Success!

It was a blessing for me, that it was spectacularly sunny yesterday. Sunshine makes me so happy, I’m certain it improves my potential for fluency. I left to buy a car with Kevin optimistically. We got to the ferry line up early and before we were due to load, I went searching for Tom, the tow truck driver, and my car and removed all my personal items.

Tom told me what Bev at the automotive shop wouldn’t: The Fiat engine was shot. The oil pump broke, all the oil leaked out of the car and the engine seized. Value of Fiat: $0.00.

I had the ferry ride to adapt to the financial shock. I owe Kevin dearly for staying with me through the process and helping me. He had the dealership fix the brake linings, noticing in a long report that they had not been addressed.  

The car more than meets my needs. I absolutely love it. It’s much smoother on the road than the Fiat, it’s powerful, warm and f’en huge. It’s going to be a fabulous camper, and driving it is easy—I loved taking my first drive in it on such a gorgeous day. 

I can easily play my own music, it has (fabulous) heated bucket leather seats—seven of them; it’s my first car with a rear-view screen, all the door windows have pull-up sunscreens and doors can be opened automatically by the remote—I can even start and heat the car before I get into it.  Do-dads!

I left the dealership at two, after three hours of doing all the paperwork, getting the breaks fixed and buying insurance. And when I got to the ferry, it had just begun unloading, so I was quickly on board and home at three.

There’s a new car in the driveway.

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I arose, bright eyed, at three this morning. If I can’t sleep, I get up, do chores, and go back to bed if I want later in the morning. But I’m full of energy and wrote all morning until it was time to go to meet my friends and their dogs to walk in the Elder Cedar forest.

Today I shop for stuff for my dinner party for four on Friday night. They’re people I trust, still I wrote to them yesterday to ensure we all felt safe and ethical getting together—whatever that means. I actually suggested we shouldn’t meet, but they are keen and our knowledge of no positive tests so far on the island, gives us confidence (plus I am on antiretroviral medications).

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I was actually both excited and nervous about driving my new car to the dog walk this morning. I was excited about driving my palace on wheels but part of me was nervous it would explode. My confidence is automobiles has taken a major hit; I’ll need some time and experience in my new vehicle to regain it.

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Below are my first photos on my new camera. I am taking them using the “automatic” settings as I’ve not yet learned how to manually select exposure options. I took these when I walked from home to the village the other day but only learned how to download the images this morning. You can see how nice and clean GALTT keeps out trails! (I'm a member but not yet a volunteer.)