With all the logistics now finalized for the Last American Road Trip, there are still two days left to pack and prep the G6 Road Vehicle. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends at GM (www.gm.com) who designed and engineered the G6 and those at Orion Assembly where the Pontiac G6 and the Chevrolet Malibu are built. I would also like to thank the folks at Quality Pontiac where I purchased the G6 and where I have it serviced (www.qualitypontiac.com). I would especially like to thank my wife who has made this life, and trip, possible because she is still working. I will miss her much.
All of us are on pins and needles as GM enters the final two days before a possible bankruptcy filing. At the end of 2007, shortly after a major reorganization of GM was announced, my supervisor closed an end of the year gathering with these words, "While I cannot say for sure what we will all be doing in the coming year, I am sure that we will be doing something different." Those words rang true.
Right now, something different is retirement and the Last American Road Trip. It will test the G6 in a variety of weather ranging from the heat of the Mojave Desert to the cold of spring in the Rocky Mountains, a range of driving from stop and go in Los Angeles to the high speed flats of Iowa. It will test the drivers' ability to manage their meds, moods and money while staying in the wilds of Wyoming and the lairs of Las Vegas.
Next: A new GM? The G6 packed for the Last American Road Trip. Saying goodbye.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Dave's Biography - The other Road Tripper
Hello America!
My name is Dave. I was given this name when I entered the witness protection program in 1967, before that I was known as David.
Dave was born in 1953 in Michigan, and graduated from Warren High School in 1971. Dave has been married more than once, but you have to buy him a beer if you want to find out how many times. His latest, last, and best wife is Carol, who somehow manages to put up with all of his quirks and still find time to love him. Dave's philosophy is, “Life is good.” Something that you will start to believe if you spend some time with him.
Dave's first job was driving trucks for Teamsters Local 299. He does not know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. He was in Cleveland at the time. In the early 1970's Dave spent time working the oil fields in Wyoming. Dave has not been out west since and that is one of the driving reasons the duo will hit Jackson Hole and Yellowstone on the return trip.
After Wyoming, Dave went to work for a defense contractor and Chrysler. Ironically, as much as Dave protested the Vietnam War, he would end up building tanks for the rest of his career – first in Warren, MI and later in Lima, OH. Dave retired from Chrysler in 1996.
Dave has countless friends and family linked one way or another to the “Big Three” automakers and UAW. He is taking this trip in part to visit some important places from his youth and in part find out why it seems so many in this country have turned their backs on the “Big Thee” and the UAW. Have we forgotten the past century of hard work of the men and women of the auto industry which built so much of this country?
My name is Dave. I was given this name when I entered the witness protection program in 1967, before that I was known as David.
Dave was born in 1953 in Michigan, and graduated from Warren High School in 1971. Dave has been married more than once, but you have to buy him a beer if you want to find out how many times. His latest, last, and best wife is Carol, who somehow manages to put up with all of his quirks and still find time to love him. Dave's philosophy is, “Life is good.” Something that you will start to believe if you spend some time with him.
Dave's first job was driving trucks for Teamsters Local 299. He does not know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. He was in Cleveland at the time. In the early 1970's Dave spent time working the oil fields in Wyoming. Dave has not been out west since and that is one of the driving reasons the duo will hit Jackson Hole and Yellowstone on the return trip.
After Wyoming, Dave went to work for a defense contractor and Chrysler. Ironically, as much as Dave protested the Vietnam War, he would end up building tanks for the rest of his career – first in Warren, MI and later in Lima, OH. Dave retired from Chrysler in 1996.
Dave has countless friends and family linked one way or another to the “Big Three” automakers and UAW. He is taking this trip in part to visit some important places from his youth and in part find out why it seems so many in this country have turned their backs on the “Big Thee” and the UAW. Have we forgotten the past century of hard work of the men and women of the auto industry which built so much of this country?
Monday, May 25, 2009
Tom's Biography
Tom was married in the late sixties. After a short career in the Navy, Tom was honorably discharged after it was discovered that he had type 1 diabetes (type 1 diabetes doesn't usually occur in early adulthood but it can happen). Tom has taken daily insulin shots for several decades. Tom returned to college and earned a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and then a Master's Degree in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University. After working for several small computer companies both in Michigan and California, Tom and family returned to Michigan in 1984 to work for General Motors. During his 24 years with GM Tom worked on automotive applications for computers in the areas of machine vision, artificial intelligence, expert systems, computer aided manufacturing and collaborative engineering. Tom retired at the end of 2008. Since then he has seen an implosion in the company he worked for half his career, a degradation in his personal finances and some health problems.
Tom has always loved the west since his first visit in the mid-sixties with his family. At that time, much of the southern route across the country was still route 66. That was his first American Road Trip. Since then he, and his family, have driven across this great country of ours several times.
Tom's family is spread across the entire US from Maine to Southern California. Despite recent life changes, and more significantly, because of them, Tom will take advantage of the freedom of retirement to visit his family. Tom just completed a two week trip to visit his family in the East. Now he and his brother-in-law Dave, will embark on a cross country road trip to visit family in the West. They will driving a Pontiac G6 from Michigan to California and back. The G6 was engineered by people that Tom worked with both in Germany and the US. Both the Pontiac G6 and the Chevy Malibu are manufactured at Orion Assembly, only a few miles away from where Tom lives by people that Tom knows in his community.
This blog is going to be about their road trip together. It will also be about what it means to be retired and their worries about retiring from Chrysler (in bankruptcy) and General Motors (bankruptcy possible if not likely). Most importantly it will be about their thoughts and feelings as they get to visit old friends, make new ones, and see places both familiar and foreign as they drive 5000 miles on...
The Last American Road Trip!
Tom has always loved the west since his first visit in the mid-sixties with his family. At that time, much of the southern route across the country was still route 66. That was his first American Road Trip. Since then he, and his family, have driven across this great country of ours several times.
Tom's family is spread across the entire US from Maine to Southern California. Despite recent life changes, and more significantly, because of them, Tom will take advantage of the freedom of retirement to visit his family. Tom just completed a two week trip to visit his family in the East. Now he and his brother-in-law Dave, will embark on a cross country road trip to visit family in the West. They will driving a Pontiac G6 from Michigan to California and back. The G6 was engineered by people that Tom worked with both in Germany and the US. Both the Pontiac G6 and the Chevy Malibu are manufactured at Orion Assembly, only a few miles away from where Tom lives by people that Tom knows in his community.
This blog is going to be about their road trip together. It will also be about what it means to be retired and their worries about retiring from Chrysler (in bankruptcy) and General Motors (bankruptcy possible if not likely). Most importantly it will be about their thoughts and feelings as they get to visit old friends, make new ones, and see places both familiar and foreign as they drive 5000 miles on...
The Last American Road Trip!
Countdown to the Last American Road Trip
There is just one week before the Road Trip starts. Our second voyager Dave, will be updating the site with his bio pretty soon. His picture will be posted when the trip starts. Make sure to check this site daily for updates from the road.
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