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How I spent my summer vacation (final)

To: Ray McCrary <spook01@comcast.net>
Subject: How I spent my summer vacation (final)
From: Glenn Schnittke <schnittke@mindspring.com>
Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 16:16:17 -0500
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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