Liam goes for a final spin in Sassy Saturn
Hello Goodbye
You say goodbye and I hello
Hello hello
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello
.........The Beatles
At the end of our Yoga class Thursday of each week, after our in the dark quiet time (love this just like nap time in kindergarten) we are encouraged to go to the corner of the room and pick up an angel card, and then read about its meaning in the pamphlet nearby. Each card has a word, or a phrase on one side and a very baroque angel representation on the other. Last Thursday mine said "New Beginnings" Never had gotten that one, I have gotten repeats of others, like Friendship, Balance, Patience.
A prescient angel card for me this time.
We have a "New Beginning" this week. A new car.
Goodbye to Sassy, my Saturn of 13 3/4 years, Hello new Ford Focus. Hello, hello!
In my family we name our cars, at least my father and I did.
My father, Charlie McNiff, owned 4 cars in his lifetime. Now that may sound like he kept his cars for a long time, not true. He learned to drive at 53 years old and he lived to be 75, so this was a 22 year period of car ownership. Their names: Maxie (blue super max VW Beetle) Sandy (tan Chevy), Cy (Citation) and Les (Buick Le Sabre).
I name my cars like my Dad did. He also named mine if I did not christen a new car swiftly enough for him. He got to my first cars before me and he declared my green VW beetle to be Nellie because my licence plate's alphas were NLI. And my Tercel was Tercie. I had to jump in and join the name game to save my cars from "name unoriginality."
I keep my cars for an above average time with a below average yearly usage. Sassy Saturn
and I have had the longest car connection of my life. She was a neat one, so emptying her out was quick. Liam watched and waited, knowing something was changing. 
I put the contents of the glove compartment in an environmentally unfriendly plastic bag and took its treasures inside. Along with the owner's manual, maps from the Sassy's year of birth- 1996 and a few pens were directions in a zip lock bag. These directions showed a history of places I had been and also an evolution in the way we obtain and record directions.The earliest-a yellow index card with handwritten directions to a friend's apt. in Jackson Heights-1996, (year of Sassy's birth) another to dinner at friends in Oceanside, a yellowed piece of lined paper jagged edged having been ripped from a spiral notebook -1997. then we have email directions to Riverdale 1998. After that people seem to assume you will get there using Internet programs Map Quest, Yahoo, Google, Evite. We have directions to parties, to dinners, to Maureen's new hair shop in East Meadow, a large index card firmly announcing "We are Visitors to 1 Ascan in Forest Hills" We placed this in the window when visiting our niece so as not to be ticketed in this gated community.
And the most recent, Google printout for Tower Ford in Great Neck where we purchased my new car. http://towerford.dealerconnection.com/?lang=en
How did a Saturn owner re-enter the world of other dealers? By googling and emailing with the message "We are Saturn owners we come to buy, not browse. We are used to peaceful buying, no negotiations." Our Tower Ford salesman, Lee Kassler, was perfect for us. He is the Tower Ford Internet guy. He agreed to take Sassy for a small payment so as not to humiliate her and we purchased my Ford Focus with a down payment and a payment plan . We bought Sassy's successor just like that. Lee asked how we found them and why a Ford Focus- I explained I shop online only, so I picked a close dealer, liked the website, liked his email response, ( hate the phone, unless for texting) and liked the flat price. I also said my good friend told me that the Ford Focus was the car for me and I trust everything he says. I liked that Lee emailed me and did not bug me by calling. This transaction might have been easier than buying a Saturn! Thanks Lee.
We went in on Saturday and drove my Ford Focus home Tuesday next pic Liam waiting
I know you all want to know the name. This car is named Sawyer, after the TV character on LOST LOST. http://lost.about.com/Sawyer was the character's adopted name, whose real name on the show was James Ford. The actor who played Sawyer/Ford is Josh Holloway.
Lee did not seem aware of Sawyer, but he smiled. As I do whenever I think of Sawyer/James Ford/Josh Holloway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_%22Sawyer%22_Ford
This is the first time my car is masculine. Hmmmm. New Beginnings.
I think Charlie McNiff would have liked the alacrity with which the Focus was named. I never told him my choice of the name Sassy came from the brand name of underwear I wore in 1996, which is now out of business just like Saturn.
Though Lost is gone, Sawyer is here.
I hope I do not put Ford out of business; by buying and naming one of its cars.
Goodbye Sassy, Hello Sawyer. Liam goes to the gate to find Sawyer. He's not lost.
Woof, woof
