- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
Parnelli's GT2 stories.
- Thread starter Parnelli Bone
- 308 comments
- 36,306 views
- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
I know I said I would get to the race soon, and I willl this weekend, since I have a 3-day minivacation since it's Memorial Day on Monday. For now, you'll have to read more backstory. 
The thing about writing a story is (once you really get into it) they have a way of writing themselves, which means you gotta put all your energy into writing stuff that seems like it matters, even if the main part keeps getting put off. Anyways, like I said, stay tuned. And...
With sudden violence, a neon green flip-flop sandal flew into the air, striking (and tearing) the Britney Spears poster on the wall! Princess was pissed!!!! She had been for the last two days. Depressed as hell. Why?
She had told ALL HER FRIENDS that she and her daddy were going to Europe!!!!
EVERYONE at school knew about it (actually, not everyone, but in Princess's mind, she liked to think it was the entire school). And now she was TOTALLY EMBARASSED that none of this was going to happen. The world (her world} had come to an END. She had the WORST father EVER, and her life SUCKED. She was GOING TO DIE.
Earlier that day, she had focused on death (HER death) in English 2 (Literature) class as the teacher rattled on and on about some boring Shakespeare stuff about Othello and the way he was poisoned. Poison. Death! How would she die? Everyone had to die, how would she leave the planet? She wondered.
Princesss sat katty-corner to Maddie Mason, a totally gruesome goth-chick who always wore black, except when she decided to mix it up with some drab army-fatiguelooking clothes which looked as if they should have been tossed to the garbage long ago. Sometimes, she wore a scarf that was a deep shade of purple, but otherwise, it was all black all the time. Her hair was (of course) flat-ironed straight and black as can be. One of Robert Smith's little wannabe spawns, she was.
Princess, on the other hand, was a little goody-2-shoes preppy girl who always wore colorful clothes. Clean, ironed blouses, perfectly hemmed skirts. Sashes & bows.
She had a habit of looking at MAddie the way an exterminator usually looks at an unexpeceted termite infestation. 
The one thing that Princess envied about Maddie? At 12, Maddie already had her eyebrow pierced. It was the one thing that made Princess think Maddie was just a little bit cool.
Now, she took a new-found interest in the loathesome goth girl who never smiled.
As Princess sat at her desk, dwelling how boring her upcoming vacation was going to be here in Redmond, she (for once) decided to contact Maddie, in a nice way for a change. She usually ignored the goth crowd like it was the plague, so it helped that (at this moment) Princess felt like death warmed over, and was totally depressed.
"So, like, how do you live like that? Like how do you dress? Princess asked, subconsciously fueled by her father's habit of ignorance.
"Excuse me?" Maddie was surprised by the sudden interest.
"I wanna, like, be a goth! Like. What do you do and stuff? Like, where do you shop? LIke do you go to Spencer's or something? Or like, Hot Topic? LIke, what kinda music do you like?"
Maddie sneered, rolled her eyes and said: "YOU? Little honor-roll priss wants to be GOTH? Ha! Get lost..."
Something in Princess's eyes, a certain sadness, told Maddie the "priss" was serious on some level.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to bother you....." Princess said meekly, looking as if she really REALLY was about to cry.
Though her sadness was genuine, she was actually play-acting the crying bit just a tad; another subconscious imitation of Dad's courtside ministrations.
"You mean....you're serious? goth girl asked. You better be serious! I"m not wasting my time....oh hey...I'm sorry. Are you okay????"
So it was that afternoon that Princess actually went over to Maddie's place (a 2-story house about half the size of the Wellington's) and tried on a bunch of clothes. She even brought home a black, torn miniskirt and a pair of boots that Maddie had outgrown. She made sure none of her actual friends saw her leave with Maddie, though. Her goal wasn't just to dress different or join the goth crowd, though. IN reality, she was doing this partially because she was sad, and partially because she knew it would be a sure way to piss off her family.
But who was she kidding? Princess could never be a GOTH!! Sure it felt cool for a minute, standing in front of Maddie's mirror while some Depressed Mode played from the stereo, but...
She could never be a goth!!!!!! How could anyone, in their right mind, wear black ALL THE TIME? The piercings were cool, Maddie's hair was kinda cool, but wearing black clothes and combat boots day in and day out?
Now Princess was doubly depressed. She looked sadly at her torn Britney Spears poster.
"YOU get to go ALL OVER THE WORLD. wherever you want!" She said poutingly to Britney. "NOBODY gets to tell you you can't do ANYTHING"
It was at this moment that somebody knocked on her door.
"Go away. I HATE you!"
At this moment, her grandma walked into Princess's room. IMmediately, Princess felt apologetic & weak.
"Granmamma! Oh I'm sorry!"
Long story short.
Princess loved Grandma. She would kiss Maddie's awful, smelly boots if it meant spending the afternoon with Grandma. And now, it was Grandma who informed Princess:
"Honey, pack your bags. You know you're going to Europe next week? Right?"
"Wha What???"
"Actually, we're ALL going!" Grandma cheered as Princess dropped to the floor and fainted.
So the entire family + grandma were flying to Rome. Graham had mastered (once again) to pull it off. Tiffany complained of course (some habits never die) but deep-down she was secretly curious, and secretly elated about this sudden turn of events. She didn't put up too much of a fight.
Day 9-Took week off to do some work (remember when it was the other way around?) Then flew to Rome with family for some sightseeing and racing of course. Despite some cruppy driving (not enuff time for testing ͸͸͸͸͸͸͸ graham won the race. why do they drive such tiny cars there?
Gran Turismo 2, inc's Europe Division/Rome was perhaps the most disorganized of all. Partially, it was due to Rome itself. Its society, which could be so frenetic at one hour, and so laid-back the next. Anyways, it was by happenstance that when the Wellington family flew into Rome that Saturday, Gran Turismo's shuttlebus hadn't made it to the airport yet. Its driver was still at home asleep. In the chaotic morning (as workers were beginning to prep the track) this small detail went unnoticed.
Graham's family, and about twelve other Americans milled about the airport for half-an-hour, completely baffled that (yes) this is where the driver said he would be.
Graham, in his impatience, was the first to decide he would call somebody. He was also the only one present who actually owned a cell phone (this was back in 2000, after all).
The man who answered didn't speak English, but luckily, one of the other twelve Americans present happened to speak Italian.
"The man apologized and says he don't know where the shuttle driver is. Says he will send another driver over, but that it could take maybe an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to get here. Traffic real bad right now". he said, handing back his phone.
DANGIT! Graham was feeling impatient. As impatient as ever! This would NOT DO, espeicially with his mother-in-law present. She could start complaining, you see. 👎
It was a snap decision on Graham's part to rent a taxi, and get to the hotel as quickly as possible. But when he got him, his family, and all their bags to the cab curb, his enthusiasm sank. He stood on-the-spot for about ten seconds, his face a look of confusion, surprise, and utter frustration.
"Why do they drive such tiny cars here?!!?" he cried!!
They stood before a row of diminuitive Citroens, Fiats, Toyotas, and assorted other small vehicles. The entire Wellington family (except for Grandma) was in total shock.
Where were the taxis? Wasn't this the taxicab lane?
Why are there pedestrian cars IN THE TAXICAB LANE?
The same man who spoke Italian on Graham's phone now joined the group, and definately confirmed: yup. This IS the taxi lane. He was about to explain how things were different here in the olde country, but never got the chance.
Suddenly, something zoomed by on the sidewalk behind them, scaring Graham, Tiffany and Princess half-to-death. As it buzzed down the road, the driver nearly crashed into a parked car. It looked like a small motorcycle.
"What dat, Daddy?" asked the Wellington son.
"That's a moped." said Grandma.
"Okay. What's a moped doing driving ON THE SIDEWALK??" quizzed Graham, already thinking of the dozen or so traffic laws that driver must have broken.
"Mopeds can drive on sidewalks in Europe." Informed Grandma smartly.
For a moment, Graham felt as though he really wanted to be back home in safe, suburban Redmond! This first hour in Rome had (so far) felt somewhat terrifying. The Wellington family may as well have stepped into an African jungle!
Wow. okay. Focus. Damn, he needed a drink!!! Where was the nearest Starbucks, anyways??? FOCUS. Get a taxicab, Graham! Be a man and get your family safe to the hotel!!!!
Finally, he did spot a taxi. But it wouldn't do.
It was still TOO SMALL! Where was the European equivalent of a Crown Victoria? A Ford Explorer? How were they supposed to pack all their bags + the entire family into THIS?? Oh this was FRUSTRRATING!!!
Well 🤬 it. Rent the damn cab. Then rent another one to carry the bags! Just get out of here!
The man who spoke Italian (Graham never bothered to learn his name) advised against this, but it was no use. Graham rented the cab, a magenta-colored Citroen C5, and then rented a small Fiat to carry the bags. In other words: six humans in one cab, one (driver) + all the bags in the next.
Their trip through Rome to the hotel had the entire family (save Grandma and the boy) scared out of their mind. Graham had a habit of using his horn as he drove in Seattle, but in Rome, EVERYONE used them. It seemed as valid a form of communication as human speech. Traffic was terrifyingly chaotic, too! Never had Graham seen such crazy driving!
A couple drivers who nearly head-buttted fenders one minute (and cursed out their windows at each other) seemed lost-in-thought and calmly talking to themselves the next! Mopeds and bicycles cruised along in the crowded avenues, right alongside the cars! The streets seemed totally claustrophobic and chaotic to Graham and his family, I know it sounds weird but they weren't expecting anything like Rome.
The taxi driver navigated all of this flawlessly. Princess sat in the back seat captivated.
Some things that caught their attention. A few pedestrians waltzed right into traffic,
without more than a casual glance, while the CARS swerved round them! Anarchy!!! "What kinda traffic laws could possibly abide out here?" asked Graham aloud.
This was mayhem. This was CHAOS!
Finally, they made it to the hotel. Problem is, the taxi carrying their bags was nowhere to be seen!!!
The thing about writing a story is (once you really get into it) they have a way of writing themselves, which means you gotta put all your energy into writing stuff that seems like it matters, even if the main part keeps getting put off. Anyways, like I said, stay tuned. And...
CHAPTER XIII continued
back at home
back at home
With sudden violence, a neon green flip-flop sandal flew into the air, striking (and tearing) the Britney Spears poster on the wall! Princess was pissed!!!! She had been for the last two days. Depressed as hell. Why?
She had told ALL HER FRIENDS that she and her daddy were going to Europe!!!!
EVERYONE at school knew about it (actually, not everyone, but in Princess's mind, she liked to think it was the entire school). And now she was TOTALLY EMBARASSED that none of this was going to happen. The world (her world} had come to an END. She had the WORST father EVER, and her life SUCKED. She was GOING TO DIE.
Earlier that day, she had focused on death (HER death) in English 2 (Literature) class as the teacher rattled on and on about some boring Shakespeare stuff about Othello and the way he was poisoned. Poison. Death! How would she die? Everyone had to die, how would she leave the planet? She wondered.
Princesss sat katty-corner to Maddie Mason, a totally gruesome goth-chick who always wore black, except when she decided to mix it up with some drab army-fatiguelooking clothes which looked as if they should have been tossed to the garbage long ago. Sometimes, she wore a scarf that was a deep shade of purple, but otherwise, it was all black all the time. Her hair was (of course) flat-ironed straight and black as can be. One of Robert Smith's little wannabe spawns, she was.
Princess, on the other hand, was a little goody-2-shoes preppy girl who always wore colorful clothes. Clean, ironed blouses, perfectly hemmed skirts. Sashes & bows.
