Backyard Built

Because it’s Backyard Built, which is an echo.

Think of my web pages as Backyard Built, simplest way to understand that. At one point in my various past careers, I did build stuff in the back garage. That was, more or less, backyard built.

The car culture in San Antonio, more than any place I’ve ever lived, the car culture reigns supreme. In part, it’s my location, adjacent to downtown, just shy of the South Side, and in part, surrounded by areas that would have been deemed “undesirable,” and were, at one time.

Straight up quote, “Stay out of King William, it’s a bad neighborhood,” what one guy told me, about his childhood.

I’ve ridden and modified many vehicles, preferring a certain brand of motorcycle for a while, having fun, and then, moving on to other things. I was, at one time, handy with tools, but anymore, I just prefer software tools, and tinkering with web pages is much less messy than motor parts.

Backyard Built

There’s an affinity that I feel towards the person who wants to take a finished machine, wherein all the parts look the same, and do something different. Modify, tweak, tune, polish, and perfect. The drive for perfection is the fun part, as there will be mistakes.

The skill sets are remarkably similar, and the ideal arrangement, it’s like jetting a set of carbs, trying to find that perfect mixture – once the rest of the motor parts are working, the last thing is the carburetor.

With the motor at full throttle on the high banking, right before the pit lane, hit the kill switch then turn off the gas, coasting in at over a hundred miles an hour. Pull out a spark plug and see what it says, too rich, too lean, what size needle and what size jet?

That one was built in a shade-tree arrangement, not quite, but of the same ilk.

That’s the connection to the car’s sticker, Backyard Built. I have an affinity for that spirit.