I’d like to preface this by saying that I, in no way, am attempting to make light of the current COVID-19 pandemic that continues to sweep the globe. By that same token, part of me feels like this current crisis is the proverbial “elephant in the room” and to ignore it, even here, wouldn’t exactly seem right. It’s also true that Curbside is a site I like to visit for brief escapes from my day-to-day that includes responsibilities, chores, the news, etc., and as such has become a happy cyber-place for me. I don’t plan to change that for anyone else by what I’m about to say, so please read on.
As a Chicago resident and at the urging of authorities and medical health professionals, I have left my condo unit a bare minimum of times (including to vote) since perhaps the twelfth of this month. Prior to all of this, at the end of February, I had started a personal four-week cleanse in which I had eliminated alcohol. At the beginning of this month, I was still going out and being social, and my friends and acquaintances have been respectful of my boundaries. However, as of this writing, we Illinois residents have just now been put under “shelter in place” through April 7th by Governor J.B. Pritzker.
Even if my own, personal “Dry January” / “Sober October” was months late, and with others’ St. Patrick’s Day celebrations falling smack-dab in the middle of my little, self-imposed booze-break this month, I was still able to hang out with my friends, play cards, go dancing, and attend a private party before social distancing became a necessary thing. Before the reality of the seriousness and nearness of the Coronavirus had settled in, I had no issues with stuffing my face with all the snack foods I could during “cheat day” Saturday, thinking that I’d likely be back at the health club exercising and back to my regular, health-conscious diet by the next week.
Wrong. Last week, my gym closed temporarily and will be shut down at least until the beginning of April. My cupboards and closets are stocked with basically all I need for the next two to three weeks, and for that I am humble and thankful. (For the record, I did not hoard toilet paper.) However, I’m also now basically stuck in my condo unit with booze I shouldn’t drink, a pantry full of cheat-day snack food I shouldn’t eat, an inability to exercise properly and in the manner that I’m used to, and a lack of actual, face-to-face human interaction with people I care about. In the fictional language of Newspeak referenced in George Orwell’s dystopian 1949 novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, all of this is doubleplusungood.
I came across this black Ford F-Series pickup truck last September while I was on an afternoon photo walk apart from my friends on our annual Las Vegas vacation. I’m usually most drawn to photographic subjects that say or echo something about the human condition, versus things that are simply glitzy or attractive to look at. I’m much more interested in someone who has lived and has interesting things to say than someone who would assume I’d care about how much money they spent last weekend. This F-Series clearly looks like it has “lived” – and that it has not moved for a while, given that its rear tire on the driver’s side was as flat as my singing at karaoke.
I’ll also qualify that I was unable to nail down the exact model year of this example by a reverse search of the license plate (which I’ve blanked out for the owner’s privacy, as is my normal custom) – another clue that this cool, old truck hasn’t moved under its own power for a while. If the front grille is any indicator, this Ford could be from one of three model years starting with the ’73. I wonder if this truck’s owner had, at one time, relied on it for transport to and from work. I have ridden the Las Vegas Deuce bus that runs between the Strip and the vintage casinos and resorts downtown on Fremont Street, but have yet to ride one of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada’s (RTC’s) public buses. I have observed many of them in motion, though, and from an online route map, the RTC appears to be a fairly comprehensive system.
Still, there can be a huge time difference between waiting for public transit and having your own, private vehicle – especially if you have errands to run, and also if you live in a place as spread out as Clark County, Nevada. Was the owner or operator of this Ford pickup truly immobilized or merely inconvenienced by his or her flat-tire situation? I’m also trying not to think of my involuntary (and imperative – we’ve got to “flatten the curve” of the spread of this virus) quarantine as being under house arrest. After all, as of this writing, I can still watch television, surf the internet, buy food, and continue to earn a paycheck by working from home – things I realize are truly blessings. I also realize that I’m inherently no more special or deserving of these things by birthright than the next person.
