Hot Rods Quotes to live by...

Our complaint person is Helen Waite... So, if you are not happy with the speed of our service, you can go to Helen Waite.

 

Not necessarily a quote to "live by" but sure does make it easier to get into a rumble seat car. Agree?

 

Hello,

Back in 1967, I was selected to play in an all star rugby game in Long Beach. The top team in the league standings were going to go against the visiting all stars, game. I was the last guy in the line leading to the sideline. A wing player or the last guy in the long line.

By the time I got the ball, we were running down field at almost full speed. Then I had to decide to keep running at the opponent, juke him out and keep running, do a small punt over his head to recover a better field position, or cut inside to do a lateral to the guy cutting back behind me for the open field.

Most of the time, I did a juke and could keep running. That was fun when I out ran others to cross the line for the score. But, on the night of the all star game, I had the ball and was coming up to the opponent as the last line of defense. If I could get by the defender, then it was open field to the center goal area.

So, as he came up to me, I “juked” to the left and made a flashing cut to the right and got by him easily. But, as I took the next step, I fell flat on my face. My left knee gave out and I fell, splayed out on the gr***. I instantly rolled up and p***ed the ball back to my team mates and let them run down field. I was struggling to get up and when I did, I fell again as soon as I took a step.

My knee was now the size of a large cantaloupe and needed attention. I had it wrapped up and could still hobble to the after game party. I could barely bend my knee as it was larger and hurting. The next day, I went to the emergency center and they sent me to an orthopedic surgeon’s office. He injected me with some colorful fluid and that showed up in an x-ray, showing a torn cartilage.

So, for the next several weeks, I was doing “after surgery” walking to my college cl***es.

Jnaki

“**** first, then the legs”​

Ever since, then, the quote of “**** first, then the legs” was the lifetime slogan that kept me in line. Getting in the El Camino and driving was not that bad. My left leg was straight and had to fit. But, when I got better and there was no bandages or support frames, I could hardly bend my knee to get it under the dash.

To make matters worse, I had three stick shift cars and one automatic car for our daily drivers over the years. The stick shift cars were an interesting action for the time. Stepping in the pedal was difficult, but the pedal coming back up was a pain in the knee. But, I wanted to drive a stick shift car during those times.

So, I learned to sit in each car, “**** first” and then swing in the legs under the dash. When I sat in the p***enger seat, I still sat **** first, but the “no action” after swinging my legs inside was fine.

I had one sporty coupe that was very low to the ground. The bucket seats were lower than normal and it was a long way to sit first, but swinging in the left knee, was still a “pain” in the moment. This was when I was in my late 70s. That was supposed to be the last car purchased and driven. But, now, the seats of our daily driver are higher and it makes the “**** first” motion easier, as if I was going to sit on a bus bench. YRMV

 

Jim

 

“Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another.”
—Homer

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

“You’re the only woman”
​

Hello,


The 80s were a funky time period in our lifetime, as it was for most everyone at the time. My wife and I did not fall into the trap with funky hair, awful shirts and pants of the 80s. Our style was endless 60s vibe that is also represented by those that were in a similar environment. The brash, awful times were strong but I certainly could not see me wearing a dress shirt with the front three ****ons open and a chain necklace, + a white belt…. Gawd… Our cars certainly were not the awful cars that the factories were putting out.

My wife decided that we would look into the sporty cars and sedans of the European models and go from there. That was a good decision as the USA factories have not put out anything good, except for a Ford Raptor high horsepower truck that has caught my wife’s eye recently. Yikes!

So, as usual, we were strong enough to fend off the awful 80s styles and move into the lifestyle we always envisioned for ourselves. YRMV

Jnaki

One of the songs did have some meaning for us during that time period: it was by Ambrosia

“Because you and I've been in love too long
To worry 'bout tomorrow
Here's a place where we both belong
I know you're the only woman that I'm dreamin' of
You're the only woman that I really love…”

Although it was in the 80's, it still had meaning from our time in the college days of the late 6o's hectic times and events. Our dinky apartment was a sanctuary for both of us to be together and get ready to adjust to the outside world...

