- Joined
- Mar 5, 2005
- Messages
- 9,929
- Reaction score
- 1,451
I live in a very weird town.
Los Alamos, NM was never meant to be a “town,” of course-it was a temporary place to secretly develop and construct the atomic bombs used in WWII-after that, the land it was on was supposed to be returned to the homesteaders, Indians, and boy’s school that it had been seized from. Of course, that never happened, and now it’s a full fledged “city,” with a population of just over 12000-a population that swells to close to twice that during the work day. According the census, Los Alamos has the highest number of PhDs per capita in the U.S. It’s not unusual to see some of our “nutty professor” types showing up for lunch in their pajamas…of course, now they can claim to have started a fashion trend, but should they have? :lol: It’s the sort of place where you can see an atomic bomb at the carwash:
No wonder such a small town has 40 churchesÂ…..:lol: (Of course thatÂ’s a modelÂ…:lfao: )
And we have wonderful free weekly summer concerts. Last Friday was the Red Elvises:
View attachment $red elvises.jpg
And, oddly, for such a small town, a Ferrari Owner’s Club, and an “Exotic Car Owner’s Club.” I went to a meeting or two, about a hundred years ago, but I’m not much of a joiner (Really Some day I’ll post about the Los Alamos Mountaineer’s Club….:lfao: ). Some Ferraris can be had pretty inexpensively, but you wouldn’t want one-I’ve often wondered how Tom Selleck managed to fit in a 308GTS for Magnum, P.I. never mind drive one-it’s a squeeze for me at 6’2”, and he’s 6’4”, only to find out they were specially modified just so that he could fit, with padding removed from the seats, the seats bolted in further back,and a smaller steering wheel installed…even then, his head was well above the windshield frame:
View attachment $tom selleck.jpg
You can probably pick up a decent 308 GTS for $15k, but wouldya wanta? This Ferrari talk may seem like a digression, but, trust me, itÂ’s not. Los Alamos, thoughÂ…..
Â…..like I said, an odd kind of town. IÂ’m glad I didnÂ’t grow up here, like Rita-thatÂ’s the wife-did.
One of Rita’s best “growing up in LA” stories is how, two weeks short of the end of her junior year in H.S., her calculus teacher told the class that they’d basically been taught all she had to offer them, and how Joey Martz, a kid in her class, stood up and proceeded to fill the next week with mathematical lectures that amazed the class and the teacher……Joey Martz, who has all the social grace of a cup of mud, but a genius IQ, went on to become head of the lab’s weapons division-a job that carries a salary somewhat above the president’s-as in the POTUS’s- and, not really being the sort to be adept at obtaining the company of women(see “social grace of a cup of mud”), spent his money on a big house with a really big garage for his………exotic cars. Joey-er, Joe Martz, who went on to be President of the Los Alamos Ferrari Owner’s Club, and the Los Alamos Exotic Car Owner’s Club-having not just two Ferraris, but a couple of NSX’s, a Detomaso Pantera (yeah, those aren’t that expensive, either…) and 2 Lamborghinis.
No, IÂ’m not jealous at all. :lol: Really, I canÂ’t even sit-that is to say fit- in all those cars but one of them, and, besides, I got Rita-thatÂ’s the wifeÂ…:lfao: And Joe does almost all his mechanical work himself, meticulously, and drives pretty well to boot-like me, he sought out higher levels of driverÂ’s ed to go with his equipment, so I donÂ’t begrudge him anything-give me my Porsche any day, though. :lol:
This all has another point, anyway, that puts this post in the Study, instead of the Locker RoomÂ….
