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I kinda hate the word “funemployment”. But really, what else do you call scavenging Pick’n’Pulls on a beautiful, cloudless Wednesday in summer* when everyone else is hard at work? Pick’n’Pull is a junkyard - a well-organized junkyard sorted by general types of cars where you can walk out of there with any car part you can find and remove. My mission on this day was to find a new grill for my 1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD. As some of you already know, I bought this car shortly before I took off for a 9-week vacation. I clearly didn’t know at the time my vacation would last one year! Regardless, a matter of days before the old owner turned over Old Beulah (that’s what I call my Benz), someone backed into her, denting the front grill. Old Beulah’s been a lil toofless ever since. I think the mechanic said if I had them do it, it would cost upwards of $500 to buy a new grill.** Certainly no one was foolish enough to think that was a good idea. So, as my last days of unemployment recede, good old junkyard aficionado, Dave X, took me under his wing for my visit day of Pickin and Pullin.

I meet up with Dave at Burning Man HQ where he is diligently finishing up his “After Burn” report from this month’s big event. We snap a shot of the grill we are looking to replace and hit the road. The first Pick’n’Pull we hit up has a couple of interesting prospects but nothing that matches identically. Still, we hide a grill in the backseat of a car in case we decide to come back for it later. We did manage to score $1.50 tacos with yummy grilled onions from the roach coach out front. The second place we hit up is a bit further inland and sweltering hot. There were some lovely hills in the background but after the childish glee of pilfering fuses and plundering sun visors wore off, I felt a little bit like I was wandering around the deserts of Mad Max accompanied by the constant hum of heavy machinery and fork lifts. Alas, success was ours! With grill, sun visor and pockets full of fuses, relays and buttons in hand, we head off to the third Pick’n’Pull to look for parts for Dave’s car (my old 95 Saturn, named Furious). Success was not ours at stop #3 but there were cool huge heaps of smashed cars in the lot next door, and I scored a cheap 40-piece socket set!

Back in San Francisco, we quickly replace the busted grill with the new(ish) and definitely improved grill, discover the visor part is the wrong size (the mirror-cover is missing so whenever I use the visor, I have to look at my ugly mug in the exposed mirror) and have fun replacing faded or missing buttons with new ones. Total cost for new car parts and 40-piece socket set = $40. And if I ever make it back out to Burning Man, you can call me “Junkyard Dog”.

P.S. I realize this isn't your traditional travel blog entry, but as you might imagine, I'm having a hard time letting the adventure end! Thank you for bearing with me.

*For the uninitiated, summer in San Francisco occurs during the months of September and October.

** I adore my mechanic. Tom at Metric Motors. They specialize in the European jobbies so if you’re in SF and your car needs some TLC, look ‘em up.

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