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Imperfectly Perfect
“We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.” – Shunryu Suzuki
Life has continued to be very hectic for me in the past few weeks, and my hectic schedule was made more difficult by a Rhumatoid Arthritis flare that struck me last week. Between the stress, pain, and crap-mood inducing steroids, I really struggled to stay “tuned-in”. When I would try to meditate, catch up on some reading, or even just take some quiet time to reflect, I found myself being distracted by joint pain, or miffed about something, or a combination thereof.
Saturday morning, it was cool and rainy, but for the first time in about a week, I felt well enough to actually get up and walk around without a tremendous amount of pain. Luckily, the rain took a long enough break, that I was able to take my old corvette for a little joy ride. As I was driving, just as I did several weeks ago during a particularly hectic work week, I ran through a quick emotional and physical checklist, and quickly figured out that I really needed to “snap out of it”. Even if I was in pain, even if I was in a bad mood (drug induced or not), I needed to still strive to be the best person I could be, rather than simple wallow in negativity. After all, negativity doesn’t help yourself, or anyone around you.
As I was driving I began to look around my old Corvette and notice some of its minor character flaws. While my Corvette is no museum piece, it is in really good shape for a 37 year old sports car (most sports cars are driven into the ground… literally). However, the old girl has some faded spots, some cracks, some squeaks, etc. (I can relate). However, it has been recently restored, and almost all of these things would go wholly unnoticed by anyone other than myself. In the same way, we each have minor character flaws, many of which we keep deeply hidden, so as to put our best face out into the world, even if we are full of turmoil inside. Read more…
Zen and the Art of Corvette Maintenance
My 1975 Corvette
I have a confession to make, I love cars, I mean I really, really, really love cars. Some people “like” cars, and if people are really into cars they might call themselves a “gearhead”. I really don’t think the term “gearhead” adequately covers my love for all things automotive. From my office, I can listen to the traffic outside and tell you by exhaust note alone if a vehicle is a Ford, Chevy, or Doge, and even more specifically if it is a Mustang, Camaro, Corvette, or a truck from one of the aforementioned brands. I can also diagnose most vehicle issues by sound alone.
Now then, I didn’t right this article in order to flaunt any of my preconceived notions of automotive prowess. Instead, I will tell you about some insights that I learned while working on my 1975 Corvette Stingray, which is in response to a request made by a friend
My old Corvette is in really good shape, mostly thanks to a fairly extensive restoration done by the previous owner. However, like any car that is 36 years old (at the time of this writing), it has some “issues” that have to be ironed out from time to time. The most recent issue was with the brakes, which is really the most important component of a vehicle; after all, it doesn’t matter how fast your car is if you can’t stop. Therefore, in the interest of avoiding a catastrophic brake failure, I decided to replace the entire braking system.
While I have done this on numerous vehicles in the past, the ol’ Vette has proved to be a huge hassle. It is no exaggeration that literally every nut, bolt, and fitting is either rusted solid, stripped, galled, cross-threaded, or the incorrect size. Therefore, there have been many trips to various auto parts stores, online retailers, and long nights full of busted knuckles. Some of these late nights have been particularly taxing because I am generally tired from working all day, and I don’t like having to spend time away from my family, especially my two year old son whose sole wish is to help daddy on the car, but who must be refused because of the large amounts of automotive chemicals that have been spilled onto the floor. Read more…
