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| My old work truck, 15 years old with perm plates but that little baby can get the job done |
The AC and heater are now kaput. Radio is shot. The windshield wipers squeek like crazy. The shocks are gone. A big crack in the windshield, but it runs so smoothly you can't tell if the engine's running. I know people in their big fancy trucks point and laugh at me, running with the big boys with Cody in the passenger seat. Who cares? I just smile and wave at them.
Another gardening tip..... hay bale in the back for covering the rose bushes. Hummm, they're making those bales heavier every year. (Yeah, right...... Manzanita, you're just getting to be a wimp. Buck up)
If it still works, why waste money with a fancy one
ReplyDeleteHi Manzi. I love the look of that old truck. It's certainly served you very well over the years, hasn't it?! How fantastic that you just leave it outside in the winter, and then it starts up again in the spring! They probably don't make them as good as that anymore. I can't believe that you are still lugging bales of hay around! Hope you are keeping well over there.
ReplyDeleteDiane
DeleteI think they did make cars to last longer or they were more simple to repair. They definitely have more bells and whistles now. My neighbor was so happy with his find. It is an old Jeep that he doesn't have to hook up on a computer to repair.
I don't lug bales of hay very easily.... it's dragging if I move them at all now. Haha
A blank check? Now that is a novel idea I would like to try. I love your little truck. It's amazing that it's 15 years old. Wow!
ReplyDeleteHello Kay
DeleteThanks. Nice to see you.
It has served me well.
Some of us older people & things can still get the job done!!
ReplyDeleteFishducky
DeleteMaybe it will take a little longer but you are right, we get it done.
As long as it runs smoothly, who cares about the rest? I feel the same way about it, Manzanita...
ReplyDeleteJulia
DeleteThey always say, a person is defined by the car they drive. What would that say about us..... could it be, we put our energy into more meaningful things?
I agree with you. Yes, definitely.
DeleteGets the job done
ReplyDeleteAnd it still can run
Nothing wrong with that
But a Lamborghini at your mat
You could zoom far and wide with that
Although speeding tickets could be a pain
As would taking the slow lane
Hahaha Good one Pat
DeleteA lamborghini would be class
And fancy clothes for this lass
A ball of wax it comes in one
Car and clothes impress a ton
But my heart just isn't there
What I love does not compare
I've thought about a better truck
But then where would I throw my muck
If it's dirty I don't mind
Garden tools all earth you find
I haul manure and bales of hay
I start around the month of May
My little truck then works all summer
Without it sure would be a bummer
If I owned a car it would be a Ute, they are just handy, we owned a Panel Van for many years then when it died of old age we had a Charade and it was useless, could fit anything in it even people had trouble if they had long legs.
ReplyDeleteMerle......... .......... ...........
Hey Merle
DeleteMany cars are status symbols..... it's "Hey, look at my big fancy car payments." Or maybe, "My car payment's bigger than your car payment." I just want a car that runs and gets me where I want to go. Oh and gets me back too.
You had your chare of different cars, too. Like em or leave em.
Reminds me of Garth Brooks "Cowboy Cadillac" that just keeps on keeping on. Oh, that's the British Paints jingle out here in Aus too. British Paints keep on keeping on.
ReplyDeleteI'd probably get the windshield repaired though, you don't want it to shatter in your face one day.
River
DeleteI'm not familiar with that phrase but it's catchy. All cars are a pain and I would take the bus if one were available.
Yes, a broken windshield could even get me a ticket. It's been cracked for a long long time and the cops look right at me but never say anything. Maybe I look too pathetic. Haha
Cars are fun. Older ones can be just great!
ReplyDeleteOur last vehicle was replaced when it was 14 years old and we sold it off to a friend. She's still our friend so I assume the car is still OK.
For a while there I couldn't find a car worth keeping for very long, but now I've had one for 9 years, but I am thinking about upgrading as it does have almost 170,000 miles on it and I now drive it over 19 hours each way to our vacation place 5 or 6 times a year. I really don't want to end up on the side of the road in the dark or snow some time!
You, on the other hand, seem to be working just as well or better than your old truck and that is wonderful!
