Posted in Before the Drive, Car Stuff on Aug 21st, 2007
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Blue overalls
with embroidery
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The saga of the off-road lights reads like a bad soap opera.
Why is it that all car projects take much, much longer than expected? And why do I start all essays on car projects with the same line or a facsimile thereof? This has been a common theme of all our car work and this PIAA light install has been no different. They looked so sweet and harmless sitting in their packages with the cellophane windows […]
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Posted in Before the Drive, Lifestyle on Aug 15th, 2007
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A favourite pass-time.
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My favorite passtime – Why I liked “Sacred Games”
I come from a family of readers. From my grandparents to my parents, we all like nothing better than sitting with a good book. Recently some really good ones came my way. “Sacred Games” by Vikram Chandra. “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” by Mohsin Hamid. The brilliant Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe.
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Posted in Before the Drive, Technology on Aug 11th, 2007
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Man in a
Yellow Jacket
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The Canon EOS 20D is an able machine – do we dare use it?
Our main camera body is the Canon 20D that we purchased in August 2005 in preparation for the Peru trip. We dragged it all over Peru on several backpacking trips and it has proved to be pretty rugged with its magnesium and leather case […]
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Posted in Before the Drive, Lifestyle on Aug 8th, 2007
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Contemplative.
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Thoughts on “the other”
When Jean Paul Sartre tells us our freedom in “monstrous”, we immediately run into problems: namely, with six billion of us running around, each and every one with his own “monstrous” freedom, eventually my freedom is going to collide head-on with someone else’s freedom. Sartre spent a lot of time on this issue and the problem of the other, eloquently expounded in his play “No Exit” which contains the line that is the title of this post – “Hell is other people”.
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Posted in Before the Drive, Lifestyle on Aug 4th, 2007
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Money, its a gas!
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“Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash. New car, caviar, four star daydream, Think Ill buy me a football team.”
When discussing this drive I am frequently asked “How do you manage to take fifteen months off?” or “How can you afford this?”, for it is plainly obvious that we are quite middle class. We don’t have massive family wealth, we haven’t hit it big in the .com lottery, and we’re not high level executives. So there is the secret in plain view – almost anyone can afford a trip like this as long as they have the will and the confidence.
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