The Wheels On The Car Go Round-n-Round...

Cars for me have always had a utilitarian purpose. As long as the car goes from point A to point B, and points 2, c, Da, 3.7, Y, Z,  and home again, it makes for a very happy me.  My first car was a Renault Encore, bought for $500.  We dropped a new engine in it, and at 16, I was the first of my friends to have a car. 

When I went off to college, the car went off to my cousin, and I elected to ride the T.  As a student living in Boston, there was simply no need for a car.  And, quite frankly, no way to justify the cost of insuring a vehicle in the city AND paying for a yearly parking space outside my easily accessible by three T-line apartment building.

When I moved to Florida, I acquired a Mercury Sable, purely because I needed a car fast, and this was the only one on the lot that I could afford.  With marriage brought many other cars purely to satisfy the ex-hole's need for the newest biggest and better truck, including an F150 and a Ranger.  Before children, I also briefly owned a '76 corvette in deep coral blue, although my "husband" deemed it not appropriate for me to drive until it was fully restored.  As with most things he started and never finished, the car was later acquired by a co-worker never to be seen again.

When we moved home, I again, needed a car. And so I bought, again, the first thing available, an Olds Cutlass. Sexy, No?  When it became clear that that vehicle was no longer safe to drive, I bought my very first car off the lot. All. By. Myself.

A Subaru Forester, in forest green.

It was beautiful.  Bought purely on color alone. And a  multitude of conversations with my mechanic, and extensive examination of the bank account to ensure I could make the payments.    I drove that car for 6 years.  I loved it, but the time had come.  Again, I bought the car I needed for work, an older Saturn station wagon with right hand drive.  It has it's good points, although the original purpose of buying it for mail delivery is no longer necessary since we now have a full fleet of mail trucks within our office, it also has it's bad points.  It's very low to the ground, has virtually no head room, and worst of all, no radio.  Well, it had a radio, just not one that works.

Ironic, isn't it?  I work 48 to 57 hours a week, drive 4 to 5 hours a day, and can not  justify spending $300 on a new radio.  And before all you wonderful people out there start saying "Hello Tony!  Perfect Birthday idea!".  Don't.  Quite simply, I don't want to put any more money into this car than necessary.  It has no payment, and when her time comes, I'll be trading her in for a minivan from Hell. 

So while the car still gets from A to B,  it's a quiet ride.

A very quiet ride.

Peaceful even.

Until I pick up the kids.