Calvin’s dad approves.

Had a pleasant evening with @ItalianJobR53, @Chariotoflove, and @DSM_OR_DIE in Indianapolis.

First, on the way there this teal XJ called out to me.

We had dinner at a local auto-themed diner.

And appreciated the fine automotive scenery. Not pictured: a classic blue and white Chevy Monza that kept buzzing by.

What will I do without tiny b&w photos with no surrounding visual context??

Yes, I'm still alive, thanks for checking @jminer and @CarsOfFortLangley. Thrilled to hear about the JL!

Some quarantine websites for your time that I've found recently. Possibly one or two (or all!) have been shared here, haven't been watching.

Travel the world. The local radio stations are a nice touch.
https://driveandlisten.herokuapp.com

The ambience without the viral load.
http://imissmybar.com

https://standardebooks.org and https://joinpageturner.com/ go well together

http://michaelyingling.com/random/calvin_and_hobbes/ for the young at heart.

And for the overly ambitious: https://qntm.org/destroy

I'll be back. Be safe.

The last(?) in a series.

• https://opposite-lock.com/topic/16942/well-ain-t-that-a-kick-in-the-crotch/
• https://opposite-lock.com/topic/16997/license-suspension-update/
• https://opposite-lock.com/topic/17291/good-morning-oppo/
• https://opposite-lock.com/topic/17911/still-waiting/

As soon as the BMV web chat opened for business this morning I checked to see why my license still hadn't been reinstated, 2 weeks to the day after the Henry County clerk's office had filed the paperwork.

From that chat:

The thought that it could take up to 2 more weeks once the missing paperwork arrived made for a very unhappy JJ.

Thankfully the Henry County clerk's office knew who to call at the BMV to clear up the paperwork, and...

I guess the BMV's operating with much less staff than usual, trying to catch up to backlogs from the COVID shutdown, and everything's a mess. I'm just glad I'm no longer hiding from the law.

Somewhat short day, because the NVH on the yellow Jeep is rough on an old man. No old car/truck pics captured today, sadly, although there is an automotive tie-in to a couple of the photos and some older car pics below.

Bridges

I was surprised there was such a low height limit on the Geneva Ford bridge over Sand Creek; I'm guessing that anything taller is likely to be either be overweight or so tall that it's probably going to bump against the girders.

Another low bridge that I found photogenic.

Roads

Once again, pure dumb luck led me to a curvy river road, this time along Sand Creek, near North Vernon (and very close to the bridge shown above).

At 1.1 miles, the road below is (sadly) one of the longest forest roads in Indiana, ironically in one of the smallest state forests, Selmier. (No idea how to pronounce that like the locals do.)

Muscatatuck

The name Muscatatuck pops up everywhere in this area: the photo below was taken along the Vernon Fork of the Muscatatuck River, which borders Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge (one of my favorite places to visit) and flows through Muscatatuck Park, formerly an Indiana state park.

Some of my favorite older photos from Muscatatuck NWR.

Crosley

These photos were taken in the Crosley Fish & Wildlife Area, named after the previous owner of the land, none other than Powel Crosley, founder of Crosley Motors Incorporated.

Fortunately hunting season is over, so I could enjoy the scenery without annoying hunters. Sadly the waterfowl were pretty skittish.

Just because: some Crosleys I've stumbled upon at car shows near my house.

Missed photos

I regret I couldn't stop to take a photo, but I was surprised to spot an International Harvester flag exactly like the one below along Highway 9.

Also missed was a beautiful teal TJ (rather, "bright jade satin glow") on the highway.

Or, more accurately: my war against "soccer moms".

Today's discussion of the toxic gatekeeper culture on Oppo/Facebook, especially on Mothers' Day, reminded me how much I cringe every time I see that phrase, especially in the context of Jeeps, but generally I can't think of a single good reason to use it except for gatekeeping.

And gatekeeping is not a good reason to talk about anything.

Some of the most avid Jeepers I know are women, and mothers, and for all I know they use their Jeeps to take kids to soccer practice. So what?

