The pavement outside Heimie’s Haberdashery is a dichotomy of neatly arranged, aged brick pavers fused with recent slabs of imposing bland concrete. In a world of e-mail, hybrid technology and multi-tasking, Heimie’s itself is a dichotomy – a throwback to the era of leisure, attention to detail and time to kill.
Dave Arnold prefers his ’32 Fords and his late 1960’s Chevy Chevelles, and he couldn’t be blamed for having poor taste; both models are perennial favorites with hot-rod enthusiasts. Arnold, however, is not your run-of-the mill car maniac. He’s also the founder and president of CarTech Inc. a publisher of do-it-yourself automotive guides, based in North Branch, Minn.
My editor gave me a dollar bill and told me to write a story. First I thought I would interview a homeless person or catch the bus somewhere, but those stories seemed passé. Somebody has written about homelessness or mass transit. If not, somebody will come along and write them better than me.