She had a habit of looking at MAddie the way an exterminator usually looks at an unexpeceted termite infestation. The one thing that Princess envied about Maddie? At 12, Maddie already had her eyebrow pierced. It was the one thing that made Princess think Maddie was just a little bit cool. Now, she took a new-found interest in the loathesome goth girl who never smiled.
As Princess sat at her desk, dwelling how boring her upcoming vacation was going to be here in Redmond, she (for once) decided to contact Maddie, in a nice way for a change. She usually ignored the goth crowd like it was the plague, so it helped that (at this moment) Princess felt like death warmed over, and was totally depressed. "So, like, how do you live like that? Like how do you dress? Princess asked, subconsciously fueled by her father's habit of ignorance.
"Excuse me?" Maddie was surprised by the sudden interest.
"I wanna, like, be a goth! Like. What do you do and stuff? Like, where do you shop?
LIke do you go to Spencer's or something? Or like, Hot Topic? LIke, what kinda music do you like?"Maddie sneered, rolled her eyes
and said: "YOU? Little honor-roll priss wants to be GOTH? Ha! Get lost..."Something in Princess's eyes, a certain sadness, told Maddie the "priss" was serious on some level.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to bother you....." Princess said meekly, looking as if she really REALLY was about to cry.
Though her sadness was genuine, she was actually play-acting the crying bit just a tad; another subconscious imitation of Dad's courtside ministrations.
"You mean....you're serious? goth girl asked. You better be serious! I"m not wasting my time....oh hey...I'm sorry. Are you okay????"
So it was that afternoon that Princess actually went over to Maddie's place (a 2-story house about half the size of the Wellington's) and tried on a bunch of clothes. She even brought home a black, torn miniskirt and a pair of boots that Maddie had outgrown. She made sure none of her actual friends saw her leave with Maddie, though. Her goal wasn't just to dress different or join the goth crowd, though. IN reality, she was doing this partially because she was sad, and partially because she knew it would be a sure way to piss off her family.
But who was she kidding? Princess could never be a GOTH!! Sure it felt cool for a minute, standing in front of Maddie's mirror while some Depressed Mode played from the stereo, but...
She could never be a goth!!!!!!
How could anyone, in their right mind, wear black ALL THE TIME? The piercings were cool, Maddie's hair was kinda cool, but wearing black clothes and combat boots day in and day out?Now Princess was doubly depressed.
She looked sadly at her torn Britney Spears poster. "YOU get to go ALL OVER THE WORLD. wherever you want!" She said poutingly to Britney. "NOBODY gets to tell you you can't do ANYTHING"
It was at this moment that somebody knocked on her door.
"Go away. I HATE you!"
At this moment, her grandma walked into Princess's room. IMmediately, Princess felt apologetic & weak.
"Granmamma! Oh I'm sorry!"
Long story short.
Princess loved Grandma. She would kiss Maddie's awful, smelly boots if it meant spending the afternoon with Grandma. And now, it was Grandma who informed Princess:
"Honey, pack your bags. You know you're going to Europe next week? Right?"
"Wha What???"
"Actually, we're ALL going!" Grandma cheered as Princess dropped to the floor and fainted.
Flying into Rome
So the entire family + grandma were flying to Rome. Graham had mastered (once again) to pull it off. Tiffany complained of course (some habits never die) but deep-down she was secretly curious, and secretly elated about this sudden turn of events. She didn't put up too much of a fight.
Day 9-Took week off to do some work (remember when it was the other way around?) Then flew to Rome with family for some sightseeing and racing of course. Despite some cruppy driving (not enuff time for testing ͸͸͸͸͸͸͸ graham won the race. why do they drive such tiny cars there?
CHAPTER XIV
Arriving in Rome
Arriving in Rome
Gran Turismo 2, inc's Europe Division/Rome was perhaps the most disorganized of all. Partially, it was due to Rome itself. Its society, which could be so frenetic at one hour, and so laid-back the next. Anyways, it was by happenstance that when the Wellington family flew into Rome that Saturday, Gran Turismo's shuttlebus hadn't made it to the airport yet. Its driver was still at home asleep. In the chaotic morning (as workers were beginning to prep the track) this small detail went unnoticed.
Graham's family, and about twelve other Americans milled about the airport for half-an-hour, completely baffled that (yes) this is where the driver said he would be.
Graham, in his impatience, was the first to decide he would call somebody. He was also the only one present who actually owned a cell phone (this was back in 2000, after all).
The man who answered didn't speak English, but luckily, one of the other twelve Americans present happened to speak Italian.
"The man apologized and says he don't know where the shuttle driver is. Says he will send another driver over, but that it could take maybe an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to get here. Traffic real bad right now". he said, handing back his phone.
DANGIT! Graham was feeling impatient. As impatient as ever! This would NOT DO, espeicially with his mother-in-law present. She could start complaining, you see. 👎
It was a snap decision on Graham's part to rent a taxi, and get to the hotel as quickly as possible. But when he got him, his family, and all their bags to the cab curb, his enthusiasm sank. He stood on-the-spot for about ten seconds, his face a look of confusion, surprise, and utter frustration.
"Why do they drive such tiny cars here?!!?" he cried!!
They stood before a row of diminuitive Citroens, Fiats, Toyotas, and assorted other small vehicles. The entire Wellington family (except for Grandma) was in total shock.
Where were the taxis? Wasn't this the taxicab lane?
Why are there pedestrian cars IN THE TAXICAB LANE?The same man who spoke Italian on Graham's phone now joined the group, and definately confirmed: yup. This IS the taxi lane. He was about to explain how things were different here in the olde country, but never got the chance.
Suddenly, something zoomed by on the sidewalk behind them, scaring Graham, Tiffany and Princess half-to-death. As it buzzed down the road, the driver nearly crashed into a parked car. It looked like a small motorcycle.
"What dat, Daddy?" asked the Wellington son.
"That's a moped." said Grandma.
"Okay. What's a moped doing driving ON THE SIDEWALK??" quizzed Graham, already thinking of the dozen or so traffic laws that driver must have broken.
"Mopeds can drive on sidewalks in Europe." Informed Grandma smartly.
For a moment, Graham felt as though he really wanted to be back home in safe, suburban Redmond! This first hour in Rome had (so far) felt somewhat terrifying. The Wellington family may as well have stepped into an African jungle!
Wow. okay. Focus. Damn, he needed a drink!!! Where was the nearest Starbucks, anyways???
FOCUS. Get a taxicab, Graham! Be a man and get your family safe to the hotel!!!! Finally, he did spot a taxi. But it wouldn't do.
It was still TOO SMALL! Where was the European equivalent of a Crown Victoria?
A Ford Explorer? How were they supposed to pack all their bags + the entire family into THIS?? Oh this was FRUSTRRATING!!! Well 🤬 it. Rent the damn cab. Then rent another one to carry the bags! Just get out of here!
The man who spoke Italian (Graham never bothered to learn his name) advised against this, but it was no use. Graham rented the cab, a magenta-colored Citroen C5, and then rented a small Fiat to carry the bags. In other words: six humans in one cab, one (driver) + all the bags in the next.
Their trip through Rome to the hotel had the entire family (save Grandma and the boy) scared out of their mind. Graham had a habit of using his horn as he drove in Seattle, but in Rome, EVERYONE used them. It seemed as valid a form of communication as human speech. Traffic was terrifyingly chaotic, too! Never had Graham seen such crazy driving!
A couple drivers who nearly head-buttted fenders one minute (and cursed out their windows at each other) seemed lost-in-thought and calmly talking to themselves the next! Mopeds and bicycles cruised along in the crowded avenues, right alongside the cars! The streets seemed totally claustrophobic and chaotic to Graham and his family, I know it sounds weird but they weren't expecting anything like Rome.
The taxi driver navigated all of this flawlessly. Princess sat in the back seat captivated.
Some things that caught their attention. A few pedestrians waltzed right into traffic,
without more than a casual glance, while the CARS swerved round them! Anarchy!!! "What kinda traffic laws could possibly abide out here?" asked Graham aloud.This was mayhem. This was CHAOS!
Finally, they made it to the hotel. Problem is, the taxi carrying their bags was nowhere to be seen!!!
Attachments
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- Somewhere.
- Dist234
Man, I wish i could come up with stories like that.
- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
superspeed: it's not so difficult writing stories. A lot of the stuff I write is based on real-life stuff that happened to me or someone I know or knew. I also think of things as I'm walking to work or somewhere else. I get alot of inspiration from just walking to the store...funny how that works. You'll be walking and there will be an old couple arguing or something. You'll catch part of the argument, which sucks for them, but amuses you. Next thing you know, there's another scene for your story!
The only challenge then is to REMEMBER such thoughts and to try & make sure they make it into the story. I don't write these random thoughts down (who has time?) because they would no doubt get misplaced.
I try and literally remember.
This next portion of the story (Rome, early morning) is one I thought of months ago, back when graham won at Red Rock. I have been to Rome a couple times, but I was a kid when I was there. So I asked my dad alot of questions, since he's been to Rome (and Europe) lots of times as an adult.
I also wanna thank true_kiat for making that thread about the real-life track locations. You've made it easier for me to write this next part since your thread includes the names of the Roman streets the GT2 track is based on.
And I believe somebody posted a link to an older, existing thread of GT2 tracks, which I'll probably wind up using.
I also saw the movie "Angels & Demons" this weekend, which takes place mostly in Rome. Great inspiration.
The hotel was an older place that looked somewhat gothic and classy. This pleased Graham (finally).👍 He looked forward to finally taking it easy.
View attachment 68386
As soon as everyone was in their rooms (there were two rooms which the Wellington family split into guys & gals) Graham grabbed the expensive laptop from his briefcase. Found a wall outlet. Tried to plug in.
"What the heck is this????"
Yes. The 220 voltage system that's used in Europe. Graham's computer plug was made, of course, for American 120V outlets! So....no laptop. DAMMIT!!!! Which means no Starbucks lattefire/mocha crap. DAMMIT, WHAT NOW?
Graham wandered down to the sidewalk like a man needing a fix, big-time. His hands were shaking, bags forming under his eyes, as well as a 5 o'clock shadow on his lower face. Arriving at the hotel, he noticed there was a cute little cafe next-door with big sidewalk-umbrellas, a coulpe street musicians, and several customers just taking in the dying Roman sunshine. He came prepared with the stupid coil-bound booklet he used to make sure Starbucks barristas got his dumb drink right, totally ignorant to the fact that
1> He's not entering a Starbucks.
2> He's in ITALY, not America.
3> English is a second language to some Europeans, but not all of them.
He walked to the counter, behind which an aged man and (perhaps) his wife were running the show.
"Hello. I would like a Triple Decker Cafe/Mocha Grande Lattefier, on the double, please!"
"Che cosa?" said the befuddled cafe owner. "No English." he added after a moment.
"Ah. Well. Okaaaaaaay. Here. Take a look at this. See if you can make me this drink" Graham said, shoving the stupid pamphlet over to the older man.
"Che cosa è problema di questo uomo?" the man asked his wife.
"Senor! Una tasse cappucino, prego." a third man said, pointing to Graham.
Graham looked over to his left. Standing next to him was the same guy who helped Grham find the taxi aisle at the airport.
"They don't speak any English" said the man, "and this...." the man said, holding up Graham's Starbucks instruction pamphlet ...."this is useless in Rome, I would imagine. I told him to make a cappucino for you. Nobody's gonna make a Starbucks drink out here."
