2000 Ford Excursion Limited 4X4 V10

2000 Ford Excursion Limited 4X4 V10

My random selector has given me two Ford trucks in a row.  These Excursions are bound to start popping up as I've certainly owned enough of them, but this one was the first.  I had ordered a new Suburban in 2000 when they came out with the updated bodystyle and I kept it for exactly one year to the day.  I decided I wanted another BIG SUV, and I wasn't kidding.  There was nothing bigger than the Ford Excursion and I had to have one.  After considering all the options I decided on a very specific truck.  I wanted a 4X4 Limited with the V10 and I wanted it in white (the white/tan combo matched my dog Romeo perfectly).

I finally found this one at a Ford dealership in Missouri.  Due to the fact that there weren't that many people that wanted to drive one of these monsters, they had become reasonably cheap.  I bought it and had it shipped to me in Houston and then immediately headed to my parents in Wichita Falls for Christmas the next day.

I absolutely loved this truck (clearly, since I kept buying them).  It was in great shape, had about everything you could want, and was actually a blast to drive. It was surprisingly comfortable to drive and ride in and you couldn't beat the utility uses.  The inside was cavernous.  

I used it to tow on occasion, and as you might imagine it did so effortlessly.  

Fortunately, this was never required.  I never had a single problem with the thing.  It ran great the entire time I owned it.  

The Excursion probably isn't for everyone.  I don't even think I would want to drive one everyday anymore.  It rides and drives fine, but does take some planning and effort in normal sized parking lots.  However, as a "utility vehicle" it has no equal.  The Suburbans of the period are probably better trucks, but the Excursion is bigger - substantially bigger - and just looks great!  I keep threatening Nel with getting another one.

2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson

2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson

I had owned a 2000 F150 HD - the first year they made one - and it was more stickers and flames on a pickup than anything else (still cool though).  In 2002 they took it up a notch.  It still had HD emblems everywhere and this one had actual flames, but they also added the supercharged motor from the Lighting and some other performance mods.  It was a legit muscle truck now.

You also had a choice between black (the only color they previously offered) and "Dark Shadow Gray".  Mine had almost 100K miles on it when I got it but still drove great.  It was low, loud, and menacing compared to other F150s.  

Inside they continued the Harley theme just about everywhere they could.  It had Embossed leather flames and badges on just about everything.  There were even custom gauges with machined faces.

I always thought this was cool.  The rear also had bucket seats with a similar console with flames.  I'm not even a Harley guy, but for some reason I loved all the touches.

Like my previous F150 HD, this one had a bed cover that locked.  I drove this truck a lot but I used it as my golf vehicle weekly.  

I'm a sucker for anything with flames, which is a big part of why I bought this in the first place.  I've seen some of these without the flames and I just don't get it. If you're going to go this route, just go all the way.

Was it cool?  Absolutely.  They made 12,505 of these and all of them are RWD. They have about 340 HP and are surprisingly comfortable and easy to drive. These will be very collectible one day and you can find low mileage examples out there.  If you're a big Harley guy, why wouldn't you want at least one of the F-Series HD vehicles?  Even if you're not, it's a cool, fun truck that you can use and should appreciate at some point.   

Ruining House Hunters For You

Ruining House Hunters For You

You probably already know everything I'm about to tell you, but if you love House Hunters and don't want to know how it really works, don't read on.

A few years ago Branelle and I were looking for a house in a different city.  I'm not going to say where because I don't want to rat out our agent who was great. During the process he asked us if we wanted to be on House Hunters.  We're both big fans of the show and watch it quite often (primarily because as Texans it makes us feel a lot better about ourselves to watch people in other places paying $750K for a rundown place the size of my closet).  We initially thought it sounded interesting...until the process was explained to us.  

First, we had to actually buy a home.  That's right, the home the people pick is already theirs.  You close on a home and then they send a crew out to film you "shopping" for the home you already own as well as two others.  The two other homes you look at don't even have to be for sale.  They could be friends homes, or anything really.  

We were told they would shoot over four or five days and it would probably take most of the day at each location.  That's because they keep filming your reactions until they get something they like.  Basically they script drama, or at least some kind of dilemma.  I have no idea what they would have "scripted" for us.  Maybe something like "HE wants a big backyard and a place for his thimble collection.  SHE wants a kitchen that faces west and to be within walking distance of an Ethiopian restaurant."  I assume they make everything up, so why not?

After hearing the process we immediately said "no thanks".  I have no interest on being on TV really (except for 'The Amazing Race' - call me Phil!!) and I certainly don't want to fake buy a house while being told how to fake react to everything.  They don't even pay you.  I think it was something like $500 for the entire show.  The only reason you'd do it I guess is if you just really wanted to be on the tube.  

