Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!

[Grizz1963]

Had to collect two parcels from the post Office Depot yesterday.

One was from Australia.

Thank you very much RBlote.

They are hugely cool and will go well with my collection.

He entry pass will of course get hung in the garage too.







Over at Katy's for the rest of the weekend.

She does not do bootfairs, bit of a snob........

But yesterday afternoon we went to a bootfair about 5 miles from her place.

Not massive, and no traders, which is a good thing.

Loads of random stuff, mostly older people selling stuff they paid too much for 20 years ago when it was in vogue.

First item, not photographed is a large, read efficient, hairdryer for £3.00 to replace the one that she had at my place for her visits, as the old one blew up. Happy with that.
Katy got a paperback for 50p for her holiday in Greece.
And she got a pack of thermal socks for her brother.

Found this sign in French, which I do not read, for £1.00 but perfect for a random wall on the shed.

£1.00 bargain in my world, ally backed as well and great condition.



Same lady had this plate..... for £2.00

Why?? I hear you ask.

Dennis' partner Debbie collects Christmas stuff amongst others, and this is outside of her remit, but last year I found her a very collectible side plate that I posted out, badly wrapped and it got broken, so his one is to "replace" that one, it is of Sandringham which to her, as a Royal watcher, may have some value.
Just need to pack it more securely before I post it out this time.



Another ornament, this time for Katy at cost of £1.00
She has three that I bought before for £5.00 and has them hanging around her house.
Happy girl.



Lastly, at 50p a piggy getting sick the morning after.

This is for her younger daughter, who like many youngsters, has not realised that alcohol will always win if you over do it.

Katy always makes her a little parcel of stuff when she heads back to Uni, so this will be included.

I doubt that she will get the message, but worth the laugh.



No bootfairs today though.

Off to take little princess to lunch.

[Grizz1963]

My good friend CraigRK is in the USA at the moment.

He already has these two cars with another truck headed out here.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...an-inspiration

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...0-pickup-donor

San Francisco to be precise, for work.

Sadly, he is experiencing all the pleasures of being a guest in that great country.

He has been sharing photos and observations.

This one yesterday made me smile. Just how mad has the world become??

At least I never saw any of this sort of madness when I traveled mid-America.



Sadly, he is stuck in San Francisco over the weekend and only has a Credit cards, SatNav and a Harley.

My heart bleeds for the man........

Maybe he will find another truck to buy while riding out.





And in my own life, a small change of fortune........

After a couple of years of my employers not getting it right, it seems they screwed up my taxes again, but this time in my favour.

So what to do with the windfall... we'll, it was my money in the first place.

Addit to Prozac and buy a truck, or just leave it to earn zero percent interest.




Almost the weekend.

Going to look if I can find a small treasure that I was informed about yesterday...... thanks to MercDan.

[ibrown50]

Add it to Prozac and buy a truck

[Grizz1963]

Guessssss......

Who just had his first English pint of beer ??



Michael and Trish over from Spokane, Washington.



For those interested in Michaels interesting and at times challenging build: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=487100


Welcome to Mud Island.


Dinner to follow.


Great to have you here. It is great to meet up here in the U.K. After meeting up twice before in the USA at Clems charity events.

[Grizz1963]

Tuesday night we wanted to go out for a steak, last meal together, in the end we changed our minds and went with a Chinese Buffet.

Turned out to be a good choice for us.





Back home after dinner, a,last beer, and of course Harley making herself comfortable on McMurphy.

Both cats were extremely taken with him and Trish, alwaysna great sign.



This morning it was up before 06.00 as the visitors were off on the next leg of their European tour....

Taking the Eurostar train through the Chanel tunnel to Amsterdam and onward from there.

Even this early in the day, the traffic can get to be a nightmare, thankfully we got to leave the motorway just before the actual snarl up.




Amazingly, they have been here a week already.

It was a real,pleasure sharing time and travel with them

Good byes said, it was off to get tickets to Europe.

Easy as that.





I was back home before 8.00am

Found both cats in the spare room where the McMurpys had kept their luggage while they stayed with me......