Graham stood nonplussed for a moment, his jaw hanging agape, his tie askew, trying to process what he had just been told. NO STARBUCKS???
"Look, man, you're in Rome. You're not in America anymore. They don't have Starbucks out here, yet." said the man.
"But.....but..."
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Ben Dover. Patterson Park, New Jersey. Pleased to meet you. I'm a proctologist."
"Graham Wellington. Attorney. Seattle Washington". Graham said, shaking Ben's hand even tho he knew where some of those fingers had (no doubt) recently been up to.
"I will be racing tomorrow, how about you?" Asked Ben.
"Bright and early!!!" Graham said, perking up for the first time in hours. "Got an Infiniti G20 somewhere in this big, confusing city. Can't wait to see her!"
"Do you? Very good. Look, I meant to tell you earlier at the airport. You're in Europe, now. All the rules are different, especially in Meditteranean culture. Things don't always make sense. To an American on his first trip here, as you no-doubt are, it can all seem confusing, correct?"
"OH man, you are soooo correct!" Graham said, pleased to have Ben Dover on his team. He would buy this man a drink for sure.
At that moment, two tea-cup sized portions of Italy's finest were given to the men, and Graham whipped out one of his many credit cards.
"oh dear" Said Ben. "I think this place is cash-only."
"Oh of course, how silly of me!!!" Graham said, breaking out a twenty-dollar bill. "here, sir!!"
Ben rolled his eyes. "Wow, you really are new to all this! You haven't converted yet?"
"Converted? I'm an atheist."
"Noooo, not religion, MONEY! They use Euros out here! You should have converted your dollars to Euros at the airport!"
Now Graham was a bit pissed. They DON'T ACCEPT AMERICAN CASH? How come it didn't say anything about this in his GT2 material?
Shouldn't there be a "tour guide" section for American dunces??
Ben paid the bill, while Graham now took a good look at his drink, which seemed miniscule and nowhere near the size of his usual triple-decker cafe/mocha lattefier.
"Um. I wanted a triple-grande." he said. "How do you say "triple-grande in Italian"
"Look, Graham. FORGET all the Starbucks crap! You are now in Italy, one of the finest countries with the best pressed drinks, wine and food. Let's sit down and try to enjoy, eh?"
That lasted two seconds. Graham sipped his cappucino, which tasted bitter and foul!
"OHHHH!!! TAke this back!!! I can't drink this! I thought you said Italy has the best food and drink!" Graham said miserably, his ignorance now in 7th gear!
"Welcome to Italy" Ben said.
But things went more smoothly that night. Ben joined the Wellintons for dinner (after Graham carefully instructed him that his family did not know he was racing tomorrow). Ben was right about one thing, the food was amazing. Graham's Calamari di Pescarrali blew away anything his wife could ever make with her Hamburger-Helper dishes. It also blew away anything he had ever tasted at Gampy's, TGIFs, Bennigans, or any other American place Grhaam and his family had ever been to. Grandma (who Graham thought would be a royal pain in his ass the entire trip) seemed to unwind and enjoyed being back in Italy again.
Graham woke up early, at about 6am. carefully got out of bed so he wouldn't wake his son, and got dressed. Even tho it was 6am here in Rome, this means it was now about 9pm back in Seattle. The Wellingtons hadn't got any sleep on their plane ride, and with the excitement of the previous evening, didn't get into bed till late. They were all suffering jet-lag, all asleep and Graham made sure to take advantage of this!
They were all asleep now, and would hopefully stay asleep throughout the morning. If things went as planned, this means Graham would be able to make it to the course early, get some laps in, be one of the first to race, WIN, and make it back to the hotel before noon....before anybody knew any better!
As he walked through the hotel lobby carrying his briefcase and wearing a white button-down shirt & tie, as well as conservative grey slacks (but no jacket, Rome was rather warm) Graham encountered the FIRST foil to his plans.
"Hi daddy. Where ya going?" Asked Princess slyly.
DAAAAAMMIT!!
"Princess, you CAN NOT TELL mom about this!"
"Not a problem, dad. Just take me with you like you promised, and everything shall be grand".
"You little shark!" Graham cried, both stunned and proud at the same time.
So Graham hailed a taxi (rather than waiting for a dumb shuttle). Tho (again) the taxi driver didn't speak any English, Grham pointed the address of the track, which wasn't hard to find. A Roman taxi driver who can't find the Collisseum, after all, is a Roman taxidriver who will quickly be unemployed. 💡
During the previous evening, Ben Dover helped Graham by lending his European power-conversion kit, thereby allowing Graham to charge up his laptop's battery via a 220>120 volt converter. So now, here he was in the back seat of a funny-looking Renault taxi, flying thru Rome, checking stats, while Princess sat dumbfounded, looking at stunning-looking Italian guys and getting all dreamy. It seemed all the cars out here were funny-looking and most of them were too small. At least this taxi felt more spacious.
Graham studied his paperwork, along with some online documents. He studied an aerial view of the streets he would soon be racing.
Rome Short, the track was called. This version of the track didn't pass the Colisseum. Instead, it was basically a triangular shorter version of the full course. Hmmm, not exactly a triangle...more like a rhombus. Hmmm...NOT A RHOMBUS! WTF? Geez, what a confusing layout of streets! What was more important than the track, racing, or anything else?
$5,000
$5,000. For two laps of racing. How about that?
As the taxi neared the Colisseum district (which was already getting crowded with people) Grham paid the driver in Euros. He got his money converted the previous evening, finally, by exchanging some Euros from Ben for American dollars. What a dip.
He and Princess strolled to what looked to be the track's official offices; easy to find since there was an enormous GT2 on the new-looking one-story building. FINALLY some people who spoke English!
As Graham walked to the track, he finally laid eyes on his baby.
Hidden partially behind a wall, his car sat before him. Graham ran on-the-spot, leaving Princess behind to get SOOO EMBARASSED at her father.
Graham ran up, kissed the hood of his G20! Yes!!!!
The only challenge then is to REMEMBER such thoughts and to try & make sure they make it into the story. I don't write these random thoughts down (who has time?) because they would no doubt get misplaced.
I try and literally remember. This next portion of the story (Rome, early morning) is one I thought of months ago, back when graham won at Red Rock. I have been to Rome a couple times, but I was a kid when I was there. So I asked my dad alot of questions, since he's been to Rome (and Europe) lots of times as an adult.
I also wanna thank true_kiat for making that thread about the real-life track locations. You've made it easier for me to write this next part since your thread includes the names of the Roman streets the GT2 track is based on.
And I believe somebody posted a link to an older, existing thread of GT2 tracks, which I'll probably wind up using. I also saw the movie "Angels & Demons" this weekend, which takes place mostly in Rome. Great inspiration.
CHAPTER XIV continued
arriving at the hotel
arriving at the hotel
The hotel was an older place that looked somewhat gothic and classy. This pleased Graham (finally).👍 He looked forward to finally taking it easy.
View attachment 68386
As soon as everyone was in their rooms (there were two rooms which the Wellington family split into guys & gals) Graham grabbed the expensive laptop from his briefcase. Found a wall outlet. Tried to plug in.
"What the heck is this????"
Yes. The 220 voltage system that's used in Europe
. Graham's computer plug was made, of course, for American 120V outlets! So....no laptop. DAMMIT!!!! Which means no Starbucks lattefire/mocha crap. DAMMIT, WHAT NOW? Graham wandered down to the sidewalk like a man needing a fix, big-time. His hands were shaking, bags forming under his eyes, as well as a 5 o'clock shadow on his lower face. Arriving at the hotel, he noticed there was a cute little cafe next-door with big sidewalk-umbrellas, a coulpe street musicians, and several customers just taking in the dying Roman sunshine. He came prepared with the stupid coil-bound booklet he used to make sure Starbucks barristas got his dumb drink right, totally ignorant to the fact that
1> He's not entering a Starbucks.
2> He's in ITALY, not America.
3> English is a second language to some Europeans, but not all of them.
He walked to the counter, behind which an aged man and (perhaps) his wife were running the show.
"Hello. I would like a Triple Decker Cafe/Mocha Grande Lattefier, on the double, please!"
"Che cosa?" said the befuddled cafe owner. "No English." he added after a moment.
"Ah. Well. Okaaaaaaay. Here. Take a look at this. See if you can make me this drink" Graham said, shoving the stupid pamphlet over to the older man.
"Che cosa è problema di questo uomo?" the man asked his wife.
"Senor! Una tasse cappucino, prego." a third man said, pointing to Graham.
Graham looked over to his left. Standing next to him was the same guy who helped Grham find the taxi aisle at the airport.
"They don't speak any English" said the man, "and this...." the man said, holding up Graham's Starbucks instruction pamphlet ...."this is useless in Rome, I would imagine. I told him to make a cappucino for you. Nobody's gonna make a Starbucks drink out here."
Graham stood nonplussed for a moment, his jaw hanging agape, his tie askew, trying to process what he had just been told. NO STARBUCKS???
"Look, man, you're in Rome. You're not in America anymore. They don't have Starbucks out here, yet." said the man.
"But.....but..."
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Ben Dover. Patterson Park, New Jersey. Pleased to meet you. I'm a proctologist."
"Graham Wellington. Attorney. Seattle Washington". Graham said, shaking Ben's hand even tho he knew where some of those fingers had (no doubt) recently been up to.
"I will be racing tomorrow, how about you?" Asked Ben.
"Bright and early!!!" Graham said, perking up for the first time in hours. "Got an Infiniti G20 somewhere in this big, confusing city. Can't wait to see her!"
"Do you? Very good. Look, I meant to tell you earlier at the airport. You're in Europe, now. All the rules are different, especially in Meditteranean culture. Things don't always make sense. To an American on his first trip here, as you no-doubt are, it can all seem confusing, correct?"
"OH man, you are soooo correct!" Graham said, pleased to have Ben Dover on his team. He would buy this man a drink for sure.
At that moment, two tea-cup sized portions of Italy's finest were given to the men, and Graham whipped out one of his many credit cards.
"oh dear" Said Ben. "I think this place is cash-only."
"Oh of course, how silly of me!!!" Graham said, breaking out a twenty-dollar bill. "here, sir!!"
Ben rolled his eyes.
"Wow, you really are new to all this! You haven't converted yet?""Converted? I'm an atheist."
"Noooo, not religion, MONEY! They use Euros out here! You should have converted your dollars to Euros at the airport!"
Now Graham was a bit pissed. They DON'T ACCEPT AMERICAN CASH? How come it didn't say anything about this in his GT2 material?
Shouldn't there be a "tour guide" section for American dunces?? Ben paid the bill, while Graham now took a good look at his drink, which seemed miniscule and nowhere near the size of his usual triple-decker cafe/mocha lattefier.
"Um. I wanted a triple-grande." he said. "How do you say "triple-grande in Italian"
"Look, Graham. FORGET all the Starbucks crap!
You are now in Italy, one of the finest countries with the best pressed drinks, wine and food. Let's sit down and try to enjoy, eh?"That lasted two seconds. Graham sipped his cappucino, which tasted bitter and foul!
"OHHHH!!! TAke this back!!! I can't drink this! I thought you said Italy has the best food and drink!" Graham said miserably, his ignorance now in 7th gear!
"Welcome to Italy" Ben said.
