PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

A few years back when I was house shopping I came across this house that was a "Model" Home during the 1970's that displayed features you could probably order for your new home at the time. The bathroom had what I would describe as a massive blow dryer in the ceiling, I believe it was meant to dry you off with a powerful jet of hot air when you stepped out of the tub.

 

@shakerhood

In 2011, I was been formally banned from filming air-conditioner and heat pumps at a glorified tourist trap called Peddler's Village.

 

The druggies go around stealing copper and whatever they can get their hands on, I'm sure once the guy came out and could see you were no threat, then just let you be.

 

@shakerhood

Here is one of the more confounding incidents. This was in June 2011, less than a month after I'd gotten my driver's license. My mom's side of the family rented a house in Sandbridge (Virginia Beach) for a week-long family reunion. One day, I noticed this beautiful red and white 1988ish Ford Bronco II parked in front of the house (it was right on a public beach and the street parking open to the public). I snapped a few pictures of this Bronco II without incident. As far as I know, they never knew I photographed their vehicle. Hours later, I was outside and noticed the owners (an older couple) loading their beach stuff into the Bronco II so they could leave. I approached the coupe and started chatting them up about their truck. Everything went fine, until I started to head back into the house for dinner. I was actually on the front porch and had opened the screen door, when either the man or the woman (I forget) asked rather gruffly "Can we help you with something?"

Dumbfounded and a wee bit irritated, I stopped with the door halfway open and turned around to face them. I gave them a classic "WTF?" look and said in a rather irritated and rhetorical tone "This is my family's rental house...?"

I forget what they said, and I went inside without incident.

I forget what my parents had to say, but I also told my therapist and he said that more than likely, something about me asking questions about the Bronco II "weirded them out". I still don't get how I went from conversing about a Bronco II to being suspected of burglarizing a beach house...

 

@shakerhood

What do you think of the Bronco II incident?

 

For some reason your story reminded me of something that happened to my buddy many years ago. The date happened to be April 1st and when my buddy got home his Mom said there is a Police Officer waiting for you in the livingroom, so he is like yeah right April Fools. There was a cop in the livingroom and he questioned him over someone knocking off CO-GO's, apparently the thief had a getaway car similar to my buddy.

 

CO-GOs?

 

Weird that they got all uptight over that.

 

It was similar to a 7-11, we started calling my buddy the CO-GO Kid after that, lol.

 

One of the reasons I've made my truck so distinctive is so I don't end up in handcuffs because my truck matches the description of a stolen vehicle or a getaway vehicle...

 

He had one of those weird Korean Pontiac Lemans at the time.

 

These were not high-class people either. They were "white trash" types. Yes, the Bronco II looked nice, but if I remember correctly the A/C did not work (not fun if you live in Virginia Beach) and the truck had other mechanical problems. I know lots of fairly financially secure people who drive honest-to-goodness shitboxes that look like hell but run great, but these people were obviously driving a gussied up beater because they couldn't afford anything else. I tell just by looking at these people that if they weren't drug users now, they had been a decade or two earlier...

 

One of these is what he had, lol.

 

I still find it odd that they got all uptight over that.

 

Those were uncommon by the end of the 20th century because most of them had been used up and crushed!

And seriously, if I ended up having a gun pulled on me and/or getting handcuffed because the police thought my truck looked like a suspect's vehicle, I'd have enough money to pay cash for a house by the time I got through taking them to court!

 

Yeah, and it's not like I'd been out for a walk and was coming back home. I was inside the house and and came out to talk when I saw them through the front window...

 

I knew exactly what you were talking about! My dad thought these were shit when they were new!

 

Yeah it was garbage when he bought it new.

 

@shakerhood

Here is the house in Sandbridge we rented for the June 2011 family reunion; Not ugly but not exactly pretty either. The house was built in the 1980s and the interior was thoroughly outdated, but it was big and in good condition. The silver minivan in the driveway is my parents' 2004 Honda Odyssey EX, which had well over 100K miles by the time this picture was taken! I miss that van...

 

@shakerhood

There was not enough room to install the heat pumps in the backyard due to the back decks and sand dunes, so it is very common for builders to install them wherever they will fit. The house we rented in 2011 had them in the front. Many have them on the roof...

Yes, they are Goodmans (though these were badged as Janitrols and not Goodmans)! These heat pumps were brand new (like weeks old) at the time we rented the house. These photos were all taken in June 2011, and I can only imagine when over a decade of exposure to the salty sea air has done to them in that time (if they haven't already been replaced)!