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We'll Never Forget You
Dec. 22nd, 2010 11:53 pmLuke and I have both been posting about it, but it's a pretty big deal for us. Luke had a 1982 Toyota pickup truck he called Raven. She was decorated with toy trucks glued to the roof. I never drove her, since I don't drive a stick. She was 100% Luke's, but I loved going on outings with her. I loved how she'd struggle to start, then roar defiantly back to life after sitting dormant for months. The way she'd rattle violently, like she was about to fall apart, and the squeal of the brakes. Her passenger window wouldn't roll up anymore, so I'd get wet. She smelled of mildew. One side mirror fell off, which is very dangerous, and probably illegal. Made changing lanes challenging! I liked the smiles and double-takes we'd get as we drove by.
We ran a few errands with her last winter, did the Fremont Fair in June, then a run to Lowe's for a friend maybe last July. That's it, that's all she was driven this year. When I got the insurance bill recently, I said, "OK, this is silly. It's time to say goodbye." Luke agreed. There are places that will take a vehicle as a donation for a tax break, but Raven wasn't worth anything, and wasn't safe to drive. So I found a place that would haul her away for free. We were both very sad, but the money saved will be huge.
( She's leaving home, bye bye... )
The hardest thing about giving her up is the fact that it will change our involvement with the Fremont Fair and the art car folks. We won't be replacing her, so we won't have an art car anymore. After every Fremont festival, I say, "Luke's truck won't be around one of these days, I should do something to my car so we can still be accepted by these incredibly cool people." But thinking hard about it, I know deep down that I'm not someone who can drive an art car as my everyday car. I wish I was, but I'm not.
We used Raven to haul supplies to the fair for the art car folks, so I don't know what we'll do to be involved next year. I know they'll still love us, but it'll be different. All I want out of life sometimes, is to be accepted by and involved in a group of people doing cool things. Fandom gives me that, but to a much lesser degree these days, once a year at Wiscon, basically.
I just wanna hang with the cool kids.
We ran a few errands with her last winter, did the Fremont Fair in June, then a run to Lowe's for a friend maybe last July. That's it, that's all she was driven this year. When I got the insurance bill recently, I said, "OK, this is silly. It's time to say goodbye." Luke agreed. There are places that will take a vehicle as a donation for a tax break, but Raven wasn't worth anything, and wasn't safe to drive. So I found a place that would haul her away for free. We were both very sad, but the money saved will be huge.
( She's leaving home, bye bye... )
The hardest thing about giving her up is the fact that it will change our involvement with the Fremont Fair and the art car folks. We won't be replacing her, so we won't have an art car anymore. After every Fremont festival, I say, "Luke's truck won't be around one of these days, I should do something to my car so we can still be accepted by these incredibly cool people." But thinking hard about it, I know deep down that I'm not someone who can drive an art car as my everyday car. I wish I was, but I'm not.
We used Raven to haul supplies to the fair for the art car folks, so I don't know what we'll do to be involved next year. I know they'll still love us, but it'll be different. All I want out of life sometimes, is to be accepted by and involved in a group of people doing cool things. Fandom gives me that, but to a much lesser degree these days, once a year at Wiscon, basically.
I just wanna hang with the cool kids.
