Xcessive Habits

Kutztown, PA

September 8, 2007

It seemed like it might be fun to do it again, now that I had an idea what to expect. Over the following weeks I began to assemble various objects to create a more interesting display, accumulated a forest of cleaning and polishing products,

and spent considerable time on display stuff, picture frames, and graphics. As the time approached, I became more obssessive about the project. The day before the show, I began the final cleaning.

Liz remarked that this was the first car that I really cleaned. It also was the first car I ever dried.

With towels. Microfiber specially-for-car non-scratching towels. Towels more expensive than those I use on my body.

I washed the outside, the inside, the underneath, places behind, places I did not even know existed.

I scrubbed, I detailed, I polished. I cleaned for shine. I cleaned for hygeine, I cleaned for goodness.

I cleaned for Righteousness. I cleaned for Jesus, Joseph, Mary and All the Ships at Sea.

And I cleaned some more. The car was spotless.

I drove to Pennslyvania, and without any change in the Zhang Heng or my driving habits, I was getting 53 MPG on the highway. I suspect this was primarily a result of the car and tires breaking in. I arrived at the fairgrounds and set up for the show.

This promised to be a bit different than the previous show. The location was more remote, so the spectators were more likely to be folks interested in show cars than casual passers-by. It appeared to be smaller than the Kingston show. And there were a lot fewer trophies.

The odds for another prize did not look good.

The show was much like the Kingston show with some variations.

The cars were much the same, with, if anything a narrower range.

There was only one antique (which actually was done up rather interestingly as a vegetable truck full of Americana)

and one customized classic, a '54 Ford. There was a sound competition, something called a muffler rap, and a fun competition called a frozen t-shirt.

Teams of three were given a t-thirt which had been tightly rolled and folded, and frozen solid, probably in dry ice. The first team to get the t-shirt onto one of the members won. Kind of fun, but having nothing to do with cars.

The judges came by early in the afternoon, two of them. The first commented that "It certainly is unique" (Is there a prize for unique?) and then told the other fellow "It's all yours" and left. I talked to the judge, a younger guy, and felt I did a much better job of presenting the Zhang Heng's features and what it was all about. The judge appeared to show some interest and asked a few questions.

As he left, I felt I had done a pretty good job in my presentation, certainly much better than I did at the Kingston car show. Other folks came by and some showed interest. The MPG sign elicited quite a few passing comments, and I got to talk hybrid technology and philosophy with a few people.

Awards were given at the end of the day in the fairground pavilion. The categories in which awards were given were still not quite clear to me, but as the import class trophy was awarded I became aware of how much I REALLY wanted to win a trophy in spite of trying to tell myself that it didn't matter. It was not to be. All the awards were given out, and a lot of money was raised for some worthy causes, and I got--nothing. And a three hour drive back home.

The ride home was uneventful, and the whole experience felt rather unsatisfying. A trophy would have made a big difference. Well, I learned a bit more about car shows this time around. Mainly that this is not the sort of show I am going to bother to go to again, unless it is really close to home.

But I got a clean car out of it.