One of the captains of the good ship Autopian, David Tracy, has come so far! It wasn’t even four years ago when David had alternators under trees, two-year-old milk in his refrigerator, and tools frozen on his flooded garage floor. Now, David’s a dad with a wife, a sweet BMW i3, and less rust than ever.
David wrote about performing an oil change while also being a dad, and what resulted was hilarity followed by baby Delmar (Not His Real Name) getting some oil on his head. The great thing is that kids are built pretty tough! The comments were especially awesome. Kurt B:
David, there are photos of you on the Internet with a transmission in your dishwasher. If Elise was not expecting an oily baby, she is a foolishly optimistic lady.
Pilotgrrl:
David, just remember your adorable son doesn’t need his oil changed!
Dead Elvis, Inc.:
Maybe not, but there are consistent leaks & emissions that need tending to.
Harvey Park Avenue:
Babies are absolutely not CARB compliant.
Jatco Xtronic CVT:
You know, life, and David’s life too, is as continuously variable as the Jatco Xtronic CVT itself.
DialMforMiata:
If you look at that oil as a baptism into the Church of David the Autopian, it’s not so bad.
Okay, maybe it’s worse.
Andrea Petersen:
I see the Baby Industrial Complex has got to you! Don’t worry, a little bit of Dawn is fine on a baby, just keep it out of his eyes. A wet cloth with a bit of the soap and a rinse will do the trick no problem. Remember, humans have raised babies for literally millions of years and washed them just fine without special baby wash. Also, eventually, the monkey-see-monkey-do thing will kick in with a garage kid and extreme cuteness will ensue. I once found my daughter under her trampoline and when asked what she was doing, she informed me it was actually an Alfa Romeo, not a trampoline; she was installing a squirrel and asked me to give her an imaginary screwdriver.
Finally, Thomas wrote about how singer Dua Lipa is selling her Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Hermsdorfer Kreuz:
Waiting for her Dual IPA collab with a local brewery
I also think I should give you some insight into the COTD process. We like to choose funny, informative, or heartwarming comments. Some extremely funny comments here are political in nature, but to help keep temperatures down, we do avoid those. It looks like we may also be avoiding sexual-ish humor in the future as well.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Topshot:David Tracy/Royal Purple/Depositphotos.com
Wow, I made COTD! Thank you, Mercedes!
Missed out on this one. I’ll tell my story anyway. This reminds me of when my dad was changing the oil on his ‘84 Rabbit when I was 6 or 7. My little 2-yr-old sister was running around the carport where he was working and got into some used oil. I don’t remember the specifics but my parents thought she may have swallowed some oil. I guess she had some around her mouth? The next thing I know we’re taking her to the ER and they are inducing vomiting. Luckily it was a false alarm but it was a little scary. Now a dad of 3, I know first-hand how much can happen in a split second with a kid. Luckily kids are pretty robust.
I’m thinking that’s the wrong kind of baby oil!
“avoiding sexual-ish humor”
Quite right! Sophomoric humor about the unfortunately shaped containers of lab grade samples was getting a bit much. I regret my errant attempts at period correct for the twentieth century humor, that is entirely inappropriate in the twenty first. I vow to never again dabble in the sordid past of crumpets.
Fast forward a year:
“My son has SEVEN Little Tikes cars on the lawn, should I evict him?”
Then we all read on, wondering how in the hell a plastic car has rust on it…
“A lot of 1998-2014 models (chassis codes ending in -612 through -619) were known for non-galvanized axles, which are the only metal part on the entire vehicle. Apparently they never thought anyone in the snow belt would be using these in the salt. I didn’t think these were that rusty until I moved to Cali and couldn’t even give them away for free!”
Srsly, though, I more likely see David (if that even is his real name) modding a Cozy Coupe to look like an i3. No, really. That is very within the realm of possibility.
Or he modifies his i3 to look like a cozy coupe! People have done it with smart cars, the i3 is begging for it
David is evolving. Good for him.
I remember those sweet early years of marriage as my quirks and hobbies had to yield time to the new realities of sharing space with a lovely and patient wife and cute but not-patient kids. Occasionally frustrating, but in the end more than totally worth it. Here I am on the other end with young adult kids who are cool and fun to be with, a still-lovely and patient wife, and more time and income for cars again. Plus I can now shop for my own underwear and fix meals more sophisticated than mac n’ cheese. Levelled up!
Enjoy the ride, every day of it.
David has something of an advantage in that his hobbies overlap so much with his job.
At the time, mine did too (freelance antique automotive journalist & photographer). But I wasn’t as good at monetizing my work back in the pre-internet era. With birth of child #1, my wife suggested I needed to get a “real” job and be more of a “breadwinner.” Since then, I’ve had two diverse careers that I love.