And you know. I was in imminent danger of the wheels falling off. I took her in a couple months ago for new tires and new brakes. I requested that they check the CV Joints and let me know the condition. Dire it turned out. Cracked boots and not a lick of lubrication. Which means that dirt and sand was in there grinding away at my axles. I starting planning on spending the money to have the axles replaced. And then the landlord called.

Did you know that you have a very large oil leak? No, really??? Shit, which one. I’d fixed 3 of them but the 4th wasn’t easily accessible and probably meant a valve job. According to my most recent mechanic it meant $3,500 to 4,000. Oh. So I was instructed to put a large pan under my engine when I parked at my home or park on the street and let it run into the water system. Frankly I didn’t think it was hurting the gravel all that much but he’s funny that way. So I put down the pan. And stocked up on more oil.

Then as I was on my way to The Ex’s house this weekend my clutch started slipping on the worst hill in this part of Washington and I knew it was time for the new clutch. Again, not a surprise, I have 115K miles on her. It was time.

And two days latter my muffler starting doing the putt putt. Crap. That had been replaced in the last 4 years but I do a lot of city driving so there goes that.

Add to these things (all of which would cost close to $6,000 to repair) the following:

~ No radio or stereo of any kind for going on 10 years
~ Cracked windshield from last years snow storm
~ Dried and cracked rubber around said winder so when it rained hard (what are the odds?) my car sloshed for days where the water leaked into the side panel
~ The roof rack was missing a support, replaced by a bungie cord. Sadly a friend found a replacement for this a month ago for 50 cents at Value Village. Too little too late.

My Minerva was also a bare bones car. Nothing automatic about her. Steering by Armstrong. Manual transmission (which I liked), hand crank windows (which the new car also has), little seats, no room for passengers. She hauled a lot of stuff over the years but she was small and couldn’t hold much. Even so I felt sad leaving her there at the dealership, empty. Makes me sad even now. She was so good to me. And in the end she was still good because those guys gave me a $1,000 for her. !!!!!! oh yeah. She has been very good to me.

The first thing both The Ex and my mother asked me when they saw the new car was “what is her name?” I now know that it is Bess. She is a firey Celt with red hair, a happy family, she knows her mind, has some gumption, is fiercely loving, and will live a long life.

This morning, tired from not much sleep for various reasons in addition to the tossing and turning over budget, I got in my new rust colored car and set out for the office. She hums, purrs even. I can’t hear the axles rattle. The door doesn’t squeak and neither does the non-existent clutch. The windshield wipers, intermittent!, quietly and cleanly do their job. I turned on the radio but realized that sometimes, especially on quiet rainy mornings, I like the silence. So I turned it off. But last night? Driving down the highway to Kent? I turned her up loud and sang, quite well I might add.