Wheeled Wonder Pants
Neatus' little place to give his views on the wheels and gears in life. That isn't a figurative statement either.
Monday, November 7, 2011
What's In a Name
"Banessa" and I have names for our vehicles. Her truck is Sam the Ram, my old Jeep was El Scorcho, her Trailblazer is Jane Doe, my KLR650 was called Delta Force at work and the new Jeep is Enzo....we also have a few other vehicles in the family or in our past with names.
All these names have some sort of significance or reason for being. Sam rhymes with Ram, and I was listening to Weezer when I named the Liberty El Scorcho. Ah yes, those half Japanese girls do get me every time. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, names...lets see. Jane can hide out in any parking lot with all her plain Jane sisters and Enzo...well duh, he is as fast as a Ferrari 458! Oh, I forgot the old KLR otherwise known as Delta Force. People at work thought it looked like a bike Chuck Norris would ride so they gave it a fitting name.
Some of these names came easy and some with a little more effort. The one thing they all had/have in common is that they have some essence of the rides character in it. The names defined the rigs.
What a dilemma. We are having a baby boy and we are supposed to figure out his name and have it ready before he even gets here. They should let us name him a few days later so we can fit him with the right name. That is how we did all the cars and they got sweet names. We named them after we got to know them. I don't want to name him Chevy and then find out he would be better as a Ford. In any case, I have thrown every car, tool and motorcycle name I could at Banessa (Banessa is a sweet name right?) and she hasn't like any of them. Oh well, I am sure what ever name the little dude gets it will be just right even if I don't get to name him Ducati or Jeepster Commando. Even though (insert name here) will have a name already when he is born I know he will define his name, it won't define him and I guess that is what makes little boys cooler than cool cars.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Making It Yours
I'm sitting in a parking lot wasting time because apparently I am up way to early for any stores to be open. To add to my irritating circumstances I am typing this blog on my phone on a touch screen....argh! As I sit here with nothing to do, upset by my lack of activities one thing in this parking lot soothes me. An early VW van sits nearby. It is obviously loved by someone as it has been customized tastefully to the owners liking. It has a silver flame job and nice paint. It looks to be lowered a bit and the best part is that it looks to be a daily driver. I am not a one of those huge veeedub fannigons but I am a lover and particpatorian in car culture. I appreciate that this guy or gal takes pride in this classic vehicle and that he or she has made it his. He added his own touch to the Vanagon making it his personal piece that can get him to and from work in his own style. I like personal style even when it isn't a style I would choose for myself. Good on you VW van dude.....Does your ride reflect your style? Can you find the made up words in this post?
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Go Find a Snow Cone
Friday, June 17, 2011
Spray and Pray
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Men, Save Yourselves!
Ron being very manish and pulling a motor to put into a project of his. |
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Dads, Wrenches and Red Foxes
When I was little I had books about cars and a poster of a Lamborghini Testorosa on my wall. I loved driving my go cart and riding my dirt bike. I loved (and still do) everything with wheels or a motor. However, I didn't love to work on them. I was lazy and I wanted someone else to do the dirty work. None the less, my dad always pulled my little brother (sometimes he would take long poops to get out of some work) and me outside when the 72 Cougar needed brakes or that time when the 65 Ford F-100 threw a rod and needed a new engine. He walked us through how to clean and rebuild the carb on the go cart and how to bust and replace tires on the 84 Chevy pickup...I always remember being a little upset that my friends were out playing while I was handing wrenches to my dad as he had good time spening the day with his sons and listening to the oldies station blaring (on some stereo we had found and fixed) in the driveway. Now that I am no longer a boy I realize how awesome it was of my dad to teach me the difference between standard and metric wrenches and how you can be self reliant. He showed me to not be afraid, if you can take something apart then you can put it back together. He grew up in a time where you fixed things instead of buying new ones and you used your noggin to figure out how to make something broken work again. He showed me how to use ingenuity, smarts and elbow grease and also to spend time with your but head kids. I love him for teaching me that...those skills don't just work on broken CV shafts and burnt out clutches.
I read a little statistic in Men's Health the other day that said that by the year 2048 do it-yourself skills will vanish. Not with this fox, and I hope my cub still remembers how to change her own spare tire when she grows up.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Patience is a Virtue (That I don't have)
Before
After