Cars ( not the movie)

Well, we bought a "new" used car.  We had to.  My beloved Saturn, with too many miles on her to think about, finally gave up the ghost.  We took her into the shop and they told us how much it would be to fix her THIS TIME and I just finally said "enough"  I loved that car!  It was "my" car, even though I bought it with my ex after he totaled the other brand new car we had bought a month before.  My ex had the singular distinction of having been in an accident in every car he had ever driven.  I think that's some kind of record. I am a little more careful behind the wheel. 

Still, I need a car I can count on to take me out to 29 at a moment's notice, as I await the arrival of "Little Bob"  I could not depend on the Saturn anymore.  The AC went out in 2008 and I really don't mind driving a car without it, but NOT with Kate and the baby.   My first car was a VW Bug, nicknamed Hans, or Hansel, because he left a trail of oil wherever he went.  I got so good at adding oil I could jump out of the car at a stoplight and pour a can into the car before the light changed.  It was like being on a Pit Crew.  I loved THAT car too.  We sold it to a friend who made it into a Baja.  It was sad....

I remember being in High School and my mom letting me take her Candy Apple Red Maverick to school as long as I picked her up from work on time and put gas in the car.  Gas was around 33 cents a gallon back then so it was not a big deal!  I was remembering the feeling of freedom when I first got my license and my car.  My folks bought me the Bug when I started college.  Bugs are incredibly fun to drive, at least that's how I remember it. It was a stick shift and I remember going up a VERY steep hill in Downtown LA one day, panicking as I hadn't really mastered the "start on a hill" thing yet. There was a traffic officer at the top of the hill, directing traffic.  I believe she saw the terror on my face as she waved me through the intersection.  I can sill remember the relief I felt and the cheers of my friends who were riding with me!

Growing up in California in the 60's and 70's I was and I am fully immersed in the car culture.  I remember "cruising" Van Nuys Boulevard, although not so much as I thought it was a waste of time.  I go to car shows and races and I "oooh"  and "ahhh" at some tricked-out ride.   I am looking forward to a long relationship with my new car, I had the Saturn almost 14 years.  I am singing Neil Young's "Long May You Run" in her honor today.   We are going to try to sell it, it's a great "project car" for someone who has the money.  It's a v-6 L300.  They don't MAKE Saturn's anymore.