anybody who knows me, knows that i love things very very intensely. one look at the "less than perfect" relationships i have hung on to in the past, and you see the sorry truth in that statement.
this kind of endearment carries over to my material possessions also. that's why i have a house named mabel and a car named ernie.
ernie is the subject of this post. i bought him on the way to hyvee for groceries about 9 years ago (can you say "impulse purchase") - he is a 1997 ford explorer. not really a glamour vehicle, but he's been good for me. he is shiny red - even now - and hauls everything i need from menards with ease. he has a cd player that doesn't work, and some rusty running boards, but you know - we are friends. he is cheap to drive and up til now has been relatively maintenance free.
this summer, i had to put about $800 into the brakes. i figured this out when i came sailing onto an off ramp on the interstate, and could not stop. doh. good thing i live in south dakota and NOT ONE other person was in the area when i whizzed thru the red light. $800 was a small price to pay to ensure THAT won't happen again.
then, i bought new tires. $400. not a big deal, except that for some reason - they don't hold air. i'm not a tire genius, but it seems to me that holding air is one of the more major functions of a tire. needless to say, i have learned to operate the fancy air machine at my neighborhood gas station, because i have to fill them up about once a month.
so, fast forward to this morning as it is 2 degrees outside. i had an out-of-the-ordinary 9:00 meeting - usually i don't schedule anything until at least 10 or 10:30, because, hey - i don't have to. but i go out to start ernie at about 8:30, and NO GO. okay, that sucks! i had some troubles last year, and no, it's not the battery. but when i called a guy to jump start me last winter, he just held his foot down all the way on the gas and got ernie going. so, it took 3 trys, but yes, that seems to work.
i cannot imagine myself doing this kind of thing repeatedly all winter long. #1 - it seems like a "maybe it'll work, maybe it won't" kind of thing, and i like a few certainties if i can have them. #2 - don't i deserve a new vehicle? i mean, really, i think i do. #3 - i know that we live in a disposeable society, but is throwing away a ten-year-old vehicle with 112,000 miles really throwing it away? is love really love when you decide you don't anymore?
nevermind. i know the answer to those questions. just wish me luck that i'll call a repairman, and not go buy one of these.
7 comments:
that new car smell is mighty tempting. and ten years IS a long time. and it IS christmas. and we DO have a truck with 297,000 miles on it, so what am i talking about? take ernie to my dudes at campbells. they rock. i owe you a ride while they're working on it.
oh, carey is right about the smell... if you must hold onto ernie for a couple more months, pamper him and yourself with some "new car scent" febreze. works every time.
you know I REALLY hate to be the voice of decent, here - but alas, I am a GUY!
Ernie is great, and I understand the attachment. But maybe it's time to move on. C'mon, I hear the googly tone in your voice when youtalk about a new Honda Element or a Bug. It's like high school puppy love all over again!
I'm off work today, and always in the mood to car shop ;-) Give me a jingle!
haha.
i am laughing at the fact that Carey and Cassie are twins, which they aRE (i am so lucky to have you both!!)
and that Dave just wants to buy a car. Dave, just notice that it's a safe, practical Ford Escape that i have pictured :)))
I see the "safe, practical" Escape. But in your heart you know what you want. You're an artist...and you won't be content with safe & practical. (you said something to that effect a couple weeks ago).
Plus, you know you can have it all - Elements and Bugs are also safe & practical. The BIG difference is, they say "I HAVE STYLE!"
um, but i don't have style. ernie is a ford explorer.
:)
EXACTLY! Now's your chance.
What will you choose?
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