It's Sold!

Craig sold the BMW! Since the hood has an obvious defect the buyer knocked $50 off our asking price leaving us with one less car in the driveway. Tomorrow night we pick up our converted Jetta and start burning grease.

Selling The BMW

Craig previously took a flier with photos of the BMW over to Mike Johns (our favorite mechanic) who promised to pass along the information to any interested buyers. The first prospective customer came over this evening to look at the car. For starters the BMW is 20 years old so there are a few imperfections namely it doesn't have air conditioning, the driver's window occasionally sticks and it leaks oil, albeit at a somewhat slow rate. Nevertheless, it runs consistently and we weren't asking for much so there was some hope for a successful transaction. The gentleman appeared genuinely interested - for whatever reason he is determined to own this specific model BMW. After looking at the engine he requested permission to take the beemer on a test drive and then attempted to close the car's hood. For the first time ever during our ownership, the hood refused to close. Multiple attempts were made. WD-40 was applied. Embarrassment ensued. After 20-30 minutes (they guy was persistent) the hood finally complied allowing the gentleman and his patient spouse to drive around the subdivision. Afterwards as they prepare to leave he says he'll call us later.....color me skeptical.

Finding Grease

Craig's been to several Asian restaurants as well as our local cafe and hasn't had any luck obtaining used vegetable oil. Although Chinese restaurants are reputed to have quality cooking oil, crossing the language barrier has proven difficult. "You want what and why?" While most restaurants pay someone to remove their waste oil, we're offering to take it off their hands for no cost but I think the concept is difficult for people to accept or even believe. Obviously this aspect of the transition is going to take more energy and effort than I expected. Who knew it would be so difficult to relieve business of their waste for free? On the positive side, we're eating lots of good food in the process.

It's interesting that most of the time when I tell someone about our project their first response or criticism is that our exhaust will smell like french fries or egg rolls. It's as if everyone's been handed a script and recites a similar refrain. What's especially amusing to me is the concept that the odor of food would in some way be less desirable than typical exhaust fumes.

In other news, Craig's preparing his BMW for sale so we'll have one less car at the house as well as some extra funds. Anybody want a 20 year old BMW with lots of liberal bumper stickers?