National Name Your Car Day!
Today we pay tribute to our cars. Can you believe we've been hanging out together for eight months and we've never talked about our cars? I feel like I should know your cars as well as I know you. They're an extension of us. They are like pets in that they reflect their owners.
Me. I drive a red SAAB. A 2000. Not too fancy, but it gets the job done. I'm practical. I'll drive my car until it dies (which may be any day now). I don't get a charge out of fancy cars. But, craft supplies... now that's something I can get excited about.
Truth is, I've come a long way since my very first car - a Hyundai. That car felt a little like a tin can. I think it still only went 60 MPH when the pedal was to the medal, and it had that hollow sound when you open and closed the door. It had a sun roof, though. Pretty fancy for a first car. Eventually the sun roof broke and the only way to open and close it was by using a metal crank that was in the glove compartment.
My Hyundai was replaced by a Subaru. Sounds like a step up, right? I'm no mechanic, but I feel safe saying it probably was a step up in terms on inner workings. But outward appearance? ...How unfortunate. The color was a cross between an ugly tan and a pea green. The only thing worse than the color of my car was the rust eating away at the body... oohh... and the apparent leak, resulting in a constant sound of water sloshing back and forth in my trunk.
Finally came Whitney. She was my pride and joy. I finally earned her when I hit my mid-twenties and moved into my second professional position. Oh, what a feeling. I will remember driving that car off the car lot for the rest of my life. I might as well have been driving a Porsche for how important and rich I felt in my new car. It wasn't a Porsche. It was a Saturn. A white Saturn. I wouldn't let anybody eat in my car and I opened and closed the door as quickly as possible to keep the new car smell inside for as long as possible. I loved that car.
Whitney was good to me. She finally retired in 2003, making way for my SAAB. Whitney is the only car I've ever had that I named. I don't know why. I guess I didn't name the first two because I hoped they wouldn't be around long enough for me to need to know or remember their names. I'm not sure why my red SAAB never got a name. Maybe because only months after getting my car, we found out we were pregnant with Matthew and we were busy picking out baby names.
I have named my GPS, though. I had to. She is my savior. I have a horrible sense of direction and Delila gets me where I need to go with minimal stress and a perfectly calm voice. I love Delila like I loved Whitney.
How about you? Let's spend today introducing one another to our cars, their names if they have one, and maybe you'll throw in your "first car story," for good measure.
Announcements:
- Blog-a-thon: Have you signed up for your time yet? We are still in need of over 80 people to make our Blog-a-thon work. Please help spread the word. Again, writers don't have to write for the full 15 minutes they are scheduled. They just need to commit to spending the full 15 minutes on the blog and to add to the story in some way.
- Pet Picture: Absolute last call to send Katie a picture of your pet. She must receive it by noon today or you and your pet miss out. You can send it to kkolkmeier@gmail.com.
- Naked Mail: Are you still thinking about what you're going to mail T. Shay in our United States Post Office Prank? Tuesday is the day we will each visit our respective post offices in an attempt to mail the most outlandish item...NAKED... that we can. Does anybody want to give us a preview of what they'll be mailing? See Monday' blog for more detail (9/29)
- Halloween Activity: As you know, each day in the month of October my family and I will do something in anticipation of Halloween. Today... we will create a Halloween story during dinner time. Mommy starts and everyone adds a little something until dinner is over.
Signing off until tomorrow...
Posts
37 comments:
your 2000 saab is gonna die any day now? how do you think i feel driving my little ole 1992 chevy cavalier back and forth to BU every day?! I swear I am gonna get stuck on the side of the road for hours soon. Well, it doesnt have a name, but it has been good to me. the AC works great, and it has a CD player. I cannot complain for my first car. I hope I get a new car for graduation this year! THAT would only be the best thing ever!!! Hehe, so in hopes of gettin rid of that thing soon, I dont think I will name it!!!
AND I should not be the first one to post on this blog! its too early! UGH!!! hehe
My car is my pride and joy ... but there's a long story with it ... I'll post later tonight.
