So Cool

I upped the Scary Spice ante hard today, driving our convertible to work with wet hair and the top down. Pretty, I am not! But I had a hell of a fun ride into the office and felt cool picking my buddy Sharon up for lunch.

Feeling cool was as good as it got because I certainly wasn't looking cool. Our convertible is a 1988 model BMW 325si that has seen better days. We just pulled it out of the garage this week to get it inspected, only one year overdue. The top is in shambles which is why it has to be down. The leather seats are cracking with huge wads of stuffing sprouting out. The radio, the clock, and the odometer are broken and there are red lights that flash regardless of the service status. Oh yes, this little car has looked better. Much, much better.

But damn it's still fun to drive.

This particular model car has low seats, so the bottom of the windows hit at about boob level. Meaning, outside viewers really don't get a good body shot. One of my favorite stories about driving it was when I was oh, 10 or 11 months pregnant with Taz (have I ever mentioned that he had to be evicted? Oh yes. He liked his cozy warm home inside me). Anyway, I was driving around town, top down, radio blasting (back in the good old days when it still worked) when this carload of guys - and I mean young, cute guys - made some appreciative comments in my general direction. Which totally and completely cracked me and my pregnant self up. Which encouraged them. Which cracked me up more.

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Another funny (to me anyway) story about the Beemer is what I told Taz is my most embarrassing moment. It is embarrassment at the first grade level. And probably the best he'll get from me until he's, oh, maybe 25. I had just gotten this car so it was 1993, I was young and crazy, and I was driving with the top down feeling all hot. I was at a traffic light when I blew a ginormous bubble. As in with bubble gum. The light turned green, I took off, and guess what? I ended up with a Bubble Yum covered face and Bubble Yum covered sunglasses. I went from cool to dork faster than my little car can go from zero to two.

Why, you may be wondering, would anyone keep a spare car laying around that s/he doesn't even drive for well over a year? Good question. One I ask Scouter regularly, I may add. He is the one who can't part with anything. If this car weren't in both our names, I would have sold it years ago. Actually, amend that to - if this car weren't in both our names and I could overcome my basic inertia and predisposition for letting him deal with all things vehicular, I would have sold it years ago.

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But, since we're apparently keeping it, we may need to get some cosmetic work done on this little baby and take it out more often.