If I must, I must (more power)!

If I must, I must…gotta earn that pay check.

While my Mustang may ride like a tank with it’s corner hugging, rough riding suspension, it does not operate like a tank in the snow.  So if this weather does not break soon, I have two options:

1. Put a lift kit on my fabulous little Mustang…or…

2. Take drifting lessons from my son Jon

Love our St. Louis weather, but can’t wait to say good-bye to the partially snow plowed, salted roads, and say hello to the irritating Spring rains that cause me to wash my car every few days.   Ahh, the woes of owning a car I love to take care of.

Hunkered down
A bit too chilly
Love the color!
Another option…More Power!
How I feel I can drive in the snow…
Reality…

 

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Debbie | 9 Comments

It’s the Year of the Horse according to the Chinese.  However, we auto enthusiasts might look at it a bit differently.  A horse with four legs is fine for cowboys, rodeo riders, and the like.  The kind that gets my motor running is the horse that comes in numbers and can be found under the hood. I am especially fond of the horses found under the hood of a Mustang. Horse Power in a horse, double bonus.  Generally the top speed for a racing thorough bred is around 50 MPH.  Ha!  That’s nothing.  My little ’03 GT can double that and then some  in a heartbeat!  Giddy-Up!

While people born under the Sign of the Horse are thought to be kindhearted, creative, and talkative, it’s proven that those of us who have the “Good Fortune” of driving a Mustang are quick off the line, appreciative of all things Hot Rod, and love to tell a good stop light story.

Finally, we can all agree it’s really The Year of the Mustang, considering it turns 50 this year!!   Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Birthday Ford Mustang…time to rev up those horses!

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Posted on February 1, 2014 by Debbie | 7 Comments

While doing a bit of light reading… The 2014 Writer’s Market, a 920 page book that is going to help propel my creative samplings into this new and fabulous year…I came across a wonderful and inspiring quote. With a bit of adaptation it goes something like this:   “As a writer I am not going to quit.  I am going to outlast those who are lucky and outwork those who are lazy.”

Wish me luck…better yet, wish me success!

P.S. Hot Rods forever.

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Debbie | 12 Comments

Wishing all my friends and family both near and far a wonderful beginning to this new year.  May 2014 hold great things.

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Debbie | 8 Comments
Merry Christmas to me!

Merry Christmas to me!

The holidays of 2013 are turning out to be quite wonderful.  Brad and I are enjoying having both boys home from college and together we are  managing to spend time with each other as a family and with our friends, as well.  Santa (aka Brad) read over my Christmas wish list quite thoroughly, and came up with a fabulous combination of gifts that any motor head would get revved up about.  Santa’s helper (me) put a few things in my stocking, and BFF Yvonne delivered, as well.  The gifts  are as follows:

1. Hot Rod calendar

2. Diamond plate cover for the switch/outlet in the same hot rod bathroom

3. Shifter replica that will act as our new toilet handle in the same bathroom

4. Ford wall hanging with hooks

5. 1969 Mustang Hot Wheel

6/7. Mustang piston key chain and beer coozie

8. Oxford White touch-up paint for my Mustang

9. Anniversary Mustang drinking glass from Tervis and…..

10. The complete set of Fast and Furious DVDs

Sure it’s been great to receive all of these motor head gifts, but the best part of this holiday season has been being with family and friends.  A great big Happy New Year wish from hoodscoop03 to you and yours.  Thanks for being part of my amazing 2013!

The complete set of Fast and Furious to date.
Wall hanging from BFF
Piston drink coozie, Shifter toilet handle, Diamond plate switch plate cover, and a Mustang key chain.
Tervis drink holder from BFF Yvonne. I admit this was for my birthday in November, but seemed to fit well here.
Santa even remembered the stocking stuffers.
Anyone up for a Fast and Furious marathon?
1969 Mustang
Merry Christmas to me!

Finally a tiny shout out to Summit Racing Equipment who puts together a fun little gift catalog filled with unique, useful, and not so useful items for any car enthusiast.

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Debbie | 11 Comments

This just in…I’ve been informed that on Tuesday my blog had a birthday.  One year ago I took a leap and decided to open myself up to a new kind of social media.   At first, I was nervous and very careful.  In fact my first post was called “Off the Line” and all I did was type a sentence.   “Car Books for Kids” hopefully inspired gear heads to read to their children.  My post listing 30 Crazy Car Rules was meant to make my audience think twice about the way people treat their cars.  Over the span of this past year I’ve hit the Publish button 90 time, once accidentally.  My followers include folks from India, the UK and all across the United States.  46 of them are outright, 29 from Twitter, 74 from Face Book, and just as important there are 12 followers who choose to follow by comment only.   My stats tell me that hoodscoop03.com has been touched by over 30 countries. It has received 567 comments, 6061 views, and  3 awards.  Though hard to understand, I’ve felt more accomplishment than success.  Great joy was filed away after posting two of my favorite pieces…one about Jon and the other about Mike.    I’ve enjoyed talking about my dad, my mom, my brother, Shook, and bittersweet as it was about Miela.  Finally, this past year has meant the world to me, because of the support I’ve received.  Knowing that people are in my corner, share/appreciate my interests, and simply post a comment or hit the like button because they know how much it means to me has been priceless.  Thank you for following my blog and adding to my enthusiasm for the world of cars, and the world itself.  I dedicate this post on 12/4/13 to Miela Hughes and Paul Walker.

