Bill's store, Jeremy's comment, duct tape and community!

Before proceeding, please read all the comments from my last post (Greening the desert) so you'll have a little background. Bill joked (I think) about opening a bucket store in Montello. Jeremy commented that his store should also offer duct tape. I'm here to say AMEN to both ideas. Case in point....my Jeep. My Jeep is a 1982 CJ7 and I love it. It's a real piece of shit, but I love it. I'll drive it anywhere and trust it to make it all the way. I also won't be the least bit surprised if she leaves me stranded on 233 somewhere in the 100 mile stretch of nothing between Montello and Snowville. As much as I plan on making that drive, it's a statistical certainty!

Duct tape. On my last trip to Montello I was only 2 miles out the door (156 miles to Montello) when my rear view mirror popped off in my hand as I was attempting to adjust it. In any other vehicle this wouldn't be a problem. The redundancy of driver side mirrors resolves this issue. Well, my passenger side mirror was removed shortly after I purchased the Jeep due to rust, fatigue, and the afore mentioned "piece of shit" ailment that it widely suffers from. My drivers side mirror is largely a window dressing that helps me to pass vehicle inspections and works wonderfully at speeds less than 25 mph. 26 mph is the sweet spot (given no head wind) where the mirror folds into the side of the Jeep delivering an amazing view of the black top! No worries I thought. I'll be driving out in the middle of nowhere and the view behind a guy has rarely been as good as the one in front. Problem solved!

20 miles later I was looking for solutions on the side of the road. I would have paid $10 for some super glue to remount my rear view mirror, but the only thing starring at me was the handiest roll of duct tape I've ever seen. Oh, it took a few stops for minor tweaking, but I effectively raised the driver side mirrors collapse sweet spot at least 50 mph.

Duct tape. Solving problems for men long before there ever was a duct!


Above is a pic I horked from Bill's blog. In the background is Brian's beautiful land with an amazing cloud cover hiding the mountain tops. In the foreground is my beauty all duct taped up for my rear viewing pleasure (the duct tape spanning from the mirror to the hood mount has since been removed and the 26 mph sweet spot restored).

Definitely duct tape Bill. Buckets and duck tape and possibly super glue! Richard, I'll bet duct tape even kills algae!!!

Thanks for all your comments guys. I am really coming to enjoy this community and look forward to meeting all of you in Montello!!!