Hot Rods Quotes to live by...

"I have to pee like a racehorse."
- Somebody

"I have to poop like a race cow."
- Me

 

Jnaki, to answer the first sentence in your post , yes I do! But, I can go back in my life and see exact points in my life, that changed my life! A phone call to a girl in 1971, that girl became my wife, for the next 35 years! The day my wife told me the Muskogee Fire dept was hiring! These are the good dates, I won’t mention the exact times that changed my life for the bad. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like, had I not made that phone call???






Bones

 

“WHAT IS LIFE, IF NOTHING EVER CHANGES?”​

Hello,

My wife and I have gone through 60 Springs and Summers of being together since our last two years of college. In those turbulent times, we thought the world was changing so fast and almost everyone was getting caught up in the theatrics. In 1968, the USA was hit with tremendous events that shocked the world. It was easy to get caught up in those events. We endured in our own way and got married… Yikes! At least, we would be together to support each other as the world changed...

But our peaceful, if any, times in our dinky apartment seemed to be a world away from everything and that was fine with us. We sat back and listened to music, talked about “stuff,” and got along with being together in these times. We did not have to change with the rest of society, but as long as we followed the rules that applied to us, then all was ok. Simplicity was calling out as our way of life.

Families and friends all changed and yet, our lives ran parallel to our own families, although we did not agree with everything they were pushing. We pushed back and that was a big change for all of us, since tempers ran hot and for the next year, there were little family functions, or there were, but we were not invited. Ha!
We were bundled up inside of our 327 powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery on our road trips/camp outs and it seemed like a good way to still enjoy life as we liked it to be. Definitely changes in our own family structure, but we knew it was a part of life and we adapted.

So Cal had its positive things and again, it was our way to adapt to just about everything in our simple lives. We were the one car daily driver for each and when a project was finished, one other was sold to make room for the new adventure.

Jnaki

A nice drive up/down the coast always makes things look good in a way to calm everyone down. The western coast line, including below the southern border always looks good versus the shoreline elsewhere in the world. To us, it was home and made things better in the long run… YRMV

 

Yogi Berra once said, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it." I've encountered many of those in my life, and sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had taken the other one. Like when I was going to join the Navy, but the recruiter didn't show up. But the Air Force recruiter across the hall did, which led to another fork in Civil Engineering Tech School, where I was being sent to Clark AB, Philippines and another guy was going to Phoenix. We were going to trade, but he waffled at the last minute. Had I not met my ex-wife, my next duty station would have been McLellan AFB, another place I had wanted to ship to. This leads to another quote: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

 

That quote was actually to get to his house. His entry road came to a fork. Go left and drive to his house..drive right and it went in a longer circle and came to his house also.

 

"Could I please have your phone number so I can ask you how I should build MY car?"

 

Jim

 

“Sleep is nature’s nurse.”​

Hello,

After our hot rod/drag race adventures, we still drove the fast 348 powered 58 Impala.. When the 409 motors came out, I definitely wanted one, thinking it would take me back to the races at Lion’s Dragstrip, but now in the faster Super Stock cl***. The 409 was fast as a stock car and we knew stock car racing with our experiences.

But, with little money and lots of other things to do, we started surfing. After my brother was able to go outside and enjoy the surroundings, we ventured down South to the vast coastline of waves and the big blue ocean. There was something that the ocean on a sunny day, just gives a feeling of security and warmth. It was most pleasant to sit and watch the waves.

So, as our new adventure began, it was us against the powerful waves and learning was not as easy as it looks. But, perseverance was the key. Daily, if possible, waves and balancing to get a hold of the techniques was all it took to learn the fast moving activity. Nothing else was like surfing those small to large waves. The only thing was the constant paddling back out to the wave take off spot each time.

Jnaki

After I was able to get a lot better by going almost weekly and sometimes before school during the spring semesters, the consistent surfing in different waves made me a better surfer. Now, it was fun riding all kinds of waves in the vast different places along the Southern California coastline. 50 mile to one spot to 100 miles was a daily routine in the Summers. During school, a 35 mile one way road trip took us to a local hot spot.

It was one of those all day from “dark 30’ to 4:30 pm when I crashed into our dad’s comfortable reclining chair that took me instantly to “dreamsville.” I ate a big, late lunch and fell fast asleep in that reclining chair. The warmth of the leather was outstanding and soon I was off…




My mom told me later that I had slept from that moment, through dinner and our parents had a meeting they went to and left me sleeping in the living room. My brother was already at his after school job and I was solidly sleeping through dinner prep, music from the other room and parents walking in and out of the same room where I was sleeping.

When my brother came home and a few hours later, my parents came home, I was still sleeping in the same chair. Since I was breathing, they left me there with a blanket covering me. Then the next morning, I missed going to the next day’s adventure. My brother took off for his surf journey with friends and I was still sleeping. My parents were also at a cousin’s party of sorts and I was still sleeping in that chair. YRMV

I was active for almost 12 hours of activity and now I was asleep for another 19 hours, since I crashed into the comfortable reclining chair. Finally, when I awoke, everyone was gone or asleep, so I ate a nice fried baloney sandwich and went to bed. Yikes!

Napping is not a laughing matter that only little kids did in the afternoons. Some things never change 64 years later... YRMV

 

Jim

 

"We’re not here for a history lesson, though. What we’re here for - at least for me - is just a simple and maybe not so simple little trip back in time."



Hello,

History was one of the most boring cl***es from junior high school through the 10th grade. Then I got into a World History cl*** with this cool teacher. He had the at***ude of someone who knew just about everything, but never pushed his ideas on to us as a cl***. His knowledge was superior as he was a traveler during the summers and actually made us want to know more about the historical facts of other countries.

It also helped that the coolest and nicest looking girl in high school was sitting next to me. She was the girlfriend of one of my friends and that made the cl*** so much better.

Jnaki

History to that point was a bunch of dates and facts that I knew in my young knowledgeable brain that we would never used those facts in our real lives. Little did I know about the general knowledge led to a historic vacation during our 20 something days. My wife and I saw those exact historical areas and the memory cells began to jell.

Now, we look back at the Ektachrome color slides of our 40 day trip to Europe and our memories bounce around like it was just yesterday… although it was almost 60 years ago… yikes!

So, although I was not into historical facts, My wife and I enjoyed all that we learned in school and our wonderful trip exploring those places during our European vacation. YRMV

Note:

Applying the idea of hot rod historical facts also takes me back to 1956 through 1964. It was an early time in So Cal and we were just young kids having fun growing up. The ideas tossed around for all of us to remember was sometimes overwhelming. But, those little magazines were just a different way to look at how folks can be creative.

My historical journey was interesting. But, over time, I learned, participated and enjoyed all that we did as young kids. The teenage/20/30 something years in hot rodding and our surf adventures were a little different, but took us all over the West coast of the North American continent. We have been “playing well with others” for many years…

 

Jim

 

“If my aunt had a balls she’d be my uncle.”

 

In today's world, I wouldn't be too sure about that.