Oh, What a Feeling!

Please join me in wishing my little red Toyota truck a very happy 100,000
mile, well, milestone! I can't describe how exciting it was to see all
those nines twitching, waiting. And that poor far zero, that's been
waiting seven and a half years to turn...it was a magical moment. Yes, I
wanted to pull over and jump up and yell, "Oh what a feeling!" But a) it
really isn't very effective without the freeze-frame that keeps you in the
air and b) it really isn't advised to pull over and leave your vehicle
unattended in Hollywood at night, on Western Avenue at the 101, across from
the Tropicana stripclub, where said milestone occurred. So I jumped up and
froze in the air like the Toyota commercials of my youth *IN MY MIND* and
kept driving.

My poor truck is a little worse for wear on the outside, mainly because I
don't wash it. It just seems like such a waste of time to me. If I see a
bunch of boy scouts or recovering drug addicts washing cars at a gas
station for 5$, then it gets washed. It just doesn't last long enough to
warrant a great deal of effort, I live in an apartment and I don't have a
hose...blah blah blah.

What's nice about having a truck is, when it's dirty, it *looks* like maybe
you've been out doing bad-ass truck stuff, even if you're just lazy like
me:) Also, there is a horrible scrape on the driverside rear wheelwell. I
bought some scratch remover, but haven't bothered to try it because the
surface is supposed to be clean in order for it to work properly (see
above). But, not to sound like a shill for Toyota--Lord knows, I do enough
unpaid shilling for CBS (WATCH "Survivor 4: The Marquesas" This Thursday at
8pm!!), it has been a very reliable vehicle. The only major repair was the
result of some really poor service (they forgot to put oil back in it
during a routine oil change, and the engine block cracked--yes, they paid
for it). But it's never failed to start, never stopped functioning--I was
even able to drive it to the mechanic with said blown head gasket/cracked
engine block!

So, kudos, little red truck! I look forward to many more years and miles,
tooling up and down the California Highways in your dependable embrace!
Christine:)