2008-6-22 05:10:00
I got my first car when I was around 15. It was a 1951 Chevy Powerglide. It wasn't the hottest most desirable car, but I made the most of it. I decided that maybe I could add a little excitement to church attendance by inviting some friends along for what I called "a ride around the block" after the meetings.
I started experimenting with the car to see what it could do. I lived in Letha at the time. I bragged that I made up 2% of the town's population because it had about 50 people living there. The local church, however, drew from the farm community and a couple hundred attended each Sunday. Fortunately for me, we had no law enforcement in Letha as the nearest town of any size was Emmett, about 10 miles away.
In preparing for the ride around the block I greatly exceeded speed limits and normal safety procedures. One guy in particular, named Ashby, was greatly angered whenever I drove by his house rousing up a cloud of dust as I whizzed by. He owned the local gas station and whenever I got gas he told me the same thing.
"I called the Sheriff over in Emmett and told him to come out here and arrest you for speeding. He said he's too busy to come this far for one speeder, but I'll get him here sooner or later."
For some reason this irritated me and made sure that from that point on I would drive even faster as I passed his house.
Then, whenever I got gas, he always made a point to let me know he was pestering the sheriff to come arrest me.
Anyway after I got my ride around the block perfected I decided to invite a few friends to participate after the next church meeting.
The next Sunday after church I asked some of the guys, "Would you like to go on a ride around the block?"
"What's a ride around the block?" they asked.
"Hop in and I'll show you."
About six or seven crammed in the car and we took off in the direction of the school. Just before the school there was a wetlands area to the right of us with high vegetation we called "the toolies" and at a speed of about 70 miles an hour I suddenly drove off the road right into the toolies and who knows what.
The bunch screamed to loud they almost woke the dead.
What they did not know is that I had previously scoped out this spot where I drove off the road. It looked to them that we were headed toward certain death but I had pre-tested everything and knew I could maneuver our way to safety.
After getting back on the road I headed toward a dirt corner near Mr Ashby's place. Unknown to the group I had practiced on this corner and hit the gravel just right so we went into a spin and it looked like we were going to wreck for sure. I pulled us out of it and we proceeded in one piece to the great relief of my friends. I then did the same thing with a couple other corners as I prepared for the final event - the Beet Dump.
The Beet Dump had some scales at the top of a ramp. On both sides of the scales were steel walls. Between the walls was just enough room for my car to pass with about two inches to spare. Now the funny part is this. As you drive up toward the scales at a speed of more than five miles an hour it looks like there will not be enough room for the car to pass through and even at a slow speed one would have to be careful. It looks like the metal walls will scrape both sides of the car.
Now if the speed is increased the illusion is created that the space to clear is less than the width of the car and it looks for sure like certain disaster awaits.
Out of the blue I took the kids toward the scales at 30-40 miles an hour and it even made me a little nervous as we approached. If I hadn't practiced this I would have sworn that there was not enough room to pass.
I thought I had scared then when I went through the toolies but this time they screamed like I has never heard guys scream before.
We cleared the scales and literally flew after clearing the scales like the general did in Dukes of Hazard.
After everyone calmed down I started driving back to the church. I remember thinking to myself that I had gone too far. These guys will never want to go with me again and will warn everyone to stay away from me.
After we got back to church everyone fell out of the car and somewhat dazed walked toward the church. They encountered another group of guys near the entrance. One of them asked where they had been.
The answer surprised me. One spoke up and said. "We've been on a ride around the block with Joe."
"What's a ride around the block?" they asked.
"It's the most fantastic experience we've ever had," they said.
"But what is it?"
"We can't tell you," was the reply. "There's no words for it. You have to experience it for yourself. All we can say is there is nothing else like it."
This second group of guys then started pestering me to give them a ride around the block. I was relieved that in the end the guys enjoyed the ride despite being scared to death but did not anticipate more demand for ride.
I gave the second group a similar ride around the block and when returning they agreed that it had to be experienced rather than explained.
Amazingly I never got called in by the Bishop for giving the rides as I guess no one wanted to spoil the fun by telling adults about it. Even so, the next little hobby of mine did attract some attention from authorities.
-- End Of Part Five --
"The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more."
-- Michelle Obama
Word of the Day
Nomisma: The concept of money is an abstract social power entrenched in law -- a legal power or essence.
"Money in Greece came to be known by the word NOMISMA because it attained its authority by law (or binding custom) which in Greek is "nomos." Aristotle (384-322 BC) gave the culmination of Greek thought and experimentation on money:
"'All goods must therefore be measured by some one thing [...] now this unit is in truth, demand, which holds all things together [...] but money has become by convention a sort of representative of demand; and this is why it has the name nomisma -- because it exists not by nature, but by law (nomos) and it is in our power to change it and make it useless.'
"And he continues:
"'Now the same thing happens to money itself as to goods -- it is not always worth the same; yet it tends to be steadier [...] money then acting as a measure makes goods commensurate and equates them.... There must then be a unit, and that fixed by agreement' (Ethics 1133). As a member of the Delphic priesthood, Plutarch recounts (in 100 AD) the first documented attempt to establish a 'nomisma' money system, by Lycurgus of Sparta in the 8th century BC."
(From "The Lost Science of Money" By Stephen Zarlenga; Page 34)
Go To:
Youthful Recollections, Part One
Youthful Recollections, Part Two
Youthful Recollections, Part Three
Youthful Recollections, Part Four
Youthful Recollections, Part Six
Youthful Recollections, Part Seven
Copyright © 2008 by JJ Dewey, All Rights Reserved