Tinkering Belles with Tamara Robertson

Tinkering Belles - Annie - Great Race Edition

• Tamara Robertson • Season 3 • Episode 31

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Do you love German Engineering, road rally racing, International Motorsport and general Maker Shop Talk? 

If so, join Tamara Robertson (Mythbusters, Seekers of Science) as she revs up the fun in this all new mini-season dedicated to the Hemming's Great Race and the amazing team of Trailblazing Creators assembled by Riley's Rebuilds!

As a shout-out to Race Sponsor Auto Metal Direct, this episode kicks off with a Tech Talk about Automotive Firewalls before Tamara sits down with VW Enthusiast Trailblazer and Maker Extraordinaire Annie ( @annies_vw )!

Topics they cover include (but are surely not limited to):

- Fire Walls

- Auto Metal Direct

- 1971 Super Beetles

- Volkswagen

- German Engineering

- King of the Hammers Class 11

- Hemming's Great Race

- Psychological Warfare on the Road Rally

- Sweaty Butt Prints

- Riley from Riley's Rebuilds

- Real Deal Revolution

- Shoutout to Theresa Contreras

- The Jessi Combs Foundation

- Being a Trailblazer

- Creating Content on the Great Race

- Passing the Wrench

- Annie's Practical Advise to First Time Racers

- Fairlane Saga

- Endurance Racing

- Representing Canadian Motorsports

- Plugging in your Vehicle (turns out it's a real thing!)

- Canadian Malls

.. and so much more

As we dig into Season 3's 31st episode of Tinkering Belles you're surely not going to want to miss it!

So join in on Tamara's adventure as a Maker as she works to amplify the BAMF Females Behind the Builds one interview at a time! 
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If you enjoyed the show join in on the Maker adventure with Tamara and her guests on the Tinkering Belles Instagram page.

You can follow Annie's adventures here, here, and here: 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/annies_vw/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/anniesVW/

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@annies_vw

Fundraiser for Annie's Build - https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/alvomedia


Music for this Episode was provided by Bill Trowell Music.  Visit BillTrowellMusic.com to hear more and to subscribe to Bill's Patreon, where he covers favorite showtunes, movie themes, classic rock and jazz, as well as requests from Patron's. 

Support the show

Tamara Robertson:

Greetings shopmates and welcome to Tinkering Belles, a show about DIY design and all things hands-on. The sky's the limit as we talk props, metalwork, cosplay, woodwork, leather, electronics, and so much more. I'm Tamara Robertson, your host. So strap on your tool belt because we're about to get into some skill sharing, y'all.

Tamara Robertson:

Today I'm going to be joined by a maker who's sharing her journey one shop day at a time. I don't want to give away too much, but this maker is revisiting her love of German engineering. So if that doesn't make you want to stick around and hear more, then you might be at the wrong podcast.

Tamara Robertson:

But first, let's go ahead and have our tech talk of the day. So we're going to be talking all about the Hemming's Great Race today and the companies who helped us bring strength and safety back to our 66 Fairlane frame. That includes companies like Auto Metal Direct, who supplied everything from floor pans and trunk panels to a new firewall and transmission tuner. So let's back it up. Where did automotive firewalls get their start? Originally a military and locomotive term, the firewall was literally a steel wall between the engine and passenger compartments to protect occupants from heat and fire. Now, in early cars, it was often made out of wood or thin sheet metal, offering minimal protection. But by the 1930s, full steel firewalls became standard in automotive safety design. Now, firewalls today serve multiple functions. They block heat and fumes, protect against engine fires, and provide a mounting surface for pedals, brake boosters, and electrical systems. For performance and restoration, a clean and solid firewall is critical, especially when adapting modern drivetrains into vintage bodies, as we did with the Fairlane. Now, Auto Metal Direct makes OE-style stamped replacements that match factory specs for fit, finish, and strength. Ours gave us a perfect base to build from. Well, that's it for our tech talk of the day. As always, you can join in on the conversation with my maker friends and me on the Tinkering Bells Instagram and X pages. Just search Bells Tinkering, hit follow, and share your DIY adventures together with us. Have a tool you want to learn about? Let me know, and it may be featured in a future episode. Tell us what you liked, what you hated, or possibly even what we missed.

