Tuesday Overnight Open Thread - January 27, 2026 [Doof]

Howdy Hordelings! The Tuesday ONT is here for all of your end of day needs. OK maybe not all of them. But certainly SOME of them! Come on in, see what's in store, and let us know what's on your mind tonight.

Probably didn't have that "new car smell"

Elderly Man Driving Busted Up Truck Was a Joke Meme Until Stranger’s Heart-warming Idea to Crowdfund a New One

His truck was the vehicle equivalent of Frankenstein, a green mish-mash of dents and dings and disjointed panels.

The 2000 Chevy Silverado became something of a famous eyesore in South Bend, Indiana, earning sideways glances and second looks wherever Mo Riles went.

***

Sure, Mo heard the jokes and saw the sideways glances—but the truck ran just fine. The state of Indiana doesn’t require inspections. And Mo, who worked at a Dollar Tree store, wasn’t in a financial position to upgrade, especially since facing recent health struggles.

So the truck rolled on… at least until Colin Crowel saw the photo. Colin, who owns Carguys Auto Detailing, wanted to do more than joke about the unsightly relic. He figured that whoever was driving it likely needed a pick-me-up, instead of another internet pun.

“I just thought there’s gotta be something more to why this truck looks like this,” Colin said. “I just put two and two together.”

He started a crowdfunding campaign, hoping to raise money for Riles and betting that community support would produce more than social media memes.

***

The results arrived quickly. Donations poured in from people all over northwest Indiana and beyond. More than 500 people pitched in to raise over $26,000 for Mo.

Video at the link. Hopefully the truck found a loving new owner. Maybe Rancher Bob could add it to his collection on his ranch!

-----

Opposite end of the spectrum as far as the condition of a vehicle. Need one of you smart car nerds to weigh in here. I've seen several of these types of stories lately, but some are obviously fake. I can't find anything overtly fishy about this one. What say you?

1965 Impala 409 Wagon Sat 42 Years, Moscow Family Hid the Time Capsule 42 Years in a Barn

Out of the 2.38 million Chevys sold in 1965, the Impala claimed some 40%. The US domestic automobile production rose to a staggering 8.96 million vehicles that year – and the African gazelle was representing one out every nine of those cars. But the numbers dive drastically when we factor in the 409 powerhouse. With just 2,828 motors made for passenger cars, we’re talking “unicorn eggs” level of rarity.

And that’s just for starters: for the sake of piston-centric fun, let’s add one more bottleneck. Like, say, body style – and I insist that we chose my favorite full-size dress code, the station wagon. Chevrolet didn’t bother fitting people haulers with big-block muscle like it was an all-you-can-eat buffet, so just 82 Impala wagons came with a 409.

I won’t even bother to do the math, it’s more than self-explanatory by now, but I’m not done bringing more rarity into this talk just yet. Of those 82, how many stayed with one family for nearly six decades?

Please check out the link and let us know what you think.

-----

Which one of you did this?

-----

Careful out there, "ladies"!

-----

Any of you have a spare atom smasher laying around?

Scientists mimicking the Big Bang accidentally turn lead into gold

Medieval alchemists dreamed of transmuting lead into gold.

Today, we know that lead and gold are different elements, and no amount of chemistry can turn one into the other.

But our modern knowledge tells us the basic difference between an atom of lead and an atom of gold: the lead atom contains exactly three more protons. So can we create a gold atom by simply pulling three protons out of a lead atom?

As it turns out, we can. But it’s not easy.

Who's up for this challenge?

-----

Cute little video I saw in an X comment (click on the top right bubble for the source). I'd imagine it's quite accurate. Probably the way blue states stay blue. The music is easily recognizable. One month emerald membership to the first one of you to identify the song name and what TV show it is most often linked to.

DJ Doof - Guess The Theme

Difficulty level 2 out of 5

What's the common thread / common meaning / common leitmotif?
(It's probably a 1 out of 5 difficulty, but I'm calling it a 2 to make you feel better about solving it).

Tonight's ONT brought to you by good helpers

All content for tonight's ONT was craftfully curated by Doof Enterprises, LLC. Is "craftfully" a word? We say it is!

Your feedback may or may not be very important to Doof Enterprises. Follow Mr. Doof on X @doof2112 or do the email thing – doof2112 at proton dot me.

posted by Open Blogger at 10:02 PM

| Access Comments