I come up with a lot of hare-brain stuff. I'm kinda proud of it. Not all of it is totally original, but most of it is, and I like to think all of it sure is entertaining. We never did the flatfender shootout or the Wagoneer Deathmatch 2000. We did do the Hazel Fun-Fest and the Sh!%box Derby. And somewhere in between were dozens of junk Jeep purchases, weirdo road trips, and goofy product testing. But I'm not alone. My fellow staffers are just as out there as I am.

A lot of our early trips involved talking Cappa into buying crap he didn't totally need like his '73 J2000 "Hot Dog" project vehicle. We drove up to Washington so he could buy a clapped-out FSJ pickup with a bent frame and an old man shell on the back. He took the bit and ran with it, going to more bizarre places than I would've ever gone. I mean, who buys a 2.5-ton M35A2 sight-unseen and then drives it home just south of Canada in Washington state just s to So Cal? Apparently Cappa does. And I'll go along for the ride every time.

Trasborg filled the basement of his mom's house up with Jeep frames, axles, engines, and other stuff. Then he did a whole convoluted road trip meandering across country and from one state to the next picking up and dropping off junk Jeep parts 'till he had wheeled and dealed enough to resemble a Scrambler. Hell, he did an engine swap in a Wal-Mart parking lot in a Scrambler with a tub so rotted even I hardly consider it a vehicle. He commutes from Southern California to Reno, Nevada to wrench on his junk! What's wrong with that boy!!

And me, I may be too broke trying to keep 3 kids in food and clothes to go buying every junk Jeep that crosses my path, but that's not to say the desire isn't still there.

So what's my point? It's been too long. The Sh!%box Derby has whetted my appetite for weird. I've got lots of killer ideas for new competitions, weirdo product testing, and goofy road trips that'll be sure to entertain you readers and give Cappa ulcers just thinking about it. There's one I think we'll have to do before too long. I haven't told him about it yet. That'll make his stomach churn even more wondering what I'll pitch him. Hang on. Should be fun.