The Wakefield "incident"

[GTR-N1]

SEEING THE DOCTOR

After the accident I gave my Physio a call. I was concerned because it was two days after the crash and I was still really sore. He said that day two is sometimes the worst for muscle pain. Give it two more days and if it doesn't get better then come in and see me.

I went to the Physio this morning to have my shoulder checked out. I get a sharp pain when I cough and sometimes if I bend a certain way. He had me bend and stretch certain ways and measured the tension of various muscles. The muscle in my neck on the right side is really taught. That is pulling on a joint which causes a spasm in my shoulder blade under certain circumstances. He's said that because I have full movement and don't appear to have any specific tender spots it looks to be just muscular.

He's given me a few stretching exercises to do and in two weeks the muscle should be back to a normal tension level.

It's a relief. I wouldn't want to have any nerve damage.

Oh, I also asked cause a couple of people recommended I get a massage after the accident. He said that is the worst thing you can do. The muscles are already pulled, stretched and tensioned from the trauma. The last thing you want to do is pull further which can cause some real damage. Luckily I was just too tired on Sunday after the accident cause I was thinking of going to the mall for a massage.

Please keep that good advice in mind folks.

So, now that I have my body maintenance plan underway that's one more item on the road to recovery.

Further to the physio's advice Eric, Traditional Chinese Acupuncture is the way to go > accelerates healing (if you are sore, aching or restricted of movement).

Ron Mitchell is excellent (albeit a fair way away). He was on TV - Terry Willessee Tonight with me back in '83. What we were able to do has nothing to do with your complaint, so there's no need to mention it atm. His Ph No. 4739.1920

[XKLABA]

good to see everyone involved in acco is fine and well, its a shame about the little mx5.

what about cancelling the rego and insurences and parting the poor little thing out and with whatever money all the SAU guys/girls can fundraise for/with you might get you into position to get a another car for your wife

what about a dynoday and bbq.

[GoldZilla]

Sad to hear, Eric, but at least you know where you stand with this car, and can choose your next avenues.

I've been doing a lot of reading of books in the QI (Quite Interesting) series by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson, and the current one is a book of quotes.

"It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." - Eleanor Roosevelt

[Pezhead]

good to see everyone involved in acco is fine and well, its a shame about the little mx5.

Actually we haven't heard anything about Richard and his passenger. Does anyone know how they are doing?

[Thunder]

Actually we haven't heard anything about Richard and his passenger. Does anyone know how they are doing?

According to Jason they are both fine.

There was a video camera on the passenger at the time of the accident.

Jamie said he looked quite cool through the experience - considering.

If it was me in the passenger seat there would have been a few choice words said, and I can only imagine the facial expressions.

Cheers

Greg

[Beer Baron]

bummer the car sounds like it may not be repairable. even though it may not be roadworthy is there chance it could become a full time track car with proper repairs of course? otherwise I guess the best option is to cut your losses and either sell it as is (someone who is a panel beater may be able to take it on as they don't have to pay for labour and may have access to chassis aligner etc for free), or part it out.

sorry to hear it's not saveable.

[Pezhead]

RIP LITTLE MX5

Ok, it's time for the next installment of the blog now that I've had some time to think about things and discuss them with my wife. She loved that little car so much but it is time to let it go. My wife is an amazing woman. She started dealing with the grief last weekend and now that I am dealing with it she is supporting me as I go through the guilt and greiving. I actually had to leave my desk today at work as the emotions overwhelmed me so I could just walk it off for a few minutes. I feel so bad that it was her car that got totalled.

I'll swap the wheels and tyres over to our little Mazda 3 as that was one option I had planned to upgrade on it down the track. So I guess some part of the little car will be carried forward with us.

I know that the MX5's are popular little rally and race cars so if anyone knows of someone looking to buy the rest of the car for parts, please let me know. I think that some of the clubman guys use MX5 parts? If any of you have contacts or ideas let me know. I really don't have the space here at my house to part it out over time so I need to get rid of the whole thing if possible.

Actually it was my wife who has supported just getting a salvager to take it away. However, I do know that they will only give the minimum price as they are a business and need to make big margins on the parts in order to operate revenue positive.

Once the little car has gone, we luckily have the little Mazda 3 and my GTR. So at least we both still have transportation.

[Pezhead]

Thanks for letting us know that the other driver and passenger are ok.

[Duncan]

Eric, you should talk to Chris at MX5 Racing about wrecking it, you have his details. They would appreciate a straight front end for a change....not many cars end up with damaged rears....

I know they have at least one car to replace from the big crash Kel was in last year.

[evil_weevil]

Mate - you could get some money from the engine and gearbox

is it 5 or 6 speed?

plenty of people looking to upgrade stuff on mx5cartalk forums

infact we could have a bbq at yours, get on the beers ( I love beer) and start stripping it out down, take pics, and put on websites to sell.

[Pezhead]

Hmm may have to consider it. It's a 1.8l w/6 spd. 98k on the clock.

