Bugs, Boats and Brand New Vehicles

As I sit here this morning drinking my coffee and admiring the new Ford Explorer in my driveway, I'm reminded of the last brand-new vehicle we had. It was a Chevy Blazer, and it was the first brand new vehicle Mike and I owned together.

We had only had the vehicle for a week when it already had a scratch and the passenger side floor was stained. It's a funny story really.

Since it was a new vehicle and Mike wasn't used to driving it there was a learning curve that Mike apparently wasn't aware of. As he was backing it up to hook on the boat trailer, he misjudged a little bit and backed our brand-new blazer right into the tongue of the boat trailer. The resulting scratch was still visible 13 years later when we finally sent the vehicle to the great junkyard in the sky.

As for the stain in the passenger side floor board, that was my fault. Back in those days, coffee bought at the gas station came in Styrofoam cups. We were driving along enjoying the day as I sipped my coffee. I took a big old swig and felt something floating around in my mouth. My immediate reaction was to spew everything in my mouth into the floor of the car.

Mike's immediate reaction was to yell at me, "What the hell did you do that for?!" His eyes were bugging out of his head and I swear he was about to drive off the road, although I don't know what he was so upset about since he had just rammed the boat trailer the day before.

"I thought there was a bug in my coffee," I said looking guilty.

Turns out, it wasn't a bug after all. It was just a stray piece of Styrofoam that apparently had been in the cup before I filled it. Go figure.

So, that's how we began with our very first brand-new car. Now 13 years later we have another new vehicle that so far we've manage not to damage yet. I'd better go knock on some wood, don't you think?