Felix

This blogging thing is proving to be difficult to keep up with.  I have started at least a dozen posts and have been interrupted or otherwise distracted since my last post in March.  None of them have made it past draft and sit spectacularly unfinished in various folders on my computer and the Cloud.  It's really quite disheartening.

But I cannot overlook Felix.  He must be immortalized at Yemalla's Moon!

I am just starting my 54th trip around the sun.  I mention this only because it in relation to my years - even if you take away the first 16 that I was not allowed to drive - my car ownership stats are comparatively low with other people of a similar age.  I have averaged a new car every 12 years four months since reaching legal driving age or every seven years since buying my first vehicle. I bought my first car - an unimpressive 1993 Mercury Topaz (The Old Gray Mare) when I was 34.  TOGM was what one might refer to as a lemon, presenting with no end of problems over the seven or eight years that I owned her.  

After TOGM was retired from my life, my primary mode of transportation became my feet.  I didn't mind.  In fact if I ever win the lottery, the first thing I intend to do is to hire a chauffeur.  I could happily cut up my license and never drive again (although I do grudgingly admit that it is a handy skill to have).  

I bought my second vehicle in 2010 after an horrific incident where the 1988 Toyota Corolla (Isabelle) that I had the use of was unceremoniously backed into by a pickup truck that left her passenger side doors severely dented.  The vehicle that I bought was a 2000 Pontiac Montana named Gracie (after Gracie Allen because she was so quirky right from the start).  Gracie liked to play tricks like having her gas gauge start filling up again when it reached the half-tank mark.  Her electrical systems were glitchy and she sometimes pretended that her ignition wasn't working.  But she ran great and had a fair bit of jam for an old mini-van.

The real problem with Gracie is that she wasn't very good at hauling stuff.  When I needed lumber for a project around Alegria, she wasn't suited for the task of carrying it home.  Forget about taking stuff to the dump!  And her front-wheel drive system was useless in the winter if I wanted to go snowshoeing.  The final straw was her failing AC.  I'm sorry but five weeks of sustained 25-30+ degree heat requires AC!  

So I decided that I would look for a pickup.  I certainly do not need a seven-passenger vehicle, but I do need to be able to haul garbage, pick up lumber and go snowshoeing!  

Enter my third vehicle:  Felix.  Felix means lucky and successful.  He's a 2010 Ford Ranger with 74,000 clicks on the odometer, a custom rack, a Tonnaeu cover and studded winter tires on separate rims.  His four-wheel drive capacity will come in handing in the coming winter months (yes, people, Winter Is Coming!) and with a bit of ingenuity his rack will nicely support a custom tent for camping.  Whoot!  This morning, he happily and easily took a load of old, rotten wood that had been languishing in my back yard for a very long time to the dump.  It was awesome!  

So far, Felix has been wonderful.  I am quickly growing attached to the little pickup.  I know it's only been a couple of days, but I've been known to fall hard for handsome and handy guys before; Felix is both!