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Folks Of Interest All My Friends... Know The Lowrider...

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Ryan, Mar 31, 2009.

  1. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

  2. daddy-o63
    Joined: Mar 15, 2007
    Posts: 224

    daddy-o63
    Member

  3. zman
    Joined: Apr 2, 2001
    Posts: 16,731

    zman
    Member
    from Garner, NC

    I hear ya! It's tough to take that step, sometimes it works out, glad it is for you. I'm still struggling to make it work. But you know what? Even struggling it 's better than be cooped up in a cube.
     
  4. THAT, and exactly that, is what it's really all about. Doing what you love and being comfortable with that decision. I too am striving for that feeling and inner peace. After 45 years on this earth, many of them personally tough, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

    Congratulations, Ryan, and again, thank you for this community I've grwon to love. Good work!!
     

  5. 1950ChevySuburban
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 6,187

    1950ChevySuburban
    Member Emeritus
    from Tucson AZ

    Right on!
    Excellent post Ryan, now you all get better soon.
     
  6. Ian Berky
    Joined: Nov 28, 2007
    Posts: 3,644

    Ian Berky
    Member

    I just read both stories and what a great writer you are!! Thanx for chasing you dreams Ryan, we all benefit from it , BIG TIME!!

    Ian
     
  7. Velomech
    Joined: Oct 14, 2007
    Posts: 136

    Velomech
    BANNED
    from nunya

    Cool story, been there, done that. It's nice to see some people search for "quality" of life...

    cheers and beers
    Hodge
     
  8. 64 DODGE 440
    Joined: Sep 2, 2006
    Posts: 4,421

    64 DODGE 440
    Member
    from so cal

    Damn Ryan, once again you have summed it all up.

    If you are doing what you love, it isn't work. All the day to day crap melts away when you are in the zone.:cool:
     
  9. I spent a couple years pretending to be a computer programmer for Uncle Sam. Could have stayed there for 30 and retired fat and sassy. But the car guy/hot rodder in me pointed me in a different direction. Fiberglass, Speedway, small rod shop, Eastwood, and more Fiberglass took over the next 45 years. I never had second thoughts about my decision.
     
  10. ryno
    Joined: Oct 6, 2005
    Posts: 3,470

    ryno
    Member

    theres something to be said for the dream chaser.
    if that lonely impala guy only knew the impact his morning cruise would cause.........?

    thanks for making , maintaining , and loving , what so many of us hold dear to us , the HAMB.
     
  11. oldandkrusty
    Joined: Oct 8, 2002
    Posts: 2,141

    oldandkrusty
    Member

    Ahhhhhhhh, if only I had listened to tht inner voice! But, what the hell I am where I am and that's the way it is! However, Ryan you make the days and weeks go by so much easier because you gave me the gift of the HAMB. I guess I am a simple guy, but it is true...

    Thank you, Ryan.
     
  12. general gow
    Joined: Feb 5, 2003
    Posts: 6,407

    general gow
    MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    sometimes i really envy people with rational shit in their heads...

    ...most of the time i'm just glad i'm not one of them.

    live the dream. or die trying.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2009
  13. LUX BLUE
    Joined: May 23, 2005
    Posts: 4,407

    LUX BLUE
    Alliance Vendor
    from AUSTIN,TX

    My "to hell with this" moment came almost the same way.

    I was managing yet another wounded store in the chain of wounded stores I worked at. (see, once I got them to make money, I got shipped to yet another store where lousy staff and lousy management had driven off the business...but I digress.) It was the day before my birthday.

    before I moved to Austin, I had worked almost exclusively in hot rods and eurocars (not Hondas, boys. just Imagine driving a half primered Countach to wendys and paying in quarters. classic.)when I moved here...there were no hot rod shops. nada. a couple "we do that too" shops...but nothing with the right feel to it. so I did the logical thing. i looked elsewhere. I ended up in Hutto working with a pro mod team...once that fell through, I was screwed. and I ended up at "the big shop".

    fast forward a couple of years. I had moved through the ranks...was making alright cash, but because I am tattooed (like really tattooed. not "playing around" tattooed.) I had to wear a long sleeved shirt.

    Ever been through Austin in august? suffice to say it gets a bit warm...

    after months of bumping around, I landed at the fuck up store yet again...this time was different. The manager who screwed the place up was still there. My instructions were basically to "observe, take notes, and call us if there is a problem."
    great. now I am a stool pidgeon. after explaining to my v.p. that it was physically impossible to get 13 gallons of coolant into a 94 Impala, I said fuck it, I am outta here, and 1 day later, feb 2nd, I had opened Crushproof.

    Ironically...in the same shop as my old pro mod team.
    been chugging along ever since.
     
  14. hankcash
    Joined: Apr 18, 2002
    Posts: 2,653

    hankcash
    Member

    Awesome....
    I'm right there with you.
    We must never go back!

    hc
     
  15. Livin your dream .........good on ya brother......life is good......damn good.
     
  16. Concrete B
    Joined: May 12, 2007
    Posts: 228

    Concrete B
    Member

    I wish I had it in me, but I just can't pull the trigger. You are lucky Ryan.
     
  17. 38zephyr
    Joined: Sep 3, 2006
    Posts: 622

    38zephyr
    Member

    I get it ...

