The weatherman warns of an impending ice storm, I should probably turn up the heat so things are survivable and pipes don’t freeze when inevitably we loose power for the next three days. Put more fuel in my truck if I have to seek shelter elsewhere or stay warm in the cabon it’s final Sunday.
Seven degrees this morning, 🥶 they say it’s 3 degrees out in Rensselearville. I could have camped the last two nights there in the foot of snow that came Friday and came home before the ice storm, but it would have been cold and both my gas tank ⛽ and especially my propane tank dangerously low. Still in some ways I would have enjoyed those additional nights in wilderness with Red with the inevitable coming in fast on December 31st. That frame is really starting to flop more and more, or maybe my mind is just focused on it. I could have chosen to get Red welded, but Red is old and I am sure there are further issues that would need to be addressed sooner then later.
I will have to clear the snow off Big Red 🛻 for one last time today, before heading out to Walmart to get additional supplies when I figure out everything I need to get. I’ll probably drive in one last time on New Years Eve and get anything else I need at Walmart before taking the truck out to it’s final resting place for remainder of winter, but I want to get stocked up as much as possible as shopping is going to be so much more inconvenient without a vehicle. 🛒 Somethings just can’t be predicted and none will last through April so I’ll have to ride to grocery store and get what I can and if necessary do mail order. I don’t want to go too late and get caught in the freezing rain, though honestly it doesn’t matter it’s not that far from home and there are no hills in way.
Yesterday, was just a lot of reading, watching random YouTube and thinking. 📚 I could have gone out but it was rather cold and gray yesterday. I was hoping for better weather today, but it doesn’t seem like much of an improvement with the impending ice storm. Tomorrow is going to be a definate busing it work day, at least after work, I’ll get my steps in walking the Plaza. 👣 I got playing with the A. R. E. Realtruck.com designer, and created another A. R. E. MX cap like the one I have on Big Red, and mounted it on a Big Red F-250 4×4. Wouldn’t be quite as big or high off-the-ground without a lift kit though relatively close, especially if I eventually added a leveling kit and 35s or 37s. I don’t really want to do the lift kit thing again. It causes a lot of problems and stresss to suspension. But then I came to realize whatever my next rig is like, it won’t be another Big Red. A heavy-duty truck inherently is going to drive and ride differently then a lifted-truck. But it might be more reliable, though I’m not sure I had that many problems with my lifted Big Red over the years.
And at times I question spending the money and fuel consumption of Mini Godzilla 6.8L, 💵 when it will be gone much like Red in not too many years, though I do like traveling and like my big trucks. 🏡 And then I saw that house in Coeymans, but realizing without a truck this winter and spending the money on truck in spring, it’s mostly a pipe dream, unless of course I sold a bunch of stock. 📈 It’s not like I’ve already spend any money or have to get a F-250/F-350 truck, the only decision made so far is to retire Big Red on Wednesday and not get him welded. I did look at Ford Rangers while I was on Ford site, because maybe that’s closer to what I want, but those trucks are so tiny and I’ve acquired so much camping gear over the years. And they have all those blown-engines, I mean turbocharger and big screens everywhere, keyless ignition, which I hate. The relatively plain interiors of XL Superduties with regular cabs remind me a lot of good times I had with my little 1998 Ford Ranger XL, before I got Big Red. It’s not like Big Red was top spec – it was LT which is Chevy’s equivalent to the XL but it sure had a bit more technology then old the Ranger, plus the extended cab which I don’t like. And maybe the constant brake problems I had Ford Ranger, the bad wheel cylinders and rotted out brake lines, wheel bearing and burnt out starter motor, have faded from my memory over the decades past, compared to rotted out frame on Chevy now. 💭
And I saw that house in Coeymans, 🏡 that could have been mine, if I had a vehicle and didn’t delete Zillow, though I’m sure there is a reason why the past three sale attempts failed over the past few months. Also, that house in West Coxscakie is still for sale, the one that used to always have smoldering burn barrels 🛢️ before the ban. Also that had a woodstove and 10 acres of rocky land, but it’s been on market for a few years now, with no takers. But it’s too far from Albany for easy commuting, moreover, it is New York State. Do I really want to settle down? I like riding my bike to work. 🚲 But winter. I should stop dreaming about trucks and homesteads, as they all suck in New York and continue to read more about goat farming. 🐐 I also need books out of Hoopla for the month, I should get at least one or two about car buying to learn as much as I can, so I get a good truck, whatever I end up buying, a SuperDuty Godzilla or else wise.