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Wardriving Blues

It's been a while since I was war-driving, and I am starting to miss it. I am usually preoccupied with my Laptop while I am driving out to work, etc. Lately though, I have been busy waving the antifreeze out of my face and wiping it off the windows. After some searching, some phone calls, etc. I am finding that getting a heater core for my Volvo will cost me at LEAST $120 (and that is an old used one).

My wife is suggesting that we take our tax refund, and purchase two new vehicles that are drivable, and trash the Volvo. Sounds like a good idea to me. Looking at what it will cost to cover all of the repairs for the Volvo, I don't want it any more. I have oil leaks, bad heater core, a weak battery (or maybe alternator), and the entire front end has been hacked together by painted plywood and cheap Autozone parts. It's shot.

The wife wants an SUV type of thing. Yuck. I really HATE SUV's. I would drive one if I *had* to. But I don't want some overgrown mountain climber for highway driving. The whole concept is retarded. That's what she wants. We have decided we will try to find ourselves vehicles for $1,000 or less. Finding old cheap SUV's at this point is not much of a problem. She can get a decent looking (and running) Jeep Cherokee for a little less than $1,000.

The car I want (and have wanted for years) is a Volkswagen Beetle. Not one of those new ones. Those suck. I want an old air-cooled original. Unfortunately, a lot of people want those cars, and they are greatly overpriced. I can find the occassional "deal" on eBay for less than $1,000 but most are 'project cars' that don't run. The other problem is that the best deals on Bugs are in hot dry environments that are hundreds of miles away. I don't know of any good way to get a car back to Ohio. Other than take a grayhound to that city, buy the car, drive it back to Ohio (that's the cost effective way). I *may* just do that if I find something I like, for cheap. It would be worth an 8 hour bus ride to me to get a nice old Beetle at a good price. This is all jumping the gun though, I haven't yet recieved my taxes for this year and files yet.

In the meantime, I need to disconnect the heater core all together. I think breathing antifreeze is starting to take a toll on my lung capacity.