Tamara Robertson:

So now we're going to be getting into the main event. I'm so excited to introduce you to our next maker. So drum roll, please. Annie,

Tamara Robertson:

Annie, thanks for joining me. How are you?

Annie:

I am doing fantastic. I'm so happy to be doing this with

Tamara Robertson:

Thank you for being here. I like to start it off by letting people know where can they find you, follow you, and what should they expect to see when they're there?

Annie:

Oh, that's a good question. So I am mostly Instagram. I love the short form. And so I've got a good following on Instagram. You can find me on Facebook. Instagram is Annie's underscore VW. Facebook is the same thing. I do dabble a little bit in YouTube, but I'm mostly just the short form for right now. And what you can expect is kind of like a daily vlog of what I'm doing in the garage, which is lots of air-cooled Volkswagen in case the VW didn't tip you off. So it's lots of Volkswagen restoration stuff. Like I'm right in the middle of an engine build right now, but I do metalwork, bodywork, everything. yeah just like from top to bottom we just do it all

Tamara Robertson:

and for those of you that aren't familiar with the podcast remember there are lots of chapter notes and links pictures all kinds of fun stuff so anything we mention here don't try to rush and write it down instead click on those chapter notes and check them out now i am a superhero scientist and all superheroes have an origin story we obviously had never met until the no like two days ago two days two days ago yeah 48 hours i've been getting to know you but i would love if you would share with the audience like what is your gearhead origin story where did you get your start and why do you love what you're doing today oh man

Annie:

ah my origin story can i have two origin stories

Tamara Robertson:

you can have as many as you

Annie:

okay so i suppose the the main origin story of just how I love mechanics and stuff like that and just building stuff. Now, I call myself a builder, not really a mechanic, not really a painter, not really in one thing, but I've just always been fascinated with just like all things mechanical, all things building. I think from the time I could pick up a hammer, I was like building stuff and making things and taking things apart, putting them back together.

Tamara Robertson:

nice. It's always good if they go back together.

Annie:

Well, you know, it was always fun for me... Like every pedal bike you ever had, take it apart, put it back together. So the origin story for that is I think I just have always been fascinated with just like how things worked and building things and that sort of stuff. Now, an origin story for Volkswagens is that my first car when I was 16 was a 1971 Super Beetle. And so it was a really, it was a really unique car. And I had a neighbor that was really into VWs. And I remember he brought over like service manuals and taught me how to like change the oil and that sort of stuff. And I drove it through like high school. But then I went to college and it was kind of like, ah, maybe we need something a little bit more reliable because, you know, it's a Volkswagen. It's like, and I live in Canada. And so I need something good for the roads, going to college, needed something a little bit safer, a little bit more reliable. And so we got rid of it. And I knew from the minute that we got rid of it, that a Volkswagen would eventually come back into my life. Yeah. And so like literally 25 years later, one just kind of like dropped in my lap a little bit. Actually, my husband found it for me because he knew that I wanted to do one. So he came home and he's like, I found the one. And it was just a piece of crap. And I thought, yep, that's the one. That's the one. And so, and I, and honestly, I thought it was too late, but then I was like, well, I think it's not too late. You can always learn new things. And like, so we just kind of like dove in. Well, by we, I'm always, that's

Tamara Robertson:

You and the voices in your head.

Annie:

Yeah. Yeah. Someone pointed out to me once they said, you always talk about yourself as we, I'm like, I think it's because there's lots going on in my head. And it feels like lots of people, but anyways, long story short, 25 years later, We were in it. I thought, I'm going to document this. I don't care who follows me, who wants to see it. I'm putting everything out there. And that's how it

Tamara Robertson:

I was going to ask you about the love affair with Volkswagen. And I have to admit that it's for a selfish reason. I've been obsessed with Volkswagen since I was a little kid. Are you serious? Yes. And my dad would not let me get one because he said that buying a Volkswagen was like buying your coffin because every other car in the U.S. was so big that... When you wrecked, you'd be gone.

Annie:

Yeah.

Tamara Robertson:

But I, as that little girl still inside, I wanted one.

Annie:

You still really want

Tamara Robertson:

And I just did King of the Hammers for the first time.

Annie:

Oh, yes.

Tamara Robertson:

I mean, I went to King of the Hammers for the first time this year with the Jessi Combs Foundation.

Annie:

Right.

Tamara Robertson:

Representing Jessi as Queen of the Hammers.

