Tonight we did something we ought to do more often.
Last night we took the Suburban to a Saints baseball game and tailgated.
Did you know that was invented here in Minnesota? The grandson spilled root
beer in the cargo area. What the heck, it's not carpeted. Then this
morning Sue and I laid sod for her mom. More dirt in the back of "The
Oxides Formerly Known As Chevrolet". This afternoon Sue and I swept, vac'ed
and washed-out the insides of the truck. She went on to other tasks whilst
I finally got to finishing the new halfshafts on the Lotus. Seems that one
of the needle bearings had migrated, so I had to take the U-joint apart
again and rectify that before the thing would close up and let me install
the last circlip.
I told you that story to tell you this one:
About 7:30, I had just gotten the tires on the rear of the Lotus and gotten
the ship down when Sue said to me, "Can we just take the Triumph for a
drive?".
Sure. We can cruise though the Saint Paul Capital Custom Cruisers on the
way out.
"No. I don't want to get cleaned up. I just want us to put clean clothes
over our scuzzy selves and go. I don't want anyone to see us close-up.
Especially you. You have little black specks of shop schmutz in your greasy
hair."
So we did. Took off going south out of town and drove out in the country a
ways. The wind did not float our hair the quite the way it usually does
(you know, when it's clean...) We didn't have a destination. We didn't see
anyone we knew. The only other britcar we saw was a newish Jaguar in the
distance. People who smiled and waved at our car were too far off to see
our hair and faces clearly. We watched a great sunset while listening to
the not-so-dulcet tones of the glass-pack exhaust. We pulled into the
garage about 9, still unwashed, but happy.
So now I am clean and sitting here at my new computer thinking about how
much fun that was. A simple pleasure. No plan. Just do it. It seems the
essence of the reason to deal with these cars instead of just jumping in the
appliance car. And it makes me think about how much I have appreciated
having you all as friends on british-cars these last 15 years.
Tonight we did something we ought to do more often: Drove the TR4 just for
the hell of it.
Tomorrow I make my way to a Hennepin-county college to instruct some newbies
at a MAC autocross school set up by Bob Fogt and Pat Washburn. I love that
kind of work. Don't tell Bob and Pat, or they won't pay me. Wait. They don't
pay me anyway. It is going to be 95 and sunny tomorrow.
If Grace N. Violence, my Lotus, decides to start in the morning, I will take
her there, and give some instructional rides. If not, the TR4 will be a nice
ride to the site, but I have not yet put on the new tires, wheels, and front
sway bar resting in the shop. The lack of a front bar makes the TR4
pretty-much-undriveable in autocross, since the back wheel comes right off
the pavement and spins. So if I take the TR4, it will just have to look
pretty under the tonneau and take me to Sherlock's Home later.
See you on the road.
Phil Ethier West Side Saint Paul Minnesota USA
1970 Lotus Europa, 1992 Saturn SL2, 1986 Suburban, 1962 TR4 CT2846L
pethier@isd.net http://www.mnautox.com/ http://www.vtr2002.org
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