Getting dirty.

In my quest to tell the stories of others' project cars for VWvortex, I've kind of lost sight of my own. The parts I need to acquire, problems that need to be fixed, skills I need to learn--well, they've all fallen by the wayside, as my car sits parked in a barn 100 miles north, I struggle to plan my rapidly-approaching married life, and I become accustomed to the comforts of a new car. (Yes, I've learned to appreciate air conditioning and in-dash factory CD players; however, I still loathe cruise control and daytime running lights.)

I'm working on two feature stories, both of which need to be wrapped up by Chicago Volkswagen Organization's Midwest Treffen on August 19. Incidentally, this is also the first time I'll be showing my car since spring of 2006. In some ways, it feels like a life I've left behind--the constant scheduling, parts acquisition and installation, logging hundreds of highway miles and fearing every bird bomb, rock chip, and gravel patch along the way. I wasn't satisfied with being middle of the pack, but somehow I am now.

Attending a VW show used to mean weeks of preparation. I'd drop every dime of my discretionary income on new parts and spend an entire day scrubbing the engine bay with a toothbrush and a gallon of Simple Green. If it weren't for the feature stories I'm writing, I probably wouldn't be going to Treffen at all. I can't even get motivated to order and install basic parts; I'm only mildly excited about showing off my newly-completed European digital cluster conversion, a task so complex that it's been managed by only a handful of people on the continent. (Thanks again to my electrical-genius, German-literate husband-to-be who appreciates the unique opportunity to give a girl car parts for Christmas--and then install them for her.)

I have a feeling, though, that the people I have made plans to meet will make it all worthwhile--the late nights hunched over my keyboard, the hours of backbreaking polishing and scrubbing, and even the $4-per-gallon 93 octane gas that the GTI demands.

I'm already working on an appropriate mix CD.

In just a couple of weeks, happiness arrives in the form of a Saturn Sky.

The Sky has been my "lust" car since its release; I love it so much that, were I in the market, I'd be tempted to choose a Sky over even the MINI Cooper S, which has been my "lust" car for the past six years or so. It's pure luck that it is scheduled to arrive at the office the same week as a bunch of much more exotic vehicles; while the full-time staff is busy arguing over Porsches, I'm thrilled with this particular GM.

I can't think of a better way to spend an evening in Chicago than taking a sexy, feminine roadster for nice twilight spin down deliciously twisty Sheridan Road to Lake Shore Drive.

More to come...