Our new-ish Subaru Ascent the night we bought her. The foggy night really helped show off the Steering Responsive Headlights.

Rebuilding

2023 is finally over. Two out of the five human members of our household are gone. Among those of us left there has been one cancer survival, one back surgery, one first job, one car paid off, one car purchased, and a new logo for the Library. Shocks to the soul like this will tend to put a sense of urgency into living. “Someday” becomes “now or never.”

The first change was to trade in our handy but horribly ugly Kia Sedona for a sparkly new-ish Subaru Ascent Onyx Edition. The Sedona is a fantastic minivan which I'd highly recommend to anyone needing a large family vehicle, and it was wonderful for making infrequent huge shopping trips during the pandemic. The wide, flat cetner console was our frequent dining table when restaurants were drive-thru only. An Igloo cube cooler squeezed right into the cargo cubby created with the third row narrow side seat up, leaving the rest of the big flat floor next to it. But post-COVID it wasn't as nice: my wife hated the 2017 SXL's interior colors, the exterior blue was blah, and it had scratches all over it.

The electronics on the Ascent are on a whole other level, she loves the Crystal White Pearl paint, we're enjoying exploring the friendly Subaru owner community, and it all rides on a WRX drivetrain with paddle shift that makes me happy. But that's her new car, and I've finally been looking more seriously at finally getting my first “fun car” while keeping the paid off Kia Soul for a daily driver.

One of the most interesting features are the Steering Responsive Headlights. Technology has finally caught up to one of Preston Tucker's dreams: headlights that turn with the wheel so that the road in the direction you're heading is illuminated. You can better see into curves while at speed as well as seeing obstacles in parking spots. John was a huge Tucker fan, and this feels like a bit of him keeping watch over Heidi.

Humble beginnings in 2009.

My favorite part is that it's white. I'd always kind of wished I could get a plain white car and put a small decal on the door and make it look like I've got a good old fashioned “company car” for my trips to book sales. Barring any unforseen incidents, I'll take the Ascent for myself when Heidi is done with it. I'd much prefer an Oxford White Ford Maverick AWD, but sparkly white and WRX power under the hood will do just fine, and the wagon is more appropriate for hauling books & bookshelves.

At one of the past year's funerals I saw a family member that I haven't seen for a decade, and seeing him made me realize that I'm finally at that age to give up the street hockey equipment I haven't used since we last saw each other. Letting go has become easier this past year, as I realize there are just some things I will never get around to doing in the physical condition I'm in and with the time I have left. Purging old things and giving up on old projects has become easier. At least, purging things like every middle aged handyman's collection of AC adapters for gadgets he no longer owns. The car books stay with me until the bitter end, though. Sometimes letting go is about the effects of aging, sometimes it's clearing space and time for the things you feel are more important.

The most notable change in our lives for 2024 (and for The Crittenden Automotive Library) is that we're moving into a bigger house. We've been in our current home since before the Library was founded, and we're not moving far: just to the other (bigger) side of the duplex we're in now.

A minor remodel of the upstairs (flooring, paint, countertop, and appliances) is going to take up a bit of the next two months' time, and then moving the Library will commence. I have to clear a small space where I want my desk to go, get the computer plugged in, and then most of the rest of 2024 will be spent cleaning up & organizing what's already down there and moving my stuff in. Aside from new light bulbs, painting one accent wall, and patching a few pillars, there will be no real remodeling required.

I'm still thinking of how to document that process as I discover fun little things I've forgotten in my own collection and interesting things I never knew existed in the basement I'm moving into. We'll see what I come up with sometime later this year.

629.2

The Dewey Decimal System's designation for automobiles falls within the 629.2 range. This section is about The Crittenden-Walczak Collection.

This section is named in honor of the section for automobiles in Melvil Dewey's famous Dewey Decimal System. Created in the 1870s, it served its purpose in an era when the easiest way to find a book was to go to the subject section, browse the spines, and flip through tables of contents. The closest thing to a search engine was the card catalog system.

One of the most notable features of the DDC was its universality in the United States. I could go to any local library and wander over to the section I was looking for without consulting even the card catalog drawers if I was familiar with the Dewey number of a topic I was frequently looking for.

The Dewey Decimal System's time has passed.

Libraries that have less in-person traffic, whether they are deep archives or serving patrons digitally, can condense their storage by eliminating empty space. Keeping all of the Corvette books together, for example, always created a skyline-shaped unused space as the smallest books are placed on shelves built to accommodate the largest. Shelving them by size makes a library less browsable, but is more space-efficient.

This is possible because libraries have placed inventories of their collections online, including images of covers, description texts from dust jackets, and links to snippets from Google Books. This allows in-depth browsing from any place an internet connection is accessible. Then there's usually some kind of proprietary addressing system to help librarians find the physical book.

In some cases, books aren't even stored onsite. The U.S. Library of Congress has an incredible system where books are stored in offsite, environmentally controlled warehouses until they are needed.

In the case of The Crittenden-Walczak Collection, I've been organizing books by size to maximize storage space for some time, but in a much simpler system. Ikea's Billy bookshelves are not only sturdier than the average department store bookshelf but they have more adjustment positions and they sell individual extra shelves so they can be perfect for smaller items. Larger items go on a Kallax cube storage unit, minus the fabric cubes. 8.5"x11" paperbacks can go spine-up in file cabinet drawers.

I'm still going to be limited to a 1200 square foot basement for the forseeable future, so room to grow will depend upon being able to condense the collection into the smallest storage space possible, and I've gotten very good at that over the years.

History Beyond the Bumpers

The Crittenden Automotive Library includes information from all aspects of automotive transportation and competition. This section highlights interesting topics related to automobiles other than vehicles themselves.

It's an election year. I think even the political junkies have tired of the toxicity, and I'm not looking forward to the mudslinging, potential violence, or the outcome. It's one of the reasons why, as bad as 2023 was, I'm not looking forward much to 2024. But I've got to tune out the noise and power through the year, or I'll regret the time wasted.

Depressing though it may be, part of restarting a more organized workflow included pulling all of the press statements from the White House's website, which only covers our current adminstration. It was one of the only things I got done in all of December, but that was one of the busiest months of my life personally.

In addition to President Biden's releases I have some records of President Trump's tweets, but before then there are only a relative few random items. I'll have to find sources for previous presidencies, but presidential papers are usually well-preserved. Starting “at the top” and working my way down seemed like a good place to start, though. A real effort at finding all of the Supreme Court's decisions that are within the scope of the Library is next up, and I've been working through the Congressional Record for some time now.

Telemetry

CarsAndRacingStuff.com site statistics.

Another down month after not posting much new content. Just a few more months and this should turn around with the new additions over the spring & summer. Well, it wouldn't be new beginnings without hitting rock bottom, right?