What a year.
This time last year, I was wallowing in a vat of self-pity following the
destruction of my life's devotion (for the previous two years anyway).
No, I did not lose a wife or child; I lost my car in an intimate
encounter with a Grand Marquis. I've posted a couple of messages about
the incident so I thought I should let you know how things are a year
later.
To briefly recap: Beginning in March of 1990, on a cold and stormy day
(for North Carolina anyway), I began the Great Refurbishment on my Mk3
Spitfire. Two years and a couple of months later, I finished the job
and immediately took off for a new life as a graduate student here in
Nebraska. Except for a couple of spins around the block to check things
out, I left without even driving the car. You see, my wife had moved
out here without me to find a job and a place to live. After living out
here alone for two weeks in a new town, she made it plain that if I ever
wanted to see her again, I needed to wrap things up and "GET OUT HERE"
so there was no time for pleasure trips in my new car. So, I left the
car in NC with a plan to return in a month and drive it down to
Savannah, GA for the VTR convention, and then on home to Omaha.
We returned for the car as planned and made the drive down to Savannah.
I had a GREAT time even though most of the drive was on the interstate
and there was a fair amount of rain. We had a blast at the show and
even won one of those great plaques that Hal Doby had his company make
for the event. The day after the show, we headed out for Omaha. Three
hours after that, we were in the Macon Police station trying to decide
how we were going to get home because the spit was sitting in the
impound lot, totalled.
Jumping to the present, things look much brighter. I have been driving
the car regularly for the past few months. It is not quite the same car
that it was, but I guess I never expected it to be after what it had
been through. The best bonnet I could find was rusty and dented and due
to budgetary (and time) restrictions, I could not have it done
"properly" so there is a fair amount of filler in places. The body man
did a pretty good job, though, so you can't tell from the outside what's
underneath. (But I know it's there...) The front bumper is still at the
chroming shop. When I dropped it off, the turn-around time was about 60
days which means I should have it back later this month. Once that's
back on the car, it will be pretty much done.
There are still a few odds and ends which need to be attended to, like a
header that is hitting the frame and some squeaks and rattles. This is
actually a good thing though. Half the fun is in fiddling with it!
Don't you just love happy endings,
Mike
mburdick@unmc.edu
|