20th April 2004

I Had a Dream

posted in High Noise - Low Signal |

It was mundane.

I owned two cars but of course could only drive one. The quotidian car, my transportation, was so basic that upon waking I can remember no details about it, except that it goty me around. The more interesting car was a “classic” and I kept it in the street. The extra car required a lot of attention and concern. I fed parking meters. From time to time I moved it. I often walked by to be sure it was still there. I really admired it! It had great style, unique features. I worried about it… would someone steel the gas cap? Would it be damaged by passing motorists? I had some vague plans to travel in the car, but I didn’t follow through on them, perhaps because I would have had to leave the other car behind.

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  1. 1 On April 21st, 2024, Dean Landsman said:

    Gee, a little feeling of guilt, maybe a sort of tainted sense of responsibility, is rising from deep within my soul . . .

    You had the distinct honor and priveledge of riding two times in my car over the weekend. This, a car that when I purchased it, showed 67,000 some odd miles. A few years later the NY State DMV sent me a notice that the dealer was being indicted for odometer rollbacks, and that a week before I’d bought the car, the odometer had been at 197,000 some odd miles. A mere 130,000 difference!

    Now it shows just under 200,000 miles on the odometer. Anytime, anyday now, it will finally get the chance to turn the 199,999 corner it would have had so soon after I bought it from that rollback specialist.

    So now that you’ve been in a car that’s got over 300,000 miles on it, dreams of cars and parking meters are entering the inner worlds of your psyche.

    And remember: my car is one that requires absolutely zero attention and concern . .except for the every 5,000 mile oil change and things like that. And this car gets 30 mpg in regular driving (like from here to NYC and back), and 33 or better mpg on highway trips.

    You might think I have gone nuts here, but actually, when I got home on Saturday night, I wondered if there was perhaps a god or goddess of all cars, to whom I might offer a few words of thanks.

    –dfl

  2. 2 On April 21st, 2024, fp said:

    Yes. Well, I wish I had your car-ma. Beth and I share a 1993 Toyota that has about 135,000 on it, and I’ll soon have to buy it a new clutch. But these things reach a point where I lack the courage to take them on long trips, like from New York to Boston. So then I buy a new one, and I’m the sucker that eats that first few years depreciation. During that time I get to enjoy the ineffable new car smell (which I understand they add toward the end of the assembly line. And - no offense - I’ll have to admit it compares quite favorably to the eau de stogie that I dedicated in the Dean-mobile.

    My new Toyota, the one I drive to distant places in all kinds of weather, will eventually reach the state of the old Toyota and I will no longer trust it. I’ll buy a new one. Meanwhile, the Dean-mobile will be turning 400,000 nominal and who knows how many actual miles and you’ll be blogging from a hand-held while driving down a freeway puffing on your stogie and smiling a happy smile.

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