You may think me a total dork, and, sincerely, I'm fine with that, but I'm having car trouble and it's bumming me out.

I drive a long-in-the-tooth Impala...Vlad (the Impala)...(oh, never mind) and he's got some issues.  Okay stop right there!  What else would YOU call a blood red Impala??  C'mon!  Geez!  I hear you snickering.  Haven't YOU ever named your car??  It's something I've always done since my first...a 1969 VW Beetle...stupid car let me tell ya!  I called that one Amelia (Airhead).  And before you go thinking I'm old, I bought it vintage! 

Okay, okay, I'm old.  I'm fine with that too. 

Anyway...

Ole Vlad is wheezing some and moaning a bit...and there's that evil clunk thing he does.  I'm such an automotive genius (motorhead) that if I were so inclined, I'm sure I could explain it all in highly technical terms (not!), but I'd bore you silly.  Suffice it to say that when my ship comes in, I'll be out there shopping for Vlad II.  Or possibly something more in keeping with my personality...like a Ferrari (in my dreams) or a BMW (yeah, okay) non-mom mobile of some sort.  Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Until that ship drops anchor, though, Vlad and I are stuck with each other.  We have history.  We've been places and seen things.  We like nothing more than a good howl out on the highway.  We do this when we're mad.  We've also solved many of the world's most pressing problems together.  When I need to commune with one of my wayward younguns, I throw them in the car and we drive.  Have you ever noticed that car rides are absolutely the BEST place to hold meaningful conversations?  Serious history there, let me tell ya.

So, I took Vlad to the shop yesterday, and the mechanic hooked him up to the computer thing...and said "hmmm."  Um...is that good hmmm or not-so-good hmmm?  Well, the long and short of it is that ole Vlad has problems.  His exhaust is leaking, his gas guage is fried (there's a certain excitement in trying to guess how full the tank is), and his tranny is deeply iffy (meh!  who needs gears anyway?).  Just don't be telling me all this when I've just had a three week EXPENSIVE vacation and had all my carpet replaced!!  Cripes! 

Seriously, though, I can't even contemplate being without him. 

So many miles.  So many memories....