Smile...

[EX#996]

Thinking about my old 'stang got me remembering how I felt when I would drop the car two gears to blow by someone, or when I would let Paul drive it and then really got to 'experience' what the car could really do.  Here are some of the things in my life that have put a smile on my face....

The thumping on my chest from the exhaust of a top fuel dragster.

The awesome experience of having a car in a controlled four-wheel drift around a corner.

Riding my horse flat out bare back.

Riding on the back roads on my ZX-6 and nailing the apex of the corners just right.

Showing the youngster following me in his hot rod that straight line driving is not that impressive when a 91 Park Avenue can lose him through the corners.

Listening to the cars at a car show and knowing just by the sound which one have small blocks and which one have big blocks.  Which ones have gear drives and which ones have blowers...

Knowing the difference between super-chargers and turbo chargers.

Having the little Marty dog curl up next to me when I crawl under the covers.

The feeling of when I hug Renee...

.... And the wonderful feeling of when Paul hugs me.

What are yours?  (Remember this is a 'clean' BBS)

Dawn  

[cornercamping]

1.Watching my 17 month old daughter get "smarter."  To give you an idea, she knows how to turn on the TV, find her favorite Elmo DVD and load it in the DVD player.  The only thing she doesn't know how to do is switch the video source on the Theatre System.  ;D

2. First time I ever got a knee down at the race track.

3. Everytime I hear a Twin fly by on the race track.

4.First time I went to Vegas.  I went there with $400.00 in my pocket for a full week worths of spending and figured that would be enough to last a week.

5. When I remember crashing my Z28 into a parking block in the parking lot of a Kroger's store.  I was doing donuts in the middle of the night, lost control and slammed into a parking block and destroyed the front end of the car.  

6. Winning the Design and Engineering Innovations Award at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show in the mobile electronics category.  I went head to head with top engineers from huge manufacturers like Sony and I won.  To top it off, I was the youngest person to win the award ever.  It's funny watching tons of executives scramble trying to figure out "who is this guy, and who's this company he works for."  To top that off, I met Bill Gates because of it during one of the dinners for the awards.

7. Remembering walking 4 miles to pick up my paycheck when I ran out of gas.  I was so broke while I was in school, I didn't have enough money to get gas to even go pick up my check.  This was the middle of Feb.

I have tons more, but oh well... That's some of them, not in any specific order.

[dylanfan53]

When I was 14 I lived in Iran.  There were these three very lovely young ladies that lived down the street and sometimes I'd spend some time with them playing cards and teaching them english.  I noticed that sometimes guys would come to the door but I didn't know why.

I was a naive kid...about a year later I realized they were hookers.

I smile when I think what a dumb kid I was... :)

[EX#996]

When I was 14 I lived in Iran.  

How did you end up living abroad as a youngster?

[dylanfan53]

I'll try to keep it short...
My dad was an electrical engineer.  Trained in the Navy, WWII sub radioman, actually invented and patented the first all transistor TV tube for Westinghouse.  He later worked for one of Raytheon's companies (audio-visual, not defense stuff) and was good at communicating tech stuff to non-engineers.  That led to sales/marketing proposals, project management and a lot of moving around as they "really needed" him in various places.  In the sixties, Raytheon was involved in educational products and in Iran he was project manager modernizing the oldest university in the world, Jundi Shapour University.  They installed HVAC, closed circuit TV cameras and audio/visual, biology and chemistry labs and new lecture halls.  It is in an oil rich area on the border of Iran and Iraq and you can imagine what happened to the place in the revolution in '79 when the Shah was deposed and during Iran's 8 year war against Iraq.  Before he retired he was in international sales.
I spent the first 25 yrs of my life moving around and the last 25 years trying to stay parked in one place.

And now, back to your regular scheduled programming... :)

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

The awesome experience of having a car in a controlled four-wheel drift around a corner.

Showing the youngster following me in his hot rod that straight line driving is not that impressive when a 91 Park Avenue can lose him through the corners.

 ;D This one is a favorite of mine also, except in my situation it was with my '95 GMC 3/4 ton Suburban. I did the majority of the educating to 1 particular dork that had a late model Trans Am that I would see on the way to work about 3 times a week. He would be going down the interstate at 'his speed' and when I would pass him going 'my speed' he would always leap frog back in front of me and go just fast enough to stay in front of me. I personally always use my cruise control so as long as he stayed out of my way I really didn't care if he was in front. But every time this happened we would reach the exit onto the local Bypass (which was a 2 lane decreasing radius turn) and I would always pass this guy like he was sitting still. It didn't matter if he went inside or outside I would still go passed him with my cruise control still on from the interstate. ;D

     I also had a favorite turn where I could 4 wheel drift the Suburban, even on dry pavement. It was always interesting to see the reaction of a 1st time passenger with me going thru that turn. (note: I always asked a 1st time passenger if they wanted me to do it or not.)

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

1. getting thrown off a horse while breaking it. ;D (no way in hell I'd do that anymore. Aint no 155lb kid anymore ;D )

2. taking black snakes out of the house when they sneak in.

3. remembering watching sunsets from Port Philip Bay near Sandringham, Victoria. :'(

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Dragging a knee.  It never gets old

My first win.  Everyone at Gateway was waiting at pit-in when that race ended.  I had tears in my eyes during the cooldown lap.  There had to be a hundred people waiting for me as I pulled up.  I never saw so many smiling faces in one place, and they were all there for me.  That was perhaps the most awesome twenty minutes of my life, and I'd been waiting and dreaming for 38 years before it happened.

The day I opened an e mail and found out PublishAmerica wanted to buy my book.

Teaching newbies for STT, and remembering through their excitement how great it was when I was new.  That's a sure cure for becoming jaded about what we do!

Catching the balance point and riding a wheelie for a mile.

A thousand good times with my racing friends, and knowing that there will be more to come.

Sex.  (Sorry Dawn!)

[Super_KC124]

Dawn,  you sound like some kind of car guy.(girl) ;D

[EX#996]

Dawn,  you sound like some kind of car guy.(girl) ;D

Yeah, just a bit....

I love my dad, but if my dad was John Force.....   ;D

Dawn   ;)

[Chuck]

Things that put a smile on my face-

seeing my 2 kids get along for once

Knee down

Front wheel up

rear wheel up

My first and only win

Seeing all my race friends off season...what a hoot.

Dawn I am so introducing my wife to you, you have to promise me to rub off on her...

[Chef]

Being able to have an Intelligent conversation with my 12 year old Daughter.. AND being able to have fun with her because we relate so well.. And seeing it in her eyes and her smile, and feeling it in her hug, that she really loves me. I had a serious fear of not being a decent Dad, (I think it's going ok)
 ;)

Sunday of the first weekend, of my second season racing (03)...
By the end of the day on Saturday (as an amatuer),
I had 2 wins and a 2nd place...
EVERYone was asking me "WHATS! going on, Ike?"
 ;D....  Well, I was just plain ole CONFIDENT and relaxed, had a GREAT rythm...
I Told everyone that I thought it was the rythm, and to just relax, you know the thing with your hands NOT gripping the bars too tite, and that... just have fun... (and I'm thinking "while I get all the wins")...

I got SO spanked on That Sunday... 6 races, maybe 1 win...
 ::)

Chef (was spose to be " ;Dserving em")