My sad car story

Last month, I found a super deal on craigslist on an almost-new 2024 Honda Accord. The seller said he was going through a divorce. After a test drive, I bought it. I went to AAA the next day to do owner transfer. They said the title I had was not legit and they suggested that the car might be stolen, and I should talk to the police!

I used an online site that checks to see if a VIN is reported stolen; it said this VIN was clean. Because of that and because we were leaving for 8 days early the next day, I decided to wait.

When we returned from travel, the online VIN check still said clean. I found a DMV form which I could print, mail with $10, and find the car's "Current Record" and "Ownership History". On Sept. 23, I did that, and I didn't drive the car, waiting to hear back from DMV.

As of this Tuesday, DMV still had not cashed my check. Late yesterday afternoon, the putative owner showed up at my house! He says he has a tracker on the car. He has a key that makes the car (in my garage) beep. He has the permanent plates for the car. (He opened the plate package as I watched.) VIN on the paperwork matches.

We agreed to call the police. After about an hour, they showed up. After another hour of talking to us and checking with DMV and LAPD, they agreed that this guy was the true owner, and they had me turn the car over to him. When examining my driver's license, they noted that it was my birthday. At the end, they apologized for this happening on my birthday.

They will report all this, listing me as the victim of "theft by trickery". They think they might have enough information to track down the thief, but I'm doubtful.

I'm back to my old car, and out all the money I paid for the newer one.

Oregon — Sept/Oct 2024

At Crater Lake

Link to more photos. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.

I toured Oregon in 2013 and enjoyed it. This tour was similar but shorter, and I thought Victor would like it. I was worried about rain, but we were in the rain for all of five minutes during the entire week.

After our flight to Portland, we stayed at a lodge overlooking the Columbia River. We left in the morning for Mount Hood and lunch at Timberline Lodge. 

After a night in Bend, we journeyed to Crater Lake National Park. We arrived for lunch, and stayed at Crater Lake Lodge. We had a great view of the lake from our hotel room. (See the photos.) We were there for both sunset and sunrise.

We next stayed two nights in Eugene. We rode dune buggies at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, had lunch in Florence, and stopped at a Willamette Valley vineyard.

Returning to Portland, we had a bit of rain as we boarded for a lunch cruise on the Willamette River, followed by a stop at the International Rose Test Garden. There were still some roses in bloom.

New England — Sept. 2024

There are three photo albums. First, an album of overall trip photos (view the photos individually to see the captions). Second, an album of fall foliage. (There was plenty of color, but not entire landscapes.) And third, a specialized album relating to one museum (see below).

We took a tour that visited all six New England states. The weather stayed mild and, contrary to early forecasts, almost entirely rain-free. Our tour guide, from Rhode Island, had a marked accent. When she spoke of "potty boats," I had to laugh.

The first day, we quickly toured Boston, including stops at Old North Church and Faneuil Hall. We visited Lexington, and Plymouth, where we stopped at Plymouth Rock, Mayflower II, and the Monument to the Forefathers. The next two nights were at Hyannis on Cape Cod. After a stop at the JFK Memorial, we ferried to Martha’s Vineyard.

In Newport, RI, we cruised by many mansions, and toured one, the Vanderbilts' Breakers. In Connecticut, we went to the Mystic Seaport Museum. The next day, in the Massachusetts Berkshires, we stopped at the Norman Rockwell Museum. I do remember and appreciate Rockwell's work, but I was surprised and delighted by their current special exhibit: The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine. My third photo album for this trip is about that exhibit. Yes, it includes some Norman Rockwell, too. After that, a quick stop at the Bennington Battle Monument in Vermont.

The next day began at the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, Vermont and continued to Montpelier. Our final full day was in Maine: Portland, Kennebunkport, and Ogunquit, including a lobster dinner. (I had an almost identical lobster dinner in Maine in 2015. See the photo.)

I hate time jumps

Other than science fiction, I don't read many novels. But it seems to me that more and more novels do a lot of time jumps, both backward and forward. I just find it confusing. If I like the story, I just want the straight-forward story, damn it. I guess I'm in the minority, but I hate time jumps.

London and Paris — June 2024

 

In the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

Link to more photos. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.

We took this short trip to London and Paris. The only time I had visited was in 1975, and Victor had never been. The temperatures were mild, but there was a bit of rain in both cities.

