Operation Big Flush – The Things You Keep – Remnants of the Past

I’m currently executing Operation Big Flush.  I need to be out of the condo I rent by the end of July and I have accumulated alot of stuff over the years.  I want to be light an mobile. Thus I made the first step to sell off anything I can that is not necessary or does not have sentimental value.  After reviewing even stuff I used to think had sentimental value doesn’t really in most cases.

Thus I find myself digging in drawers, (not underpants ….drawers ) and tossing a bunch of stuff.

 

In among all the flotsam and toe jam I found the only remaining piece that I have of my 1986 Saab Turbo.  In 1996 I had Saab fever. I remembered a friend who had gone to San Francisco in the 80’s mention that the Saab Turbo was the yuppie car of choice back then.  Thus when I could not find the Saab I wanted in Phoenix Arizona I decided to search online around the bay area.  It turned out to be a good idea.  I found one listed at 6000 dollars.  After talking with the owner off and on for a while I found out that he was an ex nuclear engineer.  I’ve always found with the right kind of engineer you can not go wrong buying their used cars.  That’s because the anal retentive, neat personal habits melded with technical skill, usually logically result in an extremely well taken care of car.   I made a low ball offer and he refused.  Later when I owned the car I found a notepad in the leatherette maintenance book that Saabs came with.  He had written down the mileage of every oil change and even every time he had added gasoline to the car !! ?? !!  Ouch !! Who does this?  Well he did.  He had kept extremely meticulous records of absolutely all the maintenance of the car.   This behavior carried forwards to the condition of the car itself.  In retrospect I wonder if my sloppiness reflects on how terribly I’ve maintained relationships with the women I’ve known.  I better stop on this vein of investigation before I cry.

I went back about my work feeling relieved that I had not flown off to San Francisco to view a car with 90,000 miles on it.  That would be plum crazy.  All during that first call I’d even kind of had the hots going back and forth …should I or shouldn’t I ?   I was relieved I didn’t do something that crazy!

But then the owner called back.  He said “You made the ridiculous offer of 3200$, how about that?”

I answered ” Well can you send me some photos of the inside and outside of the car?”

He replied ” ooooh I doan wanna do that”

I thought for a bit and realized this guy is 60 ish and just doesn’t want to fool around with this.  Thus I shot back “Ok I am going to buy a round trip ticket on Southwest Airlines.  Be waiting out the pickup point of the airport for me.  I am going to walk out of that airport and take a look at the car.  If its not everything you say it is I am going to turn right back around and fly right back to Phoenix.”

To which he was in agreement.

I bought the ticket and flew to San Jose.  When I got out of the airport there was the most pristine looking 10 year old car I had ever seen.  It really was in tip top condition.   All systems were go.  I hopped in the passenger side and we went off to his place to fill out the paper work.  I think he even pulled the plate so I would be driving back to Phoenix plateless.  California started off a Spanish possession so even to this day its legal system is based on Spains and not Englands.  While the latins have many things going for them I will stick with the English legal system please !

Paperwork done I jumped in the car and sped off.  The turbo had that nice jet engine whine every time it spun up.  I encountered a traffic jam exiting San Jose to the south but eventually made it to the clear.  Then I could really open it up.  I did about 100 mph all the way to Los Angeles. 

I hit Los Angeles at 10 pm at night and even then there was a traffic jam.  Bumper to bumper till I finally made it out of that pit of a city.  Then off into the Arizona clear I floored it and made it back to phoenix in 11 hours total.

That car was a tank, good on gas and fun to drive.  I don’t think I’ll ever like a car as much.   I kept it until I just could not keep it on the road any more. If I would have had a garage of my own I would have take it down to the last nut and bolt and back up again.

In with the key fob I found this card:

It was from Yoko. She was my Girlfriend at the time.   She was Japanese and extremely funny and pleasant and Buddhist.  I still love her to this day. 

The Saab key fob I’ll toss now that I’ve told you that story.  The card with the Buddhist chant will go in my wallet.  I can’t even begin to tell the story of Yoko.  That’s why I told the story of the Saab instead.  The Yoko story is so much the better.   There will probably be times in the not too distant future when I need the chant alot more than I need the memories of a car I had some good times in.  Alot of them with Yoko.

Its hard to see the past slip away into the stream of endless events.

Don’t forget to flush before you leave.