But things went more smoothly that night. Ben joined the Wellintons for dinner (after Graham carefully instructed him that his family did not know he was racing tomorrow). Ben was right about one thing, the food was amazing. Graham's Calamari di Pescarrali blew away anything his wife could ever make with her Hamburger-Helper dishes. It also blew away anything he had ever tasted at Gampy's, TGIFs, Bennigans, or any other American place Grhaam and his family had ever been to. Grandma (who Graham thought would be a royal pain in his ass the entire trip) seemed to unwind and enjoyed being back in Italy again.
the next morning (Sunday)
Graham woke up early, at about 6am. carefully got out of bed so he wouldn't wake his son, and got dressed. Even tho it was 6am here in Rome, this means it was now about 9pm back in Seattle. The Wellingtons hadn't got any sleep on their plane ride, and with the excitement of the previous evening, didn't get into bed till late. They were all suffering jet-lag, all asleep and Graham made sure to take advantage of this!
They were all asleep now, and would hopefully stay asleep throughout the morning. If things went as planned, this means Graham would be able to make it to the course early, get some laps in, be one of the first to race, WIN, and make it back to the hotel before noon....before anybody knew any better!
As he walked through the hotel lobby carrying his briefcase and wearing a white button-down shirt & tie, as well as conservative grey slacks (but no jacket, Rome was rather warm) Graham encountered the FIRST foil to his plans.
"Hi daddy. Where ya going?" Asked Princess slyly.
DAAAAAMMIT!!
"Princess, you CAN NOT TELL mom about this!"
"Not a problem, dad. Just take me with you like you promised, and everything shall be grand".
"You little shark!" Graham cried, both stunned and proud at the same time.
warming up
So Graham hailed a taxi (rather than waiting for a dumb shuttle). Tho (again) the taxi driver didn't speak any English, Grham pointed the address of the track, which wasn't hard to find. A Roman taxi driver who can't find the Collisseum, after all, is a Roman taxidriver who will quickly be unemployed. 💡
During the previous evening, Ben Dover helped Graham by lending his European power-conversion kit, thereby allowing Graham to charge up his laptop's battery via a 220>120 volt converter.
So now, here he was in the back seat of a funny-looking Renault taxi, flying thru Rome, checking stats, while Princess sat dumbfounded, looking at stunning-looking Italian guys and getting all dreamy. It seemed all the cars out here were funny-looking and most of them were too small. At least this taxi felt more spacious.Graham studied his paperwork, along with some online documents. He studied an aerial view of the streets he would soon be racing.
Rome Short, the track was called. This version of the track didn't pass the Colisseum. Instead, it was basically a triangular shorter version of the full course. Hmmm, not exactly a triangle...more like a rhombus. Hmmm...NOT A RHOMBUS! WTF? Geez, what a confusing layout of streets! What was more important than the track, racing, or anything else?
$5,000
$5,000. For two laps of racing. How about that?
As the taxi neared the Colisseum district (which was already getting crowded with people) Grham paid the driver in Euros. He got his money converted the previous evening, finally, by exchanging some Euros from Ben for American dollars.
What a dip. He and Princess strolled to what looked to be the track's official offices; easy to find since there was an enormous GT2 on the new-looking one-story building. FINALLY some people who spoke English!
As Graham walked to the track, he finally laid eyes on his baby.
Hidden partially behind a wall, his car sat before him. Graham ran on-the-spot, leaving Princess behind to get SOOO EMBARASSED at her father.
Graham ran up, kissed the hood of his G20! Yes!!!!
Attachments
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- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
CHAPTER XV
warming up
warming up
As directed, Graham noticed that his car's wheels were no longer the stock Infiniti rims (which had gotten bent anyways back at Red Rock Speedway as he drove too harshly over a curb). Instead, he now had some wheels made by a company called "Enkei". Graham didn't know this, though. He thought they were made by a company called 'Finkel" in his ignorance.
The tires also were different. Gone were was the stock rubber (which the GT2 racing guide called "Normal" as a quick translation from whatever to English), instead, Graham's car now had "sports" quality tires. He was informed these upgraded tires would provide more grip. And more grip=more overall success for sure.
More success=more MONEY
How proactive.
anyways: long story short. Again, there was the same confusion. "who is this guy? A driver? But why is he here so early???
And again, Graham got his way by convincing the presiding track marshall he should get to practice first, therby allowing more time later for other drivers & races. Problem was, here at Rome, Graham could only get a couple practice laps.
Too many workers needed to stroll the streets, clearing debris, setting up safety rails, and such, so that Graham (despite he proactive-ness) couldn't get six laps as he had at other tracks during the Sunday Cup. The track's START/FINISH line began on a straight portion called Via Termi della Caracalla, made a high-paced right turn, second high-paced right which was little more than a kink in the road, and then a sudden VIOLENT right! One of the track-workers who spoke English told Graham this turn (turn 3) was already dreaded by many drivers.
Graham should start braking this portion somewhere between 100 meters and 50 meters, the worker explained. He should "find" the exact spot. Too early, and Graham's G20 would find itself at the mercy of other drivers, who might try to body-slam his car into the walls!!! Too late, and he wouldn't have time to brake, slamming the opposite wall!
There was a backstretch after this (Via della Navicella), a place where the G20 could be allowed to rev thru its 7,000-rpm tachometer with relative safety towards a gentle left (again) a harsh right at the end of the straight. Another short straight section (via Drusso) and back on the homestretch.
During the practice run, Princess went along with him, buckled up safely, but the marshall declared she should (for the love of GOD) NOT be allowed to sit in the passenger seat during the race!
Graham found vast portions of the track could be taken in 3rd gear. The dreaded turn #3 required 2nd gear, and Graham had the option to shift into 4th at a couple points, but this was not fully necessary. Down the backstretch, for instance, he could keep it in 3rd, redlining it past 7 grand.
After his short-lived practicing, Graham settled in at a nearby cafe. He hoped Ben Dover might show up early, but Ben was nowhere to be seen. As Princess stared into the eyes of yet another Italian dreamboat guy who was too old for her,
Graham studied (again) his contracts, the track map, and how much money he would make. Of course....
....stay tuned for the race!
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- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
Oh god. Pressure's on, lol
quick note: it took me like four tries, not to win, but to find a relatively clean race that I felt was acceptable.. I HATE it when the Ai slams me in turn #3.
For the rest of the morning (2 hours) Graham sat in his Infiniti. And sat. Started up the car again and again. Revving its 4-bangeroo engine to seven grand over and over..
Wow. it sounded FANTASTIC. Soon as he got home, he would have to attach a "sport" muffler to his Land Rover Discovery. Tiffany would complain, but hell, she had her own SUV. He got out of the car, and raised the hood, something he never did with his Land Rover. Got back in and started revving again. Gripping the steering, pretending to already race while the crew workers milled around and about!
Princess, getting impatient (and horribly embarrased) said:
"COME ON DAD, LET'S GO GET BREAKFAST!!!"
Breakfast. Graham was so infatuated with his car, he actually forgot his morning drink & cinnamuffin. Didn't matter; the hot beverages apparently all sucked here in Rome anyways! Cappucino my ass!!
"Here, Princess, have a few Euros. Go find yourself something, you're fourteen now." Graham said vaguely, lost in thought.
"Dad, i'm only TWELVE!" she yelled and stalked.
"Well, she's the one that wanted to come!" Graham said poutingly. "She's just gonna have to put up with daddy". He added, revving up his engine once again.
The first heat was due to start at around 10am, and amazingly, that's when it did start, despite the usual disorganization.
Graham made quite a stir in the Sunday Cup with his dress & demeanor, but out here in Europe, he was still relatively unknown...
Graham's G20 was lined up to the Starting area, finally, with (guess) an assortment of very small cars. They all looked funny to Graham,and he had no idea of the make & model of any of them, so I'll help out here:
The drivers were all local Italians except for the Lotus Europa driver, who was BRitish. All of them waltzed out to the track TO LOUD, BRILLILANT APPLAUSE from the early crowd!!!
SUDDENLY IT WAS GAME TIME!!! ALL the DREAD and worry of the past few weeks led up to this moment!! Graham sat behind the wheel sweating again!! He loosened his tie. For once! Next to him on the passenger seat, Graham's nifty briefcase was neatly set, just as if Graham were ready to make his way to the office. Just like any other day! Just liike
THE CLOCK WAS CLICKING DOWN! hOLEY 🤬 BAtman!@!!!!!!!
AND THEY'RE OFF!!!!!!
gRAHAM'S G20 ROARED AS THE CLOCK STRUCK GO!!!! rIGHT AWAY, THE CARS LAUNCEHD OFFFF WITH SPINING WHEELS AND LOTS OF SMOKE!!! YESSSS!!!! grhaam conservatively kept his revs lowish at about 4,000 rpms at this point....trying to get an early edge, and it WORKED! Right away, Graham found himself nearly pouncing the small orange car (Fiat Barchetta) ahead of him, so he edged around it to the right!!
meanwhile up front, the ELAN s4 AND THE mINI GOT AHEAD. bUT gRAHAM'S g20 WAS NOT FAR BEHIND as teh he revved up into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear!!! OBVIOUSLY gRaham's car had the horses, for it SKULKED INTO 5th, 4th, and finally 3rd PLace early!!!!!
ZOOMING INTO TURN ONE!!! THE HARD LEFT!! Graham made sure to carefully edge into this turn by using the wide sea of yellow caution lines on the inside of the turn. his CAR WAS NOW EDGING FOR TH ELEAD NEXT TO THE LOTUS ELAN!!!! KEEPING IT IN 3RD GEAR, THE G20 WAS NOW TOYING WITH 6 GRAND AS THE ELAN AND HE GOT SIDE BY SIDE!!!!!!!!!!
As Grhams'inside tires made contact with a small bump on this inside of turn #1, which lifted his car just a tad, it was HIM AND THE LOTUS ELAN OUT OF TURN ONE!!!!! and OH MY GOSH, LOOK HOW BIG GRAHAM'S CAR WAS IN COMPARISON TO ALL THE OTHER LITTLE DEATH TRAPS what a rush folks!!!
Roaring up from turn 1, the G20 kePt a sLIGHT LEAD, BUT couldn't fully esacpe the Elan!!.
ROARING AROUDN TRN #2! Meanwhile behind this small mini-drama sat the Englishman, not far behind but in last place in his Europa. He was sneaking up, sneaking up sneakihng ^^^. For up ahead is THE DREADED TURN 3@!!!
oddly at this point, the Europa kept itself on the inside line thru turn 2, following me (I'm guessing it was following me) while the Elan all the front-drive Ai stayed on the outside. Weird.
Turn 3. yuck.
Graham WAS ON THE inside OF THE eLAN NOW...ADN FEARFUL ABUOT what would happen next he BRAKED EARLIER THAN THE REST, HOPing to get an edge! But UH OH GRAHAM DID GOOD! HE AND HTE ELAN ARE NOW SIDE BY SIDE, RELATIVELY UNHURT as they pass the apex, and make the right, but BEHIND THEM, THE EUROPA AND BARCHETTA TOTALLY PEGGED THE G20 AND THE ELAN!!!!! IT'S A FOUR-WAY COLLISION INTO THE SAFETY BARRIER!! :SCARED:
Down the backstretch!!! Graham was lucky. He got thru turn 3 in 2nd place!!! THE EUROPA IS IN THE LEAD1!!
IT'S MINISCULE 1.6 LITER ENGINE NO MATCH FOR GRAHAM'S 2.0!!
As they FLEW down the backstertch, Grham's car had th ehorses! oh yess! It kept up fine with the Euopa!!!!
As the two cars flew towards the end into turn 4 (slight left kink)th eBArchetta followed in 3rd place, giving an ultimate view for spectators watchign hte race from the pit crew!!! All gT cars had cameras in them, after all!.