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Debbie | 12 Comments

RIP Paul Walker, you will be dearly missed

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Debbie

A big thank you to Mind over Motor for posting this wonderfully written and thought provoking piece.

ndubs77's avatarMind Over Motor

Paul Walker and Skyline

As most of you have probably already heard, Fast And Furious star, Paul Walker was killed in a horrific crash yesterday. He was attending a charity car event yesterday afternoon, and he went for a ride in his friend, Rodger Rodas’ (who was a former racing driver), Porsche Carrera GT. Somewhere during the ride, the driver lost control of the notoriously twitchy Porsche, and they crashed. No details have been released yet on the exact circumstances of the crash, but the car was ripped in half, and the fuel tank had ruptured, engulfing the car in flames. Both men were killed in the accident.

This tragedy has shaken the car enthusiast world to the core. I know that my whole generation was, in many ways, brought into our love of cars by Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in The Fast And The Furious, so we all owe Paul a lot…

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Posted in Journal | 3 Comments

My blessings come in so many ways.   I have an amazing life.

My family is without a doubt the best in the entire world.  My amazing brother unconditionally works, teaches, gives, provides, entertains, and melds the rest of us together.  My mom is a role model that effortlessly shows us the values of charity, giving, work, forgiveness, perseverance, and the ability to take apart a problem and put it back together as an answer.  My husband has shown me that fortitude, dedication, and accountability are key ingredients to life.  My sons have shown me that the joy of worry has a purpose, efforts have pay off, and  my love  brings about more love, humor, appreciation, and tolerance.  Finally, I am grateful for my friends who accept and appreciate me.

I am grateful for my life, my family, my friends, my calling.

Yes I love my Mustang, and it does make me so happy.  But I would never say I’m thankful for my car.  I made my car have its personalty. It doesn’t make me who I am.  My thankfulness today  is based on the forces that come at me every day.  I drive my car down the road with a smile, …my car does not drive me.

To all my Word Press friends…keep loving your passions…remember that you are a force filled with reasons to be thankful.  If you have something (like a neat car) that makes you happy, chances are your happiness comes from someone who helped shape your life.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends.

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Debbie | 18 Comments

A big thank you to good friend Doug  at http://rubbermalletconsulting.wordpress.com/ for sending me the following video via Facebook.  Its a fun little showing of a 1965 Mustang simply having fun on a drag strip.  Not a bad “plate of the week” either.  Enjoy!

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Debbie | 8 Comments

It has rained off and on this past week.  Upon leaving school one day, a coworker asked, “How does Princess do in weather like this?”  I must have looked confused as the question was repeated and the word Princess was replaced with ‘your car’.  Hmmm…I’ve never considered giving my Mustang a name, but if I did, Princess would pretty much be last on the list.  If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them.

USA Today says that one in four people name their car.  In our family it’s three in four….. Brad called his Swinger – Peggy, short for Pegasus.  Michael calls the Cutlass – Jackie Blue, and Jon calls his ZX2 – Becca.

Here is a small list of cars and their names, all taken from TV:

K.I.T.T. – Stands for Knight Industry Two Thousand from Knight Rider.  The original K.I.T.T., a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am could accelerate from 0-60 in .2 seconds.  Wow!  That’s television for you.  General Lee – a 1969 Dodge Charger from the Dukes of Hazzard.  This car remains popular today, being featured in PlayStation 2 games and country western songs.   Bandit – a 1977 Special Edition Trans Am. Nothing says ‘chase’ like a 6.6 liter.   The Mystery Machine – a 1963 Ford Ecoline Van from Scooby Do.     Herbie the Love Bug – a 1962 Volkswagon Beetle created by Disney.  Like K.I.T.T, it had a mind of its own.   Christine – a 1958 Plymouth Fury. This is a favorite of Brad’s.     The Bat Mobile – The original sold in January for over 4 million dollars.

Of course there are many other cars that have names, and even more cars that are unique in their own right.  The car from Bullitt is one of my all time favorites.  I’ll save that post for another time.  If you can think of more cars that have been given names (especially any that you’ve owned)  please add them in the comment area. Nick names like ‘Piece of $#!&’ do not count!  LOL.

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Finally, while I won’t even drive my car down a gravel road, I did find this video of the General Lee vs. the Bandit a bit fun to watch.  And in searching all of the above quite useless information I came across a website  revealing that the name Mustang is the #1 company-created name for cars.  Perhaps that’s why I’ve never given mine a name…it already has the best one!   Is your car on the list?

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Debbie | 11 Comments