Today, I’d once again like the opportunity to yell at John and
tell him just what kind of an idiot he was all those years he allowed his 1967
El Camino to sit and rust and basically just fall apart. I’d also like to tell
him how stupid he was to continue to purchase stuff to use in the car’s
restoration only to have it sit in the garage in the boxes in which it came.
I cannot remember if I mentioned at some point that when John died,
he had four cars/trucks in the driveway. Only one of them did he drive, and he’d
had to give up driving it almost a year before he died. Only one of the other
three actually was drivable, although when the time came, it didn’t run well.
That could have been because the gas in the tank was so old.
The first car to go was the Chevy Silverado which is the last one John drove. The woman around the
corner gave me the name of the young man in the landscape business who does
work for her. When he came to give me a bid, he remarked about all the cars in
the driveway. I told him they were all going to go away at some point. He
expressed a great interest in the Silverado.
Now, the Silverado had been lowered. It was black and very nice
looking and the engine sounded very healthy. During a short period of time when
I was without a car, having been rear-ended in my Rav4, I never had so many men
approach and talk to me. The Silverado was the magnet, not me. Anyway, I worked
out a deal with the young landscaper where he pruned every thing in my yard,
removed a couple of trees, brought in this nice black bark stuff and spread it
around. The day he finished the work to my satisfaction, I signed the title of
the Silverado over to him. One vehicle gone…hallelujah.
The Jimmy (GMC) didn’t run at all and one of the sons had
actually sold it twice for $500 each time, but John wasn’t willing to let it go. So,
there it sat, getting more and more dilapidated with each passing year. It
finally began to leak, so the floors in the front were growing algae. I went to
Pick & Pull and they gave me a total of $55.00 for it, and they came and towed
it away. A second vehicle gone…another hallelujah.
The third car was a 1989 Ford Mustang that John’s dad had purchased
and gave to him when he had to stop driving. I drove the mustang for a number
of years and always took good care of it. When I transitioned to my first Rav4,
John took to driving it. He never washed it, cleaned the inside or anything
like that. After he bought the Silverado, our youngest son cleaned the mustang up and drove it for a while before returning it to the driveway. Again, there it sat, slowly
becoming one with its surroundings. I couldn’t believe when I looked at the
north side of the mustang that the blue now appeared green…algae or moss and no
sun.
The mustang left home yesterday. Pick & Pull offered me $200
which is what the young man who trailered it away yesterday paid for the
privilege. He drag races and will be using the mustang for that purpose. With a
little care and attention, that car would have been worth a lot more money. In
any case, the third car gone…another hallelujah.
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| In its prime |
That brings us to today, Saturday. Last fall I put an ad for the
El Camino on Autotrader Classic. In the space of between three and four months,
I had a total of four people express an interest. Only one of those actually
came to see El Burrito, as the sons have taken to calling it. Last Sunday, I
put the same ad on Craig’s List and by Monday morning had received several
emails of interest. So, today, I’ve had two men come to look at El Burrito. One
definitely isn’t interested and the other made a lower offer than what I had
listed. I’m now waiting for another man to come take a look and tell me what he
thinks. And, I may have one more person come tomorrow afternoon.
Now, I know John had a rough childhood so maybe that’s why it
was so important for him to acquire stuff. Maybe that’s also why he never made
the effort to seriously take care of what he did acquire…he wasn’t taught to care,
or his mother always got rid of it so why bother. I’ve made a joke for years as
to why we remained married for so long…once the Karlberg name goes on
something, John doesn’t let go.
I am going to have to find a new home for so many things that
John acquired. Some of it is in fairly good shape and some of it not so good.
It really makes me sad to look at all this stuff and realize how a bit of
effort on John’s part would have made such a huge difference to the worth of an
item or another person’s interest in having that item.
Hopefully, one of the two men scheduled to come look at El
Burrito will find it very desirable. If not, I can call the gentleman who made
a lower offer. Then, maybe I can say…last one gone, halleluiah!!!!!!