After 9 years, I decided it was time to retire my 88 Honda Accord… I have been through quite a bit with that car, and it saddens me to close that chapter of my life. At the same time, I can’t express how happy I am with my new car (2004 Saab 93 Arc). Some of the major events that happened with my 88 Accord include running through/over a brick wall that was about 3 feet high, to recently putting 2 and 1/2 dozen eggs into the radiator to try to plug a hole that just wouldn’t stop leaking…
Going back to the brick wall thing… It was a pure joy listening to Mary Smits bitch me out in the early am hours that July 3rd (1996) night… Her husband, who was thankfully much nicer and understanding, allowed me to come back the next day to fix the damage I did to the wall. I (with the help of my brother) did fix the wall and made it look better than it did before the incident, since I also fixed a portion that was hit by a snow plow truck some time before I got up close & personal with the wall… We even got out of the chemical plant that day, in order to fix the wall… I thought that was a particularly nice effect from the accident.
A bit of history about that night, I suppose… it was a nice summer night (Friday, I believe). A couple of friends and I decided to meet some other friends at a cottage that was located on a beach, [20 miles or so] north of Green Bay, to watch some neighborhood fireworks. During those days, it wasn’t uncommon for either myself or my friend, Mike, to just alternate driving responsibilities. We normally had an open cooler (cardboard box w/ a plastic bag & ice [from Arbys – Thanks Massart!]) in the backseat of the car. I believe the drink of choice, those days, was Bud Ice or Bud Ice Light… Apparently the increased alcohol content was needed. So anyway, if we didn’t find a place to hang out, we would just entertain ourselves while driving around. Otherwise, if we did find a place, we would have already started our party, and happy days for us…
That night, I was particular frisky behind the wheel, and I can remember driving my car half in the ditch, half on a country road because I liked how the little weeds hit my front headlight. I recall that when I brought the car to get fixed, one of the mechanics made mention that I should make sure to clean all of the little pieces of weed from the engine compartment so that I wouldn’t clog the air vents… Gee.. .wonder how those got there. Anyway, we made it to the cottage and met up with everyone on the beach. I "frolicked" with a girl that I liked at the time, but before I knew it the beach party was coming to an end, I was back behind the wheel. I must have thought I was in a race car because I got the Honda up to speed and into 3rd gear, in a relatively short distance. This part gets a little hazy… but I tried to take a turn (on an incline) that I thought curved to the right, but in actuality was a T intersection. The car basically slid/skidded into the wall, going probably 30-40mph. When I went back to fix the wall, I was able to see 4 black streak marks from the tires… Anyway, I cracked & spider-webbed the front windshield with my head, got a flat tire, and did about $2000 damage to the left front portion of my car. Also, the cooler splashed against the front windshield. Thankfully, I was able to hobble my car up the road a little ways, so I wouldn’t have to directly confront the people from the beach. Also, thankfully, everyone in the car was ok and just a little shaken up… So, I noticed right away that something wasn’t right (more than the quarter panel being fucked) as I drove, so I pulled over. I got out and saw that the tire was flat and the rim was pretty fucked up. I proceeded to tear into my trunk and grab the spare & wrenches. Note… at this point, I had never changed a tire, I just heard about how to do it from some TV show. I was about 90% done changing the tire when a car came down the roadway, towards the cottages. Out came Mary Smits and her husband… He took my info, asked if I was ok to drive and told me that he’d talk to me the next day. I then proceeded to hobble my car back home and go through the agony of explaining what happened, to my parents. It wasn’t fun, but I have to admit that I’m happy that the incident sort of calmed me down and nothing worse happened. By the way, Stephanie, if you’re reading this, I hope you’re still not pissed at me, and I hope you can invite friends back to your cottage again. I’m sorry for the pain I caused you…
There were so many other things that happened while I drove that car (including yelling many Spanish curse words at unsuspecting pedestrians/commuters)… way to many things to fit into this blog entry, but maybe I’ll dive back into my thoughts and memories, at a later point in time.