DanOCan

It’s has been a long time since my last posting.  It’s not that there has been nothing going on, but rather there has been too much going on. 

We have been undergoing a major kitchen renovation which has disrupted the entire house and our normal routine.  Every room in our house has been tossed, turned upside down, or otherwise thrown into a state of chaos.  As a result I have been spending little time downstairs in the office where the desktop computer lives which is where I do most of my writing and photography work.  Doing either of those things from my netbook sitting on a corner of the couch just doesn’t work well for me.

It’s not just the writing and photography which have suffered either.  It’s been a long time since I BBQ’ed something, or got in a decent hike, or even managed to get away from work long enough to play floor hockey over the lunch hour.  All those things that define “me” have been forced to take a backseat to “the kitchen project”.

Related to all this house work taking place was the acquisition of a new dining room table.  The table needed some assembly — nothing complex, just eight simple 1/2″ nuts needing to be tightened so the top stays fastened securely to the legs.  Pretty simple right?

We started out by locating the toolkit.  I used my standard “This looks like the right size socket, nope, too big, let’s try this one, nope, too small, how about this one?” routine for determining what size of nuts I was dealing with.  That went fairly smooth, but then it was time to locate the ratchet that goes with that socket.  It was not to be seen anywhere inside the toolkit.  This struck me as odd since a ratchet is not likely the sort of thing one is likely to see around the house without wanting to put it back in its proper place. 

Now, I’m not much of a handyman, but I know I am not going to be able to tighten the nut to the bolt with a socket if I don’t have the ratchet.  (Sounds like I know what I am talking about, eh?) 

While I stood by “to guard the table” I sent Shirley on a hunt for the power drill.  After all, the problem I was having was the lack of a proper driving device so therefore the solution must be to obtain some other method of applying force to the nuts.  And, if I could step up from a manual ratchet to ANYTHING powered it has to be an improvement, right?

After several failed attempts to locate the drill — “Is it in the garage?  I think maybe the basement.  Hmm, not sure, it might be in the bedroom from when I took down the shelf.” — Shirley finally returned with the drill. 

In my headlong rush to come up with a new way of applying torque to the socket I failed to take into account that I wasn’t sure how I was going to mate the socket to the drill.  D’oh!

I poked through the toolbox and couldn’t find anything I could fashion into an adapter.  I even tried to fit the socket directly into the drill’s chuck (seriously, this handyman talk normally makes the women swoon!) but it wouldn’t fit.  Time for Plan C.

“Go grab the yellow drill bit kit.”  (Yes, he who holds the power tools gets to bark commands to those just standing there with the “You idiot!” look on her face.)

Shirley returned with the yellow box.  I immediately located the part I wanted — a socket on one end with the other end designed to fit into the chuck of the drill.  (**swoon**)  Just one problem — the parts in the kit only went up to 7/16″.  I had already determined I needed a 1/2″.  Now, I may not be a mathematical genius, but I’m pretty confident that 7/16 is less than 1/2 — once you being them to a common denominator, that is.  (Hey, maybe I am a math genius!)

OK, Plan D!  “Go find me something that might work!”  (I’ve learned the key to developing a successful plan is to not make it too specific.)

Shirley returned a fourth time, with another plastic kit.  I opened it and out fell — wait for it — a ratchet!  And, the socket I had actually fit in the ratchet!  Success!

It was at that moment it hit me — I had turned into my dad.  Growing up I had always wondered why he needed to have a shed and a garage full of tools.  I wondered why he could never pass by a Macleod’s Hardware, or a Canadian Tire, or a Peavy Mart — well, you get the idea — without stopping and buying some new set of tools.  Usually those tools would appear to be very similar to a tool set I knew he already had at home. 

Yes, as I stared at the new table sitting there with multiple toolboxes and a power drill sitting on it I suddenly felt a lightbulb turning on.  There was a moment of understanding, an odd sort of connection spanning the years, an awakening.  More than 20 years after his death I felt the urge to shout “Hey Dad, I get it now!” 

It was just supposed to be a table but it ended up being so much more…

All great road trips start with great music.  I’ve had a number of jobs which have given me hours and hours behind the wheel, sometimes driving all across North America, other times just driving around the province or the city.  My current job doesn’t offer me the chance to travel so my driving is now recreational.  Whether it’s commuting to work or just wasting fossil fuels with no destination in mind you can bet my iPod is there.

My method for determining the songs to write about was simple.  Select the playlist from the iPod, put it on shuffle and write down the first ten songs to come up.

The playlist currently has 80 songs, totally about 5.5 hours.  The random selection shows how varied my driving musical selections can be.  We’ve got pop, rock, country.  We’ve got Canadian, American and British bands.  The songs represent five different decades.  We’ve got songs that are completely road-related and others that have nothing to do with road trips.

On with the list!

