Friends

Many people have a circle of friends who they associate with. They meet up and do things together as often as possible. Maybe they're hunting or fishing buddies, or they might be fellow car enthusiasts they go to car shows with, or go late night street racing with. Over the years, I have had some of all these type of friends.
As the years have gone by, and family activities have taken their place, my circle of friends is almost non-existent. Outside of extended family, you could count my number of friends on one hand, and not use all the fingers.
In reality, I am a loner anyway, and that's how I prefer it. Outside of time spent with my wife and family, I'd just as soon be alone, doing my own thing. I can easily spend an afternoon, alone in my garage, playing my favorite music, and doing car stuff.
But of all my friends who have drifted away over the years, one stands out, and he is who I'm writing about today. His name is Ricky, and I mention him in Chapter 5 in my book. We have been friends for over 40 years. I don't see him very often any more, maybe once every couple years or so, we get together and catch up on what has been going on in our lives.  Out of the blue, a year or so ago, he sent me something he made for me, and it's really neat. It's an ink pen, that is the same color as my 2015 Mustang, and personalized with my license plate, and other automotive details. There is a photo of it below. Now, I take it to car shows with me, and show it off, especially to Mustang people. The mechanism to operate the pen looks like a shift lever, and there are bands around the pen that look like tires. Its pretty cool.
I don't have many friends, but with friends like Rick, I don't need many. Thanks Rick.

The pen my friend Ricky made for me. It's setting on my car, see how well the color matches.

Long Hot Summer

There is a Keith Urban song I like; "Long Hot Summer" which I listen to quite often, and it was the inspiration for my blog post today. That song, and the fact that summer comes to an end this week. The reality is, that here in our part of the country, we have had a long hot summer.
A lot has happened in our life this summer, so it has gone by pretty fast. We have been pretty busy, and the temperatures have been well over 100 degrees on many days this year, so the coming fall season is vary welcome, as far as I'm concerned.
For many people, fall is a favorite time of year anyway, and I myself have been included in that group for many years. When we lived up north, it was always the time of year for the changing leaves, and the mountains were beautiful in their fall colors.
Here in Southern Utah, the fall colors are not the most obvious change, but the cooler temperatures are. I look forward to the time of year when I can get a lot of "car stuff" done. It gets cool enough that I can get the cars cleaned up real well, and get a fresh coat of wax put on, without roasting in the process. Good bye long hot summer.
Those of you who are interested can check out my book at: Grab Some Gears

It was a "Long Hot Summer" here in Southern Utah.

Driving

I have always enjoyed driving. From my early teen age years, to the present day, there have been few times in my life when I couldn't drive.
There was the time when I first went into the military, in early 1970, while going through basic training, and the 4 months of Air Traffic Control school, when I was without my car. I had left it in Arizona with my new wife. I knew she could use it way more than I could, living on Air Force bases during that time, I knew I could walk anywhere I needed to go.
That was the longest time I was ever without a car. Over the last few weeks, I have been reminded what that was like. After my open heart surgery, I was told I couldn't drive for a month. As of today, I have one more week left. I'm counting down the days.
For a life-long "car guy" this has been a tough experience. My beloved Mustang is setting in the garage, and in need of a car wash. This next week can't go by fast enough.

I miss this. (Photo from a day trip to Zion National Park last year).

Turning Point

We can all look back on our lives and identify several "turning points" where the direction we turned made a major change in the rest of our life. There were many in my life, some of my own choosing, and some where other people had a part in shaping my life.
The first that comes to mind is the inspiration I had as a 19 year old to get in my 64 Falcon Sprint, and drive hundreds of miles across country to visit my high school girlfriend, who had moved to Phoenix. One thing led to another, and we have been married over 48 years now. Our family now includes about 20 people, counting the kids, their spouses, and grand kids.
Some of the turning points in my life were professional, my military service being the first one. That led to other opportunities through out my life that led to where I am today. One of those was a chance promotion that a supervisor gave me in the late 1980's that shaped the rest of my professional life. I had a long and rewarding professional career.
This last week my turning point was health related. I had open heart surgery to repair a bad heart valve. Time will tell how that turning point will effect the rest of my life. Wish me luck.

Reflecting on where I've been, and where I'm going.

The Red Planet

This summer we have had an exceptional view of Mars. The "Red Planet" has been the closest to us that it has been in many years. For us night time sky watchers, it has put on a brilliant display, bigger and brighter red than it has been in recent memory.
I have owned a pretty nice little telescope for many years, and I go out and look at the planets as often as possible, usually several nights a week. Jupiter and Saturn always steal the show. Four moons are usually visible around Jupiter, and the rings around Saturn are pretty cool to see. But, this summer, the normally lack luster Mars, is really joining the party. It's a bright red-orange color, and appears almost as large as Jupiter through the telescope. On a nice clear night, you can even see some surface detail similar to what we see on the moon.
We may never get to visit Mars, but this summer we get a better than usual look at it. Get out and check it out.

Photo of Mars taken this summer. (Google image)

Technology

Anyone familiar with my blog knows that I have owned and loved modern muscle cars for many years now. I'm pretty comfortable with the technology we live with every day, and how awesome all this "high-tech" stuff can be. But lately, I find that it can sometimes be very overwhelming. I am often amazed at how advanced all this has gotten. The things our phones and cars can do, and the information, and interactions between devices, is now pretty scary smart. "SKYNET" is taking control of our lives.
In recent weeks, we are starting to have some technical issues with some of our home computer programs, and certain software we have been using for years. I spent some time today with a couple of tech guys getting some of these issues ironed out. After some time getting a few things running right, it became obvious that I need to upgrade some other stuff too. I guess that's just life here in the 21st. century.

Some of the technology I enjoy every day, lives in my 2015 Mustang GT.

Early Memories

How far back can you remember? For most people, the things we can remember from when we were very young are few, and usually not very clear. That's the way I am, and I think the things that we do remember from when we were young, probably stand out because they made a significant impression on us at the time.
Some of my early memories had to do with machines, motor vehicles, and places on the South Dakota farm where I grew up. I think most kids who were raised in the country, have some adventures they remember, especially if they were as wild as my brothers and I were.
The memory I am writing about today concerns an old motorcycle that was stored in a dark equipment shed on our farm. When it first came to our attention, it seemed huge, but I was only 7 or 8 years old at the time. It was covered with dust, leaning against the wall, and the dirt floor of the old shed was covered with mouse droppings. To a couple of young adventurers, it looked like the perfect place to play. We dusted it off with an old rag, and we were ready to ride. We climbed on, made all the right sounds, and we were wild motorcycle riders. We would return to ride that motorcycle many times over the next few years.
The motorcycle was a monster. It was a dark red 1941 Indian model 441, with a 4 cylinder engine, and full skirted fenders. My dad had road it all over our part of the country for several years before he was married, but it had been parked in the shed for around 10 years by the time we started playing on it. A few years later, my dad's cousin came and talked him out of it with ideas of getting it running and on the road again. It eventually ended up with a collector in Denver.
As for me, it's one of the early memories I will always cherish. My dad, my brothers, and myself, were all avid motorcycle riders at different times, for many years of our lives. Maybe all because of that same old motorcycle.
For more of my adventures, check out my book at this link; Grab Some Gears

1941 Indian series 441 like the one my dad had. (internet photo)