That point were you go, "Berkeley it, i'm doin it."

i was thinking back to some of those points in my life and what the results were.

case in point. my first car was a dodge stealth. these are pretty notorious for skipping a t-belt resulting in a cospatial interaction between valves and pistons. i was aware of this and knew my car was due but hadn't done much more than oil changes. I was in college with not a lot of dough and eager to wrench, so of course the decision was "Berkeley it, i'm doin it."

took about three times as long as i expected but i got it done. it lasted about a month before skipping time with predictable results. i'm sure my novice self did not get set enough tension in the tensioner. this was in the spring.

an uncle in a nearby city towed it to my parents place to await my return there for summer. after arriving home and taking some time to learn how to disassemble the top end (the internet is a wonderful thing), i determined for sure what had happened. i was lucky in that there was no damage to the pistons as they had only made light contact. unfortunately, contact is contact and means the valves need to be replaced regardless. my parents had purchased a geo metro sedan for my brother to drive to and from school that following fall and allowed use of it to me for the summer (this was also my first abject lesson in how a light car with wider than stock tires is good and driving a slow car fast is better than a fast car slow). i still didn't have much money and if i wanted my red sports car to go back to college with me, i'd need to do the heads myself. that were messed up because of me. "Berkeley it, i'm doin it"

Took me the whole summer to do it but i fired it up days before having to go back. the first drive of more than a few miles was my 6 hour drive back to school. it's still running great 40k miles later and has taken me up and down the east coast multiple times. it's now serving my brother well as his college car and pops has called it as his "retirement toy" when he gets to it in a few years.

i'm curious what paths have lead some of you to the decision of "Berkeley it, i'm doin it" and what the results were.

mardi gras, nawlins loozyanna. hooker. no rubbers. tequila. invincibility of youth.

Berkeley it, i'm doin it.

AAAAAiiiiiieieeeee! It burns, it burns!

Penicillin.

no, that wasn't me. it was my best friend. i learned from his mistake, and now only drink Jager.

Berkeley it I'm moving to the US for a woman

Berkeley it, I'm moving to Germany for a job.

Berkeley it, I'm taking it off some sweet jumps.

Berkeley, I'll have two more drinks.....uuu....aaa...blaaaa.....blaaa

Berleley it, how hard could it be to rebuild a miata engine?

Or, for the owner of a certain black "civic" at the last atlanta region autocross: Berleley it, we're goin' topless!

Berkeley it, I'm buying those plane tickets! (has happened 4 times now in the past year)

As well as;

Berkeley it, I am going racing for the weekend with a midterm on monday!(failed said midterm)

This is how I bid on Ebay auctions that I know I shouldn't bid on...

Berkeley it, I'm buying a rotary!

(Note: I haven't yet, but if the test-drive goes well...)

Berkeley it, I'm getting a motorcycle.

Passed the MSF two weeks ago and got my license, now to find something to ride...

Money has been keeping me from doing it, until this week. I'm buying another daily driver. Berkeley it. I can sell off enough scrap metal from parts cars, and I'm tired of 15MPG.

Berkeley it. I'm painting my race car with a roller. How bad could it possibly turn out? Pretty darn good, actually. "Sometimes you have to say WTF. WTF brings freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future. If you can't say it, you can't do it." Later on in same movie... "What was all that stuff about WTF? Was that just bullsh?" "That was just bullsh Joel. I'm surprised you listened to me."

AngryCorvair wrote: i learned from his mistake, and now only drink Jager.

AAAAAiiiiiieieeeee! It burns, it burns!

At the Big Buck GNCC a few years ago: 'Berkeley it, that ditch looks wider than it really is.' (Just barely cleared the other side.)

Cars, more than once: 'Berkeley it, I'm tired of sanding and bodywork, this @$#%&% is getting color on it.'

First time standing on a 900 foot vertical strapped to a dacron and aluminum non-motorized wing.

Berkely, what's the worse that can happen?

YIKES AND AWAAAAAAAYYYYY!!

Sick and tired of office politics, competing with management for commissions, berkeley it, I'm going out on my own. Impending recession? Don't care, this place is killing me. Let's deal with the Carribean, no worries there, right? After some worrisome weeks, six months in we just had our best week ever and the future looks great. It was a good WTF moment.

Berkeley it, i'm keeping the Celica.

Now that I think about it, buying the Lotus on Ebay was a good one of those 'Berkeley it' moments. Considering:
1) It was on Ebay
2) It's a British sports car which means its reliability was already suspect
3) It had been in storage for almost two years
4) I'd be flying out and driving it home
5) I couldn't bring an assload of tools with me on the plane
6) It was in a country I'd only been to once, for one day, when I was 16 (England)
7) They drive on the other side of the road in said country
8) They use an entirely different currency in said country, which I had none of to pay for the car with
9) My plan was to drive home through Holland and Germany on a Sunday, which meant nothing at all would be open

...but it worked out in the end. More or less. I did end up having an ignition coil fail very early on, which meant I pulled the injectors and made most of the 1200 km journey on two cylinders, but at least it was an easy fix once I got my hands on the (cheap) part. The only real negative consequence of my ill-planned adventure was a rather expensive cell phone bill from calling my Dad in Canada, who's a much better mechanic than I am. Fun times.

J

My ex had a moment like that:

Our second child was born with club foot. I lost my job just days after she was born. We were in a town we hated so the lost job was actually viewed as an opportunity to get out of that town. There is a really great therapy method for club foot that was ONLY available in Dallas TX. The ex said, "That's the help our daughter needs, the girls and I are moving to Dallas next Tuesday, are you going or not?" Of course, I said yes. That was her "Berkeley it, I'm doin' it" moment.

We loaded two cars with clothes, dishes, linens, and baby toys (one of them was an '86 Merkur XR4Ti) and headed to DFW without a friend, a place to live, a job...nothing! Our ENTIRE exposure to DFW prior to this was a stop at Whataburger on the way home from spring break many years earlier. Within about 4 days of arriving in DFW I had a fun job in motorsports, we found a good enough place to live, the therapy for the foot went great.

I might not give her credit for much, but that move was one that just worked out great on all fronts.

The club foot is corrected and you'd never even know it existed. We made new friends, had great experiences, and had no state income tax for that 6 months.

Clem

That car is way cooler than mine, berkeley it I am not selling mine for that much less than my investment... repeat 45 times over 5 years.

Berkley it, I'm putting on this convertible top myself!

69 Mustang...it was hard.

My theory is that SOMEONE can do it... I'm someone...therefore, I can do it!!

Bruce

Berkeley it, I'm staying in the US for a woman (whom I have now been married to for 5 years, 5 months, 18 days, 2 hours and 4 minutes, and counting).

Berkeley it, I'm doing it. I'm tired of watching everybody else run around the track in their cars. Time to return to wheel to wheel racing again.

ddavidv wrote: Berkeley it. I'm painting my race car with a roller. How bad could it possibly turn out? Pretty darn good, actually. "Sometimes you have to say WTF. WTF brings freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future. If you can't say it, you can't do it." Later on in same movie... "What was all that stuff about WTF? Was that just bullsh***?" "That was just bullsh*** Joel. I'm surprised you listened to me."

Painted my race car with a roller... and used exterior house paint too. Sad part is.. car actually looked pretty good when it was done.