Saturday, September 20, 2008

Love/Hate Relationship

Cars. They can be so wonderful: getting you from A to B, acting as a little bubble that shields you from the rest of the world, while you sing along to your favorite 80's tunes. I'm one of those people that actually loves road trips-- eating junk food, playing "Would You Rather?" (as in "Would you rather have the magical ability to stop time, or never have to brush your teeth again?"), zoning out as the scenery passes by...

Yes, I am a great lover of cars. I've had some cars that I've adored: the Honda Accord I got in college that felt so luxurious & grown up at the time; my Isuzu Trooper that is big & comfortable & easy to drive. I've had some cars that I've hated: Diablo, the Volkswagen Beetle that was as evil as Cruella DeVille; the Buick LeSabre I had donated to me that was affectionately named "The Couch".

The recent bane of my existence has been our Jeep-- the little
Wrangler we bought before moving to San Francisco, so we could have something tough & reliable & easy to park. Well, at least it was easy to park. I'm going to miss parking that little booger.

This summer, after dropping yet another thousand dollars into The Money Pit, Chris & I finally decided t
hat enough is enough. Our conclusion was that we would never find that magical moment when the Jeep was finally "fixed", because as soon as one thing started working, it seemed like we would turn around and find something else rattling & squeaking & leaking oil.

But tomorrow-- tomorrow, our sorrows will finally be over, and all will be right with the world. Tomorrow, a wonderful woman (who hopefully has better karma than we do) will buy our adorable little Jeep & drive off into the sunset. Huzzah!

I honestly hope & pray that it will never cause another problem, never leak another drop, and never make another "uh-oh" noise. Over the last several weeks, it has been behaving beautifully-- almos
t tricking me (yet again) into thinking that it was the perfect car for our city lifestyle. But I'm wise to it's game. Just when it was behaving its best, looking its prettiest, and parking in the smallest spots imaginable, we sold it off to the first buyer. I will not be fooled.

So what's next? For now, we are a one car family, with too many bikes to count, and public transportation nearby. Our plan is to start researching the Toyota Matrix and the Honda Element, and hopefully trade in our geriatric Trooper for something a little peppier in the near future.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank God!!!! Go w/Toyota. Remember, Honda's tranis go after 100plus miles.
Mom