Comments on: I’ll Be Home for Christmas

By: johnf514

johnf514 — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:47:11 +0000

Excellent story, Paul! It’s great to see your pen around these parts again. :)

By: Paul Niedermeyer

Paul Niedermeyer — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 23:42:05 +0000

wludavid,
No, but I wouldn’t mind if I was. It’s been more of a side-line so far, as time permits. I am contemplating self-publishing an expanded version of the Auto-Biography.

By: wludavid

wludavid — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:46:06 +0000

Wonderful writing, Paul. Are you published (web- or otherwise) anywhere else besides TTAC?

By: Garret

Garret — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 04:48:26 +0000

Paul,
What a great read on Christmas eve. What great memories it provided of being young and full of energy. Thanks so much. Keep these stories coming.

By: Samir Syed

Samir Syed — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:02:25 +0000

Great story.

It takes some serious balls to drive a rear-engined car on skinny tires through 6 inches of snow.

By: Paul Niedermeyer

Paul Niedermeyer — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 23:26:54 +0000

ZCline: Yes, in Eugene. Portland is a great town. You’ll love Oregon, especially when the days get sunnier again. There’ll be more stories, RF willing. And the 800 words are a good discipline.

By: ZCline

ZCline — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:54:46 +0000

Loved the story as always Paul, Merry Christmas! Aren’t you in Oregon now? I just relocated to Portland myself … love the stories. If you can’t do more than 800 words, do a part 2!

By: oboylepr

oboylepr — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:27:59 +0000

Great Story as always Paul. May you and all the folks at TTAC have a great Christmas. God Bless.

By: shortthrowsixspeed

shortthrowsixspeed — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:16:45 +0000

Paul, a very fine short. like many others, i relish your sentimental tone and gentle wit. i’m begnining to think of these like Dickens’ installments in The Morning Chronicle. I can’t wait for the next one . . .

If you’re not careful you’ll have a serial novella / autobiography on your hands.

By: blautens

blautens — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:50:16 +0000

A fantastic story – very appropriate.

By: Paul Niedermeyer

Paul Niedermeyer — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:49:04 +0000

Thanks. The little irony in that story is that my brother and the girl friend broke up on or just after that trip. He wasn’t all that happy with his “present”. Oh well.

By: Justin Berkowitz

Justin Berkowitz — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 18:28:16 +0000

Paul,

A great story and even better composition. Well done, sir!

By: greenrift

greenrift — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 18:00:45 +0000

Beautiful!

Just yesterday I drove part of that same stretch (I live in Iowa City) for the same reasons. When I woke up in the morning I noticed a pile of fresh power more than six inches deep. On the few miles to the Mississippi River I counted a total of 72 cars in the ditches. This will be the first white Christmas in years.

By: Steven Lang

Steven Lang — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:13:56 +0000

I was going to write one called, “Christmas with Woody”. Woody being a 1992 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon which I just took with the family to South Carolina.

No need to do that now. You freed me up for the day and gave me a nice smile to boot. Thanks again for a wonderful story.

By: Detroit-X

Detroit-X — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:37:55 +0000

Nice story Paul, and I too, wanted more then the 800 word limit. My father had a Corvair, bought used. I can hardly remember it on the road. Being the catastrophic GM-crap it was, it sat needing repair longer then we ever drove it.

By: UnclePete

UnclePete — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:35:46 +0000

Another great story Paul! As a teenage Corvair owner, I can relate to this. My “dreaded clanking” one evening in that car did not have to with the clutch (alas, mine was a Powerglide beast), but the fact that the fan – more like an impeller on the top of the engine – decided to throw a couple of blades on a trip home. That took me a while to repair, as those cast fans were expensive and not easy to find in the bone yard! The car did get me home that night though, and I still have very fond memories of it.

By: Bill Wade

Bill Wade — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:21:58 +0000

The horror! You reminded me of replacing a clutch in a 1970 Challenger in the parking lot of my apartment with snow blowing like crazy and 20 degree temperatures.

The joys of being young, dumb and dead broke.

Merry Christmas!

PS: Thalter, I agree. Limiting Paul to 800 words, if that’s the case, is a travesty.

By: Joe ShpoilShport

Joe ShpoilShport — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:20:29 +0000

Merry Christmas to all…

Should be an interesting New Year, don’t ya think?

By: shaker

shaker — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:02:38 +0000

Riveted flywheel? That’s another reason that GM is in so much trouble today, that “disposable mentality” that… that…

Oh.

Hey, wonderful story, Paul. Reminds me of the time my Dad and I used a rental bay (with a lift!) to replace the fuel tank pickup screen on a ‘71 Cadillac Fleetwood — in the dead of winter also. Thanks for re-kindling that thought.

Happy Holidays!

By: Robert Farago

Robert Farago — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:29:07 +0000

thalter :

I am a slave to the brand.

Merry Christmas everyone. Thanks for being there.

By: thalter

thalter — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:16:47 +0000

Another great story, Paul! Once again, I wish Robert would give you a pass on his 800 word limit.

Merry Christmas!