Sad news

After spending about a week in the Swedish fall season, complete with rain and temperatures that cannot seem to remain stable, trying to dry the inside of the windshield from fog while driving I made a heavy but necessary decision this weekend. I have finally realized that my beloved Toyota has been begging for a retirement for quite some time and I have also realized I have no choice but to obey it. Needless to say, it wasn't an easy decision since I really do love it but with the prospect of even more visits to the workshop to fix the surly heat fan, as well as the realization my little red trooper probably wouldn't pass the yearly inspection due to four lousy shock absorbers, I took a deep breath and went car hunting.

In the end I found a cute little red VW Golf from 1987 (so it's the same age as my Toyota, as well as almost the same color, if only a bit fresher in that area). It's got an automatic gear box, which was quite interesting since I've only ever driven an automatic once before, and only for a short distance. However, once I relaxed I realized that automatic is indeed easier than manual. I no longer have to drive for miles before realizing I'd forgotten to put in a higher gear (consequently lowering the amount of fuel needed). I don't have to watch how I balance the clutch and the gas pedals in order to drive smoothly. And the Golf is quite a bit more perky than my Toyota. Not that I'm especially much of a speed nut, quite the opposite. but even I have to grin a bit when the little red bullet takes off, and yeah, it is fun to press the gas pedal :).

Now all I have to do is switch the tires between the two cars (one of the prerequisites for my "new" car was that it had to have the same dimension on the tires as the Toyota. Since those tires, both sets of them, are less than a year old and I really don't want to put money into buying yet another set of tires).

What's going to happen to the Toyota, then? I wish i could say that it would get a well-deserved retirement, spending the days in a warm garage, all cozy and sweet. However, I only have one parking space, and I'm afraid I need that one for my Golf. So the Toyota will most likely end up donating choice parts to whomever wishes to do the surgery and then move on to car heaven. I will miss it, of course. It's served me and my family fairly well for so many years it wasn't an easy decision. But one has to know when it's time to put an end to the misery. And this is it for my darling Toyota, I'm afraid.

So, that is the ending of the chapter called "The little red pebble - going strong since 1987" in the book "Cat and the cars". However, stay tuned for the next chapter, "Red Bullet and the automatic", in the tragically comical story that is "Cat and the cars" or "How Cat pissed off the car fairy in a previous life and is paying dearly for it now".

Continuing my masterpiece

It's time for another chapter in the horror comedy/oddly amusing, in a twisted way, tragedy called "Cat and the cars".

The setting this time is the stables... to begin with.

Yesterday I was on my way home from the stables after a nice training session. I slid into my beloved Toyota and turned the ignition... And then turned it again. There wasn't even as much as a "click".

It was clinically dead, not even a single blip on the radar.

Taking a deep breath I climbed out and gingerly made my way over to where the husband of the stable owner was sitting. Feeling like the most airheaded bimbo (if you can be one while wearing baggy clothes covered with dust) I asked him if he knew anything about cars. Not too long after that the stable owner returned from her horseback ride and the two of them helped me electrocute the Toyota with the jumper cables (in an operation that looked a lot like the TV show "ER" would look... if it happened outside... in the shade of an old barn). I managed to get my ass home, thinking it was ok now since my darling car did indeed start even after I made a quick stop at the grocery store.

Now this is where the story takes a darker turn and the tension-building music starts to fade in...

Today I once more slid into the driver's seat, on my way to pick up my co-rider since we'd planned to take a nice horsebackride in the forest. And, wonders above wonders..., the car was dead again. Not a single dip or up on the EKG of cars (if you don't count the fact that the clock did indeed light up when I had the key in the ACC-mode. It went out once I turned to ignition, though...).

Exasperated and feeling much like my favourite pet dog had just bitten me I got out, texted my co-rider who, thankfully, came by with her car so we could get to the stables. The horsebackride was nice, though the horse I'd borrowed was quite different from my own so we had our discussions.

Back from the stables again my co-rider kindly parked her car next to mine and we attempted the jumper cable routine again. It seemed to work. My darling started up nicely and was allowed to mooch some power from her car for a while. Then, when we thought it'd done so enough, we disconnected the cables again. I'd barely removed the cable for the minus pole when the headlights of my darling started dimming off. And by the time we got to remove the plus pole... Well, it was a close call whether the car wanted to stop altogether or jump a few times before stopping.

Not wanting to find out what would happen if my Toyota turned bronco I turned it off and... lo and behold, didn't get it to work again afterwards. Apparently it can't seem to hold the charge.

So now I'm sitting here with a clinically dead car, a mere two weeks before I'm supposed to be apx 30 Swedish miles north for work. Tomorrow I'm heading to the store to buy a new battery and offer up some very sincere and heartfelt prayers to appease whatever short-tempered car-god whose sensibilities I've apparently managed to severely wound. Let's just hope I'll manage to connect the new battery correctly and that there aren't any other issues effing things up...