And if someone buys a Jeep and never, ever uses it to go off-road: so what?

Yes, I sigh at tires with no sidewalls on Jeeps. Yes, I'm disgusted when I see someone deface the iconic Jeep grille to make it look constipated tougher.

I tell fellow Jeepers all the time: the more Wranglers that get bought, the longer Jeep can keep making more of them. The more Wranglers that don't go off-road, the less trashed-out the used ones will be when we want to buy one.

Today, we should celebrate mothers, whether they choose to engage in automotive culture or just want to get their family safely from place to place.

Every day we should celebrate mothers.

Next time you get tempted to use the phrase "soccer moms", ask yourself what the hell you're thinking.

Pictured: two of my favorite mothers, my cousins who don't own Jeeps.

July 8th, 2014, a day that shall live in infamy: the day I bought my LJ and started the path to Jeep obsession (which led me to Jalopnik, which led me to Oppo, and left me stranded in this joint).

July 8th, 2021, a day that may live in infamy: I expect to receive a shopping list from a dealership. An estimate on everything that's broken, not including the really big ticket item, the transmission.

I'm planning on skipping most of the recommendations, because from what I heard over the phone today it'd be crazy expensive to do them all but as importantly I'm not at all convinced they're not just trying to pile things on, perhaps in hopes I'll trade it in instead.

Still, it definitely has me thinking that my days with the LJ may be numbered. I've spent way too much on it over the years, each time hoping this will be the last big repair for a while, and it never is.

But, in honor of the anniversary, since I don't expect to have easy wifi tomorrow (I dropped in at a local library today, camping this week), here are some of my favorite photos of, or taken while exploring in, the LJ.

The day I brought it home.

I bought it without intending to ever off-road, just wasn't something I'd ever done or been interested in. Yet before I even made my first payment I went with a small group to Redbird State Recreation Area.

I regret I've never found a Jeep wench to take with me.

Also from Redbird, a couple of years later. Charlie was a great road trip dog, and she even was fine with off-roading.

One of my motivations for buying a Jeep was the idea I'd be able to get out after a big snowfall and get photos. Sadly big snowfalls are increasingly rare, but the LJ is still doing its job.

I spent countless hours exploring the Hoosier National Forest in my LJ, learning the interesting roads & waypoints, so I started leading small groups of Jeeps to my favorite places. Sadly with the Jeep's increasing unreliability and my club's move to Facebook where I wasn't interested in participating as much, that petered out quickly.

Yet more trips through the Hoosier National Forest.

7 years, 120k miles (would have been more, but pandemic & constantly in the shop...and of course broken odometer to make such metrics challenging).

I'll post more another time. Thanks for being such a fantastic community, and don't worry, nothing's set in stone.

May 19th is way too late in the year to finally be going full naked.

My only regret is that I didn’t do this last week, so I could go to an off-road park today like I’d planned.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in last night.

I'm down for that teal power wagon...but only if it has a white roof hidden under there.

@tripper That's sharp as hell. Would cruise anywhere with that.

I'd be curious to see the full listings.

Also curious whether they gave bonus points to the Bronco & Wrangler for being able to remove the top and doors. (Of course they didn't, but it's nice to dream.)

@milky TFL’s roof is so ill-fitting Tommy has modified it trying to eliminate the rattle, to little effect.

I think you stumbled upon the only convertible I don't find appealing.

@musashi66 I'm sure I can get away with it. I'm still declining to skirt the law, even if that loophole is big enough to drive a Mack truck through it.

That, and I have at least a dozen places higher on my list that I'll probably never get to.

@ranwhenparked I figure if I'm going to flagrantly violate federal law, I'm going to do so for something more important than this, no matter how stupid the law is.

Technologist, meet auto enthusiast. (Admittedly, I only marginally fit the latter description.)

@musashi66 I don't fall under any of the categories the U.S. permits under the current sanctions.

It’s always been maddening to me that I can visit Iran, I can visit North Korea (if they let me in), but I can’t visit Cuba.