Annie:

Obviously.

Tamara Robertson:

And the foundation. I saw, I think Teresa told me today, it's called the class 11.

Annie:

Oh, the class 11 bugs.

Tamara Robertson:

And they're all bugs and they just have these giant gnarly like bug balls and they're all, I want one so bad.

Annie:

I really want to build one too. And amazingly, because I have some class 11 guys that I follow and I talk to one of them quite a bit. And amazingly, they're all stock motors. They're just like, they're not souped up. They're not anything like a class 11 has to be a stock motor.

Tamara Robertson:

Oh, Because they have the stock class with the bigger ones, so I am aware of that. Yeah.

Annie:

I mean, yeah. And he's not doing it anymore, but I loved his content because he did the same thing that I kind of did. It was just like, this is what I'm doing in the garage today. This is how you do this. And you could totally follow along with the build because those class 11 guys, they just race, rebuild, race, rebuild.

Tamara Robertson:

I mean, with the number that I saw going like this ass over . tea kettle, I think you have to race and rebuild.

Annie:

that would be so fun to build one.

Tamara Robertson:

So, it's funny because, like, I came into this with that being the vision that I got earlier this year. And then going through the mountains of West Virginia today, I was like, I would love to bring a vintage bug here. Because I feel like they're lightweight. They're going to be able to handle curves easy.

Annie:

Well, the manual transmission helps with the hills.

Tamara Robertson:

Oh my gosh, right?

Annie:

exactly.

Tamara Robertson:

I think it would be amazing out here. And can you imagine the little pictures? I know, so cute. I also just want to be taller than the vehicle. I might be a little bit of it

Annie:

Well, we were talking because there are a few bugs out here. And I've talked to those guys. And some of them are running like a stock motor and you know air cooled air cools are that's the the big thing is keeping them cool and uh it's a two ladies are running one it's a totally stock motor and they're keeping it cool and it's not so bad but yeah and so it's totally possible because i came here thinking no way you can't run an air cooled without like full flow and like external oil cooler cooler but they're doing it which is um it blows my mind that they're doing it with this heat

Tamara Robertson:

so it is it is and so . . Let's, let's like talk about the elephant in the room because I haven't even said it. So this is the first live podcast event, right? We're not on zoom. You're not in Canada. We're in person. We are actually on the Hemming's great race right now. We are in Ronoake, Virginia at our overnight stop. It is Thursday.

Annie:

I can right now. It is Friday.

Tamara Robertson:

It is Friday.

Annie:

don't know what day it is. We don't know where we are. We just know we're having fun.

Tamara Robertson:

Yeah. So for those of you that have been following along, you know, this race is incredible. It started in Minneapolis. It's going all the way down to South Carolina.

Annie:

Amazing.

Tamara Robertson:

When did you get onto the race?

Annie:

So I couldn't come right away. I had to drop in at Moline, Illinois. So that's where I dropped in. And that was day two overnight into day three. So I drove that. My first day was day three.

Tamara Robertson:

Okay. Day Three. Day Three Would have been - Monday.

Annie:

Day Monday.

Tamara Robertson:

Monday. Amazing. And I joined on Wednesday. Wednesday. and then drove Thursday. Yes. Yes. And then, well, kind of drove on Thursday. Well, I didn't. I didn't actually. No, you didn't. You were in there. So driving today. No,

Annie:

that's a whole story.

Tamara Robertson:

And so, okay. So the great race like that, it's where we're at. It's what we're doing. Had you ever heard of the great race before you got the, you know, I call it the bat signal that Riley sent out for everyone.

Annie:

Yes, very cool. Very cool.

Tamara Robertson:

Had you heard of it? And if not, when you first started looking it up to figure out whether or not you were in, what were your thoughts?

Annie:

Oh, Okay, so never in my life had I heard of it. Like I'm a builder, I don't really follow the racing scene, although I do follow some of the racers that are on Instagram and stuff. So I'm familiar, but I'm also familiar with like the drag racing and like the track racing and all that sort of stuff. I had no idea that there was a race that was set up this way. And for me, as soon as I started diving into it, I thought, oh, this is for me. Because I am kind of like a numbered Cheers. person because this feels very much like a puzzle like being able to be consistent and be a puzzle and then making up time so honestly when I first heard of it I didn't know anything about it and then we got that little packet of things and I'm going over just kind of reading it and then the directions and learning more I kind of dove deep for one night I just kind of was like zoned in on it and it just seemed amazing to me that they had a race that have to be accurate the

Tamara Robertson:

most accurate it's the most accurate it's a precision road rally race.

