Monday, January 8, 2007

I'm in Love with My Car

I recently had to buy a different car because the transmission was going out on it. That gave me an opportunity to explore the relationship between a man and his car.

For as long as I've owned a car, I've loved to drive. It wasn't just about getting from point A to point B; it was about how I felt behind the wheel, knowing that I had control of a powerful machine at my feet and fingertips. I didn't understand the mechanics, and I still don't, but I knew enough to know there was magic to be had by starting up the engine.

As I got out on my own, driving became more of a necessity than a pleasure. I had places to go: to the store, to work, to the laundromat. At that time, driving lost the magic it held for me as a teenager.

Then I had..."The Car." It was black with red trim, was sleek and shiny, and it got me where I wanted to go fast. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and that love affair never died until my car did. In retrospect, it wasn't so much that the car was anything special. It was how it reawakened my love of driving for fun.

I've owned a number of used cars over the years, and each one has held a special place in my heart. Whether it was the 1975 Pontiac Ventura I bought for $550 in the mid-80s or the two minivans I owned for a time, no matter how much work needed to be done on them, no matter how many times they broke down, no matter how much money I spent on parts to get them to run just one more time, I was hooked. I am a driver.

I eventually settled on a silver 2003 Chrysler Sebring, and once I got behind the wheel I felt the familiar rush of hearing the engine roar as it shifted from gear to gear in perfect harmony. I smiled as the car went around curves with ease, almost begging me to punch it at the next straightaway.

Yep, I'm a driver. And I will be one until the day I die.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe if you were more of a walker/bike rider than a driver you wouldn't be so obese.

TLindaman said...

Anonymous said...
Maybe if you were more of a walker/bike rider than a driver you wouldn't be so obese.


Yeah. I'm going to take advice from someone who is scared to show his/her identity. Maybe it's because you're just as fat as I am, or even fatter.

But please, continue posting about my weight. You only confirm that you can't beat me on the subject matter I'm actually posting on, so you're reduced to lame insults from behind the shield of anonymity.

I can lose weight, but I don't think you can gain courage. :-)

Anonymous said...

“I can lose weight” LOL, long term trends tell a different story.

You think because you complain about Oprah on a web log you have courage? Young man you have a lot to learn about courage. I suggest you waddle down to your local army recruiting station and get your fat ass signed up. Yes, you’ll need a good half-year or more of the army’s weight-loss training, but they’ll get you down to fighting weight, through boot camp, and on to Iraq. THEN you can claim to know something about courage.

TLindaman said...

“I can lose weight” LOL, long term trends tell a different story.

You think because you complain about Oprah on a web log you have courage? Young man you have a lot to learn about courage. I suggest you waddle down to your local army recruiting station and get your fat ass signed up. Yes, you’ll need a good half-year or more of the army’s weight-loss training, but they’ll get you down to fighting weight, through boot camp, and on to Iraq. THEN you can claim to know something about courage.


You hide behind anonymity and you preach to me about courage? ROFLMAO

At least I put my name out there and welcome responses, even from the likes of those who can't do anything but make fat jokes. What are you contributing to the world?

Judging from your choice of obsessions and inability to post anything resembling sentient thought, not much.

By the way, when are YOU going to show us your picture? Afraid of being exposed as morbidly obsese? Anyone who can Google can find my picture.

Where's yours?

Anonymous said...

LOL, no I didn't think you were actually brave enough to consider military service. The justice is that you have to try to live with what you see in the mirror each morning.

TLindaman said...

Anonymous said...
LOL, no I didn't think you were actually brave enough to consider military service. The justice is that you have to try to live with what you see in the mirror each morning.

January 9, 2007 8:51:00 PM CST



Still afraid of showing us your picture, huh? :-)

And for the record, I'm pretty proud of what I see in the mirror every morning because I see what you can never be: a winner.

Anonymous said...

"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me" LOL, yeah we've heard your kind before. :)

TLindaman said...

Anonymous said...
"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me" LOL, yeah we've heard your kind before. :)

January 10, 2007 5:49:00 AM CST


Still no picture, huh? :-)

Keep hiding. You only keep making my point for me. :-)

Anonymous said...

Let's see...a guy who's comfortable being himself or someone who can't handle his own identity...Tom, keep drivin' 'em home! :)