When the employee
bus drops me off at the airport, there are several routes I can take
to get to work. My favorite is to walk through the parking garage.
Here, I walk through the area where the lu
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| Driving Mary for the last time |
I’ve had a thing
for Mercedes since I was in high school, when I loved to watch the TV
show, Dallas. JR Ewing was my favorite character. He was so much that
I could never be, so it was fun watching him connive others, drink
too much bourbon, bed all the hot women, make money hand over fist
and drive his luxury Mercedes, which back in the mid eighties, was
really ‘the’ car people thought of when talking about luxury
cars.
You can imagine my
thrill when Mom bought a Mercedes! I couldn’t wait to ride in it,
and it was perfect for her. She bought a small silver convertible
that was not only fast, but looked oh, so sleek!
So I’m always
walking through this airport garage, “No, no, I’d take that, yes,
Oh, a Mercedes, I’ll definitely take that, but not that color, no,
no, no...” picking out cars I’d like to drive home.
The last time I
bought a car was twenty years ago. Yes, I said twenty...a two with a
zero following closely behind. I was living in Maryland and was
making good money running a Harley-Davidson dealership. I had a
Toyota 4runner that I loved, and with that job, I needed a lot of
space, as I did all of the shopping for the dealership, going at
least once a week to the huge warehouse store for sodas and snacks
for our vending machines, bathroom and cleaning supplies and from
time to time hauling tons of food for various special functions in
the dealership. I also enjoyed camping, so having the space for
tents, coolers, shade structures, chairs and booze (you can’t
expect me to camp out without libations!) was necessary.
Already loving my
first 4Runner, it came natural to get another one. I loved that car.
When I drove her, I became one with her. I could squeeze through
openings that sometimes had even me impressed that I’d not scraped
the sides. I could glide right into car wash tire pulleys without
anyone to guide me in. I could feel when she needed a tuneup and knew
when a tire was running a bit low. I named her Mary. She and I drove
through New England and then across the entire country, after I got
my job with Mother Airline and moved to California. She took me to
Burning Man seven times, and camping more times than I could possibly
count. She towed travel trailers, including my beautiful and beloved
Argosy, with such ease that I’d forget I was towing anything. I
never felt a need to replace her.
Until gas went to
over five dollars a gallon in 2008, but even then, it was only
because she was getting so expensive. Soon the prices came down again
and we were back to our love affair.
She brought me back
to my home in Texas a few years ago and she never complained about
the heat, something she wasn’t used to. But she was getting old and
quirky- the door often didn’t register that it had been opened, so
the doors wouldn’t always lock automatically. She didn’t always
beep when I armed or disarmed the alarm system. She was twenty years
old with only 145,000 miles. Sadly, it was time for me to move on.
I so wanted the
Mercedes that I’d been lusting after for over thirty years, but I’m
still not in a financial position to be comfortable in making that
kind of commitment, and even though I’ve been asking for one every
Christmas, no one seems to be willing to buy one for me. I’m no JR
Ewing and just the maintenance on one can be daunting.
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| JR Ewing's 80's Mercedes from TV's "Dallas" |
So into the
dealership I went, whining about the Texas heat and demanding
ventilated seats to help keep my back dry and drove out with a new
Hyundai Santa Fe. Not just a Santa Fe, but the top of the line Santa
Fe, with the top of the line extended warranty. It may not be a
Mercedes, but I can assure you it is a nicer car than the Mercedes
enjoyed by Mr. Ewing! There are so many bells and whistles on this
thing, there is surely a bell and whistle shortage.
I’ve yet to settle
on a name for my new baby, and I’ve taken photos of her, making
sure to include Mary, who sat there alongside, watching me. She was
sad, yet still very proud. I’d joked to the salesman that I just
may cry when I hand her over, and I was assured that I would not be
the first to do so. I had a chat with Mary as I drove her to the
dealership, telling her how much I had loved driving her, how
thankful I was, how proud, how sad and, yes, I nearly, but not quite,
cried. I thanked her and wished her well.
She was a great car
for me and hopefully her next owner will treat her well and she can
still be a great car. If you’re interested in Mary, she’s at the
North Freeway Hyundai in Spring, TX. And if you buy a car from this
really nice dealership, tell them Penguin Scott sent you and I’ll
share the referral fee! (Ask for Jeff!)
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| My new ride with sad Mary in the background |
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