The Beast...

Many have asked where I came up with a handle like 'Beast'. Well, mainly three things over the years came together and it just kind of evolved.

First, I'm partial to the fairy tale. The basic Beauty & the Beast tale is at the core of many of the most powerful love stories, like Phantom Of The Opera. There's even some elements in stories like Star Wars. I'm still waiting for someone to do a serious big screen adaptation aimed at adults. The TV show from 1987 set new standards in my opinion for excellence in writing, acting (Ron Perlman was fantastic and Linda Hamilton? Mmmmm), and especially music.

Second, Psalm 73 is very close to my heart. Many a time I've had to apologize to God and say "Sorry for being such a 'Brute Beast' before you (in other words I made an ass out of myself)".

Third, I've always loved Mongo from blazing saddles. He strikes me as the quintessential Beast.

Mainly it all started in November of 1989 when my old P.O.C. Chevy half ton pickup spilled it's guts on I-35 40 miles from home and left me stranded at the end of a very hectic day. That thing was junk almost from day 1 in 1979. After 10 years, 115,000 miles, 3 engines (yes, 3 in 10 years and only 115k miles) and several cracks in the frame we came to the conclusion that it just wasn't up to the task.

Enter the Beast:

Purchased new the day after Thanks Giving 1989. It was a Ford F-250 HD (now called Super Duty) 4x4 extended cab with a 7.4 liter gas engine. It would pull half the world and could climb a snotty glass wall. On the down side it only got 9 mpg but on the upside it didn't mater if it was empty or pulling my wife's 30 ft goose neck with 5 horses or hauling 100 bales of hay it got 9 mpg. In 11 years & 190,000+ miles, other than normal maintenance and wear & tear, we had just 1 clogged catalytic converter before my...my son (note I called him 'Son'!) drove it 10 miles one night with a burst hose and no water in the radiator and cracked the head on the engine. These days you can't find anyone who will open a block with over 100,000 miles and a new engine was just too expensive, plus in our current house I just didn't have a place nor did I have the time to do the work myself like I did on the old Chevy at the old house. The Beast was a faithful helper & a true blessing and never let us down. Even at the end it made it home and died in the driveway.

We sold it and were down to 1 vehicle for the last 8 years. Not really a problem since I rode my bike everywhere. In '05 I bought the Motorcycle and that filled in nicely for getting around. Still, it's tough to haul stuff home from the Depot on a motorcycle.

For about the last year my wife has cajoled, persuaded, pleaded and twisted my arm until July 23rd I finally got...


...the new Beast. A little more civilized, to be sure, but much more spartan. The original had every option conceivable, this one just AC and AM-FM-CD. No power or remote control nothing. This will be a new experience for me. Every vehicle I've ever had was Black and had everything on it. So far we're getting @ 19 in town and 22 on the highway, right where the sticker says it should be. I must admit it's been nice to be able to haul my stuff myself when needed and not have to borrow someone else' s truck. I never dreamed I would buy a new vehicle ever again. I found a 2 year old one with 12,000 mile on it online. By chance I looked at the new section of the dealer's website just to compare prices to new and low & behold but the new one was just $200 more than the used one for the exact same model. I'm not that stupid so I opted for the new one. If this one lasts like the last one (and judging from the way Nissan builds their stuff I'm guessing it will) and considering that I don't put near the beating on a vehicle that I used to have to, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.