Vee - Hicle!

When I was in the process of what I laughingly refer to as "growing up," I never wanted a car. My parents convinced me that learning to drive and getting my license would be a good thing to do regardless. In this particular case, I listened. I took driver ed in high school and got my license at eighteen. My first vehicle was a Suzuki 650 motorcycle purchased at age thirty four. Three years later I bought a Suzuki Intruder 1400 motorcycle, the baddest ass machine ever

In 1994, Carmen was tired of shifting her white standard transmission 1987 Toyota Corolla. She bought a  green Corolla station wagon with automatic transmission. I drove the white Corolla for two years. Suffice it to say I was seduced by four wheels, a roof and air conditioning there in Central Florida. During that time I was on the lookout for a pickup truck, but not just any pickup truck. I wanted it to be reliable as a Toyota, with automatic transmission, and a bed big enough to lay a 4' X 8' sheet flat between the wheel humps. I spotted it from the highway at the Saturn dealership in Kissimmee. It was a '93 Toyota T-100 with a V6 engine. I loved that truck. I drove it hard from the spring of '96 until we moved to Massachusetts in the summer of 2005. Knowing that vehicles are a liability in Boston, we sold it before we left.

For four years in Boston, one year in Albuquerque and nearly two years in Meadville, I walked many miles a day and /or took public transportation wherever I went. This made me happy. I like to walk, and I like public transportation. A year ago, however, I had knee replacement surgery, and since then walking has not been as joyful as it was in the 1970s. The walk home up the hill from downtown Meadville is exhausting. I take the bus to a bus stop two blocks away when I can, but sometimes I just can't.

Today, Carmen took possession of a 2008 Scion Xb. Nautical blue! It's a beautiful car. And once again I get the white Toyota she's been driving since she bought it new in 2000. It's a Rav4 with 85,000 miles. I'm happy to have a car again. That's hard for me to admit even to myself. But I'm expanding my job search parameters now, and hope to be full time somewhere soon.

This is vehicle number five for me. I'm excited.