Hey all! Long time no speak. Didn't want you to think I was ignoring you! Lot of crazy stuff going on with me lately. As many of you have probably noticed, I've decided to let the Vette go. Actually, I'm selling all my cars. The SL55 is gone, Vette is down at Park Place & will be sold there if it doesn't sell on Ebay & then the Viper is gone too. Ok now, flame suit is on - I'm driving a new Honda Accord! Ok, I'll be expecting lots of these :rolleyes: & a few of these :U but I'm really OK with the decision. For $279 a month you can’t beat it. The car just runs, has really nice leather & every option I could want. Ok, it’s uglier than sin, but I just don’t care right now. Too many other priorities at the moment. I need a car that runs & doesn’t give me any grief. You heard it hear first, Merlin is now a ricer! :p:

Last month I was selected to build the XML OLAP Smart Pane interface for Office 11. This is the most exciting thing I have gotten to do yet. FINALLY, I get to build some release software. Looks like I'll get a white paper out of this one as well. We have a BillG demo the end of June - on top of working 50 hours at Boeing & 50 hours at Microsoft corporate. So, do the math - I'm working like 130 hours right now. Subtract that from the 168 hours total in the week & you can see that I barely have time to wipe my behind in the AM. I made the decision after Sept. 11 to get back to a more simple existence. I kept going forward with the Vette just because I am not a quitter. After Sept. 11, my heart just wasn’t in it any more, but so many people on the forum wanted to see it done. I was overwhelmed by the support & emails I got, so I kept moving forward.

Now that it is finally done & I've gotten to enjoy it some, I've come to realize that I've just grown out of that phase of my life. Rather than wanting to have the most badass car on the planet, I’m OK with just being Steve. Right now I like writing software & playing music when I have some free time. I'm getting into real estate & I plan to go back for the doctorate as soon as all this work goes away. I think most of you if you were in my shoes, would not turn away work - especially in this environment. I count myself very lucky. Paying $5,000 a month for cars & insurance just seems stupid. The money I wasted on the Vette was even more asinine. Still, I'm so very thankful for the experience & to be able to share it with everyone here! I’ve had my fair share of detractors over the years, but at least I can sit back & know that it is done. Most of you have only seen pictures of it. Believe me; pictures just don’t even come close. We brought it over to Park Place today. They have a super tuner who is going to give it the final tuning. These guys are used to selling Lambos, Saleens, Ferraris etc. Every single jaw in the store dropped to the ground when we pulled the car out of the truck. That put a huge smile on my face. My goal was to build something radical & different. That goal was accomplished. I can’t tell you how many people I hear say things like “the car was a failure”. “It doesn’t work”. “It’s too much”. ‘It’s not a race car & it’s no good for the street”. Etc etc etc. This from people who have never even seen the car. Take my word for it. It’s one of the coolest cars on the planet & it works exactly as I hoped it would. The car idles at 800 rpm without fail. It stays at 190 degrees & never gets hot. It does take a lot of getting used to, but once you master it – the car can be driven every single day with no problems. It even handles really well! Those were all my goals & I can walk away knowing that the project was a success. If I didn’t work so hard & have so many other things on my plate, I’d be keeping it. To have it sit in the garage & gather dust seems stupid. Would I do this again? Probably not. Hard to say. It’s something I had to do & having done it, the need is not there. I’m just happy to know that it is finally a reality & I know that whoever ends up buying the thing is going to get a hell of a deal. Of course the market is very limited for something like this. Not a lot of folks out there in the world have the same brain dysfunctions that I do, but there are some out there. Somebody will end up buying it & the legacy will be passed to them.

So anyway, just wanted to stop in & say hi. I hope all of you are surviving this crappy economy & that you and your families are healthy and happy. I will absolutely do my best to stop in & say howdy from time to time! Enjoy.

 

All the best, and make sure you take some time off for yourself. 911 was very sobering for us all, I know that nothing comes before my family and the vette is just an expensive toy and not that important in the scheme of things. :flag

 

Is the vette payed for? Is it costing anything? Are you really really really sure ya wanna sell it? Cause i still havent seen it in person :jester

Sad to see ya leaving the "Club" but 100 hour work weeks SUCK! I think i would stick to the job that was more fun, and be able to stretch out the legs, and have some time to think :cheers:

Nice talkin to you again
ZD

 

Well said Greg - thank you! I'm taking a step back so I can take 10 steps forward. This latest move will set me up for the rest of my life. These decisions are not easy to make, I assure you. It just feels right & I am a much happier person today than I was last year or the years before. Toys are fun, but family & happiness is far more critical. I've had my fun, now it's time to get serious. My best to you all & I'll definitely be visiting from time to time!! :cheers:

 

Hats off to you for following your dreams, Just a thought you can always buy a C5 they are kind of cheap these days and they are a great daily driver. Just gas and a bit of oil. Just like daddys Olds. :smash: :smash:

 

Hi Merlin nice to here from you. I agree priorities change and you gotta do what you think is best for YOU.
Take care of yourself. ;)

 

Steve,

My kudos goes out to you for taking the time to explain on this forum where you are going in your life(family or personal). Not that you had to do it... nor is it anyone's business, but your own. I can't name the multitude of mistakes I have made in life, but the majority of them only occured because I took chances. And I made a couple of them again as I thought I was in a better position to make it work the second time. There's not one thing wrong with working 100+ hours a week if it there is an end objective to it. I've had 4 days off from work in the last 2-1/2 years and can tell you that I wouldn't have it any other way. Hopefully your direction helps put the puzzle together.

