Gaze
06-01-2008, 12:13 PM
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l186/wadefallin/2008%20Jeep%20Patriot/HPIM1350Medium-1.jpg
First, let me say thanks to everyone who felt compelled to cast your vote for me. I feel honored and I really appreciate the sentiment.
Let me tell you the story of how I found my Patriot. In mid September 2007, I had taken the wife’s 04 Dodge Ram 1500 to the dealership for a scheduled service visit. While it was being serviced, I took the time to wander the lot. I then wanted to look at where the Jeeps were displayed. Once I had checked out their inventory of Wranglers, Liberties, and Grand Cherokees, I noticed this orange boxy vehicle sitting alone all by itself in the distance. I walked over and saw the Jeep badge on the tailgate and below that, the name PATRIOT was indented into the bumper and that sparked my interest. The orange color was awesome in the bright Florida sunlight. As I walk around the Jeep, the orange color shifted in several different hues. Then when I got to the window sticker and saw the price, I was shocked! I was very impressed with how affordable this Jeep was that I wound up taking several photos with the cell phone camera, including the sticker in the window! This 2008 Jeep Patriot Sport 4x2 had everything I wanted in a new vehicle and it was wrapped in this awesome color!
That evening, I got online and started to learn more about that Jeep I saw that morning. By the following weekend, I had scheduled a second trip to the dealership to take a test drive in the same Patriot. Unfortunately, they had moved the Sun Burst Orange off the second level storage floor down to the show room floor. So I took out a Patriot Limited for a test drive and it was a pleasant drive. The seats were comfortable, there was plenty of head room, and the power was better than what I had expected. I had made up my mind by the time I got back to the dealership that I wanted that SBO sitting on the show room floor.
The following weekend, I purchased that Patriot and drove it off the show room floor! I got it home that afternoon and immediately had to take every family member out for a ride. They loved it too!
A few days later, on October 4th, 2007, I found the JeepPatriot.com forum and joined immediately. I knew then and there this was a place to learn more about my Jeep that any book or manual could teach me.
One week after I took delivery, I had purchased the first of my mods, a set of after market fog lamps that I installed and documented (poorly by today’s standards) in the photo gallery. My next mod was the easy door edge molding grill inserts, which I have since removed. I have also added tinting the front windows, the black reflective inserts into the rear bumper indents and painted the silver muffler black. My latest addition was the addition of the K&N Filter.
In March of this year, I realized that as the price for gas was climbing higher and higher, it was time to get rid of my wife’s gas guzzler, her red 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab, with the 5.7 Liter HEMI engine. She was just as passionate about her truck as I am about my Jeep. But she agreed that it was costing way too much to own and operate.
So on March 15th, one day after her birthday, we traded in the Ram and purchased her a 2008 Surf Blue Jeep Compass Sport 4x2 for her daily driver. Now she too has become an avid Jeep fan.
A short history about myself, I grew up in Fort Walton Beach, FL, (great place). I joined the United States Navy in 1974 and retired from it in 1994 after 20 years of service. I was stationed aboard the USS Saratoga CV60, twice, the USS Gallery FFG26 and the USS Aubrey Ray Fitch FFG34. I did two tours of shore duty in Virginia Beach, VA. Since retiring from the Navy, I have worked in the IT industry in several different capacities, most recently as a supervisor to a international IT Helpdesk supporting over 120,000 end users.
When I’m not driving my Patriot, I’m usually driving a golf cart as I play golf, not well, but it helps to unwind and is good way to get outdoors and relieve stress.
I envision my role on the JeepPatriot.com Forum as that of a greeter. Most new members are not too sure what to expect when they first join a group like us and I believe it is important to make each feel welcome and comfortable in those first few days of joining. This will hopefully ensure they will return, and become productive contributors to our forum as well.
Again I would like to thank everyone who cast a vote my way. The other three nominees were all very good and deserving choices, one of which I nominated because I feel he too feels the same way I do about the purpose and direction this forum is going.