Whoa. Let me reel this in. I didn’t mean to get all “esoteric” on everyone on this little, old car-based website. It’s just that with all this extra time on my hands, in this kind of physical isolation, and also while voluntarily eschewing access to any temporarily dumbening substances, I feel like my brain is doing entirely too much right now. I’m alright, though. Let me just say that once things with this virus either level off, or once I’m able to better process what my regular day-to-day is going to look like moving forward, like this Ford truck with a new set of tires (and whatever else it may need under the hood), I should once again be ready to roar.
Las Vegas, Nevada.
Monday, September 9, 2019.
More or less the same here in Austria – you are allowed to walk or jog on your own or with your spouse or go to the supermarket to get food, but that’s about it. Public sports grounds are closed so I improvise using whatever I can to exercise. Am very lucky in that I can work from home but my project car is on ice, as it’s 10 miles away and even if we did not have lockdown, the landlady is over 80 and I would not want to risk her, so.
Let us hope things will be relaxed soon because I do not want to go back to the 30s, if you see what I mean.
Stay safe.
I appreciate what you say very much – this needed self-isolation is very much about concern for and protecting others (like the landlady of your garage and many of my neighbors in my building) than just about us. I’m just hoping we are still able to get something of a summer. 🙂
I, too, have been improvising with exercise. Gotta do something!
Like you I’m fortunate in that I have a wonderful family, reliable income and pleasant home surroundings while I’m locked down here. I also have a warm and dry double garage downstairs, containing a 1962 Morris mini, a 1964 BSA and a 1987 Suzuki GS850G, all in need of time and careful loving attention. Plus no shortage of other little projects around the house. I’ll be fine
I still feel very unsettled, and worried for all those who are vulnerable, but I could be so much worse off. My sincere best wishes to all curbivores (and their loved ones) – may you all come out the other side, safe and happy
I identify with both of these things – both the feeling unsettled and gratitude, yet I still feel like both are healthy responses to all of this.
I think I’d be more worried more people weren’t worried. (Wait… LOL)
It hit me as I was making an after-hours run to my office to get some papers from my desk that will be necessary for working from home that there will not likely be any CCs for anyone to photograph in the near future. So it is a good thing we have this place to see the old cars and trucks that make our hearts go aflutter.
It is funny how pictures of an old pickup truck with a flat tire can look like pure freedom – how a month ago none of us would have given a second thought to making a run to the tire shop to get the flat repaired and then heading out in the old truck for a couple of dozen bags of mulch to be ready for spring. Or going to the liquor store for a bottle in a brown paper bag. Or something in between.
It occurs to me that the only one of these I ever drove was a late 70s version with a 3 on the tree and really stiff manual steering. It was a genuine handful to drive, not pleasant at all. Power steering would have made all the difference, especially with that small diameter late 70s steering wheel.
That thought hit me too this week — we’ll all daydream of the time when people will get their CCs out for a drive again.
Regarding flat tires and liquor stores, I’d been procrastinating on getting new tires for our Thunderbird for quite a while. They were badly dry-rotted, and this weekend, fearing a near-total shutdown, I bought a set of new tires. Whew. And liquor stores? Somehow the Virginia state government has deemed them “essential” and they may remain open. How that’s justified, I have no idea, but probably because here in Va. the state owns the liquor stores, and derives a lot of profit from them. Still it’s a curious choice.
Indiana’s governor just issued a 2 week stay-at-home order that goes into effect at midnight tonight. Part of that order suspended the parts of state law that ban carry out alcohol sales by restaurants. Does that mean I can get a pitcher of margaritas delivered with a Mexican dinner? Perhaps I will have to find out. And in case you were wondering, lawyers are considered to provide essential services. 🙂
I saw an ad on Facebook this morning that some restaurant here is offering a liter of Margaritas to go for $12.00. I’m not a drinker but that is subject to change. I am also not a “people person” so not being able to be out in public isn’t much of a hardship (we are retired); except for not being able to go out to eat in a restaurant. When the restaurants went to carry out/delivery only we realized how little actual cooking we had been doing. We did go to the grocery yesterday afternoon and were able to purchase everything we wanted except for paper products and butter. Everyone stay safe and stay healthy, mentally as well as physically.