I guess they were also missing them already.

I hope we get to see more of Europe through your eyes McMurphy.

[Grizz1963]

I really do hate school holidays.

Too many bored children about.

More than that, no customers to see. Half away on holiday and the other half working twice as hard.

So last week I took Friday off to spend with friends including the weekend.
I then impulsively asked my boss for some more time off work and he agreed.

So today I spent in town dealing with some banking and other matters.
Not working tomorrow either...........

One of my favourite places on the poor side of town is a Turkish shop and associated restaurant. Great service, food and fresh fruit.

So I decided to have lunch there and watch people for an hour and a half.



Today I selected lamb and yoghurt soup, served with olives, pickled vegetables and a pile of their flat bread, freshly baked in a wood fired oven on site.
A dash of chilli oil on top and you are on your way.



After lunch I had a leisurely Nescafé coffee and watched people for an hour or so and chatted with friends around the world on messenger.

Then the bill came.

£6.00 or $7.75 incl tip.

Got to be a good thing.



Sometimes living is winning.

Now thinking about what I will get up to tomorrow.

It could be a crazy good day.

Not even the weekend.

Yet........

[Grizz1963]

Friday morning 03.45 UK time.

Harley saying WT Actual F ??



Ooooppps.

Now is Saturday Morning 06.30 here in America.
USA 6hrs behind the UK. Managed about 6.5hrs sleep after having been awake 25 hrs straight.
Impulse buy to come surprise visit my friend Dennis for his 60th birthday.
They have a long weekend with Monday off. Labour Day.
So Saturday and Sunday night are championship V8 Sprint car races.
Then hitting road to see a few very good friends in the Dodge Hellcat, some also will be surprised.
I had 7 beers at last count last night that may have helped me sleep a bit. Coming home from airport Adam did a rolling burnout at 40mph for about 20 meters. Just mashed throttle "gently" and laid two black lines down. The car is a beast.
But 707 bhp will do that.
That's a mad mad car and I will be driving it.

Sometimes I can do spontaneous like buying the ticket. No regrets so far.
Looking forward to this trip unfolding.

I do hope that some of you guys will be along for the ride.

So after an early start yesterday I came in via





UK from the skies headed out.

Pretty.




So I guess the question is.......


Is anyone interested in more feedback and pics from this trip??

Let me know even if you are a stalker.

[DakotaKid]

Frog Legs?

[flashed]

Frog Legs was my guess as well .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by DakotaKid

Frog Legs?

Originally Posted by flashed

Frog Legs was my guess as well .

VIRTUAL BEER TO YOU BOTH........!!!

[Grizz1963]

.........







Dilemma time.........






.............. To be. Or not to be ?????







................. That certainly is the question






do i wear a pink or whatever colour tutu ????







........ In order to answer a challenge that offered to triple the £10.00 donation an old friend made.


Is £20.00 enough to lose my remaining dignity for??




Anyone else prepared to have their eyeballs exploded in exchange for a bit more cash?



.

[flashed]

Rian,you make our lives better more than you know .

[flashed]

Good luck Rian.

[Palf70Step]

Good Luck Rian!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Good luck Rian.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Good Luck Rian!

Thank you very much guys.


It should be a great day.


It has made me feel really good, being able to make a difference.



.



Thank you for posting up Dan, and Michael for the IT magic link.


This fund raiser has become quite a personal battle for me.


Every mental target I have set myself, you guys have broken.


THANK YOU ALL SO FAR !!!


Of course these fund raisers do lose impetus and importance very easily, and unless you have a child who has a rare disease and is dying in front of your own eyes, it will never be important enough to even consider donating the coins in your wallet, pocket, behind the couch or whatever you can collect in just coins in your local office, sport group or wherever people gather.


I have said from day one with this effort that I only ask for what people can afford or think worthwhile.


That will be good enough.



I have no children myself, or even children I know and care about........... but if nobody makes an effort to support these smaller charities that make a difference to families and communities, then who will??


So it became a personal quest.



Later on today I will be cycling as a Me,beer if a triathlon team to raise funds.



