In April of 2008, Lance was driving his old car to a fantasy baseball draft. He was on the Wade Avenue extension heading East, when his car just died. It was an old, green Mercury Tracer. It had a dozen bumper stickers such as “I Heart Math” and “How’s My Deriving?” along with stickers for Ohio State, Durham Bulls, Carolina Mudcats. It was a beater, but it had personality.
It died on the side of the highway. Since then, we have been a one-car household. Lance works from home, so he didn’t have a huge need for a car, and decided to put it off for awhile. For the occasional times he needed a car, it was easy for him to take me to and from work.
In the past few months, though, Lance has suddenly become a popular bridge teacher. His specialty is groups of four who want lessons and/or supervised play. He’s taught six different groups varying from beginners to intermediate players. Many of the sessions are for retired folks who want lessons in the afternoons. This has translated to his needing the car two or three times a week in order to teach.
We’ve made it work, but it’s throwing a wrench into my schedule. He’ll drop me off at 9, and then his lesson will be over at 4. He could come get me right away, but i’d be leaving early. Once a week that might be okay, but two or three times is pushing it. But if he goes home, he might work for awhile, and then i have to stay at work until 6 or later. Additionally for me, i have to schedule any of my off-campus appointments around him, and it limits my ability to be flexible and work late if i need or want to on a given day. And of course, it takes nearly two hours out of Lance’s day to drive back and forth to get me.
So, we started looking around for cars. The one we bought is a 1996 Saab 900S Convertible. Lance really likes the look of Saabs, and the fact that it’s a convertible is a bonus. Plus, it’s red, which is perfect for this Ohio State fanatic, where even the appliances he buys are red (we have a red coffeemaker, blender and food processor).
It’s a fun car. It’s in damn good shape for a car that old. At 109,000, the Saab has fewer miles than my 2002 Honda Accord, and it’s six years older! Lance looks good driving it, too. We hope it will serve us well for at least a few years.
June 3rd, 2009 8:28 am
Do you know what kind of car Jim Tressel drives?
Lloyd Carr
OK, it’s old but it’s still funny.
June 3rd, 2009 8:31 am
Congratulations on the new car. It looks great! I’m glad that Lance is enjoying it.
June 4th, 2009 9:19 am
Great details-thanks. Cool car! AND it was born the same year as mine.
June 7th, 2009 3:18 pm
Wow – it looks really new in the picture! Although I’m not a convertible fan, I love the way Saab looks. I’d like to get something like that, or an Audio, maybe even in a wagon
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Congrats!
BTW, you are welcomed to carpool with me anytime we do book club…