Need advice

OH OH ! I think the gloves just came off......   Now you two just play nice.....

AND we just hit 22 pages.

Yep.  Lane just dropped the velvet glove...

"Rut Row, what are we going to do now George?" said Astro

Beer Danny ??  

Maybe later, it's a little early isn't it Leon?

Carlisle is 100% wrong for me. Someday, I may not be in the business I am, but in a commercial HVAC/R business, late May-August is like tax season for an accountant. It's just suicide to try to bug out when people are most in need of the service.

I thought I might have established by now that I'm not afraid to drive my car, so I don't take Lane's challenge as anything other than good-natured fun. Lane's a good guy.

As far as taking a DD to the largest replica meet in America, I can understand just wanting to get together with guys you like-- but if you're going to do that, why do it at a giant car-show in Pennsylvania at a time of year when everybody else is trying to book the same hotel rooms in a place with very unreliable weather?

I like you guys, really I do. But... I don't get it. Perhaps if I went one year I would, but I don't now, and I don't see that changing.

Yeah, Stan, some of us know you're not afraid to be a long distance warrior in your Speedster.

And I totally get your job requirements, so I get why you won't come out there with us in May.

But as far as why to go? We have a friggin' blast. The entire hotel is now ours and it is a great place to stay. And really the weather is a crapshoot no matter when you go, no way to ever predict that. But by and large, it has been good in the nine years I've been going. I won't excuse any DD drivers, unless your car has a busted motor or something. The people are why I go. And we get to have 3 or 4 Spyders in one place at the same time!

I went to Carslisle for the first time last year.  It was a great time.  Sure meeting at Deals Gap would be a great trip.  But having the vendors there with cars and parts is nice.  Last year Carey brought his new Conv D.  Where else could you see that.  I even bought Beck wheels for my IM when I saw them at the show.  Had dinner with Henry and the IM guys.  Heck Henry even picked up the bill.  I'm actually not going to attend this year due to kid graduations on the same weekend.  Bummer.

You're right Phil, I really enjoy the manufacturers as well. Something totally cool about late night sessions with Henry and the Hines, learning about how hard it is sometimes to run this car business these days.

I'm looking forward to meeting Daniel at Seduction and Greg from Vintage Spyders. Really hoping they bring a pre-A coupe as well, now that would be worth the trip all on it's own!

"...so I don't take Lane's challenge as anything other than good-natured fun. Lane's a good guy."

He don't know me vewwy weww, do he?  Huh huh huh huh huh huh! 

Danny's got it right, Stan.  We start coming for the cars.  We keep coming for the people.  It is one of the most fun extended weekends of my year.

I plan my year around two events;  Bluegrass in Mountain View, AR and Carlisle---and NOT in that order.

I plug the events into my calendar and whatever else that pops up and tries to stop me gets mover around or missed.

Carlisle is the best of what someone can spend time doing; Caravanning with great people with a shared interest and having two dinners and two lunches together along the way, A thrilling arrival at the Marriott with 12-15 Sopeedsters andSpyders, Gabbing in the parking lot parts of at least three days, catching up with SOC friends, group dinners for 75-100 knuckleheads, Egg Sammiches at the fairgrounds, various seminars, some by our own, Seeing 50 Speedsters/Spyders all parked at the fairgrounds, Watching Danny beat the clock on the track, A zillion parts, cleaning supplies and tools for sale at the vendor tents, great car bargains in the cars for sale lot, Manufacturers displays, greeting the makers of "our" cars, learning new ways to improve the cars (not the unobtaninum ones that don't need improving), The raffle, the bull sessions late into the night and even the drive back home.  And a L-O-T more. 

I can't imagine what other activity could possibly provide so much interest as the annual Carlisle event.

I'm just sayin'.

I think you guys should show a little sensitivity and cut Stan some slack.

What he's sheepishly not discussing here is that the dietary laws of his religion strictly forbid egg sammiches.

I have ALWAYS trailered to Carlisle and proud of it.

I used to trailer from 2-1/2 hours south of Lane, along with all of the stuff we brought north to our Summer Casa every spring.  We'd come rumbling into the hotel parking lot, unload and drop the trailer and just became one of the crowd, ready to have a great time.  Most of the reasons for trailering have been physical in nature:

Kathy has severe glaucoma and cannot have wind buffeting her eyes, so we got a pair of Wylie-X sealed sunglasses and solved that problem, but you know?.....After an hour or so in a Speedster seat, every part of my body seizes up and aches and what fun is that?  To get out of the car in Carlisle and be in pain for both the weekend and probably the rest of the week?  

Phooey! 

So instead,  We used to load up, toss the pups onto the back seat, crank up the A/C, turn up the XM Radio and go into Cruise mode for the next 12 hours or so.  I have to admit, though....I used to queue up 10-12 hours of "Car Talk" episodes to play on the road and after about 6 hours or so, Kathy would holler, "THAT'S ENOUGH!!  No more Friggin 'Car Talk'!!!!" so we would have to find something on XM like, "60's on 6"

Still, in all my years of trailering either nobody ever cared how I got there, or I was too tired to notice because we've all (me, Kathy and Chris) had a great time. My trailer and truck are gone so if I come I'll be driving (sitting on my new Cabriolet-style seats) but this year my available funds are going to a bike trip instead.

As Bruce has always said:  "Drive 'em, Tow 'em or push 'em, but get 'em there somehow (and you'll have a terrific time)!

Yup, you guys are right on! That's Carlisle. OK if I copy some of these testimonials over on the Carlisle thread? 

Danny.  Can't believe Greg Leach is coming.  Will be his first.  I would really like to see him.  I'm so bummed.  Take lots of pictures.

Sure Bruce---just purge all my typos!