1)  Pour Some Sugar on Me – Def Leppard (1987)

Sure, it’s not a classic driving tune because it lacks any sort of road or traveling theme but the drum beat on this one means I need the cruise control set so I can keep both feet stomping along.  Besides, it comes from the era where I was just starting high school and everyone knows songs from that era of your life are always the best.  And, for good measure, in 2006 VH1 rated it as the second greatest song on the 80’s.

2)  Take it Easy – The Eagles (1972)

In contrast to “Pour Some Sugar on Me”, this IS a classic driving tune with all the themes there. It starts with the great opening lyric “Well I’m running down the road trying to loosen my load, I’ve got seven women on my mind.” and carries on through the chorus with “Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.”  It represents the driving you do when you’re driving to clear your mind (“Lighten up while you still can, don’t even try to understand”) and the freedom you experience when you’re out in the world and anything is possible.  Which guy hasn’t wanted to stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona just to see if there is a girl in a flatbed Ford there to take a look at you?

It also contains one of the lines which defines how I live my life:  “We may lose or we may win but we will never be here again.”

3)  Head Over Heels – Blue Rodeo (1993)

This needs to be the first song on the playlist when you head out early in the morning.  “The sun breaks and I can’t wait ‘til I get on my way again.”  It also works really great if you’re on the road and missing that someone special –- “Watching the rain through a crack in the window, it’s the little things that get you through, like the same sun rising on me is rising over you.” 

Add the memorable lyrics and a tune that’s easy to sing with and you’ve got the makings of a great road trip song.

4)  Drive My Car – The Beatles (1965)

Rubber Soul is one of the best albums The Beatles ever put together, and I’m not forgetting Sgt. Pepper when I say that.  That opening riff hooks you and the cowbell drives the song forward throughout the course of the 2.5 minutes.  It’s a catchy pop tune and the fact that it mentions cars and driving is merely a bonus.  When I owned by old six-string guitar I would just sit and play the opening over and over again.

5)  Animal Heart – Glass Tiger (1991)

Another song that has nothing to do with road trippin’ – it’s on the playlist purely because of the thundering guitar opening and the chorus is a lot of fun to scream along to – as long as no one is sitting next to you at a stoplight watching and mocking you, that is…

6)  You Wreck Me – Tom Petty (1994)

When we saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 2009 this is the song they opened with and it’s been on my list of favourites ever since.  It was one of those songs which I somehow managed to miss when it was first released and only discovered years later.  The drum beat reminds me of a locomotive driving down the tracks and this one is always good for getting above the posted speed limit.  “Tonight we ride, right or wrong.” 

Also, no matter what is happening in your life you can’t help but feel better when you think “Now and again, I get the feeling, well if I don’t win I’m a gonna break even.”

I also have to admit that I really like the line about “I’ll be the boy in the corduroy pants.  You’ll be the girl at the high school dance.” even though it just seems really odd.  I guess it takes me back to my younger days and school dances, much the same way driving makes me feel young again too.

7)  Behind These Hazel Eyes – Kelly Clarkson (2004)

Don’t judge me for this one.  I’ve never even watched a full episode of American Idol.  It’s a catchy tune, it has a good beat and it’s great to drive to.  What more can I say?

8)  The Kid is Hot Tonight – Loverboy (1980)

Another one where the guitar and drums just hit you smack in the face from the opening notes and just keep driving the whole time.  This is a great song for driving in heavier traffic that is flowing fast such as an Interstate – passing cars, changing lanes you can’t help but think “Damn, I’m hot tonight!”

9) Jet Airliner – The Steve Miller Band (1977)

Sure, it’s about traveling by plane not car, but who says road trippin’ is limited to land-based modes of transportation?  This one is all about getting away from your home and how, even when you leave, you never forget where it is you came from.  Life’s an adventure and you have to get out there and experience it.

“Goodbye to all my friends at home

Goodbye to people I’ve trusted.

I’ve got to go out and make my way

I might get rich, you know I might get busted.”

10) On The Road – Lee Roy Parnell (1993)

My playlist has a fair amount of country music, but this was the only pure country song to show up in this random selection.  There are great stories contained in this one, from the “sad young wife who never had a life” to the teenager in the hotrod Chevy to the retired couple in the Airstream.  They’re all on the road for different reasons just as everyone in life has their own story and their own road to follow.

Whenever I think about the teenager putting his favourite cassette it makes me think how we lost something when we switched to digital songs from physical media.  There was something magical about sliding a cassette into your dashboard and hearing those few seconds of hissing before the music would start.

For the full effect of this one, you need to be driving a highway at night.  Then just sit back in the seat and let Lee Roy’s amazing slide guitar work carry you to your destination.  The chorus sums up my road trip experience perfectly:

“On the road where the night is black,

On the road where you don’t look back.

There’s a white line in the distance,

Where’s it’s going nobody knows.

If it’s anywhere you’ll find it

On the road.”