It’s name is “Jack”

July 9, 2007 by Barbara.

On Friday, Ken, Reid and I went to the car dealership to pick up our ice blue Dodge Caliber SXT. As we drove from daycare, we’d discussed names. I said that I thought we should choose a boy’s name since the car is kind of tough looking, or at least I think so. My first suggestion was “Joey” which elicited a “oh, no” from Ken and a “yeah, Joey” from Reid. Ken hadn’t finished groaning before Reid said, “Jack!” Ken and I agreed and started talking about being excited to get Jack. After a few moments, though, Reid started to cry and say that she wanted to keep her old car. I’m not sure why. Even as it was happening, I didn’t know what had happened to change her mind. After trying a bit of reasoning and failing, I “noticed” a dinosaur hiding behind a building and we tried to find it again. With my ever-so-supportive husband calling me a liar, I distracted Reid from her sorrow.

When we got to the dealership, Reid got excited again about the new car. We put her car seat in, let her drive a bit and then signed all of the necessary papers. There are many cool features in the car, well-suited to our family. My favourites are the plug that will let us plug in our laptop or anything else without an adapter, the chill zone section of the glove compartment that lets you keep cans or bottles cool thanks to the air conditioner, and the other two sections of the glove box that give us a better chance of keeping things neat simply by dividing the space. Ken was concerned about the size of the hatch but I found the trunk in the old car had little enough useful space.

Ken had measured our garage and then prepared the list of vehicles that would fit. I was told that we could get a Sebring, Caliber or Caravan (if we took everything else out of the garage). I suspect it was an edited list since I’m pretty sure, even with my awful spatial ability, that a PT Cruiser is smaller than a Caravan but the Cruiser isn’t on Ken’s most loved cars list. I rented a Sebring for some reason a while ago and didn’t think I could see out the back the way I should be able to. The Caravan would have been fine for me, except for trying to find a place for all of the things that currently reside in the garage and I anticipate more will need to go in as Reid’s bikes and roller blades, etc. get bigger as she grows. Plus, I think Ken has some mini-van-ity issues lying below the surface. Oh, and I’ve been lusting after a Caliber for awhile now. The only hiccup so far was that the hatch opens wider than our garage door does. Ken commented that he hadn’t considered that measurement as I said a silent prayer of thanks that I’d opened the hatch slowly and it had come into contact only with the rubber covered handle, and then only gently.

So far. So good. That’s what I’m saying.

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | 1 Comment »