Yesterday I drove to Visalia, three hours and I had to be there by 8:30. When I got there the other guy that does my job in this area was there also, so I didn't even need to be there. To top things off we were only needed to explain what we do, not to meet students. It was a real waste of time. On the way back I stopped at two other schools and met the people in those schools. I visited Fowler and Chowchilla high schools. Today I visited with a young lady that wants to join the National Guard then visited San Francisco City College and San Francisco State Universities. I drive a lot, and I was thinking about all the cars I have had since I had my license. My first car cost $200, it was a 1962 MG Midget. My brother and I bought it together, since he couldn't take it when he went away to college and I was 15, 16 when he went to college. It was great, the windows didn't roll up and down ... they slid back and forth. It was a convertible and when we took the top off we just took the windows off too. It had a key you turned to turn on, then to start the engine you pulled a knob. That car got smashed when I was at a stop light. A big car plowed into the back and it was so broken that it wasn't worth fixing. While I was still in high school I bought a Ford Fairlane, 1968 I think. That car was 8 cylinders and then the engine went bad and only had 7. My next car was a loaner from my parents, they let me borrow their Chevy Vega for a while. When I went away to college I bought a Renault. That car was truly unique. The engine was in the rear, and when I bought it the sales person tried to tell me it had air conditioning. It was amazing, since we lived in Monterey, California and not many cars had air conditioning. I asked him if it was really true, he said, "It sure it true, you just open the trunk here in the front, put ice here in the area in front of the vents, and when you open the vents it feels just like air conditioning." Ok, I tried not to laugh. This car also had a crank to start it. I even needed it a few times when I allowed the battery to go out because I left the lights on. That car was great, when I drove in Arizona one year following spring training I got 50 miles per gallon. That car ran out of gas on new years eve on the freeway. When I went back the next morning it had been vandalized so badly it couldn't be fixed. My parents then helped me buy a Datsun B210. That was a nice car that got good mileage and very reliable. I had that car for a long time, even took it to Germany with me when I joined the Army. I sold it in Germany and bought a Volvo. I liked the Volvo, even though I bought it used. The heated seats, the great sound system, the roominess and the reliability were great. I brought that back to the USA when I came back and when I was in Alabama I bought a Chevy Citation. Wow, that is the car I had always wanted. Versatile and fun to drive. I had that car for a long time, when I had to go to Korea in the Army I let me friend Chris drive it. Still great condition when I got back. I taught my wife how to drive in that car. It is the car she was angry about that I loved the car more than I loved her ... as she almost drove into a telephone pole and I yelled at her to stop! We then needed a second car so we got a mini van, for when Lindsey was born. The van was great and when Jayne came around we had a separate seat for each child! The Citation got totalled in and accident, and when we came back from Korea I backed into an RV and the back window of the van got smashed. That van eventually went to the junk yard because the steering went out. I had also bought a Saturn for a second car. After the steering went out my kid's mom's van she got the Saturn and I got my parents Oldsmobile. That kind of saved me, having that car. I was emotional sometimes driving that car since it was bought by my dad, who had passed away. After the Oldsmobile I bought a Chrysler Sebring convertible. WOW, another fantastic car, until it blew the engine driving over the mountains. Now I have a Chevy Malibu which I really like. People ask me how many cars I have had, you can count. Add in a motorcycle, a scooter, and one more car I don't know where it goes in my list, but it was a Ford.
