A month or so back I bought a truck. I already own a car, but I wanted a four wheel drive truck. Perhaps it was some insatiable desire tied to when I was a small kid and wanted to be a monster truck driver for a living.
This was, of course, before my parents spiked my food with miracle grow and my bedroom with gamma radiation. I realized that my dream was just that, and instead drove remote controlled trucks and became an engineer in aerospace. Sorta.
This truck, though, does not represent a monster in any way. It is a simple two door Blazer from the late 80's. It has bad paint. It smells a bit odd. The dash is held together in one spot with brass flathead screws. When I put my turn signal on, the wipers activate due to the old plastic construction on that control stick just not holding tolerances like it used to.
But, in spite of all these elements, I love my truck. It isn't because it gets great gas mileage or because I could take it to the autobahn. It is because it has potential.
This truck is a project, and I sometimes have a bad habit of picking up projects, getting halfway, then skipping to the next project. Like, say a blog. Or a remote controlled rock crawler.
Point being that I think my problem has not been interest in the project, but my excitement. When you are excited about something, you make it happen. If you are excited about a vacation, but something gets in the way, the first reaction is how to work around the occurrence and get back to the vacation.
So with this truck, I am driving it more often than I would otherwise. Will I drive it as much as my primary car? No, but when work is 4 miles away, and you only work 4 days a week, it is hard to put big numbers up quickly. If I am constantly reminded of the project, and where I want to go with it, I can keep my excitement up.
My next big step is dumping the interior trash. Then getting the body cut. Then getting it coated. Then replacing the bumpers. That's my goal before the big chill sets in. If I can get all these done by January 1, 2010, I will be a very happy man.
Now, on another note...hehe...I am now playing bass at least two times a week. Sometimes three, but two are consistent. I enjoy playing the bass guitar, and I can say that I am getting better and better. I know that if I didn't say to someone "hey I will play bass", that I would be.
It is a bit circular, but to want to play the bass, I have to play the bass. In turn, I enjoy playing the bass more and want to play more. Which is cool, because this is a skill and talent I can take way beyond retirement. Is it any surprise that some of the most iconic music has not been created by youth, but by weathered travelers who just happen to drop by and record their experiences on a piece of plastic?
In the same light, the more I do with the truck, the more I will want to do with the truck...even if just to get it looking cool and smelling fresh ^_^
So, what projects do you have slated, but you aren't excited enough to get it going? (Asking the fish mostly.)
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