The old guy down the street:

[thechadzone]

For more than years I've seen the tail end of a Porsche 914 sticking out of a single car garage in my city of Eugene, Oregon. The garage door is rarely ever open, but it was today and since I now live just a few houses down from this garage, I pulled the Spider over and said hello to the Porsche's owner, who was fiddling around in the garage when I walked up to say hello. He is the nicest guy I've met in some time. He's also as old as God's grandfather, which at times can really add to the niceness factor. It was clear by looking into his humble very old single car garage that with any luck, I was looking forty years into my future.

His garage was reasonably organized and stocked with many decades of old parts, hardware and tools that looked even older than him. The layer of "patina" on everything was awesome, and defies description. There was an ancient hand painted cardboard sign against one of the walls that said "Impeach Nixon". I believe it was genuine.

He told me all about his Fiat Spider that he had back in the day as he checked out mine. He struggled to remember details about it's engine & specs, but seemed to genuinely appreciate my car. His 914 is an amazing big bore Chevy 362CI long stroke V8 with full cage & wheels, tires, and flares to match. It is totally bad-ass, which is in perfect contrast to him, a charming, mild-mannered skinny 79 year old. Very cool... He's been building & improving this same car for 23 years.

I'm just now finishing my degree here at the University of Oregon, and I'm in the process of planning the rest of my life, so it's a perfect time to see someone in the twilight of theirs. It seemed strangely "right" that as he begins the ninth inning of his life that his car is nearing the zenith of of its development. I'm a big 914 fan, and I wanna drive it SO bad.

He struggled to remember this and that, and talked a little slower than most, but I thoroughly enjoyed my impromptu half hour chat with him. He has no cell phone or computer, and he says he has no need for either. That sounds so damn cool to me... I hope that I have a corner of my life that's as cool as his garage/car combo when I'm 79 (I just turned 37).

I guess that the point of this post is to meet your damn neighbors! This guy said that he often lacks motivation to get out to the garage and work on his monster Porsche, and I then pointed at my house and told him that he can knock on my door anytime when he's lacking motivation, or otherwise needs someone a little more spry than him for the tight spots. I hope he takes me up on it.

[So Cal Mark]

great story, when you start chatting people up you uncover some amazing stories