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Tag: car

Goodbye Swagger Wagen

Goodbye Swagger Wagen

The Jetta Sportwagen TDI was the first car we purchased. It was a magnificent machine. Gorgeous and incredibly well engineered, but in one particular way a little too engineered. We were hopeful that Volkswagen would come out with a fix for the car, but their deadline for finding a fix for our model came and went and we decided it was time to part with our smogmobile. (They did come out for a fix for some of the newest models, but…

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Ode to the Honda

Ode to the Honda

If Noel hadn’t caught the front bumper of the Honda on the fence of our apartment complex, our first date might not have ever happened. Because if he hadn’t been out in the parking lot that April afternoon trying to fix it, I might not have had the opportunity to flirt with him and he probably wouldn’t have asked me if I was doing anything that night and we never would have gone out to dinner. That’s how integral the…

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Swagger Wagen

Swagger Wagen

No we didn’t get a minivan even though we’ve heard they’re so wonderful. We’ve been coming to terms with the fact that our beloved 19 year old Honda with 300k+ miles* on it wasn’t going to keep going forever. The weird little old car quirks were just adding up. Changing the interior temperature from heating to cooling requires stopping the engine, popping the hood, and reaching down to manually twist the valve next to the heater core. Rolling certain windows down is risky since…

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Lately

Lately

Danielle, Noel’s sister, was in town on business and got to spend an evening with us. Ellen was taken with Aunt Danielle and kept bringing her books to read and even gave her hugs which is almost unheard of. Ellen has begun a rigorous training program. Noel and I went on a “date” to test drive cars since we’ve come to the conclusion that we at least need to start thinking about replacing our 18, going on 19-year-old car. I’m…

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Hello Fall.

Hello Fall.

Yesterday was the first day of fall. In celebration it’s chilly at the Merket house today. I almost wish I had a fleece jumpsuit. Brrrr. In other news, I ran over our stroller with the car. It made me feel sick. You can’t imagine my relief when I discovered that everything still functioned and this was the only real damage. Phew. I love my stroller.