Thursday, June 30, 2011

Another One Bites the Rust

Now I do love me some Rusty Jones, our rust-busting more or less out-of-copyright mascot, even when, especially when, he operates in stealth, as he did today. I went out for an appointment and a round of errands with my mom, and when we got back, POOF!! another car was gone. Oh, Rusty. You can steal my rusty cars anytime. You've already stolen my heart.

This time it was yet another newish black Saab 900; it's tempting to imagine that we're stuck in some kind of chronic hysteresis (no, that's not a gynaecological problem), but, no, these have all been entirely separate newish black Saab 900s. Honest.

Anyway this third one was a little different, in that it was a convertible, with a lovely black cloth top. Well, all right, it might have been lovely once upon a time, perhaps a previous life in which it had egregiously misbehaved, so as to come back looking like this:



Let's get a close-up of that back quarter, shall we?



And that's after Tara scraped most of the lichens off it.

Anyway there it goes up on the ramp truck, hurrah!! and GOODBYE!!!



(Saab pictures by Tara, by the way.)

Now I didn't really get a before for this one, as inexplicably I never got a before of the little fenced-in area for the Saabs (the 'Saab Corral?' Yee-haw! or whatever that translates to in Swedish). But not too long ago there were six Saabs in there. We are down to one left inside it, though two of the Saabs that were in there have just been moved to easier-to-get-to locations in preparation for also leaving the property. Still, that's three that were in there that are now gone.

Here's the closest picture I could find for a before, from last month:



See that bit of headlight just peeking 'round the fence? That's this car. So, the after isn't all that impressive from that angle, but here it is anyway:



You can see that that red one, also a convertible, has been moved. That blue one, named Caroline after the color ('Caroline Blue,' apparently) is now the only one left in there. And hopefully then that means that stockade fence will also come down soon, and the whole thing can start to get mowed and added to the yard.

Here is a better shot of what it looks like in there now, though it's a beforeless after:



You can see the two empty spaces where it and the red one came from. (And my shadow as I take the picture. You see that lush-looking fairytale tree in the back, with the deep green leaves? That's all poison ivy, oh joy.)

So, that brings our dear old Rusty's total to nine cars down with seventeen to go. Though, looking at the cars the other day I think I may have actually miscounted by a couple when I first made the list. It is hard to tell; some of the 'cars' here are really more like half-cars, and what do they count as? So, dammit, I may eventually have to add to that total, which is a little discouraging, though nothing's really changed. Still, so far we have gotten nine junk cars out of here in something like a year, along of course with all the other clean-up and removal of scrap iron, rotten lumber, other junk, &c. So that's all good.

***

And now, because we've got 'em, kitten pictures!

This is Aleister Meowley again. My, look how he's grown!



And now here's the funny thing. Remember when I said that Splotch the cat was not the brightest bulb, and could apparently only count to one when she in fact had had three kittens? Well it turns out she can count better than I can, as she actually had four:



Clockwise from lower left they are: Austin, Healey, Morris Minor, and Spridget. I take no credit (nor blame) for the names; they were Tara's idea.

6 comments:

Tara said...

A little background on this car.. Bought it in the autumn of 2003 for $300, it was missing a gear in the transmission (it was automatic, but it like only had two gears). I drove it for about a year that way, until the transmission finally croaked.

It sat and sat, and rust set in.

Today it sold for $300 in junk value, though they were kinda miffed that I pilfered the catalytic converter off it (that's about $75 right there), and grabbed the alloy wheels off it (each worth $15 each), and easily replaced by some worthless steel wheels (which weren't even off the same kind of car- one bolt held each wheel on!

But hey, this is the same junkyard who we used to bring cars to, and they never told us to weigh them and get paid. They just took them, and later on we realized that we should've gotten some sort of money for them.

Still, it's gone, and it made a profit (factoring cat., wheels, minus title cost back in 2003..)!!

Thalia said...

Know what I think? I think Morris Minor tried to get a tan on his face while wearing his Ray-Bans.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

It must give you joy every day to look out the window and see your increasingly car-less yard. More so if you catch a glimpse of those adorable kittens . . . . Oh no! Don't become cat ladies now and fill your yard with innumerable cats with car names!

Thalia said...

Debra, I have long since come to terms with the fact that my inescapable destiny is that of Crazy Cat Lady.

:)

Misty said...

sooooooooooooo cuties!!!
I love how they all have a similar splotch on their faces between the eyes... My fiance calls me a crazy cat lady and I tell him to stop bringing home cute stray kittens then!!! LOL! :D

Delphi said...

A picture of all of them, together sitting still.

Miracle of cuteness.