All that being said, I still like the show, but as a sort of interactive game show really - "What would you pick?"  As 'reality TV' it's a joke, and I don't enjoy it as much now that I know how it works.  I find myself judging how believable the participants are more than caring about the homes.  I also find it insulting when they pretend to be torn over their "decision".  
     

      

Guest House Construction: Part 28

Guest House Construction: Part 28

Electric:

We had a great week.  I didn't think we would, but that's because everyone was predicting a monsoon.  The crews took advantage of the dry days and got a lot done, nothing more welcomed than the big electric transfer.  This had been discussed ad nauseum for months.  Everything was scheduled for Monday and I was told to plan for the worst.  The issue was that we had to coordinate between our electricians, Texas New Mexico Power (TNMP) who owns the lines and the meter, and our city which has to inspect the work before you can complete it.  I was told all sorts of things:  "You could be without power to your main house for up to three days."  You're going to have to cut down a bunch of trees."  "Your service provider will cut off your power until they come out and look at the work."

In the end, it was all done on Monday by about 3:00pm.  Everyone worked together extremely well.  Our electricians were great and TNMP sent three different crews out in a timely fashion to expedite the process.  Even the city inspector came within 30 minutes of being called.  We now have power from the underground main to our main house with a 400 amp meter.  All we have to do now is run the power from here to the guest house, but we do that ourselves and don't have to wait on anyone else.

 
To that end, our builder cut the driveway out for the conduit.  A crew should come out and run the underground conduit to the guest house this coming week and then.....BOOM - power! (Hopefully not a literal boom).  Our driveway was already pretty rough, but this made it impassable after about four inches of rain we got one night.  It's a mess!

Paint:

Also this week the painters came back.  They worked on the outside of the house and porch.  They spent the entire first day caulking.

They'd already painted most of the guest house (as well as our main house) but had to do the trim on this dormer.  

The majority of their time was spent on the new porch and patio extension.  At Branelle's request we painted the posts the same khaki color we used on the house.  I'm not sure about it.  It might look great, but I don't think we'll know until the patio is refinished.  Worst case it shouldn't take long to paint them white if we decide to go that route.

The painters also finished up the inside of the garage.  This is big because now the electricians can put the light fixtures in.  The painters are now basically done until we're just about finished, when they will come back to touch up everything.  

Water:

Another big step on the utilities front was getting the water line run.  It was a long run.  You have to dig the trench and then run the line and wait for an inspection before you cover it back up.  

It was all completed this week and we now have running water.  That opened the door for the plumbers to come in and get started.

Plumbing:

Saturday was an extremely busy day around here.  The plumbers, painters, and tile guys were all here all day long.  The plumbers had to fix a leak inside one of the walls, but the rest of the day was just installing fixtures and lines.

They didn't completely finish, but got most things hooked up.  We now have working faucets....

....and toilets!  Since the tile guys had gotten the floors down the toilets were able to be installed.

Tile:

The tile guys continue to make slow progress.  We had been having some trouble picking backsplash for the kitchen.  We'd tried some fancy tile options but nothing was getting a consensus.  I walked out to the guest house one night last week and my brother, sister-in-law, and mother were playing with pieces of the travertine that we used for the front porch.  I didn't really love it to be honest but I didn't have any better suggestions and we have a ton of the stuff left over.

I talked to the tile guys and they said they could cut it into brick pieces and try to use the darker tiles.  I decided it was better than having to go back to the tile store so I let them get to it.  I actually think it looks good.

They also finally finished up the flooring by installing the master bath tile.

The row-a-day shower was also finished up.  They still need to grout everything, but it's coming along.

Misc:

From time to time I become an errand boy.  I usually do everything ASAP because I don't want to hold up progress.  My builder said "we need toilets", so rather than wait for someone else and risk not having them when the plumber shows up we just ran out and bought them.

We had purchased appliances quite some time ago but hadn't had them delivered because we weren't ready for them.  When the plumber showed up on Saturday Nel and I ran out and picked everything up so they could install them. Other than the garbage disposal nothing actually got put in, but they're at the house and ready now.

Branelle and Samantha had started a project to repaint her little playhouse. The progress had been slow going to this point if I'm being honest.  When the painters were working on the patio, I asked them if they could give the whole thing a nice coat of primer inside and out.  They kindly obliged and in five minutes the thing is ready for a finish coat.  Pink and blue to come.

1997 Cadillac Catera

1997 Cadillac Catera

Kind of a boring one tonight.  I've owned two Catera's (for some reason).  I've already blogged about the other one but this was the first one I had.  I'll admit that I had been somewhat interested in these and had looked at them for a while.  It was only a few years old when I had it but even then it didn't cost much as the Catera was not a particularly loved vehicle and didn't hold its value.  

