Our intrepid reporter has returned home.
Though my hands didn't loosen up on the steering wheel fully until I hit
the Nashville city limits, I arrived safely at home at about 1 pm, local
time on Saturday, the 5th of July. Rightly enough, the same day that The
Great Race, with Spokes Club members Jeff and Sue Lane apparently finally
finishing in their Tatra T-87, was holding it's final ceremonies in Florida.
On the way in, I first stopped at the liquor store for wine for dinner and
a bottle of McClellan's single malt for me, knowing that Jette had already
bought the Harp's to go with it. Then I made a stop at the nearest car wash
to get the bugs off, and, as I was making the penultimate turn to our
street, decided to pull into the local ball field to take a few pictures.
Said pics will soon be available somewhere at www.tennessee-spokes.org. But
probably not until Monday or Tuesday.
Coming in, I decided that since the brakes were dodgy, I should plan
carefully what the stops would be and how I would get there, making sure
that any emergency braking would be at a minimum. As I pulled off the I-440
to stop at the liqour store, I made sure that I deccellerated SLOWLY and
easily and then carefully braked coming into the first light. I needn't
have worried. The brakes worked fine. When we stopped at the store, she
dieseled a bunch. I did spend some time showing her off to the boys at the
store, which probably gave her time to cool down. From then on out till we
got home she behaved quite nicely outside of the clunk-unk-unk-nk-nk-k-k
from the right front when I'd hit a bump the right way. It gave me a little
pause, but I figured if anything went wrong NOW, I could park it and tow it
home later. Worry was baseless. It's a Jaguar, right?
During the wash, I discovered the road damage pinks in the paint and
started wondering about rustproofing (Thinks: how do I get Waxoil into that
spot?, etc.) We finally drove into the driveway and, let me tell you
people, I was never so happy to be back home in my life. I popped open a
Harp's, poured myself a scotch, took the beagles out for a pee, and then
beagles and I went to sleep watching last week's European Grand Prix,
dissapointed at Kimi's engine blowing up, but gratified at Micheal getting
a little of his own.
When Jeanette got home and finally saw the car, she went absolutely
bonkers. I was a little worried she might not like the color, or the
obviously seventies grille-work, but she loves everything about it. "It
rides like ice-cream. I love the color. I love it. I can't believe it's
ours!" And she caught onto the dog on the dash right away and the
connotations. She went one further - "Honey, I was born in Los Angeles.
Remember?"
Dinner at Las Palmas and home to watch the rest of the race. Then to bed in
my own bed for the first time in a week, surrounded by wife and dogs. It's
a good life.
Glenn
_________________________________
Glenn Schnittke
VP - Tennsessee Spokes Sports Car Club
schnittke@mindspring.com
'67 B
'71 XJ6 Series I
6dead '69 B
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