Last "Normal" Photo

"CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever" (carsoffortlangley) 05/16/2020 at 12:07 • Filed to: None

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I saw a story on a news site asking people to submit their last normal photos and was curious as to what Oppo's were.  I guess mine would have been March 8th. There was a lot of talk about COVID, and people were not going out as much but things were still normal.

I went for a drive in the country and bought a piece of pie and that evening, met up with two other Oppos and my wife for drinks.

This one was taken at Yellow Dog brewing and all subsequent photos are COVID related things (low gas prices, a statue in a mask, closed Starbucks’s, empty shelves)

What’s yours?

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:10

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All the charm of drinking on a construction site.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:13

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Me and the Ozzman out running errands like normal people. 

sony1492 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:16

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Visiting my brother in Portland Feb 26th

ClassicDatsunDebate > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: 05/16/2020 at 12:17

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Every honest review of every microbrew.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:17

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Flying out of SJC to Seattle on March 5, skiing the following weekend and then a jazz show at the high school the Friday night before they shut everything down on March 16.

Roadkilled > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:18

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I was still travelling until just before the shutdown. I was at the airport watching the construction of the connection between the main terminal and the south satellite at SEATAC. Who knows how long any of us will be back on an airplane.

Just Jeepin' > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:22

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Selfie with my new Jeep Wagoneer hoodie on March 3rd.

(Arguably it was the photo I took for Oppo from the ER when I had the flu , but things were already shutting down at that point.)

AestheticsInMotion > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:27

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Scooter in my old condo. I bought this thing, and the world then decided to fall apart. 

ClassicDatsunDebate > Roadkilled 05/16/2020 at 12:34

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I always hated landing in the south terminal if I took a horizon jumper between YVR and Seatac because of the shuttle time.  Now I wish for those inconveniences...lol.

ttyymmnn > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:45

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February 29. Texas Stars v Somebody. I think we won. 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Just Jeepin' 05/16/2020 at 12:48

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Nice hoodie! I had a hoodie all picked out from LJ Nation, but.... :(

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: 05/16/2020 at 12:48

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Bu t...But Industrial vibes!

Just Jeepin' > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:50

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Got a link to the hoodie?

interstate366, now In The Industry > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:53

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this was right around the time of the pandemic declaration.

Ssfancyfresh > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 12:55

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We were at the zoo on a rare sunny March afternoon... a long with EVERYONE within a 50 mile radius that had  kids

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Just Jeepin' 05/16/2020 at 12:58

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Yup!

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/746687718/mens-lj-nation-lj-all-day-gray-logo?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=lj+nation&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1&col=1

Gone > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 13:03

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Mushing a dog sled in Canada on 3/1 . State locked down 3/20, but was already working from home 3/9.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 13:08

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Funny enough it is car related. End of my last work trip in early March. After that it is all home office build out, Zoom calls, and sanity drives.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 13:10

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Unless you count an only somewhat socially distanced hike a few days later before I was taking the lockdown seriously, it would be this photo taken while volunteering at a charity.

But that hike a few days later. . .

There was one other guy.

sony1492 > AestheticsInMotion 05/16/2020 at 13:14

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That scooter is the antithesis of this pandemic 

fintail > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 13:18

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March 1, fintail (at far left) with a couple of its garage mates. Rumors were everywhere, things just starting to get nutty :

That same day, my cousin posted this on her social media feed:

I went to an estate sale in Seattle early on the morning of March 5th. By then many were W FH, and traffic was a fraction of normal. The people running the sale had gloves and sanitizer for attendees (about 100 people lined up). No social distancing yet. I scored these, the Hot Wheels all sold off now:

A week later on March 12th , a guy on my rec hockey team who works for the local rink organization, “snuck” a few members of our team in for a practice session, as people were starting to keep away and there was empty time.  A couple days later,all games and leagues cancelled, I haven’t skated since.  That’s when it really changed.

smobgirl > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 13:23

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Flew to Indy on March 16 for work. Everything I had scheduled after that got cancelled the next day.

ranwhenparked > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 13:24

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Unfortunately, I didn't think to preserve anything for posterity. It just never occurred to me at the time that "bar", "live music" , and "socializing with other people" were all concepts that future generations will only know from a prerecorded online video lesson.

fintail > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 05/16/2020 at 13:49

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It’s so raw and real!

facw > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 13:54

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March 7th:

Kind of sparsely populated already, but the less photogenic lift line was definitely not socially distant.

