A practice session

[Wat_Tyler]

Straight Eight



Old engine sitting there,
I call you anvil
For that’s the era of technology
That you left behind
Barely
As you evolved
Over-engineered in every way
Except the course that Evolution took
Cro-Magnon killing off Neanderthals
Overbuilt, which is why you’re still here
Depression-era relic
A survivor from
The dim and musty past.
From when my grandfather
Was a young man
You two, virile at the same time
And very relevant.
The world was yours.
Your makers powered machines
Of the last Great War
And he went to subdue the enemies
Of Civilization.
He’s gone, and you’re here.
Having sat idle for 50 years
Stashed in a barn
A part of a project
A dream of a younger man
Now grown too old to pursue it
Past Dream Stage.
The seller floated
A Trial Balloon
To gauge interest.
Will some have you, or are
You fated to be junked?
Hell, I have several of these things
Projects for when Life slows a bit.
I’ll come to get you.
Salvage? Maybe Rescue
Yeah, that’s more like it.
Preservation . . . .
You were to have been
A Street Machine power plant.
I won’t make you that promise
But I will keep you from the scrap metal man
If only to delay
Your conversion into
Half a dozen electric “cars.”

 

[42BelowsBack]

Mmmm old car smells waiting for restoration. Nailed it. My ‘boys’ can smell the history from here.

 

[Wonderer67]

Straight Eight



Old engine sitting there,
I call you anvil
For that’s the era of technology
That you left behind
Barely
As you evolved
Over-engineered in every way
Except the course that Evolution took
Cro-Magnon killing off Neanderthals
Overbuilt, which is why you’re still here
Depression-era relic
A survivor from
The dim and musty past.
From when my grandfather
Was a young man
You two, virile at the same time
And very relevant.
The world was yours.
Your makers powered machines
Of the last Great War
And he went to subdue the enemies
Of Civilization.
He’s gone, and you’re here.
Having sat idle for 50 years
Stashed in a barn
A part of a project
A dream of a younger man
Now grown too old to pursue it
Past Dream Stage.
The seller floated
A Trial Balloon
To gauge interest.
Will some have you, or are
You fated to be junked?
Hell, I have several of these things
Projects for when Life slows a bit.
I’ll come to get you.
Salvage? Maybe Rescue
Yeah, that’s more like it.
Preservation . . . .
You were to have been
A Street Machine power plant.
I won’t make you that promise
But I will keep you from the scrap metal man
If only to delay
Your conversion into
Half a dozen electric “cars.”

This is really well done wat. As @42BelowsBack mentions, you can smell the smell the oil and grease. I can feel and see the rust. And definitely have the “feel” of old over engineered machinery that was built to last.

(Ironically, cars in those days rarely lasted 100k miles. According to Google at least….)

I think you had to be a backyard mechanic to really get your miles worth out of a car back in those days…

Car Lifespan Over the Years

• 1930s:
  Cars would average about 50,000 to 90,000 miles, and reaching 100,000 miles was considered a significant achievement.
  
  
• 1950s-1970s:
  Cars began to last closer to 100,000 miles, though reaching that milestone was still a notable feat for many vehicles.
  
  
• Today:
  Modern cars can often reach 200,000 miles or more with proper care and maintenance.
  

 

[Wat_Tyler]

This is really well done wat. As @42BelowsBack mentions, you can smell the smell the oil and grease. I can feel and see the rust. And definitely have the “feel” of old over engineered machinery that was built to last.

(Ironically, cars in those days rarely lasted 100k miles. According to Google at least….)

I think you had to be a backyard mechanic to really get your miles worth out of a car back in those days…

Car Lifespan Over the Years

• 1930s:
  Cars would average about 50,000 to 90,000 miles, and reaching 100,000 miles was considered a significant achievement.
  
  
• 1950s-1970s:
  Cars began to last closer to 100,000 miles, though reaching that milestone was still a notable feat for many vehicles.
  
  
• Today:
  Modern cars can often reach 200,000 miles or more with proper care and maintenance.

Anvil engines are good for maybe 80,000 miles or so before a rebuild. Super Fred, the one I collected last fall when we met for lunch, shows 80K on the odometer but the story is, it has been redone. The lack of oily smoke out the rear tells me this is true.


My old (2007) truck has 225000 miles and the landlady's Honda has 222000. They should be good for another 50-100000 with all things being equal.


Metallurgy is gooderer than it used to be.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

Dylan Thomas
1914 – 1953


And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan't crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

Shadows . . . .


I still cast a shadow
And I think you know why
I was in a tough way
And fresh out of ideas
Hell, the last one
Worked so fucking well
It tried to kill me
You spent a Sunday
A springtime afternoon
When I couldn’t focus
And scrambled for something
That looked like a solution
Crazy looking old man
Like psychotic Santa
White mane like a lion
Blind in one eye
Maybe can’t see from the other
They didn’t track together
I still have no idea
Which was the good one
You pointed out
That basic lesson
From Business 101
That to find a solution
One must first
Identify the problem
Oh yeah
Sometimes the simple
Is exceedingly complex
Especially to a
Complicating mind
Such as mine
You “got it” too
You modelled what to do
Haven’t seen you in eons
I still cast a shadow
And if you do not
You are sharing in mine . . . .