Where Bloggers Live: My Home Away From Home ~ My Car
Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes? Every month a group of six bloggers share their work-spaces, homes, towns, and more!
This month we’re taking a look at our cars.
I’ve had…10 (?) cars…and I’ve loved them all (except the Heartbreaker…the VW Passat Wagon that I’d so coveted but that turned out to be a LEMM. ON.)
I’ve killed some…I’m looking at you VW Scirroco whose engine seized when I failed to pay attention to the oil light…
And Mustang #1 (my first car…my BELOVED first car)
He looked like hell, but he had the back-up lights on a SWITCH, that I could turn on at will and terrify the drivers behind me…and an actual air conditioning unit installed under the dashboard and two fans (like…desk fans) mounted on either side of the rear window…and a hole in the floor on the driver’s side so I could watch the road fly past beneath as I drove.
I totaled him on my way home from a horse show. I was following the horse trailer and…didn’t realize I was going through a red light and CRASH we were hit from the side and that was that. I got some stitches in my forehead and about a week’s worth of silent treatment from my father after – whoever – called him to say I’d been in an accident and mentioned following the horse trailer home…the one with MY HORSE in it.
He did not know I HAD a horse. That I had bought a horse. It did not go over well.
But I digress.
Mustang #1 was replaced by Mustang #2…or as he was for some reason called, “Deathmobile.” A more appropriate name would have been Trashmobile, but whatever.
DM also had an engine issue, so it got a new engine and a paint job…
He was BYOOTEEFUL.
My friends and I had a lot of good times in that car. We used to pick out cute boys driving on one of the main roads and just follow them til we got their attention…sometimes it resulted in smiles and waves…SOMETIMES (cuz we were stupid stupid girls) it resulted in cars stopping and actual introductions being made. I remember I met my dentist’s SUPER CUTE son like this. I always wondered if he told his father about that.
I think I ended up totaling him, too, though I can’t remember the details.
He was followed by a series of hand-me-downs, barn trucks, this-is-all-I-can-afford cars, The Lemon…but they all have good memories attached.
Because, okay. I have to say it. My car is my BFF. Most of them.
One of The Most comfortable places for me to be is…my car.
There’s just something about the depth of the seat itself, the fact that I can easily control the incline of the back, that I have somewhere to put my hands (steering wheel), I can adjust the temperature to EXACTLY what I want, as well as the volume of whatever I’m listening to. I can talk to myself, sing as loud as I want, cry, scream, ANYTHING…and I’m not disturbing anyone, no one else can hear me…I feel invisible…and I like that.
I love BEING in my car. I love DRIVING. I almost always volunteer to be the designated driver…for the comfort and control.
My car takes me on amazing adventures. We’ve been a LOT of places together.
My car is my storage unit. I do prefer a small station wagon-type vehicle (and 4 doors are a must) so I can cram as much stuff as possible into it: dog crates, large plants, boxes, furniture off the side of the road, bicycles, etc.
I certainly miss my co-pilot of many years (Dog is My Co-Pilot).
My car takes care of me…
Keeps me cool when it’s hot…
Takes me to the doctor.
However, my nickname is The Queen of Flat Tires.
And I’m not known for keeping a neat car (Mistress of the Trashmobile).
But I try.
My current car is (I hope I don’t jinx myself) the most reliable, low-maintenance car I’ve ever had…and I thank her ALL THE TIME. It’s just a blah blah car…Hyundai something something (a Korean car, ha ha ha)…but she just keeps going.
But she may be my last car. My “after retirement” budget will probably not allow for car expenses (car payments, insurance, gas, maintenance, etc), so…THAT will be interesting.
Not just the loss of convenience of having transportation at my doorstep…but…the loss of MY PRIVATE SPACE. My traveling companion. My adventure buddy.
She just needs to hang in there til then. Fingers crossed.
But til then, we’ll continue to go on adventures, schlep junk from here to there…and she’ll be my safe place Out in the World.
Make sure to check out the other ladies’ chariots.
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After
Em at Dust and Doghair
Kellyann Rohr
I come from a family of Mustang lovers and my brother (currently has 2) would be drooling over your old ones and crying that they were totaled. My first car was a Camaro – it looked very cool but was a piece of junk and not reliable at all. I broke down EVERYWHERE and of course that was before cell phones. Oh the cars of our youth!
So glad you have a low maintenance, reliable ride!
xo,
Kellyann
bettyewp
Yeah, gone are the days when I really care WHAT I drive as long as it doesn’t cost me $$ and it gets me where I’m going!
My one car love IS Mustangs. Old ones. My first one was a 64 1/2, which was the first model. It always smelled like burning oil ha ha but I loved it. It felt like me. The second one was a 67 and I defied “collector” protocol by having it painted a custom color, not standard issue Mustang color. Wow THAT was a fight with the body shop! They were like YOU’RE GOING TO REGRET IT! But I’d seen this…metallic grey with like a lavender undertone on another car and just thought it was SO beautiful. And I NEVER regretted it. I felt So Proud and Cool driving that car! But that was the last of the fun/impractical cars. OH WELL.
Thanks for stopping by!
Em
Dang, you did it again! I saw the topic and thought, “meh, cars” and then I read everyone’s posts and I LOVE them and am SO happy that you choose the topics and I don’t.
