.... before all the tosh about Ashley Madison, there was the internet and you didn't need to register to a specific website for illicit activity ..... some simple googling skills and the internet could just as easily offer up your hearts desire .....
For me it all started back in the winter of 2008 / 2009. After a bit of tapping away on the keyboard and soon contact was made ..... a picture was supplied and that was it I was hooked ..... of course looks are not always a per-cursor to desire but when it comes to sophistication you just know that you can be sucked in .....
With Ashley Madison, there is a certain amount of pre-deceit in the deceit it's self, usually there is fake email address, possibly fake names and perhaps even a fake photo with potentially secret credit cards .... how else are you going to pay for your deceit ?
But for me I was upfront, my real name and my real phone number, and once these were exchanged a meeting date was agreed ........ and lordy lordy lordy ...... that first sight, the immediacy of the beauty ...... I don't know about..... you had me at hello ......
I was kappow'd ....... there was no turning back ...... I was hooked ........ time to rip up the rule book...
But like all first meets, you need to hold something back ..... but once away and back into the real world ..... there was nothing else I could think about ..... I couldn't concentrate .... my mind was else where ..... even going to sleep at night .... the last thing I would think of as I fell into my slumber ......... was my new love ......
Once the deal was sealed, that's when I was into new territory ....... I stroked, I loved, I purred .....
As time moved on, it wasn't so much as complacency that crept in, just simply that the real world kept pulling me back ..... and then comes that moment, when you know the affair is over..... there isn't a definable clear reason why you know it is time to let go, but you can sense it ..... sure the love is still there the desire is still there .... but the real world keeps holding you back from your hearts desire ...... no matter how much you may love the object of your affection .... eventually the truth catches up with you and you know it is time to let go.
When it comes to letting go, there's is no doubt it is a moment filled with huge regret, a 1000 whatif's, but somewhere inside you, you know that if you cannot devote all your time and energy to the thing you love most ....... then it will feel the most unloved .......
As part of Operation Pompeii now seemed as good a time as any to sell, not least of which the price of Ferrari's have gone stupid..... most cars that you own for 6 years will depreciate in value, quite significantly .... but with my Ferrari 550 I made a handsome profit of nearly 50% on the price I paid, and even then I sold cheap. But such is the little free time I seem to have these days, I had only managed to drive it some 300 miles in the last year.
I recognise that if you are not really a car person you might think ......... tosser .... or even if you are a car person and you see a Ferrari owner talking about his car you still might think..... tosser ..... to be honest I don't give a rats arse what people think, because I brought the car simply because it was a fantastic car to own ......
There were many times during my guardianship of this car, that I shall cherish for always ..... cars come and go, but some memories are etched in to our neurons, and till the day I die these memories will never fade ..... I have owned some great cars in my time, but this one, my 550 ...... rates among the top 1.
Growing up as a kid on a pretty rough estate in Nottingham, with my parents not a pot to piss in, turning on our telly [oh yes we could at least afford to rent a telly] and there was Danny Wilde and Brett Sinclair side by side, Brett in his Aston Martin DBS and Danny [aka Tony Curtis] in his Ferrari 246 Dino....... and that was it ..... as an 8 year kid I knew Ferrari was the car I loved ..... the 246 Dino a car I still love ..... don't get me wrong the Aston is a great car .... but there was only one car for me ...... little did I know back in 1971 that one day I would wake up and think ....
.... fook I can afford to buy a Ferrari ..... but that is what happened ..... I woke up one day, googled around the internet and saw the picture and that was it I was hooked.
Less than 10 years before I bought the 550, a 246 Dino could be had for around £35,000 .... want one now ? that'll be at least £ 250,000+ please sir / madam {delete as appropriate}. Not bad for a car that cost less than 7 grand brand new.
The 550 is without doubt one of the best cars built by Ferrari, not only was it fitted with a fantastic V12 engine, but the build quality was far superior to it's predecessors and oh my word what a body it was dressed in .... no matter what angle you looked at it ..... it's shapely lines. For sure, for any one who maybe shits money, the 550 doesn't compare to say a Enzo or a F40 or F50 or maybe a GTO288 but as an everyday usable Ferrari then a 550 goes a long way ....
but the truth.... the truth is ....
there really can be no going back .....
