{"id":2162,"date":"2011-12-17T19:57:09","date_gmt":"2011-12-17T19:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/?p=2162"},"modified":"2011-12-17T19:57:26","modified_gmt":"2011-12-17T19:57:26","slug":"past-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/past-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Past Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Rear quarter view of the GM Traverse cross-over SUV with AWD and leased at the Fleet Rate from Hertz. Photo GM.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cGotta run down to the farm and feed the mail and check the cat…wait…\u201d I looked at the level of white wine in the glass in front of me. \u201cYou know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Friday and work was long in the wake. We didn\u2019t know if the government was going to shut down or not, and if I sampled the opinion along the bar, I am not sure I could have dredged up much interest one way or the other.<\/p>\n

Old Jim scowled and gave the stink-eye to Mimi, an alleged professional oenologist who was camped out on my usual stool at Willow. Her husband was next to her where John-with-an-H normally held court. He had a placid demeanor and seemed long-suffering or just inured to the whole thing. Apparently they sample the local wine scene in order to help formulate Mimi\u2019s desire to run a wine bar in Shirlington one of these months.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably a lot of ferns,\u201d growled Jim. \u201cDisgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n

JoeMaz was a surprise appearance at the bar- he had a conference in one of the anonymous Homeland Security offices in the neighborhood, and figured he might find us at the bar. He downed his lager, saying: \u201cTraffic is down, time for me to head for Maryland.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let them hassle you at the border,\u201d I said. He waved as he hit the door and disappeared into the night.<\/p>\n

Jim\u2019s bride Mary smiled and took a sip of champagne. \u201cI am going to sleep until 7:30 tomorrow,\u201d she said. \u201cI love weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that is exactly what it was- the Friday reward for slogging through a bushel basket of past-performance citations from my contract to support a bid to gain some Air Force work. I was tired, but felt a little warmth in my midsection generated by the cool crisp wine.<\/p>\n

That was in contrast to the martini in front of Mimi. That was apparently what got Old Jim talking to Mimi and her husband. She claimed he was a curmudgeon, which he is, of course, but her needling got him to take his game up a notch to the \u201ctruculent\u201d setting.<\/p>\n

Jon-no-H came in, looking relaxed, and it was the locals versus the traveling side at the Amen Corner.<\/p>\n

We got Mimi hooked up with Kevin, the sommelier, who dragged out three bottles of white that were considerably better than the usual $5-a-glass happy hour- Rosenberg Reserve, or something, but at that point I had at least three glasses in front of me, and I was confident that if I was seeing double, there would have been at least four.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to find out what the hell is up with the water in the house,\u201d I said to Jim. \u201cThe Roto-Rooter guy said the water meter was still indicating flow, even though all faucets were secured upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is at the house in Michigan?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d I said with a frown. \u201cAn un-programmed trip Up North. No time to get airline tickets, so I decided to drive again. Both ways suck, but driving sucks so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the running water meter means there is a leak some place?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYep, just with winter coming on full blast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are driving to An Arbor on Thursday,\u201d said Jim. \u201cToo bad we won\u2019t cross paths. We always go up there to visit Mary\u2019s sister for Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am going to be Up North by then. You gotta love the Ohio Turnpike and I-75 this time of year,\u201d I said. Jim\u2019s scowl deepened.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamily,\u201d he said with grave dignity.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d I sighed. \u201cI am not looking forward to it, based on past performance. I have about had it with flogging my cars over the 800-mile one-way trip. I don’t drive the Mercedes convertible in the winter and the P-71 Crown Vic police interceptor had a $340 hiccup last trip, plus an EVP failure- another $800- when I got back, plus the gas, so the hell with it. If I spend the better part of a grand on a rental car, it all works out the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a thought,\u201d said Jim. \u201cMake it someone else\u2019s problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPrecisely,\u201d I said. \u201cI still have a Fleet discount from the company I worked for before this one. So, I called Hertz and looked over what they have available. The nice thing is “unlimited miles” and I take them at their word. I will pick up a Chevy Traverse AWD cross-over on Tuesday morning at Reagan and flog it Up North.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChevy Traverse?\u201d said Jim. \u201cI have no idea what that is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t either,\u201d I said. \u201cBut it is a crossover with all-wheel drive and this trip I might be needing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be interested in hearing about how it does for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe description said it had cup-holders for twelve in the correct configuration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA dozen cups,\u201d Jim marveled. \u201cThat might be the apex of the American auto industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is exactly what I thought. It would be the perfect happy hour mobile. I will be spending about thirty hours inside of it, so I may try all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mimi was loudly praising the Rosenberg Reserve for its fine chocolate notes and mellow oaks. I could not tell which one it was from the glasses in front of me, but they all seemed pleasant enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI assume you will be providing us with an extensive appreciation of the vehicle and its performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHell yeah. You can count on it. How often do you get to take a rental Traverse to Traverse City?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an age of wonders,\u201d said Jim, and waved at Katya for another Budweiser. Mary had another glass of champagne.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Traverse comes with rear air vents so everyone can stay more comfortable, no matter where they’re sitting,\u201d I said. “Generous Motors thought of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d said Jim. \u201cEverything except making a profit. Those morons.\u201d<\/p>\n

I took a sip of something that might have been Reserve, or something else. \u201cYeah, most of the GM performance is all in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2011 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cGotta run down to the farm and feed the mail and check the cat…wait…\u201d I looked at the level of white wine in the glass in front of me. \u201cYou know what I mean.\u201d It was Friday and work was long in the wake. We didn\u2019t know if the government was going to shut down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2162"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2166,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2162\/revisions\/2166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}