First, let me say thanks to everyone who felt compelled to cast your vote for me. I feel honored and I really appreciate the sentiment.
Let me tell you the story of how I found my Patriot. In mid September 2007, I had taken the wife’s 04 Dodge Ram 1500 to the dealership for a scheduled service visit. While it was being serviced, I took the time to wander the lot. I then wanted to look at where the Jeeps were displayed. Once I had checked out their inventory of Wranglers, Liberties, and Grand Cherokees, I noticed this orange boxy vehicle sitting alone all by itself in the distance. I walked over and saw the Jeep badge on the tailgate and below that, the name PATRIOT was indented into the bumper and that sparked my interest. The orange color was awesome in the bright Florida sunlight. As I walk around the Jeep, the orange color shifted in several different hues. Then when I got to the window sticker and saw the price, I was shocked! I was very impressed with how affordable this Jeep was that I wound up taking several photos with the cell phone camera, including the sticker in the window! This 2008 Jeep Patriot Sport 4x2 had everything I wanted in a new vehicle and it was wrapped in this awesome color!
That evening, I got online and started to learn more about that Jeep I saw that morning. By the following weekend, I had scheduled a second trip to the dealership to take a test drive in the same Patriot. Unfortunately, they had moved the Sun Burst Orange off the second level storage floor down to the show room floor. So I took out a Patriot Limited for a test drive and it was a pleasant drive. The seats were comfortable, there was plenty of head room, and the power was better than what I had expected. I had made up my mind by the time I got back to the dealership that I wanted that SBO sitting on the show room floor.
The following weekend, I purchased that Patriot and drove it off the show room floor! I got it home that afternoon and immediately had to take every family member out for a ride. They loved it too!
A few days later, on October 4th, 2007, I found the JeepPatriot.com forum and joined immediately. I knew then and there this was a place to learn more about my Jeep that any book or manual could teach me.
One week after I took delivery, I had purchased the first of my mods, a set of after market fog lamps that I installed and documented (poorly by today’s standards) in the photo gallery. My next mod was the easy door edge molding grill inserts, which I have since removed. I have also added tinting the front windows, the black reflective inserts into the rear bumper indents and painted the silver muffler black. My latest addition was the addition of the K&N Filter.
In March of this year, I realized that as the price for gas was climbing higher and higher, it was time to get rid of my wife’s gas guzzler, her red 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab, with the 5.7 Liter HEMI engine. She was just as passionate about her truck as I am about my Jeep. But she agreed that it was costing way too much to own and operate.
So on March 15th, one day after her birthday, we traded in the Ram and purchased her a 2008 Surf Blue Jeep Compass Sport 4x2 for her daily driver. Now she too has become an avid Jeep fan.
A short history about myself, I grew up in Fort Walton Beach, FL, (great place). I joined the United States Navy in 1974 and retired from it in 1994 after 20 years of service. I was stationed aboard the USS Saratoga CV60, twice, the USS Gallery FFG26 and the USS Aubrey Ray Fitch FFG34. I did two tours of shore duty in Virginia Beach, VA. Since retiring from the Navy, I have worked in the IT industry in several different capacities, most recently as a supervisor to a international IT Helpdesk supporting over 120,000 end users.
When I’m not driving my Patriot, I’m usually driving a golf cart as I play golf, not well, but it helps to unwind and is good way to get outdoors and relieve stress.
I envision my role on the JeepPatriot.com Forum as that of a greeter. Most new members are not too sure what to expect when they first join a group like us and I believe it is important to make each feel welcome and comfortable in those first few days of joining. This will hopefully ensure they will return, and become productive contributors to our forum as well.
Again I would like to thank everyone who cast a vote my way. The other three nominees were all very good and deserving choices, one of which I nominated because I feel he too feels the same way I do about the purpose and direction this forum is going.