The train to work was almost completely empty this morning, which was kind of spooky. Union Station at rush hour felt like it does at 10PM, right before the last train north leaves the station.
I didn’t think much of George HW Bush when he was President, but it’s amazing to reevaluate him in terms of the latest model. I can’t deny my respect for his service to our country, even if he ran an organization that arguably did more harm than good worldwide. As with all people, he was a complicated, flawed, honorable human being, and I’d like to believe he did more good than harm in his life. Godspeed, sir.
In other news, a new report on food WRI published today has hit most of the major news markets: the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and the Guardian all carried excellent coverage of the report launch. I’m proud to have had a small hand in its production.
Jesus, everything I’m reading in the news today is depressing. Every goddamn thing. I need a stiff drink and a good night’s sleep.
Another good band back from the dead: Doves have announced a reunion tour, beginning in the UK. Maybe hopefully they will make it over to the US for some dates next year. I became aware of them when I found a Doves sticker in a music sampler in the late 90’s/early aughts, and became a huge fan after hearing Lost Souls in its entirety.
Hmm, I just realized I never mentioned what happened with my steering caster upgrade. Short answer: nothing. The guy I brought it to had it for about three hours while I hung out in a Starbucks across the street. When I walked back over, it was parked on the side and he sheepishly told me he couldn’t budge either ball joint stud no matter how hard he tried. To his credit, he backed off, afraid he’d break something, and didn’t charge me anything for his time. Looking over both knuckles I didn’t see much evidence of an attempt, but whatever.
He recommended bringing it to the local 4×4 shop to see if I could have someone there work it over for me. This thought made me nervous for several reasons; I get the sense most of these shops are staffed by 22-year-old vape bros catering to guys who want to bolt aftermarket crap onto their shiny new Jeeps.
At the Scout meetup later that week I got to talking with one of the guys who knows a local mechanic who used to work on Internationals, and he suggested I get in touch. This week I’m going to follow up with a phone call, looking ahead to an appointment in the spring. Because while he’s working on this stuff, I’ll have him go over the whole front end and check it for wear.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.