It seems I will be wearing a fetching combination of Lycra and a ballet TuTu as this challenge has been ramped up


So my ask is that if you have any coins, cash to spare, to help me try get this to the magical £1000.00 mark.

We are at around £850.00 in tracked donations so far.




This was the action overnight on the Just Giving site.







Have a good day all, I certainly will.

Despite my attire.

[65sub]

Good luck today Rian

[Palf70Step]

Are your legs in the same condiytion as those frog ones yet, fried?

Hope you had a good one.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by 65sub

Good luck today Rian

Thank you Dale.

It went very well, was hot and humid, race started at 13.00 in the heat of the day, but good nonetheless.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Are your legs in the same condiytion as those frog ones yet, fried?

Hope you had a good one.

Thanks Bill, not bad, in fact not fried at all.

Maybe a bit of training helped.

Day was great.

[Grizz1963]

[quote author="@grumpynorthener" source="/post/2333948/thread" timestamp="1499413838"]You know what Rian - you sum up quite a lump of the folks on these forums, by being for want of better expression a 'petrolhead' but you are also very decent bloke, obviously hard working, honest, caring and generous with your time - we all do our bit for the forums by writing our blogs / threads and encouraging / entertaining other fellow forum members - you also obviously have a sense of humour and as being proved today are very determined - more importantly you very much have 'SOUL' man - in fact I might has well big you up all the way and call you bit of a 'legend' and because you are now upping you game and going 'TUTU' I am going to up my game and double my original donation so there is another £30 sat in your paypal account from me.

Have a great ride and we all look forward to your report once you have recovered from your feat- Chris [/quote]


Hi Chris, and all the other forum members from around the world on the various forums I contribute to ( There are 9 forums daily)

Thank you very much for your comments, they are much appreciated and I am again humbled if perceived that way, and even more so for the extra/double donation you added to what is a worth charity. The TuTu did not get caught in the spokes, thankfully.
It is one where the work is evident in the lives they touch every day.
Unlike some charities with big names, support and yet more scandal and less action for their causes.

I always tend to just do what I feel is "right" and to be honest, Karma is a strict mistress to keep satisfied, but she pays back double your money every time.

Life is after all more good than bad.

And a Facebook quote that may resonate with some.



Back to the business at hand.

The Try-Athlon





I had an academic meeting to present to on Thursday afternoon and by 2.30pm that was done, so I hit the road from Woolwich as I had packed my car on Wednesday evening so that I did not need to drive an hour home and then pack and leave.

As expected, traffic was rubbish and at times stop start, so the 150 miles took me almost 3.5 hrs to do, getting to Grantham just before 6.00pm
It was hot, the hotel cheap and no air conditioning. So after unpacking, I went off to meet my boss and colleagues at their hotel, a beer later we went out for an Italian dinner, paid for by the boss (thankful for that) and at my hotel by 11.00pm and bed by midnight..... it was hot, so sleep was a bit patchy.

In the mean time, more donations came in overnight and as mentioned by Chris above, also Adrian Lee (make yourself known)
And my old riding friend from Cape Town and Bromley, Kent, Peter, known globally as Goose. We have done some good miles together in Africa and Europe on our bikes and he introduced me to Bike to Bike Comms, which changes long distance riding totally. Thanks Boet.



Robin Williams made an appearance too.

Thank you.



Adrian Long, with a working Chevy C10 truck....... thank you.



More generous donations and more doubling up for the TuTu challenge, thanks Mr Lowery, Mr Zog (Gary) and Dean Smith in Kent.... you guys rock !!



Another more than doubling effort for the TuTu challenge from Craig, thank you very much, that is again generous of you mate.



A deposit into my bank account by Miaspa, thank you for the support mate, I am certain a kids life will be made just that much better, through your donation.

And my very good friend Steve "Bib Overalls" in Jonesboro, Arkansas...... Last year you blew my mind with the visit to George Poteets Car Farm, and then meeting Elvis' Harley Davidson mechanic, Paul, later the same day on my road trip......
Massive thank you for the support, on behalf of the kids.




