Like with everything else in life... all good things must come to an end, and this is the beginning of the end of this love story.
LC and I have had several good times since it came into my life, and every day is a new experience, which brings with it new challenges, a lot of people ask me what possessed me to sell a car I owned from new and go for my beloved,
The thing is, driving my previous car (Suzuki Jimny M13A) was great, but it was a drive, driving the Landcruiser is not a drive, it's an event. Every day, every time I use the car, before getting in i walk around it for an inspection, do some tire kicking, acting like I know what I'm doing, and then I get in, turn the key to half turn, inspect the meters, all systems check, then select a track worthy of listening to during the drive, the sound of the engine starting, the puff of smoke from the exhaust, constantly looking at the meters, seeing what they're saying to me, the warm up, the drive itself etc, everything is such an event, it requires thought, careful consideration, making mental notes of each thought as it passes through my head, whereas the other cars I have owned (other than the classics) have always been jump in, drive, jump out... it's difficult to explain.
On the weekends, after the oil check, water check battery check, air pressure check and generally making out with the car when no one's looking, I often take step back and take a long hard look at it, and I think to myself... are you the one? Are you the jeep for me? LC looks back at me, and says, yes I think I am...
As a new update, last weekend as I was gazing lovingly into my car's headlights, i randomly remembered the good old days of school/college and all the skanks who looked like dogs during the day... and in the evening at parties etc would appear as beauties thanks to a bit of cosmetic enhancement.
I looked at LC and thought, you're already gorgeous, so would probably just look downright awesome with a bit of cosmetics. The car just blushed a little but didn't say anything...
That was it, being an obsessive, I pulled out a felt pen and paper and sketched the car a few times. Then I sketched out options of subtly modified grills. LC's grill was a dark greyish colour, by now I had painted the side mirror covers black and there was plenty of subtle black trim here and there which really stood out so I decided to go for black instead.
after a number of sketches I started visiting steelwork shops to find a craftsman who could make my sketch into a reality.
The design was simple, however I found most craftsman were even simpler as it eluded their comprehension. Then I also had to deal with a raft of silly questions, paa ji kyu bana na hai, kidu leyaana hai, tussi ki kam karde ho, and the questions went all the way to asking what I had for breakfast, why the country is in it's present state, and how cable TV is an attack mechanism by secret agents who aim to destabilize our country.
After a few auditions and lots of prefab standardised answers such as I am a drug dealer by profession, I skip breakfast, I live in a cave under Safari Park in a top secret facility etc etc etc, I finally found a welder who seemed to know what I wanted.
It is interesting to note that these guys have no concept of space or time, if I told the guy I would meet him at 1800 to see the progress, the first question he would ask would be konsaa chey bajay puranaa waala ya nayaa waala!
I'd be like dude, shaam waala not subah waala, and then he would laugh and laugh till all his chaaliya niswaar paan parag cocktail came flying out...
this guy was never there at an agreed time, I visited his place around 4 to 5 times during the fabrication process and not once was he there without me having to call him, hurl a volley of colourful words at him and then he would finally come.
I must say, the end product looked pretty good when I saw it, he had done a pretty decent job, when I called him to a side after everything was loaded up in my car to pay him, I discovered not only did this joker not have a concept of time but also had no concept of giving ones word to an agreed price for the job.
Such a smart ass, wanted an extra grand for the job, I was like dost, tum ne chai mey kyaa milaa ke piyaa thaa, tumhaara dimaagh kharab ho chukaa hai,
I did end up giving him an extra 200 bucks just to keep him greased up, this is one of those situations I mentioned earlier, getting knowingly ripped off, I have another improvement in mind for which I'll need to get this guy's help, and when I get that made I'll get my own back when it comes time to settle, it might be in a months time, might be in 3 months time but it will happen.
The next couple of days were spent getting the thing painted matte black, had it fitted and I think it's just the icing on the cake, hope you guys agree:
