My First Drive to School.

Tommy Suddard wrote: I'll just use the carpool, I only drove today because I had to stay afterwards (shooting soccer for yearbook). For my regular errands, I'm now unfortunately stuck with the E30 M3. My life is so hard.

I'm faced with a crisis here...how do I do the normal Southern Boy thing and call you a SOB without ending up under your mom's patio?

Seriously, Tommy...enjoy every minute of it! Here's some food for thought.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/thoughts-by-me/16950/page1/

And could you recommend a good book on beginning in digital photography? My daughter (18) is interested in photography, but all I know is film. (:( )

EDIT: Write up the time in the M3 as a comparison piece, and get published!

unfortunately I cared more about top tube length, cassette rear hubs, and European vs American bottom brackets in Highschool than I did about spring rates and cam overlap. If it makes you feel better though, I went to a preppy all guys highschool known for jock sports and doctors and lawyers kids, so I was even more singled out as a BMX-ing, blue collar background, punk rock fan ...explains why I have so many issues ha .

I wish then I realized the virtue in breaking the mold. In retrospect I do miss highschool and wish I was more involved. But Im also glad I chose the path not taken. I feel like I am a lot stronger of a person for it.

I really think this group of whackos is awesome, and one reason is the diversity. Tommy, thanks honestly for sharing your perspective. I haven't thought about half the stuff you live out every day in over a decade now. It helps realign my paradigm when Im getting selfish or just bummed about dumb irrelevant crap.

4cylndrfury wrote: unfortunately I cared more about top tube length, cassette rear hubs, and European vs American bottom brackets in Highschool than I did about spring rates and cam overlap.

See, I cared more about tube tops than top tubes...

SHAZAM

http://instantrimshot.com/

Tommy Suddard wrote: For my regular errands, I'm now unfortunately stuck with the E30 M3. My life is so hard.

You lucky so-and-so, you .

I was stuck borrowing my parents' Land Rover once. Not quite the same thing, really.

I got my license at 17 (law in NJ) and did not start driving until I was 18. My parents would NOT let me use their cars until I had my own

Station wagons are best for high school years

Tommy Suddard wrote: Ok, so I can finally drive to School! I finished the new fuel tank install in the E30 yesterday, so I am good to go. I left the house at 6:00, and pull into the quiznos across the street at 6:20 (sophmores can't park until spring). I get out, and hear what sounds like water boiling. Turns out fuel is dripping on the exhaust, and catching on fire a little bit each time. Great! So, I grab the extenguisher out of the trunk (always be prepared), sit down on the curb, and wait 20 minutes for the exhaust to cool. The birds were singing, and I finished my homework. I walked into school a little later then usual, but still early. I told everyone that I had almost had car-ba-que, but decided I wasn't hungry. Got some wierd looks, and went on with my day. Then, this afternoon, a few friends came with me after school to get some food. I then proceded to rip out the back seat and fuel pump (once again, always be prepared). Figured out the idiot at autozone had sold me the wrong permatex for the fuel sending unit, so it's spewing fuel. Called dad, and Gary is on the way with a trailer now. Walked back into quiznos, and tell friends that I just pulled the fuel pump, an what the problem was. Astonished looks all around! It's fun being a car nut!

You sure you aren't related to the Kudzu Kommandos?

<img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/12/2008/07/340x_54-35.jpg" />

+10 to Karl's comment "Station wagons are best for high school years"...

No further information is available at this time....

Karl La Follette wrote: Station wagons are best for high school years

Back in HS I had a series of vans. One a conversion van with an electric folding bed in back.

hmmm my only claim to fame was asking the princaple to call a wrecker as i had flipped my jeep in the schools grass parking lot

If they think you're odd now, you should drive the Spitfire to school some day.

Tommy Suddard wrote: No, I made a block-off plate because I'm running two pumps now (to keep it from starving on the track) and there are two sending unit holes. I'm replacing it soon with a junk sending unit, so I will have a proper seal.

You can't use your homemade plate with the OEM seal?

friedgreencorrado wrote:

Tommy Suddard wrote: I'll just use the carpool, I only drove today because I had to stay afterwards (shooting soccer for yearbook). For my regular errands, I'm now unfortunately stuck with the E30 M3. My life is so hard.

I'm faced with a crisis here...how do I do the normal Southern Boy thing and call you a SOB without ending up under your mom's patio? Seriously, Tommy...enjoy every minute of it! Here's some food for thought. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/thoughts-by-me/16950/page1/ And could you recommend a good book on beginning in digital photography? My daughter (18) is interested in photography, but all I know is film. (:( ) EDIT: Write up the time in the M3 as a comparison piece, and get published!

Honestly, film is a great teaching tool. I'd teach her everything you know, then pick up a more advanced book that focuses on digital. Use film to get the photos (framing, exposure, etc, etc, etc) down, then transition the knowledge into a digital camera, preferably without the auto mode, and learn the digital equipment. People who start on digital tend to learn only shortcuts, not what actually makes a photo. If you have an all manual film camera, even better. Trying to learn a complicated camera and photography in one step is very hard.

