Monday, April 13, 2009

And That's All She Rode...

I was brutally awakened from my slumber this morning by the sounds of death. Horrible, awful, wailing noises ending in one loud BOOM! I knew immediately that something was not right. My intuition was confirmed when I then heard Brian from afar say, "OH NOOOO!" I got out of bed and walked down the hall into the living room where I met Brian. "What happened?" I asked. "Did you hear that?!" he responded. "Yeah." - how could I not? "It's dead," was the simple yet profound reply.

After almost 12 years, "old blue" has left us. I bought her right after I graduated from high school. My first car. We've had a good run, with plenty of adventures and misfortunes along the way:

  • I took her on a rode trip with three girlfriends up to Washington and then down the coast to San Fransisco. A lot of memories there, but I would never do it again - that is one long and winding road.
  • She accompanied me on lots of dates and to many singles dances back in the day.
  • I got my first ticket in "old blue" for not coming to a complete stop.
  • She's had two face lifts. Yep, I was pretty good at rear-ending other cars in my early driving years. Funny thing, no other cars were ever damaged.
  • We took her on our honeymoon to Jackson Hole. She didn't even make it to Logan without overheating. We had to stop in Brigham City and replace the thermostat, which was a pain because it was a Sunday and everything was closed.
  • Brian got pulled over for three consecutive years for an expired registration.
  • Her head gasket blew on Thanksgiving Day while we were driving down Redwood Road, on our way to Grandpa Homer's house. You'd think a bomb went off with how much steam and smoke came out!
  • Brian got pulled over and ticketed right in front of our apartment for speeding.
  • We replaced the transmission.
  • She was broken into while Brian was attending a class at SLCC. They left a nice hole under the door handle and made off with Brian's laptop. (We ended up getting the laptop back through a series of crazy and unlikely events, but that's another story!)
  • The shifter knob broke off, so for a long time you had to shove a screw driver in the shaft to change gears. Brian got tired of that and fixed it with a #8 pool ball and a screw. Classy.
  • The infamous "stolen vehicle" incident. Nuff said there.
And all this happened in just 123,455 miles. We are actually surprised that she lasted so long. She's been sick for awhile. You know those cars that when you are sitting at a stop light, you can hear them approaching from 20 yards back? That's "old blue". It was embarassing to drive her or to even be a passenger. I wanted to get rid of her a long time ago, but Brian insisted on keeping her until she died. Well, today was that fateful day. And now we have to figure out how to dispose of the body.

The one and only downside to this ordeal is that we haven't had a payment in eight years, and now that is about to change. We've got to do some serious car shopping, so stay tuned for some pics of Brian's new wheels!

18 comments:

rsheedy said...

How sad! Sounds like you had some great memories; at least it lived a fulfilling life. :)

Mark Nott said...

*sniffle* but hey! New Car!!

Melissa said...

I'm still on my first car as well, and I won't give up on her until she explodes right before my very eyes.

My condolences on Old Blue.

The Simmons Family said...

Hmmm... do a trade in... that'll help dispose of the body! Maybe they'll give you something for it. Hey, even $5 is good!

I've never driven an older car (thanks Dad)... he's Mr. Car Dealership. Oh except for my black one in high school that would continue to run even when I turned my engine off.. that was awesome!

Can't wait to see your new wheels!

Goodbye Old Blue.

Amber said...

That is sad...I love old cars that have loads of memories.

Mike and Meg said...

I love the stolen car story! It has got to be one of my favorites!

Jamie said...

RIP
Lots of good memories for sure!

Monica Lifferth said...

I got Brian's text and I mourned for all of 3 seconds. I went down the road with you once in it and practically had to hide my face from embarrassment! Not really, but it is fun to go car shopping!

By the way, I was way behind on your blog. I commented on the last 5. :)

Ashley Rae said...

R.I.P., Old Blue.

That is very sad. Lots of memories. We are the same way with cars, though- we drive them 'til they die. AND we've never had a car payment- so if we ever end up having one, it will send us into shock. Haha.

Can't wait to see what the new baby looks like! (car, that is...)

All About M.E.('s) said...

I got in a car accident in her too. Remember that several car pileup. That was lots o' fun.
See ya Old Blue. RIP.

Princess said...

Oh I had such great hopes for her! She lived a long and fulfilling life and I am sad to see her go! I had a purple neon that I wrecked and I always loved looking at old blue because it reminded me of that car. Tell Brian he can have my car, it should be exploding any day now!

The Wright's said...

That's terrible. I hope that Brian can cope with the tragedy! And good luck with that exciting new payment!

Amy said...

Can you believe you're even old enough to have to retire old blue? Is it just me, or is time on mach 90?

Lindsay said...

That's horrible! You are such a great writer - even though it was sad, that was fun to read! If you ever need to borrow a car before the new one comes, let me know for sure!

Hello! said...

I wondered how long the neon was going to last. I remember when you first bought it! We were all so excited because you were the first one of us girls to own a NEW car. Hmmm...

There are some great deals out there right now!

Esther said...

I am so sorry for you loss! I know of a couple of good junk yards that would make a good resting place.

Zachary said...

Did anyone else notice that if Old Blue had made it just one more mile, it would have been: 123456?

My condolences to you and your family on your loss. It is a sad day when a member of the family departs, especially one that let you sit on your keister while he did the work.

Good luck with the new addition!

Smiley Family said...

How did I not notice that Zach? How funny! Brian says he is going to have to push it around the block :)