Hun and I are going to test drive Jeeps for me tommorow. I've always loved jeeps and my '92 Sunbird is showing the signs of aging. Hun thinks that i have a crack in a piston or something to that degree. I cooked my engine a few times and the last time was a doozey. So it swills antifreeze almost as fast as gasoline, and if its a crack it will get worse and worse very fast. Since I don't think that it will last another winter here, I may as well buy now while she is still running good.
I almost can't bear to leave her though, my mom had her since brand spankin new. Everywhere I go, I feel like I have a piece of home and a piece of my mom with me. (she lives in BC, I miss her terribly) There are so many memories in that friggin car, and I am one of those people who can't let go of the past and also gets attached to inanimate objects.. hence referring to the car as "her" lol.
I cry even now just thinking about leaving her all alone in some cold big parking lot amongst the other forgottens while some cheesy car salesman yadders about blue book value and what nots. With her 2003 PT, Crystal Red pearlcoat paint job and newly installed driving lights, newly cracked windshield (gee, thanks alberta trucks), crappy canadian tire wheel covers, missing rear reflectors with matching battle scars on the trunk lid (oops), hot wheels floor mats, sticker on back window that says "the objects in this car are not worth losing your life" lol, and a purple stuffed animal thats sat atop of the rear view mirror since the summer of '92. My sister won it from the town fair and put it there to make my mom laugh, it's stayed ever since.
The headlights are somewhat crosseyed, due to a rear ending compliments of sis. She was checking out some cute guy in the back seat via, rear view mirror and smacked into a suv. She non chalantly parked it back in the driveway hoping mom wouldnt notice the gaping buckled hood. The same sister used to like performing 'neutral drops' right after aquiring her new driver's lisence.
So many trips to the lake. Many of those after they introduced parking fees on the public side. So we'd go the back way, when the gate was open, and bushwhack our way to the party side of the lake. To further drink smirnoff ice's and play tunes. I remember looking at my car the next morning and spazzing out at all the hairline scratches, blaming it on people walking by with big back packs lol. Sis, reminding me that was my own doing side swiping her on the black berry bushes, whilst laughing. Well she got the last laugh at my expense.
I left B.C., my home, in this car. Sis and I drove with the two cats in kennels I fandangled with laundry baskets and large pictures and robe ties lol. We'd stop for gas and let the cats out in the car to pee in the litter box on the floor. While Rockybird got to chirp his face off outside in the fresh air. I took the bare minimum, I had to cram as much important stuff in my car as possible. It turns out the only important things in that vehicle were my pets and sis.
When I take my old kitty for her routine blood tests, I let her sit up on my lap on the way home and watch the cars in the opposing lanes. Weird cat, likes car rides. Scooter, rest his sweet self, would instantly poof and howl like a kid screaming. Cats shed when they stress out. We moved those two cats so many times in that car.
Back in B.C. I would breifly entertain the idea of driving my car into the Fraser River, after drinking heavily and taking sleeping pills. I wondered how fast it would sink, and how long it would take for anyone to find it. Im so glad I left all of that behind.
On a lighter note I floored my spedometer needle once driving on the highway into Legal, AB. Hun lived there when we first met. With the needle buried, it still drove smooth and effortlessly. I was shocked at how fast it felt, then thought about blowing a tire so that was the first and last time that engine ever reached full speed... I know my mom never did that, hmm, maybe sis has though lol.
I would drive into Legal every weekend, on a thursday night because I have fridays off. I would pack up my laundry (we had to order water, didnt wanna waste it on clothes), Rockydog, and a fourpack of smirnoff's I'd drink in a water bottle on the way... yes yes, bad girl I know. I used to like that hour long drive, was a good time to myself to think and reflect and daydream. North of edmonton has lots of pretty little communities such as Legal.
The morning after I met my hun, he drove me home.. yes bad girl I know lol... and started working on my engine, the battery posts were rusting and I kept losing power. My sister sees a cube van pull up and thought "wtf?", then some guy is out in my bird.. lol. Hun worked so hard to get that car to pass the out of province safety inspection, pretty strict guidelines. I needed new brake drums, new tires (one of the new ones we put on had a bubble in it, fack!) A new windshield washer pump and some other things my girly car jargon can't describe.
I was always able to change my oil and oil filter, and could change a spare as fast as a pit crew member at the Molson Indy. Jack the FRAME not the BODY girls, lol. I used to pick up screws and nails constantly at the old place. Once I was half asleep after work, and had to plop my spare on at work, I forgot to tighten the lugnuts and started driving down the parking lot before remembering lol. Thats something notorious of my dad, he likes to repair things and forget to tighten things like alternator belts, and replace rad hoses fully (in reference to the above paragraph where I cooked the engine). As a kid I used to love watching him work on cars in the garage, and would pass him things I couldnt name now if my life depended on it. His car expertise has faded largely due to the fact he drank most of his brain cells away.
I remember when I picked up my car from the autobody shop after new fresh new paint job and body work in Feb '03. I had to hold back the tears for fear of looking like a wussy chick lol. My mom was beside herself with amazement of the colour choice and quality job they did. I think the car doods thought I was nuts for spending 2500.00 on such a 'worthless' car. But they were still proud of the job they did, and were happy at my response.... I think I may have hugged them lol.
The other day while talking about the age of my Bird, I proclaimed "HEY, she's 15 now... isnt that collector status??!" Quickly followed by a bubble bursting and parade pissing by hun "Nope baby, thats 25 years" AHHH FACK! lol
I wonder what size engine we could swap, I was told I could fit a Grand Am, or Grand Prix in there.
I also wonder what kind of zero down payment plans they have at Dodge, Jeep dealerships.
I know she would make a pretty lawn ornament. I could scrap her for engine parts, and fill the empty engine cavity with pretty flowers. Memorialized by a large rock with her name and date of birth etched:
Sunchicken... may you always carry our memories
1992 - 2007; 240,000 km's.
