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» TMO Talk » The Library » I = the great retardo (Page 1)

 
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Author Topic: I = the great retardo
Ringo

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I want to take you back to this time last year. Some may remember this time last year things were going pretty fucking well for me. I was out from my parents, living wih a hott 18 year old girl and a good mate, having parties every week, and I had an awesome car.

Later in the year, everything turned to ratshit. Our landlord fucked us over and I made one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. I sold my beautiful Roadster.

Now I know I'll be mocked for saying such things but that car was really special to me. Not only was it a hell of a fantastic car,w hen I owned it I was going through a period where I was 100% genuinely happy. I don't evenknow why it was that I sold it. I guess I found my eyes wandering to other cars, hinking about what I could be missing out on, and eventually I decided it was best for me and my roadster to part company.

Hardly a single day has passed since then where I haven't, at some poin, wished I still had that car. I've started hauling my arse out of debt at a prodigious rate but the trade off is having to drive around in a car which frankly belongs on a scrap heap.

Well the guy I sold it to can tell a similar story, he used to have a Vauxhall VX220 sports car that he used for trackdays and stuff. He's realised that my little Roadster can't fill the void left by his car, and I've realised I don't feel like I will be happy again until I've got this car. It's up for sale. I could buy it back.

But I don't have any money. The cash I got from selling my nissan went into killing my credit card. If I buy back my car,I'll be in more debt than when I started all of this. But still, something inside is saying that it's worth it. That I hate not having it in my life and the added debt is simply the cost of the mistake I made in getting shot of it in the first place.

But I also have the sensible voice which is saying that I'd be a fool to do it, that it proves I haven't changed at all no matter how I try to justify it. That after a few months I'll be looking at some other flashy piece of aspirational crap I don't need and the roadster will be yesterday's news again.

But... When I had that car, even after a year of owning it, I would still count down the hours at the end of my day because I was excited about driving home.I'd spend evenings just blasting around MK because I loved the sensation of being behind its wheel. I'd even go to the window every now and then and just look at it. I thoroughly loved that car and when I drov it,it felt like an extension of my limbs that I could control better than any other car I've ever had.

I just don't know what the fuck to do. It sort of feels like some ex girlfriend I never thought I'd see again, a girl I spent a year with and had the most amazing time of my life with, has just walked back into my life with the offer of getting back together. And I'm all like, will it be the same again? Will I be dissappointed and heartbroken? Or willit be as amazing as I remember and will it help me drag myself out of this really nasty rut I feel I've falled into?

I just don't know.. [Frown]

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Benny the Ball
"oh, hold me"
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Ringo - I'm really sorry, I tried to read all that, but the combination of tiredness and cars - I couldn't - however, not that this'll help

On the one hand - compound interest is a horrible thing to live under for any length of time (houses excluded) and the Bank of England are making noises about rasining rates again...

on the other - this is life, not some half arsed dress rehearsal...

I hope this unhelpfullness helps?

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If Chuck Norris is late, time better slow the fuck down

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Ringo

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Yeah, it sort of sums up what I was saying really. The thing is, none of this sorting out debts shit has given me a fuzzy sense of satisfaction or achievement. It's just made me really frugal and resent spending any money.

The way I figure, if oil is going to crash the planet soon, we might at well enjoy it while it lasts, eh? In years to come, when my 18 grandchildren are huddled around a candle for warmth, they'll ask me what the world was like when we still had oil. "what wondrous things dod you do, granpapa?" they will say. "oh children, I did such things as you could never imagine. But mostly, I just drove around in one of the shittest cars ever made and tried to save money"

"what's a 'money'?"

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doc d
late to the party
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what's important?
what do you want?

its only money at the end of the day, debt can be managed. is it your thing? my thing is records i'm really fucking addicted to these hunks of black plastic. i can't walk past charity shops without feeling the pull. but i can manage it. honest.

if, you can live your life, have a car you love and afford to run it and race it, then you should do it.
we all have to have something that makes us, well, us.

that sounds really wank.
but if you've accepted jesus into your heart it will be fine.

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Ringo

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Yeah, it is important to me. More important than pretty much anything else. It's always been my 'thing' and the older I get, the stronger that becomes.

All of the stuff I've done this year, the car selling, the cycling to work, all of that has happened since I got rid of the roadster, and the reason it all happened is becasue I didn't have a car I enjoyed any more. I know that's basically saying that if I hadn't gotten shot of it, all these really positive things wouldn't have happened to me, but I'd trade it all in. So I've not had cars for a few months, I'v just spent my cashon other things like playstation, xbox, and loads of other crap I didn't need and don't really enjoy.

I love cars. It's who I am.

Although, cruelly, the guy who has it now is being all like "well I'm still not sure I want to sell it, and I don'tknow how much I'll ask"

but he has said I can get first refusals so it's all good.

