Topics

I do like my pinto beans an awful lot, seems like another 2 lbs of them gets cooked down every other day. They’re cheap and easy to get in bulk, cook down and use in so many meals. And within reason, I find they go down well in my stomach, provide protein. And I’m too cheap to turn up my gas heat, so yesterday like so many winter days home, I spent much of it hiding under the covers of the nice warm electric blanket looking at SuperDuty trucks and insurance plans, learning the ins and outs of engines and various off-road features, and considering various models and costs and insisting a Godzilla won’t be THAT fuel hungry. It’s called extreme mental illness!

I wanted to got Walmart yesterday primarily for their cheap bags of apples and bulk bags of cornmeal 🍏 but with the constant wind and temperatures in the single digits, I ended up just riding down to Hannaford. 🧤 I tried putting on nitrile gloves under the glove liners and wool gloves I normally use for riding, based on Internet recommendations but it didn’t seem to help much. I think it’s too cold to ride to Walmart this morning. It doesn’t look that cold out but I see the thermometer 🌡️ at 5 degrees and I can see the breeze pushing the tree branches around, so I know it’s cold. I guess I could go to Walmart after visiting with my parents this afternoon. 👨‍👨‍👦 I still want to get more apples, maybe I’ll just stop at Hannaford on my way in or even home 🏡. With the bike trail snow covered, I usually do Delmar Bypass not Delaware Avenue, but it’s not that bad of a ride on Delaware Avenue and down to Morton, as who knows how that section is along I-787 for snow clearance. Yesterday started out the morning with apple pancakes, 🥞, found some old lasagna in my freezer, fried up with onions and beans for lunch, and dinner with boiled and mashed sweet potato 🍠 with just a little bit of salt. Pancakes again this morning with bananas and shredded carrots. 🥕 Haven’t quite gotten through that five pound bag of carrots I got last week.

I got my Hoopla borrows out for January, 📚 before the month closed out but I’m not sure about the quality of the reads, I probably should have been selective earlier in the month. Spread out the time I get books out each month. But whatever, I should have some good reads. Now just to get in the habit of reading more. 📖 I’ve kind of gotten away from reading, spending more time watching Financial Advice and videos about buying cars and the pros-and-cons of various SuperDuty trucks on YouTube. 📹 I’ve also joined several Facebook groups on SuperDuty gassers, trying to understand the pros-and-cons of different models and what kind of repair costs and issues are common. The 6.8L and especially 7.3L engines are quite reliable, though while I was leaning towards the Godzilla, maybe the MiniZilla is fine and basically as reliable as Godzilla for non-towing use but with slightly better fuel economy. And the 10R100 isn’t much worse then the 10R140, with most of the issues with the clutches ⚙️ fixed in recent years, or so Ford promises. Cars are such junk, but you can at least get a better model. I wouldn’t buy a Ford car, but the SuperDuty trucks are generally over built especially for my uses. Not going to be towing heavy much I don’t expect excessive wear on the tranny or engine – those SuperDuty’s get a lot of use and abuse beyond what I would be using it for.

And the question on my mind is to get an XL with the XL Off Road (and FX4) Package and no chrome versus the FX4 STX appearance package, 🤷‍♂️ which besides looking purty also comes with 360 cameras, which I thought was a silly thing to break but apparently are excellent for parking in tight spaces. Interesting discussion on the 6.8L gasser forum on Facebook about this. But the thing is the FX4 STX comes with highway oriented AT tires and not aggressive AT almost mud tires of the XL Off Road. I know it’s silly, I can replace the tires when they wear out in a few years, as stock tires are often crap regardless, and even go to 35 inch BFGs if the I want. I don’t want a XL Off Road in fleet white, but it looks pretty nice in red or gray (the later color used by Forest Rangers). Decisions! But I discovered a lot more SuperDuty inventory if I widened my search results. Honestly, though I’m inclined to go with the XL Off Road Extended Cab, as from what I understand is base model for the Forest Rangers, and it’s likely the state buys good trucks for bouncing along state truck trails all day, though many of them I’ve seen over the years are quite beat. 🛻 Of course, if get a truck that looks like I’m smokey the bear, 🐻 all the poachers will be glancing at my truck thinking it’s some kind of unmarked conservation officer truck.

Truth is researching pickup trucks is a lot more fun that off-grid cabin, 🏡 mostly because I know it’s something more actionable in the next year. It’s great to learn all about goat farming 🐐 and building cabins 🏗️ but let’s be honest, I don’t think I’ll be buying goats or building a cabin this year. Trucks are a lot more affordable, and the rig I build will likely to serve me to retirement or pretty close to it. The trick is just to keep doing a good job at work and my investment plan, and those days will come before you know it. I don’t think the stock market will remain as high as it is now forever, but I still believe in growth over time, and with regular investments I can get to that point where I have my own land and I don’t have to wash out the plastics before tossing them in the burn barrel. 🛢️I miss being up in woods and having fires, maybe I could have bought a house or a cabin, but New York is tough, especially when you have to work in city. 🏙️

And I keep Googling, how bad is the gas mileage on the Godzilla? If you have to ask I guess you don’t need to know.