One Year Anniversary: A moment of reflection from an ordinary man....a man with so little to say....

I would like to start off this entry by singing the song "Memory." OK, I will spare you my vocal stylings but it has been ONE YEAR since the cobra made its way into my garage and into our hearts. Sorry...one more cheesy bit there. But it has been a significant year for me on every level. The decision to start this project was spawned by some major life changes. Within a period of six months (pre cobra) I got married, quit my Microsoft gig in Seattle, took a gig in New York with a start up, sold our house, moved across country, bought a house, moved in, etc. With all these changes, I knew I needed a stress reliever in my life. A place of escape as I dealt with my first executive job, new town, state, coast, timezone, etc. I have always loved cars and always wanted to learn more about them. I would classify myself as a novice but I knew I could learn. But I also knew I had to learn on my own because the town I moved to in New Jersey is full of stuffy investment bankers who don't even know they have a garage, let alone how to hold a wrench, etc. Luckily, motor heads run in my family so I felt confident that I could tap some hidden gene to help me through an auto build project. Heck they do it all the time on TV. How hard could it be?
And the answer is, it hasn't been all that hard. Very challenging but completely awesome at the same time. For the most part, I am building this car on my own except for the times Russ and Dan came to help (thanks guys). Other than that, I am toiling out there in the garage on my own steam. But the biggest help has been on the Hurricane Motorsports build forum. Those guys are a life saver. I owe them all a case of beer. Always an answer to a question, always some inspirational words to get you past a problem. And they never make you feel dumb.

The build has only been a minor part of my life in the last year. My wife and are working on my favorite project right now. The birth of our kid. We don't know the sex so we call it "Cletus the Fetus." Our little bundle of...uh...something is coming June 27th, 2007. So during this build, my wife has had her own build which she has done a much better job than I! Anyway, I went strolling through the blog and wanted to pull out some memories; some great, some crazy, some tragic. Memories like on Russ' first visit, putting in the engine for the first time. My wife helping me putting in the engine on the second time. The torrential rain storm with water cannoning out of the downspout. Snow storms. Sleet storms. Killer bugs. Killer birds. Flooding basements. Neighbors house burning down. Freezing out in the garage with Russ and Dan. Family bugging me to update the blog, etc..... Man oh man...so many memories. And one final memory that is cobra centric. Last Saturday at 11:35 pm...my car ran....for 10 seconds.. Then I discovered I had a fuel system issue, an issue with the starter..but this was after I replaced the entire ignition system after frying it. Enjoy these pictures that show the car in its current state on this anniversary day.