77 to 1100

Major changes here yesterday.

If I haven't told you,

the lad came home from BYU-I a few months ago driving a 1977 Nova.

Yep, this beauty.

He had to have a rush 'new engine' put in in order to be able to drive it home.

But it made it. Idaho to Texas is a pretty brutal drive.

For a '77 ... I was impressed. Especially since the 'new' engine he had put in wasn't, uh, new, just new to him. He had it taken out of ANOTHER circa 70's vehicle [???] and in what is likely the only incident of theft in the city of Rexburg, went to have cherry bomb muffler packs put on immediately after, only thinking he knew enough because he'd taken 6 weeks of automotive classes before the debilitating knee injury that sent him home, he decided to install them himself and save money.

I think saving money would have been to take the Salt Lake Express shuttle, get on a plane and come home, as planned.

But he put the glass packs on, IN the parking lot of the auto parts store, drove off to finish packing the car and in the parking lot of Somerset noticed one had already fallen off. He immediately turned around and retraced his route.

Gone.

Someone had already picked it up? Unbelievable.

So he came home with one muffler and we heard him when he got off the freeway ten miles away.

Since then he's had to replace the transmission, replace both those mufflers and has left a beautiful oil pattern in front of the house. [The driveway is concrete, it would only look worse!]

He finally accepted the fact that he would need to either sink a whole lotta money into it or look for something else.

He's home for only a year while his knee fully heals, then he can get the doctor's "ok" and serve a mission.

A dumb night of goofing off on the snowy Somerset steps set him back two years.

Total knee replacement.

When he first came home he wasn't able to fully bend the knee, much less kneel on it, now he can run for short bursts.

In true young male I am invincible style,

he immediately went to this decision.

He took a motorcycle riding course last week,

got his license and yesterday, bought a bike.

Not a starter bike.

Not something to ease into.

An 1100.