I will preface by saying I bought the car. It's a 2014 Mustang GT in black, six speed manual, leather seats, Shaker audio, a smidge under 83k km, and that's pretty much it. I love it, and to show thanks to one of the most important men in my life for getting me to this point (my late grandfather), I named him Sandy.

Now here's how I'm a complete moron and spent several hours today trying not to die.

Our story starts on Tuesday, after once again taking too long to pull the trigger on a Bullitt, I didn't get it. Which means I emailed immediately when I saw this post, which was less than 24 hours old. Naturally, when you really want something, not getting it is a bit of a kick in the pants. And as such, I opened up the floodgates to "a Mustang with a V8 and a manual that looks cool".

Enter: the 2014 Mustang GT that popped up in my Kijiji recommended feed, wrongly listed as a Ford GT. I emailed right away, got a response back almost immediately, and set up an appointment for 1 pm today.

However, yesterday rolled around, and @atfsgeoff once again poked and prodded to remind me that the car could be gone before I even look at it, regardless of appointment. So I texted the dealer (Riverside Dodge in Prince Albert) to move my appointment, and set out.

It drove nice, wasn't in perfect, but I liked it. Definitely felt like a good fit for me. The Coyote has noticeably more grunt than the old Modular 4.6, the six-speed is geared excellently, and it just felt good.

Reasonably, I sat down with the finance person, looked her in the eyes and said "I know I haven't got a leg to stand on based on the current market, and any negotiation attempts can basically be ignored." She just nodded along and said "yeah, that's about right".

Somehow, I negotiated $700 off. It's not much, but I'll call it a win. Cash is still king in some places, as long as you're not at Windsor Ford in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

Anyway, we left to pick it up today. The weather called for some rain, then 3 cm of snow. Nothing bad, nothing I haven't done before. There was the odd bit of rain in the first hour and a bit, but it was barely noteworthy. Once we hit Melfort and I got the draft from the bank (who also very politely spelled my last name wrong by ignoring half of it [I don't understand how or why hyphens make people stupid)], we continued on our way to Prince Albert.

A funny thing happened, though. So that rain? It made the highways wet. The snow? It sticks to the roadway, and was quite slushy already. The wind? Constantly blowing onto the highway. Visibility was poor, the roadway sucked, and I told my driver that I should probably pay him more. He agreed.

However, a Mustang ahead of us made me go "I guess that's a sign, if he can do it I can do it", and we carried on. That Mustang pulled off pretty shortly later, but hey, metaphors don't last forever.

A hop, skip, and jump through awful weather and dumb paperwork, and the car was mine. All clean, all ready to rock and roll home. I wasn't optimistic. Neither was my ride up, who I treated to lunch and who I still owe basically everything. We parted ways, and the drive home began.

The car is a perfect cruiser. Effortless passing power, good sound system, the exhaust was beautiful, pretty good ride, I can't wait to take this to the... PNW Off-Road meet. Uhhhhh sorry @CarsOfFortLangley , I may need to bum a ride at some point. And for the brief bit the roads were good, it was magic.

And then, of course, Saskatchewan Spring showed up. It was a beautiful sunny day and there was a 40 km/h wind, blowing the snow across the highway and slowly freezing the slush. I found a car in front of me, decided they were my new best friend, and followed them faithfully. We averaged about 50 km/h the whole way back to Melfort. I stopped for a rest and to wait for the plows to come out, and guess what?

They didn't.

So it was a very similar story all the way east. And with the sun setting, the drive south was terrifying. Quite possibly some of the worst roads I've seen, combined with a 420 horsepower RWD muscle car on all-season tires. The scrapes of snow and ice against the undercarriage hurt my soul, but I carried on, thankful for my lengthy driving experience. Had I been five years younger, I would've been in a ditch easily.

In any case, four and a half hours I left Prince Albert, with a one hour pit stop, I made it home. I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have put my friend at risk in this weather. But... we all made it home safe, so lesson learned.

