Letting go.........

I had to say goodbye to a friend today and this friend I met when I was just 22. I was still a student trying to figure out my ways. You helped me greatly, you taught me never to be afraid. I will remember your face...it is not something so forgettable. I wish there was more time. But, I will never forget the times we shared. Thank you.....

Okay, so enough dorkin around. Today, I had to say goodbye to my RX-7. It wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it does have a good backstory.

So about 2 weeks ago I decided to post my car up on craiglist; Portland. And yah...I got a few emails asking basic questions like....What's wrong with it? How many miles? Is the paint faded? ARRRGH!...I was only getting the questions that could speak badly about the car and nothing about the 'goods'. Uhm....... 197,750 miles on it....... uhmmm paint is a touch faded in spots.... uhmmm well there is this and that, but it works sometimes so there is nothing really technically wrong with it (shrugs shoulders). Hey what do you expect for a car almost 20 years old?

So finally I get this email from a guy that says, "hey man im really interested in your mazda rx-7, IM the guy that would take care of it. i want a 7 that i could do the TII swap in, and this car is perfect. i would appreciate it if you gave me a call me, my name is brady. 1-541-XXX-8146. thank you. the price of $2800 is firm?" So I call him and we talk and I give him tons of good information about my car and then he tells me he wants to meet up, but can't meet until next weekend because his mom is busy this coming weekend. So I agree to next weekend but I tell him this ....I says, "You know I can't promise the car will be here next week, but I'll let you know for sure and get in contact with you if I sell it." I swear I heard the cage rattling! He starts asking me if I could do him this big favor and save the car. Really? I'm thinking to myself...either this is too good to be true and this guy is gonna be a total flake.......or.......I'm gonna sell my car for PROFIT!!!

You see, back in 2000...I bought the car from fellow Vietnamese people for a mere $2k! I drove the car 8 years and put good amounts of wear n tear on it and now in 2008, I might be selling it for $2,600 dollars! So, I crossed my fingers and just hoped that this wasn't some nut job flake boy.

A week passes and guess what time it was? Yep, car selling time! Since the guy lived far away we decided to meet up at the Wilsonville FRY'S. Might as well do a lil computer shoppin too! I phone him real fast too see where he was at and the next thing I know, I'm getting waved down. The area was open and when got out of the car I saw a young freshman in highschool, a mother about my age, and two skinny white buddies and both I assume are of course .....classmates. I looked at the kid's face and honestly thought, "My God....this kid doesn't have any sort of facial hair at all! Smooth as eggs!".

I politely shook everyone's hand with name greetings and right after that, the boy wanted to know if I could pop the hood. "Yah no problem," I says. Instantly, upon opening the hood as if raising the piece of metal was magically turning on the....... "My rx7 got this removed, got that removed" comments. His friend opens his palm and puts his two hands above the engine like he was the Lord Almighty of RX7 engines! He continued rambling on about how his car had all these things taken off his engine because it robbed him of ...........4 horsepower. It was a severe list emphasized by the hastiness of his words and the serious tone in his voice.....But basically, he wanted to tell me he had nothing but the engine and alternator! That was it. 4hp increase?! Genius! I just kind of nodded along in the right places so it didn't show I wasn't interested hearing about his beat up rx7. I mean I was there trying to sell my my rx7!

I look over at the kid and he looks like he's ready to go for a test drive. I mean his palms were so wet I could smell em. Gotta make sure he likes how it drives .....right? Out of the blue he turns to me and says, "Hey are you over 25?" I wasn't sure why that question popped up out of nowhere, "Uh, yah why?" He sighed with excitement as if over enthused, "Good, cause I just got my permit and I have to drive with someone over 25 with insurance." WTF! You just got your permit? So you don't even have a valid driver's license? NOPE!!

OMG, so the kid is 15 and just barely started driving and he's about to buy my car...not what I had imagined the next owner being like. Anyways....next up.......the test drive. It's late! Time to wrap this up and sleep!