About a month into my work at Jalopnik, the Executive Editor (my boss) messaged me on Slack. He was looking to expand the news team, and after I was recommended to him by the editor who trained me, he wondered if I’d be interested. I said yes!
Given that my official job title is News Writer, this is what I assumed I’d be doing in the first place. I didn’t mind doing the more in-depth research on evergreen SEO-driven articles, but I actually have more experience with news. So within a matter of hours, my job description changed completely, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of me on the site.
My favorites so far include my Dukes of Hazzard-inspired take on that flying Corolla after a Missouri road buckled in the heat, a Gone in 60 Seconds-inspired dealer heist, and an Australian Ford Model T driver caught speeding while high on cocaine and meth. My write-up about the Rimac Nevera passing fast cars on the Nurburgring like they’re standing still made the list of top stories of the week. I was also thrilled to write about a friend who raced a Michele Mouton tribute Audi up Pikes Peak while the record-setting legend herself was inducted into the Pikes Peak Hall of Fame. Some stories deserve to be out there, and I’m glad I’m in a position to do that now.
On the ADVRider side of life, I was asked to write about the massive public land sale proposed in the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” currently in the Senate. The editor is Canadian, thought an American should write it, and trusted me to explain the proposal and my own extensive experience on public lands without ticking off either side of the political spectrum. My Polaris Slingshot review publishes Monday, and I’m working on a review of King of the Desert by Nick Arley.
A new Apple CarPlay unit with dash cams, blind spot detection, and more just arrived. Soon, I’ll be removing the Aoocci C6 Pro from my V-Strom (I plan to install it on my wife’s KLR) and replacing it with this, which is the latest upgraded model. I’m not someone who always needs the latest and greatest thing, but if they send me something to try out, I’m happy to do it.
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