We’re still going for our long walks, and most cars are parked now, so that has actually increased shooting opportunities somewhat.
JP, what’s funny about this is that I have photographed so many vehicles over the years that when I set down to compose the first draft of an essay for this site, half the battle is deciding on one. Now, we’ve got nothing but time.
Yeah, freedom. As I look out of my unit onto nearby thoroughfare Broadway and see familiar buildings, sidewalks and landmarks, I think about how many times I took for granted I could just (for example) walk to the local drug store or hardware store for some random thing.
I think Thanksgiving 2020 may be a lot more meaningful for a lot of people in the U.S.
I sell manufacturing capacity. Most of our manufacturing capacity makes health care products. We’re sold out. For the first time in my career, customers are chasing me.
My company has no real need of my services. My company Chevy sits in a lot just like this truck. An idle tool of a traveling salesman who can no longer travel. I had planned to retire later this year. It would be so easy for my company to lay me off, but they haven’t. Good thing too. My retirement fund is now in such a state I’ll probably need part time work after retirement.
When I feel sorry for myself, I talk to my son. He’s an Army Physician Assistant in Korea. He’s been working 5 AM to midnight 7days/week. Not sure how he – or any health care professional – manages to stay on his feet.
I see our factory workers on the production lines. They willingly put in ungodly overtime hours getting much needed products made. They’re truly unsung heroes. Truck drivers wait in long queues to get loaded 24/7. At least they don’t have to deal with much traffic. For the first time in memory, factory output is running ahead of our loading dock space. I don’t know how our lift truck drivers manage it. CC’s vehicle of the week ought to be a lift truck.
Seeing so many do so much reminds me of the opening of an old TV series. “There are 8 million stories in the Naked City. This is one of them.” I may feel a bit like a 5th wheel these days, but I know I’m one of the lucky ones. Thanks for talking about the elephant in the room Joseph.
Stay safe out there everyone!
Bless your son. And I’ve also been thinking about everyone currently making everything happen, in the health care, manufacturing, transportation, emergency response, etc., etc.
It honestly feels surreal for all of humankind to basically be at war with a microscopic virus right now.
As always, love your writings Joe. Wishing you safe social distancing and may I recommend a good bourbon while I am sitting here at my desk at work hammering away.
Anyway, those are my favorite generation of Ford truck and given how collectible they’ve come, I’m surprised that that one has been sitting untouched for so long.
Thanks, Dan! (And bourbon has long been my jam.)
I also like this generation of Ford truck. I think I’ve seen more GM C/K pickups from this era than Fords, which is also perhaps why this one stood out for me.
I know we’re living in odd times when the sanest bit of advice has come from my mother-in-law. She was born on a rural farm during the Great Depression, lived through the deprivations of WWII, endured widespread polio outbreaks that closed her school for months at a time, and so on. She said “We’ll get through this one too.” And we will.
Eric, I agree – we will, indeed, get through this. Re-reading your comment reminded me of hearing my late maternal grandparents (born in the teens) talk about wartime rationing and those stamps used as currency (IIRC).
Well, I’m going to tread lightly here, lest I break my personal code of remaining apolitical in spaces where it’s inappropriate and unnecessary.
Here in Florida I remain in the office as usual, at least for today. This morning as I got myself together to come in, I replayed in my mind a private conversation I had yesterday with my direct supervisor in which we tactfully debated the merits of continuing to come into our roughly 20 person office daily. In an effort to keep private conversation private, but to maybe impart a stronger opinion than I probably expressed yesterday, I dashed off a brief text to her confirming that I felt we should rethink this “business as usual” mentality.
My adopted State has been fairly prominent in national news lately for perhaps not imposing enough restrictions on some very careless and callous behaviors by residents and visitors alike. An embarrassment of sorts that as of today has still not resulted in any definitive action on a statewide basis. Locally the counties in my area are mulling over some more drastic measures, which I silently agree with.