Jasmine
DeleteYou hang onto your cars and get your money's worth too. Cars are just transportation to me, not a status symbol. If they start, get me where I want to go and bak again, I'm happy. In the end they all cost too much money with the insurance and gas. 170,000 is a lot of miles. I knew a couriur or whatever the word is....... in Florida when I lived there, who had a little old truck like mine with an actual 500,000 miles on it. Whoo Hoo. A lotta miles.
Thanks.... so far so good. Haha
If the car or truck is still running, it's still good ~ One thing I like about older cars is that the payments all done, so my drive is carefree one ~
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit in my blog ~ Happy Sunday ~
Grace
DeleteAin't that the truth. Old cars, no car payments. Thank you back for your visit.
Love your little truck.I know how you feel. I have a 10 year old Toyota that hasn't had the first bit of work done except maintenance. While I no longer haul hay--not sure I could lift a bale today--it is great for gardening supplies. You go gal.
ReplyDeletePatti
DeleteMe too. I'm lucky to pull the bale to the ground and haul wheelbarrow loads to the rose bushes. Yesterday I planted about 150 tulip bulbs but I still have 3 bags of 90 bulbs each. My back was killing me and I still have all those to plant.
I love your Toyota too. That is another brand car that runs forever with only minimal maintence. I know some day mine will bite the dust and as long as I garden, I need a grunge truck. Then I don't know what I'll do.
I rather like your truck. As long as it gets the job done, who cares what other people think. But you are so right. Lifting a hay bale is not a laughing matter. Good on you for getting it done.
ReplyDeleteMurees
DeleteHow is it going in your part of the world? Good to see you agai. I guess I don't really lift bales any more..... just sorta drag them. Ha
It's like they (whoever "they" are...) say, 'slow and steady wins the race' or, in this case, 'old and reliable'. Nothing wrong with sensible in this glitz and glamour world :)
ReplyDeleteMark
DeleteSo true say you. There are people who love autos and nothing wrong with that. If I understood what makes them run I may like them a little better. I never look under the hood. Don't even know how to get the dang thing open. That's why we have auto mechanics, I say. Haha
My mum just got a new car after 13 years of owning it but only because it was too expensive to repair and cheaper to get another car.
ReplyDeleteI am all for owning it until it falls apart.
Poke the Rock
DeleteAmen to that. Might as well get your money's worth. My husband changed cars more often than most people do their socks. He loved that new car atmosphere. Good for your Mum keeping her old car till it fell apart. I like that.
My hubby had to talk me into trading in my old car and getting a brand new one in '99. ( I figured if a vehicle already had a ding or two in it, I wouldn't have to worry about it, and wouldn't get upset if someone accidentally scratched it in the parking lot. So what if one of the kids spilled something in it? That sort of thing.) But I still have that little red '99 Grand Am, and I still love it. She has a couple dings in her from hailstorms, but she still runs beautifully, and is a joy to drive. He wanted me to trade this one in, too, but I convinced him to let me keep it. Instead, he bought a 2013 Impala just to use for longer driving trips. We call it our old fart car. (sigh) He still has his big ol' truck, but the other cars are projects vehicles, and they're old. Classics. (Like us!)
ReplyDeleteSusan
DeleteMy sentiments exactly. After you get that first ding, you can relax. I was stuck in the snow last winter and my X-terra decided to have a fight with a lilac bush and there was the first ding. All my kids say, get it repaired but I'm leaving it.... gives me peace of mind. I just happened to notice a Grand Am yesterday and thought, isn't that the car Burt Reynolds was driving in that ..... oh dang, can't remember the name of the movie..... with Sally Fields. I'm sure you know. So you have a small fleet of cars too. Seems when you get a little older, that happens as you don't like getting rid of the old favorites. And one always need a truck. I don't see how people survive without a truck. Ha
You're probably thinking of "Smoky and the Bandit", and he drove a Trans Am in that movie.
DeleteOur "fleet" of cars isn't a matter of not wanting to get rid of old cars we've owned; it's more a matter of buying old classics and restoring them.
