Good Karma October

So I was thinking the other day that October really has been a great month.

Sure the weather has turned and I'm getting ready to be fairly non-existant for the winter. I can't stand cold weather to be honest. Sure I can do something about it, but that is another post for another time.

Back to the topic at hand. The weather has turned and we've just rolled our good time pieces back an hour over the weekend, and of course trouble with the former Mrs. mother of my kids, but why let little things like that stop me from seeing the good side.

I finally sold my massage table. It was time to part ways. I haven't been doing much massage work in the last few years so I figure that it should finally go to someone that was going to put it to use. The good is that it's no longer taking up space in my place and I've gained a little extra money.

The big one: The Bronze Bitch went away. This was a hard decision as well, but when it came down to it I had no problem seeing it leave. It's in good hands. The buyer will get at least 50,000 miles out of it. Lets face it, most BMW engines are good for about 300k before they need to be replaced and this one is certainly no exception. The good side of this is that I got almost my asking price (short by $300 from what I asked) and now I have the cash for the Porsche that my father in law has offered to me (which has under 200k on it and is older than the BMW I just sold).

One of the last photos of the "Bronze Bitch" I'll ever take

Many little things have come about to make it an especially good month. First off my wonderful wife took me to see Kevin Smith speak at the Benaroya Hall. We got an extra helping of Lunchbox and gift of gab when he blew off his handler and went 45 minutes over his alloted time. He is amazing to listen to. I've read two of his books and watched the first two DVD's with his tour talks. I never get bored of him.

The "small" guy on stage is Kevin Smith......Lunchbox himself.

The nite of my actual birthday was great as well. Not expecting my children to be in attendance I had planned a dinner out to a family style Italian restaurant. Just happens that while I was out walking the dog their mom dropped them off at our home. A very nice surprise and they were able to enjoy Bucca di Beppo with us and our neighbour.

The following evening the Paisley came to pick me up at work (we're good carpoolers!) and one of her Facebook friends had a pair of all access club level tickets to the Seattle Sounders MLS playoff match!!! So after 40 minutes of working our way through 4 miles of downtown traffic and then 3 more miles back to the Paisley's office (where we parked for free) we were on our way to Seattle's first futbol playoff as an MLS club!!!

October was finished off with a Halloween party at our other neighbour's (in the house behind our condo) late nite party. There was a keg and beer-pong and loads of hours de vours. Great neighbours and this is the first we've been able to really socialise with them and get to know them since they moved in over the summer.

As I finish this up November is looking pretty promising. Unfortunately you wont find out about this month until December when I do a follow up.

Cheers all from the KTA.

The end of the road for the Bronze Bitch

Well as those of you know I had contemplated selling my beloved BMW 325is for sometime and moving into a Porsche.

After much debate in my mind to justify such a move the decision was made to go ahead and do it.

The big selling points were the mileage of the two cars: the BMW had almost 250k on the clock and the Porsche has only 180k despite being an older car. Reliability was a major factor as well.

While I have taken many "Sunday" drives in the BMW, I haven't taken it on any trips since it seems that I was always getting the car into order to make it more reliable. The Porsche on the other hand was driven across the state, into Oregon and up into British Columbia by my father in law in the 4 years that he's owned it.

Seems I need something capable of such reliability in the next month. Seems that my wife's company will be moving up their move to a new location and we won't be able to carpool after November. Additionally I would like to be able road trip with the Porsche...........I'll be joining the PCA and want to participate in drives and other local events.

The interior of the Porsche is in better shape as well. Good carpeting, good condition of the leather on the seats, no cracks in the dash and all the little bits works. The E30 was in good shape except for a wear in the leather on the drivers seat and the shift boot being worn. There were some interior bits that needed replacing, but nothing major.

The body is another consideration as well. The Porsche has bad paint on one fender, but otherwise needs no bodywork. The E30 however did have some minor dings and and dimples in the body and one fender had a small dent that with the proper tools can be hammed out and massaged back into shape. Fortunately I have a friend that has been an automotive painter for 20 years and will paint for free if I supply the paint.

