This is Farewell

Top ten reasons why it's great to have an old beat-up car...

10. Zero concern for adding mileage to the car. Multiple roundtrips to from coast to coast? No problem. Just make sure your AAA service is up to date.

9. The convenience of leaving the doors unlocked all the time. "You want it? Take it!... Just change the oil before you bring it back!"

8. Safety. With good ol fashion metal construction you probably couldn't tell the difference between getting hit by a newer car and going over a speed bump.

7. You've become one with the E light in the car, and know when you have 6 tenths of a mile left in the tank before you have to get out and push.

6. Every State Inspection is like a pot luck dinner: always a "fun" surprise.

5. The prospect of achieving the ultimate goal of a frugal mind: having the odometer hit 999,999 and rolling over to a fresh start.

4. The ability to park next to the shopping cart return without concern of dings and dents.

3. You can have a picnic in the car with no concern for spillage. At this point, honey mustard spills, barbecue sauce stains and baby spitup just adds to the decor.

2. No car payment. Cheaper insurance.

1. Feeling like you're in a rare fraternity whenever you see another car just like yours since very few are still on the road. The rest have already beat you to the junkyard.

And with that, our '97 Nissan Altima (V's car from her college days) has seen it's last hooray. We're not emotionally attached to it like I am the Civic (which is 9 years old now) but It has served us well, and we hate to see it go (okay, not really... actually we just hate to have to buy another car). So this is goodbye to an old faithful friend (well, maybe not that faithful)... and probably hello to the ranks of (gasp)... the MINIVAN. I guess everything happens for a reason. To be continued...