Has anyone else sent T. Shay a 40th birthday card?
My current car is my version of "Whitney" though it doesn't have a name. Until I started driving this car I always drove in fear that I was going to be stuck on the side of the road or worse that my brakes or some other important function would fail and I'd be stuck in the MIDDLE of the road.
So my current car is a 2005 Scion TC in flint micha...a fun little sporty car that matches my personality. Forget about the fact that I have to literally get in the back seat to put Lily in and to take her out...I'll deal with the inconvenience for the great gas mileage.
My first three cars are memorable. My first car was purchased my junior year of college for a whopping $600. It was a pale blue 1988 Plymouth Voyager (this was in 2001) which had 235,000 miles on it when I bought it. The previous owner had removed all the rear seats since he used it to deliver mail; so it had only the front two captains chairs. My college roomates lovingly referred to it as the Love Mobile noting that a mattress would have fit perfectly in the rear. As a colorguard instructor I used that area to transport our equipment as well as our 600 lb. floor mat a time or two. That car broke down on the side of the road twice. Once was actually because I ran out of gas after the gas gauge conveniently stopped work along with the interior lights so I had no way of gauging my speed at night time except for the fact that between 50 and 55 mph the car would shake pretty violently. The last time the car broke down on the side of the road I was on my way to my college graduation. The axle broke (probably as a result of the shaking) and I had it towed to the parking lot of my college where I left it for the entire summer. When I came back to Louisville that fall for grad school it had been towed to some kind of car grave yard.
My second car was amazing...a 1996 Chevy Cavalier that was cherry red and made me so happy. I ended up selling this car to my little sister who still drives it when my husband got my current car after we got married and I took his old car which had fewer miles and we THOUGHT was in better shape.
Little did we know that "Old Blue" would end up being a ridiculous mess that we wished we would have gotten rid of. So while my cavalier is still doing hard labor "Old Blue" was sold for $100 to the car graveyard after the brakes gave out while I was 8 months pregnant. The running joke on Bellarmine's campus was that this car was my street sweeper as that is what it sounded like as I whirred and whined and clanked my way onto campus. It had no air conditioning, made the worst rattling/whirring noise you've ever heard, and had to have more than one of the hubcaps broken off as it had those locks on the lugs and the "key" had log since been lost.
Ahhhh...cars. Finally we have two vehicles in my family that are trustworthy and in good condition. Though mine REALLY needs to be cleaned out.
I currently have pet pictures from the following people:
Brian, Cassie P, Chaotic, Heather, Peggy, Susan, Tera & Treye
Again, if you want to send one in to me, my email is kkolkmeier@gmail.com
As for my car, I loved my car from the moment I set eyes on it. For the first year that I was driving, I shared cars with my parents and my options were either the grandma light blue dodge dynasty or the navy dodge caravan. I was hot stuff that first year of driving...haha. And then, thanks to my parents, we went car shopping the April of my senior year and I laid eyes on the car I knew I wanted. Two doors, silver, sun roof, cd player, and it just seemed like the perfect car for me. I still drive that same car today, it's a 99 Pontiac Grand Am. That car has been good to me. It has sure gotten it's use as it has taken me back and forth to Lousville for 4 years, went on the many random road trips to random towns (before gas was so expensive, I used to like to get in my car and just drive to wherever my car took me and then find my way back!), and it got me here to James Madison. Now, today, I'm not so happy with it as I need to get some pretty major work done on it and my grad school paycheck is not so hefty these days, but I know my car has done me well, and at the end of the day, I still love it.
I drive a 2006 Honda Pilot. It is a great car. Perfect for a mom with 3 kids. However, I am trying to sell it for something smaller since I do so much driving. I am spending a fortune in gas.
My first car was a bright blue Geo Metro. 50 miles to the gallon. That would come in handy right about now. It had power nothing, not even power steering. 5 speed. No a/c. Or defrost. So when it rained, the whole thing fogged up and I'd have to pull over until it stopped. If I drove more than 60 mph, the whole thing shook like crazy. My college friends called it the Roller Skate. That's as close as I've ever come to naming a car.