This was not a long or difficult road, but certainly one where every one of you showed your mettle and standing by me in a charity drive that I believe will make a difference in lives beyond where we are.

Thank you all, you did it !!

At my last count the numbers collected by "The Forum Members" globally, was £1070.00 and pennies......

This could be more, or possibly less, but I know there were some anonymous contributions that I cannot add in.

You have all blown me away with both generosity and also the fact that from the first £200.00 we just kept on going.


The road we all walked together the last three weeks, I also cycled some of it.




The real photo update will be along a bit later, it's 5.00 pm now and I need to start a fire to sacrifice some spicy chicken wings and lamb chops. Katy's request.

[flashed]

Congrats Rian and thanks for riding for the Kids .you are a classy dude .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Congrats Rian and thanks for riding for the Kids .you are a classy dude .

Thank you very much John.

I think in a way many of us were in it together......


Guys like Clem, sending cash in the post, others like you helping and motivating.


Certainly a team effort.

[Grizz1963]

Post race update no 2

Friday morning I was at the venue by 10.00am to help set up out Regional team table and helping where I could.

Our regional team..... minus a few, off sick etc.

Team London




It was not long before the swimmers were set off at 12.30 for a lap around the castle lake.

Then cyclists took off in a tag team type of launch.

My swimmer, Richard did his lap, then set me off, waiting patiently in my Latex, TuTu and Cammo shorts, topped by a team T-Shirt. (TuTu supplied by colleague Francesca)

The team thought I was mad, going out in the TuTu but all were very pleased for the extra funds it brought to the teams honour.

Thanks to those who felt it right to add some more cash for me to dress silly.



I took off with the bike, we had to push or run them out of the site for about 400 meters as the road was too rough.

I cannot understand what the whole health and safety thing is about...... if a war presented, would it be stopped till the H&S assessment was completed?

I forgot to start my own timer, so was actually on the road a bit longer and further than the tracker shows.



The route was reasonably challenging and there was a brutal hill that took me about 8 minutes to walk up it, pushing the bike.

Then back on and pedal as hard as I could.



Total route.......



21.3km which is a bit further actually. Done in 1hr 16 minutes.



Further break down





Back in the festival grounds I was happy to be done, parked up my bike, grabbed a drink and bought two pieces of drizzle cake from my team cake sale table..yes, having my cake and eating it.





LASTLY.....

I WANT TO DEDICATE THIS MEDAL TO THE INTERNET FORUMS AND MEMBERS (Simple as it is) AS A TOKEN OF THE TEAM EFFORT THAT WENT INTO THIS FUND RAISER.

YOU ALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND I THANK YOU EACH AND EVERY ONE.


LIFE IS GOOD.

LETS KEEP IT THAT WAY.





LETS HEAR YOUR COMMENTS.

[flashed]

I wish I could have helped more ,maybe next time . Thanks for being our Victim and doing the hard part.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

I wish I could have helped more ,maybe next time . Thanks for being our Victim and doing the hard part.

John. It's not at all about more and the most, it's about what people can and want.

Charity is a personal thing, like religion and politics should be.

I was totally amazed and thankful for every donation that came in.
Also surprised at some......

Originally Posted by sawduststeve

Holy Cow, £1365.

That Good Sir is truly fantastic, Awesome work Rian and all involved.

:thumbup:
Regards
Steve.

Every time I think it's come to a halt.....l.

And that is only the numbers we can track directly back to my name or known donors.

Here is an example of one today, unfortunately I did not register the number total before the Anonymous donor placed his coins in the pot, but I seem to think it was a significant number. I also think it was possibly a consultant in older adult medicine and Stroke who,donated,but due to religious dictates will not put his name to the donation, or the size.





This makes it less fun for us, and technically we have collected more than the logged amount of £1365.00 or $1766.00

It will still be awesome to see £1500.00 and I live in hope that someone on leave returns and responds to the request for charitable donations.


I will be honest, this time last week the picture was very different....l.

So it certainly has all the hallmarks of success.





Fingers crossed.

[flashed]

Kool stuff in that box .