The sound of a bellowing freight train horn was nothing new to the residents of southeastern Sol-City. For most, the absence of the noise would have been usual, even for a Sunday afternoon. The industrial base of Sol City was just beginning to prepare for the work week ahead. [i]Southside[/i] was one of the city’s oldest sections next to the urban core of downtown and the tracks that passed through connected north along the river everything from concrete foundries to steel mills. To no surprise, most of the housing was firmly blue collar and centered on the main drag of Southside Boulevard that continued all the way into the city center. 

Tucked away near a crossing, just a few turns off the mainline was [i]Apex Designs[/i]. 

Outside the open bay door sat a red Jeep Wrangler just barely nosed into the shop enough to keep the rear off the curb. The hood was up and various bottles of different fluids sat on the ground outside, all neatly arranged. On a make shift rope-line stretched across the garage front hung the soft-top’s vinyl windows basking in the last gasps of heat from the Fall sun. A mechanic’s cart covered in numerous tool manufacturers and parts companies’ decals sat idly by the ensemble and somewhere inside the shop a radio blared. On top of the fender sat a canned energy drink wet with condensation. Underneath the vehicle, on a creeper, lay Joel Nicolosi, asleep. 

The Jeep Wrangler was one of only three vehicles that Joel had ever purchased in his life and was the youngest of the same three he owned. He’d purchased it not far out of high school in order to pull his first car out of the daily-driver category. After a decade of ownership it had grown from its mostly stock form into larger tires, various lighting accessories, an elevated stance and its most unusual “theme”. The bright red base had two black stripes that ran over the front and the back quarters with two registration plates on the back: One on the lower corner, the standard Sol-City legal registration reading, [i]RAWR[/i], and in the center of the spare tire, a white and yellow, [i]Jurassic Park i.n. C.R. 85[/i] complete with the logo T-Rex skeleton.

The weight of the approaching freight drag shook the ground gently and one eye blinked open. When the conductor sounded the horn for the next crossing Joel stared blankly back into the shop. Sunday was normally the day he liked to take care of his own equipment, in this case putting the top back on the Jeep for the winter and changing out the transmission and transfer case oils. In the Spring, when the top came off, he did both differentials. It was easy to remember that way. However, he had worked through all of Saturday and most of the night. Fatigue was catching up, or rather, [i]had caught up completely[/i] somewhere around 11am had passed him. The warmth beneath the vehicle and the gentle fall sunlight had been just right to lull him into a catnap. 

The small shop was at capacity with three vehicles. In front, an S13 240SX stared back at him on jackstands. He had stayed up late working on it. There would be new, five-lug hubs for that guy along with calipers, pads, rotors and a master cylinder off of a 300ZX. In a corner the new wheels and tires were stacked and waiting. It would be a smart little street machine when it was done. Beyond that was a BMW X5 raised up on his single lift. Joel hated the car with a passion. Like all X5’s it had a coolant leak and like all BMWs was heinously over-engineered. The spaghetti maze of coolant hoses were a bitch and he couldn’t wait to get it out and charge the customer a hefty sum for his trouble. Finally in the far back of the shop sat an [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/19/2e/1e/192e1e967b949a1b418aff0e06a2701a.jpg]undisturbed 300ZX race car[/url] looking back at him from beneath the 240- [i]that was another matter entirely[/i]. 

He yawned and pushed an empty protein powder tub underneath the drain plug on the transmission and set about loosening the fill plug first as he thought about working all night again and sleeping during the day on Monday. 


Joel's Shop Radio #1
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siF-aZwLZ5w[/youtube]