Alright, after reading Frank's post and some others, I'm over the edge.
You are all crazy. So am I. According to my dad.
I have a problem. I spend every penny and moment of my spare life on my
Midget. If I'm not eating or sleeping, I'm thinking about or working on
my Midget. I have DREAMS, okay, about driving the Midget around. About
what it might sound like with its new muffler. About how the
acceleration might feel with the new DGV feeding the new intake fitted
snugly against the reconditioned head sitting stop blazing 9:0
compression pistons churning against the timing chain to turn the hot
Piper cam to make those valves snap open.
It takes priority over school, food, sleep, my [just recently ex-]
girlfriend [she was tired of being second to a car but I told her she
wasn't although deep down I was starting to wonder myself but she'd had
enough], and my parents are giving me s--t about the car like you won't
believe.
You see, you all are like me. Or maybe I'm like you. Something like
that. Just today my father said, "Eric, what you're doing doesn't make
sound financial sense. You're not making smart adult decisions about
spending your money." My mother is standing by adding in her two bits
every now and then. Dad continues, "Why don't you sell the Midget and
buy a good small American car. The parts are easy to get and if it
breaks down there are places you can take it."
I was fuming and absolutely beside myself by this point, but I wore a
cool face and I didn't interrupt him. I was so upset that I didn't know
what to say. How could I explain my love for the car to a man that
clearly had no empathy for what the MG means to me? All my dad sees are
dollar figures washing down the road. Why can't he see what all of you
and I see in the MG and Austin Healy - a FUN little car that needs
attention and care along the way - and a lot of it - to keep it going.
That's just part of the fun.
I find incredible entertainment how many of you have more than one LBC
(as do I.) My parents are aghast that I have two LBC's. A financial
nightmare. I'm not making sense. I must be crazy to be buying these
cars. Where have they gone wrong, they ask themselves.
I'm so jealous of you guys (and girls) who have "grown up" and still
have such a spirited life that includes your MG hobby. I am the only
one of my breed, I think. I'm one of YOU, but stuck in a 22-year-old
college student's body (which basically means I can do engine swaps on
my own, but that's about it.) I'm trying to find an electrical
engineering career (that's my major) but the only classes I do well in
are Philosophy. I find more solace and reward in working on my Midget
(even though it hasn't run for nearly half a year now) than I do in
anything else. My classes bore me to tears and if I hadn't found the
auto shop on campus and joined I don't know what I'd do.
Now I find I've spent all my money on my MG, I'm in somewhat of a debt
situation, I don't know what I'm going to do for next semester, and
nobody understands how I love to work on the Midget. I think I'm gonna
go out to the auto shop lot tonight with a bottle of JD and sleep in the
Midget. After a few swallows it might seem like it still runs...
I'll be alright, just wanted to vent to the list in hopes that someone
out there is a father to a son who's got an MG and might be able to
knock some sense into MY dad.
e
-- ___
__.o,\____ * Eric Mumford * ('v') -> BA-KUK!
/__ \ / _ ) * mumford@rpi.edu * (( ))
(+)`---(+) * http://travolta.stu.rpi.edu * --"---"--o
|