Oh the irony...

Our car died on Resurrection Sunday. We had already been warned not to drive it on the highway because the rusty, holey, rear suspension could pop through the trunk if we hit a really big bump. It's actually been a really nice car and does not look anywhere near death, but much lurks beneath the system that can't be seen. After church, our daughter was driving people home and it suddenly died. The speedometer dropped to zero. No electronics. Nothing. Dead. Oh, my husband would like to resurrect it...just enough to get by until we buy another car. I think it needs to stay in the graveyard at the mechanic's yard. Let sleeping cars lie.

So ya, we're still driving the Jaguar and it will thankfully get our daughter back to college tonight. Ironic that we now need to buy a car....and here in our driveway is this Jaguar for sale at a good price for a Jag....we could even pay it off gradually through my husband's employer......but we don't want it! However, if we could use it for a few more months that would be quite acceptable!

We still have another jalopy that our son drives. My parents bought it new....22 years ago. You can imagine what it looks and sounds like....but it runs! So I will likely be borrowing that quite a bit this week. Hopefully, the extra use doesn't send it over the edge too! It will take a while to clean it out - I don't think our son has thrown any garbage out of it for at least a year. God keeps us humble.

One other thing died on Sunday - NHL hockey.

Toronto Maple Leafs - may they rest in peace......until next season.
(I wish I had a dollar for every time I've said 'next season...!!') P.S. Any comments regarding the Sens will be quickly deleted!!

We're turning heads

Our friends are abuzz these days because we're driving a Jaguar.

We just chuckle because it's not ours. It was leased by my husband's boss and now it's time for a new Jag....so the boss told us to use it until it's sold. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Perhaps the boss felt sorry for my husband who rides his bike to work in nice weather, and bums a ride from a co-worker the rest of the year.

Trouble is, we're not 'really nice car' people. Like...the seats and floors of our cars usually have the odd french fry, gum wrapper, kleenex, water bottle, food stains, dog hair...you get the picture. We had the Jag for a week, and the boss handed my husband a car wash coupon and told him to get it washed. Not sure if that was a hint...but apparently the boss used to wash this car every day.......every day!!! Oh my. Our car gets washed every season.

It's interesting having this very temporary feeling of people taking second glances at 'our' car as we drive along. Last time I felt eyes follow the vehicle I was in, I was travelling in a funeral limousine enroute to the cemetary. The other day, big spenders that we are, we went through a MacDonald's drive-through (do Jag people do that?) and bought vanilla cones. Some young teens oogled the car and drooled, "nice car you got there!" My husband almost said, 'Not bad for a weather beater', but he held his tongue.

We still only drive 10 km over the speed limit as usual, but we feel silly. Everyone's speeding past the cool Jag on the highway. We feel like we're crawling at 120 km. (that's 75 miles per hour for you Americans, or senior age Canadians :-) ), but so far we've restrained ourselves from letting 'er rip (although I have no way of knowing whether my husband has 'tested' it without me). My husband tried the old trick of turning on my seat warmer when I wasn't looking, but I learned that one real good on a hot July evening one year in Jasper, Alberta in a rented vehicle. I knew I was menopausal, but that hot flash was unbelievable! I was really worried something was terribly wrong with my body until he 'fessed up to turning it on.

I commented to my daughter that I was going to take the above pictures of the Jag and hoped the neighbours wouldn't see me. She thought it would be funny to set off the car's alarm to draw the neighbours to their windows. Problem was, there's a knack to turning off that very loud alarm. We couldn't shut it off! My husband had to be called and he tried several times to shut the thing off. So much for not attracting the neighbours.

Friends have asked us why we don't buy this Jaguar as it is a deal, but I just can't see it. It's not me. I don't want to worry about it when I'm parking in public lots. We drive all our cars into the ground. It costs $150 to replace a headlight on the thing. We have no garage. There is snow in winter. Have you ever seen a dirty, rusty Jag? Nope. Our own car goes in for repairs this week as it's making horrible noises. We'll enjoy the ride in the Jag until it is sold....then we'll get back to reality and open the envelope for the car repair bill.