Chapter 4:  High School

 

Perhaps this should have been titled "High Schools" as Shawn attended two high schools.  The first was Clinton High School in Clinton, Iowa, and the second was Davenport North High School after we moved to Davenport, Iowa.  While in high school Shawn continued to play in the orchestra and progress through the levels in Tae Kwon Do. 

 

Shawn didn't like to hang out with his parents much but he could be coaxed to participate in a few family activities.  One example is decorating the family Christmas tree.  Here's a couple of short videos of Shawn helping to trim the tree in 1992 and opening presents in 1993.

 

 

We had to drive down to Burlington when it was time for him to test in Tae Kwon Do to move up to the next level.  I remember that the last testing he went to required him to break two boards, one by foot and one by hand.  I purchased a number of 12 by 1 pine boards at the local lumber yard to make practice boards.  I cut dozens of 12 x 12 x 1 inch squares and cleaned out the garage.  Shawn had been told that he would need to break two boards at a time which is quite difficult.  That later turned out to be false, he only needed to break one at a time, but we practiced breaking two inches of pine.  I had to hold the pine boards while he attempted to kick at the center of them, however, he did not always hit the mark and my aching fingers often caught the brunt of his kicks.  Of course he complained that he missed because I had flinched, which, after a few smashed fingers was probably true.  After a while we had a pretty good stack of kindling and Shawn felt he could break the boards on testing day.  Here is a short movie on his testings in Burlington.

 

This is Shawn breaking boards on his way to earning his brown belt.  Notice that the two instructors holding the board are not looking at the board or Shawn.   Clicking on this picture will show a short video of Shawn during a couple of his Tae Kwon Do testing sessions.

 

Shawn also continued to play the violin in the school orchestra, but that's another story.  See the next chapter.

 

It was during his time at Clinton High School that Shawn took driver's education.  We thought that it would be a good idea because of the lower insurance rates it would produce.  Besides, it would be better for him to "practice" on someone else's car.  He passed the course and soon had his operator's permit.  He loved the idea of taking my Buick Somerset to orchestra or play practice (he was in the pit band).  About one month after he had gotten his license, we were walking out to the car so I could take him to school.  Just as we got to the garage door, Shawn said, "Dad, I have to tell you something.  I had an accident."  The front of the car was a mess.  He had been racing with one of his friends on the snowy, icy roads and had run into the back of his friend's car.  He said that he didn't tell us when he got home because we were already asleep and didn't want to wake us.  How considerate! 

 

After we got the car fixed, we made Shawn a deal.  If he would pay the deductible for getting the car fixed and pay for maintenance, he could use the Somerset like it was his own. 

 

 

I bought another car for my own use.  We found out later that most of the practice driving done in driver's education was on simulators, not actual cars.  We also found out that within three months after his group completed driver's education, every one of them had at least one accident.  Shawn did not like the idea that the car was not really his so he set out to buy his own vehicle.  This began the parade of bad car decisions that plagued Shawn. 

 

The first "car" that Shawn could buy was an old Ford Escort.  It was a four cylinder, four speed stick with no options.  It was hard to start, idled way too fast and needed some serious body work.  But, since it was the only thing he could afford, he wanted it.  Shawn drove the car home as I followed.  I couldn't help but laugh as he stalled the car numerous times trying to get it home while the car left enough smoke behind it to kill all the mosquitoes in four counties.  Shawn had not allowed for the cost of title, tags, etc., so I ended up picking up that tab.  Now after he got it home, he said he was concerned that it kept dying when he trying to start out in first gear.  Clearly, the car seemed to have no power.  At first, I assumed it was because of low compression but I could tell the little four cylinder engine was missing on at least one cylinder.  So I did a tune up on the engine with new plugs, wires, distributor cap and readjusted the carburetor.  After that, the little beast was drivable. 

 

Shawn decided to improve his transportation and saw an ad for Monte Carlo.  He got rid of his Ford and bought the Monte Carlo without taking a test drive.  When he attempted to drive it home, it wouldn't move.  He tried to get his money back, but the guy would not comply.  He stated that he had only said that the car "runs" meaning the engine worked.  He had not said anything about the transmission.  This was the same time that we were moving to Davenport so now he had a car that would not move and that he couldn't give away.  So we ended up towing the car down to Davenport and parked it in front of the house.  We purchased a used transmission from U-Pull-Apart and attempted to swap out the transmission while the car was still parked in the street.  We must have been a site.  It was raining while we crawled under the Monte Carlo to remove the old transmission.  Since the car was on the side of road, rain water formed a small river that washed over us while we lay on our backs attempting to break loose the rusted bolts and fittings.  Somehow, we disconnected the old transmission and removed it from the car, but we could not hold up and align the "new" transmission.  So against my better judgment, we pushed the car up the driveway and into the garage.  I rented a transmission lift and we were able to install the transmission in relatively short order.  However, when we started the car, it started to run hot.  It was low on antifreeze.  Adding more antifreeze produced billows of white smoke out of the tailpipes.  Not a good sign.  So now we removed the cylinder heads and found they were definitely warped.  So I paid to have them cleaned, milled and ported.  In the meantime we located a better carburetor and exhaust system.  When we put it all together, the car actually ran and, better yet, it actually moved.  However, the front main seal was leaking oil so I made Shawn park the car in the driveway or in the street.  Shawn forgot to check the oil and within a few weeks of getting the car running, he fried the engine. 

 

Shawn had similar experiences with other vehicles, with all too frequent trips to "Dad's Garage" to make repairs.  Shawn had to continually stay employed just to pay for his car repairs.  One of the last adventures was with a Chevy Blazer 4X4.  Again, this vehicle had serious mechanical needs.  First, the transfer case was shot and he paid a fortune to get it fixed.  Then the engine was ailing so Shawn decided to do something radical.  He purchased a race cam, new lifters, main bearings, 4 barrel carb, and tuned headers.  We pulled the engine and tore it apart.  After some help from a local speed shop, he finally got it all back together and working. 

 

 

Unfortunately the headers got in the way of the front axles so he removed them and his 4X4 became a two wheel drive.   It did sound awesome and had a lot of "get-up-and-go", but it kept breaking things, clutch, universal joint, brakes, etc.  So although Shawn had invested thousands of dollars into it, he eventually sold it to a friend for next to nothing. 

 

There were other cars, like the Chevy Camero that we had to drop an engine into.  Then he smashed it and sold it to a junk yard.  But he eventually combined resources with his girlfriend to lease a new small pickup.

 

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