Cars
Do you all remember the first car you remember riding in? Maybe it was your Dad's or your Mom's car, or a neighbor's vehicle, or grandparent's ride. Dad bought/leased a new car last week - a Nissan Rogue. It's a medium size SUV. Mom already knows it is their new car, and has showed it to me several times:
"Judi, come and see our new car - that is our new car, isn't it?"
The first car I remember was an old blue Pontiac. Dad was partial to Pontiacs - it had some sort of fins on it. We had one car until I was seven - that blue Pontiac. Then Grampa died, and we got the green Oldsmobile, and kept the Pontiac. Dad got the new Olds, Mom got the bomb.
The Olds was olive drab, with really nice leather seats. We liked the bomb a lot. First, Mom was the primary driver, and she was CRAZY. We loved it when she drove on the Burma Road (Lordship Blvd for those not familiar with road nicknames). That road through the swamps had a bump in it over a large pipe, just past the Airport going into Stratford out of Lordship.
Mom would get up to speed, flooring that big engine as she came up to the bump. Quickly she'd take her foot off the gas, and we would sail right up in the air (well, it sure felt like that!). We could get lots of kids in that car's back seat. The child "safety" seat went over the front seat. It was a booster with upside down U-hooks. I really don't think there was anything safe about it. My sister would sit in that, whatever adult was coming along would be in the front passenger seat. The rest of us would be fighting in the back - bouncing so we could hit the roof of the car in the fly over.
Eventually the Pontiac died. Mom inherited the Olds, Dad got another Pontiac - a Catalina. By then, I started to eye the Catalina, knowing I would likely be driving that some day. The Olds was really an old man's car. Mom hated it. I don't remember what happened to it, but all of a sudden we ended up with a Buick.
The Century was a fun car, except for one little thing. Dad went cheap on the new car (and it was a brand new car!). There was no air conditioning. None. And the seats were leather - off white. Mom got the Catalina, Dad the Century.
The first family trip we took in the Century was to Florida. A road trip to Florida, in JULY, with NO air conditioning. Oh, the horror of it! Sitting on 95 in Atlanta during five o'clock rush hour traffic was so much fun. My sisters and I all brought our bed pillows and other stuff to keep in the car to keep us occupied. I remember having a serious pillow fight because we were so miserably hot that afternoon.
We had to have the windows down all the time, no matter how dusty or yucky it was on the road, because it was so freakin' hot. The whole way south, Mom berated Dad. I almost felt sorry for him, except we all agreed with her. "Kenny, you are so cheap, what were you thinking? What more did it cost to have air conditioning?" I do think she used the F word regularly as we got further south.
We all survived the Southern stretch of hell, and made it back home. Two summers later, I turned 16, and started getting lessons on the Catalina. It was a boat, big and heavy. Dad probably figured I would be safest in that. Mom taught me (some of you are now thinking, "Ohhhh, now I understand!"), and I finally got my license and the car to share with Mom. She never needed it at night so I was pretty lucky.
I have really great memories of that vehicle. Eventually, though, it died (right before my senior year of high school). Dad bought a semi-used Olds, sky blue. I ended up using the Buick more often than not, but he really never became accustomed to the Olds, and liked the Buick better. By then, he was working in downtown Bridgeport, and I ended up there as well so we drove in together, in the Buick.
I saved a lot of money not having a car to pay for that first year of full time work, living at home. I bought a VW Rabbit, standard transmission, and learned to drive it upon picking it up from the dealer. I stopped caring so much about the 'rents' cars at that point.
"Judi, come and see our new car - that is our new car, isn't it?"
The first car I remember was an old blue Pontiac. Dad was partial to Pontiacs - it had some sort of fins on it. We had one car until I was seven - that blue Pontiac. Then Grampa died, and we got the green Oldsmobile, and kept the Pontiac. Dad got the new Olds, Mom got the bomb.
The Olds was olive drab, with really nice leather seats. We liked the bomb a lot. First, Mom was the primary driver, and she was CRAZY. We loved it when she drove on the Burma Road (Lordship Blvd for those not familiar with road nicknames). That road through the swamps had a bump in it over a large pipe, just past the Airport going into Stratford out of Lordship.
Mom would get up to speed, flooring that big engine as she came up to the bump. Quickly she'd take her foot off the gas, and we would sail right up in the air (well, it sure felt like that!). We could get lots of kids in that car's back seat. The child "safety" seat went over the front seat. It was a booster with upside down U-hooks. I really don't think there was anything safe about it. My sister would sit in that, whatever adult was coming along would be in the front passenger seat. The rest of us would be fighting in the back - bouncing so we could hit the roof of the car in the fly over.
Eventually the Pontiac died. Mom inherited the Olds, Dad got another Pontiac - a Catalina. By then, I started to eye the Catalina, knowing I would likely be driving that some day. The Olds was really an old man's car. Mom hated it. I don't remember what happened to it, but all of a sudden we ended up with a Buick.
The Century was a fun car, except for one little thing. Dad went cheap on the new car (and it was a brand new car!). There was no air conditioning. None. And the seats were leather - off white. Mom got the Catalina, Dad the Century.
The first family trip we took in the Century was to Florida. A road trip to Florida, in JULY, with NO air conditioning. Oh, the horror of it! Sitting on 95 in Atlanta during five o'clock rush hour traffic was so much fun. My sisters and I all brought our bed pillows and other stuff to keep in the car to keep us occupied. I remember having a serious pillow fight because we were so miserably hot that afternoon.
We had to have the windows down all the time, no matter how dusty or yucky it was on the road, because it was so freakin' hot. The whole way south, Mom berated Dad. I almost felt sorry for him, except we all agreed with her. "Kenny, you are so cheap, what were you thinking? What more did it cost to have air conditioning?" I do think she used the F word regularly as we got further south.
We all survived the Southern stretch of hell, and made it back home. Two summers later, I turned 16, and started getting lessons on the Catalina. It was a boat, big and heavy. Dad probably figured I would be safest in that. Mom taught me (some of you are now thinking, "Ohhhh, now I understand!"), and I finally got my license and the car to share with Mom. She never needed it at night so I was pretty lucky.
I have really great memories of that vehicle. Eventually, though, it died (right before my senior year of high school). Dad bought a semi-used Olds, sky blue. I ended up using the Buick more often than not, but he really never became accustomed to the Olds, and liked the Buick better. By then, he was working in downtown Bridgeport, and I ended up there as well so we drove in together, in the Buick.
I saved a lot of money not having a car to pay for that first year of full time work, living at home. I bought a VW Rabbit, standard transmission, and learned to drive it upon picking it up from the dealer. I stopped caring so much about the 'rents' cars at that point.
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