Goggles Pizzano > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 14:04

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Yep, that was about it. T he next day I met friend at (surprise !) a brewery. I remember chatting about how the night before Por t Moody wasn’t  ac cepting cash.

jeepoftheseus > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 14:11

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Some work related pictures but also these:

Dropped a coworker off at his mechanic. He was having power steering installed on his ‘54 Chevy pick up, you can see the front fender in that first pic . This guy had some cool old iron laying around. That Buick still had its straight 8 and most of its interior too.

Other than that it’s just a bunch of home/farm projects pics. I don’t much care for leaving my house on my own time since I’m always out and about for work.

RacinBob > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 14:50

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My last of normal...

Your boy, BJR > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 14:54

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Stapling my last dollar (that i brought on the trip) above the bar at Willie T’s in Key West the day I headed back home. March 12. I rented a bike that morning, rode all around old town, Ft. Zachary Taylor, visited Truman’s little White House, went to Hog’s Breath for lunch and stopped in Willie T’s as I rode up Duval street for one last drink before headed to the airport . After paying for my drink and tipping the guy I realized I had a single dollar left. Wrote “here hangs my last dollar, signed it, and had the bartender snap a pic as I hung it up. Went back to the motel , used my last drink ticket at the pool bar, packed up and got an Uber. As I headed to the airport I got a little choked up because Key West was the best place I’ve ever vacationed and it felt like home. Had a sinking feeling that nothing would ever feel as good as that  trip ever again. Flew home on a Friday and by Monday NJ was locking down.

Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 17:36

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Ooooo. Actually a quicky on the phone for IG stories when I swapped the a lt cover Feb 14 from my lowside on Black Friday in Dec . I’d already done the kickstand, shift lever and a few other pieces . The last time I’ll ride below 7C on sport tires.

Rear s pun up and 180-ed me leaning on a stone cold tire turning   at a light . About $350 in cosmetic damage a few marks on the leathers and a sore shoulder for 2 days.

pip bip - choose Corrour > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 20:59

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when i was in Adelaide, South Australia for a few days.

functionoverfashion > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 21:19

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We skied at a small local ski area on March 15th. No service at the bottom, but at the top of the lift we’d get a bit, enough to get an email from school that things weren’t opening on Monday.

The next picture was a screenshot from my phone:

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/16/2020 at 23:03

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Saw Madame Butterfly at Lyric Opera March 8. Rest of the season was canceled not long after.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > functionoverfashion 05/16/2020 at 23:56

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That's a hell of a screenshot

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/17/2020 at 02:03

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Oh god I wish I had taken a picture around that time in early march from my ski trip to Utah. I spent a couple of trips on the UTA ski bus that was so jam packed full of people. It was full enough that when standing room only, I didnt have to hold onto anything due to the volume of people holding me in place.

But an Oppo meet before things got crazy probably fits the bill. Back then, Corona virus was the joke. Sure it was a thing in China but we are in America, thats not our problem!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ClassicDatsunDebate 05/17/2020 at 02:12

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I miss traveling enough to actually miss all of the shitty parts too. I miss sitting in traffic to make it to LAX. I miss dealing with flight cancellations. I miss psy chopaths who refuse to sit down during takeoff/landing. I miss things going to shit when plans dont quite work out right. All of that shit reminds me that im alive and that im paying for this inconvenience. Sure makes it feel more sweet when I finally get somewhere cool. Its the same reason why I like really hard video games (like dark souls or halo 2 campaign on legendary). Its just the sense of accomplishment you get out of actually achieving something that was hard. 

ClassicDatsunDebate > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/17/2020 at 02:26

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Lol....man I hear ya. Years of flying out of lax terminal 6 with like...a cinibon and a Hudson news. Years of buses between terminals and having to go through security again?? Now I kinda miss it..lol

Huge DS player/fan as well... maybe there’s a correlation haha.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: 05/17/2020 at 09:55

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Pallet cleanser.

ST80MND > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/17/2020 at 12:46

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Feb. 20, or around there. Last one covid packages I got. Worked out pretty well, it's gotten a LOT of use since.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/17/2020 at 12:55

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I do wonder if travel with bounce back after this, completely? Because I’ve gotten used to car trips and don’t miss going to LAX.

