Business, Fantasy, Kids, Technology, Uncategorized

My Groupie

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When I was in the market for a new car four years ago, I delegated the research to YA. She recognizes car makes and models; she knows all our friends’ and neighbors’ cars.  She is definitely a car person.   I gave her my requirements (hybrid, 4-door, red) and off she went.  Her research came in the form of a chart with the five cars that she had identified as possibilities.  One was axed due to being the wrong color and two were eliminated by their price.

We went and test drove the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight. I’d never heard of an Insight before but since I’m definitely NOT a car person, I didn’t think too much about.  I love my Insight but it became clear pretty quickly that I wasn’t the only one who had never heard of an Insight.  Nobody had ever heard of it.  In four years nobody has ever recognized my car, even car people.

So imagine my surprise today, when a guy coming out of the gym as I was getting out of my car, stopped and said “how do you like your Insight?” He had purchased his Insight in November.  We had a nice talk about the mileage (great), the cost of filling up (teeny) and the blue/green light that tells you whether you are using gas or electricity (mesmerizing).  As I went into the gym and he headed to his Insight I thought “this must be what it feels like to be a car person”?  Then when I came out of the gym I’d forgotten where I parked.  Oh well.

We all have our special areas of interest. Do you have comrades in arms?

33 thoughts on “My Groupie”

    2. I picked Duke to win it all in the BB tournament. And I thought Tyus Jones singlehandedly won the champ. game for Duke back in 2015. I’ve rarely been so impressed by poise, leadership, and performance under pressure than I was by him in that game. So I’m a major Duke fan, although I love UNC too because they were the team I picked to win in 1994(? or ’93) the only time I joined an office pool for the NCAA tournament.

      Chris

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  2. I think you overstate the obscurity of your car a little. I knew you had an Insight and I’m not a car guy. There are several Insights in my neighborhood.

    Regarding the comrades in arms, this is territory I’ve covered at length before and the answer is, no, not really. I joined a local club made up of book artists, authors, and book collectors hoping that I would find counterparts and though it’s a fascinating organization, no one I’ve met is as deep in the weeds in my particular areas of interest as I am. The best I’ve discovered, and this is no small thing, is people who are pursuing their own quirky interests—interests that require research and persistence and are not the ones being pushed on them by the popular culture.

    I try to be Robin’s groupie. Although I don’t knit or spin or even wear wool much, I am as conversant on knitting topics as any of her immediate friends and I happily accompany her on trips to fiber arts expositions and fiber mills. Many of our road trips have a fiber arts component (and sometimes a used bookstore as well). Fiber arts has a lively community both locally and online but I know it’s nice to sometimes be able to talk through projects with someone who is close at hand, interested, and has some idea what you’re talking about.

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    1. You’re the exact opposite of tim’s “inch deep and mile wide” approach.

      I’m sure that Robin appreciates having such a supportive, knowledgeable, and interested companion and partner.

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  3. Of course when I went to school to study photography, I had groupies, although the fact that I really didn’t care about studio photography and only liked outdoor photography, set me apart from many of my fellow students.

    Then when I dropped out of school, I discovered that Steve was a groupie. We’ve done things like emailing photos back and forth, each of us editing the photo in our own way, and discussing our edits. (We use the same software.) He’s helped me get better at skin tones and encouraged me to be more bold in my editing as well as given me technical advice. It’s so nice to have someone like that in my life.

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    1. My interests are too shallow and diverse to support a comrades in arms relationship. A great passion for me is correspondence with my varied friends. Some never reply. Some reply now and then. Edith is one who always replies. I treasure friends like that.

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  4. Our IT guy at work owns a Tesla. There are few to none recharging stations in ND, and he and the otherTesla owners recharge in eachother’s garages as they drive across the state on I94.

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        1. I follow Tesla owners on the internet. They range from car groupies to cult members. Car groupies see Elon Musk: as a brilliant engineer. Tesla cultists see Musk as a near-deity, the second coming of Steve Jobs.

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  5. Daughter has had a best friend since Kindergarten. They are still very close even though one lives in Tacoma and one lives in Mpls. They are true comrades in arms. Earier this week, Daughter decided, on extreme impulse, to take an international trip the first week of June as a treat after she graduates with her MSW degree. For some reason, she chose to spend a week in Iceland. She said the airfare was much cheaper to Reykjavik than to Rome. The flight from Seatac on Icelandic air is direct and ridiculously inexpensive. She planned to go by herself. She told best friend. Guess who else found a really cheap flight to Reykjavik on Icelandic Air out of the Mpls airport? Those girls are so excited! They are planning out their itinerary, and figuring out pre trip budgets on Excel spreadsheets so they afford to actually do things when they are there. I said we would cover their lodging. Now if I can only teach Daughter how to pronounce “Reykjavik”.

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      1. The safety recommendations for Iceland deal mainly with having sturdy shoes and water bottles available when hiking. I believe they will be friends for a long time.

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        1. I love that your daughter and her friend have such a strong bond. Iceland has a really special place in my heart; I predict they’ll have a great time.

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  6. Guess the answer to this question greatly depends on how you interpret “comrades in arms.” I’m interpreting it to mean someone with whom I share a special interest but not necessarily in any formal or structured way. I have friends with whom I do certain activities, and other friends with whom I do other activities. From time to time there’s some overlap. I pretty much consider everyone I’ve known for some time as a comrade in arms, including some baboons. So whether you know it or not, you may actually have a comrade in arms in me.

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  7. Hi—
    I made it back in one piece.

    The conference I just came from was perfect for finding our own kind of nerds.
    It was fun to spend 4 days with lighting people.
    Or stage manager friends or sound people friends or the Queer Nation Round table.
    There was a group for everyone.

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  8. I guess, as PJ said, there are different kinds. I have “colleagues” here who are my comrades in, say, getting Song Circle launched. The other night our Interfaith Council hosted a vigil for the New Zealand tragedy. These are new-found comrades, so I don’t know how long these relationships will last. That’s the only thing about moving to an entirely new location – you kind of start over in that arena.

    I thought my best friend rom high school and I would be like Renee’s daughter and friend, but that didn’t happen. I guess my longest lasting comrade would be Husband – we’ve lashed our canoes together to weather whatever storms find us, and though we have LOTS of differences, manage to find the commonalities more often than not.

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  9. I guess writers are my current comrades in arms but I’m not close with one or two individuals. When we get together at book fairs or conferences, I feel a strong kinship.

    Other than that, I have a few golf buddies who I’ve played with for years, seen them at their best and worst, and endlessly obsessed about golf with them.

    C in O

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  11. i have turned out to be kind of disappointed in who i thought were my close friends growing up.
    they have all turned out to be into their own little worlds and kind of closed. maybe i was never real tuned in because i was always into my own world but they are kind of clicky. i dont fit well in anyones bff model. i am too distracted. i do have lots of groups of friends of interests. if i didnt have to be so damned focused on survival i could really get out and touch all the interests i would like to pursue.
    i do have car repair friends motorcycle friends guitar playing friwends business start up friends foodie friends hiking , poetry, outdoorsey stuff, star watching, writers, painters, sculptors, other art folk, ,
    and it could go on and on

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  12. My best friend and I have been besties since we were in Grade 1. We just pick up where we left off whenever we see one another. We see each other a couple of times a year. She is in Winstead, MN.

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