December Musings
I put the car away late this year, close to the end of November, which is a record. Perhaps global warming...? But since that time, my viewing of Porsche-related videos, and musings in the online forum have increased inversely proportionally to the amount of driving I've gotten to do in November / December. Coincidence? I think not.
Obviously there's no substitute for getting in the cockpit and seeking out some pristine blacktop, so the Internet makes for a (very) second-best alternative during the cold months. If there was a counter on some of the videos I've rewatched from back in those early days of aspiring to Porsche-ownership, it would be easily in the double digits now.
There are few things I enjoy more than having a day to spend beautifying the Boxster. The key is to not have any time constraints; that's no appointments to get to by the end of the afternoon; no pick-ups or drop-offs to interrupt the process; nothing to put the pressure on and make one contemplate skipping a step here or there for the necessity of expediency.
Nope. Give me a nice day (with some cloud cover please), and all the time in the world, and I'm a happy camper. I can start with the wheels, carefully tackling each one, foaming, washing the barrels, iron-removing if need be. Then moving on to the paintwork itself: pre-wash, foam (so satisfying and likely just aesthetically-pleasing, really), hand-washing to allow one to 'feel' the paint (and look for blemishes at the same time), and drying. All leading to the rewarding step of applying wax / sealant knowing that one gets to do it all over again a few weeks later.
It can be a truly zen time, just a guy and his car, maybe some tunes playing in the garage, following a satisfying regimen resulting in a shiny machine just begging to be driven.
Which, of course, then has to happen. Which means then the car gets dirty again.All the while enjoying every second of the process. It doesn't get much better. In the summer, that is.
So in the winter, a different zen time. A guy and his car, tucked away inside, maybe with some tunes playing and a space heater on. A clean car awaiting some extra treatment the summer driving time doesn't allow for. Here the satisfaction comes from jeweling the paint so that come that first spring day when the roads are clean and salt-free again, the GTS is ready to launch forth from this dark cave.
Oh we will be ready!
~ Luke
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