AC/DC

A couple posts ago this olelongrooffan did a blog about how things are in my life right now as I continue to Celebrate Life in every manner possible.

Well Counters, upon completion of that blogpost, this olelongrooffan went to check my email and there was an invitation from NissanUSA to come on down to MickeyMouseLand and drive one of their new electric Nissan Leaf automobiles for 60-90 minutes.

And on Friday, February 4th at the University of Central Florida campus this olelongrooffan will, shockingly, continue to

Celebrate Life!!

Another Day In The Life Of This olelongrooffan

As there is such a dearth of full time employment opportunities down here in the Birthplace of Speed and the greater Daytona Beach area, this olelongrooffan is doing pretty much anything to make a buck to keep my daughter adequately supplied with mobile means of text and voice communication with her nearly 120 facebook friends, of which I am honored to be one.

One of the things this olelongrooffan has been doing is traveling all over greater Volusia County, Florida visually evaluating residential properties for a real estate investor out Californey way. Today I did just that.

But first, this morning as I was utilizing Google Maps to find said locations, the extremely complicated communications system here at the Taj Majal started going crazy notifying this olelongrooffan the answering of an incoming phone call was desired.

And I did.

"Whatcha doing longroof?"

And I told him, and you jeepjunkie?

Heading up to TomP's place to check it out, wanna go?

Sure jeepjunkie.

And we did. Once we arrived we realized the lawn did need mowing and I jumped on that lawn tractor so this olelongrooffan would not have to deal with the business end of a gasoline powered weedeater.

We finished up that endeavor and headed back to the Taj Mahal. I got back on these tubes to complete the geographical mapping of my day and thejeepjunkie enjoyed at least 12 ounces of his favorite cold beverage on the veranda of the Taj Mahal.

Now sometimes the requested viewing of the desired homes is in a desirable neighborhood
but most of the time it isn't.
So, after my four and a half hour, 117 mile windshield time and another 2 hours blogging my finds, the massive communication system in the Taj Mahal lights up again.

And is the case most of the time these days, it is, once again, thejeepjunkie.

"Whatcha doing longroof?"

Just finishing up my review, you?

Heading to the beach in the 2A, you wanna ride along?

H*ll yeah.

See ya in a few.

So this olelongrooffan fills an appropriately sized cooler with some of thejeepjunkie's favorite beverage, plus a few of mine for this olelongrooffan and I settle in my huge barco lounger and wait for thejeepjunkie to show.

He does and I walk out the impressive front door of the Taj Mahal and he voices his appreciation at my choice of accompanyment.

This olelongrooffan lumbers into the passenger compartment of the civilian version of the Willys MB and we head off on that ardeous trip to the World's Most Famous Beach, some two blocks away.

After some humorous wrangling with the beach access dude, we finally get through that Homeland Security Nightmare and get down on the beach.

Now remember, this olelongrooffan is being transported in a 1946 Willys CJ2A and it is bright yellow! As a result, and this happens every time thejeepjunkie and this olelongrooffan traverse this crushed shell beach, dang near everyone, well except those morons who choose to cross the traffic lanes without looking sideways to check for traffic, most of those beach visitors who of a certain age or a certain "It's A Jeep Thing" notice us.

Well, thejeepjunkie, in his advanced age, has developed a certain adage of talking to himself. I am not sure if anyone is listening and this olelongrooffan has quit listening a long time ago.

But, in almost Rally Driving Fashion, I have gotten into providing some navigational advice to my driver as in "Kid on the left, not looking at all....Don't speed throught this area....Watch out for that whale paying no attention to what is around her"....well you get the idea.

And then thejeepjunkie launches into a tyraid about how "You Can't Fix Stupid."

So there we are on the beach, relaxing and enjoying a cruise, me listening to thejeepjunkie going on about the stuck tourist in the Cadillac SRX and the guys trying to get him out.

"Hello, did you not see the 4WD vehicles only sign just a hundred yards previous? Dumb*ss."

It was cool though. I mentioned to thejeepjunkie not to say a word and let's see what happens.