 

Jim

 

“Was I in here last night, and did I spend a $20 bill?
(I did?) Oh, thank goodness... I thought I'd lost it.”
― W. C. Fields

 

“WE DON'T GROW OLD. WHEN WE CEASE TO GROW, WE BECOME OLD.”

Hello,

When we retired, we had a new road ahead. Our granddaughter was just born and it was our responsibility to take care of her starting at 6 months. Her dad and mom just started new jobs and were caught up in the “moving on up” scene and were a little out of whack. New baby, new jobs, new friends, etc. it was piling up fast. So, two retired folks stepped in to make things work.

And, work it was. We had a son a long time ago, now, it was a cute little granddaughter that looked at us as if we were her parents. “In Loco Parentis” was a great term. We had our granddaughter for a night or two to start off. But, the late night drives for us were tiring and we never knew when both of them would be home. So, we decided to keep our granddaughter at our house and provide all day/night care until her parents could get caught up in their job situations. And, at least get settled in their hectic lives...

Well, one day worked into two and three worked into 5. The most we took care of our granddaughter was 6 days a week including overnight sleep overs and all day care. We loved a new challenge and that gave both of her young parents time to settle down. Plus, it was a whole new ball game with a little granddaughter, this time for us. YRMV

Jnaki

She kept us younger even after retiring and now, we were young parents again. It was a good thing we were fairly in good shape, pushing the stroller up hill on our long walks in our neighborhood and her parents house, too. We spent tons of days walking all around the local beaches that were our favorites. The countless days playing in the garage, doing art projects and listening to music was fun for us old folks.

When it was nap time, we all took a well deserved nap. When driving back home and our granddaughter fell asleep, we found a shady tree area and fell asleep our selves. We never knew when that would happen, so we were learning new things. We were growing and adapting to our rambunctious granddaughter throughout her young life with us 5-6 days a week.
Future dreams...
Our lives changed for the better and knowing our granddaughter’s ways helped us see a whole new way to enjoy life. We may be older in age, now, but we still keep our lives active… now, our granddaughter is in her junior year of college… Yikes.

 

“Life is like a sandwich. Either way you flip it, the bread comes first”

Hello,

When we were teenagers and we had to walk in the Camp Pendleton Jungle to get to the surf beach, there was no going back to the car to eat lunch. It was too far back and there were always U.S. Marine patrols roaming around the back trails that lead to the beach. They must get points for a quota of young surfers to take back to the Provost Marshall’s office, just so he could yell at them and call their parents. We never got caught.

When the patrols were on the beach, we all scrambled into the water. The marines did not want to go beyond mean high tide line. Beyond that point, and that point is debatable, it is public property. (as high as the tide comes into the beach and as far out as it recedes, the middle ground is mean high tide)

So, those Marines would wade up to their boot tops and stop. We would just paddle out farther to the break and wait. Or surf the waves and hope we did not fall off and lose our boards. No leashes at the time.

So, after they scrounged around any towels, packs or bags left on the beach, they left. Just so we did not lose our lunch to the roving marine patrols, we buried our lunches a foot deep and left the surface level as if no one used that part of the sand. Our towels were also buried deep, too. If and when the patrols came up the beach, the call was out from the water that the mini beach jeeps were on their way and to be careful.

Jnaki

I got to be known as Baby Huey. Not that I was a baby, but I packed the largest lunch just for me. (Baby Huey was a large duck cartoon character, popular at the time) A couple of sandwiches, one before lunch, one for lunch and sometimes a last 3rd sandwich of peanut ****er and jam that lasted into the evening without refrigeration.

Plus, a bunch of snacks after the afternoon gl*** off of waves that went into the evening. The drinks were carefully wrapped in aluminum foil and towels to keep cool. My grocery sack was the large size and it still easily got buried every time we went to the Camp Pendleton Marine Beach to surf. So, I never lost a lunch.

