Farewell letter from GRM employees?

I always enjoy Per's articles. I will miss those. Hopefully, he finds whatever it is he is looking for. I wish him good luck.

Pensacola is about the only place in FL that I've been where I'd consider living.

I would bet (a lot of money, if I had it) that almost every member of this board would jump at the chance to live in ANYWHERE in FL if they lived in rural South GA.

Curmudgeon wrote: Sorry that Per's gone. I wish him the best of luck, wherever he lands.

Me too, I've always liked his writing.

Atlanta's not so bad Relocate for the craigslist!

Florida wasn't too bad in most places 20 years ago. Now, it's had so much growth in such a short time, it's lost that 'something'. I know I always love passing by yet another empty strip mall where trees used to be...

I was in Miami Beach this week. It's pretty in places, but it's humid. Drivers all seem to have been lobotomized... they drift in and out of their lanes, don't signal, stop wherever they want and most of them are on the phone.

Lesley wrote: Drivers all seem to have been lobotomized...

Sounds like the woman who ran a stop sign and hit my car last week, but she was from South Dakota.

In reply to Lesley:
Does this Florida dissension mean that we will not see your name grace the masthead anytime soon?
Sorry to hear it.
Seems this trouble that Margie speaks of could be true.

Dr. Hess wrote: Hey, I've been to Florida. Several times. I understand completely.

Hey! What's not to love about here? As I've pointed out before, there's all kinds of awesome stuff in FL.

Welcome to Florida. Enjoy your stay, but know that we are all doomed. Large slimy snails - that we cannot touch without getting parasites - are going to eat our homes until they resemble swiss cheese. We'll try to retreat into the bushes, but will be unable to cope with the stinging caterpillars and nile monitors. A few brave souls will attempt to take refuge in the ocean, but will be forced back onto land by sharks, stinging jellyfish, and other poisonous creatures. None of that will matter, anyway, though, because the strawberry farmers will cause a mega-sinkhole that will engulf the entire state. (Oddly, the Burmese pythons will be welcomed, because they'll try to prevent the disaster by eating the strawberry farmers. Sadly, this will happen too late to matter.) The only areas that will survive are tacky places like the amusement park districts and I-drive, which are already entirely artificial. Palmetto bugs will take over the state, and will elect one of their own as governor. He'll do a better job than Rick Scott, though not as well as Jeb Bush.

Id love to live in Florida, always loved going there. Like the beaches and all the snakes and other reptilian type animals, lol. Im in Northeast Alabama which is also very nice but want to move south. Im a damn yankee from Iowa originally so Id probably fit in in Florida other than not being 80 years old, lol.

Man I hate that Per is gone. Busted knuckles is always the first piece I read. And recently the only piece I read.

Per, sorry about trying to bust your chops about that little comment about autocrossing Pontiac Grand Prix's a couple of years ago. And while most of the people who responded to that post violently attacked me, I hope the jest of my post wasn't lost on you.

Anyway good luck and know you have some fans/stalkers out here

Wish the best for all parties. People's personal and professional needs change as they grow. Change can be both a great motivator and growth opportunity. Per has the chance to do something different and GRM has a chance to gain a new personality. The glass is half full for everyone...

In reply to MarkZ28:

Wait there is another member from northern Alabama?

Secretariata wrote: Wish the best for all parties. People's personal and professional needs change as they grow. Change can be both a great motivator and growth opportunity. Per has the chance to do something different and GRM has a chance to gain a new personality. The glass is half full for everyone...

This is the story in a nutshell right here. Per put in 13 good years, which by any standard is rather amazing in this day and age. Our crew tends to be a bit "sticky" (David's been there for over 17 years and I'm going on 23), so when someone moves on we tend to react by taking it a bit personally. but then we realize that different people have different life circumstances and pressures,and some require growth in other areas professionally, personally and geographically.

