What Does a Gearhead Girl do for Christmas?

A gearhead girl is like any other woman, most of our holiday activities happen well before the actual day of Christmas. There are decorations to put up, both indoor and outdoor. Presents to buy (thoughtfully of course), to wrap, then if the person is not local, the gift needs to be boxed and shipped to the person. Then there are holiday things to do with the kids, food to prepare and cook. And we have to do all this stuff while somehow working in a full schedule in the shop. In the custom car and motorcycle business, winter is our busy season. What gets done from Dec to March, determines how the rest of the year will go, if I'll be able to pay our bills or want to throw myself in front of a bus.
For this gearhead chick decorations is putting up my two little Christmas trees inside and blue led lights outside in the trees. And as not much of my friends and family are local, most of the presents had to get shipped, so there I was trying to ship it all, and not spend a fortune. Continually checking the Post Office website to see if the gifts had arrived in time. They all did but Josh, my 23 yr old stepson in Las Vegas, thought the $50 Target Gift Card Code he recieved on his Iphone was spam so he deleted it. Now I have to get target to resend it and that is NOT as easy as it should be.
The doing things with the kids part involved Chase, my 7 yr old godson. We looked at lights in our little town, Waxhaw. There was this wicked cool t bucket parked by a tree that covered in lights. So I pulled out my camera and luckily had the tripod in my truck. Everyone in town is gawking at all the holiday lights and I'm going insane over this t bucket (see the picture at the front of the post.) Chase and I also spent several days baking a Christmas tree cake and cookies. And this kid should have been a girl, cos he loves to shop. And not just in the toy dept. He digs picking out clothes for me, his mom, family and of course, himself.

As usual money was tight, but the gearhead gods were smiling, and an last minute emergency job came in, painting 4 Brembo brake calipers yellow and doing a RUF logo on them. Sounded easy enough. It quickly turned into a nightmare as the little $2 tool I needed was completely out of stock in the state of North Carolina. A 10 hour job turned into 24 hours. But somehow these things get done in the nick of time, just like on tv, that is, most of the time. Like childbirth, it always feels like hell when happening, and it awesome after its over.

Usually I try to ride one of my motorcycles on Christmas day. But The BoyToy and I had not yet winterized our shack at the lake and temps had already dipped below freezing. So after spending the Christmas morning with my godson's family, we hopped into my trusty Ford Explorer along with the tools and gifts and drove up to Lake Norman. BoyToy put my boat in the water and proceeded to winterize the pile of boards we call a cabin. And actually my one wish for this day was to do my favorite thing in the world. To row. Ok, confession time, rowing is my hobby. Not really what comes to mind for a gearhead girl. Its been a lifelong dream. But its a $$$ hobby and there were always car and bike stuff to buy. So at age 50, I said screw it and bought a used rowing scull. Besides the oars look cool in my shop.
And a gearhead chick has to stay in shape and this is how I do it. I feel so free when I'm rowing. No sound, no motor (gasp!!), just me, the water and God. It is here that I truly feel at peace. Its my church. A hour on the water, an hour away from the frantic pace in the shop, an hour away from the reality of paying bills, dealing with customers, struggling with schedules, with housework, with all the things that overwhelm us, THAT was all I wanted for Christmas.

And I got it!!! So what did you get for Christmas? Please feel free to post a comment!

I was doomed from the start

I have always been a gearhead girl. My dad owned a gas station. First a Sunoco, then a Mobil. He was not a very good businessman and he lost them both but he dug cars and bikes and it was in my blood. Growing up I asked Santa for Matchbox cars. I couldn't wait to go to the drugstore to see what new cars were in the swirling Matchbox display.
My first car was a 1969 Mustang. I bought it when I was 15. On my 16th birthday I skipped school got my driver's license, picked up my best friend MaryAnn, went and got my car and off we went. My job was driving my dad's deathtrap delivery truck for his auto parts business. It was wicked unsafe and always breaking down. So I was always fixing it. I would drive the truck all day over the hills of Connecticut , then get in the Mustang and tear up the roads till the wee hours. By the time I was in my early 20's I had a small Mustang shop, with about 20 early 60's Mustangs in various states of condition. But my favorites were my white 66 coupe and an evil 68 Cougar GT Eliminator. So many incredible crazy stories from those years. But in 1979, I started custom painting cars and bikes. And that little thing would steer the rest of my life.

By 1990, life had taken some extreme turns, some good, many not so good. I was down to three cars, a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville, a 73 Trans Am (which needed restoration), and my daily driver, a Ford Fiesta. I was still painting cars and bikes, but times were tough and people did not have money for things they did not need, like custom paint. Check out the hair, yes that is my real hair color. And sadly, that is what my hair does, its not a perm.

I was always into bikes and in 1994, after pretty much giving up that I was ever be a decent motorcycle rider, I finally got my rider's license. I bought at 1989 1200 Harley Davidson sportster and immediately broke my leg in a dirt bike accident. The day after the accident, I bought an 89 Ninja 250. 2 months later when the cast came off, I got on the Ninja and didn't get back into my car for 4 months, including a crazy trip to the Florida Keys with a woman named Earthquake Blake. I even did my grocery shopping on it. The next year I moved to Florida, and two years later moved to the Carolinas, where I sold my remaining street rod, the 66 Bonneville.
I also sold my very faithful Ninja. I still have the sportster and it has gone thru some changes. My ex husband Jim is an amazing bike builder has done some great work on it. He also built me a custom chopper. It was featured on the cover of Easyriders magazine in Sept 2004.

As for my personal life, that is for another blog post.

As for my career, its also has been a wild trip. I went from a woman who simply wanted to have a job and play around with custom painting to being the foremost female custom painter in the world. Actually I found out I was the first woman custom painter ever and that really surprised me. I also think its sad. Why me, why 1979 and not sooner? Was it that hard for women to break into this industry? I never thought of myself as a woman who custom paints, but rather a custom painter who happens to be a woman. And I have some very strong feelings about women in the automotive and motorcycle world. That is the reason for this blog. So come along with me as I journey through custom cars and motorcycles. And please share your experiences here as well in the comment sections. I want to build this site into a resource for women who dig cars and bikes. And this is just the start.

Just Another day in the Shop.

Hopefully tonight I will have time to write a real blog post and tell you about this blog, who I am was, who I have become, and why this blog. But for now, I wanted to at least get this blog up and running. I have long list if things to do in the shop today. My To Do List today
1) Get a drawing done for a customer so she can give it to her husband as a present. She's giving him a paint job for his bike as a Christmas gift.

2)Paint clearcoat on some parts for a customer in Switzerland.

3)Clearcoat some parts for a customer in Washington State.

4)Work on some artwork for a customer right here in NC.

Then of course there are the female head of household things I need to do

1)Pay bills (not fun at all)

2)Clean the house.

3)Figure what I can cook for the next 3 days when Michael, my 13 yr old stepson visits. Includes a Christmas meal.

4)Finishing wrapping gifts.

5)Go grocery shopping or make a list and trust my other half to do it.

6) Buy a gift for Josh, my 23 year old stepson.

A women's work is never done. Off I go!!