I'm on my 3rd car now... seems hard to believe, considering I didn't get my first car until age 22 when I started grad school.
Anyhow, the first car was a 2001 Oldsmobile Alero, which I loved. I totaled it, though, one day driving into Pittsburgh. My 2nd car was a 2004 Chevy Malibu. I traded it in a little over a year ago and got a 2006 Chevy Cobalt LS, which I'm still driving around.
Coincidentally, all three of those cars were gold/tan in color. And none have had names.
I love driving!
I drive a 2001 Yukon XL Denali! I love my car almost as much as my kids LOL.It is complete luxury yet it is like driving "The Magic Schoolbus" (thats what my son calls it) I call her Nellie. I should call her LUSH" for how much its costing me in gas. I could have a brand new car for what gas costs me. I love this car and wont spend the money I spent on it again. Back in 2001 before the gas went up this car cost me $67K. Now they are giving them away. I dont lease cars so I keep them forever. I also have a 2007 Lexus RX350. We call her "Princess Lexie" because my husband wont let the kids in it. It is going to be 2 yrs old in December ( I bought it for Chris for Christmas). It has only 4K miles on it. Yes thats why we call it "Princess Lexie". She is guarded like the crowned jewels. We tell Chris its not aRolls Royce it's is a Lexus. Its gorgeous but still its just a car. As for my Denali I have a navigator that I call LOLA. She has gotten me out of some tough spots never mind knowing the shortcuts in and out of Disney!!!
My son Michael has a fully restored 1988 SS Monte Carlo (its now a muscle car) her name is Delilah and we are in the process of getting him personalized plates for Christmas. All men name their cars. It was funny that his was the name of Claudia'sGPS.
My first car was in 1988 a 1978 Station wagon. It was bigger than the Queen Mary. Then I upgraded to a smaller car which was a 1978 Gran Prix. Then I went to a 1982 Toyota Corolla wagon because my son was born. Being the daughter of a mechanic I always had the crappiest cars that needed to be put in neutral to stay running at a light. I can honestly drive anything and drive under any mechanical conditions. I refuse to get into a piece of junk now. My Denali is bordering the "old car list" as we speak. So even though now I drive luxury I bet I am the only woman on this site that laid under cars to keep them running!!!
My first car was a lemon yellow dodge colt '76. My dad originally bought it, then my brother bought it from him, then when my bro moved on to better mechanics, my dad bought it back, and then sold it to me. He said it was the most expensive car investment he ever made! (or lost)
I currently have a Honda Pilot! My second in 4 years. (leased the first one) I LOVE it. I can't tell you how many 'old' men come up to me and ask me if I like my car!!! They are not hitting on me, they really want to know! It seats 8, and when I have it set for 5 seats, it carries soooo much stuff!
Before that I was a mini van mom for about 10 years...Dodges.
My GPS's name is Nancy... for the women who introduced me to the best and coolest invention... that I could finally afford earlier this spring!
OK..pet pictures on the way....
Car stories...
1st car...lavender volkswagen bug! 1971..loved the car, traded it in for new (1990) Chevy Cavalier (blue) about the time my husband and I were getting married. Traded that in for a 1991 Chevy Silverado Truck which we still have. Love the truck! So far no names for any vehicles...We did buy a Chevy Astro Van in 2002 (tan) and also still have her. I did name her....we bought her used and according to the report she was originally from Georgia so that is her name! She has been good so far! Made many a trip to the soccer fields and baseball fields...she could probably drive herself! She has also hauled us camping in San Diego several times as well as to soccer tourneys in San Diego and Vegas for the last 4 years. I, like Claudia, want to drive my vehicles till the wheels fall off. As long as they get me from point A to point B with a/c I'm good! My husband still has his truck that he came out to AZ in..a 1987 GMC S-15...it is with my dad waiting to get a engine makeover before we bring it back to let our teen-ager drive it...Soooo...it probably has a short life expectancy knowing that he will be driving it!
