My wonderful wife and I watched virtually every episode of American Pickers on the History Channel from its premiere in 2010 until we moved to Arizona in 2020. The show, featuring Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, was about the duo traveling around the country finding “rare” items to buy and, at the same time, giving us knowledge about those items.
I am under no illusion that the interactions on the show were spontaneous. I am 99% sure that the deals were made beforehand.
The show was created by Wolfe with Fritz as his sidekick. In July, 2021 it was announced that Fritz had left the show. Apparently, it was not his decision to leave.
About a year later, Fritz suffered a debilitating stroke. He died, at the age of 60, on Monday, September 30th.
My wonderful wife and I did not find the show anywhere near as enjoyable without Fritz. He was replaced by Mike Wolfe’s brother, Robbie, whom we both found to be without charisma. Occasionally, Wolfe would be accompanied by “Jersey Jon,” whom neither of us liked, either.
A new season of American Pickers is supposed to debut next week, I believe. I suspect it will be the last season for the show, ratings have declined, but crazier things have happened. I imagine a tribute to Fritz is being prepared for broadcast.
I will refrain from quoting John Donne again, but the message remains. Father Time and The Grim Reaper are undefeated.
Mike Wolfe is on the left and the now late Frank Fritz is on the right. Goodbye, Frank Fritz.
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So, how did my first Everyday Driver “Board Meeting” go? Not without a snafu…the time stuck in my head for the beginning of the Zoom call was actually a half hour before it was scheduled. When I hadn’t received a link to the call by five minutes after I thought it was supposed to start, I checked the email again and saw my error.
I did not receive the link, though, until one or two minutes after the actual scheduled time. As I have not worked in an office in 12 years, this was the first time I had ever been on a Zoom call. I had no idea how to un-mute myself, activate my camera or how to send text messages to the group. I also could not see all of the participants, only the one person who was talking at any given time, usually Todd Deeken or Paul Schmucker.
To be totally honest, I felt like a fish out of water. It was obvious that the non-host participants on the call had been on many previous calls and had traveled to Everyday Driver events around the country and even out of the US.
It is also obvious that the focus of effort is as much, or more, on these events–which consist largely of getting together to drive on various racetracks–as it is on producing content for broadcast. As a person in his mid-60s who has never driven a car on a race track before, such events hold no interest for me.
As with every pursuit I have ever had, cars are as much or more of an academic subject to me than an experiential one. (Remember, for me learning is the best entertainment.) Also and again, I have zero interest in electric vehicles, SUVs and pickup trucks. ZERO…
Will I sit in on another call? Probably at least one more and I will get my wonderful wife to show me how to participate if I want to. However, after that all bets are off including the continuation of my Patreon membership.
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My wonderful wife and I each received our seventh COVID vaccination yesterday. Unlike the last one, exactly one year ago, the only side effect I have this morning is a little pain in and around the injection site. Last year, I had a fever and body aches the day after.
It is hard to believe it has been three and a half years since our first vaccination. We had to drive to State Farm Stadium where it was analogous to an assembly line as the number of people wanting vaccines was many thousands.
Only 22 percent of American adults received the last round of COVID shots and it is expected that this iteration will not be widely administered, either. I don’t fear the virus, with all of my vaccinations and with de facto herd resistance (I will refrain from calling it “immunity”) it is highly unlikely it will kill me if I become infected, but just like I get a flu shot every year, in my opinion receiving these shots is prudent.
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How much is mileage or lack thereof worth when buying a used car? From this post comes the following chart about the relationship between mileage and used car prices as published in, of all places, Random Acts Of Medicine.
Note the discontinuity in prices at the “milestone” mileage numbers every 10,000 miles. The implication is that instead of looking at cars with under 30,000 miles, for example, it might be a better idea to look at cars with just over 30,000.
This conclusion has a real-life example relevant to me. Currently on CarMax (remember that it is extremely unlikely I will ever again buy a used car from a traditional dealer) two Supras in the spec and color(s) I want are available. One has about 27,000 miles and is priced at $49,000. The other has about 33,000 miles and is priced at $47,000. The shipping cost to the closest CarMax is the same for both cars.
Is 6,000 fewer miles worth $2,000? I had not considered buying a Supra with more than 30,000 miles, but is 33,000 really that different from 29,000 or 27,000? CarMax makes a concerted effort not to sell cars with prior accidents or with any other serious known issues.
I would very much like to read your opinions. Remember that I don’t really need to test drive these cars as 1) I have already test driven a Supra twice and 2) I can return a car to CarMax for any reason and receive a refund within ten days of purchase. Oh, CarMax also provides a 90-day/4,000-mile limited warranty on all vehicles and does have service facilities.
Again, this purchase will have to wait until next March barring an unexpected financial windfall. Winning $21 in yesterday’s Powerball drawing does not qualify.
I can’t show you a photo of either of the two cars (the file format is not supported by WordPress), but will show a reasonable facsimile.
Again, I would very much like to read your views on this matter. Thanks.
#GoodbyeFrankFritz
#UsedCarMileage
#ToyotaSupra