There’s been a lot of speculation among readers and friends that, in the last eight months since moving from metro Detroit, I’ve transformed from a rust-addled, grime-covered, shitbox-owning, junkyard-touring, poor-fashion-having engineer/wrenching machine into something a bit more…hip. More “metropolitan,” if you will. There was the purchase of the BMW i3 electric car followed by the purchase of a nice-condition open-top Jeep (pretty much the same one from the movie Clueless), there was all the caviar I ate at Pebble Beach last year, there are the Birkenstocks currently on my feet, there was that art Gala I attended recently, there was a recent trendy community theater showing in someone’s backyard, there was my recently-picked-up affinity for Açaí bowls, there’s the fact that I just used that weird “ç” just now while spelling “Açaí,” and you could go on and on. I’m basically on an IV-drip of bubble tea, which I’m realizing wasn’t a smart call, as boba is getting stuck in the tubes. Still, I’ve been in denial for a while, but then last week it hit me as I told my friends that I was standing just a few feet from The Rock: Maybe I have gone Hollywood?
I haven’t wrenched in weeks. I’m going to trendy events, eating vegan things (I had a jackfruit taco the other day; it wasn’t nearly as good as a non-jackfruit taco, but it wasn’t bad?), attending hippy-ish craft shows, getting massages (OK, I only got one), hanging out with folks who do “Reiki” healing and who believe in crystalline energy and astrology, considering attending burning man, and on and on. I cannot express how much my life has changed since moving to LA. I mean, check out what my life was like in Michigan:
I know, pretty great, right?! No responsibilities other than wrenching. Cheap rent. Car parts stores everywhere. The greatest junkyards on earth just a short drive away. Truly heaven.
But I have to say, I’m enjoying LA, too. People out here are a bit nutty, so I kinda feel a little less like a weirdo. The off-roading is actually amazing (even close to LA). The traffic isn’t as bad I thought it’d be, and even though space is a bit of an issue and cost of living is absurd — not to mention that the unhoused situation here is unacceptable, and honestly the feral cat situation is pretty horrible, too — I’m enjoying California.
Anyway, let’s get back to The Rock.
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The absurdly handsome and charming actor and former wrestler was picking up his Ford F-150 Raptor R, a 700 horsepower monster that I reviewed a few months ago. It sounds awesome, and just is awesome:
Ford CEO Jim Farley just happened to be there on his EV road trip in a Ford F-150 Lightning, so the two had a chat. The Rock had some nice things to say to factory workers:
You never know who you'll run into on the road… @TheRock picked up his new truck from @galpinford and had a special message for the @Ford + @UAW team back in Dearborn. Thanks, DJ! #BuiltFordProud pic.twitter.com/LZvvIBmUVw
— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) August 14, 2023
Here he is talking with Jim Farley:
And here’s The Rock signing a technician’s shirt.
The top image shows him taking a photo with technicians.
Though I typically like to meet people, I didn’t introduce myself to The (that’s his first name, right?), as the man was on a mission, and also I had been told by a video producer to step away upon filming that little Instagram clip above. Still, it was cool to see Mr. Rock up close, and to see the joy he brought so many people just by being there and being a decent human being. Ditto with Jim Farley, who seemed genuinely interested in learning more about how things worked at the dealership level, especially in the service area.
Anyway, that was a cool experience. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish up this kale salad and head to Goga class.
“David Tracy was there and no one introduced us? What the actual hell?” A quote from Dwayne Johnson according to reliable sources.
Dude, you need to get away from the acai bowls and into LA burrito culture. Try Juanita’s drive-in in Pomona – excellent meat-bean-rice-cheese burritos there. Bring cash.
It makes me so happy knowing Juanita’s is still alive and kicking. I used to go there and grab a burrito after class in the mid-90s. Nothing like that distinctive yellow wrapper…
Everyone knows the real burrito culture is up north in the Mission district of SF.
Mission burrito > LA burrito >>>>>>>>>>> 815 burritos
“who believe in crystalline energy and astrology, ”
That’s two red flags right there.
You’re an engineer, how can you bear it that they are wrong?
Well I believe in the piezoelectric effect, but that’s about it. An old friend thought crystals and smoothies would cure cancer. They didn’t. Some of my most impolite thoughts are reserved for whoever convinced her of that.
Understood.
I have similar impolite thoughts. I don’t feel guilty about them.
I dunno about the crystals but the smoothies might.
