300 SD

Off to a good start

I’ve gotten a lot accomplished on my vehicles lately, and it has made me proud – just a few years ago I wouldn’t have known where to start under the hood of a car. Now I have a Mercedes that is ready to run on 100% vegetable oil, and I did it largely on my own – or I should say, without instructive help, I had many helpers. I’m tinkering with electronics, fixing things on my own. It feels great. Changing in such a short span of time from something that was wholly foreign to something accessible makes me aware of the things I’m already proficient in. It also reminds me of how easy that jump can be.

Today Nishi and I drove to Miner St to work on the bus a bit. Last week we got the two large benches dismantled and set aside. The inside of the bus is opening up. As I turned off my truck, I went to turn off the lights and the knob popped off. The little mechanism the plastic knob attached to was just hanging by its wires inside the dashboard, and wouldn’t stay put on its own. I unscrewed and popped off the large plastic piece covering the area under the steering wheel, and unbolted the metal plate underneath that. Just screws and bolts. I was then able to reach up and hold the mechanism in place as I re-attached the plastic knob. Fixed! There’s a mental block that needs to be passed, after which it all becomes clear. It’s just screws and bolts.

My mom asked us to stay for dinner. I’ve long asserted when talking with her that the difference between generations in regards to technology is that my generation plays with things, while her generation exercises far more caution. They treat the new computer like a luxury car that needs to be carefully maintained and driven on well paved roads. I’m swapping the engine and installing wings. No one told me I couldn’t. She mentioned her amazement that I was able to do that fix today on my own. I think the only difference between me and her is that I was shown that I could do this.

Before Grey Fox this year, Ali and I were making preparations on the bus. We were getting things packed and sorted and generally figured out. The cast iron propane burner that we’ve been cooking on had suffered a few falls, and a few legs had broken off. As a result it couldn’t sit level anymore, and this needed to be fixed. I grabbed a 2×4, a circular saw, and a drill. I cut four small lengths, screwed them into a small box, and screwed the burner to it. Problem solved. It took maybe five minutes. Ali remarked about how he hadn’t seen something like that before. I can easily remember when I could have said the same. I just had to be shown that it was possible. These are things I could do.

Things I Have Done

On June 4th, the Middletown City Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning Citizens United, and calling for electoral reform. Peter, Nishi and myself had been working on this cause for months, and we got it passed in time to coincide with a national movement doing the same. The resolution reads as follows:

Whereas, the Citizen’s United v. Federal Election Commission, Buckley v. Valero and SpeechNow v. FEC legal decisions have changed the national landscape on how elections are financed, and

Whereas, the Supreme Court ‘s Citizen’s United decision has led to a flood of money from individuals, corporations and special interest groups being used for political purposes, and

Whereas, Super Political Action Committee’s (“Super PACs”) now enjoy unlimited spending from wealthy individuals and corporations, and

Whereas, outside spending by Super PAC’s, corporations, special interest groups and others totaled over $900 M or 2.5 times as much as spent during the same period in 2008 and six (6) times as much as in 2004, and

Whereas, huge sums of money are now being decried as securing elections to ensure allegiance to a specific political agenda, and

Whereas, the influence of excessive and anonymous money in political campaigns can lead to corruption, limit political discourse, subject the citizenry to unlimited and extensive “spin” which shadows the facts for any political campaign.

Whereas a coalition of groups throughout the United States are working to pass over 100 new local resolutions during Resolutions Week in June calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, challenge corporate power and eliminate unlimited campaign spending.

Now Therefore Be It Resolved by The Common Council of the City of Middletown that:

We join in the efforts of groups and organizations throughout the Unites States to remove the overt influence of money on our political system and stand with other communities across America to protect our democratic system by supporting public funding of elections, reducing the unnecessary time required to select candidates and conduct elections and make any and all political spending to be open and transparent.

Be It Further Resolved that

We hereby instruct our State and Federal Government Representatives to end the influence of money in politics by enacting resolutions, legislation and constitutional amendments to advance these principles.

I’ve been working on Dawn quite a bit as well, and though I’m far behind where I thought I would be, I’m about 50% done. I haven’t gotten anything done on the bus, and I’m really behind on projects in general. SomDay went unobserved for the first time since its inception. But the money keeps rolling in, which will allow me to get around to these things sooner or later.
Mostly later.

Dawn

I’ve decided I’m going to name the 300 SD Dawn. It feels right. On that same note, I’m scrapping plans (ethereal as they were) for the Caracycle. I’ve seen similar projects, and it has become far too clear that such a trailer would either require too many bikers to make it fun, or would be utterly unusable on hills. Either way I think I’m going to stop pursuing it. I have plenty of work to do on Dawn anyway. I just ordered a centrifuge and pump today, which will be installed on the bus, so I can refine oil to the tolerance I need to for the grease car kit. I’ll be ordering that soon as well. I’m still hoping I can have this 100% by May. That seems realistic. Though I’m near as busy as I’ve ever been, projects are tapering off, and giving way to my mechanical endeavors. This should be fun.

Budgeted

I’ve roughly blocked out what it will cost to turn the bus into a full-time livable dwelling. That, combined with the cost of converting the 300 SD to run on veggie, means I will have very little money in savings by the end of this year. But it also means my cost of living going forward will be pretty damn low. Seems like a good trade.

I’m getting lots done across the board – I’ve been getting better at budgeting my time. It felt last week like I had bitten off more than I can chew, but I think I’ll be ok. I can tell myself that this is just a period of time in which many projects overlap, and it will pass. I know other projects will rise to replace the fallen, but I can ignore that for now.

I bought a car. I’m pretty excited. It’s not my first vehicle, but it is my first car, and it’s going to be a veggie burner as well. A 1983 Mercedes 300 SD. It’s in fairly good shape, though there is definitely some aesthetic work to be done, it’s mechanically sound. Here’s hoping in one year’s time I’ll own my own home, and my own car, and both will run on waste vegetable oil.