15th October 2007

Get that heap off the lawn

I have a friend in sales. Have you ever seen “Tin Men?” My friend Baxter (close enough to his real name) told me this story at least five years before the movie came out, so I have no reason to disbelieve (except the guy is in sales, so…). Anyway, Bax was working with a team selling aluminum siding in the cities and towns along both sides of the Mississippi from St. Louis to Dubuque. They drove a big Caddy that was a few years old, and they worked from a lead list. They’d come screaming around the corner in that Cadillac, hop the curb and leave it parked sideways in the prospect’s yard. Bax would go up the front steps, pound on the door, and if the first words out of the prospect’s mouth were not, “GET THAT HEAP OFF MY LAWN!” then Bax knew he had a sale.

What that has to do with a list of cars I’ve owned, I do not know, but it came to mind when the Head Lemur pointed out that Doc, Jeneane, and he have all done this exercise and rather than trying to sell t-shirts for zero commish, I might enjoy even more a stroll down that memory freeway trying to recall all the heaps I’ve ever owned. I’ve been meaning to do it since I saw the post at Doc’s, but I’ve been holding off on reading the others so they don’t unduly influence my warm memories of waiting in a frozen parking lot at 2am for my dad to come and jump start our shitty ‘52 Buick before someone froze to death. Here then are…

ALL MY RIDES

A quick count says I’ve supported global production of vehicles and gasoline to the tune of 18 cars or trucks and four scooters over a forty-five year period. I’ve also owned a single gear bike, a ten speed with multinational brakes, frame, derailleurs, etc., and my current Trek mountain bike. There’s a canoe down in the barn too, but that probably doesn’t count.

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posted in Environment, High Noise - Low Signal, Miscellaneous | 2 Comments

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