Mechazawa Suzuki!
So yesterday was a long day. Although it sort of started on Wednesday night when I was pulling out of work and my muffler finally blew completely. So after months of discussion about it, and after taking the van in to get repaired only to have the mechanic call me up and ask me how long I wanted to keep the van for, (since he figured I'd be nuts to try to make it last another year), I decided it was time to stop stalling and get a new vehicle. We were going to wait until my week off after Otakon, but the mega loud muffler was saying the van wanted to go early.
So I went to Marketplace Suzuki. I read the SX4's have a good repair history so far, (too early to tell that well though mind you since they've only been in existence since '07, but they're looking good), and I saw some that were a year old in my price range. Turns out what I saw online were actually new models that just came up on my carsforsale.com search, so instead of putting money down on a used car to pick up, I ended up buying a new Suzuki SX4 yesterday! Manual transmission, but it still has power locks, windows etc. and air conditioning. It's white so I don't have to constantly wonder where I parked like I do when Anne and I look for the Corolla. And the car runs beautifully! Well it should, it's brand new! So the salesman said he could get me through everything in about an hour. Uh, what? I was planning on coming back the next few days while taking care of stuff - an HOUR? Well yeah, I decided to just drive my new car out of there!
That should have been nothing but happy, but that meant I had to clear out the van. The van I took to Anime Syracuse with the RNYO/GGW people. The van that Todd got bored in one day and put bungee cords all over the inside of while we were driving and made it look like a spider web in the back. The van that Todd used to always open the side door of any time we went somewhere and we were drinking. The van that took us on a couple of wine tours. The van that... well I could go on all day! Needless to say, I was feeling pretty nostalgic about it. (took it with bikes to the Greenway trail quite often, and last week I took both mine and Annes bike for her first trip on the greenway trail). So I called Anne to tell her how much quicker things were going and that I was actually buying immediately, and I shed a tear for my van. Yes, I actually had to wipe a tear! 12 years with the family, it was hard to say goodbye!
And then, when I went to eject the CD from the CD player as the last thing I had to get out of the van, the CD just wouldn't eject enough for me to get a finger on. I had to work it in and out to get a grip and take the final CD. It was like the van was saying "I'm tired, this is all the energy I have left - it's time for me to go now." I actually think that was part of the reason I felt like crying at it's loss.
But because it's a vehicle and not a pet, there's no mourning period before the next one. I drove out of the lot in my new Suzuki SX4. And it runs BEAUTIFULLY! I LOVE it! I got a white one so I can actually find it in parking lots as opposed to our silver Corolla where we constantly try to find it and approach 1 out of every 4 cars that has some kind of silver color to it. The car has a MPG gauge so I know how much gas I'm using depending on what gear I'm in and how I'm driving. I got the additional warranty so it has a 7 year/100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. Plus I got rust protection, which means I get rust coating today, (I only pay for with the car), and then every year I get it recoated for free. And if the car ever rusts at all the entire time I own it, as long as I come back every year to recoat it, they pay to fix the rust for free!
So I drove it to work and spent the whole work day looking in the parking lot to see it whenever I could get over near the door. Then I took it home and drove it around with Anne. And before I left the driveway with Anne, I went upstairs and grabbed my stuffed Chocobo and Mechazawa to put in the back window to personalize it a bit. But the chocobo just didn't fit. It's a Suzuki. It looks mechanical. Like more than other cars in a way. Mechazawa is a perfect fit, a chocobo just doesn't work in it. So I took out the chocobo and put Mechazawa right behind the rear window brake light. And now I call my car Mechazawa Suzuki! I love it because putting that Hermes license plate on my bike made me call it Hermes and increased my attachment. And yes, I realize with my car that one day I may regret the personalizing, but for now I'm loving it, and it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all anyway isn't it?
So my new family member is waiting in the driveway to get his rustproofing, and I need to shower to get him there!
So I went to Marketplace Suzuki. I read the SX4's have a good repair history so far, (too early to tell that well though mind you since they've only been in existence since '07, but they're looking good), and I saw some that were a year old in my price range. Turns out what I saw online were actually new models that just came up on my carsforsale.com search, so instead of putting money down on a used car to pick up, I ended up buying a new Suzuki SX4 yesterday! Manual transmission, but it still has power locks, windows etc. and air conditioning. It's white so I don't have to constantly wonder where I parked like I do when Anne and I look for the Corolla. And the car runs beautifully! Well it should, it's brand new! So the salesman said he could get me through everything in about an hour. Uh, what? I was planning on coming back the next few days while taking care of stuff - an HOUR? Well yeah, I decided to just drive my new car out of there!
That should have been nothing but happy, but that meant I had to clear out the van. The van I took to Anime Syracuse with the RNYO/GGW people. The van that Todd got bored in one day and put bungee cords all over the inside of while we were driving and made it look like a spider web in the back. The van that Todd used to always open the side door of any time we went somewhere and we were drinking. The van that took us on a couple of wine tours. The van that... well I could go on all day! Needless to say, I was feeling pretty nostalgic about it. (took it with bikes to the Greenway trail quite often, and last week I took both mine and Annes bike for her first trip on the greenway trail). So I called Anne to tell her how much quicker things were going and that I was actually buying immediately, and I shed a tear for my van. Yes, I actually had to wipe a tear! 12 years with the family, it was hard to say goodbye!
And then, when I went to eject the CD from the CD player as the last thing I had to get out of the van, the CD just wouldn't eject enough for me to get a finger on. I had to work it in and out to get a grip and take the final CD. It was like the van was saying "I'm tired, this is all the energy I have left - it's time for me to go now." I actually think that was part of the reason I felt like crying at it's loss.
But because it's a vehicle and not a pet, there's no mourning period before the next one. I drove out of the lot in my new Suzuki SX4. And it runs BEAUTIFULLY! I LOVE it! I got a white one so I can actually find it in parking lots as opposed to our silver Corolla where we constantly try to find it and approach 1 out of every 4 cars that has some kind of silver color to it. The car has a MPG gauge so I know how much gas I'm using depending on what gear I'm in and how I'm driving. I got the additional warranty so it has a 7 year/100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. Plus I got rust protection, which means I get rust coating today, (I only pay for with the car), and then every year I get it recoated for free. And if the car ever rusts at all the entire time I own it, as long as I come back every year to recoat it, they pay to fix the rust for free!
So I drove it to work and spent the whole work day looking in the parking lot to see it whenever I could get over near the door. Then I took it home and drove it around with Anne. And before I left the driveway with Anne, I went upstairs and grabbed my stuffed Chocobo and Mechazawa to put in the back window to personalize it a bit. But the chocobo just didn't fit. It's a Suzuki. It looks mechanical. Like more than other cars in a way. Mechazawa is a perfect fit, a chocobo just doesn't work in it. So I took out the chocobo and put Mechazawa right behind the rear window brake light. And now I call my car Mechazawa Suzuki! I love it because putting that Hermes license plate on my bike made me call it Hermes and increased my attachment. And yes, I realize with my car that one day I may regret the personalizing, but for now I'm loving it, and it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all anyway isn't it?
So my new family member is waiting in the driveway to get his rustproofing, and I need to shower to get him there!