I love the E30, but I really wasn't all the sad to see it go. I was concerned that it would go to someone that wouldn't take care of it, and that was something I had control over. After all I didn't need to sell it someone that I thought would treat it badly. Fortunately it has gone to a good home. After all it is a car. An object. Something that like all other material possessions will come and go in our lives. Will it make a difference that I had it? Probably not. Did I have fun with it? You bet. Maybe not to the full extent that the car was designed, but I had fun with it.

I look at the Porsche from this perspective as well............I have always wanted one. Who hasn't really? Well I'm taking this as the sign that this is the time for me to own one. Sure it's not the one that I want, but it's a sign non the less. My ideal is a mid 1980's 911, but for now the 944 will be a good introductory. I've driven Porsches before with my time as a car dealership employee years ago, but ownership will be a new thing and I look forward to it.

The Bronze Bitch leaves for good
This is not the actual Porsche I've bought, but this is the colour and the same style wheels and black leather interior.

Tales of the Bronze Bitch.....the end of the road

Well the final decision has been made. My beloved 1987 BMW 325 is will no longer be calling my carport home.

After several mental lists and discussions with the Mrs. I've decided to sell the Bronze Bitch.

We've had a great run and had some fun in the past 4 years. I certainly have learned a thing or two about this amazing car for better or worse.

My main motivation is that it's getting up there in mileage. It has somewhere in the neighbourhood of 250,000. This is just a guess-timate. The odometer didn't work when I bought the car. The previous owner had told me that he had put close to 30k on it or more since the odometer had stopped at 198,000 miles.The M20 engine that this car comes with is good for about 300,000 miles with average care and feeding. The body is in great shape with the exception of the clearcote that has come off the the hood and roof. With all the work I've put into it there are no coolant/oil leaks.

Together we've seen some fun places in the sun in the Western half of the state and enjoyed some BMW club events. We've proven that a 22 year old BMW is still a match for some newer cars with cockier drivers out on the road and we've seen just what a well powered/handling German built automobile can do when shown some TLC.

So what will take the place of the Bronze Bitch you may be asking. It will be German. I love German engineered cars! Some people have fetishes, some people have drugs and I have German cars.

At least two people out there know the answer. The Mrs is one and Militant Ginger would be the other.

A short back story is in order before the reveal: my father in law came to Washington state in the 1960's with the intent of building race cars and working in the race industry. Never happened. He got married had kids and became a printer. He never lost that dream though. Over the last 38 years he's restored 2 Studebaker Hawks and one Studebaker Avanti. The two Hawks are long gone but he still has that Avanti.About the same time I bought the Bronze Bitch he purchased a 1986 Porsche 944. I was shocked. My father law, though an admirer of foreign sports cars had always bought American. He was looking to complete a part of that 38 year old dream.

Now 4 years later he is looking to reinvent that dream a bit. He was looking for something newer and sportier. He started looking for another Porsche. Six months later he has finally purchased a 2000 Porsche Boxster.

This is where our stories intersect. My FIL now having an extra car on his hands needs to do something with the 944. My brother in law has a Mini Cooper S and my sister in law and her husband have two kids under 5 so their rides are SUV's. That leaves me. My FIL and I have always had a passion for sports cars.

To further the back story, I have known my FIL since 1986. The Mrs and I met our freshman year of highschool and dated a few times during that period. In that time I met my future FIL and got to see what a car enthusiast he is.

Back to the story, my FIL has an extra car. What to do with it? I'm the one that gets the question: hey dummy, you wanna buy my Porsche?He calls a lot of people dummy, and it should stop, but that aside I of course want it. So several months and some reasoning in my head has decided that I will take over ownership of the FIL's 944.

So shortly the little red kraut kruiser will adorn my carport and the Bronze Bitch will call home to someone else's driveway. I just hope that the next owner will see it's potential as I still do and continue with providing some TLC or maybe turn it into a track car.

I have no doubt that the Bronze Bitch will continue to grace the pavement for a few more years and prove that it's still a menace to other motourists.