book vs. truck

i finished reading catch-22 by joseph heller. it’s one of the books i felt like i should read because it’s considered a classic of modern american literature. there were things i liked about it, and some of the way the story unfolded was very effective. sometimes the non-stop contradictory sentences got a bit difficult to slog through and it felt like death by snarky cleverness. but when the ratio of story to “turning every sentence into a contradiction of the last one” was good, the book was a joy to read and kept my interest. still, overall it’s not going to go into the list of books i was amazed by and felt gave me a new perspective of reality and the world around me. it is still worth investing the time to read though, in my opinion.
the bigger news for me is that i decided to purchase a truck on ebay. i’d been looking on ebay at 1965-1967 chevy and ford pickups for a couple of months, and one caught my eye a few weeks ago. i bid on it, but no one else did and i didn’t meet the reserve. the truck was relisted and i bid it up in the last minute beyond the point where i was the high bidder, but i still didn’t hit the reserve. the truck was relisted again and the same thing happened. well, yesterday the seller sent me a second chance offer on the truck and today i made the decision to do it.
the vehicle in question is a 1965 ford f-100. the rub is that it is in brooklyn, new york. so part of my decision in buying it was my decision to fly up there and drive it back to Texas. in addition to the obvious hope that it is mechanically sound enough to make the drive back, i’m also going to have to deal with going to new york, buying a vehicle i’ve never seen in person from a person i’ve never met, it having no seatbelts, and driving it back to Texas with temporary tags. (in new york they keep the plates when they sell a vehicle.) hopefully i’ll be able to do everything i need to in order to get the temporary Texas tags.
anyway, all of this will be quite an adventure for me. i just purchased my plane ticket this evening. hopefully it’ll all work out and i’ll have a great time going up there and driving it back. and hopefully i’ll be happy with the truck too. i’m still processing plans for exactly how all of this will happen and what i’ll be taking with me, etc. if i decide to take my laptop, i’ll try to chronicle my adventures. if anyone wants to buy a ticket and take a few days and ride back with me, let me know. : )