Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

THat was one day I really am glad to see the back of! Ivan had a splendid send off, if there is such a thing ?-------two hundred guests------unlimited booze-----speeches by work colleagues , friends and family!
Flags at half mast, lots of tears and sadness, preacher lady said it was a "celebration of his life"------don't know who she was kidding, it was a funeral ! Ivans funeral !
Will tell you a bit about him, He worked for Bill Gates out of Seattle, him and his team were headhunted by Corbis, they were so successful, they bought a small company, built it up and went public, sold it for £880,000,000. When he died he still had his team round him and was doing the whole thing over again.
10 handicap golfer, Skier, boater, all round sportsman, life in the fast lane!
He contacted Signet Ring Cancer five years ago, told him he just had a matter of weeks to live!
Took hisself to Chinaland and had SteM Cell treatment, we honestly thought he had beaten the bitch, but cancer nailed him for good last week.
The boy kept it at bay and he packed more into life than any ten men would normally.

I'm just his stepdad, but I couldn't have been prouder if he was my own flesh and blood!
Well done son, you lived the life------his motto in life was "GO FOR IT"
Ivan, you were my sort of man, Proud to have known you, MYGGWY . R.I.P. J.

Came back through London at peak rush hour time last night, surprised how quickly we got through the traffic. Journey took just ten minutes longer than usual.
Jilly decided we would have an "Indian"------ she didn't fancy cooking so we went to the PASSAGE TO INDIA restaurant, she had the Tikka Marsala and I had buriani duck which was a huge mistake-----mouth on fire -----rumblebelly-------Squits all night. Think I'll stick to Chinese in future!
If things go half right in the shop today, I should have the odd Piccie or two to post, see how the day goes?

What did I tell you about the cock crowing before the sun comes up ?
Came to stitch it all back together and "Voila" I got the first ever boat with underwater steering, the bar is below the bottom of the boat.
Upshot of all this is. I'm still working on the last concept !

Not a good day today, you only get to eat bear once a month, I already did that, boots now on the other foot, I'm bear bait.
Did finish the last concept, took all the piccies and then deleted the lot! What a dipstick!

Mathew now in hospital, has to be some good news any time soon, seems like we have everyone else's share of bad news!

Will take some more piccies tomorrow , that's easily remedied -----fixing phoggies is child's play ------fixing folk is harder!

Been and gone and done it, tore all the muscles in my left arm, it's now a totally useless piece of kit, sad part is, I have no idea of what caused it!
Going to have an easy day today, try and take some half tidy phoggies of the "Pughie", will post them later in the day.
Jilly is off to see Matt in hospital, they are transferring him to the hospice today, two days after burying number one son. Life can be a stone bitch sometimes !

Drew out the wing section of the Spitfire last night, (third attempt) -----have to get the thing about right or it will top up in the scrap bin-------it's too much of an icon in England to get wrong !
Would be Spitfire Concept makers have been hung up by the nether regions over the crossbar of a lamppost for getting it wrong !
CouLd be you hear more from me soon, need to show you the "Pughie", I'm still pissed off I deleted all the previous piccies !

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As far as I'm taking it,'''

WOW jackie That is absolutely beautiful!!! Great work....You are very talented . Gary

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Originally Posted by jackiewilson

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As far as I'm taking it,'''

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Just add water....It's perfect!!!!! Thanks.

By the way, forgot to mention, this was done for Roger Hinsdale!

Next up is the "Spitfire" concept------got mixed feelings about this one----just hope I can do it justice-------one things for certain, if it don't make muster-----nobody gets to see it!

Work rate is slowing down dramatically -----not the man I used to be------got a body that refuses to do what's asked of it------even taking a shower takes longer, AND I have to think about it for ten minutes before I actually DO lt.
was a time when I could open ANY sealed jar of marmalade or pickles with my bare hands------ now I take 'em into the shop------crack the seal in the wood vice and hand 'em back to Jilly.
Bruises seem to last forever, when I pull a shirt on my shoulder bones crack like no tomorrow .
Knuckles and finger joints are bigger than ever.
I look at the adverts on tv for pain relief------even had some ASPERCREME HEAT GEL sent over from the USA ------I still bloody hurt !

