Does anyone want to buy a Citroën SM that has sat untouched in an aircraft hanger for ten years? The car ran great a decade ago, but I suspect that it will take quite an effort to get it running again. I'm sure the fuel lines and gas tank are gummed up and will need to be removed and cleaned. I've done this once before and it's not an easy job. All five suspension spheres will need to be replaced. The car will certainly need a new heavy duty battery and probably new tires as well. Hopefully, no corrosion has taken place in the engine itself. I loved this car when I bought it in 1972, but in recent years it has become an albatross around my neck. The mechanics who used to keep the car running smoothly have all retired or moved on. My favorite mechanic is now a DJ on a local jazz radio station. Parts are next to impossible to find these days. Even ten years ago I was scared to drive the SM around town because I knew that there were no more new body parts available worldwide. If I had unlimited resources, I would ship the car off to SM World in California and have it completely restored. Unfortunately, I haven't had unlimited resources in a long, long time. Even though the car is highly collectible and Jay Leno has one, it's time to sell the thing.
I've had a lot of cars over the years and the complexities of keeping old cars running are one of the main reasons I switched to collecting watches instead. Watches are little and you can keep them in a drawer. I enjoyed watches for a while until they began to fall apart just like my cars. A good watch needs a watchmaker just as much as a car needs a mechanic. Watch repair is expensive and time consuming. In the long run, I don't think I will be any better off with watches than I was with cars. They all break eventually. I think Janet will have the last laugh at my obsession with collecting stuff. She has no interest in collecting things and prefers travel instead. Travel is all about collecting memories and in my experience, memories tend to get better over time. Eventually, the memory is better than the actual experience was. She'll have great memories, while I preside over a kingdom of rust.
To keep my body from turning to rust, I went back to the gym again today. Another week of regular workouts and I'll be back to where I was before the ice storm. I don't enjoy exercising that much, but I do enjoy seeing progress. Hey, I finally got the large printer working again. That's progress. The city hauled away most of my downed tree limbs this morning. That's progress too. Surprisingly, something seems to happen almost each and every day. There's always some sort of progress. Who knows, maybe one of these days I'll sell the Citroën SM too.
Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day |
Watch of the Day |
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