PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Morning! You think you’re gonna buy that green ‘96 Taco?

 

They look great! That clear coat made a huge difference!

 

Thanks! They used to be chrome, which would have been fine before the addition of the ToyWerx grille and blackout emblems, but they looked terribly out of place when I put them on just for grins before shipping them down to my uncle...

 

I just suddenly remembered something really funny that happened when I was in second grade; As most of my regular readers know, I attended second and third grade at Edith Landels Elementary School in Mountain View, California from 1996 to 1998...

One afternoon, our teacher brought out this stack of papers, which turned out to be a worksheet (it was either math or English; I forget, but I'm 99% sure it was English/language arts/phonics/whatever); So, she starts handing out this worksheet, and says rather annoyedly they we all did such a horrible job on it the first time around that she wanted us to do it over...

I took one look at this worksheet and realized I'd never seen it in my life; Several of my classmates started looking at our teacher like she was crazy, and a few of us (myself included) started protesting that we had never done this worksheet. Our teacher believed us and surmised that she must have dreamt about us doing poorly on the worksheet!

 

I had two different teachers in the second grade; I forget exactly why, but fairly early on I was one of a handful of second graders moved out of Ms. Garcia's class and into Mrs. Macini's class just a couple of months after school started...

Like most of my classmates, I loved Ms. Garcia as a teacher; I wasn't really interested in girls at the age of 7, but I also remember Ms. Garcia being particularly beautiful, and being absolutely shocked when she told us that she was 47 years old! This was in the fall of 1996, so that would put Ms. Garcia's birthdate somewhere in 1949 (possibly 1948)! I also remember that Ms. Garcia drove a white 1993-1994 Ford Explorer Limited; I had seen her arriving at school in the Explorer, and know the year because I asked her at some point during the 1996-1997 school year and she told me it was three years old (I don't remember whether I asked this in 1996 or 1997)...

So, I have no idea why we were moved into Mrs. Macini's class, but I remember being particularly annoyed at first; I ended up loving Mrs. Macini too, and I ended up drawing the long straw, along with everyone who got transferred from Ms. Garcia's class! Not long after the other students and myself were moved into Mrs. Macini's class, Ms. Garcia had to take an extended leave of absence after having some sort of surgery if I remember correctly. Ms. Garcia's class ended up with a substitute for what seemed like months, and I don't recall seeing Ms. Garcia again for the better part of that school year! I've got no problem with substitute teachers, but one aspect of being on the autism spectrum is having a hard time dealing with changes (especially long-term changes), and I don't think that at not even eight years old I would have dealt well with having a substitute teacher for more than a week or two!

I should also note that when I was in second grade, I had not yet been formally diagnosed with Aspergers; I was believed to have PDD-NOS (Pervasive Development Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified) before I was out of diapers, but I do not believe I was ever formalyl diagnosed, nor was it ever put on my IEP prior to fourth grade. I was diagnosed with Aspergers in November 1998, not long after starting fourth grade; I found out I had AS in August or September of 2000, right before I started sixth grade.

 

I honestly have no idea if Ms. Garcia had children of her own or was even married; I remember addressing her as "Miss/Ms. Garcia", but it is entirely possible that she had us call her that because it was easier for some kids than pronouncing "Mrs." One girl in my class accidentally called her "Miss Garcias" for the longest time...

I am 99% sure that Mrs. Macini was married, but again I do not know if she had kids of her own; I do not remember what kind of car she drove...

 

Woowwsers Charlie!! The wheel really looks sooo good!!! The clear coat made the difference!!

 

@shakerhood

My third grade teacher was a middle-aged woman, Ms. Galdys (I remember how to pronounce her name, but not how to spell it, so this could be wrong); I would never want to live in California for numerous reasons, but when I went to school there, I loved all of my teachers. They were genuinely good people who cared about kids and loved their jobs. Ms. Galdys always seemed to go out of her way to help me out when I needed it, and being the car-obsessed Aspie that I was, I asked fairly early on what kind of car she drove...