Annie:

feels like a game to me, and I love it. It's

Tamara Robertson:

a strategy game. It's a strategy game. I don't feel like I totally know if I'm winning yet, and then I'm like, oh, I

Annie:

did it. And you get to the end, and there is a little bit of strategy involved. We were talking, if you're going to maybe be making the podium, there are little things you can do to maybe trick the person behind you. You know, going slower. So, yeah. No.

Tamara Robertson:

Okay. That's a whole other thing. Everyone else is playing a totally different game than we are in the fairly is what I'm hearing right now. So there's like the physical endurance, the time endurance. We're dealing with a huge heat wave right now in the Midwest.

Annie:

It is wild

Tamara Robertson:

It is insane. Like, Sweaty butt prints have been left on windshields during gargoyle motor moments. I don't know who left those. Who left those? I don't know. No idea. But it is a thing that is happening. And so it is so hot that you're soaked the whole time. You're just dripping. So you're getting no sleep because you're wrenching on the car all night. And then we're creating content. So we're editing up until the early a.m. a 20-hour day.

Annie:

It's like a 20-hour day every day.

Tamara Robertson:

Go, go, go In the heat. But now you're telling me that on top of that, The other cars may be playing psychological games with us.

Annie:

Yeah, so we just want to divert into that just a minute.

Tamara Robertson:

Yeah, I do want to.

Annie:

Someone was telling me that once you get to, because we are day seven. We're day seven. We're day seven of nine. We're day seven of nine, and the championship runs start tomorrow and on Sunday. And they said during the championship runs, the ones that are doing well, they're usually at the front. And so I was told that there is a little bit of strategy involved where the person maybe in front of you or the person behind you might get right up on you so that the person in front thinks that they're slow or something, or the person in front might go slow so the person behind is like, oh crap, we're like, we're too fast or something. It's kind of like a mind game where you're like, are they messing with me? Am I on time? Did I mess up something? Did I miss something? Isn't that interesting? So there is a little bit of a chess game near the end. Yeah. I mean, obviously we aren't doing that, but the veterans, there is a little bit of that going on.

Tamara Robertson:

I thought they were passing the torch to us, but they could be lighting us on fire.

Annie:

They could be, but honestly, it's kind of like if you're here to win because it is there's there's cash money involved so you know they they might just be those last couple days get real sneaky and serious so so while it is a super fun and like it is pretty chill once you get to the end the ones that are like in it to win it yeah you might there's a little bit of strategy involved i don't know we'll see

Tamara Robertson:

this is this has been this is a really interesting thing for me right okay so now that bat signal was put up by Riley of Riley of Rebuild. So like I met Riley doing an autograph signing for fans at SEMA years ago. When did you first meet Riley and how has that evolved

Annie:

So funny thing is, I think we've just kind of been like Instagram followers of each other and admirers of what each other do. I love what she does and all those things. So we've just kind of known each other through social media. And at SEMA, we kind of saw each other, but we didn't really connect like Sema's crazy. You're like seeing so many people. So we were kind of at the same events every once in a while and we kind of saw each other. It was really Dane that I talked to. That's Riley's dad. So I talked to Dadager. Yeah, I love that, Dadager. So I connected with Dane a couple times, but it was really just kind of passing by. But we had, you know, admired each other online for a little while at least. So we knew each other that way. Yeah.

Tamara Robertson:

And what I love about this group of women, you know, as we you're saying we're running 20 hour days. Everyone here is a real deal because one of the biggest rules of the great race is if you're not in the car, you don't get to work on it. And so when you have a day like we had yesterday with the Fairlane where literally just during calibration runs, you're making it a quarter mile at a time. We've literally been nicknamed Vin Diesel because we're living life a quarter mile at a time. It was just like that. You know, everyone's getting out. They're all wrenching. And so, you know, we're all doing this. because our charity partner, the Jessi Combs Foundation. So Jessi actually was a grand marshal back in 2016. And so it makes sense. Like we've got all these women that are the real deal, which was also, they're one of our sponsors as well. And that was an organization that Jessi co-founded with Teresa, who's on the race with us. So before you got involved with this, you got involved with Riley, you found out that that was a charity partner. Had you heard of Jessi? Did you know who Jessi was?

