Well, it happened. I’m car-less. The first time in my life. No, I’m not one of those spoiled little rich kids
that get a car right at 16. I shared with my parents, making arrangements when I had to work and asking
for permission when they weren’t using it.
When I was 18, my Mom starting working more, and it was more downtown, so it made it virtually
impossible for everyone to get where they needed to be while sharing cars. So my dad and I struck a
deal and found my “Tiny Tim” (so dubbed by high-school friends) for $300. This car was a BEATER. Those of you who know him will fondly remember the rusted paint, the multi-colored panels, the scrunched up
leg space in the back and the drowning out of voices as we raced down the highway. That car was a tin
can. But it served me well for about 4 years-- til it kicked the bucket.
I was in college at the time Tiny Tim went down. My dad is some kind of car-genie-genius, so he
swapped me out for a time, while he tried to fix it. He got it running again, but it wasn’t quite the same
and still had a bit of a problem. He let me keep his car and ended up selling it to me at a discounted
price for my college graduation present.
I will fully admit I did not appreciate that car as much as I should have. I didn’t like that Tiny Tim handled
driving Sardine Canyon way better than it ever did, nor that it was my Dad’s car... I wanted something
a bit more girly and something of my choice. (Cue judgmental thoughts—“spoiled, ungrateful brat.”)
However, that car saw me through thousands of trips from Salt Lake to Logan and back to see Jake
on the weekends, trekking all over the Wasatch front for work with the foster care agency, and the
eventual move back to Logan.
The problem all started about a year ago. The check engine light came on—and I ignored it for a couple
months (like any responsible adult would do...) The car seemed to run just fine for the longest time. My
dad and I eventually decided it was time to work on it, including the replacement of the timing belt and
EGR Valve system. The light stayed on... and now it was worse... The car would literally shudder at stop
lights and the rpm’s dropped a ton like it was dying. But we persevered.
Really, the car ran (and still runs) fine. The registration expired at the end of May this year, so I went
in to get the required inspections. Come to find out, if your check engine light is on, it’s an automatic
fail for the emissions testing! >:S The light was on for the same reason—the stupid EGR system. We’ve
replaced absolutely everything in it, even swapped out the computer of the car to get that dang light to
go off, and sure enough, it’s still there!!! Ugh!
Jake and I talked about it and decided it was the responsible thing to do, not to drive it until we can
(hopefully) get the issue resolved. But it’s not looking super great. My wonderful Dad took it back to Salt
Lake with him this weekend to explore our options. They don’t look great.
In the meantime, I’m riding my bike to work most days. It’s kind of a love-hate relationship, this biking
to work thing. When I get there, I feel ok about it, but I don’t enjoy actually doing it. I hate the sweating
in business-casual clothes and gasping for air. I like the idea of getting more exercise and being good to
the environment. I hate the close calls with cars that don’t pay attention. I don’t enjoy being restricted
to the work building for lunch. I miss being able to do errands while Jake’s at work... I’ll get used to this
eventually, right....?
....Maybe let’s all pray the car gets fixed, sooner rather than later.
