Take the Help…

As I get older in this car guy’s life, I find myself preferring to be left alone most of the time. Sure it’s fun to go to a Cars & Coffee deal or a swap meet with buddy, but on a family-free Saturday, I’m just as happy being solo in my garage and getting small checklist stuff done. I’m at the age that I don’t find myself needing to be in a big club or go to every single car event anymore. Go ahead, call me the hot rod hermit.

A few weekends ago I decided to take the ’57 Safari to work after a long, wet winter stored on the side of our house. The cold motor was struggling to idle as a result of moisture that had obviously gotten into the already-crappy California gasoline. This caused me to give it a little too much throttle in an attempt to keep her from stalling as I pulled away. Instead the rear wheels sunk deep into the gravel pad. Out came the floor jack and wood boards, but as soon as the heavy wagon hit gravel again it sank even deeper. This went on for hours. It dawned on me that the record rainfall levels had actually softened the ground so much, that the loose gravel was acting like quicksand. My wife told me to call for a friend’s help or a tow truck, but I was determined that with enough wood and precision jacking, I could handle this dilemma alone… As the sun set 4 long hours later, I screamed at the sky with a bruised back, broken boards, and no real progress.

The following Saturday, a local car buddy showed up with more wood, a better plan with the floor jack, and after a slight tug from his pick up, the Safari was free at last… Yeah, guess I shoulda called him in the first place.