Annie:

Yes, I had heard of Jessi. And mostly it was because just of me starting this Instagram journey for myself, you know, as soon as you're starting to follow like all these amazing women in automotive, she pops up and she pops up. And there are people who are like, like the Jessi Combs Foundation that popped up and Realty Revolution that popped up. And so these things just started popping up and a lot of people just talking about Jessi. And so I did not know her before, but now that I'm like kind of automotive saturated with like my Instagram, I know what she's done and I understand what she's done for everyone. That is really apparent to anybody who's going to know or care to look at what she's done. It's really apparent that she's been a really important figure for women in the automotive industry and racing and all that sort of stuff. So I didn't ever have the pleasure of knowing her beforehand, but I know her now. And she's rad. She's like... who would not just want to be exactly who she is. Like, she is so cool.

Tamara Robertson:

She's so cool. Yeah.

Annie:

And just amazing. I like, and from talking to like Teresa and some of the other people who have known her, they just say she was just, she was, like you said, she's the real deal.

Tamara Robertson:

She was the real deal. She was a trailblazer and, you know, wrenching all the time right out there too. And I think, you know, that, that word trailblazer is something that describes every single woman that is on our team that's in this industry. And so what does, what does it mean to you to be a trailblazer?

Annie:

man, that is a really good question. I think it means doing hard things. I think it means doing the hard thing and that idea of knowing that it's hard, knowing the difficult path in front of you, and you're doing it anyways. And I honestly think that a trailblazer doesn't necessarily think or know that they're a trailblazer. They're just doing it because they either know what's right, or that it's just the passion and they just have no quit and they're gonna do it. And so a trailblazer is just, they know the hard, they know the uphill and they do it anyways. And that's that, yeah.

Tamara Robertson:

Dang, that's beautiful. I think you guys, you know, I do a quote tile for every episode and I think I don't even, episodes done, we're done. No, I'm just kidding. All right. So this has been incredible. You know, we all got to watch Jessie's episode, The List, before coming in. Yeah, so cool. And, you know, she was getting heckled a lot. That amazes me. They've been sharing the stories too, you know, about going too slow, going too fast, being in the way with the creating.

Annie:

they were. like they started to feel like they were just in the way and a nuisance yeah

Tamara Robertson:

yeah yeah and so with it one of the biggest issues was that she had a whole camera crew with her right because they were doing it for the show

Annie:

exactly

Tamara Robertson:

we also basically are a giant camera crew right so Tell the audience a little bit about what you've been creating while you're here and what you're hoping it's getting out to the world.

Annie:

Obviously, we know that we have a whole bunch of female women like content creators and we kind of all have different backgrounds and we're all doing different things like some are really prevalent on YouTube or TikTok or they kind of have their niche and then really neat thing is we all kind of do something different. So basically what I've been creating is my goal here is to not change like what my content style is and I don't I think, you know, I've been invited here to create content. I'm going to do it in the way that I do it. Absolutely. So really, my content style is kind of storytelling. I just like to, you know, show what I've done for the day. And I love doing it in 90 seconds. I think that's a really fun challenge. But my goal has been to create a couple pieces of content every day that hopefully reflect what the day felt like. And I think I've had lots of opportunities to do that because we've had so much trouble trouble with the Fairlane every day like for real but every day has felt a little bit yeah we love her she's a good girl but every day has felt so different every day has had a different feel like the day that we drove and we actually made it to the end that is a day that I hopefully conveyed in a completely different way than the day that we were having just like Like we broke down and we ran out of gas. That's a different feeling day. And so I'm just hoping that when people watch what I did with the content, that they get a feel for what the days can feel like. You're going to have an amazing day where you're rolling through cornfields and the sun is shining and you feel great. And then you're going to have days where you run out of gas and you get off course and it's going to feel, I mean, we're still having a great time, but it's like panic because you're trying to do a timed event. Remember precision.

