Is There No Other Way ?

This is a picture post.

Sadly, there is no "before" picture, so you'll just have to imagine one.

My car is a 1997 model year, which means she's old.  Over the years, whatever glue was used to originally affix the gray cloth to the foam backing on the ceiling of my car has lost the ability to keep it together.  Thus, I began employing several taping techniques to prolong the inevitable.

This is the "inevitable" ...
a short while back I had to cut and peel the cloth
off my car's ceiling.  And yes, those stickers were
collected over several years.  Thanks kids!

Song Of The Day:
Oddly enough, it was just the front and back of the cloth that came loose.
The fabric on the sides of the car stayed strong.
This is my weak tie in to the song "On The Wing" by MeninDrag a capella (from the University of Chicago).  What's the tie in you ask?  I don't rightly know.  But I like the song and it sounds a little wind related.

I said it was a weak tie in!

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Are You Emotionally Attached To Your Car ?

Recently I was looking through old photos on our home computer, specifically those I had uploaded from my phone.  I came across the one at the left and it took me a few minutes to remember why I had taken it.

Then I remembered the conversation with one of my kids (I forget which one it was at the time) from this past autumn.  Whoever it was, said that our cars (Karen drives our minivan and I drive our compact car) were "dent buddies."  I didn't know there was such a thing, but the comment led me to snapping this photo, which led me today to think back on that animated short about "Susie The Little Blue Coupe."

If you've never seen the short, take a few minutes and watch it HERE.

I remembered seeing this for the first time long before I was able to drive a car myself.  And I remembered how I felt seeing the car go from new to old to unloved and then finally back to being loved again by her new owner.  At the time, I was just happy for little Susie, but now, I actually have an additional appreciation for this animation.  I'm quite attached to my car, and we've recently found out just how attached Karen is to her minivan (long story there ... maybe a future blog post).  I've driven Jazzmine (yes, that's her name) around for almost 17 years.  That's a lot of time together.  Over 170,000 miles if you prefer to measure it in distance.

So in honor of my first car (I bought her myself, all the others were borrowed or gifts), I present today's Song Of The Day which is "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" by Glass Tiger.  I am not sure how much more Jazz and I will be able to hang out together, but I know I won't forget her when it's time to finally say goodbye.

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What Do You Name Your Car(s)?

I know that I am NOT the only person who names his vehicles.

The great Archie Andrews had "Betsy."

Michael Knight a.k.a. Knight Rider had "KITT."

So don't get all judgy and think I'm weird when I ask for your help on this.

What should we call our new 12-passenger van ?!

Here are some possible suggestions, but please comment below (or on the Facebook link) with your ideas:
 - The Stay Puft Marshmallow Van
 - Van Damme ... (hee hee)
 - Great White
 - The Beast
 - The Abominable SnowVAN
 - Cloud 9 ... (since it's a big, white cloud and we have 9 people in our family)

This is going to stress me out until we find the right name.  How are the kids going to know what car to 'go get in' if I can't refer to it properly?!

Song Of The Day:
I am fairly certain our big van will begin acting like Herbie if we don't pick the right name.  In that vein, "That's Not My Name" by The Ting Tings will remain here until a suitable name is found!  :)

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