I have another interview with one of the big three this week for an engineering position. I don't know how i came to be so obsessed with cars and the auto industry, but i'm pretty sure i will not be happy until i've weaseled my way into a position that allows me to completely surround myself with cars, specifically their design. I think it might have a direct correlation with the habit of always looking for used cars of interest when i'm out; who else would just *happen* to know that there's a '97 bmw 850r with 11,000 miles for sale, askin $4700 O.B.O. (blue book retail 6500, i could work him down to $4300) just down the road from a cherry 1989 Cadillac Brougham with a mere 101,000 miles for $3400. That car ain't even broken in.
Here's a few stories that make my point... my senior year of college a bunch of companies were in town for the career fair recruiting and they had their respective products on display on campus. Caterpillar for example had heavy equipment to show and GM, among other cars had their newly released Hummer H2 on proud display. On my way to class i was distracted by this beast and had to stop to catch a gander. As I'm squatting down behind this thing, inspecting the underbody, some fellow comes up and starts small talk about the new truck. "Pretty impressive," he begins, opening the door to my ranting. "I don't know, i'm not too impressed with the ground clearance. That rear axle looks like it was ripped off a suburban." He pauses to take this in for a moment, while i continue "those foot steps would hang up pretty easy, i figure..." Well. as it turns out, he was the guy who designed that axle... surprisingly, i didn't get a job with GM that year. Or ever after.
Fast forward to three weeks ago. the most exiting event of the week was when i was passed by an EV-1 going east bound on I-696. two things kept me up for three nights after this event. First of all, the EV-1 was an electric vehicle leased only by GM to an exclusive group of customers in predominately warm, southern states. This little electric bitch, toted by the majority of the press "too little too early" passed me going about 80. The second thing is, these little guys made big news a few months ago when they were all crushed while celebrity protesters stood by. Well, there's a least one left and it's terrorizing work vans in detroit.
nerd out,
Curt
8 comments:
I understand the obsession.
Though anyone that designed the H2 ingeneral is someone that you might not want to work with. You can take grandma's old station wagon and put a batmobile body on it... doesn't mean it has a turbine engine in it. Same with the H2. You should have told him that if you want to design hollywood props, you would have moved to LA...
I too keep track of every car that is for sale on every road that I travel down on any kind of regular basis. It is like for sale signs are eyeball magnets. There must be some sort of visual crack in that red/orange tone of the "for sale" sign. Eventually you the point that you can pass a yard that has some unknown vehicle under a tarp in the side yard... and you can feel the pimpitude of the hidden car calling out to you. It is a well known fact that any car that is under a tarp is for sale!
Dude, you need the bike.
and if you see any wooden boats for sale, be sure to let me know.
it's true, it's true... (both comments)
in fact... i could probably even list a "best of" for cars that i've seen in my life for sale on the side of the road.
Damn you material goods; I was meant to be rich.
A.S, Do you ride?
Who is looking for wooden boats? I see those all the time. I think my family is aflicted with some wooden boat attracting disese. They grow in my families backyards and garages...
They grow and disintigrate.
Dude, what do you have for boats?? This is Dan by the way (new years in Madison). I am always looking for another wooden boat to add to my fleet.
i ride all the time, in my mind. Not so much (or ever) in the real world. But soon...
(If i had to guess that would be Dan the Man, calling in from the Twin Cities that was seeking boats.)
holy crap Dan, that was pretty good timing on our part... I just realized now that we both posted at the exact instant in galactic time.
i'll drink to that
you know what they say, great minds drink, i mean think, a like.
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