James' Point of View

Just to clarify... I do, in fact, have a heart. And to prove it isn't made of ice, I'm publishing a photo history the way James sees his 'burb. Ain't she somethin'?

"The boys are gonna love this. We'll work on it together. It'll be fun."

Everyone working together.

Classic style. So cool.

They really are excited about working on the Suburban with Dad. Edward has already told everyone that he got to go for a ride already. In the front seat! He was pretty pumped.

History in Photos

You may remember me saying something to the tune of "...worse than I expected.... not a good idea...rust...". Well, just to clarify - I meant it.

I thought I would take the opportunity to share a photo history since the Burb has been with us.

Rust, rust and more rust. I could show more, but I think the pattern is obvious.

Starting Fluid? Don't waste the time or money... nothing started.



This interior is to die for. And I mean that.

The only thing that makes this Suburban bearable is how good my boys look working on it.

The U-haul Debacle

Don't forget to check out James' post. He skimmed over the U-haul debacle, so I'm left filling in the blanks.

The plan was, indeed, for me to drop James off at a friend's house so they could ride up to Kirksville together. James would drive the Suburban home, and his buddy would follow (in case parts started flying off on the highway or something). In the weeks leading up to this, I kept commenting that this truck doesn't even run. Hubby just laughed and said, "Why do you think that? It runs." Midweek, James gets a call from the owner saying he "will get it running".

More comments from me about buying a truck that doesn't run carried us through the rest of the week.

Saturday morning, James gets a call from the owner saying he got it running... but it won't stay running. The guy would "feel better" if James would trailer it home. It bothers the guy enough that he offers to take $200 off the price to cover the cost of the U-haul. I made a few comments regarding the fact that the guy has been telling James to trailer this 'burb from the get-go, and again... why?

James gets more excited as he makes arrangements to pick up a U-haul in Kirksville. We load the boys in the car and head to our friend's place to start thier little adventure. HOWEVER, U-haul calls back.

**I feel it is my duty, a this point, to express how wonderful the St. Peters U-haul office is. This guy jumped through hoops to help James rent from another U-haul location.**

Anyway, Kiksville doesn't have the trailer we need. The guys will have to pick one up from another location along the way.

Change of plans: I am now driving to Wright City to pick up our friend, then to Montgumery City to pick up the trailer, then home. When we got to Montgomery city, though, the price had changed to over $280. "That's okay" they say, call dispatch Monday morning for a partial refund, "It should be no problem".

James and his buddy load up and head out... but not before James takes my debit card. See, he needs to stop for cash at an ATM, but never got his PIN number when we got new cards a year ago. So I drive home... at two o'clock... with two hungry kids... no money for lunch... and less than a quarter tank of gas.

No one enjoyed that ride home.

The Great Debate

For starters, James seems to think it wise to sell one vehicle before looking into its replacement. He must - he's done it 3 times in the past year. I, on the other hand, don't particularly enjoy being the chauffer on his little escapades. Going to look at every OLD Chevy Suburban in the Show-Me State when temperatures dip below freezing isn't my cup 'o tea. Honestly, I think he enjoys watching the tension build up inside me. It's hard to get mad, though. He gets this huge grin just driving to see one of these. Personally, I think he needs help. There must be some kind of "Suburbans Anonymos" or something.

Truth be told, I do think a nice '71 Chevy Suburban would be sweet. And having a project car would be great for the boys. I can totally see us cruising around in a completly restored 'Burb having a great time.

The question is, "Can this rusty old clunker become that sweet cruiser?" I don't see it happening. A project car should not be your daily driver, and this is what James isn't seeing. This is going to become a nightmare so fast it's gonna make your head spin.

And I will be here documenting the whole thing. :)

Look at my sweet guys... they have no idea their dreams are going to be squashed by this beast.

"It Lives"? I think not.

By all means, check out "his" post here, but for the hard core truth, stay right here.

You should know that I am, in no way, an overbearing wife. When James decided to start his own business, I supported him 100%. When he started adventure racing, I followed him all over the midwest being his support crew. When he entered the MR340, I followed him along the river cheering him on and refilling water bottles. Hell, when he cut my couch in half to make it fit his plan, I sat back in amazement. BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

I woke Sunday morning to find this in front of my house. After spending weeks being told that "It won't be as bad as you think", I was shocked to find it was, in fact, worse than I'd imagined. Not only did he have to rent a U-haul to transport this beast, but it wouldn't run long enough to get it off the U-haul and into our driveway. I'd already spent my entire Saturday completely ticked off that this was actually happening, but then he tells me our neighbor, Joe, just drove by and asked him "What the hell is going on here?"


Good question, Joe. This blog will serve as an ongoing tribute to that very question.