My dad had been claiming that he wanted to swap out his 740iL (which he had gotten from me) for a smaller car to drive around Wichita Falls in and I thought the Catera might fit the bill.  I was at an auction on the day that my folks were coming in for a visit and I saw this so I grabbed it.  It had extremely low miles and was in nearly new condition but when I went to pick it up it shook so bad that I thought it had some serious issues.  As is the case many times, one new tire fixed the problem and it drove great after that.

Here are the folks humoring me by pretending to look at the engine.  They actually liked the car and considered taking it home instead of their BMW, but in the end the Beemer won out.  It hung around for a few months and then went on ebay.  A couple from North Houston bought it.

It's hard not to call the Catera a failure for Cadillac.  I covered the Catera in the aforementioned blog about my other one so I won't repeat here.  Suffice to say that there really isn't any reason why you should want one or consider one today.  Even if you found a clean one for a few thousand dollars, you can do better.  

1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II

1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II

Certainly one of the more interesting cars I've had, this 1980 Rolls was in outstanding condition.  It was silver with Oxblood (red) interior that I found to be a striking combination.  I saw the car at an auction and no one seemed to be interested...except me.  I couldn't resist and I got it for what I thought was a steal.

Whoever owned it prior to my purchase had clearly put a great deal of effort, and probably $$$, into restoring it to its original splendor.  The paint and body were basically flawless.  The interior looked fantastic as well, but the recently dyed leather always felt a bit tacky to me.  It would come off if you were wearing certain materials.  I learned quickly what would and would not work.

These cars were hand-built in England, and the craftsmanship on items such as the wood and headliner is really fascinating.  I had to remove the dash wood once to check some wiring and was surprised to find that the wood panel had been signed on the back by the individual who carved it along with a little note.

  
This particular model is what I think of when picturing the classic Rolls Royce. The Silver Shadow II was made from 1978 to 1980 and by Rolls standards was rather plentiful.

I drove this car sparingly while I had it.  It was fun to take out to dinner or around town, but I never hit the freeways in it.  It drove like a large boat - smooth but floaty.  Everything worked perfectly.  

All in all, I loved this car.  I never really trusted it though, and I was always paranoid about it overheating.  The big V8 was strong, but the car weighed 6,000 pounds so it was cumbersome and clumsy.  If you weren't in a hurry it was a joy to drive.

I've owned a couple of Rolls Royce's since, one newer and one older, and I can tell you that they didn't really change much for decades.  The interiors are especially similar.  

When I did decide to sell the car, it was pretty easy.  A doctor from dallas bought it.  She flew in and drove it home.  This was a rare case of me actually selling a car for more than I paid for it, but that was entirely due to how well it was bought.

Thinking of getting one today?  I would cautiously say "why not".  Old Rolls Royce's are shockingly cheap, but the uniqueness and complexity of the mechanicals makes them extremely expensive should something go wrong.  Parts are brutal as well, and can be difficult to find.  I would never recommend one of these things as daily transportation, but as a fun hobby vehicle to take out and enjoy it's a great option....if you have deep pockets.  I didn't really have to do anything to this one, but my other ventures into British motoring hierarchy have resulted in some staggering repair costs.    

Guest House Construction: Part 27

Guest House Construction: Part 27

The granite guys showed up last week.  They had measured the week before and after we went out and picked our slabs (again) they got them all cut and ready off-site.

They did all of the decking as well - I'm guessing since our trim guy never showed up to do it.  The granite guys were in and out in a day.  

Decking and setting the granite took them no time at all, but they have to cut out and polish all of the sinks and then set them.  That took them some time.

I think they did a great job.  They added some nice touches here and there and I'm happy with how it turned out.  

The tile guys continued to work all week.  I thought they'd finish, but they didn't even get all that close really.  The number of guys that showed up daily dropped, and I'm guessing we didn't get the "A-Team" all week.  Still, they're making progress.

They seem to spend a lot of time on the master shower.  It doesn't seem all that complicated to me, but what do I know?  It's coming along....slowly.

The floor looks good and it's close to being finished.  They still need to do the master bathroom and grout everything.  

They got some tile down on the garage bathroom.  Yes, it's supposed to look like that.  I have a plan.

They asked me to start looking at backsplash, which means you get to go to the tile store and do this a lot.  

Brought some things home to try, but I don't know.  This isn't my favorite thing to do if I'm being honest.  

One thing the tile guys did finish up was the patio.  I had them use all that extra travertine we picked up and they did a great job with it.  

It matches the travertine we used around the pool....almost.  They actually did a better job around the transitions than I was expecting.  It ties in to the steps perfectly.  

Occasionally guys will ask me if I can get them something.  In this case it was thinset.  It looks like I've decided to become a drug mule.

Electric will get done this coming week, but I'm not sure what else.  The weather is threatening to become a factor as we get into hurricane season around here.