Amidst a flurry of activity in today's office that included multiple story leads, interviews, and the return of my officemate and director of the office, one thing stood out; a homemade car that is described as a "rat rod."
This tiny car is absolutely amazing. It has a bent wrench for a steering rod and another for the gas pedal. The gear shifter is made of a screwdriver. There is no hood and when you sit in the seat, you're right next to the gear-shaft running to the back wheels. What floors exist is made coca-cola trays. The front lamp is one, giant light, a cow bell hangs from where the front fender would be if there were a fender, and a raccoon tail hangs from where the windshield would be if there were a windshield.
Need I go on?
Anyways, I took a quick spin in the passenger's seat around SLAC grounds to find a tree to take a picture of the car. The guy was really nice and had actually driven the thing 50 miles from Morgan Hill that morning (apparently bugs and rocks are a lot more of a hassle when you don't have a windshield).
But the rat rod has won awards, and you can tell why. It is immensely cool and very well put together (it gets up to 120 mph before the front wheels start to wobble). Apparently it has beaten Harley-Davidsons and a 2002 Camaro in a race.
See all the amazing things I'm learning about and experiencing at SLAC? Once again, the life of a writer RULES because you get to meet people like this and see things exactly like this car. It's something I will never see anywhere else, and I get to ride in it and write about it for money!
This tiny car is absolutely amazing. It has a bent wrench for a steering rod and another for the gas pedal. The gear shifter is made of a screwdriver. There is no hood and when you sit in the seat, you're right next to the gear-shaft running to the back wheels. What floors exist is made coca-cola trays. The front lamp is one, giant light, a cow bell hangs from where the front fender would be if there were a fender, and a raccoon tail hangs from where the windshield would be if there were a windshield.
Need I go on?
Anyways, I took a quick spin in the passenger's seat around SLAC grounds to find a tree to take a picture of the car. The guy was really nice and had actually driven the thing 50 miles from Morgan Hill that morning (apparently bugs and rocks are a lot more of a hassle when you don't have a windshield).
But the rat rod has won awards, and you can tell why. It is immensely cool and very well put together (it gets up to 120 mph before the front wheels start to wobble). Apparently it has beaten Harley-Davidsons and a 2002 Camaro in a race.
See all the amazing things I'm learning about and experiencing at SLAC? Once again, the life of a writer RULES because you get to meet people like this and see things exactly like this car. It's something I will never see anywhere else, and I get to ride in it and write about it for money!
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