But main thing will be to see if I can get rid of the whole thing quickly so it isn't sitting around in pieces. I have those kind of neighbors and GD2ILA isn't willing to sit outside while the 5 gets parted out.

[SKITTLES]

Hmm may have to consider it. It's a 1.8l w/6 spd. 98k on the clock.

But main thing will be to see if I can get rid of the whole thing quickly so it isn't sitting around in pieces. I have those kind of neighbors and GD2ILA isn't willing to sit outside while the 5 gets parted out.

You can park GD2ILA at my house.. I wouldn't mind looking at that every morning

Curiously... is the rear axel bent? Because the wheel looks a little scewy

[Pezhead]

Damage to the rear included broken diff mount (Right side), broken hub/upright, snapped upper control arm and bent lower A-Arm. Um so yeah going to be an alignment problem on that rear wheel.

The ONLY thing holding the wheel remotely in the correct spot was that the fenders were smashed around it. We removed the wheel so we could get it up on the trailer. We had to let all the air out of the tyres and then put on the spare. The spare sits at about -20 camber.

A so yeah - Hella flush with a safety spare

[CeJay]

shame to hear the mx5 has gone to car heaven.

[hamiltonau]

Yes rest in peace little MX5

so whats happening with the fundraising and the little bit drip fed in so far? put it towards another toy (imported varietta/MRS?) or just use whats there to mop up a few of the painful costs of the car funeral?

[fatz]

stick it on the front lawn tell the neighbours to eat a dick

you probably shoul dnot listen to me as im currently washing a car just im jocks while the neighbour auctions his house accross the road

[Pezhead]

PLANNING THE ROAD AHEAD - A BIT HARDER THANK I FIRST THOUGHT

Thanks for sticking with me on this folks. I'm usually a quite decisive thinker and planner. The giant shift in goal and the emotional weight of this situation has honestly overwhelmed me a bit in the last 24 hours.

So Hamilton, I'm still working on my plans and goals. I've taken a big step back to try to gain objectivity on what is the best outcome for everyone involved and observing this story as it unfolds. I promise I'll let you know the plan once I get it laid out in my head, but in the meantime I appreciate your moral support and eagerness to help out. This is a fantastic club full of great people.

What can I share with you today then? Well, let me bring you up to date and open up to you about what I've been going through emotionally over the last 24 hours.

To fully understand the feelings behind the little MX5 I'm going to have to take you back to why we bought it in the first place.

My Wife and I migrated here to Oz in 2000. Some of you might notice that I have a strange accent and sometimes spell things with a "Z". Yes, I'm a Yank and sometimes even wear it proudly. Well, since first arriving here we had a Toyota 4-Runner. It was dependable but pretty much a boring bit lug of a thing to drive. We needed a family truckster and it fit the bit. Some of you will already know the joke that when my wife decided she wanted to stay in Australia and asked me what it would take for us to stay here, without a single hesitation I said "I need a GTR - and it has to be a V-Spec!".

5 years later we made good on that comment. I found my R33 GTR that had most of the modifications I wanted done the way I would have done them. So in August 2006 I finally got my dream. Initially Debra was really happy seeing me so excited at every opportunity to drive the car around. But soon she concluded that she was stuck driving the boring truckster while I was sporting around in GD2ILA.

We examined the finances and figured that we could budget a bit of money to get her something fun too. We initially were hoping to get her a 350Z - we both have always loved them, but our budget didn't strech that far. So I started doing research what else falls in the budget. Z3, MR2, god forbid even some of those Brittish things (some other story - I have mechanical mental scaring from my classic mini cooper). When I initially suggested an MX5 she said "everyone has those". Of course when several co-workers suggested it she warmed to the idea. So I think I planted the initial seed.

We went around and checked out a few but found we really liked the 2000-2003 body shape. It got rid of the pop-up headlamps and gave the car just enough of a "Peanut" shape that it really looked nice. There were a few in our price range too (which the Z3 and MR2 were just out of reach). So we found the little Crystal Blue sportser with only 70k on the clock!

She's enjoyed driving it every day since then up until this incident. To her it that car represents "FUN" and that it's her car.

[flash forward to the present]

Yesterday after the DR had made his prognosis, I had to shuffle off to work. I'm driving the GTR daily again since the accident. As I drove down the road, a little later than normal, I drove past a few secondary school boys waiting for the bus. As I drove past they waived their arms and big approving smiles on their faces as the sight of my GTR. It made me feel all proud of my car and little did I know it planted a seed that could recoil in a few hours.

In to work and getting right to it I got my coffee and started plodding on the computer. I have a desk job and today didn't have a lot of meeting so I could focus on getting a few tasks done for a change. So I donned my headphones turned on the iPod and started working through a few tasks that didn't take a lot of brainpower so I could think on what to do next about the MX5.

About an hour in when the iPod shuffled to something with a bit of feeling (can't even remember what song it was now), I felt myself welling up. There were these waves of emotion that started and I could feel them starting to splash over my barriers of control. I casually got up and went to the lifts, down to the car park and sat in my car for a few moments. Thank god for tinted windows and dark carparks.

