"McChiken116 - Patrick H." (mcchiken116)
05/13/2016 at 21:25 • Filed to: Personal, Hooniverse
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"McChiken116 - Patrick H." (mcchiken116)
05/13/2016 at 21:25 • Filed to: Personal, Hooniverse | 7
| 2 |
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
Moments like this, and cars like this help make everything feel a tad more real and good.
RallyWrench
> McChiken116 - Patrick H.
05/13/2016 at 21:44 |
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That was great, and I like the choice of line to close with, as well. Do not go quietly, indeed.
I’m mid-30's with kids and a mortgage, there’s not much car fun in my life anymore. I’m coming up on 9 years of happy marriage, and my bachelor party was a trackday, but I haven’t done one since. In fact, a career in the automotive and racing industry has battered my enthusiasm for 20 years, nearly destroying it many times over. But it’s still there, under a layer of skepticism, jadedness, and bullshit. It lives in the dormant projects in my garage, finally in a home I can call mine, just waiting for the kids to get a little older and allow some free time. It lives in my Hot Wheels collection. It lives in my lifelong and unending desire for a V8 Mustang. It lives on OppositeLock, Live And Let Diecast, Speedhunters, and lurking on the H.A.M.B. But at least it lives, as it has for you through life’s curves. Thanks for the encouragement.
BoulderZ
> McChiken116 - Patrick H.
05/14/2016 at 01:59 |
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I’m not quite sure how I got in to cars. There isn’t a single big contributor, more a confederation of encouragement. But commuting to a summer job I worked with my brother, in his ‘78 280Z, sealed the deal. I did college. I did grad school. I saved the money and bought the house (with the all-important garage, however small). I bought the project ‘78 280Z and built it how I wanted. i take it to our track a few times each year. My wife likes it, too. In high school and college, in the 90s, I used my brother’s Z for at least a couple of our dates. Now, our son, 3 years old, begs for rides in mine.
There is no time like the present, the only time you have. My brother is dead now. Killed by a drunk driver last year. I can’t use or work on my Z without thinking of him, which is both good and bad. A cruise in it brings wonderful memories. On the other hand, I had to pull off course from a track day last fall, which we were supposed to enjoy together, because it’s dangerous to negotiate a road course through tears.
The plan is for me to restore my brother’s Z for his wife and kids. I figure we’ll arrange shipment this summer so I can start work on it. I think it’ll be good for me and my son to work on it. It might help give him more connection to his uncle. If he’s in to cars (he is now, but he’s also only 3, so...), this is a good start. It might help get him thinking about what we could work on for him. If I asked him right now what car we should build, he might say a Z, or a Porsche, or a Baja Bug; but, he might also demand a “bendy bus” or a garbage truck. So, we need to have him wait a bit.
My point? There’s plenty of tragedy around us, and you don’t have to hunt too hard for it. It will never go away. That is a sad part of being human. The upside is that it is surely best we fight the good fight. Because, there is a lot of good, and it does amplify in response to our efforts. The future does bring amazing new people and events we never imagined or anticipated. Indeed, do not go quietly. Fight. Fight as if your life, and the lives of others depend on it. Because they do.