out to pasture

Nine years ago, after my old Camry dumped all of its transmission fluid on Clark St. by the Theta house, I bought Snowflake, my trusty little Neon. In nine years Snowflake drove me across the country several times and lived with me in 4 states. In spite of some bouts of rather expensive repairs, she was a good little car.

That said she and I recently came to a point where it was apparent it wasn't worth it for me to keep her and she was ready to have a bit lighter use, perhaps. So as one might do with a well-loved horse, instead of sending her to the glue factory, I'm sending her to the country to give rides to children.

Well, really I've sold her to my parents so that my dad can have an older car to drive between the house, the grain elevator, and the chicken farm. I figure that's the equivalent of sending a horse out to pasture in old age. Plus the analogy makes me feel better about betraying my trusty steed :)

So on Friday I bought a replacement car with Diego's much-appreciated help. The new car is a 2010 Honda Civic EX in Urban Titanium Metallic (kind of a shiny, metallic taupe color). I went with the more expensive model so I could have "necessary" features such as a moon roof and audio controls on the steering wheel. If you're a car junky and want to know specs, you can look them up here: http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-sedan.

So... as to the pictures some of you have asked for...





And for old time's sake, here's a picture of the soon to be gone but not forgotten Snowflake. Enjoy being put out to pasture!

more fun with ice

This morning I left my apartment with plenty of time to make my 9 a.m. meeting on time. I did not, however, anticipate having to scape my car. Admittedly, I should have been prepared for this option considering that it is mid-January. What I could not possibly have been prepared for is that once I scraped the outside windows, I would find that there was a layer of frost on the inside of the windshield as well.

It turns out that there's a leak somewhere in my car, specifically in the area of the rear passenger-side seat, judging by the puddle of frozen water standing on the floor. Looks like it's time to take the car in.