Not even to roving surfers looking all over the beach area, when we were surfing. YRMV

 

MAN! Wish I had said that.

 

But.........it will usually land peanut ****er side down!

 

Just one of Little John ****eras' many quotes.

 

Where ever you go.......That's where you are!

 

One of my favorite quotes!

 

"Tell me something and I will forget. Show me something and I will remember."

Hello,

It must have been all through my school adventures. The lectures from the teachers, as good or as bad as they were, usually flew over my head as my eyes were glued to the outside view through the old windows. Or I was gazing at the various art work on my notebook covers. Which led me to draw other flames and scallops as I was supposed to be taking notes.

So, it did not matter, the lectures were presented well, but in a whiff… gone. But, in several of my cl***es, we actually got to work with our hands. One early cl*** was a jewelry cl*** and it was full of hands on projects. Now, all it took was a demonstration of parts, tools and projects to complete for a grade. Once those “standards” were completed, then the real creativity was put in play.

For a junior high school cl***, this jewelry cl*** was to prepare us to possibly be artists, designers or open a jewelry business later on after high school. The local high school also had a larger jewelry program as an elective, which made it almost impossible to get into once we got there. But, our junior high school program was fun and we did learn a lot of fun things to create and make.

Jnaki

Luckily, our junior high school teacher was an old hot rod guy. He drove a nice sedan with flipper hubcaps and it was one of a few partial custom cars in the parking lot. One other had chrome dual pipes as most had the normal steel exhaust pipes that came stock on most economy/business models. We knew of the chrome dual pipes as our friend owned a muffler shop down the street and he told us that he put on a set of full length pipes with new mufflers and chrome exhaust tips.

But, those early cl***es that allowed us to use our hands to create something was the idea. But, somehow, they lasted longer than most history lectures and memories. YRMV

Our high school teachers allowed us to get more hands on and creative.

 

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

 

***umption is the mother of all f%ck ups

 

Jim

 

"If your check engine light comes on, it could cost Thousands...!"
Danica Patrick

 

“A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.”​

Hello,

In high school, we were all going through plenty of “stuff.” Growing up seemed easy, but along the way lessons were learned in “How to get along with others.” That in itself sounds like an elective cl*** for credit. These days, it probably is offered in the myriad of self help cl***es in the wide spread of curriculum courses.

At the time, it would have been a hoot with all of our teenage friends in that labeled cl***, if there was such a cl***. The interesting thing was a lot of cl***mates moved on early after graduation. Moving away from Long Beach to various colleges across the USA was their next step. But, in the local hot rod scene, the new junior college cl***es allowed us to meet new friends from other high schools and their cars.

Jnaki

From those times of So Cal adventures, now that we were young adults, the memory serves us well as they still stand out. But, when we remember specifics, it becomes a blur. Definitely a clear conscience was helpful in this case.

But, those years after high school allowed us to grow within the boundaries of our teenage years and now we were able to sharpen our skills that may point to our futures. Some did, some didn’t.

At least, I can come away from those after high school years until my final two years of college as a great learning experience that led to the road ahead with my future wife and coastal lifestyle. It was and still is a clear memory from those times until now.

Hot rods started it as teenagers and still burn in the deep recesses of our old brains... if they can still be called upon for information on our activities from our history. It is a good memory when it clicks and our conscience is still around with good vibes. YRMV

 

"we get too soon old and too late smart!"

 

“IT’S WEIRD BEING THE SAME AGE AS OLD PEOPLE…”

Hello,

All along, my wife and I grew up together in all sorts of timeline spots from the hectic, turbulent 1968 attention grabbing news stories in the USA and the world at the time. We had to adjust to where we were living and where we wanted to go, if there was a future. At the time, the easy going coastal lifestyle was a big hit and we enjoyed it as much as we could. The other “stuff” came, happened and went down in world history news.

But as we grew up in our adult life, we did not mind that we were getting into our 30s, as our family expanded. The folks we hung around were all about the same age and we were all moving on with our young lives. So, it was one of those things that no one notices until later when moving to another city changes the outlook and memories from those early family times.