I usually not a very emotional person. Some people read this that I'm cold, but my coping mechanism is to logic my way through a situation and then let my emotions rationalise in the context of the framework I've created. It's not very often that I get overwhelmed like this.

I sat and pondered what had caused such an overwhelming feeling. It is really quite logical now that I've laid out the context for you. Since the accident I'm back to driving my pride and joy - my GTR. Ask anyone that knows me and my car. I'm proud of it and will not accept anything less than my own standards when it comes to that car. My wife's car, her pride and joy is totalled. Here I am proudly driving my car and she is the victom left without. The guilt became overwhelming. I sat with that realisation and cried for the first time in many years. I dearly love my wife and I had to deal with the guilt of what she has gone through in this experience.

That night when I got home, I sat her down and explained and appologised. She's an amazing woman, my wife. She said that she had gone through the greiving last week and that she didn't blame me. She even felt empathy for me in my guilt, but that I need to resolve that so I can move on too. She said that she already had in her head, but that your emotions naturally lag behind your reason.

So that's what has preoccupied most of my extra thinking capacity over the last 24 hours. I think it will continue to consumer a fair bit as I work through the emotions and endeaver to put them into rational context.

Some of you may wonder what we are doing for transportation. Two months back we decided that it was time of the truck to retire. It had done 200,000k's and was just getting tired. So we traded it in on a new family car - a Mazda 3. GD2ILA really isn't the kind of car you put friends and family in to go to dinner or pick up from an airport and a MX5 really didn't do that either. So now at least Debra can drive the 3 and GD2ILA goes back to daily duties. So at least Debra has transportation, but we all know what it means to drive something you truely love.

Thank you for sticking through that whole long winded story.

[Munroman]

If any of you have contacts or ideas let me know. I really don't have the space here at my house to part it out over time so I need to get rid of the whole thing if possible.

Actually it was my wife who has supported just getting a salvager to take it away. However, I do know that they will only give the minimum price as they are a business and need to make big margins on the parts in order to operate revenue positive.

Once the little car has gone, we luckily have the little Mazda 3 and my GTR. So at least we both still have transportation.

Eric

If you can part it out somehow you would be surprised at how much money it will return.

I tried to sell a car a couple of years ago and could not get what I wanted so parted it out and ended up MANY thousands in front.

The internet made it all possible so easily and quickly and I did not touch a spanner

I was amazed at the stuff people were looking for and, like someone else said, cars hit up the rear are more rare and front parts are in big demand.

A wrecker will give you nothing and make heaps. Yeah they are wreckers here not salvagers

I vote for you to at least try it. You will be very pleasantly surprised and it might re-introduce some fun. My parting out experience was an eye opener and a buzz and very successful financially. Less effort than BBQs and way more productive. But I am always up for a snag or two. LOL

Steve

Edited March 11, 2011 by Munroman

[GTR-N1]

Part of the tears Eric I'm sure, was the pride you have in your wife Debra.

She's a remarkable woman, and I haven't even had the privilege of meeting her until next weekend.

You are justified in that pride.

And knowing you, I'm sure you are fortunate to have each other.

There are people out there who embellish what they say, interpret and see.

One person who is on record to have said that he never drives his race car because he will only entrust it to someone who is experienced and talented - and yet didn't even know the driver who crashed it a couple of saturdays ago.

And another person who advertises on his website that his muffler shop is the only one in the whole of NSW that has a dyno - when in fact there are at least two others. Actually, umm; same person.

I have felt privileged on the other hand to have served on the Exec of SAU.NSW with truthful people like yourself.

And I hereby nominate you as Vice-Pres of SAU.NSW at the next AGM in 2 months.

Yours Sincerely,

Terry

[Munroman]

I had to shuffle off to work. I'm driving the GTR daily ..past a few secondary school boys waiting for the bus. As I drove past they waived their arms and big approving smiles on their faces as the sight of my GTR. It made me feel all proud of my car and little did I know it planted a seed that could recoil in a few hours...

About an hour in when the iPod shuffled to something with a bit of feeling (can't even remember what song it was now), I felt myself welling up. There were these waves of emotion that started and I could feel them starting to splash over my barriers of control. I casually got up and went to the lifts, down to the car park and sat in my car for a few moments. Thank god for tinted windows and dark carparks.

I usually not a very emotional person. Some people read this that I'm cold, but my coping mechanism is to logic my way through a situation and then let my emotions rationalise in the context of the framework I've created. It's not very often that I get overwhelmed like this.

That's lovely stuff to say to your wife but I am not buying it.

Either that or yanks are more sensitive than Aussies.

Most blokes I know have no idea what emotions actually are. Seriously.

I'll give you a cultural tip.

Don't admit to that stuff anywhere in Australia with mates.

School yards have word for it.

And my mate Dirty Pierre has a T Shirt that says "Harden the @U(k up!"