So I'm in the garage one afternoon when this guy shows up. Walking. Dressed kinda funny -- I mean, like everything was okay 'n' all, but there was something about the jeans and the shirt that didn't look quite right. I couldnt really put my finger on it, but something. Anyway, point is, he's walking. It's twenty three miles to the nearest highway, ten at least to the nearest town down the road. That's a hike I wouldnt want to take, but he looked like it was the most normal thing in the world. Says he needs some parts. Sure, says I, no problem. If I dont have 'em, I can order pretty easy.
So he takes out a piece of paper -- at least, it looked like paper, sorta -- and sketches something out. And while he's doing it, it's pretty clear it's not like any part I'm familiar with. So I casually ask him what it's for, thinking if he tells me that, I can figure out where the hell to get this thing from. He just looks at me and sorta grins. "It's kinda hard to say," he says. "It's for my car. But I've done a lot of custom work on it." Then he explains what the thing does, and it takes me about three minutes to decide I'm seriously out of my element here. Time to call my brother.
So he comes over and takes a look, and after a little head scratching, decides maybe he can build whatever the damn thing is. And the guy's just ecstatic about that, says he'll bring in the working drawings for them tomorrow, with all the specs my brother needs to get the job done.
Now, I dont know anyone who walks around with walking drawings of car parts in their hip pocket, but whatever, right?
So Bro gets the drawings, and they're the damndest things you've ever seen. The measurements are like 3.1719" and 16.248913", tolerances that are just crazy, in my humble opinion. But my brother loves a good challenge, so he snatches those drawings up and heads straight to the shop to get started. Tells the guy it'll take a couple of days, and then he'll be ready to roll. I tell him he's welcome to stay at my place in the interim, and he shakes his head, telling me that's okay, but he prefers to stay near his car.
"We could tow it in, y'know. No sense in you walking back and forth like that."
But he just says no, thanks. It would be somewhat awkward, he tells us. He's traveling with his wife, and she doesn't like to be around strangers all that much. He'll drop by when the parts are ready. Then he pays a deposit and leaves.
Well, true to my brother's word, two days later he comes in with this bunch of... things, I guess. No idea what these are supposed to do, and I can tell Bro has no idea either. Still, when the guy sees 'em, he's all happy, pays the bill in cash, thanks us both for our hospitality, and heads out, promising that, once he's got them installed, him and his wife'll drop by before they head back home. That's kinda nice, y'know?
So later that day, Bro and I are out walking around, and we see this... glow in the sky... liike someone set a bonfire out by the lake. So we go check it out -- and here's the guy. And his wife. And his... well, I guess you'd call it a car. Maybe. Not like any car I know, 'specially since it was about thirty feet in the air and just hanging there.
But he's all happy to see us, brings the missus over and introduces her, and we talk for a bit, almost pointedly ignoring all the obvious questions floating around just like that damn car. Then he finally says, "Well, we gotta scoot. Thanks, again, guys." And we were like, "Drop by again sometime, hear?" He looks up, nods real quick, and the car just sorta floats down. He and the wife get in and shut it up with some sort of weird series of things, then the car floats back up and just blam! disappears off into the sky.
Damndest thing I've ever seen, I swear.
Nice people, tho. Really nice.
