- Jan 31, 2011
- 5,769
- 8,194
- 55
The purchase of this car was a defining moment in my life, it taught me something very important, it was a few years ago, I had only just bought a 1993 green Range Rover, however, it did not have the brooklands body kit, nor the soft dash, but it did drive smoothly and although it looked terrible, it was reliable and being LPG, economical. But then I saw this blue LSE on ebay, it was stunningly beautiful, brooklands body kit, soft dash, air suspension, LPG, so I tied up the purchase and got the train to some tiny village in the North.
I have been on blind dates before, but this was something a million times more exciting, I was so nervous, I had been dreaming about the car all week, eventually I arrived, got off the train, and there she was, gleaming blue, she had been owned by a mechanic, who promised that he had taken care of her, and spent a fortune on maintaining her, I paid him, hugged him with a big bear hug, and set off for the 300 mile drive home, just me and the car, getting to know each other. After 10 miles, she did not feel right, the power coming from the 4.2 V8 was just not there, the steering was funny, the brakes made grinding noises, and there was a leak from the windscreen. Maybe I was just being too fussy, eventually I made it home, parked her, next to the green one, who looked quite sad, and went to bed.
The next day, I took her to a garage, who changed the brake discs and pads straight away, they were surprised I had driven her in that state, and commented I was lucky to be alive, the brake lines were rotten, there was no damper on the steering, there were lots of bad things.
I calmly rang the chap, stated the problems, and he promptly shouted at me that it was his pride and joy, and put the phone down. I recall sitting on the pavement realising I had been conned, and conned well. All, however was not lost, I had made some payment by Paypal, so I could freeze the money, after an hour, I realised that the happy person I normally am, had been replaced by a bitter angry vengeful person. I also realised that sorting this out, arguing with the chap, dealing with paypal, getting the car back up to the North, getting back down again, was all going to take an awful amount of effort, emotion and anger. I felt angry, really angry, what I really wanted to do was drive the car back up, park it outside his garage, and torch it. I could not understand it, finding the car, buying it, had all seemed fated, like it had the blessing and the hand of God, how could it have turned out so bad??
It was at this point I learned a very important lesson, I was more interested in how the car looked than how it drove, and it did look much better than the green one, and it really was not worth getting angry about, why should I waste my time, energy, ruin a few days, be grumpy with my wife, etc etc.
I sent him a text, told him I would not bother him again, and forgot about it.
Did I expect him to get divine justice for this huge con? No, I did not, God gives us all free will to do as we please, without superstition, or divine signs that we are following the right path, he makes the rules, he tells us the rules, and then he lets us get on with it. God is not going to change the laws of Creation so that we do not get hurt, no matter how pure, religious, faithful we are. In the Abrahamic religions there seems to be a huge emphasis on pleasing God, keeping God happy, doing as God wants, in order to please him, in the vain hope that some of that pleasing may rub off onto us in the shape of good luck, fortune.
What I love about Sikhism is the complete lack of this, follow Hukam not to please God, but to please yourself, make your own fortune, make your own luck, just do the right thing, act in the right way, forget about the others, how their lives turn out, or whether they face divine punishment is none of your business, it has no bearing on your life.
The whole episode taught me that things that look good, do not always have good inside. Anything can look good, but to be good takes something more than the cosmetic. And if you allow yourself to be swayed by looks, and realise all is not what you thought, dont complain, dont get angry, you did the deal, you had the chance to look inside, to take time to enquire. Finally, when people have wronged you, revenge, anger, the need for divine judgement, its all pointless, if it is a non recurring situation, ie, a one off, sometimes it is better to just forgive and forget. However, only a fool would allow someone who had already wronged them, to be given the chance to wrong them again
The car ended up costing a fortune, I sold it to a guy from Sweden who broke it for parts.
I have been on blind dates before, but this was something a million times more exciting, I was so nervous, I had been dreaming about the car all week, eventually I arrived, got off the train, and there she was, gleaming blue, she had been owned by a mechanic, who promised that he had taken care of her, and spent a fortune on maintaining her, I paid him, hugged him with a big bear hug, and set off for the 300 mile drive home, just me and the car, getting to know each other. After 10 miles, she did not feel right, the power coming from the 4.2 V8 was just not there, the steering was funny, the brakes made grinding noises, and there was a leak from the windscreen. Maybe I was just being too fussy, eventually I made it home, parked her, next to the green one, who looked quite sad, and went to bed.
The next day, I took her to a garage, who changed the brake discs and pads straight away, they were surprised I had driven her in that state, and commented I was lucky to be alive, the brake lines were rotten, there was no damper on the steering, there were lots of bad things.
I calmly rang the chap, stated the problems, and he promptly shouted at me that it was his pride and joy, and put the phone down. I recall sitting on the pavement realising I had been conned, and conned well. All, however was not lost, I had made some payment by Paypal, so I could freeze the money, after an hour, I realised that the happy person I normally am, had been replaced by a bitter angry vengeful person. I also realised that sorting this out, arguing with the chap, dealing with paypal, getting the car back up to the North, getting back down again, was all going to take an awful amount of effort, emotion and anger. I felt angry, really angry, what I really wanted to do was drive the car back up, park it outside his garage, and torch it. I could not understand it, finding the car, buying it, had all seemed fated, like it had the blessing and the hand of God, how could it have turned out so bad??
It was at this point I learned a very important lesson, I was more interested in how the car looked than how it drove, and it did look much better than the green one, and it really was not worth getting angry about, why should I waste my time, energy, ruin a few days, be grumpy with my wife, etc etc.
I sent him a text, told him I would not bother him again, and forgot about it.
Did I expect him to get divine justice for this huge con? No, I did not, God gives us all free will to do as we please, without superstition, or divine signs that we are following the right path, he makes the rules, he tells us the rules, and then he lets us get on with it. God is not going to change the laws of Creation so that we do not get hurt, no matter how pure, religious, faithful we are. In the Abrahamic religions there seems to be a huge emphasis on pleasing God, keeping God happy, doing as God wants, in order to please him, in the vain hope that some of that pleasing may rub off onto us in the shape of good luck, fortune.
What I love about Sikhism is the complete lack of this, follow Hukam not to please God, but to please yourself, make your own fortune, make your own luck, just do the right thing, act in the right way, forget about the others, how their lives turn out, or whether they face divine punishment is none of your business, it has no bearing on your life.
The whole episode taught me that things that look good, do not always have good inside. Anything can look good, but to be good takes something more than the cosmetic. And if you allow yourself to be swayed by looks, and realise all is not what you thought, dont complain, dont get angry, you did the deal, you had the chance to look inside, to take time to enquire. Finally, when people have wronged you, revenge, anger, the need for divine judgement, its all pointless, if it is a non recurring situation, ie, a one off, sometimes it is better to just forgive and forget. However, only a fool would allow someone who had already wronged them, to be given the chance to wrong them again
The car ended up costing a fortune, I sold it to a guy from Sweden who broke it for parts.
Last edited:
