I finally got my car cleaned out, and it gave me an idea...you know how people nowadays are taking "staycations" where they stay home and do fun things instead of taking expensive vacations. My idea is called "New Old Car," because I couldn't think of a clever name like "staycation."
You just take your old dirty car, scrub it up, polish the windows, spring for some new floor mats, and maybe run it through a car wash and voila! All the benefits of a new car without the costs.
It works best if you really let the car get filthy before you clean it up, so the contrast is even better. Like to the point where you feel like you should be wearing rubber gloves to touch the gearshift. Where the dead leaves, bits of gravel, and nameless crud on the floor are at least 1/4" thick. Where you can't push your seat back because of all the empty plastic water bottles crushed underneath it.
My experience was also greatly improved by removing the cloth covers from the leather seats (we covered the seats a couple of summers ago so our thighs wouldn't pan fry when we sat down)--I had planned to take the covers off and wash them, but they disintegrated as I pulled them off, so now I'm sliding across luxurious leather again, which feels ever so new and nice. (I'll have to put new covers on in a couple of months because of the pan-fried thighs issue.)
If the car is paid off, the satisfaction is even sweeter--a new car with no car payments!
It's all about the small pleasures, isn't it?
A couple other small pleasures:
My phlox is phlourishing: (I had to say it, I had to!)
Note the careful cropping of weeds from the viewfinder. The weeds are BAD. I'm at my wits' end with this garden, I have no idea what to do with it this year. I need some classes, or an intervention, or something. Maybe if I go out and weed, some kind of inspiration will come to me. It's the arranging that I just can't figure out--how to make a ton of disparate elements all flow together. Should I hire somebody to draw me up a plan? Maybe it would be worth the money...
That's all I've got today. Just busy with the regular boring stuff: laundry, groceries, looking at weeds. I've gotta get out there and start yanking and digging and moving stuff around, I've just got to. Somebody give me a push!
7 comments:
Move up here to Oregon--no pan-fried thighs. So advises this former Mississippian.
My phlox is phlourishing:
Are you sure you didn't mean to say that your flour is loxishing?
Your phlox is phantastic!
I agree that your phlox are phabulous! All we have here (in WI) is mud and dried up grass. No green, no color - but at least no snow for the moment!
I need to make my old car new again- I haven't driven it since last fall when I was laid off. There are some of bags of Good Will finds that never made it into the house along with all that other rubbish you describe. The car not only needs cleaning, but it needs to have the license plate renewed and go through emissions testing. Yep- it'll feel like a new-to-me-car soon. Thanks for the advice, I mean PUSH!!!
I washed the inside of my car last week before our road trip. I knew I couldn't stand to look at all the dirt and grime for six hours in one day! I highly recommend getting a little wet/dry vac with the car attachments. Works so much better than the regular vacuum!
The flowers are gorgeous!
And thank you for giving me permission to let my car continue to accumulate dirt layers. All the better to plan my 'new car' redo! :)
Oh my gosh...I just cleaned my car yesterday - I only vacuumed and de-garbaged, but it makes me feel like a million bucks! You are so right!
Woo Hoo!!
Beautiful blooms! Thanks for brightening my day!
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