If ever there was an unexpected treasure hidden behind a plain exterior, this is it! Anyone who has lived in Richardson, Texas as long as I have will remember the building on Campbell and Nantucket as the original Sterlings catalog store. After that, it was offices. Recessed off Campbell, is a nondescript building, except for the fact that there are now huge letters on the front that say Classic Cars, Banquet Rooms and NTX. The world has changed a lot. Most people don't know the names of all the cars on the market. Two cars in a family is common. People are busy and don't want to take the time to shop for that perfect car. Families with kids want SUV's. Everyone wants energy efficiency. Instead of asking how much horse power, people are asking how many miles per gallon.

To give you an idea of the depth of the collection, on display is a 1926 Rolls-Royce. Wilbert Grinsven, the curator tells me that there were only two years that Rolls-Royce manufactured cars in the United States. Those years were 1926 and 1927. This car is one of the few Rolls Royce's made here during that time. The auto manufacturer decided that it was not economically feasible to continue manufacturing autos in the US and closed its factory here in the states after only 2 years. Another example of a beautiful old car is a car used in the movie "Driving Miss Daisy". http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1959-chevrolet-fleetside-pickup.htm&rct=j&q=&esrc=s Sales of Ford's Lobo pick-up truck are falling sharply with Mexican consumers because as it turns out, the truck is a favorite of cartel hit men and drug runners. Drivers are now afraid to drive the truck out of fear for being mistaken by cartel gunmen as a rival. As my eyeballs came back into focus, I watched him unfold the same pocket knife and as he bent to retrieve another chile from the plant, I prayed it wasn't for me. Realizing it wasn't I thanked the great capsicum god in the Hatch volcano and considered crying. My mother and father enjoyed much of their leisure time with drive in movies, watching TV shows such as MASH, All in the Family, Dukes of Hazard, and Andy Griffith. They enjoyed the music of Merle Haggard, Freddy Hart and Conway Twitty. Lastly, they enjoyed fast cars as well as many people did in the seventies. Drag racing was a fun event for both my mother and my father. In the seventies my father owned a 1972 Ford Galaxy 500, 1970 Road Runner, 1973 Ranchero, and a 1976 buy truck and trailer. The cost of a new vehicle was around $6000. Over all, the most rememberable event for my mother in the seventies was in 1977 when Elvis Presley died. To digress a bit, I need to tell you that Sgt. Grace lied. First, the language I was assigned to study was Vietnamese. Second, after going through the 101st Airborne Division's jungle combat school in Phan Rang, I was assigned to the 1st Brigade, a reactionary unit. I joined them in Dak To, and early the next morning was flown out to join an artillery battery in what was called "Operation Eagle Bait". Didn't take long to find out we were the bait, and Charlie was the eagle. The objective was to tempt the Viet Cong into attacking us, then bring in an assault wave of Huey's loaded with infantry, and wipe the enemy out. What I quickly discovered is that there is nothing in the world comparable to the first night you are brought out of a deep sleep by M-60 machine gun fire. My husband's best friend Jake is the lead contractor for a large construction company on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. Last year his firm was granted permission to build a brand new home Extreme Makeover Home Edition in Armada, Michigan. A little later I waved my hand around in front of my face to clear some of the smoke and give myself a line of sight. I drained my beer and told Murphy that I had to bail. He slapped me on the back and headed toward the old scarred pool table. As I walked out into the sunlight I was thinking that I'd never have to see the inside of that place again.