I drive a 2007 Mazda 6...and I love it! We bought it just over a year ago and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
My first car was a '99 Mazda Protege. My parents bought it for me when I was learning how to drive because both of their cars were standards and there was no way they were going to teach me how to drive one of those at 16 years old. They didn't have the patience for me (and I don't blame them one bit).
In high school I shared the car with my mom and then she kept it my first 3 semesters of college. They finally broke down during my sophomore year and bought a 3rd car so I could have my car at college.
The car neve had a name...nor does my current car. Like Claudia, my GPS does have a name. Treye and I call her "Lady". I'm not sure how she got that name, but anyone that's been on a road trip with me in my car knows to call her Lady...right Julie :)
Our next big investement is going to be getting Treye a new car. We hope that his lasts until mine is paid off so we only have one car payment...keep your fingers crossed!!!
Maureen,
Another thing in common...dads as mechanics....so I too have worked on my car to keep it running....my bug was famous for having the accelerator cable break..always had an extrain the car so I could put it on if it broke! I still have one in our garage...a little momento!
ar's name is "Blue Chip", altho may change to "Silver Surfer" here soon...or "BillBoard". I have a 1981 Celica GT, 5speed with moon roof... and she used to be Blue but all of her paint left her... so I've been covering her with bumper stickers of thoughts... such as "Remember who you wanted to be", "I'm tired of being told what to do", "Inspired by the mystery", "my goddess gave birth to your god", etc
Katie- no pets here. Do kids count? Probably not.
My first car was a hand-me-down VW Baja bug. It was a POS! The fuse for the tail lights always popped so I couldn't drive it at night.
My first new car (my mom bought it for me) was a three cylinder, Cheverolet Sprint Plus. I loved that little red car. I drove the hell out of it. It wasn't fancy but it was simple and cute, like me. :) I would drive it as fast as it would go. I got a ticket going 80mph in it. It was on its last leg when a hail storm beat it up!
I had already purchased a new white Saturn. So State Farm totalled the Sprint and I was a happy girl. I barely kissed the poor thing goodbye. I just climbed into my new Saturn.
I loved my Saturn. I sped around in it with the sunroof open and the music blaring. I didn't drive it for long when at my wedding Andy traded it in for the 4 wheel drive Jeep Wrangler so we could move to snow country. Sad.
The jeep was fun but not really my type of car. I'm not rugged at all. When I was 9 months pregnant I opted to trade the Jeep for Andy's Ford Explorer. It wasn't a great trade. It had been driven pretty hard. We called it the Exploder. I was tired of throwing money into it so I bought the Explorer I have now. We sometimes refer to it as Dora. Get it? But mostly, I just call it The POS.
Right after moving back to Texas, the transmission started to fail and that had to be replaced. I'm hoping it can hold out for one more year and I want to get a new one.
I am not sensible about cars. I want the luxury car. I don't need it. I just want it. I want all the bells and whistles. Other than reliability, the audio system is the most important feature to me. :) I want lots of space to haul stuff. I drive 50 miles a day so it isn't really the best decision but I don't care. I don't want to drive another small car. SO... time will tell.
I just re-read my comment. He didn't trade my saturn AT my wedding. He gave me the keys for the Jeep at the rehearsal dinner the night before.
we have a 1971 plymouth duster, a 1972 4 dr chevy impala, a 1972 2 dr chevy impala all restored, a 1986 cutlass supreme oldsmobile, a 2000 chevy impala and a 2003 chevy impala. My first car was a 1981 toyota corolla (blue)w/ 100,000 miles all highway. I don't have any names for any of our cars.
Cheryl- you are welcome for the cookies! I knew as soon as you said they were your favorite that I should pass them along to you! :) Have a great Thursday!
This has been so much fun to read! I already feel like I know you all better. I've been in some of the cars about which you all are speaking. My favorite had to be Lori's purple Bug. Purple, by the way is her favorite color, so it made her car extra special.
I just remember the steering wheel shaking a whole lot. It made me nervous, but mostly because I know nothing about cars.
