October 8th, 2025 – In the Rust

“We shape our buildings; then they shape us.”

— Winston Churchill

Before work — and before I’d done anything else that day — I walked into the garage at 5 a.m. The air was heavy with silence, the kind that makes every movement echo. I began cleaning, prepping, and spreading a generous layer of rust-removal gel across a small sanded section of the Mustang’s body.

Clearly, I was more excited to tinker with the Mustang than to get ready for my actual job. The gel needed thirty minutes to do its thing, so I decided to get dressed for work, tidy up, and let chemistry and patience do their dance. My thought was simple: if it stripped away the rust and left me with a clean surface for paint, I’d call that a good morning.

Unsurprisingly, that’s almost exactly how it turned out. After cleanup, the metal had a faint white sheen — raw, like pre-polished steel waiting for its next chapter. Tonight, a quick buff should bring the shine back, and with it, a little more proof that the act of rebuilding something old can quietly rebuild you too.