I don't know that I have ever consciously thought there was a correlation between my identity and what I drove, but I'd be embarrassed for anyone to now how many vehicles I've owned.
With the miles that I historically put on a vehicle when I was working for the state, it was not uncommon for me to trade vehicles every nine-months to a year. That all changed when I started working for company that provided me a vehicle to drive.
Consequently, I had a "work car," in addition to my car and the General's car. I guess you could say I had choices when it came to picking out what to drive.
I put 200,000 miles on every work car that I drove and traded them every four years. The vast majority of vehicles were made by Toyota, and they were flawless. All you had to do was change the oil and buy new tires once a year.
I was working for the state when I traded my one-year-old Honda Prelude for my first tough Ford truck. I must have been delusional! The Honda Prelude was fun to drive. Why I brought a truck was beyond me, but we lived in the country, and you know what they say: "If you live in the country, you need a truck." Okay, so that's a bunch of baloney, but I swallowed it hook, line and sinker
I can say with certainty, if you have a truck, you will always have friends because it was not infrequent for a friend to ask to borrow my truck because they were moving. I always said, "Yes" and most often volunteered to help. That was particularly true, when a friend asked to borrow my new truck that was three days old. I wanted to ensure that the bed didn't get scratched.
The Ford truck that I drive will soon be three years old. I have driven it less than 20,000 miles. I actually thought I was purchasing a 2022 model since I purchased it in November, 2021. but that year, Ford didn't change the model number until January 2022.
It not only is a tough Ford truck, but it is a smart Ford truck. If the cruise control is set, the car automatically brakes if you get too close to the car in front of you. God forbid that you would temporarily take both hands of the wheel. The automated alert that says, "YOUR STUPID," or some variation thereof is impossible to miss.
With the truck's automated features, coupled with the General's "Yakety-yak," I can't go wrong. Yesterday as we turned into our neighborhood and went past the gate, the General wanted to know: "Do you not pay attention to signage, or do you just not care?" Her voice tone was huffy. I hate it when she gets like that.
Okay, so I obviously look at the big picture and did not see the 10-mph sign. It is a new HOA rule, when going over the two metal bars that cross the road at the gate, your speed must not exceed 10-mph. The expression that came to mind when the General reminded me of that yesterday is something one shouldn't say, so I didn't.
My Ford truck is the sixth truck I've owned, and it is the first one that has all the bells and whistles. I have taken care to ensure it stays in like-new condition. Seriously, why does anyone need an automatic tail-gate opener?
I call it magic, but I've opened the tail gate less than half a dozen times since I've owned the truck. Five of those times was to demonstrate to friends that the truck had that feature. I don't often need to crawl into the back of the truck, but it also comes equipped with a ladder.
The truck has had three-recalls. On the first recall, I took it in before the dealership had parts. I procrastinated taking my truck in for the last two recalls, but now they are completed. I should be good to go.
My tough-smart Ford truck was recently in the body shop for 7 weeks when I took it to have the hail damage repaired. That begs the question, if you can do without a vehicle, for that long, do you really need it? The week I got the truck out of the body shop, I took it to the dealership to get the recall items completed.
Drum roll, Ford has just announced that they are recalling 90,000 trucks like mine because the motors need to be replaced. Reportedly, my truck could potentially be impacted. I can't even begin to imagine that the process will be completed in my lifetime. Reportedly, owners of the trucks will be notified in October. I can hardly wait!
Sometimes I wish I was more like my son. His tough Ford truck is older than dirt and he has figuratively driven it around the world at least two times. Instead of getting a new truck, he just opts to get bigger wheels and makes it almost impossible for a man my age to get inside his truck.
All My Best,
Don
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