Category Archives: cars

…because co-workers are bringing out their funky old cars.

I always liked it when people collect and drive cool, fairly undesireable, old cars.

…next, things come crashing down on you.  Life’s funny.  Not even life in the big picture.  Let’s look at life in a small snapshot.  I’ve been running the 24 Hours of Lemons going on 4 years now.  You get away with cheating, you have the fast car, you climb to the top five.  You prepare…and prepare…and prepare some more.  All is good, and then it all falls apart.

One minute, you have your crazy creation of a car, and life is good.

Next, you’re working into the night to fix a huge failure.

You start out running, and climbing in the standings.  Penalty laps don’t seem to matter anymore.

Then, the car starts smoking.  You need to come in, and you realize your engine needs major work.

We blew our engine over the weekend, but have plans to replace it, and compete again in two weeks.  I’m still not sure what motivates us, but we’re going to do it. 

The past 3 years, the 24 Hours of Lemons race has been later in the year.  We would work on the car here and there, discuss possible upgrades and repairs, and just sort of futz around.  This year, the race comes early.  The car is on the trailer, and we’re getting ready to head out in the morning.  I think it’s good.  We made decisions quicker, got things done, and are (hopefully) ready to go.

It’s funny how all this preparation goes into something which can be ended in the first 30 minutes.  The engine can blow, we can get t-boned, or some other failure.  We have serious desires to show up and win this year.  I think we have a good chance, and a well prepared car.  I just hope that if things go miserably wrong, it’s still fun.  The race organizers always say, “If you show up to win, you’ve already lost.”  Don’t get me wrong, I’m there to compete, and hopefully drive the wheels off the car.  But, if things go wrong…then they do.

We’re prepared, our car is ready, and we have experience in this race.  That said, you also need a lot of luck!

So…wish me luck!