Manzi dear, I admire you! :) I, personally, can't drive a car, but, of course, this is one of absolutely necessary and must-have skills in our time. I am a bit afraid of learning it :), but having a car makes one defenitely less depending on outer circumstances. We're planning to have a car for our extensive travellings, with this our travel choices could be literally unlimited! So, there's nothing to be done, I'll have to learn driving, too!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't say your Nissan is old. Really it looks just new to me! :)
And good luck to prepare your roses for winter season!
Hugs to you!
Dear Zara
DeleteBelieve me, I wouldn't drive if I had public transportation but out west it's either a car/truck or a horse. Kidding about the horse but many people do ride out here. One of my daughter in laws never learned to drive either but when we played golf she liked to drive the golf cart. I preferred walking, though. Maybe you should practice on a golf cart on a wide open golf course. Haha Car trips can be fun because you don't have to be tied to schedules. That would be a new adventure for you. You know, the Nissan trucks never really changed in appearance over the past years. It always sat outside too and the finish on it still looks shiny and good. I've had 4 Nissans..... a good reliable auto.
Thanks.... It's really time to get ready for winter. It is freezing now at night. I did get most of the tulips in.... just in time.
Once upon a time I had a red Mazda pick-up. Friends kept asking me why did you buy a truck? Because I wanted one, said I. What I didn't say was that I finally realized I didn't need to wait to meet a guy who owned a truck. And what do you know, a few months after I bought mine, I met the First Husband who owned a white Datsun pick-up. :-)
ReplyDeleteSu-sieee
DeleteI love that story. Most of my female friends have always driven pick-ups. I guess for the same reason you did. We have to haul things. Best reason in the world. I can just see your little Datsun and the Mazda sitting side by side and falling in love. Hahaha
I used to drive a truck and I loved it. Then I had a buncha kiddos and had to get more interior space. ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's nice when you're happy with your vehicle. And it sounds like you had a very generous husband. :)
And I love the picture of your cat up at the top!!
DeleteRosie
DeletePS.... that is the cat that was the scardy barn cat that wouldn't come within 15 feet of me. Now, every time I sit down she wants to be on my lap. She now rules the household.
Sounds like a lucky cat. :)
DeleteAnd yes, my husband is a gem through and through.
Maybe one day you will take me for a ride in your pick up truck.... what do you say?
ReplyDeleteWe could pretend we are 22, wearing bikinis and riding in a Lamborghini. And then we could drive up to the coffee hut and order a double espresso over ice and get all bent out of shape. Woo Hoo.....Bring those boots!!!!!!!!
DeleteHay Manzanita,
ReplyDeleteHay, hay, hay
That's what I say
You are a fan
Of the old Nissan
A pick up truck
And a bit of luck
Cody right beside you
Chugging along so true
You could wear a bikini
In a Lamborghini
Hay hay to Gary
DeleteA bikini in a Lamborghini
I don't want to be a meany
What a sight
Gives a fright
Maybe when I was twenty-two
I'd show those dudes a thing or two
Now that I'm around the bend
Diamonds are still a girl's best fried
Last word should be friend. N
DeleteA friedian slip :) Thank you for your reply, Manzanita.
DeleteYou're absolutely right - who cares! It's dependable and what else really matters?
ReplyDeleteHey Keith
DeleteNot to me.... just want a car to start when I turn the key. If I did ever own a real expensive car, no doubt I'd never drive it anyway.
Such a great post about a dependable work horse/truck. My dad had a 1950 Ford (not sure of the year) which he drove for many years. We loved that truck.
ReplyDeleteSusan
DeleteThose old cars that you don't have to hook up to a computer to be repaired are vaulable now. I guess they were easy to repair compaired to the new techie stuff. My neighbor just got an old jeep type car. He's so excited because he said he can do the repairs himself. It looks like brand new and the design of it looks modern. I want one. Ha
1950 was shortly after the war and they had recently just started making autos again. The fenders were really rounded during those years.
Dear Manzanita, Hannah, the Geo Prism LSD who's been such a friend to me for 16 years, is still running smoothly. She and I have put a little over 98,000 miles on her in that time. So about 6,000 miles a year. That's what comes from being retired! I'm hoping that we'll continue in our companionable relationship for many more years. Peace.
