Vroom Vroom!

John and I (read: John) bought a dune buggy last fall.
 

Yes, it’s street legal.
 

Yes, we can drive it on the highway.
 

No, we don’t have to wear a helmet.
 

Now that we have all of the basic questions answered and out of the way, let’s chat about this toy.  John had been looking for one FOREVER and finally found the perfect specimen only 15 minutes away from our house.  He was apprehensive at first but I strongly encouraged him to purchase the buggy… and he did.  I’m still waiting for my “Wife of the Year” trophy.  But I’m not holding my breath.

 

No joke… the blue beast.

 

We bought the car because we figured it would be a nice way to spend beautiful summer afternoons out in the fresh air with the wind blowing our hair back (seems like what wind does, right?) and it was clearly a safer option than motorcycles.  And it’s been really, really great.  Except John drives it everywhere and I have been slightly afraid to.  Although I’ve driven a stick-shift before, it somehow seems completely different when what I was driving felt like a lump of scrap metal.  Of course, I’ve tootled around in the parking lot down the road but I haven’t ventured anywhere where I might actually be seen grinding the transmission showing off my stick-shift skills (or lack there of).  And I certainly haven’t driven it without John in the passenger seat.  So, I did what any logical person would do.  I promised to figure out how to do it before I turned 30.
 

Fast forward a few months and we realized the transmission was actually starting to go (no fault of mine – woo hoo!) which was going to make this feat a little more difficult (and dangerous).  During a joyride this summer, we had to stop at my office and a co-worker of mine saw the beast and made a mental note to ask me to include it in a lip dub video that he was producing on campus…  I was both intrigued and terrified but I figured, what better way to make myself do it but in front of all my students and a video camera to document the whole thing?
 

Holy shit.  What did I get myself into?
 

So, last Thursday/Friday were the days of filming and although John actually drove it the 30 minutes to campus and back, I successfully drove the dune buggy.  On camera.  In front of college kids.  I think I earned some SERIOUS cool points.  Once I get the OK to do so, I’ll share the video on Facebook… it’s pretty impressive and all done on one take, with no editing and ~100 student leaders exemplifying some of the most amazing teamwork and collaboration I’ve ever seen from them.  I have never been so proud…
 

Mad skills.  Or just mad… whatever.

 

Our scene was great – a coworker and I get confused for one another regularly (we are seemingly always together) so we rocked some “Thing 1″ and “Thing 2″ t-shirts and ran from our “professional scene” to our dune buggy scene.  Literally.  It’s a good thing I’ve been running because not only did I drive the blue beast in front of college students, I had to sprint through a whole line of them who were set up for the next shot.  Talk about an ego boost… or crusher had I not kept telling myself, “don’t make an ass out of yourself in front of the 20 year olds who could run laps around you… stop huffing wind like you’re about to die… do NOT trip and fall on your face.”  Surprisingly (and thankfully) it worked.

 

Oh, and our piece was definitely overlayed with Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.”  Perfection.
 

 

19. Take the Dune Buggy for a ride by myself (further than up and down the road)

 

I’m clearly now a badass…
 

If you want to live your life through to the end, you have to live dangerously. ~Jeanne Moreau