Jnaki

As we happen to go back to our old neighborhood, one day, we saw several folks we knew out in front of their houses. Waving as we drove by to our destination, it was fun seeing them again. They probably saw us and said, what a time to see them again, after they moved to another city. Ha! We seemed to look the same, except we noticed that they seemed “older.”

The neighborhood also seemed “older, too.” The houses still looked the same and some homes were on the bandwagon of remodeling, etc. But, when we arrived at our neighbor’s house for a visit, that changed the whole thing. Other neighbors were out and waved, Hello. Our friends seemed as young as we remembered them, but the other neighbors seemed to have moved on in age and time. Yikes!

Now, in looking at other parts of our own family, they all seemed like the aging process was in full bloom and the “greying of our So Cal area” was in full swing. Double yikes!

So, now, as we all are aging gracefully as possible, our memories are still sharp, the ideals we still have are true and when we see our granddaughter in her junior year of college, that throws us back a few steps. But, we take it all in as we drive by the areas that we “grew up” with her, from 6 months to the teen years. The cute little toddler with her blasts of fun are memories that “keep on giving…” Then, our moments are in full bore runs into all aspects of our “old” brains for a plentiful, memory show… only in our minds… which by the way are still old, but sharp. YRMV

 

Jim

 

"EXPERIENCE: IS THAT MOST BRUTAL OF TEACHERS. BUT YOU DO LEARN…"



Hello,

All throughout our school lives, we liked school because of seeing our friends in the various cl***es. It was like a gathering of young lives doing something we were supposed to like. Some cl***es were those that we actually liked. Jewelry, Crafts, Metal Shop and Woodshop in Junior High School. Add in, Radio Production Workshop, Jewelry Designing, Metal Shop with large machines and welding, plus the all time favorite, Auto Shop. Those made school attractive to me.

But, later on, while looking back at school and all that it was supposed to be, it was a gathering of different kids to start on our way to learn “how to get along with others,” philosophy. If someone told us that, it would have been something to laugh at, although it was true. All of the different types of kids gathered up to 36 in one English cl***, multiplied by 5 for each grade made up a lot of students. Learning about English, but also learning to get along with the other 35 students in the cl***room. Out on the lunch area, now all of the cl***es were gathered and it looked like a mini U.N. meeting with brown bag food. Ha!

Jnaki

At the time, school was fun for us. We liked the friends we made and some of us, learned how to get along with the teachers, too. It was an experiment that we were supposed to learn things about adults, and other students like us. Some times, it was the learning experience between friends that was the most difficult to understand. But, it took someone to either tell us about it or experience it for our selves and hope that it works out.

As we got older in high school, now it was more relevant to our relationships with not only students, but the teachers trying to get us ready for the big outside world, that would soon come knocking on our doors.

We did learn as we got older each year. After graduation, our own eyes were opened to the outside world seeking out our own trail to follow. Most of my friends took off for different colleges and that was a lost world for most of us. Their world was now not our world and it made a difference. We had to adjust to losing some friends to make new ones and continue on our own journeys.
Thanks, @themoose
The hot rod world was not for most and only a few remained interested or involved in some way or another. Surfing on the other hand was a whole new world and the remaining person, me, had to forge ahead with eyes wide open. It was/is a world of sport and lifestyle that makes things simple and fun. So, a lifelong learning experience to this day. YRMV
It started out simple enough with surfing in the early morning and then, rushing off to cl***es all day. It was hard work, but someone had to do it. the waves, sunny mornings and gl***y waves were a great pull to keep me from driving back to the college campus. Yikes!

Adjusting to the rigors of college work was doable and the grades went up from there. Then there are the last two years of college where my life (met my future wife and got married after college) took off in a new direction. So, look where it got us to this day!!! Yikes…
125k miles of wonderful experiences and adventures...

 

Jim

 

No lowballers, I know what I gotz !

 

Jim

 

"It's not for sale, I'm gonna restore it someday"!