Art & Inspiration When did you realize you were/are odd?

odd? My mother in law almost had a heart attack when she came upon me reading to my son who was 18 months old from a 36 Dodge repair manual. I felt it was prefect reading material lol

 

There, I fixed that for you.......

Ray

 

When I was 17 I stood up my date so we could go racing at the strip outside town. I rolled my car later that night. 40+ years later I still hear from her.

 

I think people who pay good money and waste time sitting around watching a bunch of thugs chase a ball, and refer to them as "we" is very odd. I don't think the hot rod and old car hobby is odd at all.

 

This morning...

 

I think "oddness" is an outmoded concept-


...is that weird?

 

For me it was a three stage process.
At the beginning, I thought it was everyone else that was 'odd'.
As I got older, it dawned on me that it could just possibly be me that was a bit left-field. Surely not ????
Eventually I embraced it, and now I wouldn't have it any other way.......

Question. Is it that we have remained the same and still embrace an older (better?) era, and the world has changed around us? The 'new world' looks upon us as odd, yet we have been a constant. Is it not the 'new world' that has changed and become odd ???
I'm gonna go with that..................

 

I would rather be considered odd then fall in line with the Ass clowns that are the new normal. We are living in a bizzaro world.
I will keep doing what I do. If that is odd, so be it. Never cared what others think about me or my practices.

 

On my last birthday. Now, wait a minute, you said "odd," not "old." Never mind.

 

Old was exactly what I saw at first glance and was wondering why everyone was talking about feeling odd. Since your query makes sense now. I never felt odd, just enlightened. As an example: at around age five or six (circa 1953) we lived on one of the main roads in and out of our small town, I used to sit on the wall that separated the road from the front yard and see if I could identify the make of the car or truck from a distance of a quarter mile or so. After that got too easy or boring, identifying the vehicle by the sound without looking became the game. The easiest targets were straight eight Buicks and Pontiacs and of course flathead Fords of the 49 to 53 variety. The Ford F1 pickups also had a distinctive whistling sound at a certain speed due to the openings at the front of the hood. If that's oddness then I embrace it.

 

Odd? I act like I’m 16 and I’m 73! Nothing odd about that, is there?


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I always knew that I was OK, but realized early on that almost everyone else was screwed up.

 

I'm perfectly normal for my family. We just march to the beat of a different drummer or as John Riggins said once, "Sometimes I can't even hear the drummer."

 

Happened to find this on the web and thought it fit in here.

 

We are normal people, living in an abnormal world!

 

Ya, never did figure out how them tubes worked when I was pulling them out of Mom & Dads floor model stereo
cabinet about 55 years ago

My son had been dating a nice girl in high school, then they both went diffrent ways so I asked him what happend.
He said, Dad Im just looking for a normal girl friend
I responded good luck with that son

 

Apparently I realized it reading this thread...

I’ve always been a car guy, but apparently I’m odd as i like sports as well, I played basketball, my teenagers play basketball, I coach basketball and yes I watch basketball as well, and if that is cause for someone to not like me then I don’t want to know them anyways


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When I was a little kid my mother threatened that there would be no more toys at Christmas
cause all I did was tear them apart.
Why can't you be like the other kids.
Even though my father was a carpenter he got it, when I was ten or so he got me my first set of wrenches.

 

I don’t understand the sports hatred either. Isn’t racing a sport? I’m thinking that it’s more about repressing some bad or embarrassing memories from high school.

 

I blame my dad.

 

I’m a firm believer people should do something that makes them happy, no matter what it is.


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I agree. My father in law, another car guy, had a rule in the house for my wife and her brother growing that they couldn't play any sports unless it involved an engine. Later in life my wife found a lot of enjoyment in running that she likely missed out on in her formative years.

To keep it on-topic, here's a funny story how sports led to me buying a 58 Ford.

I played men's league hockey all through law school, and when I graduated and moved back home to NJ, I was too far away from the rink and team I played with. So I joined a new league local to me in NJ, and just told the director to add me to whatever team needs a warm body and can deal with a shitty forward who can play center or right wing. I got added to a team and began playing some games, and struck up a conversation with a Chinese guy on my team who played defense and was also into cars, albeit imports. One game I drove my 57 to the rink, and he commented that his brother had a 58 Ford. Me, thinking that there was a low probability of there being more than one Chinese guy in the central NJ area that owned a 58 Ford, I put together that his brother was a dude named Nate that I was in a car club with when I was in high school. Nate had moved to Minnesota, but I came to find out he left the Ford at his parents house locally. His brother said they were trying to sell it, were asking $1500, and asked me if either I would be interested or if I knew someone who would be. Remembering that the car was a pile of shit over 10 years ago, I passed. The season went by and after the last game of the year, he said to me, "Listen, the neighbors are bitching, make me a reasonable offer." I said if the car starts, runs and stops I'll give you $750. Sure as shit, on decade old gas, the sonuvabitch fired right up. I put air in the 4 flat tires and drove it home. 302 roller engine with a AOD, E cam, headers, Barry Grant carb.... just an absolute abomination. I drove it around for a few months and sold it off for parts. I even took it to Court one day haha.

 

@57JoeFoMoPar

Did the Judge find you in Contempt?

Ray

 

My Mondays go much better than most, because I am not a Foot Ball Fan

 

That's what my husband says.
Sports are all about human achievement [hobbies incl] , Politics is all about human failure.[Ego's]

He does joke about some sports though!

What's the difference between Golf and Car Racing?
.......You only need one ball to play Golf

 

Probably should have. The William J. Brennan Courthouse is a magnificent building full of hand-painted frescoes, marble walls, and incredible woodwork and moldings, built in 1910. It's registered as a national historic building, as it was where William J. Brennan, Jr. sat as a State judge before ultimately ascending to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Parking that pile of junk in front of the building ruins the ambiance.

 

Wow what a bunch of weirdos!
I think that I have some degree of aspergers, I’ve been fixated on cars since I was a kid. Tonka trucks, hot wheels, model cars, etc. Would spend hours with car books and magazines. Could ID just about any car as a kid. I had no interest in organized sports. Decided when I was older to do something not so car related and became a Civil Engineer, but that lead me into being an expert in automotive track design. Found not to many people in the civil engineering field understand vehicle dynamics required for testing. I have expanded my interests into woodworking, hiking and am an avid bicyclist, but I do have 4 vehicles and many parts for an additional potential project.


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Yeah, I guess I´m odd, it´s because it´s a 4dr, right? I could make it a 3dr, so I´m even odderer

 

When I was born the doctor asked my parents, what's his name? Dad said we're not sure he hasn't told us yet.