Free at last, free at last.........

[DFW]

Last October, a truck driver overlooked my wife in her not-exactly-tiny station wagon, and crushed it. Luckily, they were both stopped at a traffic light, so no one had any kind of speed worked up. She was able to crawl out of the wreckage unscathed. For the time being, as work was running me ragged all over the map, I let her use my car, as she drives to work and back every day, and I usually just run to the airport or the train station and leave my car there while I'm traveling.

It meant her getting up early to take me to the airport or taxis when she was too tired, but otherwise we managed, for the short term. Long term, she needed a new car. It was getting crazy for me, as she was driving over to central Germany to see her dying brother, and up to northern Germany to see her mom. I went with her a few times, but I work for a living, too, and couldn't make it most of the time.

We tried all sorts of cars. We love my daughter's Toyota, but the Toyotas here were crap (our daughter is 4000 miles away in America)--maybe the Japanese get away with less under German specs. We then tried several makes of Audis, as they enjoy a good reputation here. They were well-appointed, but had (it seemed to us anyway) less than strong protection in the doors, and handled far too loosely for a country with so many small and dangerous roads. Our frustration with the whole procedure started to seem like a scene out of a Jim Carrey film.

So finally, we decided, damn the expenses, full speed ahead--right back to the same dealership where she got the car that was demolished last October. I insisted on nothing less stable than her last car, as there are more trucks out there with half-asleep, half-drunken drivers.

We finally picked up her new car today, and I must admit, it drives like a dream. It doesn't have a lot of perks or extras, we we neither wanted nor needed any. But it has enough space, gets fair gas mileage, and is just a joy to drive. Not all cars they make here are good, but some of them really do kick ass.

AND..............I GET MY CAR BACK!!!!!!!!!! That alone was worth the price of admission.