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doc d
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so, manage your money so that you do your thing.
earn enough, work two jobs, whatever, do your thing.
run free wrongo.

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Ringo

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I've also decided to stop being a giant gay, and I've got a beer.

Looks like everything's going to be ok

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H1ppychick
We all prisoners, chickee-baby.
We all locked in.
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what's more important to you?

A) having a light at the end of your debt tunnel, feeling physically fit and healthy and seeing some future of possibly being able to move back out of your parents' place?

or

B) tooling around in a hunk of depreciating metal?

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i'm expressing my inner anguish through the majesty of song

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Ringo

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But when I owned this car last year, I wasn't living at my parents' place. It's not the debts or my car that keeps me here. it's the combination of cheap living and having nobody I want to move in with.

So it's not like the car is going to stop me movng out. Hell at one point last year I had the Roadster and a mini, and I still had enough cash left over to buy pizzas, party hard, and generally have awesome fun.

The light at the end of my tunnel is not a financial one.

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doc d
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i'm not advocating spunking all your cash.
i'm advocating maintain your life as is now and finding a way to do what is you.

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sam
TMO Member
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I went back with a boyfriend after a year apart. I used to dream of this guy, I really did and I couldn't wait to get back into his pants when he asked.

Within three days I knew I had made a bad bad mistake. Within a week we were old news again.

The sad thing is it killed my tasty little dream life stone dead too. [Frown]

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A day without laughter is a day wasted.
In memory of Alastair

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Benny the Ball
"oh, hold me"
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Ringo, it seems like you've made your mind up and are just looking to justify it - if it's you and defines you, then make it happen - but try to do it sensibly.

Sam - what was the dream life?

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If Chuck Norris is late, time better slow the fuck down

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sam
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quote:
Originally posted by Benny the Ball:
Sam - what was the dream life?

I imagine not to dissimilar to Ringo's dream of getting his throbbing little engine back.

Hope he has more success than I did.

--------------------
A day without laughter is a day wasted.
In memory of Alastair

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Nathan Bleak
It's all grist to the mill
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Yeah, you could find that it wasn't really the car that was making you happy, it was just the way everything in your life was going back then; that the car was just one element, which you've come to associate with being happy, but wasn't necessarily the catalyst.

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Now that you've called me by name?

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sam
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I don't know Ringo like you all do so I don't know how valid my opinion can be, but I was really surprised, just from reading you on here, Ringo, that you got rid of the car altogether and although you said you were enthusiastic about the bike and there was a lot of real stuff coming across, I didn't get the same buzz from the page as when you were on about the car. I understand it more now you mention debt and stuff. Maybe you can't go back because maybe it won't be the same, but if you are financially beginning to have space to look around can't you work some sort of a plan out to get another car? Not off the peg or the old girlfriend one but another one you work towards or build or something? One that ok you have to wait awhile for but which fits who you are now and not what you were a couple of years ago?

I like projects and challenges though, they make the blood tingle and all that but maybe I haven't met too many challenges yet so what would I know?

--------------------
A day without laughter is a day wasted.
In memory of Alastair

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MiscellaneousFiles

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Indeed. You could find yourself sat in your old car thinking "Where's the magic? Why don't I feel great again?" which would be a real shame.

Incidentally, how much did you pay for the car first time round?

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MiscellaneousFiles

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quote:
Originally posted by sam:
Not off the peg or the old girlfriend one but another one you work towards or build or something?

Yes - why don't you start collecting the new fortnightly DeAgostini partwork, Build a Lotus Seven. I hear the first issue is only £2.99 and comes with a free binder, plus the first part of your car - a spark plug. It's available from all good newsagents, apparently. It's gonna be a bitch for the paperboys when Issue #428 is released, with the engine block.

[ 29.06.2007, 04:45: Message edited by: MiscellaneousFiles ]

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sam
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Someone always takes the piss. [Roll Eyes]

--------------------
A day without laughter is a day wasted.
In memory of Alastair

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Ringo

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quote:
Originally posted by sam:
I don't know Ringo like you all do so I don't know how valid my opinion can be, but I was really surprised, just from reading you on here, Ringo, that you got rid of the car altogether and although you said you were enthusiastic about the bike and there was a lot of real stuff coming across, I didn't get the same buzz from the page as when you were on about the car.

Well I was tring to get into drifting in a reasonably large way. I wont explain drifting beyond saying it's all about doing monster powerslides into corners etc. Now by far the most popular car for this is the Nissan 200SX (which I will refer to by its chassis code of S14). It's a big, powerful rear wheel drive car with a limited slip differential as standard, so can hammer sideways with smoke pouring off the rear tyres all day long. You can drift a Mazda, especially the one I had which had the more powerful engine and a limisted slip diff, but it's much harder by comparrisson. Because I was spending a lot of time focusing on this, I eventually took the plunge and chopped the mazda in for an S14. That really was a bit of a mistake. Sure the S14 can do powerslides but other than that it's a boat. Doesn't have anything like the sharpness or the response of the mazda. Put simply it just wasn't exciting to drive.

