What Else Is There to Do at 4 O’Clock in Morning?
Awesome Motors, a used-car lot in Vista, apparently is not a fly-by-night operation.
It wheels and deals by night. The place is open 24 hours a day, like a neighborhood convenience store. Need a carton of milk at 4 in the morning? Go to 7-Eleven. Got the urge to buy a car at 4 in the morning? Go see Awesome!
The place is owned by Tom Kline, who opened it about four months ago. The lot has more than 50 cars, ranging from an ’84 Corvette ($17,900) to a Plymouth Duster ($1,800, but you know how that goes). He’s got a ’71 Jaguar, a ’67 Bentley, a ’55 Chevy and a ’49 Studebaker pickup truck, among more pedestrian vehicles.
Kline decided to keep the lot open all night because he wanted someone on the lot anyway, for security reasons. Heck, they might as well sell cars while they’re there.
And they have--four.
People generally don’t go out at 3 or 4 in the morning to buy a car, he concedes. But if they’re driving by and see that his lot is open, and if they have even the least thought of buying a used car, they just might drop in.
“Buying a used car is usually an impulse thing anyway,” he said.
There are some drawbacks at selling cars overnight. Usually, there’s only one salesman on the lot, and because he can’t leave the lot unattended, you can’t test drive the vehicle. And, since there’s no way of checking or establishing credit, all deals are cash. If you want to drive your car out or make payments, you’ve got to come back the next day.
Despite the drawbacks, Kline says his always-open used-car lot has its advantages.
“I don’t have any competition at 4 in the morning.”
Legal Aid Stifled
We won’t go so far as to say there’s no justice in the summer if you live in Borrego Springs or Ocotillo Wells, but we can say with authority that there is no quick access to legal advice if you live out there.
The county’s Lawmobile, a legal assistance service-on-wheels for senior citizens, has stopped its circuit run through the desert during July and August because the attorneys can’t take the heat.
Wait! I’ll Ask the Doctor
An Escondido woman was discharged from Palomar Memorial Hospital the other day after back surgery and was given a written explanation by her doctor on how to use a back brace during her recuperation.
Under “Sex,” the doctor wrote:
“This is not necessarily a problem post-op, provided caution is taken and the patient’s back is supported by the bed.
“You should talk to the doctor about any changes in position before doing this, as certain positions will cause considerable pain in the back.”
Speedy Phone Hookup
Sheriff’s SWAT members finished an all-night vigil Friday in Escondido and were walking back to their vehicles, carrying the weapons of their trade--binoculars, sharpshooter rifles, a bow and arrows . . .
Say what? A bow and arrows?
It’s not standard SWAT issue. But negotiators wanted to talk to the suspect by phone, and the suspect didn’t have one. So deputies tied a phone to a rope and used the bow to shoot the rope across the street to the man’s house. He grabbed the rope, pulled the phone over and proceeded to talk to Escondido police officers trained in telephone negotiations.
He surrendered a few hours later, and the one deputy turned a few curious heads as he walked down the street, bow and arrows in hand.
It’s a Real Sleeper
If you’re backpacking out by Combs Peak, northeast of Warner Springs, don’t be startled if you run into what appears to be a California First Bank branch alongside a remote dirt firebreak, just kind of sitting there.
The portable trailer was, once upon a time, a bank building. But the bank no longer needs it, and now it’s used by biology students and professors from San Diego State University who do ecology-related research in the mountains.
There’s another trailer at the bottom of nearby 6,533-foot Hot Springs Peak, also used by the university’s Biology Department as overnight sleeping quarters.
At least, we assume so.
The sign in front of it reads, “Dormatory.”
That may be a misspelling, or, on the other hand, maybe it’s a laboratory for the study of dormant things.