As far as books go, I never read many about cameras, I just played around until I learned it. "How to photograph cars" is very good, though.

All above is only my opinion. I'm also typing on my phone, so there are errors.

Tommy Suddard wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote:

Tommy Suddard wrote: I'll just use the carpool, I only drove today because I had to stay afterwards (shooting soccer for yearbook). For my regular errands, I'm now unfortunately stuck with the E30 M3. My life is so hard.

I'm faced with a crisis here...how do I do the normal Southern Boy thing and call you a SOB without ending up under your mom's patio? Seriously, Tommy...enjoy every minute of it! Here's some food for thought. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/thoughts-by-me/16950/page1/ And could you recommend a good book on beginning in digital photography? My daughter (18) is interested in photography, but all I know is film. (:( ) EDIT: Write up the time in the M3 as a comparison piece, and get published!

Honestly, film is a great teaching tool. I'd teach her everything you know, then pick up a more advanced book that focuses on digital. Use film to get the photos (framing, exposure, etc, etc, etc) down, then transition the knowledge into a digital camera, preferably without the auto mode, and learn the digital equipment. People who start on digital tend to learn only shortcuts, not what actually makes a photo. If you have an all manual film camera, even better. Trying to learn a complicated camera and photography in one step is very hard. As far as books go, I never read many about cameras, I just played around until I learned it. "How to photograph cars" is very good, though. All above is only my opinion. I'm also typing on my phone, so there are errors.

Thanks, man. Maybe I'll give her my old Canon AE-1 (and a book describing framing, focal length, exposure etc.) for xmas..

Errors? Maybe some punctuation, but nothing more outrageous than the nonsense I post here every night...

Thank you again, Tommy. Now get those fuel pumps sealed before you teach your classmates what a "car-be-cue" actually is!

That's perfect. I started on a Pentax K1000.

My wifw is a pretty good photog, and her all time favorite camera was a K1000. She went through 3 of them before I got her a digital. She liked the adjustablility. But when they act up, it was cheaper to go to a pawn shop and get another than to get it fixed.

I started with a Nikon FE. Though my absolute favorite camera is my old Nikon FM, fully manual and mechanical, the only electronics are for the built in light meter. You can remove the battery and still shoot unlike some other cameras. I have used that camera in sub zero conditions that rendered my DSLRs useless and in temps in excess of 120 degrees. It has never missed a beat.

As Tommy mentioned teach her what you know first using film. If you want to show her how to digitize it, buy her a scanner with negative capability. This will get her to think about her shots before releasing the shutter. Most people I know that start with digital just go rapid fire in a sort of "spray and pray" mentality. Where the people that started with film are the "one shot" crowd.

One book that I always recommend to people that want to get into photography is "Understanding Exposure". It is well written and explains things quite well. Other then that I mostly learned from my dad though there are other books I read for tips and tricks for digital here and there.

My current "stable" of cameras Nikon film SLRs FE, FM F3HP, Nikon DSLRs D40, D70, and D1X. Older cameras are fun and cheap.

f86sabjf wrote: hmmm my only claim to fame was asking the princaple to call a wrecker as i had flipped my jeep in the schools grass parking lot

well, that and spelling.

never claimed to be a schoolar

Karl La Follette wrote: Station wagons are best for high school years

Snack on this during your lunch break...

rebelgtp wrote: My current "stable" of cameras Nikon film SLRs FE, FM F3HP, Nikon DSLRs D40, D70, and D1X. Older cameras are fun and cheap.

Dang, what a list! Seems like cameras are like cars for me at the moment..all the big expensive ones when I was a younger man are now "fair game".

My uncle had an original Nikon F, I wish I knew where that thing was today...

friedgreencorrado wrote:

rebelgtp wrote: My current "stable" of cameras Nikon film SLRs FE, FM F3HP, Nikon DSLRs D40, D70, and D1X. Older cameras are fun and cheap.

Dang, what a list! Seems like cameras are like cars for me at the moment..all the big expensive ones when I was a younger man are now "fair game". My uncle had an original Nikon F, I wish I knew where that thing was today...

Yeah I would love an original F or even a good F2 but they are getting kind nuts for a good one as they are becoming "collector" items these days. My next purchases will be an FM2 and either a D200 or a D2H. Another body I want is the Fuji Pro S5. Next lenses will be a 80-200 2.8 and a 35mm 1.8 AFS.

JeepinMatt wrote: My high school sucked. There were maybe, maybe, two people who had a clue what I was talking about when I said "front wheel drive" or "headers." Yes, it was that bad.

My HS transportation tech teacher thought an RX-7 could do 15,000 RPM stock, all modern engines had pushrods, pontiac makes the best sounding cars ever (meaning grand am's and stuff, this was pre-solstice) and dodge, at any given time, has the most advanced cars in the world, with everybody else following by about 10 years. and that was in 2002. i didn't sign up for the next class.

and i second that in fact Conversion vans are the best HS cars. invincible, or atleast mine was, and i took 7, thats right 7, girls to prom, and i was a nerdy orchestra kid!

Heh. My wife wasn't allowed to go out with boys who had (conversion) vans when she was in HS.