The Prince of Odometers
June 23, 2018 8:11 AM Subscribe
This is the inspiring tale of one number-loving man with a 2007 Honda Odyssey and a dream. Shortly after posting a photo of his carefully planned odometer reading to social media, MetaFilter's own freecellwizard was contacted by a senior editor from Jalopnik interested in sharing this heroic achievement with their readership. Later that afternoon, the Canadians came calling.
Fantastic!
I recently was able to catch my odometer at 77,777 and took a pic. Wish I knew how to link it here.
posted by sundrop at 8:30 AM on June 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I recently was able to catch my odometer at 77,777 and took a pic. Wish I knew how to link it here.
posted by sundrop at 8:30 AM on June 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
“[freecellwizard], I don’t use the word ‘Hero’ very often...”
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:54 AM on June 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
![“[freecellwizard], I don’t use the word ‘Hero’ very often...”](https://frinkiac.com/video/S04E08/PNPm3Gg91r3X_kjk-VhsfGX6_Vk=.gif){kind=link}
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:54 AM on June 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
Tonight we party like its 199999!
Teehee! Thanks for posting this.
posted by cynical pinnacle at 8:57 AM on June 23, 2018
Teehee! Thanks for posting this.
posted by cynical pinnacle at 8:57 AM on June 23, 2018
every known numeral
we better have our top fucking men on the unknown numeral project
posted by stinkfoot at 9:18 AM on June 23, 2018 [23 favorites]
we better have our top fucking men on the unknown numeral project
posted by stinkfoot at 9:18 AM on June 23, 2018 [23 favorites]
my odometer is close to 42069. i’m going to reset the trip at 42000 so it says 42069 69, and snap a pic at 4:20 in the afternoon.
i’ve been anticipating this for months.
posted by secret about box at 9:48 AM on June 23, 2018 [28 favorites]
i’ve been anticipating this for months.
posted by secret about box at 9:48 AM on June 23, 2018 [28 favorites]
And I thought I was cool when we caught a photo of my 97 Mazda 626 at 200000 miles.
posted by COD at 10:05 AM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by COD at 10:05 AM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
What an incredible achievement. I’m having trouble figuring out which category Nobel Prize this qualifies him for.
Appropriate that this happened in a Honda Odyssey because it is so reminiscent of Homer’s great poem.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:12 AM on June 23, 2018 [18 favorites]
Appropriate that this happened in a Honda Odyssey because it is so reminiscent of Homer’s great poem.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:12 AM on June 23, 2018 [18 favorites]
every known numeral
odometer 123,456
trip 789
license place 0ABCDEF
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:13 AM on June 23, 2018 [11 favorites]
odometer 123,456
trip 789
license place 0ABCDEF
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:13 AM on June 23, 2018 [11 favorites]
I got into this type of thing very young. I was lucky enough to have a Galaxian tabletop arcade machine in my bedroom. Galaxian isn't very challenging once you've learnt all the patterns the aliens descend in. After that, you can play for as long as you can sit in front of the machine. So my new challenge was to get a series of scores so I could spell out such things as preteen boys do on the scoreboard. Keeping one eye on the score so you could die on time was a new part of the game.
I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this, there was even an episode of Friends where they did this with Ms Pacman.
posted by adept256 at 10:30 AM on June 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on this, there was even an episode of Friends where they did this with Ms Pacman.
posted by adept256 at 10:30 AM on June 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
My old Saturn was creeping up to 150,000 miles, so I knew it was time to trade that girl in.
Final odometer: 150,0004. It flipped over on the way to the dealership. Rest well, my good and noble steed. Rest well.
posted by SPrintF at 10:55 AM on June 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Final odometer: 150,0004. It flipped over on the way to the dealership. Rest well, my good and noble steed. Rest well.
posted by SPrintF at 10:55 AM on June 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
And now freecellwizard has made his first FPP ever one post up. The person can just not be stopped.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:02 AM on June 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:02 AM on June 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
(freecellwizard: You live in North Carolina? We have a meetup next week!)
posted by ardgedee at 12:06 PM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 12:06 PM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
When my car was due to hit 100,000K, I was also planning to lend it to a friend for a road trip. So I took a random 50km drive to Krispy Kreme and back so I could watch it turn over myself, because I didn't want to miss it.