Last week I cancelled a visit from my long-time partner who was scheduled to fly in from NY, for fear not of infection but of likely difficulties in traveling back or worse. Today Florida has announced that visitors from the NY Metro area would be required to quarantine for 14 days, which would indeed have caused problems with that visit, possibly resulting in significant (additional) financial losses and again, perhaps worse.
The message on a global scale is clear. There’s not much that little old me can do about what my local authorities opt to do or not do, but I’ve come around whether the “Powers That Be” have or will. This is a very unique set of circumstances requiring a unique approach. A case in point would be the fact that I’ve never been a proponent of working from home. At least not for myself. But today I am. Fortunately (or perhaps sadly), I don’t keep a stash of liquor or snack foods in the house, mainly because it’s easier for me not to partake of things if such partaking requires me to take definitive action towards them. Right now I’m not feeling in danger of making bad choices. But I am beginning to question whether my usual “right choices” risk a bad result.
Many mixed messages are being conveyed by different levels of government and authority in the US and Canada. Each with varying motives it seems. My city’s Medical Officer of Health, has said residents should only have close contact with members of their own household. Avoiding non-essential trips out, cancelling all gatherings, and working from home. Our Prime Minister implores this same message in daily press briefings.
Meanwhile, our Premier considers thousands upon thousands of workers in a long list and broad range of industries in my Canadian province essential in the workplace. Many working in close proximity for hours. Leaving them vulnerable. And certainly conflicting with the advice of the Medical Officer and Prime Minister. With masks and sanitizers not easily obtained by the public, their lone significant safeguard appearing to be social distancing. Some parties tepid response of the past few weeks may indicate their have other priorities than public safety. Ultimately, it comes down to individuals assessing what they feel is the decision they are most comfortable with. Stay safe!
Joe, you have eloquently talked about a very bad topic.
Like you, I have been working from home, in my case since last Tuesday. At this writing I’m sitting in my basement at a table that has been doubling as a workbench for reupholstering some chairs. The upshot is I’m sitting on one of my newly recovered chairs.
Working from home was an ethical dilemma for me as the field staff I’m associated with are unable to do so. That said, we have gotten very creative about scheduling, social distancing, and cleanliness. Every truck has the scent of Lysol and every vehicle has only one driver these days. The buildings will make your eyes water due to the use of bleach. So far, so good.
My now 96 year old grandfather put himself into quarantine at the assisted living facility long before anybody else was doing so. Part of it was due to his birthday on March 14 and his desire to not see some of the people he figured would be visiting. As to the pandemic, he told my mother similar to what Eric’s mother-in-law told him, saying “been through this before, we’ll be fine. But I’m staying the hell away from everybody.”
This old Ford is about one tire and some fresh gasoline away from doing a good day’s work.
Jason, your grandfather remains a wellspring of wisdom, based on this and other stories about him you’ve told here!
Looks like this post got turned into a defacto check-in about how everyone is faring through the coronavirus crisis. And that’s totally okay; CC is a community, and it’s comforting to hear from the cyber voices that we’ve come to know and care about.
A lot of folks are using the time they now have to do deferred maintenance, and for some, that includes wrenching on their old classic. I’ve avoided taking any risks working on mine, as something as any injury that might result in a trip to the ER under these conditions is not worth the risk to me.
But fortunately, my personal CC is up and running right now. This past weekend, my wife, my dog, and I enjoyed some social distancing at the beach, where I got to pop the top on my Westy. It didn’t take long to attract another driver in a Westy to pull up and pop his as well. We had a short conversation (with 6 feet of distance, of course).
The (relative) lack of people on the road has made rowing an old 65hp bus on the streets much, much easier. So that’s a bit of a silver lining to tough times.
I really hope that when we return to business as usual that we are careful in our actions and don’t just throw our elderly under the bus.
Torrey Pines?
If so, seems like there are quite a number of San Diegan CCers. We should get together once this all settles down.
