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    Forty Short Stories to Read on a Plane
    Forty Short Stories to Read on a Plane
    Forty Short Stories to Read on a Plane
    Ebook151 pages2 hours

    Forty Short Stories to Read on a Plane

    By David Fetherston

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    About this ebook

    This collection of obscure tales automotive, travel and food tails came from life from fifty-years on the road working as a photojournalist. They are a mix of personal experiences and some collected from fellow travelers. This first-edition covers themes including automotive, food, clothing and travel. It’s about the learning curve of life and a how we can have a good time just watching the world go by, or by stepping into the deep end of the pool and immersing ourselves in its very texture. I feel that in some tiny way, these experiences helped define who we've all became. Recollections like these are not often put to print. I wrote this after spending hours on planes and always looking for something to read which would be flight friendly so that I could finish a book on a trip. I hope these will make you smile, or even better laugh recalling incidents from your own life or family times when you too were trying to find your way in the world.
    Happy Trails

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDavid Fetherston
    Release dateJun 19, 2012
    ISBN9780964617520
    Forty Short Stories to Read on a Plane
    Author

    David Fetherston

    Education and Business Experience 1977 - Graduated four-year college - photography in Canberra, Australia 1970 - 1984 Australian National University-Photo Assistant to Senior Photographer 1978 - State President-Australia Institute of Photography (ACT Division) 1978 & 1982 - Held two One-Man photography shows in Australia. 1982-1984 - Videographer. Creative Producer - National Party - Canberra, Australia 1979-1980 - 1981 Art schools in San Francisco, Sydney and Canberra. 1978-1979 - Lectured in photography at University of Canberra – School of Design 1983-2004 - Freelance automotive photographer and journalist Features Editor 1990- SCCA ITA Racer 1990-2004 - Marketing Director at Fetherston Publishing 2000-2004 - Marketing and Creative Director for Thaxton Press 1990-2008 - Authored 35 automotive history/technical books 1994-2003 - SRJC - Photoshop, Illustrator, marketing, advertising and public relations 1996-Present - President & Creative Director Fetherston Publishing and Marketing 2004-2008 - Director of Marketing-Flowmaster, Santa Rosa, California 2006-2008 - Director of Marketing-Hushpower, Santa Rosa, California 2008-2010 - Partner in Friction Drive Marketing and Media 1996-Currently-President & Creative Director Fetherston Publishing and Marketing Professional Awards 1988 - Placed Second: Carroll Shelby Autocross Championship 1991 - Won a Motorsports Press Award for Journalism 1992 - Won a Motorsports Press Award for Journalism 1993 - Two Motorsports Press Awards for Journalism 1995 - Two Motorsports Press Awards for Journalism 1999 - Awarded Automotive Book of the Year in 1999 Plus three other Moto Awards 2005 - Louis Vuitton Concours - New York - Judge 2007 - International Automotive Media Award for Journalism 2008 - International Automotive Media Award for Journalism 2008 - Rocky Mountains Concours de Elegance Divisional Head Judge 2009 - International Automotive Media Award for Journalism 2010 - International Automotive Media Award for Journalism

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      Book preview

      Forty Short Stories to Read on a Plane - David Fetherston

      Dedication

      This e-book is dedicated to

      Tony and Margaret Fetherston.

      Thanks for being great parents. . .

      David Fetherston

      Cover Photo: Sydney International Airport 1978 – Boeing 727 Ansett-ANA Airlines

      ****

      Forty Short Stories to Read on a Plane-Volume 1

      David Fetherston

      First published in 2012 by Fetherston Publishing L.L.C.

      PO Box 1742, Sebastopol, CA 95473, USA

      www.davidfetherston.com

      Copyright: David Fetherston 2012

      eBook Designer: David Fetherston

      Smashwords Edition

      ISBN

      978-0-9646175-2-0

      All rights reserved. Excerpts may be used of review purposes but no part may be reproduced without the express written permission of the Publisher. The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations and recollections are made without any guarantee on the part of the authors or Publisher, who also disclaim any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details. Some words, models, show and professional names are used for identification purposes herein and remain the property of the trademark holder.

      First published in 2012 by Fetherston Publishing L.L.C.

