I still miss this man.

I was digging through some old photos and came across this one. Every time one pops up it's kind of a surprise. Bitter sweet.

We were cobbling together a way to turn a pull clutch into a push clutch. It was a horrible assembly of pipe, bolts, and welding but it worked until the engine exploded coming out of turn 13 at CMP.  That was our second run a Lemons. 

Curmudgeon, Jensenman, Mike. Call him what you want, but this was a good man I was lucky enough to call friend. Cancer took him from us several years ago and the world is a little worse because of it. 

We ran against each other in E Mod. I bought his old car and he built a new one. So much fun. Our closest finish was .007 seconds. Maybe the the most fun I have ever had losing at a autocross. 

We ran with each other in Lemons. Some bizarre cars were built for that. 

Man we had some fun. This was our Chuck Norris/Walker Texas Ranger year. First time I've ever put a denim shirt on a Civic. 

Always quick with a smile and a laugh. 

He kept that smile all the way until the end. 

Here is to a great man and a great friend. I miss you bud. 

I miss him too.  Even on this site, he was strong grounding influence.  Every once in awhile an old thread pops up which reminds me.

Any idea what happened to the X-19 he bought from me?  He intended turbo Dodge power...

In reply to SVreX :

I don't. Another friend of his was building it with him. The last I heard they were fabricating the front suspension. I'm not sure what happened to it from there.

I think I was still lurking at the end of his time.  I still find old threads doing research that he had a great answer or thought. Makes me sad each time. 

I never had the pleasure to meet him but I liked him here on the board.  

He was a wealth of knowledge about Isuzu Amigo/Rodeo.  I am glad to say that I still have this thread from 2011 in my Watchlist.  

In reply to Toyman01 :

Do you have any idea how is daughter is doing?

In reply to Toyman01 :

Thank you, this is the post of the year in my book. 

The impact and mark of a man isn't the work that they do while on this rock for the relatively short period of time that we're here, but rather the impact they have on others that cause them to remember him years after his passing. 

If I remember correctly I joined right as the news was being spread that he had passed, so unfortunately I never got to know much of him. Seeing what many of the older members have written about him makes me wish I had gotten more of a chance to know the man. 

Yes... greatly missed.  I still have the GT6 front spindle assemblies I bought from him and picked up from Gary via the GRM group shipping collective at Carlisle.  Hopefully I'll get that set-up cleaned up and installed on my Spitfire soon. 

captdownshift said:

In reply to Toyman01 :

Thank you, this is the post of the year in my book. 

 

The impact and mark of a man isn't the work that they do while on this rock for the relatively short period of time that we're here, but rather the impact they have on others that cause them to remember him years after his passing. 

Amen brother...your quote speaks volumes as I move along on my journey in life......thank you all(GRM)

spitfirebill said:

In reply to Toyman01 :

Do you have any idea how is daughter is doing?

She is doing pretty well. Pretty much grown up now. She stops by and visits when she is in town. 

I miss his presence here too. I spent very little time face to face with him, but I remember being in the upper lot outside the host hotel looking over his RoSpit challenger and chatting. Really cool build with lots of cool features and we ended up talking about the discoloration on his chrome diamond racing wheels caused by the tire mounting solution. Lol-don't know why I stored that. Seemed like a super nice guy. I'm sorry for those close to him for losing such a presence, but also envious of you getting to be around such a presence so often and for so long. Race on Jensenman.

Every once in a while a zombie thread from years back comes alive, and I'll instinctively go to it, thinking its a hotE36 M3 thread because its 3+ pages deep and it wasn't there yesterday. Reading, and, HEY Curmudgeon is back!! Oh...wait...Damn.

Appleseed said:

Every once in a while a zombie thread from years back comes alive, and I'll instinctively go to it, thinking its a hotE36 M3 thread because its 3+ pages deep and it wasn't there yesterday. Reading, and, HEY Curmudgeon is back!! Oh...wait...Damn.

And there are many more out there awaiting to be resurrected for all of us to follow/embrace for the first/last time...

I never met him, though I was at one CMP race at the same time and didn't know it. I remember the road kill sandwich-roofed car. I'm sad to say we never met in person, he sounds like a good man.

I only knew him from this forum. He is definitely missed. 

As time rolls on some great people have left us. Although I am sad they are gone I smile when I think of them because I am a better person because of them.  

I always think of pigeon in threads like these. Here is to grm for making the community i continuously return to for the last 10+ years.

In reply to Catatafish :

wbjones is another one. 

Miss him as well.  When I moved from Philly to Charleston, SC.. We met up many times.  A welcoming man indeed.  Went to sandblast rally with him once, super fun time just walking around in the woods watching rally cars blast around.  

Toyman01 said:

In reply to Catatafish :

wbjones is another one. 

There's someone I did race with. He and I drove the slant6 powered E30 a few years back at CMP. Heck of a guy. He was split between two teams that weekend!

Appleseed said:

Every once in a while a zombie thread from years back comes alive, and I'll instinctively go to it, thinking its a hotE36 M3 thread because its 3+ pages deep and it wasn't there yesterday. Reading, and, HEY Curmudgeon is back!! Oh...wait...Damn.

Berking spammers.