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8.24.2004
Clicking on the picture will open a new window with a larger version See more photos. 1,338. That's how many miles that I have on my car. That, plus the other two hundred thousand miles not recorded by the odometer. I've had this car for about twelve years. Got it back in 1992 when I was just starting college. Then it had less than 30K miles on it. It has had a new radiator, a new water pump, a new driver's side window, a rebuilt transmission, three new altenators and a new fuel pump. It has only been in the body shop once to replace and repair a dented quarterpanel from the time an old man drove into me during the second week of owning the car. It still has the stock stereo system installed. I use a small cd player or mp3 player played through a cassette adaptor. I would have replaced the stereo with an in-dash cd player but the shifter would have prevented inserting a cd in any other position other than drive. A cd changer is out of the question since I have a hatch and I don't feel comfortable putting a changer in some place visible from outside. The stock speakers have served me well until recently when I had a small dash speaker blow. I have since put in a replacement. Nothing nice, but a placeholder until I can find one that finds well AND sounds good. Right now the brakes squeak and the muffler has started to rub the underside of the frame in a most annoying fashion. I use more oil than I am comfortable with. I've spent hours upon hours sitting in that driver's seat. I have had all sorts of people sitting next to me in the passenger seat. Its a place I go to seek solitude. Out on the road there is no expectations of being. You are in a state of transition. The people in cars around you assume that you are in the process of going somewhere. Nobody has to know that you are just driving in circles. I sing along to favorite songs. I drum on the steering wheel, sometimes using the scentless air fresheners hanging from the rearview mirror as a crash cymbal. I have a small keychain with a picture of Ricky Martin hanging up with the air fresheners as a joke. I have a picture from one of those photo booths that I have stuck in a slot next to my ashtray. I have removed the ashtray and the cigarette lighter always has an adaptor plugged into it. I talk to myself sometimes, usually I just think to myself. I look at the people in the cars next to me at the stoplight. I stop all my drumming and singing until I am safely in the mix again. I like making faces at the little kids that stare back at me. I quickly look away from grownups. They do the same. I have no bumper stickers. I have two parking stickers from college still in my window. They are a joke that nobody ever gets. I use my car as a place to listen to songs that I have recorded. I use it as a place to listen to new cds that I have purchased. I have made out and had sex in the passenger seat. My air conditioner doesn't cool. It can be charged but I don't like cold air blowing on me so I just drive with the windows down when the weather is hot. My heater works but there used to be a leak in the heater core that would make the windows fog up. I've added some sealer to the radiator and that seems to have fixed the leak but I expect it to come back eventually. I drive less than I used to for fear of putting too much wear and tear on the car. I never use it for road trips anymore. I wonder just how long I can keep driving my car before I have to face the decision of replacing it. |
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