CDPunt(igam) Writes

I remember when my parents were young, they would occasionally wear matching shirts. I’ve even seen a couple online that always matches when they go out. That seems a bit extreme. I mean I get the appeal, I have bought matching shirts for my husband and I. In my defense, it was a themed party and they still get worn just not together. And besides, he’s cute and I’d prefer ladies know he’s taken.

I mentioned in my last stack of subs, I had started working and we had changed from a single car family to a two car family. Near the end of the school year, our older car left me stranded in the pouring rain, dressed for spirit week, at seven in the morning, at a very busy intersection. The shop held the car in its clutches for SIX weeks, finally giving it back stating they couldn’t duplicate the issue, might he the fuel pump.

My husband drove it for a few weeks and it had the some issues with accelerating, not always just sometimes. And here’s the thing, we’ve done a lot for this car to keep it not just on the road but to keep it a comfortable and safe drive. While it was sitting in the shop this summer, I added up all the numbers and we were paying MORE than 600 a month in repairs plus we had to have it in the shop so we didn’t even have it to drive probably one to two months out of the year.

I went into to what if mode. Well, IF it’s just a simple $300 part that I can install myself, that would be worthwhile, right? I thought of all the money that could be saved and all the money that’s already gone out the door. We’ve invested, isn’t it worth investing just a little bit more. Maybe this time would the time that it stops needing me to put more money into it. Maybe it will just go back to being a reliable car after this round of whatevers. It’s got to be this time right? Nothing was seriously wrong with it, most of the things we fixed were just old car maintenance, engine mounts, water pumps, timing belt, exhaust system clean out. It had to be close to being a whole new car, right? It’s only eleven years old and not even 150,000 miles yet! It’s practically a baby in the diesel world. We ultimately decided to walk away and sell it (I’m expecting that to be done very soon, like this evening).

But I still needed a car! We contacted the guy that got us into the one my husband had been driving. We tried three different used cars one had a broken ac, one smelled of cigarette smoke, and the other was already sold. We switched tactics and decided to just lease the same car again. So now, instead of matching shirts, we have matching cars. Same years, different colors and trim levels. And I get to enjoy knowing that if my car leaves me stranded, well, at least it’s under warranty.

Here’s something you’ll never see people make a sitcom or romance story about. When you have two people that are committed to one another and they make purchases together, they will potentially have a higher commitment level to that purchase. It’s not just selling an unreliable used car and replacing it with a new one fresh off the factory line. There are emotions that have to be overcome and frames of mind that have to be shifted. I imagine this is true when people also work for a company or organization for a long time. The way we interact with the stuff of life changes. I do wonder if it’s just another way to interact with stewardship. Sometimes it feels like it would be so much easier to just let things come and go, to pay the costs, and move on with life. We’re not like that though.

That car broke down June 5th. It’s taken us until August 11 to get to the place where we can easily say, yes, it’s time to part ways. I don’t know if that’s normal but it’s normal for us. I wonder if now having twin cars will also be normal for us. Even as I wonder about twinning, part of me is already thinking ahead about the time in our life when we’ll move back to just one vehicle being sufficient. Until then, I’ll enjoy my warranty and new car smell.