $64000 question. Such a beautiful truck, to keep it on the road with a better drivetrain would be excellent.

@CB hey well it’s ice and ice is slippery. I’m currently in Texas where it rained today. I witnessed TrukBro️ spin his (guarantee it was a dude) rear wheels out on a light turning green for a full 30 seconds. ‘Murica, I guess?

On the other hand, Texas in the rain smells wonderful, in a different way than in Oregon. At home it smells clear and clean like a spring covered in moss, but down here it’s heavy and oaky and thick. Petrichor man. Wild stuff.

@415s30 thank you, I have been wondering about this for a while now