Just shifting gears here …

Porsche Guy drives a … Porsche. (What – you thought maybe it was a VW??) No, he really does drive a Porsche. It’s not a brand new one, but he is quite handy with cars and has always loved to spend time tinkering on them. He claims that one of the reasons he prefers older vehicles is that he can work on them himself. I KNOW that the other reason is that he can’t afford to buy brand new the exoticars that he really wants to own – and also, he hasn’t got a clue about computers, and since new cars are full of computery things – well, it just wouldn’t be a pretty sight.

So okay, the man is a gearhead. Fine. I accept this. And since I have been known to share his enthusiasm for cars, we seem to have that weird thing known as “something in common”. (Except when he gets all technical on me, but he’s learning to recognize the glazed look I take on at those times and immediately switches to telling me how shiny and pretty the exterior paint colour is.)

Now, his Porsche being “d’un certain âge”, it requires repairs and replacement parts every so often. For example, the digital clock doesn’t work. He did get a replacement, but there is some wire missing or connection broken (or maybe it’s computer-related?) so he can’t get this new one to work yet. The hatch doesn’t always close properly – but he’s working on that, and today said he thinks he’s almost got it. The air conditioning gave up the ghost long ago, but PG says he’d way rather open the windows and feel the wind – and besides, how hot does it get in Vancouver anyway?

None of those are absolutely crucial elements to a car, really. Well, maybe the hatch is, but honestly, it mostly does close properly after a few tries. But when the gearshift broke off in PG’s hand a couple of months ago, as he was driving, now THAT was crucial. Somehow, he nursed the car home, after he pulled off the leather boot that covers the bottom half of the gearshift and gingerly gripped the five remaining centimetres of unbroken gearshift to shift as best he could. I was sure he would replace that sucker right smartly, because a gearshift is a pretty integral part of a car, especially one with a standard transmission.

Oh, he replaced it all right. With vice grips.

How my other half lives

My significant other, Porsche Guy, and I went away for the long weekend.  It would have been nice to drive in my new car, but alas, that was not to be, so we had to take his Porsche.  Oh darn.

We stayed in this very nice, Las Vegas-junior type resort hotel right on the lake.  We spent two lovely days touring wineries, eating great food, going on a terrific walk on the boardwalk, laughing, talking.  We slept in a two bedroom condo unit all alone the first night, then friends of PG’s brother-in-law (who organized the whole weekend) were there the second night.  PG’s sister, brother-in-law and their two kids were in another unit with a loft, and they were there the entire week.  The brother-in-law apparently got these two condos on Craigslist, and knowing him, I’m sure it was a super deal.  This man is a businessman through and through, and always gets these amazing deals. 

Now we owe him two nights rental, and we I haven’t got a clue how much we actually owe.  I heard rumours about 200$ a night, but PG said (and I quote), “I’ll talk to the brother-in-law.  I’ll take care of it.”  What you have to understand about PG is that there is normal, regular time and then there is PG time.  His is different.  His clock does not work the same as everyone else’s.  His priorities are not what might be considered ordinary.  This particularly applies to dealings with money.  This man regularly does not pay his bills on time, simply because he believes that whatever company has issued him the bill routinely charges too much anyway and they’ll just have to wait, dammit.  His attitude is a cavalier “It’s only money, I’ll make some more.”   

This would explain why PG drives a Porsche and I drive a rented Hyundai.