RIP Flaky (1995-2011)

So, I said good-bye to my old POS car yesterday, somewhat affectionately known as Flaky. The picture should explain the name quite well. I bought Flaky from a co-worker who was moving overseas; it was her grandfathers’ car, single owner, 42K miles over 9 years at that time, good condition, maintenance records kept in details, and yes, it had all of its paint at the time I bought him in 2004. I didn’t drive Flaky much during the rest of my time in PA; Flaky was the “second car”, the “drive back and forth to work” car. So, in the first three years, I only put 10K miles on him. 

But also in the first three years, the paint flaking had already started. The flaking occurred mainly in the winter – during the worst of it, pieces of paint 6 inches in diameter would fly off the hood while driving down the highway. In doing some research online, I found out that for many GM cars in the mid-90s with white paint, flaking was a commonly reported problem, yet GM would not do a recall. In the Rochester NY area, I have seen at least four other cars, same model with white paint, with the same flaking problem.

So, yes, as I moved up to upstate NY, relocated and re-started my life, Flaky became a steady, reliable, every day car for most of the last 4 years. Flaky survived 4 lake-effect winters without issue at all, and in that four years, I added the final 85K miles on him. The only non-maintenance item that I had to repair was a new $250 water pump in the spring of 2010. That entire time I didn’t have a car payment at all. And yet…he was Flaky. But in the end, all things must come to pass, and I ran Flaky down as far as I could push...a broken engine mount and an intermittently-failing cylinder was the end.  

And see, here’s the reason…driving cars until the bitter end is in my genes. My dad did it growing up, and his dad before him. My dad’s infamous saying: “a raggedy ride beats a dressed up walk.” The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

There will be a post someday that I’ll write, about how our lives are totally dependent on the car, and I’ve somewhat felt that over the past month, as I no longer felt that Flaky could be trusted. For example, for most of the last month, I have taken the bus back and forth to work. I am fortunate enough where this was even an option. I had a one-block walk to the end of my townhouse complex to the bus stop, I didn’t have to transfer from one bus route to another, and I had a one-block walk to the office.  The buses run about every 30 minutes. There were some pros and cons to this. In terms of pros; the commute was very peaceful in that I could crank up my iPod with my headphones, and read a book on my commute. The weather was nice, being early September, and I’ve gotten some extra exercise.  My normal driving commute is about 15 minutes; on the bus it was closer to 30 minutes. And finally, the bus far was probably about half of what I was spending in gas.  Cons…peacefulness was somewhat compromised with full buses, standing room only, and it seems the bigger the crowd, the ruder the crowd gets. Sometimes there were questionable characters on the bus as well…and I hate to fall victim to a stereotype, but the occasional drunk or screaming kid added a certain level of “ambience.”  

But…more importantly, all of my normal errands; groceries, haircut, an attempt at a social life; all could not be accomplished without a car. There were a couple of friends who graciously took pity on me and offered to go out of their way to pick me up to do something social, but it still felt like I was imposing. And most importantly of all (and not that this is a new revelation), I felt lost without a car. There were no road trips, no wandering, no random picture taking, nothing. I think that part of my lack-of-posting lately is because creatively, my brain shut down. The open road inspires me, life inspires me, and being generally stuck inside my four walls was not good for me at all.  Being dependent on others, or on a transit schedule, was not good for me.  Independence as a general concept is something that I think we take for granted at times…freedom.  The freedom to do. The freedom to be. The freedom to live and learn and explore. Or even the freedom to be stuck within my four walls…and long as it’s not truly stuck.  

So, I said good-bye to Flaky. It wasn’t an emotional good-bye, as Flaky was more of a default than something special. But Flaky and I do have our memories…our trip to the Adirondacks in 2010, becoming one with Dolly M Wilt (the stretch of US 15 north of Williamsport PA is named after her, whomever she is…), and all of the glances and pointing and laughing at that I’m sure I’ve received along the road of life…which I’ve learned to not even notice, as I kept racking up the miles.

I have a brand new car…name still to be determined. In my opinion, a car has to earn their name, and the gender of the car will become apparent soon enough. I have a new lease on life. (Well, OK, with the miles I put on a car, I of course did NOT lease.) New adventures await! My independence has been re-born, based on a dependency I have with this new car.   The journey, the travels, the road trip continues:  with a little more style, with a renewed sense of life, with a new perspective.

Finally.  :)