Day 51, May 6, 2020

Change, change, change

This weekend I engaged in the annual New England ritual of changing out the winter tires. For years and many cars, I never bothered with winter tires. My old Subaru Legacy wagon was a stalwart foul weather performer, as long as you didn't touch the brakes. But my Honda Civic was less nimble on the snow, and once I upgraded to a Honda Civic Hybrid with low rolling resistance tires (read slippery), I started down the road of snow tires.

My first set, were laughably, studded Pirellis. My friend Ivon laughed at me incredulously, "You bought Italian snow tires?" They were on sale, and I was able to buy them mounted on steel rims for less than just a set of unmounted Michelins would have cost... and surprisingly, those tires, protected by the steel studs, have lasted the life of the car (so far) except for one or two mishaps. Anyway, that started me on this annual ritual where the weekend after Thanksgiving, I put the snow tires on, and sometime after March 10th, they come off. Of course this year, continued cold weather postponed such chores until May!

When I first started changing out the tires, I used the little portable jack that is tucked into the trunk along with the spare donut tire. But eventually, I passed the Civic to my daughter and got my current car, a used Lexus CT200F (basically a slightly fancier Prius, and when they were still made, you could get them pretty reasonably because it turns out Lexus owners don't like owning a car that is basically a Prius, but coming from a Civic, it was a huge leap up for me), and added to the driveway is my wife's Honda Fit, a wonderful little car, but also in clear need of all the traction it can get in the winter. So, faced with three cars and 12 tires mounted on rims, I invested in a hydraulic jack, a small version of what you picture in your head when you see race cars pull into a pitstop and someone pumps his arm furiously to lift the car to change tires.

In a stone driveway, it is a little more tender operation. I double check things are aligned with the car frame, and I ease the car up, paying attention to how much the jack is sinking into the slightly damp earth. I switch out the tires, and then, very un-race-car-like, I slowly ease the release valve open to gently bring the car back down to Earth. I kind of enjoy the attention and focus of securing the tires, tightening the lugs in a star pattern, trying to step on the tire iron with the same degree of torque for all lugs on all tires. The only really dreary part of the process is lugging the tires from underneath the basement stairs, and then lugging all the removed tires back down. It is almost enough to wish I took the cars to a shop to switch out the tires, especially once I discovered that some shops store your winter or summer tires for the season. But I was raised with a certain frugality instilled by immigrant parents. My entire childhood, my father changed the oil on our cars, and did most of the repairs. We had an old car that periodically sprang a leak in the oil tank and it occurred often enough that, before i could drive, I learned how to remove the tank by myself so we could take it to a shop to get brazed, and then reinstall it. So, I still have a small degree of that frugal determination... for little things, like installing new headlights, sanding out the rust and doing minor body work, putting in a new stereo. Unlike my father, I lack his intuitive dexterity, but turn to YouTube videos for help rather than the greasy paged car repair books I used to thumb through as a kid.

I was always a little bit of a car fanatic. I suppose it starts young with Matchbox cars, but then at some point the local public library became the dumping ground for my brother and I. We would spend entire days there reading books, playing checkers, and going to H.A. Johnsons 5 &10 to get candy. But the thing that really caught my attention those summer days were the car magazines in the magazine racks at the library. I poured over the statistics on the classic muscle cars... and if Ford and Chrysler listened to a 10 year old Korean kid, they would have reissued the classic Mustang and Camaro shapes long before they eventually did. I studied the merits of air-cooled vs. water cooled Porsches, and imagined the neck snapping speeds of 0-60 MPH.

It is funny how an inanimate object can become the subject of a little boy's fantasy. I suppose there is still that kid in me when I start getting obsessed about a guitar and start researching when it was made, what famous people played it, watch videos and try to discern how it sounds. 0-60 in under 10 seconds, baby. That's what it's about.

But that all seems a little silly now. My little Lexus mostly sits in the driveway these days and the rotors get all coated with rust so that when I do take it out for a trip to the pharmacy or grocery store, the wheels squeal and grind with all the grace of a train car. Same with the guitars, who knows when I'll play my next gig, or even practice with my bandmates again. It all seems a like a fantasy, like a 10 year old thumbing through Car and Driver trying to imagine flooring a pedal that he probably couldn't even reach.

I suppose I'm ripe for a middle age crisis car... or guitar. Unless, the Lexus is it. I'll have to think on that a bit. Back when I bought my Civic Hybrid I stopped at the Saab dealership in Deerfield and tried out a fantastic little hatchback that they co-branded with Subaru. I took it for a fast (very fast) test drive down Route 5 and 10. I blew down the highway, and zipped back. I parked, and was exhilarated. It was like my childhood fantasy come to life. It was exactly the same price as the Civic (due to the hybrid mark up), but then I saw the sticker on the fuel cap. Premium fuel only. I was hit with a crisis of faith, and a questioning of morals. Save the Earth or kill it. Sedate, or fun. Responsible, or reckless.

So, if I eat a little more ice cream than I should... there's a reason.

Take care,
Leo

A little bit of light.

From Our Friends:

From Teaching Tolerance:

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Use these resources to celebrate the diverse experiences of AAPI students and effectively teach AAPI history—this month and throughout the year.

From Silverthorne Theater:

Last night a group of 20 Silverthorne actors and community members performed Rich Orloff's play, DAYS OF POSSIBILITES on Zoom! We were thrilled to see the large number of people who watched the show as it was live-streamed to our Facebook page. 

If you missed the performance, you can watch it on YouTube - it will be up until June 4 at the following link.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzinE1c81q0. 

On Monday, May 11 at 7 pm, we invite you to attend an open ZOOM Forum, where the play,  the issues it raised, and the experiences from which the dialogue was drawn will be discussed. 

To receive the link for the Forum, please call 423-768-7514 or write to silverthornetheater@gmail.com to request an invitation. 

From Wizarding World:

Daniel Radcliffe reads the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone/Sorcerer’s Stone, as part of Harry Potter At Home. Look out for more special video readings in the upcoming weeks.

Franklin is dismayed at how quickly the knotweed is growing!

Today's Online Teaching Tips:

From Jenzibar:

"How to Remain Accessible While Supporting Social Distance Learning"

From University Business:

A webinar on: Research-based Practices to Support Quality Teaching and Learning.