Tamara Robertson:

So

Annie:

So I'm kind of hoping that people will get a good feel for what it feels like to be here. But then also, I'm really hoping that with the audiences that we all have, that people will see it and be like, I want to go see that. or I think I can go and do that. And especially for the younger demographic, because I think it's true that younger kids are not drawn to this as much because all the new cars that the kids are driving, they don't need to be wrenched on. They don't need to be fixed. If you do, you take it to garage because we can't fix them. So it'd be so fantastic if people saw this and just were inspired to get a project car. or get back to the project car that's been sitting for four years, because that happens a lot. So that's kind of my hope, a little bit of inspiration, a little bit of insight, and maybe just get them excited about if they've got cars or, you know, about the race too. So,

Tamara Robertson:

yeah. I love that. It's becoming a... potentially lost art.

Annie:

I think so too. Yes. Yeah.

Tamara Robertson:

These legacy vehicles are so incredible because they have so many stories. And when you're here, you're talking to the community, you get to learn like where that car was before, where they've been before, what the car has been through. I mean, just over these nine days, the story of the fair lane has been just, you know, and it's like a thriller,

Annie:

comedy. It's a saga. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Tamara Robertson:

It's incredible. It's been an amazing thing. So I have to ask if you could go back to yourself nine days ago before you've come into this race but you know about the race with the knowledge you have right now what are some pointers you would give that version of you

Annie:

that version of me

Tamara Robertson:

other than like wear more deodorant

Annie:

drink more water

Tamara Robertson:

drink more water wear sunscreen

Annie:

well I don't know because in general I'm a very glass half full. Like there's always a silver lining. There's always something like in failure. There's nothing more exciting to me than failing because there's lessons to be learned. So I don't know. I don't know what advice I would give because I've loved actually coming into it totally blind. That has actually I maybe wouldn't want to know anything. So maybe I would just be like man it's gonna be it's gonna suck some days but you're gonna have fun but uh practical advice we'll get into practical advice because there is some practical

Tamara Robertson:

advice

Annie:

i think the advice i would give is to trust your navigator Communicate. I mean, because that's the big thing is that if you can't have that communication with your navigator and have, you know, it coming back and forth because I might need something that my navigator isn't giving me or the navigator is, I'm not giving them something. Communication because there's so many time things and it doesn't end when the race ends. Like there's things that are happening during the night. Like they need to find out when the start time is and they need to communicate that to me. So communication is really important. So that's a really practical thing. If you're able to, so we came into it all cold, right? Like we had never done it before.

Tamara Robertson:

Like

Annie:

if you're wanting to come and be competitive, that's great. Come and be competitive. But I don't think you can do that coming in cold. Like get out with your navigator, build a little bit of a relationship. Learn about your car. Like, if you want to be really serious, you should probably be practicing and, you know, know what your acceleration and your splits and stuff like that,

Tamara Robertson:

how you do that. Know your stopping distance. Yeah, your stopping

Annie:

distance and, you know, how long you... Hot, cold, and other. Exactly. So, a little, yeah, practical advice, you know, lots of water in the car, that sort of thing. But as far as just, like, experience advice, honestly, I love going into an experience blind. and just like experiencing it so I don't know if I'd give myself any experience advice but practical advice yeah some communication things and you know just like taking care of yourself because you can really exhaust yourself if you don't take care of yourself

Tamara Robertson:

yes because it is a marathon not a sprint

Annie:

yeah I'm I'm so impressed like with Riley and Joe who are in the car we could talk about them if you want to but Riley yeah They're in the car, so the two of them, it's just the two of them. We're lucky we have a team. We're switching people out, people working on the car and then driving and then switching. But Riley and Joe, they're in it together, just the two of them, for nine days. And I can't imagine the mental, emotional, physical exhaustion that just starts to pile. So today's day seven. They have two more days. They just need to get through two more days. And so it's just, at this point, Because you're so exhausted in all those ways, I feel like you're just having to manage things until you get to the end. But I got to tell you how impressed I am with how they're managing it. For being, I mean, I'm just going to say, for being kids. Because they're just like, they're not, they're not like, they're

Tamara Robertson:

not, I'm going to say this, they're not seasoned. They're younger kids than we are. Yeah,

Annie:

exactly. But, and for never doing it before, come on, they're killing it.