Years ago my MIL told me about a friend who was into the Bundwig diet to fight cancer:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/budwig-diet#basics
What I read about it sounded an awfully lot like a line of what at the time was very promising cancer research called HAMLET (or BAMLET depending on the source of milk):
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAMLET_(protein_complex)
https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/hamlet-pharma-announces-results-of-first-major-clinical-trial-for-a-new-cancer-killing-molecule/
HAMLET/BAMLET is a complex between alpha-lactalbumin milk protein and oleic acid found in cooking oils which is catalyzed by acid as is found in the human stomach so I can see a smoothie with the right ingredients could maybe, possibly help fight cancer.
from my rockhound perspective crystalline energy ( beyond the piezoelectric effect and the fluorescence of some minerals to UV ) is a sham that should be punished by law as wrongful exercise of medical practice.
My doctoral dissertation was on high-pressure and high-temperature single-crystal anisotropic lattice thermal diffusivity but that’s probably not what David means here.
So making colored diamonds?
Well, I mean, whenever the laser was sufficiently misaligned its pulses would hit and heat the opaque gasket material, leaving burn marks on the diamond anvils, so in a sense yes.
Sometimes it’s okay for people to believe things if it makes them happy.
I’ve learned to appreciate the utility of certain less-than-scientific elements of life.
Good point. I’ve learned, over decades of bitter experience, that sometimes it’s better to be nice than to be right, but sometimes it’s a struggle.
I’m a Taurus, we’re all cynical and cranky.
Except for the ones born prematurely, they are Aries.
OTOH, accepting is enabling. Science has been taking too much of a beating in recent years, anti-vaxers, climate change deniers, Jewish space lasers,…
Never pass up an opportunity to support science over fiction. Just be polite about it.
Your story will be turned into a family friendly movie about a young man who was lost in a sea of decrepit Jeeps… Until one fateful day when he found a litter of kittens in one of his Jeeps. He thought he was rescuing the kittens. By the end of the movie, David realized it was the kittens who had rescued him.
The role of David Tracy will be played by The Rock. The kittens will be voiced (of course they can talk) by Keegan-Michael Key, Wanda Sykes, Kristen Wiig, and Nicholas Cage.
With David Tracy’s first acting role as Shaky: the possum with a crippling cat-food addiction.
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The Rock is great. People used to get us confused until we made an agreement. We fought I won he had to shave his head. LOL
I was born in Detroit. There are tons of us midwesterners out here, all up and down the state. You live in a different place now. In fact, you live in a very different place than Detroit. My family started heading out here after WW2, after shipping out to the Pacific Theater through San Diego. Once California gets into your blood, you’ll be hard pressed to leave it.
Welcome aboard. Keep doing what you’re doing, exploring the state and, to some degree, yourself. Change is often great, but you won’t know until you actually change something.
Glad to see you’re keeping your eyes and your heart open to new stuff from a former resident of Clawson, MI that knows the very first Kmart in the country was in Troy, MI. My mom was so excited…
I lived right up the street from the K Mart HQ! It’s a bunch of abandoned glass buildings now… But there’s a nice mall nearby?
I miss living in troy sometimes. mainly for the Maple Leaf Restaurant and the corned beef hash breakfast
The very first Kmart was in Garden City Michigan. As well as the first Little Caesars. You’re welcome?
Did you tell him about the kittens? If not, could you do that for me?
Aaaasgh! Calling all Autopians! Mayday, Mayday! David Tracy has lost his way. Jackfruit tacos? Electric cars? Hanging with the Rock? What’s next, huffing Rustoleum? There’s only one thing to do and it must be done quickly! We need to stage an emergency interwrenchin’, stat! Please descend on Pebble Beach immediately. Hopefully we can get through to him before he starts wearing tasseled driving moccasins and polo shirts. Hurry now before his pinky begins to stick out while drinking tea. Omigod! He’s drinking tea!
interwrenchin’
Man, I love that one. Nice job.
+100 for ‘interwrenchin’
“…I’ve transformed from a rust-addled, grime-covered, shitbox-owning, junkyard-touring, poor-fashion-having engineer/wrenching machine into something a bit more…hip.”
I’ve been assured by my friends and family that this already sounds pretty hip.
A car that runs, two cats, and a Rock.
BIG TIME!
The most important thing you can do when you relocate is be willing to let your new home change you. Otherwise, why bother moving? Sounds to me like you’re doing just fine.
