Ode to the Red Hot

Ode to the Red Hot

You have served me well
You have given it your all
(which was not that much)
Ode to the Red Hot

I'll remember you fondly
your oil drips
your clutch slips
your starter problems
your turned milk smell
Ode to the Red Hot

The Gas mileage
the hundred thou count
the countless trips
the blastin music
Ode to the Red Hot

Where did I not go with you?
We coasted through the coast
We whinnied up the mountain
We zoomed through the Grande Rhone Valley
Ode to the Red Hot

The zips and swerves around the corners
No one could keep up with you
I will miss those narrow street-wide U-turns
with your radius laughing
at anyone who dared to follow.
Ode to the Red Hot

You took me through those college years
the long trips to EOU and Back Home
the cruising trip to Joseph
and many trips around LaGrande
Ode to the Red Hot

Your hot and sticky seat
on those warm summer days
with no Air Conditioning
and only the wind to cool
Ode to the Red Hot

How I will miss the tiny car that IS the Red Hot!

For those of you that did not know, I called my car the Red Hot because it is tiny and it was Red. Yes, I know it is very good logic. Anyways, my little Red Hot has been increasingly getting worse and worse for wear in the recent years. It started with a clutch problem, the second gear was not working well, it took a little extra finesse to use it correctly, then the car many times, would not start up correctly, I would have to put the car in the gear that I needed it to go in and then start it up and rev the engine enough to keep it going and pretty much pop the clutch to go. Then another issue arose just fairly recently, the oil started leaking on the thing. I have had to put in extra quarts of oil a few times in between the oil changes. I always have to keep an extra quart or two in the car at all times.
But anyways, I had plans to run the car to the ground- which I have done a good job of that- and save up money for a new one-which i haven't done a good job with that because of a bad subbing year and also getting ready to go back to school. Luckily, my father was also in the market for a new car. His is not totally out like mine, but he has been saving up money for a future car purchase. Recently with his new job that he is driving to Spokane and back to Central Oregon every week, he was more serious about looking for a replacement car. So we have been looking for fuel economical cars that have AC, and Cruise, everything else was not as needed. I have been looking on Cars.com and also on Craigslist. I found one when he was out of town in Spokane. It was a Ford Focus at Robberson Ford in Bend. I found it on Craigslist priced at 12,995. Then went to Robbersons website to find an internet price at 9995. There was also an eprice that I signed up for, and someone called from there saying they have a better price- 8995. So we made an appointment to see it this morning. Dad and I went and took my car. He had wanted to trade my car in to get rid of it and then give me his older car. After testing it, we saw it was good and went after it. There were only a few things that were not ideal, but for the price, it was amazing.
So, long story long, (Not short obviously) My little Red Hot is in their hands and we got a new car.
I am excited for my dad and his new car. From the time Focus' wer introduced, I loved the look of them.

So, Farewell Little Red Hot!

Tribute to the Green Machine

I felt I had to do another post. Not only have I been neglecting my blog account- not much activity, But I also had a big thing happen yesterday.

I bought a car.

Because I created "Ode to the Red Hot" from the last purchase of a car- see here- http://timkirkman.blogspot.com/search?q=Ode+to+the+Red+Hot
I felt I needed to do due justice and post about my Green Machine.

From the time I received this car, it has been a good use. The Green Machine was my father's car that he traded my Red Hot for his new car and gave me his old one. When it was given, it had some miles on it, around 175 thou, I think, but it was in better condition than my little Red Hot. It had AC, and Cruise Control, two amenities that I enjoy and don't really like living without.
But, by the end of the Green Machine journey, it does not have AC anymore and many other issues as well.

The Green Machine, currently has over 236,500 miles on the original engine and transmission, and is on its last leg. It has had Check Engine lights, and repair shop trips, and many other things happen to it. Its time to pull the plug, so I started saving up as much as I could to get a new car. My parents were great- helping each of us kids out with cars by matching up to $3000 as long as the money was not for a loan, but paying for a car in full. I saved up that much and just a few days ago started really seriously looking. I had enough for a 6-7 thousand dollar car. I had it in my mind that I wanted something newer than I had purchased before with less miles and with AC, and Cruise. Well, I pretty much found it in a Ford Focus. I found a 2008 Ford Focus, 2-door coupe with 24,000 miles on it. I found it for $6500. That's all. It was an amazing deal. It does not have Cruise, but I plan to put in an aftermarket cruise control sometime.

When I found that car on Craigslist, I called the dude and then called my dad to take a test drive with it- it was located in Portland. And then I proceeded to keep calling my dad and asking about it, if he had called yet, when he was going to go test it out and take a look, letting him know that it was a good deal so you better call early in the morning. ... He saw it and found that it was good, so he put money down on it for me and I took part of the day off yesterday to come down to get it. It is everything that I wanted it to be. It IS a good deal.
It will be a bit of learning to get used to a Manual Transmission again though. Portland stop and go traffic was not ideal for that learning, but hey, 16 year old kids do it all the time.