Farewell to my Optra

Today I handed in my old car since my lease is up. I remembered the day, four years ago, when I handed in my old car. I was sad that day. I felt like that little green car was a part of me. She had shared in my life for four years and I felt like she was truly mine. It felt odd to just drop her off and walk away. I felt like I was abondoning her. Today however, I didn't think twice about leaving that dumb black car of mine. I was more than happy to walk away from her and never look back.

Before I dropped it off I thought I should clean it out. I took it to a place called "Bubbles" and I vacuummed it, wiped it all down and washed the outside. As I was doing this, I started to think of all the things that happened to me in this car. In my little walk down memory lane I tried to think of the good and the bad, but only the bad seemed to jump into my head. Here's a few things that came to mind:

(1) The day at the dump.

One day I cut the shrubs in my back yard and filled the trunk with the branches. I decided to take them to the dump. Now the dump, in general, makes me nervous. I hate figuring out what way to go, where to stop, what all the bins are. I make a mistake every time I go and some random dump man always yells at me. So keep in mind I was uneasy going there in the first place. I had actually made this trek to the dump about 3 days after I cut the shrubs. I backed the car up to the bin so I could easily throw them in. When I opened the trunk I was horrered to find that there was millions of these teeny tiny spiders scampering everywhere. I guess there were spider babies in the shrubs? I don't know what it was, but I lost my mind. I started screaming and flailing all around. So much that some man came over to see what the big deal was. He politely got rid of the shrubs and all the spiders for me. But I was horrified to drive home thinking they were all over the car. I'm not even one of those people that hates spiders. But really, this was too much. Did I mention I hate the dump?

(2) The accident with the cab driver

I was at a friends house for her birthday one night when there was a knock at the door. It was a cab driver. He came to let us know he drove into a car parked on the street. He didn't have to say a word for me to know it was mine. A house full of people and a street full of cars...but I just knew. That's just who I am. And sure enough - we go outside to find he had backed into the front corner of the car. Apparently he thought that evening was a prime opportunity for a hit and run. After he hit me he drove away. Luckily for me, he had just picked up a friend of mine who was in the cab with him and made him stop. It was a huge mess. The guy didn't have insurance on him and the police were there and they had to call the owner of the cab company. Then there was the whole mess of insurance and rental cars. It really sucked.

(3) The faulty alarm

A few nights I'd be lying in bed and thought I was hearing my car alarm go off. So I'd go outside and would hear nothing. I'd get back in bed and then I'd hear it again. So I'd get up and go back outside - and again hear nothing. This went on for days and I thought I was losing my mind. It was concerning. Finally one day I ran into my neighbhour outside and she mentioned it too. I was relieved to find out I wasn't cracking up and annoyed that I had to take it to the shop. About six months after this happened the problem happened AGAIN. The wind blowing would set off the alarm. A bird flying would set off the alarm. Dumb car.

(4) Flat Tires

I rarely wear skirts to work. What's even more rare is for me to wear a skirt to work in the winter. I think I've done this maybe three times in my life. So, it's only fitting on the day it's about minus 30 out and I'm stupidly wearing a skirt that I get a flat tire. That was fun.

(5) Snow and Winter

I can't count the times I've gotten stuck in the snow in this car. Most recently at 2:00am on Christmas Eve and again on Boxing Day. I like having to ask friends to come and push me. I know they love it. Especially when it's cold. The worst I ever got stuck was in a friends driveway. It had snowed quite heavily and we were on our way to a hockey game. We never made it. The car was jammed in the snow so badly that the wheels were not even touching the ground. My friends Matt and Brian tried every way possible to get the car out (Thanks Guys) but to no avail. We had to call the tow truck. You know what the tow guy said? The last car he just pulled out was a..........surprise: Chevy Optra. It took him about 2.4 seconds and it cost fifty bucks.

(6) Locks

New Years Eve - 2008. A good way to ring in the new year is to lock your keys in the car. While it's running. Especially when you're driving a bunch of people home. I imagine they enjoyed ending the party standing in someone's driveway in the cold.

For now, that's all I can think of. Perhaps I should be more fair though. That little car took me many places and a lot of good road trips. I put 74,504 kilometers on her. She took me on a crazy trip to Wisconsin, to visit an old friend in Illinois, a camping trip to Lake Temagami, countless trips to Barrie, London, North Bay, Holland and many more. And I packed her tight many times with hockey bags to play in hockey tournaments.

I am thankful to have never had any accidents and surprisingly never hit any deer in it. That sounds like a random thing to say, but for some reason I did think someday I may hit a deer in that car. Knock on wood for even saying that outloud (or online, so to speak). I did run over two raccoons though (one may have been a porcupine...it was dark). But there was no damage and I think raccoons are evil, so that's okay.

So farewell to that black car. I don't think I"ll ever get a black car again. It was way too hard for me to find it in parking lots with the 50 other black cars. I ended up putting little flower decals on the back windows to use as an identifier for myself. I think those flowers became identifiers for most people who know me as well.

I hope the next few years in my new car bring me new adventures and memories. None that involve snow, flat tires or pushing. He has potential for the good not the bad. (This car is a boy for some reason)

Anyway, farewell black car. I'll remember you, but I sure won't miss you.