      PO Box 1742, Sebastopol, CA 95473, USA

      e-Book Designer: David Fetherston

      www.davidfetherston.com

      Copyright 2012 by David Fetherston

      Smashwords Edition

      Published by Fetherston Publishing at Smashwords

      This e-book is only licensed for your personal enjoyment. This e-book may not be re-sold, or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with other people, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thanks you for respecting the hard work of this author and publisher.

      ****

      Forty Short Stories to Read on a Plane

      Volume 1

      David Fetherston

      Copyright 2012 David Fetherston, Sebastopol, Ca.

      Smashwords Edition

      ****

      Introduction

      Not all of life's experiences are worthy of sharing, but after 50 years on the road, it's now clear that some incidents are poignant or funny enough to be passed on. Collected here are tales from my own experiences and an eclectic mix of friends and folks I’ve met along the road. Many times, in the rush of the moment, I didn’t take in the irony of the adventure or realize the staying power of a good story, but at last I can share these with anyone in need of some precious humor.

      The impetus to compile these stories came to me while I was, sitting in the United Airlines boarding area in Cleveland, Ohio awaiting my flight back to San Francisco. My mind wandered in it’s exhausted state back down the road to my childhood to the adventures and stories I collected in my travels, that enriched my life and bought the relief of a good laugh in looking back.

      We all have our own journey and are the product of our decisions to turn right or left or go forward, whether to speed up and not look back and savor the moment. Here are few adventures I recall above the rustle of the leaves . . .

      David Fetherston

      ****

      Table of Contents

      No Tears for the Teardrop

      Fifty-Cent Shoes

      Alfa Brain Flash

      Dangerous Dinks

      Cactus

      Dumb Luck

      Darwin Dog

      The Chieftain and the Easter Bunny

      Ferrari Daze

      Fly For Free!

      Impala Dog

      The Snake, the Koala and the Cement Mixer

      On the Hook!

      Three Dog Night!

      Mid-West Welcome

      Pigeon Poachers

      Poopy Porsche

      Riding With The Mob

      Rocket Man

      She'll do 80!

      Not Shelby’s Man with a Gas Tank

      The 200 MPH Hat

      The Day We Nearly Lost Uncle Harry

      The Mouth

      The Road and Track Of It All!

      Sex Education

      Torino Nights

      The Road to Where I Am!

      Thank God for Mercedes!

      The Might Mark IV!

      Jesus and Team Sideways

      Bedroom da’ Wheels

      Stocking Rescue

      Learning to Drive in a 120-feet

      The Great Rose Bed Slaughter

      Diplomatic Incident

      Kaptain Kombi

      Riding with God

      Norton Animal

      The Bombers

      Postscript

      Connect with Me

      ****

      No Tears for the Teardrop

      We were in our late teens and had all been total car nuts for as long as we had known one another. We headed for Bathurst for the Hardie-Ferodo 500 weekend. (This is Australia’s most famous road racing event and is today, televised worldwide, similar to the 24 Hours of LeMans). Some years it was a one-day trip, others it was a weekend, and occasionally it was a three-day adventure with caravans, trailers and tents.

      In the seventies, once the word was out among your friends that you were headed for Mt. Panorama, the group going for the fabled race usually expanded twofold. Most of the time we behaved ourselves, just entranced with the lunatics in McPhillamy Park who would get drunk and smash and burn their own cars.

      We took in the thrill of watching XU-1’s, Falcon GT HO’s and Monaros, with talent like Bond, Brock, Moffat and Bartlett who shredded their cars as they raced across Skyline, down through the Dipper, and off down Conrod Straight out of Forrest’s Elbow. By far the most interesting recollection of this weekend was an incident that happened, on the way home.

      Bob Roughly had borrowed his uncle Burnie’s home-built teardrop trailer. This pull along caravan slept two in tight quarters and had a cooking area under a lift-up panel in the rear. It wasn’t more than seven feet long, five feet wide, and five feet high shaped like a teardrop on wheels. His uncle had built it out of junkyard parts, a wood frame and plywood in 1951, using a set of plans he had mail-ordered from Motor Manual.