    4 years ago on April fool's day , I quit a great paying job in a company I had worked at since 1990 after helping start it with my Dad . I was miserable , fighting with my parents every day at work and not very nice to my wife at home at times , after brawling with some of the sneaky customers all day long . I have to hustle sometimes to make ends meet now , but since I walked have never been happier ! As you get older , you begin to realize that time is truly precious and trying not to waste it on things that are unimportant is actually a wise decision .
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2009
  18. Labold
    Joined: Nov 1, 2007
    Posts: 1,219

    Labold
    Member

    I pulled the trigger and shed the tie about 6 years ago and have never been happier. I am thankful I did, my life is much more fullfilling doing what I love instead of just looking for a paycheck. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
    The older you get the harder it is to take the chance (kids, mortgage, etc).

    ...guess life is what you make of it :D
     
  19. LUX BLUE
    Joined: May 23, 2005
    Posts: 4,407

    LUX BLUE
    Alliance Vendor
    from AUSTIN,TX


    waitaminnit.....
    what the hell are You doing up this early?
     
  20. Totally relate to this...years ago through nepotism, connections, etc. I landed a pretty good job with benefits that everybody, except my Gramps, thought I should take and wasn't I damn lucky to get it...off I went for the obligatory physical and indoctrination, document signing etc, as I pulled into the parking lot in my pickup and was dwarfed by the mammoth size of corporate headquarters I started to panic...did I really want to take this offramp and take the corporate heavy toll road (not that there is anything wrong with that...I just knew it wouldn't work for me)...I sat there for about 20 minutes and finally reached over flipped the key and got on the PCH and drove around until I blazed through the first tank of gas...filled 'er up again and drove home...when my Mom called later on that day to see how it went I told her I flunked the physical because my blood pressure was too high...of course it wasn't and still isn't but even after 'fessing up a few years later she still constantly asks me how my blood pressure is doing...just fine Mom 'cause I'm doing what I want to do and not what somebody else wants me to do...plus it affords me the time to spend on the HAMB with nobody lookin' over my shoulder.
     
  21. Shifty Shifterton
    Joined: Oct 1, 2006
    Posts: 4,964

    Shifty Shifterton
    Member

    Freakish timing.....

    1 year ago february. After over a decade of letting money pull me around the country without a tether, it was time to drop out. A 3 state move and a vacant foreclosure house are the new job.

    Friends tell me I'm me again. You get pulled so far off center chasing what life says you're supposed to chase. But you get pulled so slowly it's imperceptable. The house is done, and I'm going back to the world, but really, I'm never fully "going back", this change is permanent.

    Minutes before reading this post I had to acknowledge a new reality. In formal job interviews I'm a freak in their world now. We just don't recognize the same walls anymore.

    My change wasn't as overnight as Ryans, it started about 3 years ago. My hot rod project is coincidentally 3 years old. Hot rods have so much fabrication they don't really have the same walls as musclecar/OT projects. Back then I didn't really know why the shift had to happen, but hindsight is much clearer. Life had too many walls, even in the garage.

    Readers, if you can see the corner, take it. Make your change
     
  22. Life...one per customer
     
  23. Labold
    Joined: Nov 1, 2007
    Posts: 1,219

    Labold
    Member


    That's pretty good!
     
  24. Better yet: Life...one per customer-Drive a Hot Rod
     
  25. Salty
    Joined: Jul 24, 2006
    Posts: 2,259

    Salty
    Member
    from Florida

    I did the suit gig for less than 30 days after I got outta a 10 year stint in the military as an aviator (search and rescue swimmer and gunner)....was blue collar before the military and just so happened to pick up three worthless degrees along the way...

    I couldn't hang....I was miserable....

    Luckly I was logical and wise while in the military, kept my debt non-existant and invested wisely...realized I didnt need a six figure job to validate myself and hadda heart to heart with my pops...

    I explained to him the same thing...that I'd rather be happy and live comfy than rich and be miserable...He said what I was thinkin..."Son, I wish I woulda done that years ago...do it..."

    I quit, (did the responsible thing and turned in a months notice to tie up loose ends) and in that time frame got hired as a cop....

    Back to blue collar for over three years now and couldnt be happier...

    Thats when I realized....there aint nothin better than blue collar work...

    I love dirt....

    Unlike alot of ther cops I dont work off duty...I dont need the money...I have a job to stay sane....get dirty and play in an honorable profession....

    Society needs grunts...and I'm ok with that...

    Yeah I get it...
     
  26. JeffreyJames
    Joined: Jun 13, 2007
    Posts: 16,628

    JeffreyJames
    Member
    from SUGAR CITY

    I sometimes think about the job that I am in and how I'm probably not paid what I should be and there is always some shady shit that the boss is trying to pull. But truth of the matter is this. I get paid enough to own a home and some cool shit and I absolutely love my job so why rock the boat. It's not that I am settling but ever since my father passed my ambitions took a serious change of direction. No longer am I driven to make money, now I am driven to take care of my family and enjoy my time outside of work. I am fortunate enough by the grace of god to have a job in these times and one that allows for a home that I am proud of and trips that I will remember for the rest of my life. Do what you love and the rest will follow.

    Awesome post Ryan.
     
  27. SinisterCustom
    Joined: Feb 18, 2004
    Posts: 8,277

    SinisterCustom
    Member

    $100 sunglasses???? Really???
    Haha....good stuff.
    I remember that "Lowrider" blog...one of my favs....
     
  28. finkd
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 1,500

    finkd
    Member Emeritus

    Way to go go ryan !!! don't look back, never regret and get on with it. I made the decision to be a worthless car painter, not glamorous, doesn't pay that well, BUT I'm happy, do what I love and meet some great people. there is alot for being happy in what you do. My wife thankfully has a good job and supports my hobbie, maybe someday it will payback and she can quit her job. but at least she SUPPORTS me and loves me enough to give me the chance to do this. I"M PROUD OF YOU DUDE !!!
     

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