Love of my life Lisa, the only reason I'm still above the worms at this point. Seriously...
Story of this pic - which I admit, isn't the most flattering and yes, she most definitely WOULD kill me if she knew (so mum's the word, wiseguys!):
This is the 2nd 440 I yanked out of Fred in 2017 (the 3rd still resides betwixt the fenders today, the original being long gone before we ever got the car).
Said engine was then blocking her assigned parking bay in the garage - and it's a really cold and blustery day that day - and this big ol' lunkhead wants her to come out to the garage for a photo, which she hates having done to her anyways.
I finally resorted to saying the sooner she agreed, the sooner she could have her parking spot back, so she throws a coat on over whatever house scrubs she's wearing at the moment and comes out to the garage, which has no heat - then refuses to smile, just once, for a pic.
Again, I had to resort to extortion - "you no smiley, me no get your car back in here".
This is what I got - yeah, y'all know what's behind that smile...
She got her car back in the garage - and shortly thereafter, I acquiesced to her own demands, swallowed my pride and waited on help to arrive before attempting the install of the replacement 440.
(She never admits to worrying over me, redhead you know - but she does, rather forcefully when needed).
She's never turned me down when I ask for her help and although she had zero interest in mechanical things, she does have a working knowledge of the basics.
That said, she's got quite the leadfoot and she ain't no furrin car lover.
She also attends the various events and cruise-ins with me, sometimes just because I want her to.
She has no desire whatsoever to drive Fred, though - she's witnessed what a handful he is to drive (manual everything + stiff-assed clutch + general lack of braking power).
A rare sighting of her behind the wheel (two engines ago, mind you - if you listen close, you can almost hear the Comp cam wiping lobes just sitting there):
Lookit....
As much as one might expect otherwise, on the very rare occasions life has put me in a spot that I didn't see any other way out of a jam than to sell Fred the GTX, it has always been my wife (the same wife who fusses about how much the car costs usually) who has looked me dead in the eye and said "NO!"
As much as you might imagine me to be exasperating to live with - and trust me, I am - this fiery redheaded Yankee wife of mine somehow manages to love me all the same.
I am blessed - and this time, I'm finally wise enough to realize and appreciate that.