"Ladies," Pedicure, Car Show, & more

Wednesday at Lowe's, in androgynous mode (of course), the female clerks were very helpful...since I was the lady who couldn't find the portable electric heaters.  (They'd been moved from their earlier location.)   And Thursday, my wife and I were out walking in the 'hood (yes, hand-in-hand), when a resident (whom we don't know) addressed us as "Hi, ladies." I responded with "Hi." He soon corrected himself with "and Sir", and apologized.   My reply: "No problem, it comes with the territory" as I lifted up some of my hair, though my capris and flats probably were a bigger factor in this little "miss-identification."  (And I sure couldn't do anything about them.)  My wife gave me "that look," and chimed in with "Yes, it happens all the time."  But it was too late for him to see or hear her, because he'd gotten into his car.

I responded: "Luckily, it didn't happen often on our tour."  Her response was "Not every time...just most of the time."  "Well, the folks we know certainly didn't make the mistake.  Maybe you heard a few comments from strangers?  And I guess this neighbor hasn't been to any of the parties we've attended..."  Apparently wanting to avoid more discussion on this topic, she promptly changed the subject.  And that was just as well...   So, we kept on walking.  The good part was, we were still holding hands...

Saturday, the weather was beautiful, and I elected to get my shellac pedicure now, instead of waiting two more weeks.  Since my wife wanted my silver toe nail color to go away, I asked the tech for something more natural...she applied what appeared to be a thin, flesh-colored polish.  Fine with me.  When my pedi was complete,  and I was putting my sandals back on, she complimented the color and said it was very natural.  "It's the perfect color for you!"  Under artificial light, it truly was.  But outside, there's no mistaking it for anything except pink!  See below for an inside picture...nice and subdued:

So far, as of Monday evening, my wife hasn't said anything.  That's normal...I won't hear anything for a while.   Then one day in the future, out of the blue, she'll take exception to them!

This is the weekend I put my sandals away for the season (except for one pair, which will stay till after Thanksgiving).  It will help to eliminate the "shoe clutter" in my closet.  Time to start wearing my ballerinas again. 

The reverse will happen next spring...  This past summer already proved that I won't have much need for ballerinas!  So when that time comes,  all my closed shoes will be put in a sealed box in the basement, for the duration (except for one pair of ballerinas to wear when my wife wants to show my less-feminine side - or hide my painted toe nails!)  Then I'll have lots of room for sandals - and maybe even buy a new pair or two!

Sunday was a solo local car show day, and the weather was beautiful.  My attire was the usual capris and ballerina flats, with a sleeveless women's tee.  Nothing fancy.  I knew quite a few of the people there...including the registrar, and several car owners, so there was no chance of being "miss-taken" for a woman, even with my makeup, purse and long nails :-(

Unfortunately the car didn't win any trophies...but I've noticed that can be expected when other car owners do the judging.  It's not a case of good or bad...all the cars were quite good.  It's just easier for organizers to let people do the judging, than to organize a group of official judges.  Over the last 5 years, judged local shows have become scarcer than hen's teeth!  But it was nice to talk with people I haven't seen for a while, and renew acquaintances, regardless of the show results.  And that's always a "win!"

Some of you might have wondered what had to be done to my car to feel comfortable taking it to car shows.  Fortunately, it wasn't in bad shape to begin with.  As you may recall, it belonged to my father (who bought it new) and I got it from him in the early 1970's, after about 5+ years of being our "daily driver."   Subsequently, I had it repainted to take care of the faded areas, stone chips and "parker's nicks."  Then it began its retirement, living the life of luxury in a climate-controlled garage, out only a few times per year, though it was licensed continuously.

I put it back on the road in the latter half of the 1980's, and it was good enough to receive some trophies "as-is" - mostly at local car shows.  But it still didn't look "like new", and though it hadn't failed me mechanically, I was concerned about continued reliability in a car that old.  So, finally, in 2004 I shopped it for a complete repaint.  Well, at least, that's what it started out to be...

As I expected, "scope creep" found its way into the process once the job began.  Before long, here is what it looked like, with the entire front clip and engine removed, for repainting and renewing. 

Gee, something's missing!

This gave us access to previously-hidden original paint, for accurate color matching purposes...  That was definitely a good thing, since for some reason, paint codes didn't provide the proper color.  And it led us to a number of important bits and pieces (all bushings and tubber parts in the front end, among others) which I chose to renew, for safety's sake.  My plan continues to be:  keep the car in condition to take anywhere, anytime (well, except during the winter...I don't have snow tires for it...LOL!) 

The engine was removed for cleaning up and repainting, and many of the accessories, such as oil, fuel and water pump, were renewed.   

The engine, with over 100K miles, was still fairly tight, got 1000 miles per quart of oil, and passed all the tests.  Adding mega-bucks to the cost by completely rebuilding the engine, wasn't appropriate - nor was that much money in the budget.  So it got a few new gaskets (to stop oil leaks), several integral accessories were renewed, and they gave it a first-class paint job.  

Above is the completed renewal of the front end, before engine and front clip re-installation.   Rust visible in the first picture was all of the surface variety.  No frame,  floorboard, door or trunk welding, patching or replacing were required,  thanks to Ziebart rustproofing my father's dealer had given it when new.  (Funny how "over they years," that procedure has been made superfluous, due to improvements in new car construction.)

Then, like Humpty-Dumpty in the nursery rhyme, "all the king's horses and all the king's men" began to put everything back together again.   Reassembly will be covered in the next chapter of this story!