Miss Pearl

After rockin' the '87 Honda Accord and the '95 Ford Taurus, I have joined the millennium. Parish and I purchased "Miss Pearl" yesterday after a very long, hard-fought battle. Let me start at the beginning...

About two-months ago, I started breaking down on the side of the road. We would get it towed (thanks Allstate and Shaun, my personal, tow-truck driver) and checked out. They would do some minor repairs and send me on my way. I would then drive hundreds of miles and then out of the blue, break down again. This must be said: I totally lose it when I break down on the side of the road. Not a little bit, I turn into a crazy lady. First, I call everyone I know and tell them I am broken down at the side-of-the-road. After I have enough sympathy, I call and order a tow. Then I call everyone back and tell them a tow truck is coming. It goes on like this until I get the car back. Well, after breaking down twice in one day, Parish and I decided to start looking for another car. Warning: looking for cars causes heated battles, proceed with caution.

After going through the car salesman/dealer fiasco, we decided to stop looking and ride out the Taurus for another year. At this point in time, the car mechanic couldn't find anything wrong with the car. I was (somewhat) content to wait the year out and ride off into the sunset in my Hummer when the time came to get my new car. Fast forward two-weeks: I needed to go take a photo for a story I was writing. I approach the car, get in, turn the key, it idles...and then DIES. Maybe I'm dreaming, so I try it four more times, same response. I can see myself picking out the interior for my Hummer and then reality sets in, "FIND A RELIABLE CAR!"

I go through my routine of calling everyone I know and then I call Parish and after a few choice words, he decides to head out that moment and start looking for a replacement car. During the first go-round I test drove a Jeep Commander and Jeep Compass. Second go-round was a Ford Five Hundred and a second Jeep Commander. Then I test drove a Huyndai Sonata and then finally a Nissan Altima. Finally, the Altima was chosen as the winner. After countless hours of research, Parish marched into the dealer with numbers in hand and fought a good fight. We walked away with a great deal and a 2005 Nissan Altima.

This was a very good, learning experience. Parish is such an amazing, strong person. I'm so proud of him. Hopefully we will not have to wage war against the dealership for a long time. I'm in love with my new car. She's crazy fast, good on gas and a joy to drive. I guess I will just have to call everyone and tell them my car is working great!