And from the 60F and sunny left coast now proceeding into drought...the
reply cometh

The reason you can fit more 'braves' than cowboys into a pickup truck is
that indians don't wear hats.  My parasol/paraplui lives upstairs in the
space between the canvas and the bedcushions over the entryway.  I seem to
recall that many of the older lighthouses had Fresnel design lenses even the
one on St.George Isl.  The Fresnel design technique avoids the mass of a
conventional lens by using smaller incrementally designed and positioned
lenses.  Those flat magnifiers you can slip into your pocket and bend
without breaking are also a type Fresnel lens.

I will take up your kind offer to provide me two leather Recaro Orthopaedic
seats as featured by GoWesty and installed in Milt's Adventurewagen Syncro.
I prefer grey.

The magazine rack, well it sounds like a fine idea but when parked in
traffic I usually get very Sirius which has some 'Dog'gone good music here
and there.

I carry a petanque set instead of chess.

My favorite cubanos are Questa-Rey #95's but hard to find other than in
private collections.  A close second is Montecristo.

Installing one of those wide angle viewers on the back is arguably a good
idea and I highly recommend it for that city parking scenario wherein one
attempts to put a 16 foot barge into an 18 foot slip.

From underneath my rock in a cyberlandfill near here, I remain,

Pensioner (typing with both fingers, one of my many tricks)

And from iced-in Virginia we heard:

My oh my, how very grammatical!  I am Quite Impressed!

I thought a fresnel lens was something in a lighthouse, though.

I do find, actually, that I use my side mirrors fairly well to track what's
behind me.  Though I rather like the idea of replacing the stock mirror with
something to hang a hat on, that sounds amusing.  Do you have an umbrella
stand in your van too?  And perhaps a magazine rack between the front seats
so when you're stuck in traffic you can pull out some reading material?
Perhaps a chess set attached to the dash, under the radio.  It could have
all the makings of a fine men's club, just replace the stock seats with nice
deep leather ones, too.   You do all that, and I'll find you come fine cuban
cigars to smoke while you're there!

Joy