I guess that's why the love for cars and bikes runs so deeply in my veins. Being raised around it becomes almost inevitable that you'll develop some sort of interest in it. I remember having so many Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars that I probably could have opened my own store. Yeah, I had Barbies, but I also had a Porsche Boxter for my Barbies and I was quite honestly more interested in the car than the dolls.
Thinking back, I'm sure my parents might have worried that I would turn out a little too masculine or wouldn't know how to get along with girls, but so far I think I've turned out pretty well! I just have this affinity for cars. They always intrigue me and excite me. When I bought my first car, it was a 1994 Acura Integra LS and the thing was bone stock, hubcaps and all. My excitement over this car was probably a bit much, but finding this little gem in stock condition was like an artist finding a blank canvas. I loved it. I knew I would make this little car exactly what I wanted it to be, and to me that builds some sort of silly relationship. A person that isn't a car enthusiast would probably look at me like I'm crazy for feeling that way, but somebody who has experienced this phenomenon, they're nodding their head with me.
I took that car and made it exactly what I wanted it to be. I didn't "rice" it out or anything, but I did several OEM mods. I found UKDM tail lights, a type r front lip, type r springs, and slapped on some Koni Yellow shocks. I loved that car. After 4 years, and finally getting her where I had always wanted her, it was time to let her go. It was finally time to move on and get a 6 speed.
I had always wanted a 6 speed but my dad kept telling me that I didn't. I knew I did though. I felt like the automatic held me back. I wanted the control of having a manual transmission. I didn't want to go fast, I just wanted to be more involved in the driving experience. This was where I might have taken a wrong turn...I bought a 2003 Mini Cooper S. Don't get me wrong, the cars are actually fabulous and handle like a dream, but I got a lemon. By that, I mean I sank thousands of dollars into this thing and it only ran 4 out of the 10 months I had it. Not great odds.
I brought her home and I named her Mimi. She was cute and I loved the supercharger. That whine made me grin every single time. However, she kept sputtering and spitting and just overall being obstinate. I took her to the dealership and told them I thought she had a blown head gasket. Of course, they told me no and thus started the endless cycle of taking her in for weeks at a time and then taking her back home in hopes she was fixed. Wrong. Finally I took her to DDM Works, a local performance shop, and they told me I was correct, she needed a new head gasket, the head had to be reworked, and the bearings on the supercharger had gone bad. Great! More time and money. Eventually I got her back and put her up for sale. I just couldn't afford to have anything else break.
That...is when I returned to my roots. I found a 2009 Civic Si. Probably one of the best decisions I ever made. I named her Katie and she has been nothing but perfect since day 1. I have had to do nothing to her except regular maintenance, and by that I mean nothing but change the oil. It's been so amazing!
However...this is where the irony begins. A few months ago I installed some Tein springs on her and they've been great, but now it was time for some tires. Graciously, my father-in-law gave me some hand-me-down tires from his Audi. I'm thinking, "Great! This will save me some money until I can buy new wheels and tires!" Obviously, my thinking was that there was no point in buying new tires, getting them installed, and then buying new wheels and having to get the tires taken off and put back on the new wheels. Just didn't make sense. So we got the tires put on and it was time for new brake pads. That ear piercing screech was about to drive me mad. Being the car enthusiast that I am, I wanted to upgrade the pads and buy new front rotors. (One of the curses of being a car enthusiast is you can never leave things as they are.)
Three weeks ago we had a "tech day" at the house and decided to install my brake pads. After getting the rear pads installed, we get to the front and the lug key broke off in the lug. This...means we couldn't even get the wheels off! (The shop that just installed my tires apparently doesn't know how to properly torque lugs.) My wonderful husband took the car to the dealership and even they were stumped, so they told him to bring it back Monday. Thankfully they were able to get the lugs off and all was well so we planned a 2nd attempt at installing the front brakes and rotors. HA! The rotors were the wrong size. (Thank you Pep Boys!) The website had the rotors we ordered listed as compatible with the wrong car!
Needless to say, I don't have the front brakes done and the tires that were given to me were dry rotted so we ended up ordering new tires and wheels on top of everything else. Now, a caliper on my husband's car is seized and we are sharing my car with the dry rotted tires! Regardless of the endless ups and downs with each car I have owned, I am still so proud to be an enthusiast. I learn so much through each issue I have encountered and I am grateful to have the knowledge.
So what's my point? Well...maybe we need to learn to find the humor in things. If you never learn to do that, you will never survive the daily grind. We are not meant to understand everything we go through. If we did, we would be all knowing and we would have no use for God. I think He allows us to experience things to build our character and maybe sometimes He just wants us to learn to find humor. If we could just learn to laugh.
What are you going to laugh about today?
