After 2 years of work, my rocket is ready for launch. A 2006 Silverado donated its heart, an aluminum block, fuel injected L33 engine. I transplanted it into my western Colorado find, a 1970 Jeepster Commando. At 2200 lbs and 310 hp under the hood, the power to weight ratio is off the charts. I installed a cruise control but I doubt I will ever use it. When you step on the gas, it will straighten out the arm you have holding onto the steering wheel and will put you back in your seat hard. 

My 2 year project did cost me a few bucks but it’s worth every penny. It will serve me for years. When I’m an old man, I’ll be able to jump in my rocket and feel young again. When I’m too old to drag my old bones up and into my little rocket, I’ll hand the keys to my granddaughter or grandson.

There are rockets being built all over our great country – you are all building fiber to the home, fiber to the cell tower and fiber to the business. In the 1960s, America won the space race. “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” – JFK

No less important to the success of our country than the rockets we built that took us to the moon 50 years ago are those “fiber rockets” we are building right now. And when we grow old, we’ll hand the keys over to the next generation and they will serve them for decades to come.

I built a rocket. For those of you haven’t yet, it’s your turn.

By Jim Pilgrim