But in turn 5, Grham's car got slightly sideways! SMOKE POURED IN QUICK SUCESSION FROM HIS TIRES, yet HE RECOVERED AND KEPT HIS 2ND PLACE llike A BANKER KEEPING HIS MONEY!
Turn 6 (final turn): THE G20 DID IT!!! GRAHAM MANAGED TO GET BY THE FUNNY LOOKING SPORTS CAR (Europa) AND GRABBS THE LEAD!!! hE brakes early long before the turn, GETS SLIGHTLY SIDEWAYS AGAIN, AND PRESSED THE THROTTLE EARLY TO SKILLFULY DODGE THE FUNNY SPORTS CAR oh THE CROWD IS GOING WILD!!
As Lap One melted into Lap Two, the order was as follows:
1> Graham's Infiniti G20
2> Lotus Europa
3> Fiat 500
4> Mini Cooper 1.3i
5> Lotus Elan S4
6> Fiat Barchetta
But this would change!
Running into lap two: turn one: Graham's car was RUSHING ALONG AT 102 MPH! HE SHIFTS INTO 4TH GEAR JUST BEFORE THE TURN! RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE GO THE TIRES AS HE GOT UP ON THE RED & WHITE APRON!! IT WAS THE G20 STILL IN THE LEAD WHILE, BUT (YIKES) THE EUROPA WAS SNEAKING UP AGAIN!!!
INTO TURN 3!!! Graham braked super-early and cautiously made his right whiel the cars BEHIND HIM CRUSHED INTO THE FAR RETAINING WALL!!!! :LOL::LOL::LOL:
That part was so funny in the replay, folks, I GOTTA find a way to start posting replays! Basically, if you watch it from the G20's point of view (bumper cam), what you see is Turn 3 completely empty, the G20 braking & turning in, and FOUR CARS ALL PILING UP, CRASHING IN THE WALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN TO BRAKE PROPERLY!
DOWN THE BACKSTRETCH! The Elan GETS AHEAD AGAIN BRIEFLY, but ONLY BY DEFAULT! It got ahead by getting bounced off the wall!
AFter the bounce, its driver got disoriented and slightly sideways! Since Graham got thru turn 3 nice & clean, he immmediatley got his lead back!!!! YES!! Money!!!
Behind him, the Elan now STRUGGLED to keep up, but couldn't get within two car-paces of Graham!!! gRAHAM WAS IN THE CLEAR!!!!
THRU The next few turns, he expertly skewed his car sideways and braked appropriately, EARNING HIS KEEP!!! As they passed the finish, it was another close one folks!!!! But GRAHAM WON THE CLUBMAN CUP with TENTHS OF SECONDS TO SPARE`!!!!
quick note: it took me like four tries, not to win, but to find a relatively clean race that I felt was acceptable.. I HATE it when the Ai slams me in turn #3.
CHAPTER XV
Clubman Cup #1
ROME SHORT COURSE
Clubman Cup #1
ROME SHORT COURSE
For the rest of the morning (2 hours) Graham sat in his Infiniti. And sat. Started up the car again and again. Revving its 4-bangeroo engine to seven grand over and over..
Wow. it sounded FANTASTIC. Soon as he got home, he would have to attach a "sport" muffler to his Land Rover Discovery. Tiffany would complain, but hell, she had her own SUV. He got out of the car, and raised the hood, something he never did with his Land Rover. Got back in and started revving again. Gripping the steering, pretending to already race while the crew workers milled around and about!
Princess, getting impatient (and horribly embarrased) said:
"COME ON DAD, LET'S GO GET BREAKFAST!!!"
Breakfast. Graham was so infatuated with his car, he actually forgot his morning drink & cinnamuffin. Didn't matter; the hot beverages apparently all sucked here in Rome anyways!
Cappucino my ass!! "Here, Princess, have a few Euros. Go find yourself something, you're fourteen now." Graham said vaguely, lost in thought.
"Dad, i'm only TWELVE!" she yelled and stalked.
"Well, she's the one that wanted to come!" Graham said poutingly. "She's just gonna have to put up with daddy". He added, revving up his engine once again.
The first heat was due to start at around 10am, and amazingly, that's when it did start, despite the usual disorganization.
Graham made quite a stir in the Sunday Cup with his dress & demeanor, but out here in Europe, he was still relatively unknown...
Graham's G20 was lined up to the Starting area, finally, with (guess) an assortment of very small cars. They all looked funny to Graham,and he had no idea of the make & model of any of them, so I'll help out here:
1). '71 Lotus Elan S4
2). Mini Cooper (not sure of year)
3). '98 Fiat 500
4). '99 Fiat Barchetta
5). '71 Lotus Europa
6). Graham's '91 Infiniti G20
2). Mini Cooper (not sure of year)
3). '98 Fiat 500
4). '99 Fiat Barchetta
5). '71 Lotus Europa
6). Graham's '91 Infiniti G20
The drivers were all local Italians except for the Lotus Europa driver, who was BRitish. All of them waltzed out to the track TO LOUD, BRILLILANT APPLAUSE from the early crowd!!!
SUDDENLY IT WAS GAME TIME!!! ALL the DREAD and worry of the past few weeks led up to this moment!! Graham sat behind the wheel sweating again!! He loosened his tie. For once!
Next to him on the passenger seat, Graham's nifty briefcase was neatly set, just as if Graham were ready to make his way to the office. Just like any other day! Just liikeTHE CLOCK WAS CLICKING DOWN! hOLEY 🤬 BAtman!@!!!!!!!
AND THEY'RE OFF!!!!!!
gRAHAM'S G20 ROARED AS THE CLOCK STRUCK GO!!!! rIGHT AWAY, THE CARS LAUNCEHD OFFFF WITH SPINING WHEELS AND LOTS OF SMOKE!!! YESSSS!!!! grhaam conservatively kept his revs lowish at about 4,000 rpms at this point....trying to get an early edge, and it WORKED! Right away, Graham found himself nearly pouncing the small orange car (Fiat Barchetta) ahead of him, so he edged around it to the right!!
meanwhile up front, the ELAN s4 AND THE mINI GOT AHEAD. bUT gRAHAM'S g20 WAS NOT FAR BEHIND as teh he revved up into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear!!! OBVIOUSLY gRaham's car had the horses, for it SKULKED INTO 5th, 4th, and finally 3rd PLace early!!!!!
ZOOMING INTO TURN ONE!!! THE HARD LEFT!! Graham made sure to carefully edge into this turn by using the wide sea of yellow caution lines on the inside of the turn. his CAR WAS NOW EDGING FOR TH ELEAD NEXT TO THE LOTUS ELAN!!!! KEEPING IT IN 3RD GEAR, THE G20 WAS NOW TOYING WITH 6 GRAND AS THE ELAN AND HE GOT SIDE BY SIDE!!!!!!!!!!
As Grhams'inside tires made contact with a small bump on this inside of turn #1, which lifted his car just a tad, it was HIM AND THE LOTUS ELAN OUT OF TURN ONE!!!!!
and OH MY GOSH, LOOK HOW BIG GRAHAM'S CAR WAS IN COMPARISON TO ALL THE OTHER LITTLE DEATH TRAPS what a rush folks!!!Roaring up from turn 1, the G20 kePt a sLIGHT LEAD, BUT couldn't fully esacpe the Elan!!.
ROARING AROUDN TRN #2! Meanwhile behind this small mini-drama sat the Englishman, not far behind but in last place in his Europa. He was sneaking up, sneaking up sneakihng ^^^. For up ahead is THE DREADED TURN 3@!!!
oddly at this point, the Europa kept itself on the inside line thru turn 2, following me (I'm guessing it was following me) while the Elan all the front-drive Ai stayed on the outside. Weird.
Turn 3. yuck.
Graham WAS ON THE inside OF THE eLAN NOW...ADN FEARFUL ABUOT what would happen next he BRAKED EARLIER THAN THE REST, HOPing to get an edge! But UH OH GRAHAM DID GOOD! HE AND HTE ELAN ARE NOW SIDE BY SIDE, RELATIVELY UNHURT as they pass the apex, and make the right, but BEHIND THEM, THE EUROPA AND BARCHETTA TOTALLY PEGGED THE G20 AND THE ELAN!!!!! IT'S A FOUR-WAY COLLISION INTO THE SAFETY BARRIER!! :SCARED:
Down the backstretch!!! Graham was lucky. He got thru turn 3 in 2nd place!!! THE EUROPA IS IN THE LEAD1!!
IT'S MINISCULE 1.6 LITER ENGINE NO MATCH FOR GRAHAM'S 2.0!!
As they FLEW down the backstertch, Grham's car had th ehorses! oh yess! It kept up fine with the Euopa!!!!
As the two cars flew towards the end into turn 4 (slight left kink)th eBArchetta followed in 3rd place, giving an ultimate view for spectators watchign hte race from the pit crew!!! All gT cars had cameras in them, after all!.
But in turn 5, Grham's car got slightly sideways! SMOKE POURED IN QUICK SUCESSION FROM HIS TIRES, yet HE RECOVERED AND KEPT HIS 2ND PLACE llike A BANKER KEEPING HIS MONEY!
Turn 6 (final turn): THE G20 DID IT!!! GRAHAM MANAGED TO GET BY THE FUNNY LOOKING SPORTS CAR (Europa) AND GRABBS THE LEAD!!! hE brakes early long before the turn, GETS SLIGHTLY SIDEWAYS AGAIN, AND PRESSED THE THROTTLE EARLY TO SKILLFULY DODGE THE FUNNY SPORTS CAR
oh THE CROWD IS GOING WILD!!As Lap One melted into Lap Two, the order was as follows:
1> Graham's Infiniti G20
2> Lotus Europa
3> Fiat 500
4> Mini Cooper 1.3i
5> Lotus Elan S4
6> Fiat Barchetta
But this would change!
Running into lap two: turn one: Graham's car was RUSHING ALONG AT 102 MPH! HE SHIFTS INTO 4TH GEAR JUST BEFORE THE TURN! RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE GO THE TIRES AS HE GOT UP ON THE RED & WHITE APRON!! IT WAS THE G20 STILL IN THE LEAD WHILE, BUT (YIKES) THE EUROPA WAS SNEAKING UP AGAIN!!!
INTO TURN 3!!! Graham braked super-early and cautiously made his right whiel the cars BEHIND HIM CRUSHED INTO THE FAR RETAINING WALL!!!! :LOL::LOL::LOL:
That part was so funny in the replay, folks, I GOTTA find a way to start posting replays! Basically, if you watch it from the G20's point of view (bumper cam), what you see is Turn 3 completely empty, the G20 braking & turning in, and FOUR CARS ALL PILING UP, CRASHING IN THE WALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN TO BRAKE PROPERLY!
DOWN THE BACKSTRETCH! The Elan GETS AHEAD AGAIN BRIEFLY, but ONLY BY DEFAULT! It got ahead by getting bounced off the wall!
AFter the bounce, its driver got disoriented and slightly sideways! Since Graham got thru turn 3 nice & clean, he immmediatley got his lead back!!!! YES!! Money!!!
Behind him, the Elan now STRUGGLED to keep up, but couldn't get within two car-paces of Graham!!!
gRAHAM WAS IN THE CLEAR!!!!
THRU The next few turns, he expertly skewed his car sideways and braked appropriately, EARNING HIS KEEP!!! As they passed the finish, it was another close one folks!!!! But GRAHAM WON THE CLUBMAN CUP with TENTHS OF SECONDS TO SPARE`!!!!