      By the early Seventies, the trailer was looking dog-eared, but it had worked perfectly for two-nights on the mountain for Bob and his buddy, Kenny. The Bathurst races went well and their favorite team, led by Alan Moffat, brought home the Falcon GT HO Phase III to win the race. The return trip Sunday night was going faultlessly until they were within an hour of home.

      The trip back to Canberra from Bathurst took them along the Mid-Western Highway to Cowra, and then south on a two-lane country road until they hit the mighty Hume Highway at Bowning. In those days, the Hume was also a two-lane road, but about two-feet wider than the country road.

      Just as they started onto the Hume Highway at Bowning, the trailer started weaving back and forth behind the Holden, feeling like it was going to jump off the road. Bob managed to pull the car over into a truck rest area and they got out to have a look.

      Having no flashlight, they waited for a car to come along so they could see what was going on. Sure enough, the inside wheel was just a wheel with a pair of rubber rings around the perimeter. The whole tire case had obviously blown off the rim a mile or two back. They both knew it didn’t look good, as the trailer had no spare and the closest place was Yass, ten miles up the road and it was 1:30 a.m.

      It would later emerge the tire was possibly 40-years old, as it was one of the original tires that had come with the complete axle and wheels assembly off a thirties vintage car that his uncle had purchased in a junkyard for around $15 about 25 years earlier.

      It took an hour, but they dragged the trailer a little further from the side of the road. They unhitched so they could turn the car around and use the light of the headlights to take off the wheel. Luckily, the car jack did the trick, jacking up the trailer under the rear corner and letting it stand on the other wheel with the front jockey wheel holding it upright. At that point, it looked like a dog taking a leak on a fire hydrant! Bob drove off to get help and left Kenny standing in the dark by the trailer!

      In the black of the night, Kenny paced around trying to keep warm, watching the odd car and truck light up the scene and disappear back into the darkness. After half an hour, he was cold and damp, and decided to take shelter inside the trailer and crawl into his sleeping bag to stay warm. Within five minutes he was asleep.

      Bob's adventure in finding a replacement tire was not going well. Tires for thirties-vintage cars were no longer a stock item, but at the second service station, the night manager took pity on him and went out the back with a flashlight and found him a used tire, still on an old rim. With some difficulty and a lot of pushing and shoving they dismounted the tire, installed a new tube and remounted it into Bob's wheel. Now two hours later, he was on the road heading back to the trailer, $35 lighter in the pocket.

      What he would find when he returned was a miracle!

      As he swung into the pull-off area, he did not see the trailer at first! Of course he was expecting to see a whole trailer just as he'd left it, but as he slowly turned the car around the headlights showed a scene of utter carnage.

      The teardrop was nothing more than bits of wood and its guts spread across the dirt! As he slowly turned the car back in the direction he’d come from, the headlights threw an eerie shadow across the axle, sitting limp with one end on the ground - the good wheel still attached.

      His brain was whizzing at a 100 mph. Where’s Kenny? He was thinking the worst.

      As he got out to take a look around, he saw what appeared to be a black shadow standing at the edge of darkness. He squinted a little to see it better; it was like a human cocoon with a head peeking out of a bag!

      On closer inspection, the shape turned out to be Kenny, shivering and suffering from shock, standing upright in his sleeping bag. He’d been standing there for some time after picking himself up after the impact! Bob ran to him, got him into the car, cranked up the heat and found out what had happened.

      Kenny had gone off to sleep in the trailer. Suddenly, he was awakened by the biggest crash he’d ever heard. He thought he was dreaming. He felt himself spinning though the air, lights flashing here and there, the roar of a heavy-duty diesel engine pressing close by, gears changing speed with the clattering of suspension. He remembered hearing wheels on a potholed earth echoing loud in his head and he felt himself falling in a rain of trailer parts and possessions — then total silence. Kenny thought he was having bad dream!

      It took time for him to take in the reality! As he lay on his back, Kenny could see the Southern Cross as it twinkled in and out of the clouds above him, while all around it was pitch black.

      A few minutes later a car drove by at high-speed, obviously not noticing the wreckage just off the road. He didn’t feel like he had broken anything and he didn’t seem to be in any pain except for feeling somewhat winded and a little terrified. He felt his body to

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