February 12, 2005
Bye bye old friend
My old friend, the 240Z, is gone... I'm sad to see her go, but at the same time, I'm glad to be rid of her. She's been sitting up on jack stands for the past 3 years; I just haven't had the time to spend on her. The family that bought her has the time and the resources (and the connections) to get her all fixed up and running; I'm sure that she'll be back on the road in a few months now, rather than in a few years if I had kept her. A couple of pictures of her leaving my driveway below. Kind of interesting how I came about finding a buyer, especially since I wasn't really looking to sell her...
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| Z on Truck | Bye Bye Z! |
One of young Sean's school mates, Brandon, was having a party at a pizza place to celebrate his good grades. Sherri took Sean to the party and there met the mom of another of Sean's school mates, Jonathan. Somehow, the two ladies' discussion turned to cars (I'm still a bit fuzzy on how that happened!!) and Sherri mentioned the Z project car I had. Apparently Stephani (the other mom)'s husband Scott was looking for exactly that kind of a project car! Sherri and Stephani helped put Scott & I in touch, and though I really did not want to sell the Z quite yet, I decided it would be best to go ahead and sell it after all. Besides, Scott and family live really close by, so if I ever want to visit the Z, I can. Also, Scott has some great connections in the automotive business, something I can take advantage of once I start on getting the Porsche restored... Nothing like having the connections to get the work done right!
Posted by Michael at 09:39 PM | Comments (0) | Automobiles | Vehicles
January 12, 2005
Slippin' and slidin'
What do you get when you combine a recent rain with a very clear and very cold night? You got it... ice, lots of ice! This morning, I walked out to my motorcycle with all my gear on, heading off to work. I slipped on what looked like a wet spot but was obviously ice. I had to pause for a moment to consider the wisdom of following through with the decision to ride to work on the 'bike. "Well," I reasoned, "it's probably only icy on my driveway; the rest of the way should be fine." There are times when my reasoning is not very sound, and unfortunately, this was one of those times...
After I scraped the layer of ice off the seat, I was able to back the 'bike down the driveway without any trouble, though I could feel how slippery it was under my boots on the way. Heading down the hill to the main road seemed to be fine too, and I thought my reasoning was justified. But then as I got on the main road, I immediately saw I was wrong... way wrong. It was absolutely covered with a very fine layer of ice... almost a frost. I was extremely ginger as I pulled out on the road and made my way to the freeway, being very gentle on the throttle, shifting as smoothly as possible, and avoiding the use of the brakes if I could. Once I reached the freeway, there was nothing to worry about anymore as the morning traffic had beaten the ice into submission, though it was still waiting to pounce on anyone that foolishly drifted on to the shoulder. So despite a tense (and cold!) ride, I made it to work without any serious incident.
Unfortunately, Sherri wasn't quite so lucky. I did not have a chance to warn her about the conditions even though I left before she did. She took the Camry to work, which was overall a better decision than mine. As she rounded a corner near home, the tires lost all traction and rather than heading to work, Sherri found herself heading right toward a telephone pole. Thank goodness she missed that, but she did twang right into the support cable. Sherri's pride was hurt ("Dang it," she said, "I've driven in snow and ice in Spokane; I should know how drive in it here too!!" Or something to that effect), but otherwise she is fine. The Camry came out a little less well; the cable cut all the way through the plastic bumper (sliced it clean in half!) and crimpled the front edge of the hood. Fortunately, the infrastructure does not seem to be damaged at all, so getting it fixed ought to be relatively straightforward. I think the twanginess of the cable was to our favor.
In a way, there is a positive to this event, as we were looking at selling the Camry this coming year: both the bumper and the hood had become severely pock marked after 10+ years of driving; now we have no choice but to get a new bumper & hood which will result in a pretty nice looking car once it's all put back together again. Nothing wrong with making lemonade, right?
Posted by Michael at 08:41 PM | Comments (2) | Automobiles | Vehicles
