Monday, October 08, 2007

On a less annoyed point about things vehicular...

I have a car again. Hooray!

Le Crapmobile est mort! Vive le Crapmobile!

The new guy is a Wedgewood-ish/periwinkle-y blue '99 Taurus sedan. It's a boat compared to the Crapmobile Mark I, but, as the Sasquatch would say, it puts more steel between me and the next cell phone idiot who might hit me. The Crapmobile Mark II comes pre-dinged and with a handful of scratches and a couple of "Union Guys for Kerry" stickers. One of the Kerry doodads will get covered over with my neighborhood's parking pass sticker and the other which will get covered over with a nice set of WASP wings, if I can find my remaining supply from the last reunion I went to with Mom. Either that, or a nice Fifi bumper sticker.

I have to go in for x-rays today. My lower back and neck are still killing me. Last night I finally got to sleep around midnight, but then woke up with stabbing pain around 2, and that was it. I was up, watching Adult Swim for two hours. In retrospect, I should have picked up a book, but I was being lazy.

I realize that, over time, my mind has become very lazy in my off-work hours. I need to start nourishing my starving brain. It's time to get a new library card. I want to read An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England. Sounds like a good way to spend an autumn weekend.

Of course, considering that it's hotter than Hell and steamier than a jungle in Cambodia right now, who would guess it's actually autumn here? I found myself muttering "global warming, global warming" yesterday as I sweat like a pig cleaning out the new Crapmobile. Note to self for future reference: always vacuum out the crushed pile of potato chips from the trunk of car before selling it. Yuck! (Although I did find Irish coins under the potato chips. Strange, but cool.)

At least I wasn't running the Chicago Marathon, eh? Not that I'm *ever* planning to run a marathon, but still. Holy crap! 88 degrees, humidity beyond belief, one runner dead, and 300+ hospitalized? WTF?

Somewhere, Al Gore is drinking a mint julep on a shaded porch, saying, "I told you so."

9 comments:

Heather Meadows said...

Today in the weather portion of our newscast, our chief meteorologist pointed out that while it was very hot today for October, we actually hadn't hit the record high, which occurred in 1941. "And there were far less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere back then. So much for global warming!" he said, and then went on with the forecast.

Unknown said...

I'm sorry you had to get a Taurus,
but hoprfully it will be mechanically sound. Congrats on geting wheels!

Chuck said...

Glad you found a new car! I'm still driving my stylin' 1996 Concorde, but as long as it's running...actually, for its age, it does pretty well, probably due to the fact my father never drove it too much.

Cyn said...

My Taurus is a '98 - we're nearly twins! I've been quite happy with mine. Of course, with my little-old-lady driving, I think I only have 40,000 miles on it. (Does yours have the Duratec V6? It rocks!)

(Hey, jd...what's with the "I'm sorry you had to get a Taurus?" It's a perfectly fine American boat.)

Heather Meadows said...

I used to have a 1994 Taurus...I really liked it, but I traded it in for a brand new Escort in 1998. I totaled that in 2000, and then drove a 1986 Subaru GL hatchback until I finally bought my Yaris :>

I had been thinking about a used Taurus for my next car, but they are pretty heavy, so they eat a lot of gas.

Unknown said...

DearCyn,
"fine American boat"
not particularly attractive
however mechanically sound.

jd

Merujo said...

Actually, I think my new car is fairly attractive. Nice color, nice aerodynamic design. My family has had a lot of Fords - in the last 20 years, Escorts, Tauruses, and now a Focus or two. For us, they've been very reliable. My first Escort died after 13 years of use, and would have lasted longer, had I been willing to put in a new transmission. The Crapmobile Mark I probably would have done the same, had it not been totaled. My mom's Taurus wagon outlived her and was finally beaten into submission by my sister using it to haul a lot of stuff. I hope my current car holds up as well.

I think it's a matter of "your mileage may vary" with cars. I've only owned Fords here in the 'States. (Had a Zhiguli in Russia.) This is only my third car here. Here's to a long life!

Anonymous said...

Kristen has a crazy love of the Taurus. She was happy to see Ford reintroduce the Taurus this year.

Anyway, congrats on the new car. I'm sure the rented SUV was nice, but so not you ;)

Cyn said...

I actually have a book -- "Car" I think it's called -- about the process that went into the design of this particular body style of Taurus. It was actually quite revolutionary at the time, in all its roundedness.

I particularly love the design of the radio and the big oval buttons. Visually and practically, it works for me. And for whatever reason, I'm really happy to still have a car with a cassette player, even if I might only use it once a year. (My CD changer is in the trunk though, which sucks. Although it provides an easy excuse for listening to the same Michael Penn CD for 6 months straight.)

I haven't really noticed the gas mileage being all that bad in mine. Better than a dreaded SUV anyway.