By The Numbers Turns Two Today

First, By The Numbers, 730 days, 756 posts, 78,999 page views.

It was two years ago today, May 19, 2008, that this olelongrooffan did my first post on this blog. While that post was a relatively simple one, my knowledge of this hosting site has increased exponentially since that one. Kudos to the Bus for his early encouragement.

It has been a fun couple years and I would say that By The Numbers has kept me out of the doldrums, for the most part, and it gives me an outlet for some of the writing creativity I possess.

Some things have changed for me since I started this blog. I have moved from Sl-Ocala to The Birthplace of Speed, Ormond Beach and thoroughly enjoy living a block and a half from the Atlantic Ocean. I owned an entirely different set of automobiles back then than I do now. I now I have not one, but two, new laptops. And the woman this olelongrooffan was dating while I lived in Sl-Ocala has basically dropped off the edge of the earth. But that is okay, a good friend and I recontacted and enjoy each other's, albeit platonic, companionship.

And while some things change, others don't. I still don't have steady, gainful employment but I do meet with Manuel Labor every so often to keep my daughter in a cell phone. I still don't have the funds to get to see her as much as I would like. And, this olelongrooffan still doesn't have a girlfriend because, as my buddy Justin relates, "It's hard to have romance without finance."

But I have this to say about that.

This olelongrooffan is a glass is half full kind of guy and I tend to see the brighter side of life. I believe this olelongrooffan is one fortunate individual.

I mean, even though we have hurricanes and tornadoes down here in The Sunshine State, they, generally, aren't as bad as some might think. This olelongrooffan just tries to stay out of harm's way.

I live near one of my four favorite brothers and we get to do all kinds of cool stuff together.

I live in an automobile centric community and there is always something car related going on.

As has been mentioned, this olelongrooffan tries to stay off the Eisenhower Highway System and, as a result, I come across some fairly interesting, at least to me, stuff.

I also possess a pretty acute sense of observation so this olelongrooffan finds some rare and exotic stuff to share with you Counters Out There.

This olelongrooffan is usually hooked up with some pretty decent access passes to the goings on out at The Daytona International Speedway and I take advantage of that access, whenever possible.

And, if you discount Bike Week, it is a pretty quiet little burg I live in.

And while things could be better in this olelongrooffan's world, I'm not complaining a bit.

Thanks to all You Counters Out There for Counting Along With Me and this olelongrooffan will be back in 2012 for another two year recap of By The Numbers.

See you soon and I hope you continue to, as I do,

Celebrate Life.

What I Saw Today

I know it has been a while since this olelongrooffan has had a What I Saw Today post. Sometimes I'll see something cool then I'll see something else cool and then all of the sudden I have a whole post that is to varied for a What I Saw Today post.

That is not the case here.

On Sunday, this olelongrooffan monitored a construction continuing education course down in Fort Pierce, Florida, about 150 miles south of The Birthplace Of Speed. It started at 8 am so this olelongrooffan drug his sorry *ss out of bed around 4:30 am and hot footed it down that Eisenhower Highway System and that connects these two towns.

However, on the return trip to the Taj Mahal, this olelongrooffan did his normal ritual of keeping my oleragtop off that highway system and instead utilized US 1 and A1A for my return trip.

And am I glad I did.

As I was travelling up US 1 near Vero Beach, this olelongrooffan spotted this beauty parked in the parking lot of a local diner.

Yepe, an early 50's Ford Woody Tudor Wagon. It was absolutely stunning in its bright fire engine red paint soaking up that Florida sunshine.

Plus, it is a Country Squire, a name I had previously thought was introduced in the early 60's. It is wonderful to learn something new every day.

And although this olelongrooffan prefers stock in all things automotive, this slight restomod was done tastefully and looked period correct. Even the hubcap on the rear mounted spare tire was awesome.

Although I didn't get an image of it, the panel gap at the front doors was, as on every woody this olelongrooffan has seen, was not the same from top to bottom.


As I was taking these images, a pair of older couples came out of that diner and were admiring it along with me. One of the ladies commented that her father had one when she was a kid living down in Fort Lauderdale during the late 50's. She mentioned the wood started rotting out and her dad replaced all of the wood panels himself!

I really like the rear taillight treatment as well as

the bulging hood ornament.

And know this, seeing this cool ole longroof and being able to share it with you really allows me to

Celebrate Life.

YeeHa, It's Friday

Feel free to enjoy yourself and remember to

Celebrate Life.

Another Random Image From The Library

A whole bunch of years ago, TheGentlemanFarmer gave this olelongrooffan an old school scrapbook filled with old automobile related articles and ads that he had picked up somewhere. While that scrapbook has moved on to the possession of a random ebayer, before it left my possession, I scanned a few of the more interesting, at least to this olelongrooffan, articles and ads. This is one of them from the 1961 24 Hours of Lemans race.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Birthday Bus!

Where Ya Been?
And this olelongrooffan hopes you used your birthday to

Celebrate Life.

Yeah, This olelongrooffan Has Been Busy

Check out the next few blogs to see at what.

But I am still able to

Celebrate Life.