Sunday, December 13, 2009

No school like the old school

The brakes on the 2004 KIA were totally worn out -- all those backroads in Kentucky and NY23 -- so my 17-year-old son Jim bought brake pads and offered to do the work. (I've got the hillbilly-NASCAR driving gene; lucky Jim got the rarer and more valuable redneck shade-tree mechanic gene, a recessive trait.)

So Jim leads me to his friend's garage where he's going to do the work, and the friend turns out to be a 40ish dude who is (a) a huge Glenn Beck fan, and (b) an excellent musician.

Dude had a guitar laying around, so we started trading songs. I played songs I hadn't played in years, including originals from my 1980s rock-band years. Then we started swapping stories and next thing I knew, Jim was telling me it was time to go home. Didn't get home until 11:30 p.m. Good times.

Speaking of good times -- and the black 2004 KIA Optima -- here's a song they used to play at the skating rink when I was about 11 years old.

If anybody wants to hit the tip jar, the brake pads cost $40 and, while my son's labor was technically "free," we have been feeding him all these years . . .

3 comments:

  1. There was a garage band in my neighborhood called "The Ides of March" in 1967. Keyboards, guitars and a sax - I donn't know if they had the brass then. Could it have been the same group?

    I don't know.

    They had a good sound, though.

    Cottswald Drive, Delaware, Ohio.

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  2. As a possesor of that rare redneck shadetree mechanic gene, when Mama called and said, "Son, I'm fixing fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy", I would always ask if I needed to bring my toolbox.

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  3. Damn that was funny. I remember the days on 4 wheels zipping around the rink trying to impress the girls...

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