The Morning After

Its funny… growing up, I was never much of a car guy. My folks always had a car I could borrow.  I bought an old 1969 Triumph Spitfire in highschool.  It was dilapidated by the end of grade 12.

In college I bought a Dodge Colt for about $400 from my brother (who had bought it from my Dad).

I shared that car with Alex (my old girlfriend).  And by shared I mean, she mostly drove it and I took skytrain to work.  When we moved to Victoria, she drove it till it literally died in the street and needed to be towed.

Her brother gave us his old car, a Hyundai, the worst car ever.  But it was free and we needed it at the time;  it was a pretty clutch gift.  The car smoked black smoke all over the city. It was so bad, that sure enough at a stop light, someone would say, “hey, your car is smoking.”

I was on my way to the ferry to pick up my sister when it died on the Pat Bay by the funeral home. I had to call Sara P on the radio and a Zoner picked me up!

After that, Alex bought a Volvo.  Then she moved to Vancouver.  So I was walker.

Driving me to the ferry one morning in the rain, she spun off the road and we crashed.  The RCMP drove me to the ferry.

Then Alex bought a Suzuki sidekick or something and we broke up (gosh dang sidekicks!).

And then I was for sure a walker (no not a Zombie!).  I also bought a scooter.  I lived a long time without a car.

When I met Coral, she also had no car. Oy Vey!

It wasn’t till me moved in together that my aunt gave me her old pick-up truck.  Then Coral got pregnant so we sold that to her Mom and leased a Jeep.

But mostly Coral drives the Jeep.

I ride my bike or walk most the time.

Until now.

I borrowed a Chevy Cruze from Dave Wheaton Chevrolet and almost immediately, we became a two-car family that seems to NEED two cars!

This morning, the challenge was getting Madelyn to Nana’s then to work as Coral also had to go to work at the same time.

Madelyn didn’t seem to appreciate our commitment to keeping a schedule and fought me all the way to the car.  In her pajamas!  In the snow!

I clipped her car seat in and while doing that she decided to run in the snow.

She also doesn’t appreciate that the “red car” is a borrowed lender/test drive dealio.  Ugh.  Snow everywhere in the back seat.

It did calm me down when I turned on the car and the display screen said “Be careful, there could be ice on the road.”

Whoa… the car is smarter than my two-year-old.

Being a music/radio guy, the stereo is THE most important part of any car.  To me, the car is a rad stereo system on wheels.

I don’t know what they charge for a Cruze, but the information center is big and easy to navigate around.  The thing also has XM satellite (boo), but secretly… I dig it.

If there was a way to put the satellite and radio together in a way that compliments both, this is the system.  I have had satellite in a car before and I had to turn on the Sirius, or the radio… but with this car, I get to have The Zone as button #1, and then 60s on 6 as button #2.  And I can flip.  (The DJs on 60s on 6 are so tragic).  Then maybe Coast-to-Coast AM as button #3 and all my fave stations, on different formats and frequencies are all in one easy place.

I do have a new theme song because of 60s on 6.

I think my radio show needs a theme song at the beginning (and one at the end).

The old Morning After Show had this long intro I made that eventually settled into “Secret Agent Man” by Johnny Rivers.  And we ended every show with the “Why Do You Build Me Up” by the Foundations.

The Modern Rock Countdown starts with Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along The Watch Tower” and ends with Ennio Morricone “Ecstasy of Gold.”

But how about this song?

The Happenings – “I Got Rhythm”

But I think it would be more hilarious if I sang it or had an a cappella group sing it.  The song sounds like the theme music to a 1960s buddy comedy sitcom. I love it.

Alright, good talk.

Go with yourself.

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