Word:
combine (two or more texts, ideas, etc.) into one:
“the urban crisis conflates a number of different economic and social issues”
Last evening, I spoke to a cousin of mine. For the first time in almost 60 years, he is living away from home, working on the big Alberta clean up. This past summer, a huge fire broke out in the area, and labourers from all across the country have been hired to clean the place up. My cousin is one of those hard working individuals. He is really lonesome up there, missing his wife and other family members. I reminisced about the good old days and we shared a few stories that made him laugh and ease his mind until he comes home. Here is one of those stories
The DatsFordev
When I was a kid, my favourite place to hang out was at my cousin Raymond’s house. Being sixteen, I always loved cars, and so did Raymond. He had built a garage on the side of his mom’s house, used the place to paint and repair cars.
Raymond was a few years older than I was, and was quite the comical individual. I could share a hundred funny stories, but today I want to focus on just one. The story of the DatsFordev.
I guess I have you confused now. Don’t worry, I will explain. You see, back in the day, there were tons of cars scrapped in various lots and in back yards everywhere. One day, Ray decided to gather a bunch of parts, and put them together to make a car. He had bought a little Datsun B201 for a hundred dollars or so, but the thing was a junk heap. (Back then, Datsun, Toyota, etc. were just beginning to sell in the country, and their quality was not up to par with the other cars of the time. Remember, this was the early 80’s)
I dropped down to Raymond’s place to find him in the garage, welding various parts to the back of the little car. He switched out the Datsun tail lights with those from an old Ford Maverick, he had a Chevy Nova grill on the front, and get this, he attached a Chevy Vega trunk lid to the back end of the little car, using of all things, Barn door hinges he snitched from his dad’s barn.
The surprising thing about this car, despite all the parts conflated together, the thing didn’t look all that bad. Raymond finished his work with a paint job using left over paint he mixed together. The colour, which consisted of at least ten different colours, turned out to be a nice shade of gold.
And then, he decided to put the thing up for sale. I thought he would never sell it, as to me, it looked like a pile of junk; but you know what they say about one man’s junk….
This guy showed up to buy it, he was some excited. “What is it? I never seen one of these before!” he said, excited.
“My own creation, made it from parts of several good vehicles” Raymond lied.
The guy proudly drove out of the driveway while Raymond and I laughed our heads off. “Got rid of all that junk, and he even paid me to take it.” Raymond bragged.
Sometimes I wonder what happened to that guy and his little ‘hybrid’. I bet he had a hell of a time licensing the car when the plates ran out. After all, what would you call it?
SightsnBytes 