Well, let's just say those Hoons finally got that front wheel drive recent vintage Caddy crossover unstuck with no help from thejeepjunkie and this olelongrooffan but we sure had a good time watching them.

We also experienced the Caddy CUV driver trying to get a couple tens for a twenty to compensate his tow crew with a ten spot when a commercial crew would charge a buck fiddy for it.

And, oh yeah, that Caddy driver was stuck, once again, just a few hundred yards up the beach.

With no Saviors in sight.

While we were cruising along, we spotted this taxivan in the distance. (sorry about this olelongrooffan's feet in this image, but after all, we are cruisin')
I mentioned to thejeepjunkie that it must really be expensive to take a taxi to the beach for the day. I mean, why not just have the taxi drop you at a beach access and walk on down. But judging by the sight of the "just a biscuit shy of 400" pound woman in the adjacent beach chair, this olelongrooffan thinks the only place she walks is to the kitchen.

Down the beach aways, we spotted this sweet 86 Caddy Fleetwood and stopped to take a look at it. That's thejeepjunkie in the background talking with the vacationing owners of this highly desirable classic automobile while this olelongrooffan was checking out that huge vehicle.
It turns out the owner of that Caddy has a son who just finished restoring a 1946 CJ2A also! He is an old car guy and we chatted it up for a bit prior to returning to that yellow classic to cruise on down the beach. thejeepjunkie hops in and fires it up. (check out the water line in the above image) We back out into the traffic lanes, thejeepjunkie puts it in first and the motor sputters and dies. He cranks it back up and we move about 10 feet before it dies again. He tries to start it again without success. He jumps out, removes the gas cap and shakes that ole buggy.

"Sh*t, longroof, we're out of gas."

So thejeepjunkie whips out his cell and makes a phone call.

And the totally opposite of this occurance occurs, the Kid comes to the rescue. By the time the Kid was able to get out of the house, apparently dinner is more important to some in that household than rescueing family, the tide had really started rolling in.

As the Beach Patrol had closed the beach due to high tide, the Kid had to park at a beach access and carry that can of petrol down the beach.

While we were waiting for the Kid to come to the rescue, that Caddy owner came over and we chatted it up all the while watching morons getting stuck on the beach. Upon approach, he asked thejeepjunkie if he wanted a ride to a gas station? thejeepjunkie's response? "Naw, I got a 17 year old son."
the Kid handed that red can to thejeepjunkie who transferred it to his 2A and it fired right up and we had a damp ride back to the Taj Mahal.

But Man! It was fun!

And it is having family to come to the rescue, wet rides on the beach with thejeepjunkie and not having to wash that Willys that evening that really allows this olelongrooffan to

Celebrate Life.

On The Road, In The oleragtop

thejeepjunkie, derisively, will tell you that the olelongrooffan is the only person he knows who can make 3 hour trip into a 5 hour trip. I told him, when he mentioned this to me prior to my leaving for the Cards game with the boys, "H*ll yes, I don't deny it." But as I have previously told the Bus, I am doing it for you Counters.

Well, last week, I took just minutes over 3 hours to hotfoot it down to see my nephews to attend a Spring Training game. The ride home? 7 hours, 25 minutes. Beat that jeepjunkie!

Ater attending that victorious Cards game on Thursday and, the next morning, dropping those boys over at that high-faluting golf course, I headed over to A1A, the United State's easternmost highway, and turned north. South Beach was inviting but just not in the budget. The beachside highway down

there in Jupiter, Florida is pretty scenic with its limited beach access and some nice landscaping to boot! Although this image does not show it, there were tons of folks out for their morning walk in this balmy 65 degree weather.

I then had to head over to the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, just for the CDM. Are you at the end of the Rainbow?

And, I just have to wonder, if God loves John at 3 and 16, does God still love John at 49?

I then was heading through Fort Pierce, Florida, an active port town and saw this cool 1973

Chevrolet Impala Station Wagon.

I remember when I was a kid, living on Haven Lee Farm, Halltown edition, a friend of my folks, John Dattola, had a similar longroof. He sold pharmacueticals and based on what those dudes earn these days, I guess he did alright by his family. But the Dattola family is another blog in its entirety.

