Friday, December 09, 2005
End of an era (finally)
You may remember back in July I was having some serious problems with my trusty old Dodge, and I ended up getting a spanking new Mazda3. Well, in the midst of getting the new car, moving to a new apartment, and getting married, I neglected to do anything with my old car. I parked it on my new street and left it sitting there. I would see it every day to and from work, and I would always think "I have got to get rid of that thing."
I didn't feel right selling it to someone for $800 or $1000 or whatever, since I knew it wouldn't run. I didn't want them to sue me for non-disclosure or whatever people do these days. So I avoided the problem, like I do so well. Until yesterday. I was driving to work when I noticed an orange sticker on the driver's side window. I circled back, got out of my new car, and walked over to my old car. It was a notice of impending impoundment. If my car wasn't moved in 24 hours, it could be impounded. And it was dated 12/6, so I was already over the 24 hours! I figured that the ice storm had kept the evil impounders away. I spent yesterday surreptitiously calling the police station and auto pound trying to stall. No luck. I left a little early and raced home. The car was still there. I frantically called Victor to have him get jumper cables (the car hadn't been started in six months), wrote a note to put on the car, and drove back to it. I had a few things left in there, so I grabbed them and put them in the car. Then I tried starting it. The old thing chugged to life! It took a couple of tries, but I got it running long enough to move it half a block or so up the street.
I went home and explored my options for getting rid of it. I called a few auto salvage places, and finally found someone who would give me $200 for it. I desperately searched the apartment for the auto title, which I found after about 20 minutes of digging (and I found an extra pair of contacts, too!). The tow truck came to pick it up. I signed it over, collected my $200 in cold hard cash, and waved goodbye to the car I had for ten years.
That car saw me through college, the first few years living on my own in Arkansas, my two and a half years in Austin, and my first year in Dallas. It took me to work at War Eagle Mill, War Eagle Cavern, Cargill, Dell, and my current job. It had been on road trips all over Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinios, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota... and probably a few places I've forgotten. It went on family vacations, trips to the beach, road trips to weddings, and many trips to concerts. It saw me through a couple boyfriends, dates, and numerous crushes. Its back seat was the location of hot makeout sessions (I was in college, after all). It was never puked in, and no one ever had sex in it (that I know of - though it was borrowed a few times, so maybe). It became the butt of jokes after the make and model was immortalized in an SNL skit. Ahhh, Dodge Stratus, Satellite of Love, you will be missed.
You may remember back in July I was having some serious problems with my trusty old Dodge, and I ended up getting a spanking new Mazda3. Well, in the midst of getting the new car, moving to a new apartment, and getting married, I neglected to do anything with my old car. I parked it on my new street and left it sitting there. I would see it every day to and from work, and I would always think "I have got to get rid of that thing."
I didn't feel right selling it to someone for $800 or $1000 or whatever, since I knew it wouldn't run. I didn't want them to sue me for non-disclosure or whatever people do these days. So I avoided the problem, like I do so well. Until yesterday. I was driving to work when I noticed an orange sticker on the driver's side window. I circled back, got out of my new car, and walked over to my old car. It was a notice of impending impoundment. If my car wasn't moved in 24 hours, it could be impounded. And it was dated 12/6, so I was already over the 24 hours! I figured that the ice storm had kept the evil impounders away. I spent yesterday surreptitiously calling the police station and auto pound trying to stall. No luck. I left a little early and raced home. The car was still there. I frantically called Victor to have him get jumper cables (the car hadn't been started in six months), wrote a note to put on the car, and drove back to it. I had a few things left in there, so I grabbed them and put them in the car. Then I tried starting it. The old thing chugged to life! It took a couple of tries, but I got it running long enough to move it half a block or so up the street.
I went home and explored my options for getting rid of it. I called a few auto salvage places, and finally found someone who would give me $200 for it. I desperately searched the apartment for the auto title, which I found after about 20 minutes of digging (and I found an extra pair of contacts, too!). The tow truck came to pick it up. I signed it over, collected my $200 in cold hard cash, and waved goodbye to the car I had for ten years.
That car saw me through college, the first few years living on my own in Arkansas, my two and a half years in Austin, and my first year in Dallas. It took me to work at War Eagle Mill, War Eagle Cavern, Cargill, Dell, and my current job. It had been on road trips all over Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinios, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota... and probably a few places I've forgotten. It went on family vacations, trips to the beach, road trips to weddings, and many trips to concerts. It saw me through a couple boyfriends, dates, and numerous crushes. Its back seat was the location of hot makeout sessions (I was in college, after all). It was never puked in, and no one ever had sex in it (that I know of - though it was borrowed a few times, so maybe). It became the butt of jokes after the make and model was immortalized in an SNL skit. Ahhh, Dodge Stratus, Satellite of Love, you will be missed.
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