Name Your Car Day, October 2nd

Name Your Car Day

I have been so excited for this day. I have had my car for a year, and it hasn't a name. I think that I have tried to name it a few times, but the names haven't stuck. I have been pretty good about naming my cars.

Mr Pipps
My first car, a blue 1979 Toyota Corolla, was named Mr. Pipps. Mr. Pipps was a good car. I only had him for a year. Sometimes I still miss Mr. Pipps. I learned how to tell alternator problems apart from battery problems on Mr. Pipps.

Sloopy Schoopy
My next car was Sloopy Schoopy. I loved my Sloopy Schoopy. He was a grey 1986 Subaru Wagon. He got me through my college years, and the year after I graduated from college. He ran on three of his four cylinders, and had a very distinctive tick. Every boy with any mechanical ability that heard that tick, wanted to take Schoopy apart to figure it out, but I wouldn't let them. I was afraid that if the grime that was holding the seams of engine together was disturbed that he wouldn't run any more.

I learned how to replace fuses, replace battery cables, replace batteries, change tires, replace hoses, and patch radiator holes on Schoopy. One time I had a friend tell me that my car ran on faith and duct tape. Poor Schoopy. He worked so hard to make me happy.

The Boat
The Boat was my car that my parent tried to get me to use to replace Schoopy half-way through college. The Boat was my grandpa's gold 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis and it was HUGE. My roommates and guy friends loved The Boat because the engine purred, had leather seats, and looked like a pre-pimped pimp car. It was a great car to go to the drive-in in because we could park sideways and lie all the way down across the seat.

I hated it because I would get notes left on my car asking me to park my very large car at the other end of the parking lot. Embarrassing. So, I made my brother give Schoopy back to me, and I made him drive The Boat.

Sophia
My next car was a girl car. I got her a year after I graduated from college, and after Schoopy broke down three times in two weeks. My friends I was living with sat me down and told me that I had to get a new car.

My new car was moody. Her name was Sophia. I wasn't very creative with my naming of her; she was a silver 1999 Kia Sephia. But, the reason was, she and I never bonded. She was way too moody (she had an electrical short that no-one could fix), and she was very sensitive (Christmas Trees scratched her up badly), and completely unstable (she could not handle snow on the roads at all), and I missed my Sloopy Schoopy who never had any of those problems.

Sophia passed away a year ago last week. I was upset because I wasn't planning on buying a new car yet, but happy to not have to deal with Sophia anymore.

New Car
I love my new car... but there is not a name yet for... him. He is a white 2001 Saturn Wagon. He meets my needs quite well. He has reminded me that I like to drive, and that snow is not something to be feared. Snow is even something to appreciate because it covers up all the ugly brown. Yea for snow! That is why this car is a he... he is fearless in the face of all weather.

He happily carries all sorts of big and oversized things in his back end for me. And when I tied the Christmas Tree up on his top like a faux hawk, the tree did not scratch him up at all, in fact he looked rather stylish. I am thinking about naming him Oscar, after Oscar Wilde, not the Grouch. Although, the Grouch could work because he is a bit touchy in the transmission gear area. Sometimes he doesn't like me touching his stick.

So... I have some work ahead of me today. Pondering the name Oscar...and figuring out how to christen him.