Oh yeah,

Thanks again National City Bank. We did 'Perk Up With $100' worth of food and drink at the Cards game. Those are the details.

It was funny, when I stopped and got this shot, as I was walking back to the oleragtop, these two cute National Bank Employees came out and the really cute one asked, in kind of a semi hostile way, if she could be of assistance.

Well, I walked over to those babes, or is that babies as they were probably less than half my age?

I mentioned to them I had spent the previous day at the Cards game with my nephews from Boston and Washington state and that your company hosted a party there.

They both nodded and said yes.

I then confided with them the fact we had snuck into that party and ate and drank for free all afternoon.

They started smiling and giggling.

I then finished my conversation with them by stating I had to stop and get a shot of their sign as I was going to blog the whole thing.

We all started laughing heartily and I gave them a big wave and said "Thanks for the great time".

The really cute one said, through her ear to ear grin, "Glad you guys had fun, wish we had been there."

We do too.

It is through times like this I can Celebrate Life.

A ways up US 1, I spotted the winter sleeping spot for this show.

And, after consulting my old fashioned, tree sacrificing road atlas, I thought it only fitting I head over to cruise along the River via Midway Road.

Now Indian River Drive follows closely along the Indian River for the most part. Once, when I was not riverfront, I saw a road off to the right with the name, Rocky Point Road. I passed it by once, whipped a Ueee and got to see those coquina rocks along to coast of that river.

And in all my 49 years, I am still thankful that

Slow Children still get to Play outdoors.

And the following image, well, let's just say that "OJOHN" is the reaction I get from telling a corny joke more times than I get from someone of the opposite sex these days.

But a little further up the road, I did get to see this Corvair Sedan alongside US1.

I whipped a Ueee and got these images, just for you. Love those louvres in the rear window.

I saw this old Willy's down in front of an antique shop in, I think, Titusville.

A cool old piece, but it is two wheel drive?

I had originally seen this, and had not noticed the Willys in the preceeding images until I cut around the block in this downtown area. NASCAR teams have similar modes of transport, usually for tool boxes and the like.

While I was shooting these images at this location, a friendly afternoon walking elderly, although, again, probably only 10 years my senior!! woman stopped to chat. "Taking pictures of unusual things," she inquired. I mentioned that it seemed to be my life these days and proceeded to tell her about the By The Numbers blog, at which point her eyes glazed over, having no comprehension as to what I was speaking of. I then stopped and asked her if she had seen any unusual things lately. "Just down the street I saw a blue convertible with a Michigan license plate but had an Ohio State University bumper sticker." Well, Counters, if you know of the rivalry between the universities in those two states, you know this is unusual, but not unusual enough to get the olelongroof to go back and get an image of it. Try Google.

Now the vehicle in the following image? That I will whip a Ueee for. Although, in this particular case, I had the opportunity to see it from a distance and no Ueee was necessary. Due to my job search and ebay duties this week, I have not yet had the chance to determine what it is, although I have seen one before. Stay tuned, this mystery will be solved!!

Less than an hour's drive south of the Taj Mahal, I saw this chrome bumpered MG GT parked alongside US1 and had to stop and get a couple shots of it.



These images are headed right over to my favorite, still in print publication, Classic Motorsports for their "Ran When Parked" section. The placement of the outside rear view mirrors on this sports car are interesting. The driver's side is on the door while the passenger's is on the fender, although, most of the ones I have googleimaged are similarly situated.

I, subsequently, passed by the AMVET's location down in Port Orange and saw these two beauties.

A 55 or 56 Ford Sunliner.

It is an absolutely stunning piece of history.

Aqua green and white and just as desirable at that oleragtop in the background.

With a dashboard possessing more gauges than the olestationbus.

In the same parking lot was this sweet Oldsmobile 88.

I have a jet similar to this one on a shelf in the Taj Mahal. Always wondered what that emblem was original equipment on.


Yeah, a sweet olecoupe

with the 88 numbers on the rear

and dig that tri split window in the rear.

Well, Counters, that was the end of the ride for me.

I got home to a freaking ton of job search, kitchen cabinet remodeling, ebay, and blogging.

