Brock, Cullen, et al.
Now here's a touchy subject if I ever heard one!! Our relationship with
our Tigers vis-a-vis our women. Bet some psychologist could have a field
day with this one; do a thesis project on Tiger owners love life?? Given
the present emphasis on political correctness and the fact that this is an
open forum, most of us probably shirk from expressing our real feelings.
Do we really want equality in the automotive realm?? But then women are
probably not going to give up their safe nices either. Reading your
comments Brock made me laugh, but also reminded me of an experience I had
with Beckie in the second year of our marriage. We (I say we, but it was
my idea) and a colleague of mine went together and bought a 30' Catalina
sailboat. It was really nice; brand new, roller furling, etc., etc. I had
had some experience with sailboats and felt pretty confident, maybe too
confident, of my skills. On the other hand Beckie had scarcely ever been
on a sail boat let alone sail one. After a few trips out and some coaxing
on my part I finally got Beckie to take the wheel. We were in San Diego
Bay and were on a Southerly tack towards the Coronado Bridge. Now those
bridge supports look pretty far apart, but it just wouldn't do to run to
them and as we drew closer I started getting kind of nervous because I
noticed that the bearing of one of the pillars was staying rock steady. At
least one thing I had learned while sailing is that when something's
bearing doesn't change, then you are on a collision course. So I started
suggesting, tactfully of course, that maybe Beckie should point a little
more to windward in order to go between the uprights. With her hands
firmly on the wheel she informed me that she knew what she was doing and
suggested I mind my own business. Meanwhile, the bearing of the pillar in
question remained rock steady. Obviously Beckie was assuming that the boat
was headed the way it was pointed, the term "leeway" being a concept with
which she was not yet acquainted. I figured (wrongly) that at some point
we would get so close that the impending collision would become obvious and
Beckie would start to take evasive action. WRONG!! At what must have been
the last possible moment I started the auxiliary diesel, threw it into
reverse and missed crashing into the subject pillar by what seemed like
only a few feet. Boy, are those concrete pillars big!! What may not be a
surprise to many of you, but was to me was that Beckie was incensed that I
had interceded unnecessarily. Probably if you were to ask her to this day,
she would still maintain that everything was going to be OK. I don't think
so!!
Sometimes I think about this experience and wonder how I could have handled
it better. Choice 1: Pissed off wife. Choice 2: $50k boat on the bottom
of San Diego Bay. Choice 3: Don't let her drive in the first place. Maybe
option 3 is the best, or maybe even sinking the damned boat. Definitely
not option 1.
Beckie and I have worked out our relationship in many circumstances over
the years since this particular situation, but I look back on this
particular one as one of those "defining moments" in our development. And
Cullen, I'm sure you and Bobbie will have many unique ones of your own.
How you resolve them I'm sure will be an interesting journey. Best of luck
to both of you.
Best regards,
Bob
At 01:35 PM 11/6/97 -0800, you wrote:
>Congratulations, but take it from me don't let her drive. You'll be
>spending the rest of you r life fighting for seat time. Put in a heavy
>clutch and fix the seat so it can't move forward.
>On Thu, 06 Nov 97 08:29:00 MST "Bennett, Cullen"
><p21988@gegpo8.geg.mot.com> writes:
>>
>>Hi to all;
>>
>>NEWS FLASH!
>>
>>For those of you who got to meet Bobbie at the TU XXII this past
>>summer, she
>>is now officially my new Tiger navigator. We got married this past
>>weekend
>>up in the mountains in Arizona. She has already been talking about
>>going to
>>Big Bear this year. It sure is nice having a spouse that enjoys the
>>same
>>hobby (or is that Hubby?). The first crisis will be when she asks to
>>drive
>>it, that will be a tough one.
>>
>>Cullen in Tempe AZ (B9472658)
>>
>
>
Bob Palmer
UCSD, AMES Dept.
rpalmer@ames.ucsd.edu
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