[Normy]

That old car is beautiful.

I want to take this opportunity to tell you about my 1997 Volkswagen Jetta. This car has been a nightmare! I normally don't name my cars, but this one I have: I call it "Christine".

Homicidal car? Almost. This VR6 powered car is great fun to drive, but I've paid $2200 in maintenance fees in the past year.
I drove the car to Memphis in December 2006. The next day I tried to drive it to my first day at my new job....but it blew all of its oil out about a mile from the place I was staying. An oil seal at the oil cooler apparently failed. I was faced with a decision: Drive back to the crashpad without oil [a roommate was there, and he was planning to go to the same building as I was....but 10 minutes later], or sit there and take a cab that would get me to the training building on time, but for probably $75. I chose to go for it: I drove the Jetta back toward the house, and met my roomate [Peter; he had now known me for all of10 hours-!] a block from the crashpad. The Jetta's low-oil pressure warning horn was screaming the whole way, but apparently the engine wasn't hurt. Pete Lenio gave me a ride to my first day at Fedex.

A week later, while stuck in traffic on I-240 in Memphis...the heater core exploded. The cockpit filled with steam, and I pulled off and called my instructor and told him what was going on. It happened right next to the Walnut Grove exit, and I wound up parked among a bunch of expensive houses. I went to class about 90 minutes late.

Well, they fixed the heater core. I watched the water temperature gauge climb to its peak: The fan was dead. Did they fix it under warrantee? NO! They started hunting for excuses when this happened.......

N