Beasts of Burden

Back when I was a kid, my parent's never had a new car. Actually, to this day they have never bought a brand-new car that nobody else had ever owned. So, we had the best car that my dad could afford to buy at the time.

I remember several of the old automobiles we used to have. There was the pink '57 Plymouth that had two wires sticking out of the center of the steering wheel that would shock you and blow the horn if you touched them. I always tried to be very careful as I slid across the seat so that I didn't get lit up. There was the 63 Dodge Dart with the push-button gears. The green '76 Chevy pickup that nearly rusted in half. The '72 Pontiac Catalina with the 400 engine.

My very favorite car that dad had was a 1965 Dodge Coronet. I thought it was a race car. It reminded me of something that Richard Petty would probably drive in the races. It seems like it always had transmission problems and left us stranded several times. One time I climbed on top of that car and slid down the windshield and onto the hood. There were little chrome blinkers on top of the outer fenders and I slid across one of them and ripped a large chunk out of my leg. I had to go to the hospital and have it sewn back up.

One vehicle that I'll never forget was the big green '72 Dodge station wagon. It was a fairly nice vehicle when dad bought it. Certainly one of the nicest we had ever owned. All of the family could fit in it without any problems. It had 3 rows of seats and I used to love to sit in the very back row next to the back window. One time I accidentally left the back door ajar and dad was pulling out of the driveway and the door came open and hit the metal gate, putting a large dent in the side of the door. Man, dad was mad at me over that one! One time dad was working on that car and got very frustrated and started pounding away at it with a wrench. I doubt he got much trade-in value for that car.

Then of course there was the '69 Ford Galaxie that I eventually totaled. I really liked this car too. It was very fast. It had a large 390 engine and you could nail the gas and burn the back tires completely off of it. Trust me, I tried it and dad found out because he had put a brand new set of snow tires on that car and I completely ruined them. I got in big time trouble over that one too. I remember walking in the living room and it was the first time that Mary had ever been to my house. She was going to meet my dad for the first time. We walked in and he had been sleeping on the couch. He jumped off the couch and lit into me about burning those tires off. Mary was scared to death. Things eventually settled down though.

I personally have purchased 3 brand new vehicles in my lifetime. The first one was a '93 Nissan Truck, man I loved that truck. I still have it but it needs a timing chain and I have it disassembled right now. The next was a '94 Nissan Sentra. We drove that thing until it nearly fell apart. It was a good car but toward the end it was breaking down on us constantly. Then there is the '04 Nissan Xterra that Mary drives now. We've had it for 5 years now and it has been a wonderful vehicle. We only have 57,000 miles on it.

I bought a used '93 Nissan Pathfinder (the one in the pictures on this post) about 4-years ago because I convinced myself that I needed something bigger to drive and needed a 4-wheel drive. I have had problem after problem out of that thing. The transmission went out on it after I had it for about 6-months. I bought a used transmission from a junkyard for $1500 and put in it. That was a job that took me all winter and had me contemplating suicide. I've not had any problems with the transmission ever since but plenty of other small things. A couple of months ago it wouldn't start unless you pecked on the side of the solenoid with a broom handle. I attempted to take the solenoid out to replace it but couldn't get the starter to clear the engine without unbolting the engine and lifting it up some. I decided to just bolt it back in place and it began starting every time without any problems after that. Then I went to get in it this past Monday and it wouldn't start. It was deader than a hammer. After hours of troubleshooting, I found that the alternator is shorted out and is draining the battery as it sits over night. I spent all morning this morning taking the alternator off. Now I've got to fork out $123.00 for a replacement one. Oh, did I mention that I have one more payment left on the stupid thing???

I was mentioning to one of my former classmates and Facebook friends, that we should just go back to the horse and buggy days. The only problem is that my horse would probably become lame and have to be put down and the wheels would probably fall off of my buggy. Oh, these beasts of burdens!