Also, I wanted a Krispy Kreme.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:20 PM on June 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
Also, I wanted a Krispy Kreme.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:20 PM on June 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
I tryed to plan something like this when my old Buick passed 100,000 miles - it turned 100,709 nine miles from the 709 highway mile marker on I-10. I had a gig in Galveston & knew it would be close on the way back to Austin, but back then I only had paper maps to calculate the distance, so I missed it by *that* much.
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:34 PM on June 23, 2018
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:34 PM on June 23, 2018
1234567890
That’s amazing! I’ve got the same combination on my luggage!
posted by cyclopticgaze at 12:48 PM on June 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
That’s amazing! I’ve got the same combination on my luggage!
posted by cyclopticgaze at 12:48 PM on June 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
Mikey-san, if you get a friend to do take the pic, you can be driving 69 when it happens
posted by ctmf at 1:32 PM on June 23, 2018
posted by ctmf at 1:32 PM on June 23, 2018
This is fantastic, congrats freecellwizard!
Also I'm relieved that I'm not the only nerd who does this kind of thing. Just a couple months ago I hit 131003 (explanation) and had to take a picture. I'd been waiting ~19 years since it happened in my previous car! Next up is 231213...
posted by equalpants at 1:43 PM on June 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also I'm relieved that I'm not the only nerd who does this kind of thing. Just a couple months ago I hit 131003 (explanation) and had to take a picture. I'd been waiting ~19 years since it happened in my previous car! Next up is 231213...
posted by equalpants at 1:43 PM on June 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
If you were really into this sort of thing, you could do it once in kilometers and then about 1.6 times later in miles.
posted by TedW at 2:31 PM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by TedW at 2:31 PM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
The fact that this was not merely One Man's Quest for Nerdvana, but a great big beautiful family nerdout... perfection. Just the best.
posted by duffell at 4:21 PM on June 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by duffell at 4:21 PM on June 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
Old hat. Back in middle school, me and my Casio wristwatch, almost 28 years ago, cued up 12:34pm (and 56 seconds) on July 8, 1990.
12:34 56 7/8/90
In the absence of the internet/Twitter this moment failed to catch notice in the national press (CBC, impressive!!) but it reverberated across my kitchen and with my buddies on the baseball diamond later that week. They were not impressed. "Hey take off your watch, you can't play with that on."
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 4:30 PM on June 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
12:34 56 7/8/90
In the absence of the internet/Twitter this moment failed to catch notice in the national press (CBC, impressive!!) but it reverberated across my kitchen and with my buddies on the baseball diamond later that week. They were not impressed. "Hey take off your watch, you can't play with that on."
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 4:30 PM on June 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
Driving a car with a digital odometer is not nearly as satisfying as analog.
From the article: I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say this is an achievement on par with the development of the written word or the taming of nature to mankind’s will which is surprisingly accurate and a bit understated for Jalopnik. Kudos, freecellwizard, the MeFi's Own part is icing.
posted by theora55 at 5:48 PM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
From the article: I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say this is an achievement on par with the development of the written word or the taming of nature to mankind’s will which is surprisingly accurate and a bit understated for Jalopnik. Kudos, freecellwizard, the MeFi's Own part is icing.
posted by theora55 at 5:48 PM on June 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
My 123456 - the position of my trip and od are switched, so I opted to go for the double incremental. I believe this was from 2003 and I did not get internet famous from it...
posted by mincus at 8:12 PM on June 23, 2018
posted by mincus at 8:12 PM on June 23, 2018
I believe this was from 2003 and I did not get internet famous from it...
Yeah, but you survived after driving 78 miles per hour while photographing your odometer, so that's something.
posted by sjswitzer at 10:21 AM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
Yeah, but you survived after driving 78 miles per hour while photographing your odometer, so that's something.
posted by sjswitzer at 10:21 AM on June 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
I got my birthday MMDDYY-style on my odometer and took a picture; I also videotaped the transition from 199999 to 200000. Not as cool numerically as this, but at least mine were on manual-rotary odometers!
posted by not_on_display at 11:23 AM on June 29, 2018
posted by not_on_display at 11:23 AM on June 29, 2018
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road runner road runner
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:22 AM on June 23, 2018 [14 favorites]