We Have A Car.

After much wacky fun with insurance agents and used-car dealers, LJ picked up the Tahoe while I was at the dentist. In fact, my entire appointment was punctuated by a frantic exchange of text messages and cell calls regarding "did dude call?" and "what did the insurance company say?" Finally, four hours after the dealer was supposedly going to call us to tell us it was ready, LJ called me and said "I'm just going over there to see what's up." The next I heard was when I was on the bus going home--LJ called to tell me he had it and it was running fine.



It's got some minor issues, of course. The up/down function on the drivers' mirror doesn't work; the A/C doesn't work much; there's something screwy with the power locks; and LJ said he was having problems with the radio. All of that, except the radio, is covered by our warranty--and LJ wants to get a new radio anyway. (We have to get one with more presets, though; I am NOT going to have the presets in my car be WGCI, Power 92, B-96, V-103, and The Other One For Gladys.)



He drove it first, of course, and spent the night out in Maywood in the hopes of getting stuff done today--keys made, mechanical inspections, business of his own that needed doing. But this evening, he picked me up at the El and we switched places, and I got into the drivers seat of the second-largest vehicle I've ever driven--the first, if you don't count U-Hauls. Raj and Smoke were in the car too, so I had an audience--which only made me more nervous, if that was in fact possible. And of course, the seats were WAAAAAYYYYY back and the wheel was WAAYYYYYY up, set perfectly for 6'7" LJ but not so well for 5'6" Gladys, and I couldn't quite figure out what buttons needed pushing to move the seat to a point where I could actually reach the pedals. I felt like an idiot, but LJ had apparently spent a few minutes playing with the gadgets and showed me where everything was.



And then I dropped the guys off at the crib, and I drove myself to the grocery store, in my own car, for the first time in five years. I spent twenty minutes in the Dominick's lot, just playing with buttons and switches and levers, seeing what worked, what didn't and what it all did.



Then, when I'd loaded up the groceries and started up the car, I turned on the radio, ejected the Twista CD, and tuned to Q101--and there it was: "Smells Like Teen Spirit". I said a little prayer to JP, who would have loved the symbolism; and I drove myself home, in my own car, for the first time in five years. Driving down Roosevelt I thought to myself, I'm going to like this, I think.