Saturday, August 08, 2009

Love is a two-way street.

We’ve been together for years. Since high school. It’s probably been a decade. I never thought I’d be in this relationship for so long. I should never have even been in this relationship for so long. Sure, we’ve had our good times, and I wouldn’t give those up for anything, but the past few years have been riddled with so many problems. So much struggling through issues, and as soon as it seems everything is fixed, the problems pop right back up again. Everything keeps deteriorating, and I know that if we stay together, we’re both going to end up crashing and burning.

I’ve had enough. I’ve moved on.

Goodbye, Silhouette. There’s a new car in my life.

2007 Volkswagen GTI with United Gray exterior, 2.0L L4 FI Turbo engine and six-speed automatic direct shift gearbox with Tiptronic® and Sport mode (whatever that means).

To say I’m happy is an understatement. The other day I pulled into a parking spot with one quick turn that would have taken a 3-point or even 5-point turn with the horrible turning radius on my old mini-van and was so turned on that i actually said “I love you” out loud.

If lips were one of the GTI’s many features, I would have made out with it on the spot.

But we’ve already had our share of problems. Two days after getting the car, I was driving to the comic shop for Free Comic Book Day when I hit a huge pothole and blew my front tire. And it turns out that new tires for GTIs are mighty pricey. Who would have thought that free comic books would end up costing me a couple of hundred dollars?

And a month later, I finally mounted the new license plates. I backed out the next morning and my dashboard indicator said my tire pressure was low. I checked my tire to find the bit I used to screw in my plates jutting out right between the treads.

Thank God they were able to patch it up for $15 instead of making me get a new tire and shell out a couple hundred dollars again.

But all in all, things are still going well. It hasn’t been the car’s fault at all. If I could have managed to steer better and pick up after myself, this would still be a perfect relationship.

The only thing that is lacking is a good name. Calling my car “GTI” seems a bit bland. I’ve had nicknames for all my previous cars. My old ‘83 Dodge Ram van was “The Tank” or “Rustbucket”. The Oldsmoble Silhouette was “The Shuttlecraft”.

So what do I call my GTI? Do I finally cave into the standard naming convention and give it a girls name? If I go that route, I was thinking on maybe a name that that uses G, T and I in it.

Unfortunately, all that comes to mind is “Gertie”.

And I have no intention of driving around in an 80-year-old woman.