Posted on 8 Comments

Out to pasture

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Have I ever shown you our car? I know you’ve seen the van. It gets all of the attention for its uncanny ability to be in the right place at the (almost comically) wrong time. The car, though, has had no such bad luck.  It just sits there in the driveway being quietly dependable.

Initially, it was my car, replacing the old Pokamobile. But once we found ourselves with a minivan a few years later, I eventually transitioned to driving that all of the time, leaving Neil to zip off to work in a car with a POKADOT license plate.

He’s gotten his fair share of ribbing about that 😀

So after 11 years and 111,000 miles, the car has began to show signs of wear and tear.  This summer our mechanic recommended that we consider replacing it, as some expensive repairs are looming.  We began wandering around the internet looking for affordable used cars that weren’t too old and didn’t have too much mileage on them, and I bookmarked a few things I liked, but there was no real sense of urgency about it.

Until a few weeks ago.

As Neil was backing out of the driveway on his way to work, the car’s breaks went soft and wouldn’t engage.  He decided (and rightly so) that rather than risk life and limb on the winding, hilly roads between here and the office, he would coast slowly down the driveway and park it where it came to rest.  The poor old car has occupied that spot ever since.

Well, we’d rather not pay for a repair on a car we’re trying to replace, and so we’ve been stepping up our car shopping game, and I’ve been playing chauffeur.  We all drive Neil to work in the morning, then the kids and I kill 15 minutes before I drop them off at school.  In the afternoon, I pick up the kids, kill 15 minutes again, and then pick up Neil from work.  It’s not perfect, and it steals an hour from each end of my day, but it’s a temporary solution that works for now.

Yesterday we went and saw a vehicle that we think will work for us, and today we will take some time going over the little details that will decide once and for all if it will be ours.  If it’s not meant to be, I’ll just continue taxi duty for a while.  If there’s one bright spot to be found in taxi duty, it’s the scenery.  The colors of fall are exploding all over the winding roads between home and Neil’s office, and I am getting to watch them evolve from mostly green to vibrant orange to brown.  There have been some breathtaking vistas spread out before me these last several days, and I just love that I’m getting to experience fall so fully this year.

Still… I would kind of like those two hours back, and I think I’ll be quite happy to have a pair of functioning vehicles in the driveway soon!

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Posted on 8 Comments

8 thoughts on “Out to pasture

  1. I’m not in a rush – the bf has two vehicles of his own – but I am looking for something with more space than the convertible and better mileage than the truck so that I can haul me and my stuff to shows.

    You’ll have to let us know how the search for the next pokamobile goes!

    1. I’m sure I will post about it when we finally end up with something 🙂

  2. Just for the record: That whole “brakes went soft” thing happened to my 1990 Oldsmobile a couple of weeks ago, and while I understand not wanting to pay money for a car you’re replacing, that repair only cost me about $60. Might be worth getting it looked at to get those hours back.

    1. Good to know! If this new(ish) one we’re looking at doesn’t pan out today, I can probably go that route.

  3. I’ve been playing taxi driver for the better part of 3 months now. Luckily my hubby’s office is fairly close and the boys don’t complain too much about having to get up an hour early every day. It started off as a temporary inconvenience and has turned into a way to save money for awhile. I’m with you on wanting that time back though…sometimes I could do with an extra hour in my day!

    Good luck on the vehicle search! 😉

    1. That may be part of our problem right there – we’re not getting up an hour earlier. We’re just cramming all we have to do into 15 minutes and flying out the door 😀

  4. ah yes the time losing of time. We have no school busing in our district so in the mornings the kids get dropped off at two different schools pretty much at the same time however in the afternoon I have to get to school number 1 at least 20min before they get out to get a parking spot and than when the oldest isn’t doing sports we have to kill 15-20min for her dismissal and the schools are less than a mile a part. Knitting has helped keep me sane and accomplishing something in those times or reading but I prefer knitting so I can talk with the kids. Of course they get antsy too so books or ds games help. If you have to keep doing the taxi service maybe try bringing your knitting? Also another note since you’re knitting a lot more now have you considered attending rhinebeck next year2011? Would love to meet in person and I think you are close enough to drive it’s so worth it my friend and go sat-sun and it’s a nice mini vaca from kids and hubby not to mention shopping with like minds.good luck car hunting..

    1. I went to Maryland Sheep & Wool in May and it was 90 degrees – too hot! Rhinebeck sounds like a much better deal – I’m way more interested in yarn in the fall than I am in the spring, plus I suspect it’s a shorter trip. Will definitely consider it next year, as long as my husband doesn’t have anything conflicting that weekend (it’s convention season around here…).

      I do bring my knitting with me, for the time-killing moments that I’m not driving 🙂

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