I have to, once again, thank Shawn and Eric for inviting me along on this adventure and thanks to thehorsefarmer for his particular involvement in this matter.

Got an email from Shawn, this evening, mentioning they had fun with his Aunt Reenie, Uncle Rick and Cousin Jessica on Saturday and that Jessica was "to smart for her own good". Ahhhh...Family. Gotta Love Them.

And, By The Way, Best Wishes to Kristin, Lil Mom and Jim, NotSoLilJim, on their upcoming addition to the Lee Family.

And it is these ways, we can

Celebrate Life.

Just For thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer

Just taking a lunch break from cleaning out the mobile Jeep parts warehouse and thought I would let thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer know that I have found a restaurant not far from here where they have some good cooking when they visit down here next year.

Gotta love the Christmas lights.

And it is those lights that make me sure these folks know how to

Celebrate Life

Spotted Three Things For The First Time!!

So, I spent this morning working on the completion of United States Federal Government forms OF 612 and OF 306, long and complicated employment applications for the Department of Veteran Affairs, here in Daytona Beach. Wish me luck.

Anyway, I was pretty stir crazy after that and I knew I could ebay search for appliances for The Good Attorney or finish up that blog about VDub Sunday, or list a couple more things on ebay, or get a couple pictures of those old "F" scripted bolts from that Ford GPW thejeepjunkie and I cannibalized a couple weeks ago.

But nooooo, instead I decided, at about 1:30 pm, to fix a couple Tommy Lee sandwiches, drop the top on that oleragtop, fill up with petro, head out to parts unknown, with the stipulation I had to be home by 5:00 pm. Since I knew I didn't have long to get wherever I was going, I figured I would get on an Interstate and drive for up to an hour and get off that expressway and return home. This is the most efficient use of petro, that while is still relatively inexpensive down here, $1.87 per gallon, it is still needs to be used wisely by this cash strapped longrooffan.

While I was stopped at SR 40 and US 1, smack dab in the center of the Birthplace of Speed,

(I must insert this here...if you click on that google link, that is a shot, northbound, of A1A, Beachside, and that Bonefish Grill is located less than 1/2 mile from the Taj Mahal)

I spotted this ubiquitous Harley and on the back, above the Harley Davidson logo, was printed BABYLEE and it made me think of Lil Mom and NotSoLilJim. Good luck to ya'll on the 12 of March. You see those two are going to add another girl BabyLee to their brood, rounding that Lee family out at 2 boys and 2 girls, well that is if you determine NotSoLilJim is not a boy.

So by this time I had yet to decide the direction I was heading, north on I95 or south on I4. The thought of that family and the time we had together last summer made south the choice today.

When I got down on I4 headed toward MickeyMouseLand, I still was unsure if I would stop off in cool Sanford or try to find something cool in Winter Park or go to that die cast distributor out on SR 50.

Yeah, conumdrums. conumdrums.

So when I get down to the Orange City exit, I also see a sign for this place. And decided that was my destination this short road tripped afternoon.

Now I love quirky road signs. Remember these on my trip through St. Augustine On The Road By The Numbers and this one someplace up in farm country?

Well, today I saw a couple more duesey's.

Yeah, sometimes, geography happens.

And because we don't have the smartest tourists in the world,

this sign is necessary!!

And speaking of smart tourists, I was reminded, once again, the only kids I still like have the same last name as me. Hey you hick couple from somewhere with an accent that sounds like it's from Deliverance, if that 8 year boy is crying and still screaming at the top of his lungs that he doesn't want to be here, take his bratty *ss out of this pristine park. Either that or "Give him something to cry about." Alas, I digress, but I mean every minute of it.

Now, I have lived in Florida, in total, for nearly 25 years and in all this time I have seen a manatee in the flesh, so to speak. And since manatees love the warm water at Blue Spring during the cold winter months, the state of Florida acquired the old Louis P. Thursby homestead and made it into a manatee viewing park and, yeah, it is cool.

