January 26, 2005; Big Bend Laudry Day

Up at dawn with a fist full of cereal, I was greeted by a band of Javelina looking for a nibble. Not wanting to get mauled, I shouted “Silly Javelina, Trix are for kids!” This was fun, but ineffective. Throwing rocks proved to be fun AND effective. With play time over, it was time to get down to brass tacks. After three days without a shower and having four changes of clothes in the last twelve days, I stank. Go figure. A trip to the laundry mat and showers was in order.

I had more than enough gas for the twenty mile drive, but stopped for a top-off anyway. As I was donning my helmet after a fill, when an Aston Martin Vanquish S appeared. Two gentleman exited the cockpit and I just had to start a conversation. I complemented the man gassing it up on his exemplary ride. He said thank you and asked me if I would like to have a closer look. Yes I would! He popped the hood to reveal the 500+ horsepower beast. Turns out this car is the only one of its kind in the states; shipped in for the LA Auto Show.

The Gentleman on the left is Steve Wilkinson, who was the editor of Car and Driver in the 70’s and is now on assignment to review the Vanquish S for another magazine. The gentleman on the right is Ron, a guy lucky enough to have the right connections to ride along in this exquisite machine. Coincidentally, Car and Driver is the only magazine I have ever had a subscription to for the simple fact that I enjoy the writing as much as the subject matter.

Steve, Ron, and I swapped stories for a bit. Steve has quite the life. He gets paid to write on everything: high-end cars, one-of-a-kind factories, learning to fly.

As I gave him the address to the site, I simultaneously regretted not spending more time editing. Oh well. I appreciate every complement on the site, but I can't help but think you are all being civil. It would be nice to know whether my writing is complete rubbish, or just mostly rubbish. From a professional point of view of course.

Later on at the Laundry mat, the lady in line ahead of me dropped her bottle of Tide. Being the nice guy I am, I grabbed one of my shirts and helped with the clean up. Plus now, I had detergent for my wash. Badda-bing! The people looked at me funny as I stripped down to just a pair of mesh shorts to put every other article of clothing I had into the laundry. As if they had never seen efficiency before.