For me it all started back in the winter of 2008 / 2009. After a bit of tapping away on the keyboard and soon contact was made ..... a picture was supplied and that was it I was hooked ..... of course looks are not always a per-cursor to desire but when it comes to sophistication you just know that you can be sucked in .....
With Ashley Madison, there is a certain amount of pre-deceit in the deceit it's self, usually there is fake email address, possibly fake names and perhaps even a fake photo with potentially secret credit cards .... how else are you going to pay for your deceit ?
But for me I was upfront, my real name and my real phone number, and once these were exchanged a meeting date was agreed ........ and lordy lordy lordy ...... that first sight, the immediacy of the beauty ...... I don't know about..... you had me at hello ......
I was kappow'd ....... there was no turning back ...... I was hooked ........ time to rip up the rule book...
But like all first meets, you need to hold something back ..... but once away and back into the real world ..... there was nothing else I could think about ..... I couldn't concentrate .... my mind was else where ..... even going to sleep at night .... the last thing I would think of as I fell into my slumber ......... was my new love ......
Once the deal was sealed, that's when I was into new territory ....... I stroked, I loved, I purred .....
As time moved on, it wasn't so much as complacency that crept in, just simply that the real world kept pulling me back ..... and then comes that moment, when you know the affair is over..... there isn't a definable clear reason why you know it is time to let go, but you can sense it ..... sure the love is still there the desire is still there .... but the real world keeps holding you back from your hearts desire ...... no matter how much you may love the object of your affection .... eventually the truth catches up with you and you know it is time to let go.
When it comes to letting go, there's is no doubt it is a moment filled with huge regret, a 1000 whatif's, but somewhere inside you, you know that if you cannot devote all your time and energy to the thing you love most ....... then it will feel the most unloved .......
....... and so after 6 years the time came........ to let my beloved Ferrari 550 go ....
As part of Operation Pompeii now seemed as good a time as any to sell, not least of which the price of Ferrari's have gone stupid..... most cars that you own for 6 years will depreciate in value, quite significantly .... but with my Ferrari 550 I made a handsome profit of nearly 50% on the price I paid, and even then I sold cheap. But such is the little free time I seem to have these days, I had only managed to drive it some 300 miles in the last year.
I recognise that if you are not really a car person you might think ......... tosser .... or even if you are a car person and you see a Ferrari owner talking about his car you still might think..... tosser ..... to be honest I don't give a rats arse what people think, because I brought the car simply because it was a fantastic car to own ......
There were many times during my guardianship of this car, that I shall cherish for always ..... cars come and go, but some memories are etched in to our neurons, and till the day I die these memories will never fade ..... I have owned some great cars in my time, but this one, my 550 ...... rates among the top 1.
Growing up as a kid on a pretty rough estate in Nottingham, with my parents not a pot to piss in, turning on our telly [oh yes we could at least afford to rent a telly] and there was Danny Wilde and Brett Sinclair side by side, Brett in his Aston Martin DBS and Danny [aka Tony Curtis] in his Ferrari 246 Dino....... and that was it ..... as an 8 year kid I knew Ferrari was the car I loved ..... the 246 Dino a car I still love ..... don't get me wrong the Aston is a great car .... but there was only one car for me ...... little did I know back in 1971 that one day I would wake up and think ....
.... fook I can afford to buy a Ferrari ..... but that is what happened ..... I woke up one day, googled around the internet and saw the picture and that was it I was hooked.
Less than 10 years before I bought the 550, a 246 Dino could be had for around £35,000 .... want one now ? that'll be at least £ 250,000+ please sir / madam {delete as appropriate}. Not bad for a car that cost less than 7 grand brand new.
The 550 is without doubt one of the best cars built by Ferrari, not only was it fitted with a fantastic V12 engine, but the build quality was far superior to it's predecessors and oh my word what a body it was dressed in .... no matter what angle you looked at it ..... it's shapely lines. For sure, for any one who maybe shits money, the 550 doesn't compare to say a Enzo or a F40 or F50 or maybe a GTO288 but as an everyday usable Ferrari then a 550 goes a long way ....
But for all it's greatness, for all it's beauty, for the way it beguiled me .....
it was one last lingering look .....
I have no doubt there will be many a day in the future
that I will look back on my affair with fond memories ......
I will even look back and question my sanity why I said goodbye
I will even look back and question my sanity why I said goodbye
but the truth.... the truth is ....
there really can be no going back .....
it's too late the affair is over .....