Your post of course, didn’t disappoint (and of course triggered all kinds of thoughts I think, but didn’t think about until reading your post). Like you, I love the solitude of cars and the ability to appreciate my alone time there. Like you, I haven’t always taken particularly good care of the oil tank and had to pay the price. And my back seat currently looks like your front seat. Our last three car purchases have been Hyundai blah blahs for the EXACT reasons you mentioned…along with that sweet warranty.
My friend in high school drove a mustang, and we thought it was the coolest car ever. Cool cars have always seemed out of reach for me, so I LOVE that you found a way to make it happen.
Also…great stories abound in your posts! I would resubscribe for a third time but your filters seem to hate me.
THANKS and xoxo.
bettyewp
I was thinking the same thing when I was mentally writing my follow-up email with reminder about next month’s post (damn, they just keep coming, don’t they?!), that it seems like no matter WHAT the topic is, the posts end up interesting/entertaining, cuz it’s never really about the STUFF. It’s about the stories and memories ABOUT the stuff, and THOSE are wonderful.
Ha, whenever I read all your all’s posts I’m always like OH I SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT, but…
Yeah, it’s funny to me think that I ever had cool cars. I guess that’s on my father.
I haven’t been able to fix the “comments going to trash” problem, BUT…I’m trying to remember to go THROUGH the trash every day or so to see if there’s anything in there that shouldn’t be. Just now I found five actual NOT TRASH posts in there – 2 of them yours. You’d think after 97 times of me restoring and approving your comments that the WordPress gods would get it, but no.
Lisa Elliott
I really enjoyed this post. My husband is ALWAYS complaining because I leave coats, and empty diet pepsi bottles, etc. in my car. His pick up truck is immaculate! Have you written about buying a horse that your father did not know you have purchased? I would love to read about that!
bettyewp
Ha, oh my poor car is my catch-all. It’s “clean” right now because…why. There was a reason. Ha. I cleaned it out AND had it washed inside and out – OH – the weekend I was going to meet up with Katie for a NJ/Philly weekend but then I had kidney stone issues and couldn’t go. That was almost a month ago and I’ve done pretty well keeping it neat.
I’ve managed to fit all the STUFF into a plastic tub with a lid in the back: water, jumper cables, a rug (suitable for beach/grass sitting), a throw blanket (for eating outside when it’s cold, really more for friends than me, ha ha), laundry detergent and bleach (cuz laundromat…it’s silly to bring it in the house), reusable bags for the market…I can’t think what else is in there, but it’s neatly contained. I’ve got the folding chair (that generally lives in the car) in the house for the coldest part of the winter. But other than that, I’m pretty proud of myself for keeping it tidy.
It’s so easy to get it littered with stuff cuz my arms are always already full when I’m going in/out of the house, and grabbing the trash, extra coat I left the house with in the morning, that book, the half-filled iced tea, etc. And it just fills up. And who really cares?? Let Hubby treat his car HIS way, and you treat your car YOUR way.
Leslie Susan Clingan
This post further convinces me that we are very similar. I am not the only one in the universe to total multiple cars. I have lost track of the number I’ve totaled. And your LEMM.ON. reminded me of a car I had failed to count in my grand total of cars. A lemon of a Saturn that would self-eject and sling the inserted cassette tapes with a force of decapitating anyone sitting in the middle of the backseat. How could I forget that car?
I picked up my MG Midget from the body shop after a wreck and promptly totaled it on the way home. Yikes. It is a wonder I am insurable at all.
You always make me laugh. I am jealous of your Mustangs. My blue Maverick was a nod to my dream car – a blue Mustang with a white interior. Maybe someday.
bettyewp
Hello Fellow Car Wrecker! I ALMOST had a third one but I scraped by and the insurance deemed it fixable.
Ha ha, cassette-flinging! That’s kind of hysterical š
Oh, Sad MG Story š
Mavericks were cool, too. Another “horse” car – which might be what drew me to Mustangs in the first place.
Iris
Well, I have to agree with you – you do have a lot of “stuff” in your car.
Loved your store of the horse trailer. We sure did some goofy things as teenagers.
My two oldest sons both had mustangs (as did hubby) back in the day. #1 son totaled at least one, maybe two. Fortunately he wasn’t hurt.
Interesting walk down memory lane with you.
Iris
jodie filogomo
I love how you consider your car your companion and all of the wonderful aspects of it. Trust me when I say those thoughts have never entered my head, haha!!
But if this really is your last car, I’m thinking you need to retire to somewhere walkable?? Then again is Korea walkable??
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
bettyewp
Oh yeah, I always praise and give her a pat on the dashboard when she does something well. “Thank you for getting us up that steep hill, I know it was hard for you.” “Good job on getting us home on these snowy roads.” Etc.
Everyone deserves praise and acknowledgment for a job well done š
Walkable area is the plan. CITY. I want to be in THE CITY. A CITY. Seoul is a BIG CITY. With excellent, inexpensive mass transportation. And when I come back, well…who knows.
One step at a time (<- see what I did there? "Walkable"? "One step at a time"?? Oh I crack myself up.)
Daenel T.
Iām also a car wrecker. All but one before I had my license.
Love your relationship to your car. I get it. My car is my personal stage. I put on shows in that thing – I sing, dance, act out monologues, have discussions with people I want to tell off, etc.
bettyewp
You were driving and wrecking before you even had your license, Daenel?? Oh, you’re a bold one!