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- 1,421
- California
- WeaselKing707
- N/A
aside from the gratuitous spelling errors and missed capitals GREAT STORY!
the excitement got the better of you didn't it PB?
I think it he was just trying to type it all down on the fly...One thing about writing a Play-by-Play (Or "Pass-by-Pass") story in GT2 is the fact that YOU CAN'T PAUSE THE REPLAYS!
That fact is the only reason i haven't tried to write a story of my own...Well, that and i don't think i have the right kind of camera or equipment to take photos on my PS2 the way others can.
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Was trying to emulate the excitement of the race, like, you know how in some events the sportscasters go all haywire? (especially soccer, but sometimes in motorsports, too). And as KOW says, you can't pause replays in GTs earlier than 3.
But yeah, next time i'll clean up the spelling It'll probably add another hour, of course.
But yeah, next time i'll clean up the spelling It'll probably add another hour, of course.
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LeGeNd-1
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Ha! Love it Parnelli, superb as always 👍. I laughed all the way thorugh the race, IMO the spelling and capitalization errors made it funnier (don't change it please ). Loved the screenshots as well and your use of real street names. I'll be looking forward to Grindy
Off-Topic but somehow related: Can you pause the replay in GT5P?
). Loved the screenshots as well and your use of real street names. I'll be looking forward to Grindy Off-Topic but somehow related: Can you pause the replay in GT5P?
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Ha! Love it Parnelli, superb as always 👍. I laughed all the way thorugh the race, IMO the spelling and capitalization errors made it funnier (don't change it please
Off-Topic but somehow related: Can you pause the replay in GT5P?
Coool!
Yea, Grindy should be good. Not to give too much away early, but Graham will totally have his uppity, arrogant views challenged. You can pause in GT5P, but not in GT2 after you've saved. GT2 replays can be paused before saving, however.
LeGeNd-1
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Coool!
That looks set to be another awesome chapter then, looking forward to it 👍.
You can pause in GT5P, but not in GT2 after you've saved. GT2 replays can be paused before saving, however.
Funny, whenever I try to pause a replay in GT5P it just quits the replay and goes back to the menu before the race (start, replay, save replay, driving options, quick tune, exit). You still press the Start button to pause right?
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Actually, I think you're right, Legend. Dangit. 
It was HERE again! That rush! That feeling of glory and POWER. As Graham did a celebratory lap around the Roman track, he got that old feeling that he had just won a case. But somehow, this was much different than winning in a stuffy courtroom!!!
As he pulled out in front of the START/FINISH line (where a makeshift winning area had been set up) he LEAPT from his G20!!! ...almost forgot his briefcase!!! ...and then DANCED a small, white-man's dance of glee!!!! The crowd of early onlookers varied: some were festively joining the oddly-dressed man, shouting and partying, others looked at Graham as if he were an alien from Pluto, others (just a few) looked at him in anger as he danced. This was supposed to be an Italian event, after all, and here was this AMERICAN annoyingly dancing in an event that was SUPPOSED to be one of their own people's win!!!
As Graham danced, Princess became MORTIFIED
"DAAAAAD!!!! STOP IT STOP IT!!!! OH, YOU'RE EMBARASSING ME!!" Princess yelled, totally oblivious to the fact that had she not said a word, nobody would have known this was father and daughter.
She ran out from the sidelines onto the track, in a vain attempt to stop her father from making a TOTAL MOCKERY OF HIMSELF! As he spotted her, Graham ran up and grabbed her, attempting to dance with his horrified daughter. At this, Princess SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER!! O.M.G. SOOOO EMBARASSING!!!
A heavyset Italian woman, dressed in conservative greys & whites, who looked as if she had spent her entire life in Rome (she had that look to her, like you see in typical Fellini movies) made the sign of the cross and prayed to the heavens for whatever reason.
Much to her delight, a couple track-workers came quickly to shoo the silly, dancing man and his deathly-pale daughter OFF the track, for (as at other events) time was of the essence and there were still several more heats to run throughout the day.
"OH. MY. GAWD. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT????!!!?" Princess screamed off-track while a BBC reporter silently stood in the shadows taping this entire scene.
"Hey. YOU wanted to come, dear! I didn't MAKE you! So BE embarrased by daddy! I don't care!"
"OH yea?? Well...what now, daddy? Huh? Whatcha gonna tell mom? HUH?"
Dang.
"Nothing. I am going to tell mom NOTHING.. And neither are you, okay? If you want your little perks here and there....trips to Europe, trips to the orient, Jenny Bones tickets, whatever...you willl say NOTHING. Got it?"
Princess considered this, looking a bit sad and confused. But who knows if she really meant it? Graham was getting to know his daughter in this past week a bit better than he had in the previous twelve years, four months, and three weeks. Again, Graham had that mixed feeling of pride, awe, and fear at his own daughter...what she was capable of.
"Got it" she finally said, meekly.
"Good. Now let's go get paid."
"Paid? You're getting PAID to do this?".
Back in the small, modern-looking rectangle of an office building, Graham got paid, indeed. Gran Turismo 2 inc didn't mess around. As Graham was ushered into a small room, a balding, spectacled Italian man cut him a check. $5,000, as promised.
At this moment, the BBC cameraman who shot that valuable footage moments ago as Graham danced with his daughter was trying to creep thru a small crowd that had gathered in front of the GT2 building. He desperatelywanted an interview with the well-dressed man!
"AHHHH, what's this?" Graham said, throwing his arms up as he looked at the gang of onlookers standing outside the building. He was HUNGRY, and suddenly feeling cranky, too. No lattefier drink, you see. THIS would not do!
He knew nothing about the BBC reporter, he only saw the crowd. To avoid this, he & Princess left the building from an auxillary exit. Unbeknownst to Graham, he had just avoided another embarassing "celebrity" interview.
Back at the hotel, Graham & Princess arrived just in time. The rest of the Wellingtons were waking up (God bless jet lag).
"Where have you two been up so early?"
"ahhh, we got an early breakfast" Graham lied. Lie #14,013 of his 12-year marriage.
Graham had heard so much about Rome from his fellow workmates, from television advertizements, and from his mother-in-law, but as the family went on a pre-planned tour on yet another shuttlebus, he felt totally bored.
"Yea, they got alot of old buildings and statues here, BIG DEAL. Where's my lattefier?" He moaned.
Also, Graham noticed something that bothered him immensely. Rome's traffic. Back home in suburban Redmond and Seattle, he was in the habit of being the BEST (in his ignorance) driver on the road...the one who always got his way. But out here, it seemed the streets were FULL of pushy, rude drivers. Like I said, this bothered him to the point that he didn't want to get off the bus as the tour arrived at St. Peter's Square. He couldn't fathom living in a city where everyone could possibly out-drive him as they commuted!
For the rest of the tour, Graham did what he does best, and opened up his laptop and started studying pie graphs again.
Somewhere along the way, he spotted a McDonald's fast-food joint. YESSSSS!!!!! Finally, some CIVILIZATION!!!!
For if there was a McDonald's, surely there must be a Starbucks somewhere in this God-forsaken city!
But later, back at the hotel as he plugged into an internet access cable and went online to starbucks.com, he was dismayed to find Ben Dover was right. There WAS no Starbucks in Rome, apparently. Yet.
"MY GOD! HOW DO THESE PEOPLE LIVE???!!??!!!!!
CHAPTER XVI
the aftermath
the aftermath
It was HERE again! That rush! That feeling of glory and POWER.
As Graham did a celebratory lap around the Roman track, he got that old feeling that he had just won a case. But somehow, this was much different than winning in a stuffy courtroom!!!As he pulled out in front of the START/FINISH line (where a makeshift winning area had been set up) he LEAPT from his G20!!! ...almost forgot his briefcase!!! ...and then DANCED a small, white-man's dance of glee!!!! The crowd of early onlookers varied: some were festively joining the oddly-dressed man, shouting and partying, others looked at Graham as if he were an alien from Pluto, others (just a few) looked at him in anger as he danced
. This was supposed to be an Italian event, after all, and here was this AMERICAN annoyingly dancing in an event that was SUPPOSED to be one of their own people's win!!! As Graham danced, Princess became MORTIFIED
"DAAAAAD!!!! STOP IT STOP IT!!!! OH, YOU'RE EMBARASSING ME!!" Princess yelled, totally oblivious to the fact that had she not said a word, nobody would have known this was father and daughter.
She ran out from the sidelines onto the track, in a vain attempt to stop her father from making a TOTAL MOCKERY OF HIMSELF! As he spotted her, Graham ran up and grabbed her, attempting to dance with his horrified daughter. At this, Princess SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER!! O.M.G. SOOOO EMBARASSING!!!
A heavyset Italian woman, dressed in conservative greys & whites, who looked as if she had spent her entire life in Rome (she had that look to her, like you see in typical Fellini movies) made the sign of the cross and prayed to the heavens for whatever reason.
Much to her delight, a couple track-workers came quickly to shoo the silly, dancing man and his deathly-pale daughter OFF the track, for (as at other events) time was of the essence and there were still several more heats to run throughout the day.
"OH. MY. GAWD. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT????!!!?" Princess screamed off-track while a BBC reporter silently stood in the shadows taping this entire scene
. "Hey. YOU wanted to come, dear! I didn't MAKE you! So BE embarrased by daddy! I don't care!"
"OH yea?? Well...what now, daddy? Huh? Whatcha gonna tell mom? HUH?"
Dang.
"Nothing. I am going to tell mom NOTHING.. And neither are you, okay? If you want your little perks here and there....trips to Europe, trips to the orient, Jenny Bones tickets, whatever...you willl say NOTHING. Got it?"
Princess considered this, looking a bit sad and confused.
But who knows if she really meant it? Graham was getting to know his daughter in this past week a bit better than he had in the previous twelve years, four months, and three weeks. Again, Graham had that mixed feeling of pride, awe, and fear at his own daughter...what she was capable of. "Got it" she finally said, meekly.
"Good. Now let's go get paid."
"Paid? You're getting PAID to do this?".
Back in the small, modern-looking rectangle of an office building, Graham got paid, indeed. Gran Turismo 2 inc didn't mess around. As Graham was ushered into a small room, a balding, spectacled Italian man cut him a check. $5,000, as promised.
At this moment, the BBC cameraman who shot that valuable footage moments ago as Graham danced with his daughter was trying to creep thru a small crowd that had gathered in front of the GT2 building. He desperatelywanted an interview with the well-dressed man!
"AHHHH, what's this?" Graham said, throwing his arms up as he looked at the gang of onlookers standing outside the building. He was HUNGRY, and suddenly feeling cranky, too. No lattefier drink, you see.
THIS would not do! He knew nothing about the BBC reporter, he only saw the crowd.
To avoid this, he & Princess left the building from an auxillary exit. Unbeknownst to Graham, he had just avoided another embarassing "celebrity" interview. sightseeing
Back at the hotel, Graham & Princess arrived just in time. The rest of the Wellingtons were waking up (God bless jet lag).
"Where have you two been up so early?"
"ahhh, we got an early breakfast" Graham lied. Lie #14,013 of his 12-year marriage.
Graham had heard so much about Rome from his fellow workmates, from television advertizements, and from his mother-in-law, but as the family went on a pre-planned tour on yet another shuttlebus, he felt totally bored.
"Yea, they got alot of old buildings and statues here, BIG DEAL. Where's my lattefier?" He moaned.
