My parents passed my twin sister and me there 1981 oldsmobile, which took us through three years of high school until we graduated in 1989--and we had to scrape by the summer and first year of college in an 88 Yugo that my dad bought off my aunt for $500 (I think he overpaid).
We then shared another passed down car (an 88 chevy cavalier) which my sister eventually bought from my mother while I scraped for a sheriff's auction Ford Escort.
When the Escort cracked a head gasket a year later, I got my first car loan for an 88 Cutlass Ciera which lasted me until DH and I traded it in for a new truck in 2001.
I'm now in the Mommobile Minivan.
I empathize with every 'ffista mom who feels trapped like a rat in a cage. We are lucky to have gotten out without the kids, together, a total of 3 times in the last 10 months. Paying a babysitter on top of dinner and a movie runs about $100 so that's usually out. Last night a good friend repaid a kindness by babysitting for us for free and it was really, really nice. We grabbed a beer before going to see the new Bond movie.
I hate to ask friends to sit with the kids because I feel like I'm imposing. It's not about trust issues or even guilt for the kids. But being so far from our family pretty much puts the usual outlets for free sitting out of our reach.
Cars?
Speaking of which, tommyrot, I've been meaning to mention that Tom Waits has a song on his new collection titled "The Pontiac" that makes me think of you every time I hear it. It's up at the NPR website for All Things Considered so if you check out his last interview there (in Nov.) you should be able to hear the song for free.
Cars:
- 1964 Ford Galaxie
- 1974 Plymouth Duster (the worst lemon ever)
- 1973 Toyota Carina
- 1978 Diesel Rabbit
- 1987 Nissan King Cab
- 1998 Nissan Frontier King Cab (exact same truck as the previous one, except in red. God, I'm boring.)
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EM has volunteered to babysit and she means it. She showed up at the tryouts today wearing Matilda in the front pack (which was a surprise). JZ's Mom and Dad will also offer babysitting services and I could also probably impose on Emmett's Godmother or the older Godsister for that matter.
Plus there are local Buffistas who who need to be abused would delight in Matilda's company, I'm sure.
Speaking of which, tommyrot, I've been meaning to mention that Tom Waits has a song on his new collection titled "The Pontiac" that makes me think of you every time I hear it. It's up at the NPR website for All Things Considered so if you check out his last interview there (in Nov.) you should be able to hear the song for free.
Hmm.... I have his new album but I've only listened to half of it. He often does mention big old American cars. One of his songs on the new album has words to the effect: "She had an old Lincoln - with suicide doors." I love the way he says "suicide" there. (Suicide doors are doors that open "backwards.")
My car history is incredibly dull:
1987: Suburu Legacy
1995: Suburu Legacy which I am still driving.
I suspect the first one would have lasted longer if it had not been in a wreck.
DH's cousin owned a Plymouth Scamp about 10 years ago. Which was actually very cute. I don't know how reliable it was but it was right there on the back of the car--SCAMP!
Every time I see a Mitsubishi Galant, I think that they should also have a Mitsubishi Goofus.
Every time I see a Mitsubishi Galant, I think that they should also have a Mitsubishi Goofus.
"Galant is always fuel-efficient, because it knows our natural resources are limited. Goofus only gets 2 mpg, because it wants to look cool to all the SUVs and Hummers."
