Time to Say Good-bye

There are two of us and we have three vehicles (Doug also has a 1967 Camaro) – all of which are unable to accommodate more than 2 people comfortably at a time. Which isn’t a problem when it’s the two of us but becomes somewhat problematic if we have say, the grandchildren to ferry around or groceries to buy and it’s raining outside.

So after MUCH consideration and discussion it was agreed – I would trade my Miata in for something a little more practical and a lot safer. (my granddaughter Jenna is heartbroken – “but grandma, I LOOOVE your zoom-zoom car”). We would keep the truck until it drove itself into the ground because Doug still loooves his truck.

Oooh, it’s so pretty and new and it does everything. I got a cross-over SUV (why do they call them cross-over – like they went over to the other side???)

All I have to do is get in and turn a key. It does everything else, including turning on the windshield wipers when it starts to rain. There are 15 airbags - I'm pretty sure they will smother me if I ever get in an accident - but at least I won't be all bloody, which makes me faint. It also came with a navigation system and a backup camera.

I got the vehicle home and, of course, Doug went out and played with the navigation system, downloaded some music, input some GPS way points, connected the phone to the bluetooth system and then realized “hey, this is waaaaay better than my truck”…..

It’s only a matter of time….

It was Fun and it was Flirty

I used to drive a Miata. It was a fun car to drive and it looked awesome. But you know, just not too practical. Like, if I had to pick anyone up from the airport their luggage couldn’t be bigger than a postage stamp. And if I parked in an empty part of the parking lot, I could lay down a huge bet that when I returned, oversized vehicles on steroids would be parked on either side of me even though there was a whole other acre they could have parked in. And big trucks driving beside me afforded me a view of their Miata sized tires and scared the bejeesus out of me. And the time that Sharon and I went shopping at Ikea in the winter and when we came out realized that we had forgot that we brought my Miata and Sharon was very pregnant AND had bought a lot of stuff and it was SO cold and we had to put the top down so that everything (including the baby) would fit. And it’s NOT a good idea to smoke with the top down – not that I smoke anymore….

Doug drives a Toyota truck. It’s getting on in age but still runs and the rust spots aren’t too bad yet. Doug babies his vehicles. Just ask his kids, my kids, his nieces and nephews – they grew up knowing “Don’t TOUCH the paint!!!! – don’t eat anything inside!!!! – don’t breath!!!!! (ok so I exaggerate – actually just a little)”. Suffice to say that we would have been better off parking the truck at home and walking to where we were going because most of the time it went like this:

Me: there’s a parking spot

Doug: hmm

Me: what’s wrong with that spot?

Doug: I don’t like it

Me: but it’s close

Doug: I don’t like the car I have to park beside

Me: ?????

Then he would drive for a little while longer and with great satisfaction say “here’s a great spot” and I’d say “but this is Burnaby and the mall is in North Vancouver”.