I knew I didn't really suit the S14 and I never really looked forward to driving it. In despair I decided that maybe I should just give up on cars altogether and that's where the cycling idea came from.

But he pull of cars has been too strong, so I forked out a few hundred on what is basically a beaten up old banger fit for the scrap heap. Sure the Volvo I'm driving may be rear wheel drive with good weight distribution but the comparisson between it and the mazda is like chocolate and shit.

But then Thorn rightly highlights the flipside of the dillemma. What if I buy this car back and for one reason or another I'm not happy with it. Like maybe there were things that irritated me about it that I have forgotten about, and once I've driven it for a few weeks I'll start hating it and the money I've lost in getting it back.

I guess there's no real right or wrong answer. At the very least, people's responses have generally sugested that it's not a terrible idea, regardless. I genuinely expected people to be all like "ffs put your wallet back in your pocket and stop being a twat" whereas people are more saying that if it's something I really feel I need in my life then I should go for it, live the the now and enjoy things like this while I still can.

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MiscellaneousFiles

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Will the Eunos bring you more happiness than Forza 2?
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Ringo

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Driving any car brings more enjoyment than playing a computer game, Misc. Unless it's Tomb Raider or King's Quest.
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MiscellaneousFiles

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I think you need to make a decision. If you're going to buy your old Roadster, this time it's gotta be for keeps. No slagging around with other rides. If you're going to put yourself in debt in order to afford this motor, you've got to have some commitment. It's not always going to be easy. Sometimes you might see another car overtake you, and think phwoar, but you've got to exercise some restraint. You realise how much you miss Eunos now. You're not going to let her get away again. Right?
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Ringo

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Yeah I know it's easy to take the piss and I'm sort of cringing at the really obvious analogy, but it's genuinely the only comparrisson I can make which really puts across how I feel about the car. I don't expect many people to understand, and I know just how lame it probably seems to other people, but it's just me, it's what I've always been like and I think I always will.
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sam
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You can feel the love when you talk car Ringo.

--------------------
A day without laughter is a day wasted.
In memory of Alastair

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MiscellaneousFiles

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Sorry Ringo - I genuinely didn't mean that post to take the piss. I was just going along with your ex-girlfriend analogy. The point about commitment stands though, no matter whether you see it as an emotional or financial one. I hope the seller offers you a fair price.
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Ringo

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Don't worry, I wasn't offended or anything, I ws joining you in observing the absurdity of the situation, and the absurdity of attaching genuine emotions to a thing, an object, a large collection of mechanical and electrical components.
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Ringo

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But still, just look at it
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MiscellaneousFiles

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quote:
Originally posted by Ringo:
But still, just look at it

It is a great car, and I'm secretly dead jealous.
That topless pic actually made me feel a bit desky.

[ 29.06.2007, 05:41: Message edited by: MiscellaneousFiles ]

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Ringo

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It certainly beats the crappens out of this heap of junk

(although the minilites are still bringing me a certain amount of joy)

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ralph

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quote:
Originally posted by Ringo:
But still, just look at it

I had a '91 Miata (crystal white) for a decade. I loved that car, but once I started a family, I found it less and less practical to keep. A school teacher in the next town left a note in my mailbox one day wondering if it was for sale. I sold it to him that night. Every time I see him tooling around the area in my car, I get the urge to run him off the road.

I think what I'm trying to say is that I think you should try to get your car back. It's too late for me, but you've been given a second chance. Go for it.

[ 29.06.2007, 07:28: Message edited by: ralph ]

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Nathan Bleak
It's all grist to the mill
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Before you pounce on ralph's advice, there, Ringo, remember that he's a reclusive alcoholic drug addict living in a shack in the middle of the woods and taking medication for depression.

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Now that you've called me by name?

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Ringo

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You're right Nathan. If I don't get my car backI could end up JUST LIKE RALPH

Thanks, that's pretty much made my mind up

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ralph

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Glad I could help. [Frown]
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Nathan Bleak
It's all grist to the mill
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Come on ralph. It must feel good to know that your life has a purpose, even if it is just to serve as a warning to others.

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Now that you've called me by name?

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Ringo

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I'm not really digging the ralph-hating any more nathan. Ralphs a pretty decent guy who has graciously put up with a lot of shit. He's actually got a fairly unique perspective on things, and while he may be a little rough around the edges (hey who isn't, right?) I think he makes a valuable contribution on TMO and should be appreciated
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