It got us lots of places we wanted to go in college.
Keep your stories coming!
IMPORTANT AND FUN ANNOUNCEMENT!
My very good and creative friend Sherry made a fun flier that can be placed on windshields of cars today to help announce/promote "Name Your Car Day."
If you are willing to print a page off (each page has four fliers on it), then you can simply cut the sheet in quarters and place them on windshields of cars at work, the grocery store, the gym, whatever.
A fun way to spread the spirit and to share in the Highlowaha fun. Let me know and I will forward you the PDF file (post your email too).
you can send me one.
cherylopry@gmail.com
You can send it to me, too.
send it my way.
Thanks Katie and Cheryl. If there is anyone else willing to print off a flier let me know (along with email address) and I will forward it on.
This is a fun way to make someone smile today.
Hmmm... my first car is no longer even made, that's how much of a clunker it was. It was a white 1986 Nissan 200SX, very sporty looking, and a hand-me-down from my dad (it was 10 years old when I got it). Not long into driving it (I was a senior in high school), the muffler got/developed(??) a hole. Our dog would start barking when I was about a mile from home, and every single person in the parking lot at my school would turn and look at me as I drove into or out of the lot. I certainly couldn't sneak home in that thing. My dad refused to spend the money to get it fixed because he probably thought it would be character-building or something... and when I finally convinced him to get it taken care of, it cost a whole $15 to patch the hole. Fifteen dollars would have prevented a lot of embarrassment, but at least it's a funny story now. I named that car "The Piece" (as in, of $%#*), and it paid me back by dying and never starting again sometime a few weeks before I left for college. Didn't really matter, since my dad wouldn't let me take a car to campus anyway.
I didn't have another car until a couple of weeks before I left for grad school. It was a white, 1993 Toyota Corolla. I broke it in by driving it cross-country from Georgia to Santa Barbara, and it took me back across the country when I left and was super-reliable throughout its life with me. Casper only had four cylinders and nothing automatic, so it was as basic as basic could get, but I loved him for being so dependable. He died on the side of the road in February 2007, in the midst of a crisis moment in my life. Terrible timing, but in hindsight, I think having to buy a new car provided a good distraction. I'll be a Toyota girl for life because of Casper.
My current car, named Stitch, is an adorable little blue 2007 Toyota Matrix, and it was the first new car I've ever had. I LOVE Stitch so much it's ridiculous. It's a little grocery-getter (aka wagon or hatchback, whichever you prefer), and assuming all of my future children will fit in the back seat, I'll be driving it until it dies, which I hope will be a long, long time from now.
As for my GPS, we call ours Karen, only because that's the name listed by the Australian female voice we chose when we set it up. Karen is one of my dearest friends, and I am dead serious when I say I really wish I could have Karen's job... only live. I want to be a live GPS Lady in the Sky, carrying on a conversation with some group of college kids or a family on a road trip, and helping them find their way to the nearest Mexican restaurant. Weird, but true. (On a related note, my mother calls her GPS "Bitch in a Box," which cracks me up. Perhaps I don't want to be her GPS Lady in the Sky if that's how I'd be treated!)
Claudia -
Where is Ray off to next?
I'm baking today (finally) and Treye will be taking the cookies to work tomorrow. That means hopefully you'll have new readers from St. Martin de Porres High School.
Stacie... Your stroll down the memory lane of cars cracked me up!
I wouldn't mind you being my GPS lady. You're great company. I'd call mine Stacie, but I already named her Delila and I would feel like I was betraying her.
My next one, though... Stacie all the way!
Tera it's funny but my daughter goes to St. Martin de Porres Elementary School here in NY. I know its a useless piece of info but I had to tell you.
Layne I have names for all your cars but I will tell you in person LOL
Claudia when the steering wheel shakes and you know nothing about cars "GET OUT" when the steering wheel shakes and you do you dont sweat it! Also send me a flyer I am game for anything!!!
