Red Line, Yellow Line, Green Light, GO!
I'm about to do my best to describe what was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I have now ticked off my bucket list. I was taken for a ride in a $500,000 Lamborghini. Yes, that's right—a Lamborghini Huracàn STO, to be exact. Words cannot describe the experience. Long story short, this past winter, shortly after my hip surgery, someone I know offered to take me for a ride in it when summer came around. In the blink of an eye, I went from "probably will never happen" to "it's going to happen!"
The car is literally defined as a "Street legal race car." It's completely computerized. It has a unique "lift" system to cross over bumps or railroad tracks to keep it from scraping the ground. The rear wheels steer. It has several driving modes that adjust everything to make the car perform accordingly. It has a 7-speed transmission that you shift by pulling on a paddle attached to the steering wheel—no clutch. A computer handles all of that for you. It's the same as an F1 car. They no longer make Huricàn STOs, so they are very hard to find. If you want to buy one NOW, it will cost you $700,000!! Click here for all the specs.
My friend is a trained race car pilot. He was never a race car driver per se, but he has done a dozen race car courses and used to race in Mont Tremblant. He was an amazing pilot. At no point did I ever feel unsafe, even when we hit 260km/h!!! That's right. It was unbelievable. I was not permitted to publish any photos of me and the car online, which is why I have posted generic STO photos taken from the web. For any boy growing up in the 80s, it's fair to say that their dream car would have been the Lamborghini Countach. That was the car. We all imagined what it would be like to drive one but knew that it would likely never happen. I was lucky enough to be a passenger, at least!
Stay within the yellow lines
A few days ago, before my Lamborghini ride, as I walked around my apartment with my bowl of cereal, I looked down from the 7th floor. I noticed a gentleman of a certain age (over 50) doing manual labour - he was painting yellow parking lines in the parking lot of the neighboring Hilton hotel. And as usual, my mind went to its default thought process, "That's something you can't do anymore," and a certain level of melancholy came over me. I'm surrounded by people who are my age or older and who are still very functional and capable, and it's something that I envy. I'm being honest. When you start to lose your independence and see others going about their business almost effortlessly, it's hard to accept. It's just like that. I thought to myself, this person may not even realize how lucky he is to be able to paint yellow lines, even though it may seem like a menial job. I'd give anything to swap places with him, just like the janitor who works in this building who came and adjusted my refrigerator door for me. He can get down on his knees (no knee pad) and fiddle with pliers to turn the adjustable feet—I can’t. Becoming partially disabled is not easy to accept, especially at a relatively young age. This is why events such as the Lamborghini ride offered up by a generous man are so gratefully appreciated. Life is hard even when you have your health. But even harder when you don’t have it. So one learns to appreciate the littlest things. And when big things come along, like this ride, I’ve been talking about, well, they leave an impression. I may not have been lucky with my health, but I still have some luck I’d say.
Fast Car
I had difficulty choosing an appropriate song, and then it hit me; "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. The song discusses climbing out of a difficult situation against the odds and the dream of escaping that hardship by flying away in a fast car. I can't think of a better song.
Heidi
It’s the little things that happen that can bring us moments of joy. I’m glad you got to have this experience. It will make you smile when you think of it-let it help you when you need a lift.