Ode to My Car
This is a very special day for me…a day that has never happened before and a day that may very well never happen again…here’s what happened:
 
I got my car almost 8 years ago in the first model year of its existence. My business partner asked me if we should both get company cars, and I immediately said “absolutely”. When I went to the dealer, they had a long waiting list (it was popular from the start) and I was destined to wait a few months to get the car I wanted – black exterior, black interior, and special molding. As luck would have it, within days, the dealer called me back and said “a buyer just backed out…do you want his car?” It was the same as the one I wanted. I got there in what seemed like minutes, and she’s been with me ever since.Â
In her, I commuted 75 miles each way to work for almost 2 years. In her, I ran into the back of a lady in the car in front of me when I was reaching to pick up my blackberry (fortunately no one was hurt, but unfortunately, she worked for a law firm). In her, I ran over multiple reflector poles on the center divider of the highway when I fell asleep at the wheel. In her, I drove numerous times from Colorado to Los Angeles for reserve duty. In her, I got caught by a highway patrol aircraft on the highway in Nevada and got a speeding ticket. In her, my wife backed out of the driveway and scraped up her side on the pole holding up our basketball rim. In her, I picked up a metal spike and blew a tire on the interstate in Louisiana (fortunately right at an exit ramp). In her, I drove cross country when I moved our family to Washington DC. In her, I drove to way to many to count Colorado Avalanche hockey games. In her, I’ve driven south to Las Cruces and north into Wyoming. And in her, I’ve had 200,000 miles of great pleasure as I’ve toured this magnificent country and seen through her windshield the purple mountain’s majesty, the amber waves of grain and the sea to shining sea.
I rarely (if ever) enjoy something or value something so much. But I’ve treasured this car more than most any other physical possession I have ever owned. I don’t know why, and I’m probably not going to dwell on it very long, but it is worth noting. Based on my stock portfolio performance since about 2000, she’s also the smartest investment I have ever made, but hopefully she won’t be the smartest investment I will ever make!
And finally, I can’t tell you how many wonderful dates I’ve had in this car, and I certainly won’t tell you what was done on those dates in this car. But I will tell you that her sleek exterior and leather interior made each and every one of those hundreds of dates something very special.
I don’t know how much longer I’ll keep her or how much longer she’ll live, but I’m committed to enjoying her till the day she dies. That’s a very appropriate gift to her for her long service and great value that she’s given me. I hope my wife treats me that way when I’ve got that many miles on me!
In case you were wondering, here she is!