Until you start writing a screen play i think you are okay.
I was really hoping for “Shower Spaghetti: The Musical” or “Jason and the Technicolor Tail Lights”!
Jason and the Auto-nauts?
Ooh, even better!
Streeterlight Express, except it’s two hours of Mercedes driving a vintage locomotive around.
He’s probably already considering one about a quartet of kitten, an opossum and a Jeep full of Jeep bits & pieces in a car park in California…
Enjoy it, soak it up. Everyone should do the city life for a few years at least.
Find a lady friend, bring her back to the country after this is the #1 blog anywhere and you guys get the fruits of your labor and risk taking. Semi-retire while wrenching on dream cars and doing an occasional blog when you are inspired.
I’ve been introduced to Dwayne a couple of times, and the second time he actually said, “I’ve met you before, haven’t I?”. I’m a nobody, so I was floored. He’s a pretty good, regular guy.
Did he want a kitten?
David Tracy:”Gwyneth, where do I put the steam and jade egg?”
Next article: How I used Reiki and a Pilates machine to heal a holy grail-ish ZJ I found abandoned in Los Angles river, also Timothée Chalamet was there.
Acai bowls can taste great and can be very healthy (some aren’t… watch the ingredients), but bubble tea I just don’t get, not at all… you do realize the “bubbles” are tapioca & sugar…. not my cup of tea at all.
I figured Dwayne Johnson would be a Chevy truck guy thanks to Bob Seger.
#COTD
Standing arrow straight
It must be so strange to go about mundane daily tasks with a mob following you around constantly.
It appears that David Tracy is handling the transition from Michigan rust jockey to Hollywood celebrity quite well.
I thought he left the kittens at home, no?
Picture this: when David moved from Michigan to LA, its like the Barbie movie when she goes back to Barbie world lol
Come and listen to my story about a man named Dave
A poor engineer, rust and Jeeps are what he craves
And then one day he met a man named Beau
And he told all his Jalops that it’s time to go.
Digging internet gold, the Information Age.
Well the first thing you know ol Dave’s a media star
The kinfolk said “Dave you’re goin’ far”
Said “Californy is the place you ought to be”
So they loaded up the Jeep and they moved to Beverly
Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars, kittens.
I did one of these previously.
Repost from prior to David’s move when his garage flooded.
The Ballad of David Tracy
Come and listen to a story ’bout a man named Dave
Poor engineer barely kept the rust at bay
Then one day he was wrenching on a Jeep,
And down on his tools came a flood of water
(H2O that is, agua, Adam’s ale)
Well the next thing you know Dave’s posting online
Autopian folk said Dave move away from there
Said California is the place you oughta be
So he loaded up the stang and he moved to LA
(Studio City that is, swimming pools, rust-free cars)
Can you smelllllll…what Dwayne is cooking?!
Too bad David didn’t get to talk to him and share some of his sweet engine and exhaust manifold cooking tips.
Fun fact: In the official WWF cookbook, the Rock’s entry is Chocolate Chip Cookies.
At least they picked something that smells good .
Next thing you tell us will be about the long walks on the beach and your new surfing experiences. You go David, you go
Did you guys check the truck for cats before handing it over to The Rock?
And for Possums?
And for Black Widow Spiders?
And for any of the Mean Street Posse? Nobody’s seen them in a while.
And when did The Rock start sounding like he was on the campaign trail?
He had a whole sitcom about running for president. It’s probably a little ingrained now.
I almost think it will be a natural transition. He is his generations Arnold, but bigger and more well liked. After FF35, he will have made his money and want to make his mark on a bigger level. What’s the best way to do that besides charities he already has? Well, run for a position that lets you actually create change. I have no idea of his politics, but I think based off his popularity alone, he would win most races without a second thought.
Maybe boba shouldn’t be so fett. 😀
(Yep, that’s a combined Star Wars and German pun.)
This is the Advanced Pun course, I see.
I thought you might appreciate that one (though “appreciate” is probably a strong word).
As I see it, you’re learning about a different culture and broadening your horizons. There was (is) nothing wrong with Detroit David; he’s still here, and now he is sharing space with Los Angeles David and Deutschland David. People tend not to be just one thing. Ancillary to that, IMO learning should be a lifelong pursuit.
tl;dr – FWIW I think you’re doing fine, Açaí or no Açaí 🙂
Don’t forget Downunder David.