Also, Graham noticed something that bothered him immensely. Rome's traffic. Back home in suburban Redmond and Seattle, he was in the habit of being the BEST (in his ignorance) driver on the road...the one who always got his way. But out here, it seemed the streets were FULL of pushy, rude drivers. Like I said, this bothered him to the point that he didn't want to get off the bus as the tour arrived at St. Peter's Square. He couldn't fathom living in a city where everyone could possibly out-drive him as they commuted!
For the rest of the tour, Graham did what he does best, and opened up his laptop and started studying pie graphs again.
Somewhere along the way, he spotted a McDonald's fast-food joint. YESSSSS!!!!! Finally, some CIVILIZATION!!!!
For if there was a McDonald's, surely there must be a Starbucks somewhere in this God-forsaken city! But later, back at the hotel as he plugged into an internet access cable and went online to starbucks.com, he was dismayed to find Ben Dover was right. There WAS no Starbucks in Rome, apparently. Yet.
"MY GOD! HOW DO THESE PEOPLE LIVE???!!??!!!!!
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- Parnelli_Bones
CHAPTER XVI
getting out of Rome
getting out of Rome
"I don't understand. Why do we have to leave Italy? We're having so much fun here!"
Graham groaned, nearly nicked himself shaving. FUN? If these people call riding around on a bus all day, looking at a bunch of old crap fun, let them have it!
It was now late evening. The Wellingtons had spent the entire day sightseeing, had a big dinner, and now here he was back at the hotel; trying to think of a way he could move on to Switzerland. His wife and mother-in-law simply didnt' want to leave.
That was apparent. So now what? He had tried to spend part of his day on the bus using his coveted Projected Behavior computer program
, to try and see how he might weasel out of this one, but the damn program kept crashing! Problem was, he now had to consider his wife's and his mother-in-law's behavior (possibly Princess's) all at the same time. So Graham was stuck.
Tiffany, on the other hand, wasn't sure what to make of her husband's request to shift countries all-the-sudden. They had just gotten into Italy!! fer crissakes!
She was really enjoying Rome, having a blast, wanted to go shopping the next day (of course ) and had no intention of leaving. She tallied up the results in her head. He was hiding something. Not outright lying about it, but hiding it. Still.....
He wasn't having an affair.
He hadn't mentioned any lawyer stuff.
He simply wanted to go to Switzerland all the sudden. But why?
So Tiffany was stuck.
It was Princess
who got the ball rolling along smoothly. It was PRINCESS who had the plan. The next morning at breakfast. I forgot to mention this before, but Graham had MADE SURE to find a hotel that was not part of the Gran Turismo establishment; and therefore would keep his family away from other drivers and such. So he could continue his lies. Anyways, Princess now:
"We're, like, supposed to do this dumb book report in Advanced History class. It's like supposed to be about the French Revolution, but me and by BFF Stephany are like, secretly going to do another report on Switzerland for extra credit" she rallied.
"Um. Okay, Princess" this was mom talking now. "Why can't you just look this stuff up with Cliff Notes? Why can't you just go to the library?"
"LIBRARY?" Princess nearly screamed! "Nobody goes to the library anymore, except to make-out with boys! PLus, that's what the internet's for!" Who needs the library when you got the internet??
She said, as the entire table looked in HORROR! Like father, like daughter. Princess realized she had just said too much.
She may have had a knack for blackmail, but Princess wasn't such a good liar yet! But she quickly got back on firmer ground."Look. YOU said YOU wanted better grades from me. Well, now I want to make valedictorian, mom. I want the BEST grades I can make. I want to be BEST STUdENT at Redmond Junior High!
We we're supposed to do this book report in secret, but now EVERYTHING is ruined!" she said, throwing her arms over her head and mock-crying! "Well, okay, hold on! Don't get upset Princess!" mother-in-law said.
"SHE's just being a DRAMA QUEEN!" Princess's 7-year old brother taunted. "SHE just wants to get WHATEVER SHE WANTS!"
"DON'T talk to your sister that way."
"SHE just wants to go there and MAKE OUT WITH BOYS!!! EWWWW!!"
"I DO NOT!" Princess yelled, mortified!
Thankfully, the dinner room was full of other Americans on vacation, who were just as loud (having a good time) like Graham's family.
"Well, I think if Princess really wants to do research for her report" Graham chimed cheerfully, "we should allow her. It's not like she's out shoplifting or hazing in some pre-teen fraternity. Statistics show most girls her age are sadly...doing just these very things." Graham said, pausing for effect. McDouglass versus Nahowensteen. 1996. Two teenaged girls were caught stealing paint thinner, nail polish, light bulb sto--"
"YES!" Princess interrupted, awkwardly trying to create some sort of story here, but not doing so as smoothly as her father. "I want to do this book report on SWitzerland. It was founded in 1259. Its natural location of mountainous borders and treacherous weather helped it keep its independence in many times of war!' She rattled on. "Switzerland is a neutral country!"
"Neutral? What does that mean?" Tiffany asked, impressed with her very own honor-roll, Straight-A student.
"Jeeeeez mom! Like, you don't know ANYTHING!!" daughter accused.
....anyways....long story short
Her daughter won. In the end, she won big time. Between her and her father, the two of them convinced mom that she should
1). Go to Switzerland to get research for her ficticious book report.
2).Have her father accompany her. She was only twelve, after all.
3). The side-trip to Switzerland would only take a day...maybe two.
4). The rest of the family could stay here...right in Rome. Sightseeing, shopping, whatever. Mom, grandma, and son. (By this point, the entire family {Graham included} were sick of hearing the two Wellington kids argue, which helped the seperation, but Graham's son was NOT happy to not be allowed to go with daddy).
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LeGeNd-1
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Actually, I think you're right, Legend. Dangit.
That's alright, we all had our fair share of memory fades. I'm annoyed by the inability to pause though. I thought replay controls have come a long way since GT1/2 but alas, it's 99% the same. The only difference I think is the ability to zoom and the 'TV style' roof cam. I fully expect FULL replay controls in the full GT5, with pause, fast forward, rewind, slow mo and everything. Ok, enough of my ramblings now
.Another great chapter Parnelli. I don't know why, but somehow I enjoyed your side stories more than the races. Not saying the races are boring, they're excellent 👍. But the side stories just presents me with a different way of looking at the GT World. Your side stories truly brought GT from Virtual to Reality, so to speak 👍.
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What about the silly illustration? I wanna start putting silly little Mad-Magazine style drawings here and there! I drew that at work the other day. Funny thing, I was actually at the point (when I was a teen long ago) that I was getting rather good at cartoons & illustrations. But the other day I was STRUGGLING to draw that one of Graham and his daughter.
This girl told me back in my college days that there's only so many ways you can write about sex. In other words, you have two people...there's only so many ways you can write about how they "get together" After awhile, you run out of ideas. That's why there's tons of sex movies...tons of romance novels, but hardly any sex books! Anyways, that's how I feel about writing about races! It's difficult to write about them because in the end, all it is is just:
1> cars going around a track
2> one car wins, everyone else loses
3> since there's no damage or mechanical failures or announcers or crew workers in GT games, imagination comes into play if you want to extend the action.
So yea. Anyways, I was checking out the next few journal entries I made (after Grindy) long ago and boy does the story heat up. But for now, I wanna ask my dad a few questions about Switzerland before I tackle the next chapter. I've actually never been there, but he has. I"ve been to England, Germany, Italy, France, Luxembourg, and a few other countries, so I wanna ask him his impressions on Switzerland. 💡
I wanna start putting silly little Mad-Magazine style drawings here and there! I drew that at work the other day. Funny thing, I was actually at the point (when I was a teen long ago) that I was getting rather good at cartoons & illustrations. But the other day I was STRUGGLING to draw that one of Graham and his daughter. This girl told me back in my college days that there's only so many ways you can write about sex. In other words, you have two people...there's only so many ways you can write about how they "get together"
After awhile, you run out of ideas. That's why there's tons of sex movies...tons of romance novels, but hardly any sex books! Anyways, that's how I feel about writing about races! It's difficult to write about them because in the end, all it is is just:1> cars going around a track
2> one car wins, everyone else loses
3> since there's no damage or mechanical failures or announcers or crew workers in GT games, imagination comes into play if you want to extend the action.
So yea. Anyways, I was checking out the next few journal entries I made (after Grindy) long ago and boy does the story heat up.
But for now, I wanna ask my dad a few questions about Switzerland before I tackle the next chapter. I've actually never been there, but he has. I"ve been to England, Germany, Italy, France, Luxembourg, and a few other countries, so I wanna ask him his impressions on Switzerland. 💡
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- Parnelli_Bones
CHAPTER XVII
Switzerland
Switzerland
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- GTP_ty00123
Ahh, gotcha.
Hey what's that car in your avatar? Looks like an old Escort. Those are my favorite Escorts...those old boxy rear-drive models.
It is. First generation (sorta) of my real-life car. (Check my sig.)
- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
CHAPTER XVII
Switzerland
Switzerland
Riding on a larger bus now from Italy to Switzerland, Graham felt somewhat depressed.
He and Princess were riding on ... while the rest of the Wellington clan stayed behind in Rome. This father/daughter time should have been precious. Under other circumstances, it certainly would have been so. But he felt a tad miserable.
Why was this? Graham had won the race. He had accomplished a goal. Something wasn't right, tho. He really disliked Rome. Just....everything about it turned him off!
The people were loud, bossy, and confident....they didn't take any 🤬 from Graham. He couldn't just WALK INTO A CAFE and order its workers around, for instance. He couldnt just snap his fingers and get instant service!! Some shopowners laughed when he broke out his coveted American Express Platinum Membership card. It seemed his status as an American Tourist in Rome preceded him, so that its people's seemed less-than-impressed. Here was yet another American with dollars to spend! BIG DEAL. The chaos of Rome's traffic, as well as some of its peoples, offended him in a way he couldn't really describe. 👎 Even the race, itself! Something about the track (its odd, claustrophobic angles, perhaps) and the way the Europeans simply knew how to master it irked
poor Graham Wellington. He much prefered driving thru those giant, swooping freeway-like curves of High Speed Ring and Red Rock Speedway. Winning actual money was a rush, but still....he had had to endure ALOT of sh:censored: to get that money! Lost luggage. Tiny taxicabs. Rome's smoggy air. His family. Creating lie after lie. The headache of being in a country in which (he was SURE) more people he encountered knew how to speak English, yet they pretended not to when he & his family were around. ........And (most of all) NO STARBUCKS.
THAT was the icing on the cake, folks. Of course, Rome was just the first part of this journey. Would Switzerland be any different? Graham was sure it wouldn't be. Europe sucked. In his opinion. Glumly, he went thru the motions of setting up his laptop (under battery power now, since they were on a bus) to configure possible Clubman Cup odds. 💡 That always cheered his brain up. Let's see if it works now.
Princess, on the other hand, was throroughly entranced. Wow....daddy won $5,000! Perhaps she had a bit of her father's obsession with money encoded in her genetics. For some reason, this fascinated her; even as her father seemed a bit nonplussed about it.
.....$5,000.....
She sat on the bus, pretending to read a romance novel
, but actually obsessing over all the hair perms, cell phones, SHOES, and pizza $5,000 could buy. She wished she could have this much money. $5,000 seemed like ALOT of money to a 12-year old, especially when placed in the context of a cashier's check issued after winning a car-race. Of course, daddy had made far more than this after winning various cases. But she had never seen him actually get paid. EVER. It was just like *poof!*, the money-fairy silently (and invisibly) dropped its cash into mommy & daddy's bank week after week. Where did it come from? Of course, she KNEW where (duhhhh) but the act of
>working
and
>being PAID after working
was something she had never seen her parents accomplish. It was something which happend in THEORY.
