honestsideproject.org
For ten years, keeping this car running was my “side project.”
Its name was Blue or Ole Blue if you used cool words.
Blue drove across country three times.
Blue went international in Mexico.
Blue climbed high altitude in the Rockies, Appalachians and Sierra Nevadas.
Blue was also flooded in a hurricane.
I shop vac’d Blue dozens of times but the smell never really went away.
Blue had two working windows because I replaced the motors.
The other two I bolted up, or they would slide down spontaneously.
Blue’s biggest enemy was the sun.
Blue had an odor problem.
The steering wheel warped and melted down to the plastic.
That’s when I got Blue a shiny pleather steering wheel cover. Adios steering wheel problems.
Every plastic fixture eventually broke on Ole Blue, probably because I didn’t give them enough positive reinforcement.
If you’ll note, the center console is ingeniously held shut by a Yankees lanyard. Too little too late? Certainly.
Why is the glove compartment open? Well, that’s because the handle warped and fell off.
I jerry-rigged it with an allen wrench, but the writing was on the wall.
One day Blue’s axle broke.
That’s when I knew I was ready to move on to a new “side project.”
So I drove Blue onto a raft covered with kindling, put it out to sea and shot it with a flaming arrow from super far away.
Thousands came to Blue’s funeral.
To this day, no one knows how many miles were on Ole Blue because the light bulb in the dash that lit up the odometer had gone out at around 170,000 miles.
When I lie awake at night, I can still smell Ole Blue.
I like to restore stuff.
Surfing has been a passion of mine for years. Restoring neglected surfboards to their former glory, or at least a rideable state is my "babushka doll" passion (passion within a passion).
I didn't actually restore the board above. I don't have any pictures of me restoring a surfboard because for the most part, I don't document my hobbies, I just do them.
Here are some boards I actually brought back to life with a little fiberglass and TLC.
Three goofy kooks. Three boards, I restored. The green one needed no TLC he was loved from day one.
when I'm not belly laughing i care about stuff.
Even though I left a Masters program in International Relations due to my disillusionment with the discipline, political and socio-economic issues have always been at the forefront of my cognizance. Therefore, when I was asked to contribute to The Outpost, I was elated.
I could tell you in detail that The Outpost is a beacon of hope in a tumultuous part of the world, but I think this video does a better job.
