i'd seen this truck several years before. didn't have as much fun with it then. mostly shot the details for the texture. such fun.
here, at the fourth annual whittier community church car show, the owner was standing nearby, and came over and told the story of how he aquired the truck, and the story behind it. the little bit i remember, it had been in a flood, i want to say in alhambra, or some other city that started with an a. was fully submerged for a long time, and abandoned out in a field.
he said he'd bought off a guy, who had been preparing to restore it, with a new paint job and all. thank goodness he got hold of it, and has kept it as original as he's been able. he's only replaced what needed to be fixed to get it running, and mostly with as close to original period parts he can find.
it has a spotlight that works, but so often people would turn it on and play with it at car shows, then leave it on and walk away, that he'd return at the end of the day to a dead battery. so he's left that disconnected.
the wood in the truck bed was rotted out, so he'd replaced it with wood from an old boat deck, and plugged the screw holes with more of the same.
he's worked on it with his son, and also, the cars on either side. very nice man, lots of stories. unfortunately, we still needed to get moving along before the threatening rain, and he needed to go walk around with his son.
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i dog-sat friday night, then took my car in to the dealer for some regular maintenance. tried to drop it off real early, taking the dog with me. had hoped to walk him home and wear him out, before the sun got too high.
the line was too long, and not moving, and besides, i had made an appointment for later, so i took the dog over to the park to run around a bit instead. he found a playground/four-square type ball, which he promptly started trying to get his mouth on, so he looked like he was playing soccer more than anything. it had too much air in it, but he did get his mouth on it for a short time. almost thought he'd got a tooth stuck, or that he wouldn't be able to let it go, but i somehow got it away from him, and he spent the rest of the time just kicking it around. very funny to watch.
then i left the dog at the house a little later, telling him i'd be back in a bit. heard him crying all the way out to my car. hate doing that. dropped the car off and got the courtesy car back home.
spent the day waiting for my kid to come home from san diego. i could tell the dog was anxious because his 'dad' hadn't been home yet, and here i was still hanging out and playing with him.
time came and went that my car should have been done. making an appointment at a dealer really doesn't mean diddly squat as far as priority. called and inquired. they called back and said in about half an hour, so i had them send the car to pick me up.
kid got home about that time, so the dog wasn't alone, but still cried when i left.
back at the dealer, they said it was almost done, was getting washed, so i went ahead and paid the bill. then waited. and waited. and waited. service guy came over and asked if it has been having any issues with idling and stalling. nope. i guess they had it in the wash and it had stalled out, and hadn't been able to get it going reliably again. closing time, but they promised they'd get it figured out, or get me a car to use. couldn't let me leave with a car that was stalling, wouldn't be safe.
so here i am at home all weekend with a brand new loaner car, and no where to go. was too late to go to the gents' show on saturday, and didn't get going for today's shows.
took my better half out for lunch. his favorite part was the back up camera that showed the picture on the center console. had me put the car in reverse while he stood behind the car [behind a block, with my foot on the brake, of course]. he danced around and moved his face right up to the lens on the camera. that was funny. almost thought he was going to recreate the scene from 40 year old virgin in the video store, but no...
then i've just otherwise been busy all afternoon. made banana bread. then made a bunch of meatballs. and just now finding time to think up what to write here. freaking time change, it's almost time for bed.
another busy week ahead. wondering about that work/life balance they like to banter about. too much work, not enough time. they should just hire somebody already, not just hand off easy jobs to a temp. so i've spent the last few weeks juggling a big workload, prioritizing, slipping quick jobs between bigger, complex work, and tending to the squeaky wheels.
i've put in extra hours, hoping that it would help meet some more critical deadlines, but really, unless i give them an extra week of time, it isn't making a difference, so i'm trying to not get so stressed over it now. driving the freeway is bad enough.
so, dropping off the new car tomorrow, unless they can't fix my car. then dog watching tuesday. probably not back home to play with pictures until wednesday...oh well. something's gotta give, and this is it.
turns out the technician had left a hose disconnected when he changed the air filter. no charge and i got to tool around in a new car for a day. i think i got the better end of this bargain.