Monday, May 15

R.I.P., Frijole

For 8 years I drove my well-loved, but uber-ghetto, Hyundai Accent, Frijole. Up until about a week and a half ago, it had very few problems...then it had decided it had had just about enough of life, and it stopped working. 8 years and thousands of dollors concluded in the pouring rain at a traffic light downtown. A week prior to the breakdown, I decided it would be good to know the Kelly Blue Book value of Fri since I had been thinking about getting a new car within the next few months. Frijole was worth a whopping $288. With interest, the $17,000 I had spent for the car was consolidated down to one good night at the restaurant.

But Fri had a good life. I can proudly say I got every cent back that I put into him/her (it was transgender depending on what was happening)...from the weekly trips from Boone to Charlotte to visit my then boyfriend B, bi-yearly drives from North Carolina to Maine and back again, a few jaunts here and there to Florida, a 5,000 or so mile trip to the west coast (in the middle of July WITHOUT a/c, I might add), to Canada, and back down south, to it's final resting place, Rhode Island...it was a good car.

Fast forward to today, I'm driving a brand-new (to me) 2003 Subaru Forester..and, apparently, I'm now a lesbian. Was I the only one not aware of this correlation? And it turns out, the Forester is #1 on the list, followed by the VW Convertible Beetle, and the, um, Honda Civic. Really? Apparently, lesbian's are driving all cars on the road. Imagine that! Who knew?

Here, an article to back the rumor up: Top Lesbian Cars.

I love my new car. That is, if I can just make it past the whole non-ghettoness of it all. I mean, I CAN PUT THE WINDOW DOWN WITH A TOUCH OF A BUTTON! I have also found out that apparently you are not supposed to break out in a sweat when parallel parking. However, I can now take comfort in knowing I will no longer get asked if my power steering fluid has been leaking when I take my car to the shop, by THE MECHANIC, when there is no power steering to begin with. And the transmission...oh how I how love the transmission. This, my friend, is how a stick shift should drive. It no longer takes 20 minutes to get to 4th. I realize it's just a Forester, but to me, it's like a brand new Porsche.

Or, Portia, depending on who you ask.

1 comment:

planeangel said...

Oh, Fri. The good times we had. All I can say is that I hope you have a nice, peaceful rest in car heaven and that there are lots of air conditioner controls and clean gas to keep you happy. You will always be a memory in my life...and, you are not just a car...you are a transgendered, long-time friend who will always have a place in my heart. May your metal be used for porshe's and I-beams and other VERY important and honorable uses! Love ya!!