You can see some google image search images of the facility here and here. It is a pretty awesome place. It was pretty crowded for a mid Thursday afternoon. Lots of kids, most well behaved but a couple that needed a good swift kick.....alright I'll let it go...and lots of just regular folks who had no trouble communicating with total strangers.

Down on that boardwalk along the clearest Florida water I have seen in quite a while, Blue Spring Run, there were tons of fish of all varieties. I am not sure what these are but there are about 24" long.

And as a representation of those communicating folks, an elderly lady, well in reality she was probably just 20 years my senior...ouch!!!...pointed out the alligator in the left center, and gladly, on the opposite bank, in this image.

Following is the view of a manatee at the Blue Spring State Park by an everyday tourist to this facility.

This one has a bouy attached to it. When I asked the couple next to me what I thought it was for, although from the Carolinas, they knew. It had been injured and when treated and released back into the wild, it is bouyed for a period time to monitor its adjustment. And they had been to this park for four years straight!!

Saw this gar.



And just a whole mess o' dinner.

This is the home of Louis Thursby.

With this cool manatee sculpture on the front porch.

Got to see another manatee and then

as I was headed back to the oleragtop to get back to the Taj Mahal and I saw quite a crowd looking at this

in the center of this image, just to the left of the branch is a wide mouth bass in the middle of her nest

and a couple others were trying to get at her eggs. I know all this as the woman standing next to me seemed to know all about the habit of a spawning wide mouth bass. I didn't bother to mention to her that wide mouth bass are really good on a plate, Ya know PETA, people eating tasty animals. Anyway, momma was fighting to keep these two away and succeeded.

Then another wide mouth bass swam up and momma was all cool with his presence. Our fish fact finder mentioned that the only way he would allowed in that shallow depression was if he was her lover. Those two fish then appeared to become amorous, oblivious to our presence. A gentile Southern woman, with a beautiful accent, to my left, commented " You know, it is not polite to look at this". Everyone, I mean everyone, burst into a hearty laughter. I decided to end on that great note that it was the excellent time to mosey on down the road.

But not before catching an image of this cool state owned truck. Even with the short roof, this truck is pretty cool.

So am heading home, trying to stay on roads previously untraveled by me and I end up on Dunlawton out at I95 about 15 miles or so south of the Taj Mahal. Now I have been at this intersection before and realize, as I passed Williamson Blvd. that I had not been on that roadway south of the Daytona International Speedway. So I decided to whip a Ueee and head back and get on Williamson Blvd.

As I was stopped at a place to turn into a shopping center to hang that Ueee, I noticed a 68 Camaro was stopped in front of me turning in that same strip center. While thinking it was cool, I really didn't think more much of it until a 72 Chevelle ragtop pulled up behind me and then I spotted this Dodge Polara coming at us in the other two lanes of traffic and turn right into the same plaza.

Could it be?

Yeap, I had stumbled upon a cruise in and, of course, had to stop for a couple shots to share with ya'll.

The first two are that Dodge Polara, and yeah, I knew what it was, just not the year, and have forgotten it by now.


While there were other cool cars, we all know what pedestrian Cameros, Chevelles 47 Fords, 66 Thunderbirds look like, well at least I do. Therefore, I wanted to share this with you

this Kaiser Frazer Henry J. I had never seen one of these previously, that is in person.

Pretty sweet oldie.

And check out the lines of that rear window. For a car designated to be inexpensive, that touch is unexpected.

This is a stock certificate for Kaiser Frazer Corporation.

It is pretty spartan inside, much like the olestationbus.

Pretty cool hood ornament also.

Interesting nose on this old coupe. And check out that chopped and lowered Chevy Panel Van in the background. Interior needed some work though.

And after that, I passed this three wheel fordor just up the street!! It is a Zapcar Xebra.

So the title of this post?---Spotted Three Things For The First Time!!---Manatee, Henry J, and Zapcar!!!

And all are cool!!

I have to tell you, it has sucked this past year, living literally day to day, at least I have a roof over my head, thoughtful and loving relatives and friends, and a cool blog audience. But I am hoping Change is coming and I continue to have Hope. I just pray, literally, it is soon.

Having all that and seeing the three new things I saw today allow me to

Celebrate Life.