There’s a document that ‘s been floating around the internet for about 15 years or so, now-you can find it on the NSX forum, and the Ferrari forums, and a few other places. It’s an Exotic Car Owner’s Code of Conduct, and it was originally penned by one Joe Martz:
And that brings us to rules 4 and 5 (I really don’t have much use for the other happy, friendly rules-I’m not “always” going to have a smile on my fact, and I have more time for volunteering than Joe ever did, so rule 6 is B.S., since, until recently, I didn’t have any time at all….:lol: )
Rule 5, though-a rule to break the rules-what a concept! Mind you, IÂ’m not averse to opening it up on some of the roads that we have out here, but even the highest powers of observation and diligence can preclude all dangers to myself and my vehicles when I do so-I once nailed a jackrabbit while doing about 135 mph, once, and-while I didnÂ’t crash, or even slow down, it did do significant damage to my front air damÂ….what was I supposed to do? Swerve for a jackrabbit and maybe crash? I donÂ’t think soÂ….:lol:
On the other hand, that Mask fellow from the TAPOUT crew could have used a little of Rule 5, I reckonÂ…Â…
I think if you’re breaking the rules ,though, and you know it, then you’re breaking the rules and that’s pretty much it: I did it;I’m glad I did it, and I’ll do it again. That’s why I have a radar detector and jamming equipment-so that I only get one very small speeding ticket every two years or so (usually for like 10 over, when I’ve often been violating the speed limit by doubling it :lfao: ) so that, most of the time, I get away with it. Which is, after all, an American tradition-we watch heist movies and root for criminals to steal something that belongs to someone else, and are most delighted when they get away with it-usually with a funny, Ocean’s 11,Italian Job, Hot Rock kind of twist. For years, the official start of summer where I grew up was a photo of a kid jumping off the railroad trestle over the Croton Reservoir-NYCs’s water supply. Illegal to jump off the trestle. Illegal to be on the tracks. Illegal to swim in the reservoir. The caption usually read, ”An unidentified teen (wink, wink, nudge, nudge…:lol: )executes a dangerous and illegal jump off the railroad trestle into the Croton Reservoir, signaling the beginning of summer” Of course, 9/11 probably changed that, and swimming in the reservoir might just be an act of terrorism, now.
There was even an article in this month’s Outside magazine on “breaking the rules,” and actually teaching your kids when it’s “okay” to break the rules, like swimming at that favorite swimming spot right underneath the sign that says “NO SWIMMING.” I gotta wonder, though, where we draw the line on this sort of behavior-not harming others? Only potentially harming ourselves? “Silly” rules? I’ve known people-too many, really-who skied in closed off areas-really good skiers, well within the limits of their ability, not harming anyone else-that were killed by avalanches for doing so-on that day, at any rate, they should clearly have obeyed the “AREA CLOSED” sign.
So, thatÂ’s pretty much my question, MTers-where do YOU draw the line?
Los Alamos, NM was never meant to be a “town,” of course-it was a temporary place to secretly develop and construct the atomic bombs used in WWII-after that, the land it was on was supposed to be returned to the homesteaders, Indians, and boy’s school that it had been seized from. Of course, that never happened, and now it’s a full fledged “city,” with a population of just over 12000-a population that swells to close to twice that during the work day. According the census, Los Alamos has the highest number of PhDs per capita in the U.S. It’s not unusual to see some of our “nutty professor” types showing up for lunch in their pajamas…of course, now they can claim to have started a fashion trend, but should they have? :lol: It’s the sort of place where you can see an atomic bomb at the carwash:
No wonder such a small town has 40 churchesÂ…..:lol: (Of course thatÂ’s a modelÂ…:lfao: )
And we have wonderful free weekly summer concerts. Last Friday was the Red Elvises:
View attachment $red elvises.jpg
And, oddly, for such a small town, a Ferrari Owner’s Club, and an “Exotic Car Owner’s Club.” I went to a meeting or two, about a hundred years ago, but I’m not much of a joiner (Really Some day I’ll post about the Los Alamos Mountaineer’s Club….:lfao: ). Some Ferraris can be had pretty inexpensively, but you wouldn’t want one-I’ve often wondered how Tom Selleck managed to fit in a 308GTS for Magnum, P.I. never mind drive one-it’s a squeeze for me at 6’2”, and he’s 6’4”, only to find out they were specially modified just so that he could fit, with padding removed from the seats, the seats bolted in further back,and a smaller steering wheel installed…even then, his head was well above the windshield frame:
View attachment $tom selleck.jpg
You can probably pick up a decent 308 GTS for $15k, but wouldya wanta? This Ferrari talk may seem like a digression, but, trust me, itÂ’s not. Los Alamos, thoughÂ…..
Â…..like I said, an odd kind of town. IÂ’m glad I didnÂ’t grow up here, like Rita-thatÂ’s the wife-did.
