Do I Fit In Here?

First a little more background. Almost 2 years ago I had a major heart attack leaving my heart damaged in such a way that seriously caused me to rethink what is important in my life. We had to sell the big house (and garage) we raised our family in, sell my collector cars, and move to a 55 Plus community about an hour away from where we raised our family. Don't feel too bad for me as where we live is not an old folks home but a rather upscale community with a clubhouse, gym and an 18 hole golf course. Although it is an hour away from where we raised our kids, our new place is closer to where they live now by a lot.

When I began to regain some of my prior strength, I decided to get a vehicle that mostly sits in the garage, gets polished often and taken out for drives and events occasionally, oh, and it had to be a Car guy's car. After looking at new Mustangs, a couple of Porsche Boxsters and a few Mercedes SLKs, I found my beautiful E46. After some repairs on the tires, suspension, and a few minor under the hood things, it runs like a Swiss watch and handles like no car I ever owned. I have grown to cherish my little Bimmer. It now has 65K miles. It came with a body lowering kit, dropped springs, 18" wheels, tinted glass, a sport and premium package and a carbon fiber strut tower brace. It is my favorite color, Orient Blue with the gray interior. My only compromise was that it has a steptronic rather than a stick.

I figured a great way to get to meet some new friends would be through the CCA. No, I don't think my wife of 38 years would approve of Match.com. Several of my best friends were made through the Buick club, one who graduated from high school 2 years ago. My mistake was going on the popular BMW website forums and going to get togethers that they set up there. I was sitting at a table with probably 25 people all under 30 at a pizza restaurant. They were very friendly but NONE of them talked about their cars, my car or anything BMW related, It was all about hooking up, drinking, who was seeing who, the latest IPhone app, or stuff that amuses 20 year olds. I really felt out of place. I stayed for 20 minutes or so, made an excuse and left. Again my mistake was equating this and my previous attempt as people from the CCA. I doubt they were members.

To rectify this I have contacted my local chapter. I discovered they have a monthly board meeting to which all members are invited and a car care clinic coming up next month. I will try to attend both and give this a good effort to get involved. To answer my own question, I do think I belong here. I just have to make more of an effort to be part of the fun. Thanks everyone for the pep talks. Now, let's see the interior of your Z4.

Aren't these amazing to drive? I appreciate every single drive in my little e46 touring!

Let us know how your chapter meetings work out.