But was something she had never had the privelege of witnessing. Money was like an underground river to Princess. You know it's there...but you never see it. Her daddy & mommy paid for everything thru credit cards. Had a trust fund set for her and her dumb brother. Had CDs, IRAs, stocks & bonds. Dummy accounts (to throw off the tax people...)
You name it. ....But to this day...Princess had never seen daddy actually getting PAID.
Even if it WAS only a dumb check, it was still a moment that remained imprinted on her brain's eye far longer than it seemd it should have been.She was fascinated!
Hours later, as the bus rolled from Italy past a checkpoint into Switzerland, Graham perked up for the first time in days. Immediately he noticed a difference. Something seemed different about this country. Hmmmm...what was it?
He finally put aside his laptop.
Day 10- Drove to the Grindel Wald track in Switzerland. Despite a hectic sightseeing trip via cable cars, Gramm got some
Grahm's pit boss assured him he could buy a closer gearbox, get the weight reduced even more, and have easier races in the futare, but Graham resisted the idea, tightwad penny-pincher that he is. Ben Dover almost won the $6,000 prize by a hair, but hit a wall.
After awhile, after passing thru some early Swiss towns, Graham figured out what the difference was. Everything seemed more orderly. Cleaner. Proper. Could it be his imagination? Perhaps. But the more he looked the more he noticed a difference. There was no trash. ANYWHERE. Except in trash bins. Even some of the trash bins looked painted and cute! Hell, Switzerland so far looked cleaner (and cuter) than his hometown of Redmond, Washington! And just look at those MOUNTAINS! Both he and Princess looked at them in awe! Maybe he should buy a house here someday.
It didn't take long before the bus pulled into the town of Grindelwald.
This was the moment he had been waiting for!!!! Graham couldn't wait to meet all those friendly Swiss people! People named Hans and Franz and Inga and Meekah!!! ...who dressed in lederhosen, waistbands, and had silly red caps with feathers in them!.....who carried nifty pocket knives with red handles and DOZENS of attachments! And everyone would have a huge, COMPLICATED wristwatch, of course!!! Everyone would KNOW HOW TO SKI out here! EVeryone would...."DAD!!!! LOOK OUT!!!"
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^^Well, you're lucky I got inspired to write another chapter in between TCV5 judging. 👍
As Graham was just getting off the bus in Switzerland, his wife, mother-in-law and son were taking a break from spending lots of money.
They had seated themselves in an open-air cafe for some lunch. This place wasn't quite so "touristy", but the food smelled good, and it seemed a good place to just spontaneously stop. The place wasn't a big one, but seemed very European, which pleased both the ladies. At one point earlier in the morning, Tiffany's son spotted a McDonald's and had a small tantrum when Tiffany refused to stop there. "Like father, like son", she realized. With Graham gone, she felt a bit of freedom; a bit of a surprise. No more whining about the lack of Starbucks. No more whining about "old stuff". It would certainly be easier to shop and explore without her husband present, but she was truely missing Princess. But they were getting hungry.
So...they had stopped at this open-air restaurant. The sort of place Graham would probably disapprove of, perhaps. For whatever reason (pick one).
The first thing Tiffany noticed was the dog. An old black labrador was lying asleep right in the middle of the floor! She figured perhaps it belonged to somebody, got lost, wandered in, and was now tired and asleep. Graham would certainly disapprove. 👎 But the dog was apparently a fixture at the cafe. While they were looking at a menu, trying to decide what they might want, the owner of the restaurant actually came over and fed the dog some table scraps left over at another table! How about that??? Graham would have a coronary by now!
The owner spoke some English. Came over and sat at the table to ask how things were going on (what was obviously) Tiffany's first trip to Italy. Tiffany was surprised by this for some reason. Perhaps this is what they meant by Europeans being "charming". She wasn't charmed by this, just surprised.
Anyways, now a gang of cats had wandered into the cafe, to steal some of of the dog's food. The dog, you see, had taken a few bites before falling back asleep. Tiffany figured the owner would shoo the cats away, but they were also, apparently part of life here in this strange cafe.
"Um...aren't you gonna make those cats go away?"
"What? My little gang?" the owner seemed honestly shocked.
At this moment, before Tiffany could protest further, a plate of bread slices, olive oil, and a small bottle of what looked like red wine was brought to the table, despite the fact that Tiffany & company hadn't even ordered anything yet. Wow. Now THIS was service.
Before taking a bite, Tiffany noticed her son had wandered off, and was now standing slightly outside near a newsstand. She thought of calling him back, but the cafe owner rattled on just now...
"So...you like Roma so far, eh?"
"Daddy!! Mom, look, it's daddy!" cried her son from outside. He was pointing up the street...
Tiffany rushed outside. OH! It was just some sort of ruse!!!!
Her husband hadn't left at all! He had merely wanted to make it look as if he had to go to Switzerland! And it was just some sort of joke! Silly of her to not believe he couldn't pull it off! And Princess!! The sly girl
was just outside! Perhaps they had bought them a present??? Ooooh! some sort of gift? Their marriage anniversary was still a month in the future, but that didn't mean Graham had somehow got this wrong....
Tiffany bolted outside, her mother following. They both looked up and down the street. No Graham. No Princess What was going on??? Then Tiffany looked at her son, who was actually pointing not up the street, but towards the newstand.
There it was. There it was. Wow. WOW. How could she be so blind?
As her son picked up a local newspaper, Tiffany rushed up and GRABBED it from his hands, nearly giving him a paper-cut!!!
It was a front-page editorial of Graham's win in the Clubman Cup Rome Short race. Wow. And, a picture of Graham with Princess as he was dancing in the middle of the street with his briefcase in hand; Princess throwing her arms to him in extreme embarassment!
Wow. That was it. Even though the paper was in Italian, the implication was clear. Graham had been lying for weeks, now. So had her own daughter, apparently. How far had it gone? Where had they gone? Were they really in Switzerland, or was ALSO a lie???
Yes, Graham had been lying. Had he been involved with this "racing" thing over in Japan, too? And Arizona? WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON??
With help from the cafe owner, Tiffany got the full story as he read part of the article, not fully understanding why she looked grief-sticken.
"Looks like one of your American fellows won our prestigious Colliseum race!" He chimed happily.
This didn't make Tiffany happy, though. Not at all. It made her somewhat confused and angry.
Apparently, Graham was telling the truth about this, tho...he really was up in Switzerland. The article explained how Clubman Cup drivers would travel to a town called "Grindelwald" for Part 2 of Clubman.
"What are you going to do, dear?" asked mother. "I've always thought him unfit to be your husband. Always have!~" She finished haughtily.
"OH. I've got a plan". Tiffany promised. "I've got a plan for sure. I'm gonna fix his wagon!"
"Divorce?"
"No....BETTER!" Tiffany promised....
CHAPTER XVIII
THE PLOT THICKENS LIKE A CAN OF BAD STEW
THE PLOT THICKENS LIKE A CAN OF BAD STEW
As Graham was just getting off the bus in Switzerland, his wife, mother-in-law and son were taking a break from spending lots of money.
They had seated themselves in an open-air cafe for some lunch. This place wasn't quite so "touristy", but the food smelled good, and it seemed a good place to just spontaneously stop. The place wasn't a big one, but seemed very European, which pleased both the ladies. At one point earlier in the morning, Tiffany's son spotted a McDonald's and had a small tantrum when Tiffany refused to stop there. "Like father, like son", she realized. With Graham gone, she felt a bit of freedom; a bit of a surprise. No more whining about the lack of Starbucks. No more whining about "old stuff". It would certainly be easier to shop and explore without her husband present, but she was truely missing Princess. But they were getting hungry.
So...they had stopped at this open-air restaurant. The sort of place Graham would probably disapprove of, perhaps. For whatever reason (pick one).
The first thing Tiffany noticed was the dog. An old black labrador was lying asleep right in the middle of the floor!
She figured perhaps it belonged to somebody, got lost, wandered in, and was now tired and asleep. Graham would certainly disapprove. 👎 But the dog was apparently a fixture at the cafe. While they were looking at a menu, trying to decide what they might want, the owner of the restaurant actually came over and fed the dog some table scraps left over at another table! How about that??? Graham would have a coronary by now! The owner spoke some English. Came over and sat at the table to ask how things were going on (what was obviously) Tiffany's first trip to Italy. Tiffany was surprised by this for some reason. Perhaps this is what they meant by Europeans being "charming". She wasn't charmed by this, just surprised.
Anyways, now a gang of cats had wandered into the cafe, to steal some of of the dog's food.
The dog, you see, had taken a few bites before falling back asleep. Tiffany figured the owner would shoo the cats away, but they were also, apparently part of life here in this strange cafe. "Um...aren't you gonna make those cats go away?"
"What? My little gang?" the owner seemed honestly shocked.
At this moment, before Tiffany could protest further, a plate of bread slices, olive oil, and a small bottle of what looked like red wine was brought to the table, despite the fact that Tiffany & company hadn't even ordered anything yet. Wow. Now THIS was service.
Before taking a bite, Tiffany noticed her son had wandered off, and was now standing slightly outside near a newsstand. She thought of calling him back, but the cafe owner rattled on just now...
"So...you like Roma so far, eh?"
"Daddy!! Mom, look, it's daddy!" cried her son from outside. He was pointing up the street...
Tiffany rushed outside. OH! It was just some sort of ruse!!!!
Her husband hadn't left at all! He had merely wanted to make it look as if he had to go to Switzerland! And it was just some sort of joke! Silly of her to not believe he couldn't pull it off! And Princess!! The sly girl
was just outside! Perhaps they had bought them a present??? Ooooh! some sort of gift? Their marriage anniversary was still a month in the future, but that didn't mean Graham had somehow got this wrong....Tiffany bolted outside, her mother following. They both looked up and down the street. No Graham. No Princess
What was going on??? Then Tiffany looked at her son, who was actually pointing not up the street, but towards the newstand.There it was. There it was. Wow. WOW. How could she be so blind?
As her son picked up a local newspaper, Tiffany rushed up and GRABBED it from his hands, nearly giving him a paper-cut!!!
It was a front-page editorial of Graham's win in the Clubman Cup Rome Short race. Wow. And, a picture of Graham with Princess as he was dancing in the middle of the street with his briefcase in hand; Princess throwing her arms to him in extreme embarassment!
Wow. That was it. Even though the paper was in Italian, the implication was clear. Graham had been lying for weeks, now. So had her own daughter, apparently. How far had it gone? Where had they gone? Were they really in Switzerland, or was ALSO a lie???
Yes, Graham had been lying. Had he been involved with this "racing" thing over in Japan, too? And Arizona? WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON??
With help from the cafe owner, Tiffany got the full story as he read part of the article, not fully understanding why she looked grief-sticken.
"Looks like one of your American fellows won our prestigious Colliseum race!" He chimed happily.
This didn't make Tiffany happy, though. Not at all.
It made her somewhat confused and angry. Apparently, Graham was telling the truth about this, tho...he really was up in Switzerland. The article explained how Clubman Cup drivers would travel to a town called "Grindelwald" for Part 2 of Clubman.
"What are you going to do, dear?" asked mother. "I've always thought him unfit to be your husband. Always have!~" She finished haughtily.
"OH. I've got a plan". Tiffany promised. "I've got a plan for sure. I'm gonna fix his wagon!"
"Divorce?"
"No....BETTER!" Tiffany promised....
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