How looking back maybe just got easier...

   My first car was a four door 1964 Plymouth Valiant. It was light blue with big old white wall tires. I don't remember too much else about the car, only that power windows had not been invented yet and that if I went through a puddle of water, the car would stop. It seems as though there was a design flaw, that being the placement of the alternator in the engine was near the bottom of the engine block, too close to the road and when it got wet, the car would shut down. OK. Before someone else says it...it was a fair weather car.

   And who can forget that a gallon of gas was just 31 cents.

   Despite the little quirks, the car got me back and forth to college in West Virginia for several years, out on dates to Fair Lawn, N.J and most of the time, on time to summer jobs, except when it was raining of course. It served its purpose.

   Fast forward to 2016. I recently bought a new car, at least new to me. It is just a bit over a year old with low mileage and is nothing like that 1964 blue Valiant. Yes, it has power windows and I don't think it will stop running in the rain. Tucked somewhere inside the radio, I guess, is something called 'Bluetooth' that allows me to talk on my cell phone without it leaving my pocket. I don't even have to dial a number. I push a little green button on the steering wheel and this voice asks me what number I want to call. Cool!

   Heated seats are nice, especially in colder climates and rear hatches on SUV's that pop open with the touch of the key are great when your arms are full of grocery bags. But what I really like is the backup camera.

   Now I am not getting any younger and one of the things I am finding is that my mobility is not quite what it use to be. I can still swing a golf club or throw a tennis ball for the dog. I can still look in the rear view mirror or turn my head to the left or right when I am ready to back the car out of the garage or from one of those tiny parking spaces at the mall. But what I have found is that the backup camera really does help, with an additional view, although it does take a bit of getting use to.

   Put the car in 'R' and a picture immediately appears on a screen in the dashboard. Now, the first time I did this, the car salesperson was standing immediately behind the car, his face just inches away from the camera. He laughed and I screamed. He is pretty scary to look at, even in the camera.

   But after some practice, the camera has become a helpful driving tool. In the garage, I start the car, shift it into reverse, after I have opened the garage door of course, and I get a full picture of my driveway and the neighbor’s house across the street. I sure won't back into his house now, not that I ever did.

   With some degree of ease and feeling a bit more aware of those things going on around me, I now slip in and out of parking places at the grocery store, the local Dunkin Donuts and Walmart. I still adjust the rear view mirror, and look behind me to the left and the right before stepping on the gas, but the camera does add another level of safety.

   There have been a lot of changes in cars and trucks since my first 1964 Plymouth Valiant. Power window, heated seats, backup cameras are only a few of the innovations designed to make the journey through life a bit easier, more comfortable and safer.

   We know that sometimes when we drive, we need to back up in order to move forward and get to where we want to go. Life in general is like that also. That backup camera inside the car gives us, not only a picture of where we have been, but also where we need to go before moving forward.

   The same holds true for life outside the car. While we don't have our own electronic backup camera, we probably have something just as good. I think we call it 'life's experiences', lessons and memories. It may not be quite like what we see on the screen of the backup camera on the dashboard of the car, the things we remember can often remind us of what's behind us, where we have been and where we are may be headed.

   And as for that new backup camera? Already I wonder how I have managed to get along without it for so long. 

                                         

Almost as bad and scary as a junk drawer, or maybe even worse...

   Several years ago I wrote a blog about 'junk drawers', places we have in our homes where we put stuff, things we don't use any more but also don't want to throw away for whatever reason. Often my reason for not throwing something away is very simple. Who knows when I may need an extra 'this' or a 'red or blue that'. And over the years, as in my case, the drawer fills up and every once and a while, say 8-10 years, it's time to clean it out and start again.

   I recently had a 'junk drawer' experience, but with a bit of a twist. Actually it was a somewhat scary twist because I didn't know what I might find or in this case, what someone else might find.

   A few weeks ago I bought a new car. More correct, for me it is a newer car. It was in good condition, low mileage, a nice color and appeared to be well maintained. I usually don't buy brand new cars any more. The depreciation one suffers after driving out of the showroom can be a bear. I'll let someone else take the hit.

   To make a long story short, I didn't have the opportunity to clean out all the storage areas of the car I was trading in, so... one of the service people at the auto dealer said he would do it for me.

   Jokingly I said to him...”If you find that $100 bill I dropped under the seat, I'll split it with you.” He laughed. I laughed. And then... fear gripped my body. What would he find tuck away in all those little storage compartment, the glove box, the consoles between the seats, under the seats, in the trunk and oh yes, those catch-all areas on each of the doors. Did you know there are four of those? Lots of space for junk.

   Now don't get me wrong. I usually try to keep my vehicles clean, both inside and out. You won't find coffee cups or soda cans rolling around the floor. I have one of those little trash containers on the floor to collect the Dunkin Donuts coffee cups and napkins. But, like the 'junk drawer' at home, things sometimes will find their way into the console along with the extra CD’s or the glove box or stuffed in the corner of the trunk.

   But what was really scary in this case was that someone else was going to clean out the car, a car that contained “my stuff.” What would he think. Those items in the car, were they a reflection of the type of person I am, how neat or messy I am? Was there anything really important tucked away in the glove box or under the seat?

   (For those reading this who do not know what a glove box is, it's a storage compartment traditionally in the dashboard on the passenger side. I can actually remember my grandmother putting her gloves in the glove box before leaving the garage. She always carried a pair of white gloves with her. Yes. A different time and different generation.)

   Yesterday Chris  called from the car dealership. He had finished cleaning out the car and I could come over to pick up the two boxes of items I had left in the car. Two boxes.? That much?

   Needless to say, I did not delay and rushed right over, if for no other reason than curiosity. What had he actually found?

    There was the car registration, the insurance card, the E Z Pass, a pretty significant number of CD's, 6 very stale granola bars, all kinds of chewing gum, several key chains, and several of those small packages of tissues, most opened and half used.

   There were probably a dozen or so pens and pencils, a couple dozen business cards, pads of paper, three travel blankets, the pet seat cover for the back seat for Lucky, two ice scrapers, and several umbrellas. I think you get the picture.

    There was about $4  worth of change. But much to Chris' disappointment, no $100 dollar bill!

    There were no year old sandwiches or half eaten hamburgers, moldy cupcakes, beer cans, bloody shirts or weapons. Bloody shirts? Weapons? Yes. According to Chris, I might be surprised by what people leave in their trade-ins. Knives appear to be the current weapon of choice.

    As I began sorting through the boxes, for reassurance Chris told me the things in my car were pretty normal. Thank goodness. In this case, normal is OK with me.

   With two full boxes and a couple of blankets, should I have car trouble in the middle of winter, it was a good time to start fresh, so with the exception of the CD's, some of the chewing gum, a flash light, a few pens and the one umbrella that worked, the rest of the items got tossed in the trash can. How many half opened packages of Kleenex does one really need.

   But before I left the car dealership, Chris reminded me that in my new car there was additional storage space under the rear cargo area, just in case I needed some extra room. He laughed. I said “thanks” and off I went to enjoy my new ride.

   Now I am sure it was my imagination, but the car seemed lighter than the other one. But then again why wouldn't it. I had just cleaned out all the “junk drawers.”