Thursday, January 22, 2004

A Vermont Story Well, I was just reading over what I told Dave about living here. I like it, but that's just a small piece of it, there's more, and this story kind of reaches straight to the heart of an important piece of it: My car's in the shop. It's a great car, a 1989 Saab 9000s, 5 speed stick, 2.0 liter, front-wheel drive. Laughs at snow and ice, and smiles at rain and sleet. Handles like there was velcro on the tires, even at insane speeds, even in snow! I love my Saab. I work on Saabs myself, for fun, and I've rebuilt 2 of them in the past, a 1979 900 GLE (my favorite, still. Unbelievably maneuverable. Great on the BQE at rush hour.) and a 1986 9000 turbo (faster than lightning, more cozy and comfortable than my living room. I miss that car, but turbo's need too much maintenance), and now I have this one. I got it really cheap and in great shape, but there's been an intermittent electrical problem since I got it, and sadly, I don't have a heated garage to work on it in up here yet, but that's okay, 'cause a friend of mine who works at Positive Pie in Plainfield told me about a great mechanic in Barre, and they're doing a great job rebuilding this one for me (oh, the shame of having to hire someone ELSE to work on MY CAR, but I'll just have to live with it, I have a busy life and I need my car NOW, not in the spring.), and in the meantime, they're loaning me an old Pontiac Sunbird automatic (I hate automatic, shiftless cars are for shiftless people, but this isn't bad otherwise), and it's not bad. I mean, it handles okay, I guess, but well, it doesn't, let's face it, and I've already gotten stuck in 2 snowbanks with it in the week since I've had it. Well, I set out today, and it was snowing like in a Christmas movie (this whole state is a GIANT christmas movie sometimes. Just point your camera anywhere, and POOF! Instant christmas card.), but sunny and beautiful and breathtaking the whole time, too, and well, I just was enjoying it so much I wasn't paying attention and I went off the road and into a ditch and got stuck again. Well, the houses on my road are about an eighth of a mile apart, and I'm way up a mountainside, and there's I guess about 1 car every ten minutes or so. So a fellow drives by, and sees me there, and he stops his Jeep Cherokee, and says, "Looks like you got trouble." I roll down my window and say "Yep. That's about right. You wouldn't have a tow rope perchance, wouldja?" and he says, "nope, but m y friend has a come-along down the road apiece. I'll be right back." So, he goes, and he gets the come-along and we spent about half an hour freeing my car, and while we were working my neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous, shows up in his toyota and gets out and lends a hand, and then we got me loose, and I thanked him and told him that the next time I saw him in Charlie O's (my favorite really divey Montpelier bar, and everyone else's, too.) I'd buy him a beer. Well the problem is, I forgot his name. I'm really bad that way, I have to hear a name over and over before it sticks. So now I'll have to buy him 2 beers to make up for that, I guess. I wanted to remember his name. I guess the point of this is, no one told me to call a tow truck, and you know, every single passing car stopped. That's why I wanted to tell the story. I love having neighbors. All I had on my block in NYC anymore was rivals. 5:12:17 PM    comment []

So, I'm Joshua Francis Whalen, age 42, 6' tall, 145 pounds, long-time Vermont visitor, recent Vermont transplant, formerly of 93 Avenue B, NYC, NY, 10009. Now somewhere in the frozen snow covered hinterlands of the "latte drinking, Volvo-driving, Sushi-eating, civil-union tolerating" great northern state of Vermont, the yankee-ist of the yankee lands. Right now I'm sitting in Capitol Grounds, a cafe in Montpelier, Vermont, up the road apiece (yes, I actually do talk like that, now. it doesn't take long to rub off on you, dontcha know.) from the State House where Howard Dean used to be Governer. It's snowing just a bit, which it does more or less continuously from December through early March hereabouts. A couple days ago I was reading Scripting News and Dave mentioned he'd been in Burlington restructuring the Dean campaign blog and then he said that aws he was driving home on our snowy highway he happened to stop in Montpelier and think "what a pretty little town!" well, I thought the same thing the first time I saw it too (further proff that great minds think alike), and since I live just a short distance off, I fired off an email to him, commenting that I wished I'd known he was coming, I'd have gotten him invited to a good party or taken him out to dinner. He wrote back that he'd like to know what it was like to live in Vermont. So I sent him this (and by the way Dave, it's Whalen, not Whelan. It's OK, though, everyone make's that mistake. At least you didn't say waylon, my least favorite of all), and well, dave always say's such nice things about my writing and all, and several years ago, when he was recovering from surgery, I told him a story he really liked that I will try to track down and post here, and he asked if I would publish it and start a blog. Well, I really MEANT to, but then I think someone blew up some buildings in my neighborhood and made a real mess of my life, and I just kind of forgot. So here is the blog, and I hope to find the story Dave liked so much (and honestly, which I liked quite a bit myself) , and just more or less keep in touch with the many folks I've known and loved across the globe through this page and tell the world stories about all the excitement in my life right now. Here goes! 4:45:44 PM    comment []

Cool. It does work. Shoulda know, Dave makes good stuff. 4:17:22 PM    comment []

Does it work? Let's see.... 4:16:48 PM    comment []