I remember this like it was yesterday; Ms. Galdys drove a 1987 or 1988 Cadillac Cimarron, as in a rebadged and overpriced Cavalier! She referred to it as a "Baby Cadillac" and absolutely loved it. I have no idea if she bought it new, but by the time I was in her class the car would have been at least nine years old. Ms. Galdys did not come across as the type of person who put tons of miles on vehicle, and the Cimarron was not her only vehicle, so I'm guessing it had relatively low miles for being about a decade old, and always passed California smog with flying colors; I do not remember if Ms. Galdys was married or not, but again, I remember always calling her "Miss/Ms." instead of "Mrs."

Ms. Galdys also owned a fairly large boat (I believe it was a sailboat, but it may have been a regular powerboat); Regardless, a Cadillac Cimarron would probably struggle to tow a jet ski, so her other vehicle was a late 1980s Ford F250 pickup that she used to tow the boat. I remember Ms. Galdys telling the class that she would sit on the boat while it was parked in her driveway and grade our papers...

Ms. Galdys had to be well into her forties at the time I was in her class, so I'm guess she has long since retired; Ms. Garcia would be at least seventy years by now, so I'm guessing she's retired if she's still alive. I looked at the staff directory for Landels and didn't find one name that I recognized

 

Ironically, the school librarian was a woman named Mrs. Worm! The first time I met her, I immediately pointed out the connection to the term Bookworm. All of the kids poked fun at her name, and she was always a very good sport who took it as a term of endearment...

Like my teachers and the other staffers I knew, she seems to have retired or gotten a job elsewhere; She had to be well into her forties in 1996, so she'd have to 60-70 by now!

 

My first crush on a teacher that I can remember was in 6th grade at the age of 11...

Her name was Mrs. Freeman, and she was 26 years old at the time; She actually told the class her age

Her husband was in the Navy, and stationed at NAS Whidbey Island just like my dad; They did not have any kids at the time, and I'm pretty sure they were not from Washington. Mrs. Freeman was beautiful, and one of those teachers who genuinely cared about her students...

I also remember that she knew how to drive a stick shift; Her husband drove a 1995ish Nissan pickup that was a manual, and she drove it to school one time because the bike that she and her husband were donated to Toys For Tots would not fit in her car. One time, I did something wrong in class (I forget what), and Mrs. Freeman gave me a lecture about how she was old enough to be my mom; I did the math on the spot and realized that if she was my mom, while she was technically capable of being my mom based on our respective ages, she would have been fifteen at the time I was born! I kept my mouth shut about this...

I did not realize I had a crush on her at the time, but a few short years later I realized there was no other explanation; I thought she was drop-dead gorgeous, I enjoyed talking to her, and when I talked to her one-on-one I had a tendency to become extremely nervous!

 

@Pinay

I think you'll get a kick out of this one...

In Mrs. Freeman's class, there was a teacher's assistant whose name I remember but do not know how to spell; Her initials were "PMS". I first heard this acronym in a Shania Twain song on the radio in my dad's Pathfinder when I was nine, but at the time it went over my head; My dad gave me "the talk" in 2000, when I was in fifth grade, but I still didn't learn what "PMS" was...

By the beginning of sixth grade, I was well aware of where babies came from, but still had no idea what "PMS" meant; One time, my mom was reading a signed note from the aforementioned teacher's assistant, and I can distinctly remember her amusement at the woman's initials, and making a comment about it. I never got up the courage to ask either of my parents what "PMS" actually meant, though one time that same Shania Twain song (Honey, I'm Home) came on the radio in my Grandma's Lexus in about 2003. My Grandma started laughing at the "With all this stress, I must confess, this could be worse than PMS!" line. I actually asked her what it meant, and misunderstood her as saying "Pre-Mental Syndrome". Later that year, after discussing the same Shania Twain song with a close female friend from school, she finally told me what it meant...

 

Awesome! Or as an ex once said, permanent mental syndrome

 

I saw a meme once saying that "PMS got it's name because Mad Cow Disease is already taken"!

Permanent Mental Syndrome? More like Five to Seven Day Mental Syndrome! That's how long my old boss told me it lasted, anyway...

 

Reminds me of when I was in school, I don't recall the Librarians last name but her first name was Margaret, when it was ultra quiet in there people would scream MARGARET! Her response sometimes would be "I heard that", no kidding as the entire school could also, lol!

 

I forget whether you went to school in Pennsylvania or Ohio...?

 

China makes a clone of the Tacoma, named the Huanghai Major

 

Is that produced under license or no? What's under the hood?