Tamara Robertson:

Dude, so, and that is the one thing to say is that like, so, riley and joe came into this were handed a corvette that they had never touched never seen never wrenched on that actually is the prize for people at this race to win and then they just got in it and had to go they had never met each other they had never spoken and somehow now finish each other's sentences which is absolutely beautiful and on top of that yeah they are literally sitting in a podium seat right now. They're acing. They're acing. They aced their first run together. Oh, that's incredible. They aced so many of the initial days, which is why they're in the second podium seat. But it is one of those things that like all of the practical advice that you just gave, they didn't have coming in. They didn't have the time to do it. They're killing

Annie:

it. For whatever reason, I think like it was like meant to be. It was written in the stars and they are like meant to rally together. They are

Tamara Robertson:

meant to rally together. it is really true it has

Annie:

been so cool to watch yeah it's been incredible

Tamara Robertson:

yeah so one thing that i think is kind of cool that i'm actually wondering if you've thought about you being here as part of the creator race team makes us an international motorsports race team.

Annie:

You are exactly

Tamara Robertson:

right. Oh my goodness. How does it make you feel to be representing Canadian motorsports right now?

Annie:

I am very proud. I'm very happy. And listen, I had not even thought about that. We are an international team. We

Tamara Robertson:

are an international race team.

Annie:

No, that is so cool. And you know what? I know the great race is like, I think they tour around America, which is so fantastic, but we could do this in Canada and have some incredible routes.

Tamara Robertson:

It would be a lot less hot. I'd like that.

Annie:

would be it would be i like that too yeah because that's what we're battling down here is heat heat humidity yeah it would be a lot less hot but you could also get snow so you just yeah

Tamara Robertson:

yeah so i was going to ask about that because like obviously we're dealing with a lot of temperature issues we are overheating everything we are just having vapor lock issues oh yeah there's all kinds of stuff going on yeah being from the cold What are a couple of things that you guys deal with up there yonder with your vehicles? What are some cold things I'll never understand as a Southerner?

Annie:

Having to plug your car in. You know about that?

Tamara Robertson:

Like, because it's an electric and you need to charge it? No. No.

Annie:

So you don't know about plugging your

Tamara Robertson:

car in? I don't know about plugging my car in.

Annie:

Okay,

Tamara Robertson:

so... What do you...

Annie:

Why

Tamara Robertson:

doesn't it have an outlet? You

Annie:

really don't know. You really don't know. Okay, this is fantastic. So, in Canada, obviously it gets cold. don't work they're not going to do what they're supposed to do they hate it so we have stretches now i think this will translate over because there's a place in the minuses where they celsius and fahrenheit kind of cross so minus 40 that's about about the same for both so when we are in stretches we're minus 40 which i don't think you understand

Tamara Robertson:

at all outside temperature

Annie:

outside temperature wind chill like minus 60 But

Tamara Robertson:

we will just stay in bed. You just Yeah, well, we just

Annie:

Yeah, we stay in bed. But it's just the opposite. Like when you're in Phoenix in the middle of summer.

Tamara Robertson:

Oh, yeah. Phoenix. You stay you

Annie:

stay in your house. So we're when we're in the dead of winter. So this is what we deal with is when ideally you want a heated garage. We have a heated garage.

Tamara Robertson:

Okay. But

Annie:

if you don't, and a lot of people don't, you plug your car in when it's minus 40. And what that means you have a block heater.

Tamara Robertson:

so you plug

Annie:

your car in it keeps your block you know not like above zero or anything it's not like heating it but it just makes it so that your car will start in the morning because if you don't your car is frozen up and it won't even turn over so

Tamara Robertson:

is a block heater kind of like a snuggie for my vehicle no

Annie:

i don't even i don't i've never had to install one or even know what it looks like but basically it just means that your engine compartment is going to be at a certain temperature it's not like above zero but it's like maybe minus 10 Celsius sort

Tamara Robertson:

of thing. There's a little hot box in it. I like it. Yeah, exactly. Okay. So

Annie:

that is what we, I'm so glad I taught you about plugging in your vehicle. I thought you were messing with me. No. I'm not kidding. No. I can tell. I can tell. But that's the thing. Like, I remember in college, it would be like minus 30, and it's, you know, 10 o'clock at night. I'm like, ah, I've got to go plug the car in. Seriously.

Tamara Robertson:

No.

