Maxamina

Art before we got married bought a 1998 Nissan Maxima. Those were the days before house bills and hydro and all the other bills we have since incurred. It was really his dream car. Black sleek exterior, plush leather heated seats, bose stereo and of course a standard transmission. At this time it was a pleasure car. We used it for dates on the weekend and grocery shopping. Maxamina as she was named had the good life.

Before we knew it we were building a house and poor Maxamina got roof racks. We then hauled everything from lumber to hotwater tanks on that rack. In the trunk we piled tools of all sorts and eventually they ended up in the back seat. In one year we racked up around 24000km on our car. We have continued to put Maxamina through her paces as it became the commuter car taking Art the 50km each way to work every day. She hardly ever gave us problems. Oh there were the brakes which Art is notorious for going through and a brake line which gave us quite a scare but really no engine problems at all. Through time and oxidation there devleoped some rusty spots here and there on our beloved car but she still moved like a cat.

Finally last year I was in desperate need of a car for work and little money to pay for it. One that could carry a hockey bag and two kids without problems. That was when I learned to drive standard as much as I tried to convince Art of the archaic nature of manual transmissions. He bought another car for him to commute in and I was stuck with driving Maxamina. We had our differences of opinion for sure as I was learning. Stalling is never pleasant but over time and practice I began to love my big Nissan. I soon learned how to drive without so much as a hesitation on take off.

On Saturday however, during a trip to Quebec, Maxamina met her match. Yes, a large block of ice ripped off her exhaust pipe making her sound like a tractor. Now what is left of my emergency money will be put into fixing it. So now I will be broke instead of my car.