An Ode to the Blue Car...

Don't get too excited. I'm not going to get all poetic here, because really, poetry really isn't my thing...AT ALL! I love English, but I hated the poetry aspect. Call me uncultured, call me naive, but yeah, it just ain't my thing (a prime example of my most excellent English skills!).

But I did want to share the tale of our most fab blue car. It was actually a 1994 Geo Metro. Two door, hatchback. You know the car. They ruled the roads back in their day. But to Abbi, it was blue, and that was about all you needed to know about it. We have a 2005 Dodge Neon, in BRIGHT ORANGE (Rob always likes to correct me and say, "Actually the paint color is Orange Pearl Blast." Whatever, an orange is an orange is an orange...). So when you are 3 years old, the coolness of a car comes down to its color. So we had the blue car and the orange car.

Despite the fact the orange car was 11 years newer than the blue car meant nothing to Abbi. She adored the blue car. Riding in the blue car with Daddy was always a treat. Despite the fact you couldn't hear yourself think, and the thing rumbled along like a tank. I suppose the burning oil fumes could have added to the pleasure. You were so high on fumes it was like a magic carpet ride.

Anyway, the history of the blue car. We bought it in June 2007. Rob had gotten a new job at Clark Builders and was going to be working on the opposite side of the city. I was done having to get up at 6:00am to drive him to work (with a one year old in tow), so I defiantly announced we were getting him a work car. I got that look, you know the one, "whatever you say, honey." Well, in less than a week he was driving that blue car to work. And the price tag? $500. When a woman sets her mind to something...

That little blue car went like stink for 2.5 years! I mean it did literally stink if you were behind it, and I'm sure our neighbors were pooling their funds to buy us a new muffler, but it seemed nothing could keep that car down. We had to replace the starter, which cost about $45. Rob did some work on the front brakes. And at one point some idiot decided to try to steal it. Now first of all, he did a terrible job of trying to steal it. Oh wait, gender equality...right, "he" or "she" did a terrible job of trying to steal it. They used a screw driver in the ignition and scratched it all up, and in the end we had to buy a new steering column because it was so messed up. But seriously, who steals a nasty old blue car? Maybe they were like Abbi and so mesmerized by its color...

Of course like any older vehicle, it had its quirks. There was no interior door handle on the driver's side, so you had to pull the rod to open the door. Did I mention you couldn't lock it? Why? Oh well, because the key snapped off in the hatch, and well, who pays to get that fixed on a $500 car? So yup, you couldn't lock it. And if you did forget and actually lock it, then you put the half key into the hatch lock (which could still open) and crawl through the car. Super fun!

But the best part of the blue car? Hands down? The gas bill! Rob would fill it up for a whopping total of $25 and that would last him three weeks. THREE WEEKS PEOPLE!

In the final days of the blue car, we knew its time was coming, we just didn't know when exactly. We finally took it in to get new tires in October. Mainly because Rob put his hand on the tire to check the tread, and got poked by the steel, the part that's supposed to be inside the rubber. Gulp. So while she was in, getting the tires done, we asked them to look into re-aligning the front end. Well, hello Sally! With an $800 price tag, we knew it was time to give up the ghost. But two weeks ago, when the windshield wiper assembly snapped in half because they had frozen to the windshield over night, we knew this was the end...

So I put her up on kijiji for $250, and we got about 10 replies within 2 days. Now I was totally honest about the car's needs, yet the people came. From far and wide, the suckers... I mean, the people, came. So last night she took what will likely be her final drive. The guy was going to use it for parts. He gave us $200, which is more than fair. A $500 car that Rob drove 5 days a week all over this city for 2.5 years. Yup, we'll take $200! Heck, we might even pay you $200 to drive it away! Abbi understands the blue car is broken, and seems to be coping with the loss well. Poor thing, first her cats, now her blue car. The counselling bills are going to be outrageous...

As for the blue car's replacement? Well, now with two little ones there is definitely no way I'm getting up at 6:00am to drive Rob to work (but I will give a shout out to you single car families. Good on ya!). So guess what we got? A RED CAR! This little gem is a $700 1997 Suzuki Swift. It definitely outranks the blue car in niceness. Rob drove it home last Tuesday night, and came in the house and exclaimed, "Its so nice. All the lights work, the doors actually lock, the interior is actually clean (meaning its not covered in coffee spills and jobsite dust)...but, the seat is so new, its not cushy like the blue car..." Ha, ha, ha!

So my ode to the blue car...

"Bye-bye, Old Blue.
We will sure miss you."

*Yes, that's the new red car in the background. There seemed to be a bit of tension going on between them, so we had to separate them.