#Thanksgiving

As per usual, we're taking off for the long holiday weekend.

It's American Thanksgiving! So we are outta here!

Hey all,

As per usual, we’re going mostly silent for the next few days so that we can stuff our faces with turkey and watch a lot of (bad) football.

Yeah, it’s that time of year again. Except this year, it won’t be normal.

Howdy folks. Tomorrow is Turkey Day, aka Thanksgiving, here in these United States. Tomorrow we feast, Friday we either shop til we drop, or if you’re like me, avoid any retail stores like the plague. Either way, we’re off around these here parts — all the way til Monday.

Fred Ordine and his 25-year-old son, Chadwick Quinones, were arrested on Tuesday for crashing two Chevrolet Corvettes in New York City’s Lincoln Tunnel. This unique bout of family togetherness actually took place on the night of February 9th, according to New York Daily News. However, the arrest and video footage (below the break) of the two crashing into each other are newer and absolutely perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday, which is all about bringing people closer.

Though this may have been too close.

It’s that time of year again — the time for gluttony, football, and politics with Uncle Argyle. Some of you will get smashed, many of you will eat potatoes mashed, and some of you will bash others in a fight for that last 60-inch TV at the big-box store.

Don’t drink and drive. Don’t overeat. Do come back Monday for the usual shenanigans.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S., aka Turkey Day, aka the high holy day of food (and booze-related gluttony), so we’re shuttering a little early today so our American crew can get a jumpstart on the holiday and our Canadian folks can get a little well-earned time off. We’ll be posting here and there over the long weekend, but expect a lighter content mix than usual.

Lapo Elkann — rich person and grandson of late Fiat patriarch Gianni Agnelli — will not face charges for a November incident in which he told a family representative and the New York Police Department that he had been kidnapped.

Law enforcement sources claimed that Elkann had spent last Thanksgiving snorting cocaine, smoking marijuana, and drinking heavily with a 29-year-old escort, believing the kidnapping to be a ploy to acquire money to pay for the bender.

The fourth estate has a rich history of drinking their turkey on our annual day of giving thanks. As a newspaper editor and reporter for more than 10 years, I know why: journalists are miserable human beings and gratitude feels awkwardly close to Catholic guilt that some of us have deep, deep inside. Numbing our feelings are always better than actually feeling them.

But once a year, some of us trot out our humanity for readers poke fun at, and to help keep sane because sometimes this business will drive us crazy. I am thankful for much in my life: health, work, humor and family.

I’m also thankful for much, much more.

111 articles. I’m a little surprised by that number. Some months ago, when I submitted my snippet to TTAC’s Future Writers’ Contest, I had no real idea that it would lead to a regular place on these hallowed pages. Like a lot of you, I had read TTAC for years and even commented from time to time, but until that contest began I had never thought about becoming a contributor. I am not an industry insider nor do I have any real insight into car design, manufacturing, sales or even repairs. I am just a regular guy who loves cars. Still, I knew I could write and so when the contest came up I thought I would go ahead and send in a piece to see how I stacked up. I’ve always had a way with words and I figured I would win hands down – boy was I wrong about that, I didn’t even win my own day. Still, I received enough votes to get a full try-out and once I got the editors’ email addresses I just kept on sending them stories until they gave me access to the back side of the site. For some reason no one has told me to stop and now, whether you like me or not, you are stuck with me.

Photo courtesy of curbsideclassic.com

My 1974 Nova was as utilitarian as they come. It was a low optioned base model with a 250 CID inline six mounting a one barrel carb and backed by a three speed manual with a column mounted shift lever. It had so few options that on the inside it had a rubber floors, vinyl seats and a pegboard for a headliner. Outside there was no decoration, nary a pinstripe nor so much as a strip of trim to protect the car’s flanks from door dings. It was a plain, gutless, spiritless little car that inspired no passion or love from anyone other than the 17 year old boy who owned it. To me it was, and still is, one of the greatest cars ever built.