Fast moving traffic

[Firearmfanatic]

Memphis was a great track for fans. The pit layout put you up close and personal, and the midway where the vendors sales booths were located was a great place to wander. Ran into Kenny Bernstein in jeans, plain tshirt, sneakers, and a ball cap to hide that distinctive curly hair. I spoke to him and he grinned, put a finger to his lips in a shhhh motion and slipped on thru the crowd, enjoying the anonymity. I let him continue on.

Once I ran into Ms. John Force riding her bike around the pit loop. One of those single speed balloon tire beach cruisers? She was killing time while they worked on the car I guessed... A beauty. No fire suit, no sponsor's T, just pedal pusher ankle length black pants and sleeveless top, enjoying the day. She stopped for a water break, I asked her if she was enjoying the memphis weather, and she smiled. I asked if they were going to win this weekend, and panic appeared in her eyes. I told her I wasn't going to tell. She grinned.

Some of you geezers may remember seeing her on tv, guiding her hubby's car back after each burnout. Never seen anyone else do the firesuit such justice.

The best part of the day every year? Standing on the low wall when the funny cars or top fuel dragsters came by and the pressure wave hit your chest. I loved it.

Then orders moved the family, and I moved on... watching on tv. Hard to get a pit pass, and no matter how close you sit or how high the volume... ... you still can't feel that pressure wave in your living room.

I agree with you 110%, theres nothing like watching it in person there up close. I loved it myself when they would fly down the track with flames coming out from both sides feeling that pressure hitting your chest and making your eyeballs rattle and vibrate when they passed by. The same goes for me as well ive tried watching it on tv and its not the same!!

[BrokenolMarine]

Way back when right after getting married, we had a brand new '73 Mustang. Neighbor at the time put me shame saying I spent more time on the Mustang than with my new bride. Almost, but not quite that way now with my firearms and reading/researching about them.

Before the physical challenges stopped it, I used to keep our vehicles washed and waxed so they looked showroom new. When I got the '12 Charger and had it set up the way I wanted it, I spent a lot of time detailing it at least once a month. It always looked really nice. We pulled into the fire station early one morning to vote, and one of the Fire Lt's said, "That is the shiniest car I have seen in a long time."
The Challenger had Rainbow metalflake in the paint... So did the 2010 Pro4X Titan, which Nissan called Galaxy Black.

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Too bad that Charger had those electrical problems, I really liked the looks of the car, and enjoyed driving it. Fourteen trips to the dealer for the same problem in ten months.... Can you say "lemon?"

The Titan Pro4x often gave the Charger a run for it's money in shine, but took twice as long to wash and wax, WAY more surface area. Even today, nine years old, it still looks new, but we have to TAKE it to get it washed and waxed...

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The 2015 Frontier Pro4x Looks nice as well, but not as powerful as the larger Titan.

[BrokenolMarine]

At one point Tina decided she just had to have THIS car. Top of the line Nissan Maxima Sport. EVERY option on the list. Heated leather seats, heated steering wheel, largest engine, wood interior trim... dual sunroofs, the works.

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We get it home and she gets OUT of the car and hands ME the master key set. I picked it out for YOU she said. What? I never even test drove the dang thing, in fact when she asked my opinion, I told her, "If it was me, I would buy the Black Cherry version." Two steps down, less gizmos and 20k less. Still fast, still handles nice, but less to go wrong.

No, you have worked hard ALL Your life and you deserve it. I'll drive the Titan, and you drive this luxury car. I drove it for less than a month, and handed her back the keys. YOU chose it, you drive it. A few months later, ON my Birthday, we picked up the Frontier. She had decided that SHE really didn't like driving the darn thing either. Hard to get in and out of, not as much power as it should have and we were TRUCK folk.

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We had gone thru a number of vehicles over the years, mostly due to racking up the miles on my primary driver since I put about 120 miles per day on them going to work. But, there were a couple lemons in the bunch we didn't keep... drove them six months or a year and then dumped them. Sadly, we took a whupin' when we did.

The Titan we have had eight or nine years now... and will keep forever and ever. The Frontier is another keeper unless we just decide to drop to one vehicle, which I don't see happening. Both have been good vehicles and as I said, we have come to realize we are truck people. They fit our lifestyle, and they are easier to get in and out of, easier to see out of, and be seen in. We feel they are safer, especially where we live. I think we are done, unless we win the lottery. Then I might add a couple fun vehicles. A jeep wrangler, a 60s Mustang or Firebird, or maybe an early Challenger or Hemi-Cuda.

[dave77]

Ditto that, I love my Miata but it is getting harder to get into and out of. Will keep it as long as I can but will probably eventually get something a little bigger and taller, right now I really like the Subaru Crosstrek. I will keep my old Ranger for when I need a truck, was just getting ready to change the oil in it and saw that I've only put about 2000 miles on it in the last 3 years.

[dave77]

Looks very nice still for 6 yrs old.

I detail bikes and cars and just like seeing them clean. If you can't clean your car up at least do the tires and wheels and it will actually look decent. Dirty tires and wheels on a car the whole car looks dirty. Here is a detailed engine compartment on my Corolla. 65,000 miles on the clock. Has 71,000 now.

I spent several hours this last Summer detailing my '06 Miata engine compartment, I need to start doing it at least yearly so it doesn't get so bad. It's not quite as clean as yours, hard to get into every nook and cranny. I bought a set of Harbour Freight brushes and then wrapped the alternator and fuse box in plastic.

A guy on my Miata forum recently got a used Miata and one of the first things he did was put it on a lift and detail the entire underbody. I pressure wash under mine as well as I can at the car wash each Spring but don't go that far.

[Mags]

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Living off of a gravel road, keeping an engine compartment looking nice, let alone show room nice, is a fruitless exercise for me. Not having any fluid leaks the engine compartment just accumulates a lot of dust, which gets blown out occasionally with the leaf blower.

I spent several hours this last Summer detailing my '06 Miata engine compartment....