You ever noticed, when a loved one falls ill, I'll guarantee that all the hospital and doctor and nurse serials ,documentaries , films are all about that particular ailment------there is no escape !
Decided to take one day at a time----roll with the hits------then when he's not looking, whack him hard and run.
Enough ramblings for today, let's see what tomorrow brings! MYGGWY.J.

I got a tale to tell, but you have to take a peek at the Molinari thread first and read Lake X Kids post.

Its Sunday and I got all day! So log on later!

Where to begin ? Remember I told you that once there's been a "happening" every thing that happens seem somehow related to the event.
This happened this morning when I read Lake X Kids post on the Molinari thread!
Renato was well into and a master at "Mind Games" and psyching other drivers, thought I would do a little of my own and put a few widgets in the mix to balance things up. I began to form a plan of my own.
In those days Bill Brown and myself were close friends, he was high up in the chain at COSWORTH engineering and most of the grid in F1 was made up of COSWORTH engines! Including Ken Tyrrel who's number one driver was none other than Jackie Stewart..
Italians are the number one nation in the world to love and adore car racing, the whole country is car crazy including all the guys who worked at the Molinari factory in Torrigia.
I asked Bill if he thought he could get J/S to call by the factory and meet some of the workers, he told me he thought it would be OK for me to ask him !
Friday morning I borrowed a boat and drove down to the Villa D 'Este, walked up to the terrace where Jackie and his wife Helen were having breakfast with their two children--------he asked me to join them and put the plan to him about " just dropping in at the factory". He agreed to do it.
I returned to Torrigia, Renato asked where I had been, so I told him I had just had breakfast with the world champion' ------a million dollars could not have bought the look on his face!
You ACTUALLY KNOW JACKIE STEWART ? Yeah and his wife, and his two kids -----by this time all the guys in the factory were gathered round listening-----then I just dropped in------oh yeah, he said he would drop in later this morning and say hi.
Then it got comical, Angelo demanded everyone down tools and pick up a broom, clean up the shop, tidy the workshop, Don clean overalls, clean the Windows, hose down the floor, line up the race boats -------Royalty was paying a visit !
Sure enough Jackie and Helen and the children arrived in an Abbatte 21' , moored up at the jetty,
shook my hand and walked through the two lines of men who bowed in awe of the great man. He stayed around 15 minutes, on leaving they all shouted and cheered as they waved their goodbyes with tears in their eyes.

I knew I had scored a good few brownie points over Renato with that move----

Now the story gets more interesting than ever------but you'll have to wait for the next post for the epilogue .

So, we ended the European tour, Milan, Como, Campione, Amsterdam and Paris, Garbrecht ships my boat over to the USA for the Havasu race.
I decided to take all my grandkids ( 9 of them) to Alton towers for a long weekend in our Camper, Motorhome, Recreational vehicle, call it what you will, there was accommodation for them all.
We were having a friendly game of soccer, (well, it started out that way) against a bunch of kids from the east end of London --------Wilsons V. London. Wasn't long before we had a huge crowd of people watching------among them were Princess Anne, her Children, two body guards with Helen and Jackie Stewart and their two children! You could have knocked me down with a pheasants tail feather. We won the match 11-12, much to all the kids delight.

A couple of weeks later I arrived in Oshberg with Pruett, Richie Powers had done me a hot motor and we set off across America with high hopes.
When you get to race Havasu, you get presented with the Havasu Race Jacket, with your name embroidered on it. George May gave me my jacket which had the name "JACKIE STEWART" sewn on.

For the last 45 years I have kept bumping into J.S. On odd occasions------the last time was at Keith Duckworths Memorial service, we just nodded at each other, still don't know if he really remembered me.

Thats what I was reflecting on earlier "HAPPENSTANCE".

Been thinking most the night about spitfires, which one tickles my fancy, Mark 1---10, there all different, do I make or buy the prop? Two , three, four or five bladed prop, with or without armament-------what about the six stubby exhaust pipes either side? Stainless or Alloy.
Hundreds of questions, which way to go.
Only one thing to do, take the bull by the horns and as Ivan used to say, GO FOR IT !

Tried to get my head round the spitfire-----nothing working !
Switched to the sailboat, nothing much there either.

Turned up the nose cone for a three bladed prop. Try again later!