We will get thru this. Considering the age of some members of the CC community, which can be deduced by comments like ‘I remember when my father bought his new ’60 Chevy’, which since the Chevy is 60 yrs old means that commenter is likely to be in the higher risk cohort if they get sick, I hope everyone is taking precautions! My state (Arkansas) has not issued a stay-home order, but practically everything is shut down. My county reported it’s first case yesterday.
My gym is closed, my favorite restaurants are doing take-out only. The grocery store is reasonably stocked except for various paper products. I’m limiting myself to a daily walk around my neighborhood (there’s a truck like Paul’s nearby I should photograph) and a weekly trip to Harp’s for food. My Dr. is doing telemedicine only.
This will pass.
We go into lockdown tomorow night my job is classed as essential being part of the food chain so I can go to work, fuel has dropped in price but theres nowhere to go for a month now, those mid 70s F100s were quite good widened rims tend to overload the steering components which are expensive to replace as its all one piece but other than that they hold up well.
In my case, a CC came to the rescue when a perfect storm of auto breakdowns led me to have to use my 1968 Plymouth Fury VIP 2 door fast top to go and bring back my partner’s daughter when Western Kentucky University went online only and sent all its students home. (almost everything came home but not quite, the kid needs to go to packing school and we weren’t about to repack in the rain) I had just reinstalled the dual heater core which needed new connector hoses for the plumbing and a bit of cleaning out. A good thing too, as I really needed that heater and defroster on the return trip for the deluge cold rain I had to drive through. The VIP drove through it all like the starship class champ she is for the whole 400 mile round trip.
Meanwhile, my ’79 Dodge St. Regis awaits the replacement of the entire wiper switch from the rotary knob all the way down the steering column and the replacement of the ignition switch. The wiper switch shorted out and killed the car on another rainy day. My ’89 Dodge Dakota awaits rear wheel cylinder and brake shoe replacements. The 2002 Chrysler Concorde Lxi needs way more than I want to describe here. It’s pretty much an around town car now until it spends a lot of time in drydock.
I had tried posting a photo of my VIP but it didn’t stick. Trying again.
Try reducing the file size — I find that reducing pictures to a max. of 1,200 pixels (in the bigger dimension) works.
I like that your classic Fury VIP got to come to your rescue! I hope you do try to reduce the file size of the pic and try to repost it. From the sound of the rest of your fleet, it sounds like you are one of the Mopar faithful. (I’ve also always liked the St. Regis, with the plexiglas headlamp covers.)
Most of the desirable curbside classics are in Portland, but since I have to shelter in place in Tualatin I cannot photograph them. I change oil and tires on rental cars for a living and am going to work tomorrow so I can see what is going on when I leave the apartment. I hope I have a job still.
Living in Las Vegas as I do, this is a fine example of the sort of vehicle I see every day and forget that it’s unusual for folks living elsewhere to see something this old.
Great post, Joseph. I’m more of a lurker on this site, as I usually don’t read the posts or have time to comment until a few days have passed, but I always enjoy your introspective take in relation to the subject car, and your skilled photography.
Also want to echo the gratitude you’ve expressed, that I also have access to food, clean water, home heat, and even frivolous luxuries like internet. Many people going through this global crisis won’t have those things…
A slight silver lining is that with less people out, I am less self-conscious about photographing people’s cars on the street! As an American living in the Netherlands, with my Dutch still not being great, I would have trouble explaining to people why I’m photographing their car!
Oh yeah, and great truck!
Thank you, Corey. And if I was in your shoes, I would completely understand trying to avoid needing to explain (in a language different than the one you’re most used to) why you’re taking pictures of cars.
“Curbside is a site I like to visit for brief escapes from my day-to-day that includes responsibilities, chores, the news, etc., and as such has become a happy cyber-place for me.”
Relate to that
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughtful comments and weigh-ins. To echo comments from Scottn59c and MarkKyle64, CC is a community, so it really felt alright to put this out there and hear what others are making of this.