The sad part up here in Santa Barbara is that the flight options (and fares) had improved dramatically with Frontier, Sun Country and Alaska/Horizon keeping AA and UAL honest... The, poof! I think now we’re down to one a day to SFO, NOTHING to LAX and like a single flight to PHX. Sun Country, Frontier and DL are basically gone.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ClassicDatsunDebate 05/17/2020 at 14:14

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Yeah both things offer suffering haha. I certainly prefer flying out of a place like Burbank. But I just enjoy the novelty of air travel regardless. It's so amazing to fly across the world in half a day. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 05/17/2020 at 14:16

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Yeah that's unfortunate. I'd never go to lax if I was up there! Santa Barbara seems like a great airport that I gotta try some day. Here in Malibu I bet getting to Santa Barbara wouldn't take any longer considering traffic anyways. At least for domestic flights it's worth considering. 

ClassicDatsunDebate > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/17/2020 at 14:32

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I don’t think I’ve ever flown in or out of Burbank.  John Wayne if I’m doing stuff in OC or SAN Diego if I’m farther south.  I’ve been to Chino but only to check out the old warbirds.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/17/2020 at 14:32

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We’ll see how it rebounds. I was in and out of LAX a couple of times a week for about 5 years, so don’t miss that... having affordable fares out of SBA was a game-changer. Too bad the game changed again.

Nothing beats the $4.00 a day to park at Flyaway, but the $12 a day at SBA— and walk straight into the terminal in less than a minute from the lot— isn’t bad.

That Sun Country connection via MSP was great, BTW. All kinds of choices (including international) out of MSP. I’d meet people from Santa Maria, and even SLO, coming down here to fly out of SBA.  Of course, that’s all gone now too.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ClassicDatsunDebate 05/17/2020 at 16:19

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Burbank is nice, don't even have to leave the valley to get there. But really the nice part is that you go through security and are literally at the gate. The airplanes are certainly throwing distance from the curb. It's small enough that they are actually planning to do construction to make it larger solely for the purpose of meeting security standards. Meaning like a truck bomb pulls up to the curb, you'd easily take out airplanes because they are too close. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 05/17/2020 at 16:22

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It sucks that airport parking ends up costing that much even at smaller airports. Sure you have the close walk versus the shuttle from lot e at lax. But it's still the same price. I'd rather it like a week discount or $5 a day or something. But I got used to being able to take an Uber to lax pretty cheaply, now I have to drive since I can't use Uber to anywhere from my new place. Can't get delivery anything either, aside from Amazon. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/17/2020 at 19:18

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BUR is the best. It’s a pity the plan is to move the t erminal over to the other side of the runway, off Hollywood Way, and thus make it outside reasonable walking distance from either AMTRAK or Metrolink stations.

I’ll take the train in from SB sometimes... is an easy walk from the platform to the terminal... for the moment.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 05/17/2020 at 20:28

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What a wonderful concept, being able to take public transportation to the airport! That shit is just assumed in Europe. You don’t drive to the damn airport there. Well sure you could since that’s still an option for those that need it. But the point is that you don’t HAVE to. The reason that LAX has an Uber problem is because aside from driving yourself, that’s the only damn way you are getting there! Flyaway is nice but that's still not a damn train. Fitting for LA though.. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 05/17/2020 at 20:50

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Yeah, don’t get me started on how LAX is about to finish the “second Metro line to LAX”... which will somehow, again, miss the actual airport by a full two miles. They even have the gall to name it the “Crenshaw/LAX” line when the closest it will get is 96th and Aviation... to an escalator... cross a street... to another escalator... to wait for a people mover that might show up... that gets you a few hundred yards short of the terminal ... to another set of people movers... to an escalator. Jesus.

I used to not “get it” until I looked at LAWA’s numbers— they generate (well, not THIS year for obvious reasons) $150 million A YEAR of free cash flow from parking, rental car, Uber and taxi concession fees. They get absolutely nothing from a Metro ride right to the airport... which is why it will never happen.

So, if you’ve ever taken:
1) Heathrow Express straight in from airport to the City in 10 minutes
2) Narita bullet train to Central Tokyo
3) TGV fast train from CDG Airport in Paris
4) 150 MPH Maglev train in from Shanghai Airport...

... it will depress the craaaappp out of you to know that the “rail bridge and rail line that was in the way”— the tracks they had to demolish to build this Crenshaw Line Goat Rodeo--  yeah the City has owned it since 1955. If you trace that line out... it was a dedicated freight line that went straight from Century @ Aviation DIRECTLY to the rail yards on the east edge of DTLA and on to Union Station. Really. A dedicated line. The City owned. The dummies could have had a non-stop LAX Express Service dir ect to downtown in 1962 when the current airport opened.