Tralfaz

Day: March 25, 2013

  • Crap, the frost we had wasn’t hard enough.

    The house behind us has a large “shade” tree. It has an enormous quantity of fern like foliage that does a good job cutting the sun that beats down on our back yard.

    All good right?

    Except that when it loses its foliage, it dumps an incredible amount into our pool. How much? I have to skim and scoop two or three times a day, and still the filter gets jammed.

    In December, we had a cold stretch. Lots of my plants died (never to come back to life). Another neighbor had a large tree completely die.  I crossed my fingers hoping that this messy tree would be dead as a dodo. Alas, it was not to be. Today I see the first signs of spring on it and it is beginning to grow.  Crap.

  • Ratty cars

    I get that some people view their cars as transportation. My dad is that way. You wash it once a year, mainly to get the birdshit off of it. Heck, he had a 56 Porsche Speedster that had totally oxidized paint before he sold it to a kid down the street (one in pristine original condition is worth about $250K today).

    If you have a camry, or an accord, or a Taurus, or any of those generic interchangeable cars, I can understand not having any pride in your ride. If I see the clear coat peeling, or the paint totally delaminating from the zinc undercoat, no big deal. In a few years you will be sending it to the crusher and replacing it with another interchangeable car.

    Ratty CarBut, it you buy a premium car, you have a duty to keep it in decent shape. Wash it frequently (preferably hand washed), waxed 2 or 3x a year, and if you have a soft top, clean/treat it. But all too often, I see premium cars that look beat to hell. In my neighborhood there is an Infinity G35 that looks as ratty as a 20 year old Ford Escort. Or the newish Lexus RX350 that has minor collision damage. Don’t fucking tell me you do not have insurance to get that shit fixed.

    I could go on and on. I know I live in the desert, and the sun can be hard on a finish, but with a modicum of care you can keep it looking decent for 8, 10, 12 years or longer.