I won’t pretend to be in the “Alfred E. Newman” frame of mind of “What, me worry?” In fact, just the opposite. But I feel like in doing my part to stay at home and thus protect others (as well as myself – this thing doesn’t really appear to discriminate; basically, no one’s “safe”), I feel good about that choice.
Everybody stay safe.
Having some days off does give me time to wrench on a few cars now. Normally I would go down to the USS Hornet and work but it is closed at this time even though I work on my own in the ship. I still go into the office, such as today, to listen to messages. and then return the calls. Fortunately some people still want to come in Thursday and Friday and will be spaced accordingly by me.
The state order for California is understandable (a reading says I am essential) but devastating to me in zero income and thereby defaulting on rent/bills for the office. I expected to close when it was my choosing and not something like this so I go in. Fortunately my office is one of the most sterile locations I know of outside of my house.
Hang in there Joseph!
I can’t believe it’s only been a week since bars and restaurants have been closed here. My wife and I are creatures of habit; we have a routine of meeting up after work at the bar on the corner, talking to the neighbors for an hour or so, then going home. So the closing has really just kinda screwed up our sense of time. And space, I figure, since we don’t see the same people we see every day. But it seems like it’s been a month.
My wife and I are both working from home until further notice. Driving the Buick has become a lot more fun as traffic is dead. Nothing better than flying down Elston with no traffic (and by flying I mean 35mph.)
I don’t want to put politics into CC at all, so I don’t want to make this an endorsement of any politician or party; but it’s comforting to me that Illinois so far has seemed to do everything possible to be sane, cautious, and smart during this.
I hope everyone here stays safe and calm over the next few weeks or months!
I currently own a 73 Ford F250 with a 390 motor. A friend of mine had it in front of his house for sale for$1700. I thought I’ve always wanted a Ford truck with dual gas tanks. So I was talking to his wife and asked if he would want to trade for a Les Paul guitar I had so we traded straight across. I’ve had this truck for almost 13 years and it’s been a good truck. I even taught myself how to work on it when it broke down but it always came back stronger than ever. I even had guys trying to steal it 3 times and I have it set up to where you have to know how to start it. It saved me a few times. I only got this truck as a project to work on and not drive it as often. As for this stay at home quarantine it does suck when you want to go to the gym and their closed and all of my daily activities that I use to do is gone. Now it’s a waiting this out and being patient. Even my two dogs is feeling it. They closed the dog park.
Esther, your ’73 F-250 sounds like a cool survivor! It must be cool to have had three attempts for it to be stolen.
I also miss going to the health club. And knowing that the local discount grocer stocks their shelves on Wednesday mornings, and also that there were certain things I needed, I did go to the grocery store today, bought a ton of stuff, and ended up doing arm curls with the full grocery bags. It wasn’t quite the same, but it was something, anyway.
Good thoughts, Joe Dennis.
We are in (effective) shelter-in-place here in Melbourne, Australia. A city of 5 million as ghosts.
For complex reasons not important here, I have very little money, so the drop in living standards for now is no great adaptation. The electricity will continue, as will the water. The food supply will remain adequate. We have internet, and we have a roof over our little flat. I am not facing the devastating effects of immediate unemployment others are. I can work a little from home, but more importantly, the small amount in the bank can be made to last a couple of years for us.
I am not welded inside the building, and not being lied to by a totalitarian government. Oh sure, Federal and State, they’ve made mistakes here, but generally behaved in a rational way, based mostly on scientific advice.
We now enter the worst with a comprehensive health system for all: with this living compromise on all our parts, there is less chance it will be overwhelmed.
I’ll admit to twinges of fear, more for my elderly relatives than me, but sometimes for me too. It matters a lot not to act on that fear. For me, and the two kids I look after.
CC is indeed a community, a good one. Reason and decency prevails here. Despite occasional fails, some my own, it provides a nice respite from the a world that can seem fractured and crude, and a good reminder it is, in large part, not.
Cheers, all.
*These* are good thoughts. Thank you for the good words and sage perspective.