Once upon a time, well, actually in October of 2003 I needed a car. I had recently quit working and economy was my main concern, so we bought a Neon that had been leased or used, possibly by a Chrysler employee. The car had about 10,000 miles, and standard options for an economy car. Not too long after I acquired the car, Papa’s company elected to provide a car allowance instead of a lease car for him and other employees who used a car for their jobs.
Papa came home and told me he would be driving the Neon as his work auto, since it was the most economical thing we owned. Since then, I have been driving our mini-van. We acquired the van when I realized that I was borrowing D2’s van each time I retrieved her children for a visit. Another factor was our travel down south for bluegrass festivals several times a year. We really didn’t (and don’t) want to take Lex that far from home. Lex is a nice thing, always been reliable, but is far from new. We figure, why temp fate? The answer, pretend we’re young again and camp with the van. It’s worked for several years.
The minivan is also a nice thing, but it is a little large for Granny to use to buy groceries and go to genealogy meetings. And, we’d like it to last as long as possible, so we can retrieve our grandchildren, use it for family trips, and whatever else.
We have been thinking about all these issues for a while, so yesterday Papa acquired the solution, a new small car to drive for work. It will be new enough to meet the company’s policy for the time remaining in Papa’s planned working career. It was a great deal, but not as great as the Neon. I guess it’s not 2003 anymore?
79,000 miles later, I have the Neon back. Tonight I cleaned the insides of both of my cars, and shampooed the carpets and floor mats. Tomorrow I’ll get the van’s oil changed, fill it with gas, wash it, and park it in the garage. The next day, I’ll do the same with the Neon—but it will be parked in the used car lot drive. I’ll be driving the Neon most of the time. It’s nice to have my car back again.