ReplyDeleteDee,
DeleteGood for you. That is about the milage I put on a car. I bet it runs like new. Jeepers today is Oct 1. Happy month of October.
Dear Manzanita, thanks for the October greeting. I do think that October is being a good month for me and the cats. Peace.
DeleteHi Manzanita - your husband knows you well! As you know the kindness plants need ... hay round the roots ...
ReplyDeleteGosh and you keep it oustide all winter .. sounds like it needs a haystack house around it!!! Cheers Hilary
Hilary
ReplyDeleteA haystack house would be nice
And it would add a lot of spice
There's nothing cleaner in the air
Unless it's dancing with Fred Astair
LOL. Who wants a vehicle unless it's got personality, eh? ;)
ReplyDeleteCrystal
DeleteGardening is my summer hobby and when I have that little truck's box filled with a load of old manure, it has lots of personality . Hahaha
Who needs a radio anyway? Folks from Montana are tough. They don't need heat either.
ReplyDeleteJJ
DeleteI agree about the radio and there are a lot of tough people here but I ain't one of them. At least not in the winter and it's nice to see out of the windshield. It gets a little iced up. LOL
Hi Manazita,
ReplyDeleteI don't need the radio. I would probably change the shocks and the windscreen.
Nas
Nas
DeleteI don't need a radio either and if i do want to listen to something on a longer drive, I just bring a little transister. Yeah, the shocks are a little hard on the bum (without a pillow) LOL
I had a two-wheel drive pick up when I lived in Maine. It slipped and slid in the winter like nobody's business, but I loved it. I solved the problem by tying six gray sonobuoy packs filled with sand (believe it or not, you can see them on the transporter in some episodes of the old Star Trek) from the Navy base in the bed. Not only did they add extra weight, the sand in them was good for sprinkling on the ice/snow if I got stuck.
ReplyDeleteAl
ReplyDeleteI know about that tip. It is really a good one. You got the sand right there if you run into ice or get stuck. I used to do that too, when it was newer and the heater still worked. I don't want to put any more money into it..... old frugal puss that I am. Ha So it is just my summer hauling truch for my garden dirt and tools. I drive the X-terra in the winter. It's just more comfortable. But, that little Nissan moved most of the small furniture and the boxes this summer, when I moved from the ranch. I put on the beefiest tires I could buy for that size wheel and it's still a fairly good little mountain car.
We all need reliable friends - and some of them have four wheels.
ReplyDeleteAnna :o]
Anna
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the number 4. Four-wheels or 4-paws...... they all make the best of friends. LOL
Some vehicles are pure gold. Or like our twin.
ReplyDeleteJenny woolf
DeleteThat is such a true statement. It really is difficult to get rid of the old cars that have served us well. Thank you for visiting and leaving such nice words.
Some vehicles are pure gold. Or like our twin.
ReplyDeleteJenny
DeleteThank you for dropping in. I guess I did comment once for your kind words but two makes your visit even better.
Old trucks are kinda like a dependable dog--they always love you back. I'd love to have that 57 Chevy I learned to drive on--my dad got it for a song because it was old--but talk about a sweet car.
ReplyDeleteKittie
DeleteThat's a neat way to think of an old truck, esp. since my old dog rides in the passenger seat. Ha A 57 Chevy, huh? those old trucks run forever and if something goes wrong, owners can repair them themselves. My kids always used to rebuilt and repair their old cars. Not today.... have to be hooked onto an expensive computer. I bet you wish you still had that old car. You could drive in all the antique car shows. Haha
Hmm, must be ESP cause it was the same here. Nice, though! Think I've got stuff in order after so much happening beyond my control and will be able to get around more.
ReplyDeleteKittie
DeleteHi again.... Yes, that or something we ate for breakfast. LOL
Often life seems to take of our time with things we don't anticipate and we have to put our own priorities on the shelf for a while. My past year has been a little beyond my control, too.. Good to see you again.
I am paying attention. I need a dog truck. I don't have money yet... but soon, soon.
ReplyDelete