Death of a Subaru

To my dear Subaru,

When you got sick a few weeks ago, I just thought it was something like a cold or a bad flu and as soon as you got new spark plugs and an oil change, you would be good as new. I really hoped that you would make a full recovery.

I remember the first day we met. Since then, you have been a great car and I have loved having you around. We have spent so much time together and I know that sometimes I took you for granted and for that I am sorry. You have put up with bad singing and bad dance moves. You have listened to countless hours of phone conversations, NPR, me-talking to myself including a some laughing and crying spells. You have been loyal and kind and I am going to miss you. Thank you for keeping me safe and transporting me to and fro.

I like to think that there is a place where old Subarus go to roll down their windows, turn up the radio and drive with ease through forests and across sandy beaches and over amazing bridges.

Please stay strong because I need you for a few more weeks and then you will be free.

Thank you for these great years together!

Going Car Shopping

Most mornings while I am riding to work on the metro, I read a free paper published by the Washington Post. It is small enough so that you don't have to hold your arms up to read it and thus you can stay in your own personal space (very important on a crowded metro). One section that I love is what they call the Blog Log. They find and publish bits and pieces of blogs on many various topics. I usually get a good laugh and then I pray that they never find my blog. Here is an entry from a few weeks ago that I saved because I could not have agreed with it more. This is from lacochran's blog.

"Over time, I've noticed that in men and in cars, I've come to require the same list of non-negotiable things (in no particular order):

• Not girly.
• Not all flash.
• Designed with intelligence.
  
• Solid.
  
• Agile and responsive.
  
• Doesn't get all shaky and fall apart if I push the envelope.
• Thrilling.
• Dependably consistent.
• Not jerky.
  

Notice how I didn't mention cup holders? I'm all kinds of classy like that,
Not too much to ask, now is it? It took me a long time to get clear on that but I am.
So, yeah, non-negotiable. You say I'm spoiled. I say I'm clear on objectives. Tomato, tomahto."

I think if I added friendly to the environment, I would be all set. Now all I have to do is go car shopping.