This morning I am getting up extra early to drop off my car at the dealer for some maintenance. The list of things that need to get fixed is long and daunting. On top of the scheduled maintenance (80K – and the even numbered ones are always crazy expensive) my drivers side window has decided to stop rolling down*, the latch for the cover over the CD changer has broken**, one of my parking lights is out***, and to top it all off the drivers display isn’t turning on when I get in the car anymore, but is now waiting until I start the car****. I’ve done some research on average prices for stuff like this and have come to a first-draft estimate that getting it all fixed will run me approximately eleventy billion dollars. Oh well, at least I get the loaner car for the day.
As much as I enjoy my car, I love driving cars that aren’t mine. There’s something about settling into something new, some weird feeling about the experience that is exhilarating. It’s like what I imagine committing grand theft – auto is like (not the computer game, mind you, the actual crime; I don’t want to beat up hookers – they would kick my ass). It would be even more fun if they would let me pretend to steal the car off the lot. I wish the loaner guy would just leave the keys in the ignition. Then, I’d just sidle up to it, notice the keys in the ignition, leap in and peal out of the garage, chuckling to myself and feeling incredibly satisfied at my sheer gall and bravado! Ha-HA!!!
I think this is why I love renting cars for business travel. My workplace makes all of us join Hertz #1 club gold so I get to walk out to the sign, see which car is has my name on it, hop in and drive away. The first time I rented one with the GF she was taken somewhat aback by this arrangement, asking “Don’t you have to go into the counter and get your keys?”. Come to think of it, I should have just told her that I wasn’t going to pay for it and was planning on just stealing the car, being the unpredictable and mysterious “bad boy” that I am. That would have been fun…
* No doubt in a fit of pique that the GF always rides in the passenger side and is never allowed to drive – being unaware that she doesn’t know how to drive stick and would probably grind the transmission into paste until I get around to teaching her.
** Probably because I haven’t changed my CD’s in about a year and it’s getting tired of playing Arcade Fire over and over and over and over…
*** Probably because it’s haunted. Damn parking light poltergeists…
**** No idea why that’s happening, but I’m going to blame the parking light poltergeists because they don’t read blogs.
As much as I enjoy my car, I love driving cars that aren’t mine. There’s something about settling into something new, some weird feeling about the experience that is exhilarating. It’s like what I imagine committing grand theft – auto is like (not the computer game, mind you, the actual crime; I don’t want to beat up hookers – they would kick my ass). It would be even more fun if they would let me pretend to steal the car off the lot. I wish the loaner guy would just leave the keys in the ignition. Then, I’d just sidle up to it, notice the keys in the ignition, leap in and peal out of the garage, chuckling to myself and feeling incredibly satisfied at my sheer gall and bravado! Ha-HA!!!
I think this is why I love renting cars for business travel. My workplace makes all of us join Hertz #1 club gold so I get to walk out to the sign, see which car is has my name on it, hop in and drive away. The first time I rented one with the GF she was taken somewhat aback by this arrangement, asking “Don’t you have to go into the counter and get your keys?”. Come to think of it, I should have just told her that I wasn’t going to pay for it and was planning on just stealing the car, being the unpredictable and mysterious “bad boy” that I am. That would have been fun…
* No doubt in a fit of pique that the GF always rides in the passenger side and is never allowed to drive – being unaware that she doesn’t know how to drive stick and would probably grind the transmission into paste until I get around to teaching her.
** Probably because I haven’t changed my CD’s in about a year and it’s getting tired of playing Arcade Fire over and over and over and over…
*** Probably because it’s haunted. Damn parking light poltergeists…
**** No idea why that’s happening, but I’m going to blame the parking light poltergeists because they don’t read blogs.
Comments
When I rent a car for business...it takes me little bit to get used to it. Then when I get back home, I have to suddenly reacclimate myself to my own car.
I think I might have OCD or something.