Josh’s Place

Well my beloved Explorer finally bit the dust. Ironically it held out until the day I started my Lightning up after 2.5 years of laying dormant in my garage undergoing a massive power transplant. At first I thought “I should get a 500 dollar beater”. Then my mind started to imagine being stranded on the side of the road after the water pump gave out, or a wheel bearing seized, or any of the million other things that can go wrong with a used vehicle. My mind was made up; time for a new car. After looking around, I fell back on the GTO. My girlfriend has one, and they’re wonderfully built machines. Maybe it’s because it’s actually Australian. I couldn’t tell you, but after being in one for some time I can honestly say that most American cars just don’t feel as solid. Now, the problem with getting a Goat would be two-fold:

1) My girlfriend drives one and she’d accuse me of copying her, or being a girl for that matter. Both are bad for me.
2) They stopped making them in 2006, which means you inherit someone elses problem

So I started searching again. I came across an old Gen[M]ay thread mentioning another Holden vehicle like the GTO that was slated for a Tour of Duty in America: The Commodore, or as we “Yanks” know it as, the Pontiac G8 GT. I started making calls frantically because GM just happened to be offering ZERO percent financing on all new cars from July 3rd until the 6th. Armed with multiple quotes from dealers all over the Southeast, I headed into my local dealership. Long story short is they came down after seeing what I could get them for, and they gave me the keys. I’m now a proud owner of a brand new, 2009 Pontiac G8 GT in Panther Black Metallic with Black Leather Interior. The first thing you may notice is it’s 4 doors. “But wait Josh, does this mean you’re a family man?”. AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! OK, seriously….AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! If you know me, you know I like vehicles that are fast, but don’t look fast. What better creature to sneak into the world of camaros and GTO’s than an unassuming 4 door sedan? Little do most people know that this car has balls straight from the Golden Coast and it’s ready to smack them on some American chins. OK, I digress. I didn’t just get it because it’s fast. I also got it because it rides on rails, gets 25MPG, has a 5 year/100,000 mile warranty, and the interior is just perfect to me. She screams win-win to me. This, my friends, is the perfect car for me right now. The Lightning will always be my “mine’s bigger than yours” machine, but this car reeks sophistication with a twist of bully on the rim. I’m just one happy camper. You can catch pics in my GALLERY

Well as much as the recession is kicking my arse, I was met with an offer that I just couldn’t refuse. I have been a closet photographer since I was a young boy. I remember borrowing my Dad’s Pentax K1000 with the 200mm zoom lens and hitching rides to any airshow I could find. I have purchased a myriad of Digital Point and Shoots, with minor manual controls, but I have always yearned for a DSLR. Well my Boss wanted to step up a notch, so he offered me his beloved Nikon D200 with the 18-200 VR Lens. How could I say no? I’ll be making payments for quite some time on it, but he was generous enough to make that possible for me. Of course now I have no excuse not to take pristine photos, so the pressure is on. Be sure to check my gallery in the near future for some test shots!

I seem to have what gearheads call “The 2 year itch”. My Lightning has been down since Jan 8th, 2007. The night the Gator’s won the national championship. I was in a race to get her back on the road before Jan 8th, 2009 when, ironically, the Gators were playing for a National Championship again. I figured “what are the odds I could blow my truck up TWICE on the same day?” Hehe I didn’t get everything ironed out in time, but at this point I refuse to rush this project. There are tons of pics of my build in my gallery (Link over to your right)..

Everyone is blogging, so why shouldn’t I flex my constitutional right to bear a keyboard and throw out a few thoughts? Sounds like a plan to me. Besides, I know Dave will think he’s got the coolest ass site in the world, and I can’t be having any of that. Swing over to Slamstel.com to say hi, have a beer, and make fun of him.