I would also like to thank Pirelli for making the excellent P Zero Nero tire. It has an M+S on it, but no three peaks. I don't know how, but they were a lifesaver.

Now, I guess it's time for plans. Right now, I'm very happy, but I'll be removing the windshield sun visor strip as quickly as possible. After that, mud flaps. And that's my plan for the car this year. Next year? We'll see.

Thanks for reading. I'll try to get some better pictures soonish.

Cool dealer order tax. Seriously, Riverside Dodge knows how to order cars for the lot. 392, T/A, manual, the only thing it needs is a shaker hood and to not be $71k CAD.

My Kawasaki Z400 that I’ll write a review on at the end of the season. Probably.

Autumn is lovely and lying in the grass under a tree is a small pleasure in life. Mental health day is going great.

The box was five and a half feet tall. I recognized the address immediately as @The-Crazy-Kanuck ’s.

It’s like five feet by five feet. You could have a picnic on this. This piece of art is going on the wall in my office. Thank you so much for what I can only describe as the most absurd thing I own.

@davesaddiction Building something in the desert and calling your water system design "drought resistant" sounds like a pipedream with a side of delusions of grandeur.

While not exactly right, it’s close enough and easier to remember. I brought Sammy home two years ago today. It’s been a cause of and solution to a lot of stress in my life, but I think things are better with her.

From the day I picked her up. Happy birthday Little Miss Big Paws!

Rest In Peace, granddad. If I can ever be half the man you were, I’d be happy. Photo from my last scotch with him.

Finally home twelve hours after I left this morning. Nine hours trapped with work duties on a day off, walked the dog quickly, then a forty-five minute drive to the grocery store to stock up before the freezing rain starts tomorrow. I feel like I should pass out in the next twenty minutes and not leave bed until noon tomorrow.

Husky tax.

So there I was, driving in the work truck doing CB things, when a curious sight caught my eye: a pristine box of donuts, open, sitting in the middle of the road. I stopped to check it out, as they looked pristine and not yet run over.

It’s an odd sight, considering the nearest Tim Hortons is a 45 minute drive away. A box, of 12 donuts, not one consumed. In the middle of the road. Some of you know what I do for a living, and as such I immediately assumed it was either a personalized trap or a test from the gods. I was offered $5 to eat one by a coworker. I declined.

Nevertheless, it raises a few questions:

a) If the box of donuts was left on the outside of the vehicle, why did it take almost 80 kilometres to fall off? How did it land perfectly with no toppings stuck to the top of the box, and not a dent in it?
ii) If the box was thrown from a vehicle in a fit of rage, once again, why was it in such good condition? And who makes that long a drive without eating a donut?
3) If the box was placed there gently, why do this? In the middle of the road? In my small village? What do they gain?
Four) Is this a test from the gods?

On my way back into town, someone had moved the box of donuts. With care and consideration, as the donuts remained fine and all there. Did they think someone would come back for them? Why?

This is going to keep me awake at night.

@PowderHound That's a lot of meth and mental illness in one vehicle.

EDIT: my buddy and I have raised the question: are those two back windows in the first photo aligned?

@ES0905 Teal should make a comeback.

@Brickman Man the Chameleon Circuit in the TARDIS would be really hooped if it turned it into a Yaris.

@WilliamsSW Thanks! I ran to my hotel room to grab my camera when I saw it, it felt just right.

I wonder if this was one of the Canadian built ones.

"Om nom nom nom."

I thought taking the Mustang on course when it was 20 Celsius out was going to be fine. And of course, we got snow and it’s back down around freezing. Thanks Saskatchewan.

On the plus side, the car passed the road trip test with no problems. Just 1000 km of smooth(ish) sailing.

@t0ast Your garage is now legendary Oppo status. Hell of a trip!

So far, living in Swift Current doesn’t sound so bad. Loads of green space, evidence of car culture, potential dates. All I have to do is convince people to let me come here.

@beefchips You want a Mazda.

That's all I've got.

@WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4 That’s not how this exchange had to work.

What mental illness produced this creation, I wonder?