Funny Friday: The One With The Truck

/ January 15, 2015

Earlier this week, someone asked me why I started writing books.

They might have meant what do I believe is the greater purpose, what kind of message do I want to send to the world, blah blah blah. The reality is, I started writing books because of a truck.

My husband’s truck, specifically.

yoda before

Okay, it’s not technically a truck. Technically, it’s a station wagon. But for manly purposes, we call it a truck. Or Yoda. Because Toyota. Yoda Toyota.

For anyone keeping score, that’s a 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser. In the spring of 2013, my husband noticed something wrong with the truck. Something disturbing. Horrific, even.

Rust.

Dun Dun DUN!!!

Rust is bad for trucks. It wears holes in their sides and makes them generally look like crap. Ergo, the rust had to be removed with extreme prejudice.

Scrape and paint? No.

General patchwork? Nope.

Take it apart and basically redo the whole body? BINGO.

I don’t know if this is true. I asked him what he did. His response: blah blah body blah inner lining blah rust prevention blah blah money.

Or something to that effect.

Oh and he also put a lift on it. For fun.

And he did all this himself.

This really has to do with why I started writing books. Trust me.

Did I mention he did all of this himself? Do you have any comprehension how long that takes?

So this is how it started.

no front

That’s terrifying. It’s like a zombie truck movie.

Later, truck parts were stored in our family room.

car parts

This lasted for months. MONTHS.

Our niece came to visit during this process. Our “guest room” is the family room. The truck parts were still there during her visit, and I had to make them pretty. So I threw an afghan over them.

afghan

So pretty.

This is about how I started writing books, remember?

So this went on for countless weeks into months…years? Maybe. It’s all a blur. The good news is, my husband eventually completed the Rust Removal Operation of 2013.

I call it "candy corn Yoda."

I call it “candy corn Yoda.” This isn’t the 100% finished product pic, but it’s close. 

Wanna guess what I was doing while the husband spent thousands of hours rebuilding his truck?

That’s right. I wrote a book.

A girl’s gotta keep busy.

Ordinarily, during the fair spring and summer months we would go camping or biking or other fun outdoor activities that make Colorado awesome.

But in this year, we couldn’t do that. Partly because we used to take the truck when we did these things, but also because every weekend was now devoted to the truck’s repairs.

So I finally took the characters that had been floating around in my head for a while and gave them a story. Eventually, the story turned into a book.

I would have written the book eventually without the truck, I’m sure. It just gave me the nudge I needed.

Since I finished that first book, I’ve written four more and am working on a fifth. Two will be published in the next few months.

My husband doesn’t hesitate to remind me that I have the truck to thank for this.

Thanks, Yoda.

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10 thoughts on “Funny Friday: The One With The Truck”

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  5. Anything with the words Land Cruiser in the name cannot be referred to as a station wagon. Land Cruisers must cruise the land, searching for ways to keep the enemy from breeching our perimeter. Station wagons are a relic of a bygone era immortalized in the movie Vacation and by odd smells emanating from their back seats.

    A Land Cruiser is a macho vehicle, obviously crafted from the testosterone laden geniuses behind the M-1 tanks that won two World Wars. Station wagons were the precursors to… the mini van. Which gave birth to pretend SUV’s like the Honda CRV. Which gave birth to guys roller blading in short shorts or something equally hideous. Things you don’t want to see. Things you can’t unsee.

    High atop Mount Manhood, rests the domain of He Who Works On His Own Car. Please note, this is NOT the area occupied by He Who Has Four Cars Rusting In His Driveway. That’s just red-necky. They reside near the bottom of the mountain amongst the trolls and mushrooms. Usually there’s one a few blocks from your house. You all know who I’m talking about. Having all that automotive crap in your living room for a year is a close call right out of a NAPA Car Parts nightmare, but I think you made it through safely since it eventually all got back on the car.

    And that brings us to the vehicle cruelly referred to as Candy Corn Yoda.

    Obviously a creative pun based on the fact that its owner must haul children and possibly real people, He Who Works On His Own Car aptly pained it taxi yellow. In his quest for jest, however, He Who Works On His Own Car may have overstepped. It is also the color of a school bus. Care must be taken so the children of He Who Has Four Cars Rusting In His Driveway do not become confused and give chase in a drool-laden spectacle after the “short bus.” Or is that all part of the plan? The humor of a man who puts his car parts in the living room (don’t you guys have basements out there?) is rivalled only by that of his wife putting an afghan over them instead of screaming at him to move them to the freaking garage. One senses a test of wills at work not unlike a Tarantino-esque standoff without all the guns blood and cussing – as far as we know. Although, the garage IS one small step away from the driveway, which is just a midsized meander to having them rusting in the driveway. So we’ll cut her some sack on that one.

    Nonetheless, with the project finished, and the vehicle once again master of all cruises done on land, we can see the happy family basking with pride as they enjoy their newly-refinished and rust-free ride: prolific author, proud children, and He Who Is Never Allowed To Freaking Do That Again.

    Cruise those lands well, my friends.

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  6. I cannot stop laughing… bent over, with tears kind of laughter over here… But I am not laughing at you, promise.
    We share too many similarities; your family room = my dining room (Including a full sized car seat – for an adult). My first book was written during the rebuilding of a Bronco or Mustang or both. And you seem to live in Colorado, which is not where I live, but is the goal eventually.
    It is nice to find another who has been driven to write due to mechanical takeovers! 🙂

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