Friday, January 14, 2005
So there I was.........
.......sitting in my office, trying to get some work done, when our company fleet manager walks in. "Do you have time to help me with something?" she asks. Thinking that she probably needs help setting up a query, or rebuilding her mailbox, or some other IT related issue, I answer in the affirmative.
"Sure, what do you need?"
She gets a pained look on her face and says, "I need to go pick up one of our vehicles from the shop and bring it back here, but I'm afraid to drive it."
Hmmmm.......this could be interesting. "Afraid to drive it?"
"Yeah, it's a manual shift and the clutch is so hard I can barely push it in, I can't reach the steering wheel, and the shifter is all weird. It's a beast. I hate it. It's horrible. Will you come drive it back?"
At this point I'm assuming that this thing must be one of our big delivery trucks. No problem. I won $50 once by parallel parking a 24' Ryder box van. I can handle it.
"Sure, I can drive it. What is it?"
Are you ready for this?
"It's a 1964 Corvette."
Hmmmmmmm. Let me think about that. Here: twist my arm. OUCH! Not so hard!
I'll never understand why she thinks this car is "horrible." It's got to be the sexiest car I've ever had the pleasure of driving. Manual steering, manual brakes, a 327 small block and a close ratio 4 speed. WOOT!! The temptation to go for an 18 hour joy ride and kiss my career goodbye was so strong that I was actually seriously considering it.
Why did I decide to pull into the parking garage and not just mash the loud pedal and wave bye-bye?
Because if I did that, I wouldn't have a chance to drive the 1970 Road Runner. Or the 1970 Mach I. Or the 1967 GTO. Or the 1955 Thunderbird. Or the 1957 Belair.
I love working for a company run by gearheads. I'll take my digital camera to work tomorrow and try to get a picture of the 'Vette.
"Sure, what do you need?"
She gets a pained look on her face and says, "I need to go pick up one of our vehicles from the shop and bring it back here, but I'm afraid to drive it."
Hmmmm.......this could be interesting. "Afraid to drive it?"
"Yeah, it's a manual shift and the clutch is so hard I can barely push it in, I can't reach the steering wheel, and the shifter is all weird. It's a beast. I hate it. It's horrible. Will you come drive it back?"
At this point I'm assuming that this thing must be one of our big delivery trucks. No problem. I won $50 once by parallel parking a 24' Ryder box van. I can handle it.
"Sure, I can drive it. What is it?"
Are you ready for this?
"It's a 1964 Corvette."
Hmmmmmmm. Let me think about that. Here: twist my arm. OUCH! Not so hard!
I'll never understand why she thinks this car is "horrible." It's got to be the sexiest car I've ever had the pleasure of driving. Manual steering, manual brakes, a 327 small block and a close ratio 4 speed. WOOT!! The temptation to go for an 18 hour joy ride and kiss my career goodbye was so strong that I was actually seriously considering it.
Why did I decide to pull into the parking garage and not just mash the loud pedal and wave bye-bye?
Because if I did that, I wouldn't have a chance to drive the 1970 Road Runner. Or the 1970 Mach I. Or the 1967 GTO. Or the 1955 Thunderbird. Or the 1957 Belair.
I love working for a company run by gearheads. I'll take my digital camera to work tomorrow and try to get a picture of the 'Vette.