In London, we stayed at a hotel right by Marble Arch, but it was completely covered, undergoing restoration (click to enlarge):

Our first full day we had Tootbus tickets, but with three routes, only connecting at certain points, it took time to figure out what to do. My main goal was the British Museum, my favorite museum from my 1975 trip. I decided we could also go to the changing of the horse guards (much much less crowded than the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace) and Harry Potter's Platform 9 3⁄4 (click here for the 3-minute video clip) at King's Cross railway station. We did those, and also took photos of many other sites when the bus stopped. The museum, along with most other places, had many more visitors than I remembered from 1975, and, of course, all the previously unheard of, but now ubiquitous, annoying and time-consuming security checks.

The next day, we had a bus tour of Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford and the Cotswolds. The following day was open; because of my interest in Alan Turing and computers, we went to Bletchley Park, which I had not seen before.

We then took the train to Paris, via the Chunnel. Our first full day in Paris was open. Because I had visited the Louvre and the Rodin Museum in 1975, and because one of its current exhibitions was "Comics, 1964 – 2024," we went to the Pompidou Centre. It was a bit exhausting, and the comics exhibition had little I hadn't seen or read before, but there was still plenty to enjoy.

Our last two days were busy: a cruise on the Seine, a visit to the third level of the Eiffel Tower, and a Paris City bus tour on one day, and a trip to the palace and gardens of Versailles the next. I had not been to Versailles before.

Pismo Beach — April/May 2024

 

We took this short trip to Pismo Beach and nearby sites. Happily, the weather was mild and it didn't rain. The trip began with a ride to San Luis Obispo aboard Amtrak's Coast Starlight train.

Here's the view from our Pismo Beach hotel room:

More photos:

 - The trip as a whole

 - Sculptures at Sculpterra

 - Frank Lloyd Wright building in San Luis Obispo

In Paso Robles the next day, we visited an olive farm and Sculpterra winery and sculpture garden. (Photo album of the sculptures)

The following day we were at a Clydesdale horse ranch, including lunch in a barn with several of the horses. After lunch, we went on a short Morro Bay cruise. In the evening, we returned to the weekly evening downtown farmers' market in San Luis Obispo that we had visited in December. This time, I made a point of stopping at the doctor's office designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (Photo album of this building)

We stopped at a luffa farm on the way home.

Autographs — John Scalzi

 

Today at the LATimes Festival of Books.

Click here for two photos from the event:

- John Scalzi and panel

- Barbara McQuaid

(Index to autographs) 

 

Autographs — Justin Torres

Justin Torres spoke at Occidental this evening. I haven't read the book yet, but given the subject matter and the appearance of many of the pages (see below), I'm surprised and impressed that it won the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction. 

(Index to autographs) 

Mérida — Jan/Feb 2024

Victor with his mother

Queso Relleno Yucateco made by Victor's sister

We go to Mérida so often that I don't usually blog about it, but here are a few photos from our recent visit.

One of the highlights was Parque De La Plancha, opened in November 2023, built at a what used to be a railway station. Over fifty acres, it includes covered walkways, bicycle paths, a large amphitheater, an auditorium, a wading pool, a lake, an outdoor gym, a multipurpose sports field, a large food court, the Railway Museum, children's play areas, a skating rink. Click here for a photo album.

A few photos in Progreso:

And two more photos:

In one store in downtown Mérida 

At a Miró exhibit in downtown Mérida

Fortune

Very young Rodney

I've been meaning to write about this for a very long time. The final impetus was Fiona Hill's There Is Nothing For You Here. In particular, her descriptions of what Thatcherism and Reaganism wrought. 

In short: I think the long-lived idea that your children will live better than you did is dead. I am part of the luckiest demographic, and now things are getting worse.

Sure, old-timers often complain the current generation is going to hell, but that's not what I'm talking about. 

I think it's the world, not the people, that's going to hell. There are many serious issues that were not a concern when I was growing up. Global issues such as climate change, overpopulation, energy crises, plus U.S. economic issues such as drastic inequality, housing costs, cost of living,  lifelong student debt.

For a white middle class kid, growing up in the 1950s and 1960s was the best. World wars and polio were behind us. The biggest life-threatening external event for a boy born in 1950 would be the Vietnam War, and I dodged that with a sufficiently high draft lottery number. 

In addition to my lucky demographic, I had a fortunate personal upbringing. A classic idyllic childhood. An intact family, a stay-at-home mom, a perfectly normal education, the usual family vacations and childhood activities such as scouting. As a first child, my parents gave me more opportunities than even my brothers, such as music lessons, symphony subscriptions, and summer camp.