I wish you the best!

Barry

 

:iagree: Thanks for sharing your feelings. I cant imagine anyone not wanting that car. many are just jealous we will never own such a nice item. Most of us cant say we will ever have the chance. thanks for sharing it with us.

PS. I cant wait to hear the smack the next owner talks. I bet he says he built it and will beat anyone :lol:

 

Steve- you gotta do what you gotta do! Nobody can fault you for doing what you think is best. Don't worry about the ricer thing, everyone here knows better. Anyway, if you take the Merlin site down let me know first, the offer is still open to host some of it. If I had the $$$ I would fly out and drive off in that monster.

 

Steve,

I'd just like to say thanks for keeping us updated during your build-up. And.....this may sound a little selfish, but I hope you can keep the website up because it would be ashame to loose the information that you have compiled there. I find it an inspiration to look and read about your project when I get down about mine for one reason or another. Anyway.....

See ya around, and good luck with whatever you do.

:cheers:

Mark

 

That's cool. It's good to hear from you.

Accords rock. Without that reliability, I'd be a basket case. I know that when the crap hits the fan in my Vette, I can always shut the garage and turn to my Montero or my wife's Hyundai. My bicycle even! There is nothing wrong with cheap reliability that works. Good for you.

I just hope you keep in touch with all of us and let us know how things are going. I've really enjoyed following along with your project, over the years. I love telling people about it. I've heard so many guys, since I was a kid, talk complete B.S. about cars. You know: "My uncle has a car with two blowers, it rocks, has over a thousand horsepower..." Whatever. You actually did it. And I can talk about it, and know it's real. That's so cool. Thanks for the great story.

Take it easy. Keep in touch.

:cheers:

 

nice to hear from you, and sorry to see you go. but there is nothing wrong in admitting you have outgrown something, expecially when you have finished it. good luck in your programming, hopefully this will be the one that works first time out of the box. joe

 

What they said. Nothing wrong with living large, and nothing wrong with moving on when that's done & it's time for something else. Good luck, and let us know about your next crazed obsession (c'mon, you know it's gonna happen--if it ain't cars, it'll be somthing else--it's one of those "in the blood sort of things"! :D

JB

 

It sounds like you've made some tough choices and it also sounds like you've got your priorities in order. Like the others, I'll miss the posts about your awesome car (perhaps it's new owner will be a member?) but I do understand and respect your decision. And, once you get things in order, that Honda will make a great driver when you're ready for your next project :).

 

Hey Steve. Sure has been a while. I can't imagine you selling all your cars, but from how your talkin, it's the best thing that you could do right now. So good luck selling them :thumbs: I was really hoping to see the beast at CI IV, but I guess it will be a while before that happens :D maybe the next owner will drop by the NCM every once in awhile, if he can control it :reddevil Take care dude :seeya

 

We all have to change our priorities occasionally. I'm glad you shared your Merlin experience with us, now no one can say you can't turn a C3 into a wold class contender!
I'm an Office 11 beta tester, I can't believe the potential for that program with its inbedded XML. If a person has the slightest idea about programming or logic, there would no longer be a need for many of the "canned" programs out there for industry specific applications.
Also, you will NEVER be a ricer in my eyes, unless you try to bolt on stuff to your new Accord and claim it's as fast as Merlin :lol: .
Good luck and don't be a stranger, but we know you'll be busy!
Get any bugs out of Office 11 before I install it on 1400 PC's at my college! I don't want to have to re-image them if a SP releases too soon :p:


[Modified by isosceles, 4:17 AM 5/16/2003]

 

Thanks for stopping by! :) I don't think you are officially a "ricer" until you put some stickers and a wing and a fartpipe on the Honda...... I hope you haven't done that yet!! :lol: I have to admit it made me laugh to picture you in an Accord after the fleet of high-end cars you owned. (I remember that BMW on ebay.... the Viper, SL, etc..) Personally, I am glad you completed Merlin and shared it with us. It was quite a trip! I hope I get the chance to see it someday, whoever ends up owning it. :) MJ

 

peace :thumbs:

 

Steve, it's sad to see you go, but I know how it is sometimes. You have to do what you have to do. I'm glad I had the chance to see the vette in person, and glad I got to meet you. I've told people before, you're one of the nicest people I've met. Of course, I can't count out Rob, since he offered for me to drive his vette in an autocross while I was out there. I had a good time with the Seattle folks, hope I get to meet up with you all again sometime.

Oh, and don't worry about being a "ricer". I have a POS 91 Corolla as my daily driver. I hate the car, but it gets me where I need to be. Besides, you aren't a ricer until you put stickers, etc. on the car. ;)

Take care Steve, glad to have met you.

Avery

 

Steve,
Thanks for sharing the creation of Merlin522 with us. I had always looked forward to the updates. But, as it is said, "all good things must come to an end" and Merlin certainly is a "good" thing.
Good luck with your future goals.

Mike
:seeya