An audiophile and petrolhead's musings: in the hi-fidelity, first class, traveling set - Page 91

I hate funerals, and weddings, and pretty much anything that requires me to be around my extended family for one moment longer than is absolutely necessary. They're a bunch of ungrateful, illiterate, self-centered ***holes.

Okay, now that I have that out of the way, my uncle died. No big shock, he's been dying for months, this last weekend he simply decided to call our bluff. I didn't particularly like the man, he was a cruel, sadistic redneck, who had no compassion or love for any living thing, other than his two children who are just like him. That said, he made of me a last request, on his death bed, to help get his daughter out of trouble with "the wrong people". See, she's into some nasty men for >$20000, pills and pot, and they're going to do bad things if she doesn't pay. So, we talked, I'll get her out of hock, if she goes to rehab and gets cleaned up, no more drugs and booze. Well, she says that's unacceptable. That I should help her because we're family. I explain that not going to rehab is like throwing the money away, unless she commits to change she's going to repeat the cycle. That made her angry, so she runs to the rest of the family and feeds them garbage, further turning them against me. Now we are uninvited and restricted from all extended family functions, indefinitely.

That's the best outcome I could have ever hoped for. I'm so happy I'm beside myself, I literally danced a jig.



On the issue of funerals and such things, my wife loves them. Her second career choice was funeral director, back when she was deciding on her path. She's fascinated by the whole process; embalming, makeup, and the ritual of it all. This even extends to mummification and taxidermy, she has a full-size stuffed raven in her art room (Edgar), a pair of crows in the den (Heckle and Jeckle), and an adult lynx in the library (we didn't have it stuffed, it's been dead for ages). Anyhow, she loves anything like that, and even wrote out her own Book of the Dead on a papyrus scroll 40 cubits long (try locating that much some time), in hieroglyphs and Eastern Syriac, with an Ibis quill. It's all freaky, but it suits her and it's part of why I'm crazy about her.

So, there we are, in the funeral parlor during the receiving friends. We didn't bring Emma, no reason to and she was enjoying her time playing with her nanna. The whole time we're there "the family" is staring daggers at us, except my immediate family who are trying to stay neutral and keep the peace. This is a funeral home that the Mrs hadn't seen before and she wanted to explore, so we did. In fact, we got one of the directors to show us around, looking at all the equipment, caskets, and fixtures. It isn't my thing but it was interesting. While scoping things out she finds this cool Egyptian urn for cremation, cast in bronze. Something like that is unusual, here in the South. So she asks about the price, the guy is a little surprised but he looks it up and she buys it.

After that, I'm carrying it around and my aunt asks what it is, and I tell her. That causes a stink, because we're supposedly being disrespectful and insensitive to those mourning (this from the people who had arrived in sweat pants and were burping and telling dirty jokes all evening). Well, that was enough. So I went to the casket and paid my last respects, I threw in a pack of Marlboros that I'd bought for the occasion, since smoking 3 packs /day for the last 45 years is what killed him (and there probably aren't any in Hell). I told my aunts, uncles, and cousins they can go join him tonight, for all we care. Then we went and had a nice steak dinner at Ruth's Chris. What a pleasant evening.

I'm not nuts over them, but they're not bad (Q701s). Another to try in the bracket are the HE-300s or a used set of HE-400s, they're epic for the price. My tuned HE-300s kick the crap out of anything even remotely in their price range. The detail and clarity is amazing.

Good year? Oh yeah, it's been a great year. I've spent a terrifying amount of money on hobbies, pi**ed off my family, and have a new kid, what more could I want?

I'm pretty sure my wife bought me a car for Xmas, but I have no idea what it is.

Emma does deserve it, few children are born into the hell she was. I think tonight was for the best, finally it's all out there and there's no more dancing around the issue. More or less I've disowned them and it's good riddance.

Which Ferrari?

I don't drink at all now, except a single glass of wine with dinner sometimes, it mixes badly with my meds. No, she'll never know those folks, ever.

Oh, you mean the Daytona? Frak, I'd throttle her for that, then kiss her say "thank you". lol Reminds me of the "verge of panic" feeling for the first several months after she received her credit cards. "What are their limits?" "Limits?"

Then later you're thinking, "I love her, I trust her, buuuuut." Luckily, I've found that she's quite paranoid about overspending. Much more so than me, for instance.

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Alright then, 4 coats of US Racing Blue (with pearl finish added), 2 coats of clear, white "champion" stripes, some re-chrome, a little body work (thanks to a dumba** shop assistant), and...






A few interior touches left to go.