Some of my Shenanigans

Posted on by Beth V Powell

It’s time to share my stories. There are a bunch!

This photo was taken about 1980 give or take. The green ’60 Studebaker Lark was the nicest one we’d ever owned. We had only ’60 Larks except for two 1962’s. This one we spotted off the turnpike exit. I don’t remember how my dad managed to find the owner, but the owner was a salesman who said the engine blew up. I think he had to rent a car. Yes, he wanted to sell it.

My dad bought the car and since we had a lot of 259 ci V8 engines for Studebakers it was easy enough to swap it out. The building you see in the background was our 40′ x 50′ shop he built before moving our mobile home from a mobile home court to the property. He did the engine swap inside the shop. My mother never went into the shop. I don’t think I realized what his plan was.

This car was super clean, had a wonderful paint job, had fender skirts (that I have today), a hood ornament, padded dash and reclining seats. It was a regal package with most every option. The push button radio worked and it was an automatic. It also had a professional, heavy duty 3 hole punch in the trunk that was just a big find! I have kept that punch with me all my life. I was in high school at the time and now am 62 at this writing so that hole punch has been my pride and joy for over 4 decades. Yes, I am a nerd!!!

My dad polished the car and kept it in the shop. Then he ran a string from it and all through the woods and up and down the creek. It ended at the home attached to a small package about the size of a jewelry box with a note to follow the string. He made it as a gift for my mother as a really nice car to be proud to drive to work.

This photo of the two cars together was one of my shenanigans that I got in trouble for more than once. The convertible was my car that I got for my 16th Christmas gift. That would’ve been 1979. It was white at the time and just like the one my dad got as his high school graduation gift it had the 259 ci V8, 3 speed (on the tree) and overdrive (OD). I had it painted red so it would just like the one my dad had. (Can you tell I’m a Daddy’s girl?)

The green Lark had radial tires which was a new thing for us. My convertible had bias ply tires. I would park them side by side like shown and swap all four. I can tell from this photo that the green Lark had my bias ply tires in the photo because besides the winter treads in the rear, I can clearly see the red rims on the green car. I would get better mileage with the radials. I was obsessed with mileage and tried my best to get 25-30 mpg. I would have to swap back when my dad noticed the red rims on the green car. I did this at least twice.

Indecently, the German Shepherd in both photos was Obi Wan Kenobi. She was a female and I was obsesses with Star Wars when it came out, but only the Jedi. I decided that Obi sounded like a uni-sexual name. That was on her AKC registration. Yep, color me a nerd!

What have your hobbies taught you?

Posted on by Beth V Powell

It’s said that hobbies are healthy.  I can remember hearing about to local dry cleaner where I lived once who worked hard and saved all his life.  He retired and had plans to travel with his wife with their savings.  The day after he retired he died.

Some of us have too many hobbies.  I’ve had some hobbies I used to enjoy and was considered skilled at such as plastic model building, a skill learned from my dad.  I made dioramas and competed in national events.  That would be an attention to detail if you were listing hobbies as resume skills.  I also learned to see a project through.  I sold a few dioramas as well.  Taking an idea or out-of-the-box template and creating a winning business with imagination sound familiar?

I grew up in the old car hobby.  I can work on older vehicles and know quite a bit about identifing different makes, models, and years.  The specs, how driving an older vehicles from the 1940’s through 1960’s differs quite a bit from today or even 20 years ago.  Taking tried and true classics in any condition and make them fit in today’s world can translate into a variety of business situations.  You have been using the same management style you learned in school and it’s not working?  Time to update it.

I enjoy genealogy and history.  We learn a lot from where we’ve been to be able to understand the imporance of moving forward even in directions that we couldn’t imagine 5 or 10 years ago.

I collect a wide range of ‘junk’ to some even though I’m a minimalist at heart.  I’m always evolving in this aspect the way we all must evolve to be successful in our personal lives or business ventures.

Lastly, I volunteer and spread the message that we all have something to give and should give something of ourselves.  There is nothing better for your soul or your ability to look at any situation more openly than to volunteer with something you feel passionately about.  If you’re not passionate, then it won’t mean nearly as much.  We must be open minded and open to new ideas to be successful in any business venture.

I’m interested in what your hobbies have taught you?  Email me or leave a comment.