Annie:

I am not kidding. You don't even believe me, do you? I'm going to look it

Tamara Robertson:

up. I'm going to look it up. Guys, if it's real, I'm going to put a link in the

Annie:

show notes. I'm so glad. The look on your face. The look on your face is priceless. I just

Tamara Robertson:

don't know you well enough to know if you're literally just selling me a bridge

Annie:

right now. Typically, I am not very serious. I will take you on a ride, but I'm serious here. We plug our cars in. And it's not, I love your like, like an

Tamara Robertson:

electric car? I have an element and all I can imagine is a cute little pluggy tail coming out. Do you

Annie:

know what? Do you know what? So you have your hood and then you have a little, little like, oh, it would have to be the, the little female, oh no, the male and just kind of sticking out, out of your hood. I'm going to send you a picture.

Tamara Robertson:

Oh, please do. For your notes. Audience, when I get it, I will put it in the show notes and you guys, you're going to have to check it out. Oh my God.

Annie:

Do you want to know something else? I do. We're on this now. We're on this now. So at like malls and stuff and like a lot of like, like at colleges and things where you go and plug, they have like little places you can plug your car in. At winter. You don't believe me.

Tamara Robertson:

Oh my God. Okay. Look, you know what? With the malls, I believe anything because like I went, I went to Alberta. I think I told you this when I was 18. Yeah. I went to the mall of the world. I skated inside the mall. I saw a pirate ship inside the mall. That's

Annie:

Edmonton. Yes.

Tamara Robertson:

They

Annie:

got a roller coaster in that

Tamara Robertson:

mall. There was a casino. Yes. Their malls are different. You guys do malls on a whole different

Annie:

level. Yeah, that was a big deal when they got that done. But yeah,

Tamara Robertson:

so anyways.

Annie:

I'm going to send

Tamara Robertson:

you pictures. You don't believe me. I believe that there's plugs for EVs. We'll see about this. But

Annie:

this has been for like 50 years. This is before the advent of the EV. I don't know. You totally don't believe me. Yeah, I'm going to teach you about block heaters. I'm going to start sending you stuff. And you're going to go down a rabbit hole and you'll be like, oh,

Tamara Robertson:

she was right. Seriously, guys, if this is real, it is going to be a tech talk in the future. And we're going to bring Amy back on. And we're going to have follow-up Q&A with her about other Canadian things that they're hiding from us.

Annie:

No, I guarantee you half your audience, no, three quarters of your audience is like, she's full of it. There's no way. Plug in your car. Like, Honestly, I've had that conversation with my husband. Can you go plug my car in for me? When it's that cold, you just have to. Anyways. Okay. We really went on a

Tamara Robertson:

rabbit hole little journey there. I honestly think that we could sit here and talk all night, but guys, we've already raced today. It's super late. I know. And we still have to go and work on the vehicles. So there is one question, though, that I ask every person that comes on the show. And that is, if you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Annie:

Oh, man. Yeah. I should have been prepared for

Tamara Robertson:

that. You should have.

Annie:

I know. I've been. Okay. Hang on. Any superpower.

Tamara Robertson:

Any superpower or tech. You could have a super technology too. That's interesting. Are you a superhero fan?

Annie:

I am. Okay,

Tamara Robertson:

that's good. That's good. I've had a few on the show that are like, I just don't do superheroes. I'm like, what are you doing here? Flip the table.

Annie:

I think because I hate doing homework for things. I think the superpower I want is like automatic download of knowledge.

Tamara Robertson:

Oh, you want to be like Jarvis. Yes. Yes,

Annie:

exactly. Like Jarvis. Yes. I think I would like that. I mean, I don't need to have super strength. I don't need super speed, but if I want to know something and I like, I'm curious, like we live in an age of like information and accessibility. We can find anything. I like going down a rabbit hole of like finding out how like wells are dug. I did that one night. I don't want to spend three hours doing that. I would just like to download. I would save so much time. So that's what I think if I wanted a superhero power, it's like the automatic download of knowledge. I think that's what I want.

Tamara Robertson:

I absolutely love that. That's it for Tinkering Bells. This episode is assembled and ready for delivery. Thank you so much, Annie. This has been incredible. I love this. Thank you so much.

Annie:

Yeah, absolutely. Okay.

Tamara Robertson:

I'm going to start a tachyometer. to push the button yeah just push the button

Tamara Robertson:

i want to thank you for choosing tinkering bells as your user's manual for all things maker on a bi-weekly basis if you want to continue to hear more don't forget to rate and review the show on your podcasting app of choice as well as sharing it with your friends i look forward to seeing you next time until then don't forget to keep making