Sunday, December 07, 2008
i think there is something special/strange about finding something you didn't know you were looking for. i was looking at some of erik's going away party pictures for the first time today, and in one of them, i saw someone so clearly in the background. i didn't even know this person until at least a week after the picture was taken. i didn't even know they were at the same place i was (well, i do know now, but i didn't then)... and boom. there they are clear as day.
i've come to a conclusion. my cars are allergic to me. there has to be something in my substance which makes my cars, wayyyy more than anyone else's cars, get sick. quick history.
first car: curtis buddy love was a 1984 buick skylark. purchased new by my memere, barely driven, and then i bought it (for a dollar) when i could drive...(part of the reason i got the car, was because we needed an excuse to get her off the road. it was starting to get a little dangerous.) anyway. things went smoothly for a few months. then everything began to fall to pieces. there are two things i remember most about that car. at one point, something in my power steering broke... but it was nothing that could be fixed, until it fully broke. so basically, my left turns worked fine, but my right turns were a completely different story. when i wanted to turn right, i needed to slow down, then SLAM my foot on the gas as HARD as i could, and put my ENTIRE body weight into turning the barely moving steering wheel to the right. THEN i needed to slam my foot on the brake, cause obviously i'm taking a sharp turn at like 50, then throw all my might into getting the car in control. that was probably one of the more interesting aspects of that car. the only other quirky thing it did sometimes was completely shut itself off while i was driving. this was only occasional, but very random. it didn't matter the speed, time, place...nada.
anyway, a few years after getting curtis, my grandfather bought my grandmother a new car. for no reason. so i inherited her 90 mercury topaz. i was pretty darn excited about this turn of events. curtis was slowly, but surely dying, and my financial resources weren't overflowing since i was starting college that month. plus, that car was in just as good condition as it was the day my pop pop bought it in 1990. i don't know why, but i didn't name this car. (i believe firmly in naming things) so, i move out of my parents house and into the dorms. anyway. let us all be very grateful that not only do i have AAA, but i have AAA Gold Plus. i had been paying for a membership for years, and only used them once or twice. in the following two months after i bought the car, i used AAA so much, that i will still be getting a return on my yearly membership when i am in my 50's. you think i am joking? i had to call AAA 29 times in 50 days. do the math. that is more than every other day. there were a few days i needed to call them more than once. i even made a friend with one of the towing guys. he came to my rescue 6 out of the 29 times. no one in my family seemed to think this was as big a deal as i did (maybe cause they weren't the one broke down in south prov. at 3am after getting out the bar i worked at) needless to say, i drove that car for a while
side note: i truly believe not naming my car played a major role in the fact that it was the WORST vehicle EVER. so be smart. don't follow my example.
anyway, a year or so later, my car putt putted its final breaths, and FINALLY i bought a car that I wanted. i got a gray 1998 nissan sentra SE. oh, how i loved that car. his name was malyki onyx saber. he was sweet on the eyes. it was pretty much love at first sight. malyki was a good car for the most part. although, within the first year and a half of me owning the car, i had to replace 13 tires. yes, you heard that correct as well. 13. i bought my car reconstructed, so i obviously needed to start off by purchasing 4 tires. then a few months later, i came out of a communications class, and i had two tires slashed. and later found out there was a pen stuck in the third. (crafty, huh?- i guess that is what a college kid uses to slash tires. resourceful to say the least.) let me first say, i left class at 11am... so this was done in the bright sunshine on a very populated campus. and second... i don't have enemies. don't get me wrong, i am sure i can write you a list of people who do not like me. but that's just a clash of personality. i just can't imagine anyone- at this time in my life- slashing my tires. okay, i'll stop blabbing. that brings the total to eight. a few months after this incident, i was on the way to go gamble with my best friend...it was snowing...it was dark....my tire hit a crater in the road (earth) which was SOOOOO not visible. it literally RIPPED my tire apart in the front, and slashed my back tire. the trooper i talked to that night actually said i was not at fault, because there was "construction," and it should have been "blocked off." damn skippy it should have! i didn't even know it existed until my car fell into it. so now we are up to 10. tire number 11 was the only tire which was actually my fault. i made a stupid turn a little too quickly and my tire hit the sidewalk, and flattened. tire 12: it was winter. i was driving to work, and none of the streets or highways had been plowed yet, so it was SLIPPERY. i literally did 3 almost full 360's with my car in the 15 minutes it takes to get to work. once before the highway, once on the highway because there were two accidents blocking the left and right lane. thank god i didn't kill anyone when i slid through them, because i had absolutely no control of the car at that point. and later, when i was almost at work, i mean two or three streets away, my car started slipping down the hill, my back snuck in the front, and i almost collided with the sidewalk. somehow i ended up (facing the wrong direction) a few feet away from the sidewalk. this lasted about three seconds and then someone else hit my car, and i guess the impact with the sidewalk or something made it burst. and finalllllllyyyyyy. i left work to pick up lunch at the place right around the corner. i went through the drive through, got back on the main street and "psssssssstttttt" my tire went flat. okay, so it wasn't as exciting as the rest, but does it help that this was only a week or so before my car got totalled? i thought so. ;) i want to state, for sympathy reasons, that the person who owned the sentra before me "pimped it out' so i had super sporty tires/wheels. the kind you have to special order. so those 13 tires i replaced were between $150 and $200 each.
and yes, my car died on april 9th; well, 10th actually. The Ex and i were driving home from the game two at fenway park...he drove so that i could drink. i'm very serious about drinking and driving. needless to say, i am the designated driver 98% of the time. so this was a treat for me. it was the first time in months that i was able to be carefree. i trusted him. he wasn't drinking, so i knew we would be safe... well, until we got hit by a black chrystler 300 who ran a red light and pushed our car all the way down a street which was to the right of us. my little baby was so hurt. i'm telling you, the smell of an airbag hitting your face is the worst smell ever. i had been in a much worse accident before, but just thinking of that smell makes me sick. so, moral of this story is that malyki was killed by another driver. it wasn't our fault.
which brings me to sweet jude. so far, jude has been pretty good. my brother did something with the brakes while i went on a vacation once, but whatever... i saw that as routine work. i do not see mean VTi transmissions as "routine!" so now my poor baby jude is out there, on an unfamiliar street, alone in the snow and cold, and there is nothing i can do about it. let me tell you. the service dept. at saturn better be damn sweet to my baby, or momma is going to be madddddddd.
well, that was a long post. i'll put up a picture of malyki when i broke into it to steal my ipod radio back.
yeah, i did this...
1 Comment:
-
Dec 7, 2008, 11:26:00 PM
Oh my goodness. The tire thing! Unbelievable! Your cars must be allergic to something. Maybe switch perfumes and see if that works. I hope Jude is feeling better soon.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
