<VV> RE: Wise Gal

[Arjay Morgan]

After being pretty much rained out at the Plant City, FL cruise-in on Saturday we found ourselves homeward bound on Rt. 39 behind another early model Corvair, who was behind a Sting Ray style Corvette. It was still spitting rain, the sun was setting, wife, Elayne, was by my side. 
   
  After a few miles at 50-55 mph (Rt. 39 is a 60 mph, 2-lane road) the Corvair ahead of us had had enough and passed the Corvette on the straight. What was amazing was that the Corvette driver let him do it. That left us behind the Corvette.
   
  Curious, and wondering if the Corvette was suffering some sort of malfunction, I remained behind. After another few miles Elayne piped up with, "Isn't that amazing, a Corvette that's not trying to show off."
   
  We stayed behind the Corvette for another 10 miles, both of us driving at a safe and sane 50-55 miles an hour, given the wet road, the sprinkling rain and the approach of darkness. Elayne continued to marvel at the Corvette that refused to "show off."
   
  When we reached a traffic light I pulled alongside in the right-turn lane and saw the reason for the unusual Corvette behavior --- there sat a gentleman, of an age, replete with a full head of gray hair. There was no blonde chick with him, nor was there any evidence of there ever having been one. Just a nice old gentleman out for a cruise in his Corvette. When's the last time you saw such a thing? When's the last time you saw an aged Corvette driver who was not having a mid-life crisis? 
   
  Only in Florida.
   
  Now, a question for the manufacturing engineers in the crowd. Ford has announced it is closing a half dozen plants until the end of the year. I'm assuming that means they'll be "mothballing" them for a while. The question is, what do you do to mothball something as huge and complicated as an automobile assembly plant? Do you just turn off the power, send the workers home, and let the mud daubers take over? If so, does that mean the robots are just stuck at Position 38 like so many arthritic ballet dancers?  What about the cars that are midway down the line, do they just stay there, frozen in time? Or, are there orderly ways to shut the enterprise down, complete with miles of shrink-wrap? This inquiring mind would like to know.
   
  Arjay Morgan
  slightly damp 64 Monza convert

 		
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