And the saga continues again...(and then abruptly ends. Then begins, then ends.)
Summer 1997-In comes the 1992 Silver Mitsubishi Eclipse originally named Joshua after my favorite U2 Album, Joshua Tree. You know how God changed people’s names in the bible to better suit them? That is why I changed the name of this car to "Saul of Tarsus". This is because he was persecuting Christians---me especially.
I learned very quickly it was a bad idea to buy a car from a man named Sam who knew little English and operated out of a building the size of a snow cone stand. Also, a valid reason for choosing one car over the other was not that it had a cooler CD player. That aside, it took 3 engines, 2 timing belts, 3 radiators and a myriad of other things to go wrong with it before I had finally had enough. My sweet parents had to finance all of the above as I was a poor college student, so they should be bitterer than me.
I can count no less than 15 places in town where I have broken down. It seems like all of the places I broke down were abandoned hotels, Adult book stores, dark, scary gas stations on the bad side of town. Once this car broke down simultaneously with the onset of a stomach virus. Bad Day.
Now with the spirit of optimism, I would like to point out, that through these experiences I met some wonderful people...among them Benny the mechanic, his wife and (before Benny took charge of the repair) the other random people that would wait at Pep boys during my several hours there. That's where the sweet fluffiness ends.
When Joseph and I finally traded "Saul of Tarsaus" in, we were less excited about our new car purchase than getting rid of that car. We laughed like little children all the way home!
It was after this car that I stopped naming my automobiles. If they were going to let me down this much, I could no longer trust them or be respectful of them, so they became just another piece of machinery to me. Sad, that I had to become this way, because the 4 cars after that were super dependable and don’t deserve my indifference or wrath. Sometimes life (or a car) jades us beyond repair, no mechanic pun intended. But that’s just the way it is!
7 comments:
That's very wise!! You shouldn't name fish either--they will let you down every time :)
Wonderful car memories Cris :)
Holly- especially fish from science expiraments in Anatomy class--those warts he got just before he died were gross!
everyone else- I know I broke the family rule of "blog brevity." I beg forgiveness.
This is one thing that I am really afraid about when we move back to Texas. Right now we don't actually need a car to get around so of course it never breaks down. I am sure that once we move it will start falling apart - and we only have one! We are actually going to try and live in TX with only one car. I have faith we can do it....
We did it for a while - it can be done!!!!
And Cris. . .don't worry about brevity. . .just say what you need to say. . .that's why it's your blog. . .and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. . .there!
I concur with Holly...brevity is for nerds like Burrojoe...the rest of us are bound by solemn oath to share whats on our heart, regardless of its length.
I would only like to pose one question: why do you always break down in seedy places? It raises a myriad of questions regarding where you are choosing to spend your time. Do you lead a sinister double life? Does Burrojoe know? So many questions, so little space to respond.
The zoning in Abilene allows for seedy places to be next door to legitimate ones. Its crazy!
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