Azlori.... All my cars had to have a great stereo system to drown out the noise of what needed to be fixed. My dad wouldnt let me get my license until I could change a tire "LIKE A MAN" needless to say I now have AAA and dont sweat the small stuff LOL!
Stacie- I love it!
Am I the only person alive that doesn't own GPS?
I have a MAP in my car and I use google before I leave for all the places I'm going. I'm so old school.
If you have time, check out:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/1052
Stacie- Karen is cheating on you!
You are a wealth of information, Cheryl. I just visited that site and it is funny. I saw no GPSs named Delila... yet!
Cheryl- I also do not have a GPS system and rely on google maps, plus my atlas to get me where I'm going! Though I do have to admit, I have a soft spot for Delila since I was in the car with Claudia the day she was named! Oh how I love Delila!!
I think I will come out of lurker status today. I am feeling extra brave today. And I have always been one to name my cars or have them named for me.
My first car I didn't have long enough to name. It was a 1991 Toyota Camry that I proceeded to wreck 2 days after I bought it. Talk about heart break at 16. Spending $2000 of hard earned money and then loosing it all in 2 days.
My second car was a 1989 Toyota Camry. This car was a real piece of work. I bought it again with my own hard earned money and loved it to death. The previous owner put some rims on the wheels, sliver windshield wipers, and of course it had a power sunroof. It was white and my friends named her cocco. I had her for two years and thought that I was hot stuff driving around in that rusk bucket, but she did get me everywhere I wanted to go in high school. Unfortunately my luck with Toyota Camrys is not good. I wrecked her two weeks before my high school graduation.
Now, I am on my third car. A sporty looking green Saturn, my friends have named this one Forest, as in run Forest run, because I like to run so much. This plastic car is not my dream car but has taken me back and forth from Louisville to NKY for four years and he has been very good to me. I say I will drive this car until it dies and then buy my dream car.
Julie:
Thank you for the package. I plan to give them to one of teachers at my school who keeps going back for more degrees. He has never really went through graduation on a higher level grad school, etc.
Katie:
Can i submit my granddog for a picture?
Sorry i have not been on the website in a few days. Please remember we need help on the helping hand site.
I don't have a GPS yet... someday, maybe.
So, I'm not alone! How comforting for me.
Sue,
Yes, your granddog can be submitted if you can get it passed Katie, our slide show coordinator. I'm not sure if she's still taking submissions.
Emily: Welcome to "out-of-lurker" status :)
Sue: You're welcome :)
My car story:
My first car was a 1998 4-door Pontiac Grand Am. It was a medium blue color and I loved it! I drove that car for 4 years, until it was 10 years old. I got it When it was 5 years old and had a whopping 32000 miles on it. Five years later I traded it in with 83000 miles on it. That car got me from Buffalo to Chicago, Buffalo to Florida, and around the state of PA with little to no problems. Within the first week of me owning that car, I knew how to check all my fluids, change my oil, and change a tire.
Enter Friday the 13th of June, 2008.
I purchased my first ever new car on June 13th. I got a factory ordered "Especially Made for Julie" 2008 4 Door 6 Speed Red Rock Jeep Wrangler. I drove my new Jeep off the lot on a Friday the 13th ... which happens to be one of my best friend's birthdays. This friend of mine's father owns the dealership that I purchased my Jeep from (www.mullanemotors.com) ... and I drove my Jeep from the lot to their Lake House on Lake Ontario. I figure not too many people can say that they drove their first new car from the lot to the owner of the dealership's weekend home!
Not even 72 hours later, my car was subjected to not 1, but TWO hail storms ... which left my hood looking like a piece of swiss cheese! Needless to say ... I had to immediately "cash in" on my new car insurance package!
Just a few weeks ago (on my way home from Taste of USA in Philly), I passed a used car lot, and low and behold, there was my old Pontiac ... it had traveled a good 200 miles south from where I had traded it in!
And, I do not have a GPS ... yet. But, plans for purchasing one are in my near future, as I am exploring new cities so frequently with my job!
and ... I haven't named either of my cars!
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