gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Don't Drive Angry!)
Douglas Berry ([personal profile] gridlore) wrote2008-04-13 03:29 pm
Entry tags:

I'm Mike Rowe, and this is my truck.

There's a wonderful Monty Python routine that has two of the pepperpot ladies sitting on a bench. One ask the other if she's been shopping. Then she asks what the other bought.

"A piston engine" is the reply.

Today, I bought a piston engine, along with the Ford Ranger it came wrapped in.

Nice Ford

With the rebates and all, we got the payments down to a reasonable level (and can refinance next year.) It's a pretty basic truck, but comes with a bed liner.

[livejournal.com profile] kshandra, of course, has dibs on it for That Thing In The Desert.

The most shocking thing was seeing our credit scores. 700+ across the board. As the finance dude put it, it's good credit but not deep credit. So we keep making payments and keep building things up.

I bought a truck.

I need beer. Stat!

(More photos at my Flickr account)

[identity profile] pauldrye.livejournal.com 2008-04-13 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Whee! I just bought a PT Cruiser a few weeks back, and getting new wheels is a rush....
kshandra: California custom license plate reading ♥KOOSH (Koosh Plate)

[personal profile] kshandra 2008-04-13 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Welcome to the Cruiser Club! :D We've had mine a little over a year, now.

(And much love for the Alistair Cookie icon.)

[identity profile] supersniffles.livejournal.com 2008-04-13 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Woot!!! Being first owner on a car is still in dreamland for me.
Congrats!!

[identity profile] hederaivy.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
Shiny.
Pretty.
Can I pet it?

well done on the credit scores!

[identity profile] fimbrethil.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Congrats, Dude!

[identity profile] dalen-talas.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
Nice set of wheels. Though if this thing is going to go cruising in the desert, it'd need some spikes on the front bumper and a fifty in the bed. :D

(I always wanted to run / participate in an RPG chase scene with a tactical in it.)

[identity profile] gridlore.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
Kirsten says that the spikes + pintle mount .50 counts as a "car with shit glued to it" and would not be allowed at Burning Man.

They're no fun at all. I didn't even get to the 106mm Recoilless on the cab roof.

[identity profile] aurictech.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
I didn't even get to the 106mm Recoilless on the cab roof.

Who needs a recoilless? Just carry a couple of Javelins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FGM-148_Javelin) in the cargo bed, and call it good.

[identity profile] gridlore.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 11:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah but we're going for that Mogadishu-chic technical (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_(fighting_vehicle)) look.

[identity profile] benkenobigal.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
Congrats!! That's always a wonderful thing. :) May it bring you decades of joy. :D
ext_73044: Tinkerbell (Prius)

[identity profile] lisa-marli.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah New Truck!
But White? It's gonna need a major bath after that thing in the desert is done with it. Still White will reflect the sun better, so that will be useful.
And great credit scores. Amazing what happens when you work on it.
kshandra: The Burning Man effigy, lit in blue neon, arms by his sides; an orange half-moon is visible over his shoulder. (BurningMan)

[personal profile] kshandra 2008-04-14 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Getting whatever car I take detailed when I get back is SOP. As long as I don't have to get into [livejournal.com profile] dafydd's old habit of "fixing what Burning Man broke" every year, it's all good. The playa dust got into the door mechanisms more than once for him, and we'd spend a week or two having to listen to the "open door" chime until he could get in to have it replaced....

(There's been an interesting bit of symmetry in all of this, actually - dafydd had a Ranger when he and I first started dating. I sent him a text message from the dealership yesterday that said "You followed in Doug's footsteps, now he's following in yours....")

first things first......

[identity profile] redc1c4.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
you need a gun rack & an NRA sticker to go in between the GD bears & the crossed rifles in the center of the back window. the jump wings and the Ranger tab are great side bars..... left & right, or centered to one side, with a tour list on the other.....


WOOT for you! i'll drink several beers in your honor.....

(good an excuse as any..... %-)

Re: first things first......

[identity profile] gridlore.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Why do you think I bought a Ford Ranger?

Need the crossed rifles, plus a couple of Giants stickers. That and I want a "Gun Control Means Using Both Hands" next to a "Godless Liberal and Damn Proud of It!" right next to each other.

The NRA pisses me off no end. Call me back when Wayne LaPierre is run out on a rail. And there's no room for a gun rack. Damnit.
claidheamhmor: (Default)

[personal profile] claidheamhmor 2008-04-14 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
Very nice! It looks like a nice vehicle.

How do credit scores there work?

[identity profile] gridlore.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Numerical score, ranging from 0 (No history at all) to 850 (excellent history, no bad marks ever.) Scores are calculated by several agencies using different methods; so you can have a range of scores.

This link has a lot more detail (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/credit-scoring/20031104a1.asp)

We had terrible credit after I first got sick, since we had just bought a new car and couldn't make the payments. That default took seven years to fall off our reports, and from there we started slowly rebuilding with a secured credit card (you deposit an amount in a special account, that's your credit limit) then with [livejournal.com profile] kshandra buying her PT Cruiser. We're currently in the mid-600 to mid-700 range. That's considered to be good credit. I'm at the lower end of that range since I have very little credit history. If we keep up with the two credit cards (barely used) and the rent/car payments, we may break the 800 barrier.
claidheamhmor: (Default)

[personal profile] claidheamhmor 2008-04-15 06:11 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks; that explains it nicely. I suspect we have it a lot simpler here. We have credit bureaus one can check with, but I don't think they have a scoring system, per se. They do have blacklisting, though, and if one is blacklisted, you won't get credit anywhere for about 5 years.

[identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 07:52 am (UTC)(link)
My Ranger served me well for nearly nine years, until a 4Runner got it from behind on Super Tuesday. Enjoy yours!
kshandra: California custom license plate reading ♥KOOSH (Koosh Plate)

[personal profile] kshandra 2008-04-14 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[livejournal.com profile] dafydd would probably still have his were it not for a similar mishap (though he was the at-fault driver, sadly). He took the opportunity to upgrade to an F150, though, which he's been really happy with.

[identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I sliced my fuel costs with a Civic -- the hybrid was a bit out of reach, but even the regular one is a big improvement.

[identity profile] gridlore.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Just so you know, the new expense means that coming south for the con is probably off the agenda. Sorry.

[identity profile] nolly.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
:( I'm hoping to get panelist invites out Real Soon Now -- I"ve got the data I need, but I haven't had time to finalize my list and compose the letter. I'll leave you on the list in case something works out -- lottery win or something like that.

[identity profile] jarlsberg71.livejournal.com 2008-04-15 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Congrats! makes it a younger cousin to my truck :)