Ruby Wednesday

my car, she is named Ruby. for reasons we have discussed before. and yes, much to my chagrin, she is red. but i still love her. for what she represents.

and even while she's a cheap little number, and i've neglected her woefully for all these years- she's never once let me down. she's really better than people. never a sputter or a klunk. starts every time in every kind of weather. never judges. never tells me i'm rotten or that i should be a better person. or to suck it up. or that i'm stupid. or childish. or being unreasonable.

she just carries me. where ever i need to be.

and so last night, after a long quiet drive home, i pulled into the lot just a shade after midnight, i locked her doors and went upstairs and went to bed, not planning to take her out again until thursday when i have to go to the downtown center. Ruby gets a lot of well-deserved rest here in Spring, Summer, and Fall, and even occasionally in Winter because I am able to ride my bike to work unless i'm working downtown. and so i'd planned for this morning too. to ride my trusty bike, Ruby's shade of grey companion.

except when i got up, it was raining. not raining. pouring. and so I decided to drive. which was a great plan right up until i put the key in the ignition. and nothing. absolutely nothing.

Ruby appeared to be dead. and there wasn't any time to mourn either. i needed to get to work. so i called a friend and she said she'd come and get me. then while i was standing in the rain under my umbrella waiting, my neighbor came out and offered to jump Ruby if i knew how to connect her cables. i explained i didn't have time to jump Ruby, even if i wouldn't have have had time to consult the internet to remember how to connect jumper cables. so she left me the cables and said that when i got home from work to deal with it all, if I didn't have someone else to jump the car that her husband/boyfriend (not sure which) would help me.

but as it happened, my friend who came and got me to take me to work had already called her husband and he was going to meet us for lunch and we'd go jump Ruby.

so that's what we did. and when he got her running, he said he'd follow me to the car place and then bring me home. which is what we did.

and i have left dear Ruby in the charge of the Firestone people who are checking the electrical system and if that's fine= installing a new battery, rotating the tires and changing the oil. and i'll have her back in time to drive downtown. all will be well. and Ruby even got a lot of admiration from the car people because they said it was kind of unheard of that you wouldn't have to replace a car battery in about 7 year's time. they said usually, you'll need to replace it after 3 or 4 years. what can i say? benign neglect seems to do wonders for a car, i guess.

and all is well. Ruby will live on, cooperating with my plan to keep her for 13 or so more years.

but can i say that it shook me up? that Ruby let me down? i felt like the proverbial rug had been pulled from under me. But, really, i do not blame her. after-all, she's carried me through quite a lot. over the last years. and truth be told, it was i who neglected her. i get that. admit that. but, still. it was shocking to me. to think my friend was gone there for a moment.

Our reunion tomorrow will be happy. Long may you run, Ruby. it'll be you and me again.