This is my car. The good thing about it is that it is a company car, and they pay for everything: payments, insurance, gas, oil, repairs, tires, even car washes. The bad thing is that this car hates me.

Just a few months after I got the car, I was driving down a two-lane road. There was a car coming the opposite way. Unfortunately, that car blocked my view of the deer on the side of the road, and blocked her view of me. We became aware of each other as she smashed into the side of my car. She managed to get off the road, and a couple of weeks later the Professor told me he saw a limping deer who was extremely cautious of the traffic, so I think she survived. The damage was pretty minimal, but visible. I confess to waiting several months to get the body work done because it gave me such a good way to bond with my customers. They'd ask, "What happened to your car?"; I'd shrug and answer "Got my first deer."

Two weeks after I had the deer damage fixed, I was in Alexandria LA. It was after 5:00, and I was downtown, looking for my hotel. I could see through four stoplights, and the road was completely clear. I started across the intersection, actually had my front wheels all the way through, when WHAM, I was hit. Some woman had pulled out of a driveway, yakking on her cell phone, obviously speeding and not paying a bit of attention. She never honked, never hit her brakes, but apparently opened her eyes at the last second and yanked the wheel. Again, there was minimal damage to my car, but hers had to be towed away. When the cop arrived, he hugged her. Then the cop who relieved him turned out to be her brother-in-law. Guess who got the ticket?

The scary thing is that I am five feet tall, and if the law were based on height instead of age, I would be required to ride in the back seat. If my air bag ever goes off, I will die. I'm not sure if my car is trying to kill me, or just messing with my head. GM cannot put a pedal extension on the car. I only have to drive this for another 20,000 miles and I'll get a new one. I'll try to get one with a pedal extension, but I'll certainly get one that isn't gray.


This is the Professor's car. It cost more than 4 of the 6 houses I've owned! He wanted a midnight blue, but they were all sold, so he bought the yellow because it's my favorite color. And is it a chick magnet -- everyone from the little old ladies at my mother's retirement community to my 7 year old granddaughter flirts with him to get a ride.

In June, the Professor took a road trip. He was headed for the experimental aircraft show in Wisconsin, but he drove there by way of Florida.
Then he headed up to Mackinac Island in Michigan. From there, he went to the air show, then up to the Iron Range in Minnesota, and westward from there to Montana. In Montana, he made a right turn up to Canada, then went west again. Somewhere in Canada a Mountie stopped him and said "I caught you fair and square; you were speeding." He still didn't get a ticket! (That's the other thing about this car; cops don't want to ticket it.) The Professor got to Alaska, in fact as far north as the paved road went, but was disappointed he couldn't get to Dead Horse. His return home was down through Washington, Utah, Nebraska, among others. He ended up putting 13,000 miles on the car. Most people wonder why he did this, but it's obvious to me: this is the road trip all teenage boys want to take. It just took him a few extra years to have the time and money to do it. Also, I tend to want the top up if I am dressed up, and that frustrates him. He made that entire trip with the top down, except for the time he was caught in a snowstorm, and even then he didn't put it up until the cockpit started to fill up with snow. I am very happy he got to take the trip, and even happier that I didn't have to do it with him! Three weeks in a car --- yech.