I wish Per the absolute best wherever he lands—it sounds like it won't be too far away from this market possibly. Hey, maybe instead of selling the ads he'll be buying them from us someday. Of course we'd have a lousy negotiating position to start from, but it'd be worth it.

My mom was also the nanny for Per's and Kim's first two kids, so it's definitely a loss for the extended GRM family as well. Lots of missing going to be going on.

As for the column, Nuts and Bolts will no longer appear. There will be, however, a new column in the same spot in the magazine, tentatively titled Open Pipes. Obviously better names will be considered. It will be written by a guy who I'm familiar with whose name is Me. Hopefully he won't let you down.

jg

17 years? How about nearly 19? Time flies, eh?

And yes, it is more family than anything.

JG Pasterjak wrote: Hopefully he won't let you down. jg

I'm pretty sure he won't.

Sorry to see Per go, but excited to see where he turns up. In some ways, GRM staff leaving makes me think the world isn't as messed up because others see the quality that we all see regularly. I'd like to think of it less as a loss to GRM and more as pieces of GRM spreading through the world and making it a better place.

And to Marjorie, please don't take our comments about the patio as a dig against you. They were a poor attempt at insulting humor to make the news more bearable.

-Rob

Technically nearly 19 is over 17, but still... damn. We both certainly had more hair on our heads, less in our ears, but were probably dressed within about 5% of where we are today (cargo shorts, logo t, Vans. Timeless).

jg

I can understand not wanting to live in Florida, I know if I stopped working in NY I'd miss the stale urine smell. Besides I don't trust air I can't see.

JG Pasterjak wrote: Technically nearly 19 is over 17, but still... damn. We both certainly had more hair on our heads, less in our ears, but were probably dressed within about 5% of where we are today (cargo shorts, logo t, Vans. Timeless). jg

Wait, you mean fashions have progressed since 1994? That's crazy talk.

JG Pasterjak wrote: As for the column, Nuts and Bolts will no longer appear. There will be, however, a new column in the same spot in the magazine, tentatively titled Open Pipes. Obviously better names will be considered. It will be written by a guy who I'm familiar with whose name is Me. Hopefully he won't let you down.

I'll miss reading Nuts & Bolts and Per's other stuff, but I've always enjoyed your writing, and I look forward to the new column. Have fun!

My "Farewell" letter would read something like: "So long, E36 M3 stains! No more deadlines. No more stupid berkeleying questions. No more hanging banners in 120 degree heat at some stupid race I don't get to watch, much less drive in. No more babysitting a bunch of drunk retards. Now I'M the drunk retard! Eat E36 M3 and die, losers. I'm going fishing."

Props to former GRM employees for taking the high road.

maybe its a revenge thing, Wayne has to look after Per at the next Mitty

Marjorie Suddard wrote: I know Florida is a common punchline, but really, I'd rather live here than... well, most of the places these people apply from. It's frustrating.

"Punchline Florida"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9Benryvvqo

Strange how time changes stuff..in the 1970s, my parents (and other family their age) constantly raved about how they wanted to go to FL. And they were all native Southerners to begin with!

Maybe that's the difference. They were already used to the heat & humidity.

Fl is great if your A. Old. B. A college student that likes to drink.

I mean don't get me wrong, fishing is great down here, in just a few hours you can go from freshwater to salt, gulf coast to Atlantic, or tropical. But that costs money, and the job market here kinda sucks. If you make decent money you most likely either own your own business, which means you work almost every day. Or work a state or county job, and get to deal with mostly people that have very little want or ability to think for themselves.

Ymmv but that's what I've seen in 17 years of living here.

Margie,

Maybe GRM should move?

I'll suggest College Station, Texas as the city to move to. We have a superspeedway, one of the best auto-x sites in the world, and a ferociously strong gearhead contingent with interests ranging from 50cc motorcycles to F40PH-sized trucks, peaking with the Texas A&M FSAE team. Another possibility with many of the same advantages would be Arlington, TX with UT-Arlington.