Sunday, May 13, 2012
"New Car
1:48pm
Sunday, May 13, 2012
"New Car
1:48pm
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Last weekend, we had hopes of seeing Avengers. We got to the theater, but noticed our car's radiator fan did not shut off. Fearful of getting stuck, we headed back home. We'd had this problem last year. The fan would run all day until the battery was drained. I considered that Julia's fears about the car were right. She'd kept saying it was making grinding noises and vibrating. The thirteen year old car had nearly 100,000 miles on it. But I kept telling Julia the car was fine. After all, it was paid for, and I was in no hurry to incur new debt. When we got home that Saturday, Julia thought to check under the hood. What a shock to find the pole to hold up the hood was gone! I examined where it had been. The thick strip of metal that had the hole for the loop of the pole to go through had been torn. TORN! That was the last straw! Even if the mechanic was being rough, it should have never tore off like that. If the metal was getting THAT WEAK, what was going on with the car's underside? So we looked up car dealers online. We were thinking maybe a smallish car like a Ford Focus? The car that had the necessary white outside and light interior was a Chevy Malibu 2011. Taking it for a test drive, oh, it is so tight, accelerates so speedily, it is actually FUN to drive. We put a downpayment on it, and will have monthly payments. It was nice not having them. But the poor Cavalier was just too risky. It took over three hours for the whole car buying process to be completed. At the end, when they gave us the car key to the new car, and we emptied out the stuff out of the old one, I noticed that darn fan belt was still running after three hours! It's somebody else's problem now! |
Here's the old Chevy Cavalier 1999 back in January 2000, when it was in good shape!
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This is what I reported of the car then: "Oh, it drives smooth! I like the extra large windshield which lets me get a bigger 'big picture'. The doors are especially ergonomically designed with a comfortable armrest slant, and curved door handles. Even the steering wheel has special hand shaped moldings. There's no doubt, it's one special car. "Now, all we have to do is pay for it."
The new one is 'special', too. It has many electronic fancies that I'm still getting used to. As I said back in 2000:
"Now, all we have to do is pay for it."
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
"Solar Eclipse Photos
5:55am
Our viewing device, Julia punched a tiny hole in a thick paper and let the light shine through it.
Cool shadows the solar eclipse made...
© Joan Ann Lansberry