One of Rita’s best “growing up in LA” stories is how, two weeks short of the end of her junior year in H.S., her calculus teacher told the class that they’d basically been taught all she had to offer them, and how Joey Martz, a kid in her class, stood up and proceeded to fill the next week with mathematical lectures that amazed the class and the teacher……Joey Martz, who has all the social grace of a cup of mud, but a genius IQ, went on to become head of the lab’s weapons division-a job that carries a salary somewhat above the president’s-as in the POTUS’s- and, not really being the sort to be adept at obtaining the company of women(see “social grace of a cup of mud”), spent his money on a big house with a really big garage for his………exotic cars. Joey-er, Joe Martz, who went on to be President of the Los Alamos Ferrari Owner’s Club, and the Los Alamos Exotic Car Owner’s Club-having not just two Ferraris, but a couple of NSX’s, a Detomaso Pantera (yeah, those aren’t that expensive, either…) and 2 Lamborghinis.
No, IÂ’m not jealous at all. :lol: Really, I canÂ’t even sit-that is to say fit- in all those cars but one of them, and, besides, I got Rita-thatÂ’s the wifeÂ…:lfao: And Joe does almost all his mechanical work himself, meticulously, and drives pretty well to boot-like me, he sought out higher levels of driverÂ’s ed to go with his equipment, so I donÂ’t begrudge him anything-give me my Porsche any day, though. :lol:
This all has another point, anyway, that puts this post in the Study, instead of the Locker RoomÂ….
There’s a document that ‘s been floating around the internet for about 15 years or so, now-you can find it on the NSX forum, and the Ferrari forums, and a few other places. It’s an Exotic Car Owner’s Code of Conduct, and it was originally penned by one Joe Martz:
And that brings us to rules 4 and 5 (I really don’t have much use for the other happy, friendly rules-I’m not “always” going to have a smile on my fact, and I have more time for volunteering than Joe ever did, so rule 6 is B.S., since, until recently, I didn’t have any time at all….:lol: )
Rule 5, though-a rule to break the rules-what a concept! Mind you, IÂ’m not averse to opening it up on some of the roads that we have out here, but even the highest powers of observation and diligence can preclude all dangers to myself and my vehicles when I do so-I once nailed a jackrabbit while doing about 135 mph, once, and-while I didnÂ’t crash, or even slow down, it did do significant damage to my front air damÂ….what was I supposed to do? Swerve for a jackrabbit and maybe crash? I donÂ’t think soÂ….:lol:
On the other hand, that Mask fellow from the TAPOUT crew could have used a little of Rule 5, I reckonÂ…Â…
I think if you’re breaking the rules ,though, and you know it, then you’re breaking the rules and that’s pretty much it: I did it;I’m glad I did it, and I’ll do it again. That’s why I have a radar detector and jamming equipment-so that I only get one very small speeding ticket every two years or so (usually for like 10 over, when I’ve often been violating the speed limit by doubling it :lfao: ) so that, most of the time, I get away with it. Which is, after all, an American tradition-we watch heist movies and root for criminals to steal something that belongs to someone else, and are most delighted when they get away with it-usually with a funny, Ocean’s 11,Italian Job, Hot Rock kind of twist. For years, the official start of summer where I grew up was a photo of a kid jumping off the railroad trestle over the Croton Reservoir-NYCs’s water supply. Illegal to jump off the trestle. Illegal to be on the tracks. Illegal to swim in the reservoir. The caption usually read, ”An unidentified teen (wink, wink, nudge, nudge…:lol: )executes a dangerous and illegal jump off the railroad trestle into the Croton Reservoir, signaling the beginning of summer” Of course, 9/11 probably changed that, and swimming in the reservoir might just be an act of terrorism, now.
There was even an article in this month’s Outside magazine on “breaking the rules,” and actually teaching your kids when it’s “okay” to break the rules, like swimming at that favorite swimming spot right underneath the sign that says “NO SWIMMING.” I gotta wonder, though, where we draw the line on this sort of behavior-not harming others? Only potentially harming ourselves? “Silly” rules? I’ve known people-too many, really-who skied in closed off areas-really good skiers, well within the limits of their ability, not harming anyone else-that were killed by avalanches for doing so-on that day, at any rate, they should clearly have obeyed the “AREA CLOSED” sign.
So, thatÂ’s pretty much my question, MTers-where do YOU draw the line?
with interesting people.
