Friday, March 26, 2010

Shifting Gears

I have come to a cross roads in my life and change is in the air, that or I'm just going through an early mid-life crisis. Nothing mechanical stays the same with me, although I recently shattered all personal records by managing to keep my '72 Cutlass for over 10 years. That's huge for me. It's like the equivalent of Charlie Sheen being married for 3 years. The Cutlass, recently dubbed "Project H2Olds", was in need of a major overhaul. My daily driver for many of those 10 years, it had seen better days. I was in the early stages of planning the restoration, trying to decide what direction to go with my Olds, when just like that, a solution presented itself. Before you could throw a rod through the side of a block I was heading in a new direction.


Money talks, B.S. walks. That's a phrase I have heard many times. It especially applies to cars, where a lot of folks just like to B.S. In the past I have had numerous offers on my Cutlass, usually in the form of a business card or note left on the windshield. A few times I had actually contacted the person and decided to call their bluff. It always ended up being B.S. In person inquires where the bozo actually follows you is a little more rare, and a little daunting. Nothing like scaring off a potential buyer by greeting them with a Walking Tall stick. Hey, it's either that or do my best Billy Jack impersonation!


By now you are probably wondering what this new direction is. It's sort of a two part direction, like a fork in the road. I'll tell you about the left turn later, because right now I'm going to reveal what the "right" turn was. The new direction I was heading in was... the bank! That's right, I sold my '72 Cutlass. Project H2Olds is now in the hands of a happy new owner. Truth be told, I am feeling the effects of this bad economy just like everyone else, so when someone thrusts five large in your face you tend to make up your mind real quick. So much for the B.S.


As the '72 drives off into the sunset I am already contemplating what to buy next. Most of the money is already spoken for but I will have a little left over to fund my next project, which was found on that left turn that I mentioned earlier. Stay tuned to see what a little money and a lot of B.S. can buy.