The Silver Bullet

The Lag Liv family got a new member today- a car. A shiny little silver car that is sitting in my driveway and belongs to me. (Well, me and the credit union who financed the loan, but I'm the one who gets to drive it.) I'm a little shocked, it all happened so fast, and I'm still a little mad that it had to happen at all, but I'm also very excited because I've never had a car this new and I drove my old one for 8 years.

It all started yesterday afternoon when I called JP from my car, nearly in tears, because the air conditioning wasn't working and I thought I was going to have heat stroke. My a/c has been half-broken for 5 years. It wouldn't blow air as cold as it used to (even with new coolant, etc) and it wouldn't blow air at all if I was accelerating. I clearly remember sitting on a Houston highway in the summer of 2005 sweating and gasping for air while my little in-car thermometer said it was 117 degrees. But a month later we moved to Chicago so the a/c issue didn't matter very much, and then during our first two summers in Austin I didn't drive my car that often. Ten minutes to work, ten minutes back, and covered parking in both locations- it just wasn't that big of a deal. But this summer I'm out and about with two kids and the a/c decided to stop blowing cold air at all.

So after my call to JP I decided I wasn't spending another day in my car. I took a shower (I was drenched in sweat), jumped on craigslist, and found the EXACT car I'd been wanting in the color I wanted with the trim and upgrades I wanted AND it was a 2009 still under warranty and listed several thousand dollars under blue book. AND it just happened to be at a little car dealer 5 miles from our house. I called them and was test-driving it with Claire two hours later. This morning we arranged for financing and I drove it home this afternoon. It's so pretty. It has leather and a moonroof and seat warmers and other fun fancy things like working a/c and a keyless entry remote that actually works.

But even as excited as I am about the new car, I'm so sad to say goodbye to my old one. She was a great little buggy - never had a problem, always did what I wanted her to even though I was terrible about things like maintenance and oil changes. I got her as a present from my parents after my freshman year of college because I'd earned enough academic scholarships to pay for nearly all of undergrad. My dad and I spent a day looking at used cars and I fell in love. She was only 4 years old then and cost $11,000. My first car. She went on a spring break ski trip to Colorado with JP, me, and two friends and she drove to Chicago and back twice -- 8 years and so many memories. I'm probably going to cry when I hand over the title to whoever buys her.

But then I'll sit in my new car, The Silver Bullet, as he's been dubbed, and his cold a/c will comfort me.