The Way Cool Truck and One of Its Adventures

This is a 1962 Ford truck which we purchased in 1984 for $200. It has over 200,000 miles on it. Now that there's another driver in the house, sometimes I need to drive it to work as my job is only 5 miles away. (I will be driving it this week) I have always enjoyed driving it because its an adventure to drive. It has manual everything, transmission, choke, steering and brakes. I do prefer a manual transmission, there's more control that way; definitely needed here in the winter. However, the clutch is about shot and slips. Sometimes it'll pop out of gear between 2nd and 3rd, necessitating stopping along the side of the road, donning a welding glove and sliding under it to pop it back in place. The gear shift was originally on the column but some idiot put it on the floor and put in a really short gear shift, I have to practically lie down to reach it to shift. If its cold outside and it hasn't been started in awhile, its pretty tricky to use the manual choke to start it and keep it running. Also, the seat mechanism is rusted so the seat is in the furthest position and can't be moved anymore. I'm only 5'3", so I need to position myself so that my backside is about 3-4" from the back of the seat in order for my feet to reach the pedals. Pillows don't work, I've tried. The steering wheel is at least 30" in diameter and the girls rest in it, not on it...I have to be careful making sharp turns. Also, too, there is no suspension whatsoever, the main component of the body is Bondo, and it rests pretty much on the axles. Also, it takes leaded gas which we can't get anymore, so we burn high test and it only gets 9 mpg....one reason it doesn't go on long trips. That and the fact that because of no suspension, its a very bumpy ride.

A number of years ago I was invited to a gala event at the country club. I'm not member and even if I could be, I wouldn't, I'm not a 'country club' kinda girl. I guess you could say that I'm a reverse snob, most of the people in this country club are so 'nose in the air', they make my skin crawl. Possessing a rather odd sense of humour, I decided to drive the truck there and make a 'grand entrance'. I do love to make an entrance and have made some very memorable ones in my time...and this one certainly was, but it didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. I can 'clean up nice', bring out my good manners, and behave with class, culture, and sophistication, all of which I did for this occasion. I timed my arrival to be at same time when the most snobby were arriving. I pulled in, rattling and banging, drove past the parking valet, found the perfect spot, pulled up, threw it into reverse and backed into the spot just as nice as you please, right in between a Rolls Royce (the only one in town) and a Lincoln Town Car. I heaved the door open and slid out. I was attired in a $200 black silk dress that fit like a glove, black fishnet stockings, black spike heels, pearls (real, of course) and my hair was up, and I strolled across the parking lot. The mouths were still agape from the crappy truck in the parking lot when I arrived at the door. A rich fossil was holding the door for his wife and held it for me, dressed as a typical rich old coot...lime green sport coat with lime green/orange plaid pants. Here's where my grand entrance took a definite turn...and not for the better. As I smiled and said 'thank you' to the fossil, the heel of my shoe stuck in the metal grate of the mat by the door. The shoe stayed and my foot came out of the shoe (exposing the hole in the toe of my fishnet stocking), my body propelled through the door, almost taking out three rich old ladies who were completely aghast, and I very unceremoniously landed inside at the feet of yet another rich old goat who was dressed even worse than the first one. Fossil #1 yanked my shoe out of the mat and brought it to me. I put it back on and then the two of them hauled me to my feet. I smiled at both of them and said 'thank you'. I could hear the 3 old ladies that I almost killed saying "Oh, the people they let in here nowadays", "tsk, tsk, tsk," and "Well, I never.". My thought was "Well, you old bag, I did, and I loved it". I made my way to the ladies room and laughed until I cried.