It may seem a bit odd to title this blog as I have, however the title encompasses many things that have come together just in time for us during our build so at different times it would be named slightly different: by the grace of Hyundai, by the grace of EV components, by the grace of Capitol City Tool and Design, and most recently By the grace of the State of Illinois.
You see, by the grace of ____, the money, parts or invaluable knowledge has come our way, just in time to keep the project alive. Right now money’s tight for everyone, even the state of Illinois, but I guess that’s kind of lucky for us in a way. You see, I’m taking this week off to work on the car which wouldn’t have been possible if Illinois wasn’t short on money because otherwise they never would have started up a voluntary furlough program. So yes, I’m helping the State of Illinois to balance their budget by doing my part and taking many, many unpaid furlough days *sigh*. You may ask, how can he afford this, did IMW get a big sponsor, is Kevin just pulling our leg? (In a cheesy announcers voice, “The answers to this and many more question can be found by pressing the donate button on our website.” No, seriously, press the donate button on our website.)
Actually, I’ve asked myself this question many times throughout the build, not only now that I’m on an unpaid furlough vacation, and the answer has always been the same: how can’t I afford it? When the team and I decided to take on this project over 2 years ago and I became the defacto team leader. I knew it was going to take all my free time, but it slowly started eating up all my free money, then all my money, but by then the idea had grown. We knew from the beginning that it was possible to build the vehicle we had envisioned and we thought we could do it, but nothing is a sure thing. However, as the car began to take shape, as our ideas started to reveal themselves in steel framework, suspension, and tires and our calculations continued to prove themselves out, we began to realize not only could our vehicle be built but it could exceed our initial design parameters and expectations. And with our understanding, our ingenuity and drive grew as well; where could we get the parts, how to find more sponsors, can we get more time of work, what parts can we put off buying until the next paycheck….or twelve next paychecks down the line. This is simply the next step in that endeavor: how can we get more time to work on the car…and it was answered through a financial crisis for the state, furlough days.
So here I am, I’ve found the time I needed to work on Seven this time around, which is currently…By the Grace of the State.
Will the next one be…By the Grace of (enter you or your companies name here) [In a cheesy announcers voice, “Press our donate button and find out!·”]
