I took a day off yesterday and bought a used car. It's a 96 Saturn SL 5-speed with 115,000 miles on it. I really like standard shift, and it took a while to find a good car that came with it. I don't think they make as many cars with manual clutches these days. It's nice for the local hills and for city driving.

It's a pretty bare bones car. It came with air conditioning and airbags, which are both firsts for me, but none of the power window crap or anything more than a tape deck. I figure the more complicated the features, the more likely they are to break down. I bought it from a dealer with a one month warranty.

For sentimental reasons, I kept the old car, a rusty red Ford Escort. I've had it longer than any other piece of junk I've bought and it has served me very well. I paid $700.00 for it and it had 125,000 miles on it. I managed to get it to 249,000 before I finally bought this next one.

I could have bought something last year or the year before, but I wanted to have my first moon car. I heard that term first used in a commercial in the 90s. A moon car has at least 240,000 miles on it, the distance from the earth to the moon. I remember I was driving my daughter home after Thanksgiving dinner when I finally touched down. It was overcast, and I think it was lightly snowing. We were about four miles from her house when we reached 240k. I did a countdown from six miles, marking off every tenth. At each stage, I described what we were seeing as we approached the moon, the craters and the shadows, and the dust rising as we finally settled on the surface. I marked off the point when we were at the elevation of Mount Everest, the elevation of our hometown (about 1100 feet), and the point when we finally reached sea level. Of course, I had to make some stupid Neil Armstrong statement.

The Moon Car now has the following list of things wrong with it.

1. Bad muffler
2. Cracked windshield
3. Head lamp bulb held in with duct tape.
4. Left turn signal smashed with only a bare bulb from the accident with deer.
5. Dent in left side from accident with deer.
6. Heater only goes up to 3 out of 4.
7. Lights do not work on the dash.
8. Tape deck is broken.
9. Lighter does not work.
10. Beeps frequently when the car is not running.
11. Window on left side door does quite go all the way up and is very hard to roll down or up
12. Left door will not always open from the inside and requires rolling the window down and up to reach the outside latch (see 11.)
13. Right door latch must be pushed down on the outside or it will not stay closed.
14. Automatic seat belts are stuck in one position (but they still hook up and work otherwise.)
15. Pipe in exhaust system is broken and as a result the car is very loud. (Fortunately, the little four cylinder engine isn't that bad)
16. Emergency brakes do not work.
17. Heating lines in rear window do not work.
18. Has not had an oil change in 15,000 miles or tune up in 40,000.
19. Rust everywhere.
20. Back hatch does not open.
21. Car has recently started shuddering at speeds over 60 mph. (probably due to 18.)

But you know, except for the shaking (which probably is more because of the lack of tune up, oil change, or tire rotation), I am really going to miss it. The handling is really tight, and with the manual transmission it does fine on the hills and in the city. I'm used to driving it. It feels like an extension of my body.

All the things that are wrong with it have slowly crept up, and I've just accomodated myself to them. Can't see the dash at night? Big deal. I know how fast I'm going, and I keep a flashlight if I'm really aching to know. Headlight held with on with duct tape? Who cares, as long as it works. Back hatch doesn't open? I just get in the back seat and dig whatever out. Heat only goes up to 3? It's good enough to defrost the windows in zero farenheit weather. No emergency brake? It's a standard shift and it will always hold on a hill.

Much more important to me is knowing where that clutch point is, how much to turn that steering wheel, how much pedal it needs, and what gears it should be in at what speeds. I've got to learn all that shit over again with a new car. Sure, it wasn't the safest vehicle on the road, but until I'm used to all the little changes in handling, I'll be less safe in the new vehicle.

At Thanksgiving, I told my daughter I would paint a moon on the old car once I reached 240,000. I never got around to it for some reason. Maybe I'll do it today.