As someone said a few years ago, " It's like a big family reunion....except you like everybody". Like minded people with backgrounds that are all over the map, and believe it or not, we even talk about stuff other than cars.

2014 would have been our 6th year in a row, but an elder care situation required that we stay home.  We may be going on a vacation right after Carlisle, so we may be in the dreaded DD as well. But we did it before and still had a great time without worrying about the weather, which was a bit damp 4 out of the 5 times we went. There are usually a few empty right seats for the cruises if you really need to ride in a speedster or spyder.  It's really about the atmosphere and the people.

Stan,

How do you describe a sunset to a man who cannot see?  How do you explain why you like  Paul Simon's music to a man who cannot hear?  I'm not sayin' you are blind and deaf (that would apply better to me than to you), but what I am trying to get at here is that you can't grasp what the Carlisle thing is until you -- well -- grasp it.  So unless/until you actually come on down (w/ or without your car, as you might require), nobody here is going pay any attention to what you say about it.  We know the secret handshake and can only show it to you in Carlisle.

And for cryin' out loud, it's just a week end.  You tellin' me you work 24/7, and you don't have any decent help who can answer the call for a couple of days?  C'mon, man.

OK, a little defense, here.......Not that he needs it, mind you.

Unlike Stan, I was never self-employed.  Always worked for somebody else, but can't ever remember putting in less than a 70 hour week (just ask my family).  Being "on call" was a given, since, in my world, Global Data never sleeps and I had ten customers (like, Citi-Bank, Visa, Ford and UBS) who had my private cell number in case they had IT issues that had to be resolved NOW. 

Before I retired in 2001, there was no friggin way I would have ever made it to Carlisle unless I could have had a jet waiting within a 20 minute ride from me.  That's just the way it was. I might have dreamed of seeing everyone there, maybe even seeing Lane looking for lost brass parts and such, but it never would have happened.

Stan is self-employed and knows when he can and can't sneak a little time off.  He's lucky if his work is semi-seasonal but, even then......you never know when bovine by-products will interact with air movement mechanisms - trust me, I know.

Someday, when things settle down a bit for me (whenever the heck THAT will be) I would LOVE to get out to the Fly-over states and visit with those often flown-over, like Stan, Marty and Rich....Maybe Joe Soltis, too.  I figure I have several hundred of those aerial reconnaissance flights under my belt (and the frequent flyer miles to prove it) and I deserve to land someplace other than O'Hare and Midway.  Bremen would be nice, Columbus, even, but not Detroit - I spent three days in Detroit one night.

So, STAN!  We'll come to you, unless you are in Puerto Vallarta (and this sorry Mac can't do a tilde) and if you ARE in Mexico, I'll visit you there, too.  Together we'll find some kick-butt local restaurants unknown to the Tourists and rave on.  Don't sweat Carlisle.  This year, at least...

Gordon, you didn't need to bash Detroit.

Detroit didn't need to bash me, either.

Flew in one morning for a meeting with Ford, which was using our CAD software (Computervision stuff) back then.  Was supposed to be back home that night.  Got snowed in to stay overnight (I ALWAYS carried an overnight bag).  The rest of the city was snowed in, too - like 20" - 30" in 12 hours, then ice.  Everything stopped.  Took two days to get the airport re-opened.  Got on a first-name basis with Carlos Fuente, the server at the hotel bar.  Could walk to the Museum of Contemporary Art (AWESOME museum, BTW) and spent an entire day there - nothing else was open.

Longest one-day trip I ever took.

I'll have to take your word for it, gentlemen.

I think Gordon understands. Things are markedly better for me now than they were 5 years ago, but I remain in a time-critical occupation. Mid-May the weather gets hot for the first time, and all manner of stuff breaks. It happens every year, and has since I started in this business 30+ years ago.

It is what it is. I build my life around it, and I feel like it's worked pretty well.

I think all of us understand the commitments of jobs whether self-employed or not, just responding to your question - "What am I missing with the Carlisle thing?"  Hopefully the commentary helped provide some understanding.  

I too am self employed as an owner operator and realize my customers are what keeps food on the table....I also realize that what is mostimportant is time, time to enjoy and rewind as to ignore that will have you pushing up flowers at a young age and my customers will survive with or without us. Tant being said, find and make the time to enjoy life as it passes all too quickly ....

Alan:

Couldnt agree more. But then it comes down to what you chose to do with that valuable time.

That can be different for each of us, and it still requires prioritizing.

Kudos to everybody who gets to Carlisle, but I imagine that far more participants on this site don't make it then do.

Carlisle sounds a lot like the all Cobra/Shelby Double Venom Spring Fling in Columbus and London, OH. My first year there was to see the cars, the vendors and manufacturers and meet people I'd only known thru the Cobra forum, after that it was it was to meet up with old friends and new. Plus the fact that nowhere else will you see upwards of 500 Cobras, Daytona Coupes and Mustang GTR's all in one place...a truly awesome sight when you are into a certain marque.

For me though going to Carlisle and meeting y'all, at least this year, is a no go because one of our nephews is getting married on that weekend up in Vail and one of our nieces is getting married the following weekend in Estes Park, we'll miss the Spring Fling with the Cobra this year too...darn kids...LOL.

My wife and I have discussed about going to Carlisle next year but we will trailer the car if we go...it is 1600 miles one way from here and she really doesn't want to road trip that far.

Hope you all have a good time and the weather gods favor you

That's pretty territory in the spring and summer. 

I don't know, Bob, we now have an entire hotel, and as of this date over 60 people have RSVP'd. Last year we had 80 at our Sat. night banquet. I'm pretty sure we'll be around 100 this year.

I would wager that a good portion of the Midwestern to Eastern folks are gonna go, including you and I!