Growth

Not Kubota's truck, but close enough to give you a feel for what he is driving.

Kubota has a "new" truck.

It is his and the bank's. He bought it from a friend.

It is twenty years old, oversized tires and "lifted". According to him it is a man's truck, unlike the S-10 and the bone-stock, 2WD, base engine gasser I drive.

He was feeling pretty darned good about life. His job nets him twice as much cash money as I have coming in. His expenses are low. He likes his boss. Life is good.

And then...and then...

He started pricing out how much it was going to cost to fix the boy-toy that his friend had been flogging at Silver Lake and on the roads around Eaton Rapids. I presume Kubota was in the passenger seat egging him on some of the time.

Lessee: New tires all the way around is a minimum of $1000, new tie-rod ends, shocks and perhaps wheel bearings and an alignment might be another $1000. Wet-sand and clear-coat the hood and roof that was buffed down to the color-coat to make it shiny might run $500.

I won't help him, monetarily or physically. He hasn't asked and I am not going to offer. This is his baby. Clearly words bounced off and he is in learn-by-doing mode regarding vehicles. My not wanting to help is not vindictive or small. It is the stark realization that any help I offer will slow his growth and learning.

You know what they say, "If it has spark-plugs or she wears lipstick, she is going to cost you money.*"

*However, some vehicles and some women provide significantly more satisfaction and absorb far fewer resources than others. On our first date Mrs ERJ's menu choice was $1.47