On the End of an Era - Part 1
I sold The Golden Beauty today.
See the money shot featured below.
Now I no longer own a sedan built in the 1990s. I don't know who I am anymore.
I sold her in a private party transaction. I went to a sketchy part of town tonight and met the prospective purchaser (and, of course, potential thief or murderer) at a warehouse where he told me to go on the phone after dark to receive the payment, exchange paperwork, and otherwise close the deal. He paid me in cash. I went to the meeting by myself. This violated (egregiously) my policy of limiting my exposure to potentially life-threatening situations in the interest of achieving one of my life-time goals (meeting my great-grandchildren).
But he seemed trustworthy. So I trusted my judgment.
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And it worked out just fine.
I was amused at my anxiety (as described above) because just as we were leaving his shop for him to drive me back to my office after the transaction so I could eventually get home, his father showed up (he and his father run an auto mechanic's shop) just to make sure that I wasn't killing him and stealing the money he brought to the closing.
He told me that he thought I seemed trustworthy and that he decided to trust his judgment.
And it worked out just fine for him too.
See, life is awesome.
posted by garrett @ 10:50 PM
12 Comments:
I actually had this same experience with Jim Crall. I thought he was going to tie me up, sodomize me and leave me dead in the desert.
He thought I was going to do the same thing.
Unfortunately for him, he was right. Anybody seen him lately???
Wow! You finally stepped outside of your comfort zone!
Flamingo - You're no Hairy Prison Guard. You're not inclined to give somebody a dirt nap. So I'm pretty sure Jim has just slipped back into his customary state of illiterateness.
Anonymous - thank you for the "unique opportunity only today to receive insurance the machine free of charge" but I would encourage you to re-read the post to which your comment is appended before plying your wares here. I just SOLD a car, not bought a car.
PDD - I hear lots of people encourage lots of people to step outside of their "comfort zone" but I confess I do not understand this concept at all. Or perhaps I should say that to the extent I understand the concept, I think it's misguided and wrong. Like so many verbal palliatives people bandy about, I suspect the advice is in serious need of some deconstructing. Which I may do on these pages if the spirit moves me sometime while my fingers are poised over the keyboard. Speaking of comfort zones - when's my promised reading coming out??
Cheers!
Linked to you from Crawlspace.
When you DO see your grandchildren, and they ask why the sky is orange-ish black, the air tastes like soot and the US dollar has no worth outside our borders, a simple answer is in order.
"Ya see, junior, capitalism gave us the freedom to consume and pollute without regulation. I didn't have to think about who I, along with many other selfish Americans, was hurting, even you junior. Good luck for now. My stomach is full and my old fart medications are topped off for the month. Junior, YOU figure out a way out of this mess. I'm taking a nap."
No different than your oohing ad ahhing over capitalism now. Glorious American self-centeredness. It will all bite you and those who don't deserve it in the ass one day.
Where is the picture of the money shot? All I see is some car.
Krause - thanks for stopping by. I appreciate you taking the time to share your views.
First, I want to just clarify a few things. In my responses below I have assumed a few things about you and your point of view. I have taken this liberty for the simple fact that you construed my comment from Crallspace very very very aggressively and made some very bold and unwarranted assumptions about my positions.
For example, I didn't say anything at all about my view on environmental regulation or the free market. I said just that I believe capitalism is responsible for the quality of life hundreds of millions of people enjoy in 2006 (especially as compared to even 100 years ago, much less 1000). But for some reason you construed my remarks as advocating the destruction of the planet. That's just not constructive. Which is fine. We don't both have to be constructive for me to articulate the points I want to articulate, thank goodness.
I also didn't say anything at all about the U.S. dollar in my comment. And yet you construed my remarks as supportive of policies destructive to the U.S. national currency. Again, that's not constructive or appropriate.
But since you brought up those topics, I am happy to discuss them.
First, with respect to the environment: I am very much against pollution that makes the planet uninhabitable. Actually, I'm sure I would agree that I am even aginst pollution that makes the planet less inhabitable than it is today.
Please provide evidence to support your claim that pollution resulting from capitalism will destroy the planet.
I submit to you that governmental regulations are infinitely more likely to lead to behaviors by businesspeople that will destroy the planet. And governmental regulations always have enormous unintended consequences (i.e., costs). Government can not properly evaluate the costs and benefits of policies because there is no market, there is no price clearing mechanism to government. This is a fatal flaw.
And if governments did not protect polluters, consumers would control the behavior of polluters by refusing to buy or by paying less for the goods produced by polluters.
The market works.
The government does not.
Secondly, with respect to the U.S. dollar: I am very much concerned about the fate of the U.S. dollar. I believe a stably valued U.S. dollar is necessary to a stably politicized world, so I consider the monetary inflation wrought by the federal government and the Federal Reserve to extremely dangerous (and I am against it). Also, all of my net worth is currently held in dollar-denominated assets, the value of the U.S. dollar is critically important to my personal financial well-being and to the future health, safety, and prosperity of my family.
But it is not capitalism that is jeopardizing the U.S. dollar. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
It is the federal government that is destroying the value of the dollar through monetary inflation and government debt, all of which is necessary to finance the totally out-of-control spendthrifts in Congress and the White House. And probably the federal bench too, though I am less aware of "spending" through judicial decision, perhaps it's less visible.
If you are concerned about the dollar, don't fight the capitalists. Capitalist ingenuity is the principal support for the value of the dollar. If capitalists in America weren't actively producing goods and services that the rest of the world wanted, we would already be toast.
How can you be against capitalism in the 21st century? Communism and socialism have been utterly and completely destroyed by both economic logic and historical experience. Those systems do not produce peace and prosperity. Those systems produce desperation and despair. I am not making this up.
Your thoughts?
Chris - you have caught Paris Hilton disease, it seems. (I'm referencing some story I think I saw in some internet news story where Paris Hilton was apparently not aware of the meaning of the term "money shot" when that girl is all about the "money shot".)
Or perhaps I should've used quotations!
(No, seriously - that was a funny comment. Your best yet! I actually laughed out loud and spilled a bit of my drink on my pants.)
Cheers 2!!
i like krause
he is a crazy fuck
i like environmental destruction and the sins of greed and excess
keep up the good work garrett
exploit the natural resources and rape the land
thats what it is there for
to generate wealth for you
mine
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I do not know what to give for Christmas of the to friends, advise something ....
Hello. Good day
Who listens to what music?
I Love songs Justin Timberlake and Paris Hilton
who doesnt love timberlake
he is bringing sexy back
I love that you call this car the "Golden Beauty."
I shall now venture forth in search of a man who has a penis deserving of such a name!
Thank you Garrett for this inspiration!
Peace be with you!
I love exclamation points!
HELLO!
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