Today’s post will be devoted to the Jeep Wrangler we acquired yesterday afternoon. I intend to close with something that should be of special interest to Patriots, but truly, this will be all about the Jeep. If that’s likely to annoy you, then please, come back tomorrow.
I’ll probably say something about the Jeep then, too, but whatever.
It’s a 2012 Wrangler Sport, from the factory a no-frills model. It locks and unlocks with a single key, lacking the common convenience of power door locks. Nor does it feature electric windows, or windows at all — the previous owner installed a complete soft top. The only glass is the windshield.
It’s been modified with aftermarket hard parts, including suspension, wheels, tires, grille and front bumper. Fortunately, the 3.6-liter V6 engine and six-speed manual transmission are still bone-stock.
It’s a very clean vehicle. It’s tight, strong and smooth. The odometer reads a hundred miles shy of 100,000 — not bad for over nine years old.
Beyond outfitting it to be towed, we don’t plan on messing with it much. We’ll add accessories for convenience (like tethers in the rear seat, pictured, for the dogs), safety (fire extinguisher, jumper cables) and utility (a winch, maybe).
It’s not as fancy as it looks, but we do expect it to be fun and to serve us well.
Taking the dealer’s recommendation, this morning we drove to a truck-accessories shop here in town. The place has a good reputation for being Jeep-savvy, and they have a lot of experience setting up Wranglers as toads.
We had the good fortune to talk with a knowledgeable guy who’s passionate about his own radically tweaked Wrangler (pictured). He worked closely with us our wish list, counseling us candidly on what’s advisable and what’s not.
We left with a detailed written estimate and a feeling of confidence. I expect we’ll call them by Monday and have them do the work (on the Jeep) over the next week or so.
Just as we named our motorhome “Ernie” — after Tennessee Ernie Ford, because the bus weighs 16 tons — we immediately started brainstorming names for the Wrangler. Deb expressed interest in it being a woman’s name, so the natural choices were “Betty” and “Beverly” (Ernie’s first and second wives), but she quickly nixed those. It’s a baggage thing, apparently.
She said she imagined a name associated with the American Revolution. Betsy (Ross)? Nope. Sybil (Luddington)? No, we’re not gonna name anything “Sybil.” So I did some digging.
Mercy Otis Warren was an incendiary poet, playwright and pamphleteer who fearlessly challenged the authority of the Crown and tirelessly campaigned for individual liberties. She was, in essence and effect, the equivalent of Thomas Paine, and she’s rightly been called “The Conscience of the Revolution.”
She represents everything that Deb and I are about. She may not be well-known today, and that’s a damned shame, but we can’t think of a better example of what we stand for than Mercy Otis Warren.
And so from now on, our Jeep Wrangler will be known as “Mercy.”
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
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