I bought the yellow 1969 GTO in 1973. It was freshly painted a Corvette yellow that looked a lot like a wax banana when it was polished up. It had a black vinyl top and upholstery. Factory 8-track tape, too. At the time we were living in Phoenix; it was an Arizona car which meant there was no rust or corrosion of any kind on it. It was cherry. And quick.

We took a trip out to El Cajon to see the grandparents and folks out there, that Summer. Two small boys and one big dog. We stopped in Buckeye for milk and doughnuts. The boys were not usually allowed to eat in the car but family trips are kind of an exception, so with threats and promises, we headed out to the coast. It was a fun trip; we were only gone for a long weekend. And the kids were good.

About two weeks after we got back, I began to notice a very bad smell in the back of the car. It took a couple of days to locate it...well...it was easier to track down the longer it took. Seems that on the trip out to California, Humbordt, the younger of the two, had spilled his milk on the floor of the back seat. He was able to disguise it by covering it up with the floor mat. When I uncovered the source, the mat was grown to the carpet. It took a LOT of cleaning to straighten that mess out, but the carpet cleaner smelled a lot better than the rotten milk.

I told you all that so I could tell you this:

Near the end of our last trip to Germany, Humbordt got the opportunity to buy a 1976or '77 Trans Am (the statute of limitations hasn't expired on that story yet). It was about five different colors and had no carpet. I have written about it before so I won't double up here, but I will say that he was one happy boy. For all of the things that were wrong with it, the drive train and suspension were great. He put a lot of work into it. He put in all-new insulation and carpet, velour seats and a good headliner, and he had it painted and put some BIG meat on the ground (that's car guy talk for tires). Needless to say, he was very proud of it. And I was proud of him for it, too.

One afternoon he came by the unit after work to give me a ride home. I was enjoying a rather gooey candy bar, a large part of which was still stuck to the wrapper. I tossed it over my shoulder into the back seat. Humbordt got a shocked look on his face and asked me what I was doing. I smiled as I recalled that hot afternoon slaving over a rotten-milk smellin' carpet...I turned my smile to him and said, "Payback!" The look on his face was a priceless study in struggle...but he got it and smiled back.