Free Automobiles

Canopener called me later in the week. He wanted to ask a question concerning the Starfire. "Would your feelings be hurt if I put it up for sale on eBay?"

I thought about that for a couple of seconds. "Nah, man. Go for it." Canopener has three kids to take care of. He's the family bread winner and if he made some money off of that old heap, more power to him. I just wanted those cars out of here as soon as possible. That's why I was giving them away for free.

"Do me a favor though, when you place the eBay ad send me a link. It's gonna be funny to see how much it sells for." I wondered if it might sell for more money as a broken car than what I paid for it ten years ago when it was still running.

The Cougar left today. Oswald came up from Los Angeles to check it out. Despite it's poor overall condition he was totally ready for a challenging restoration project. Since the interior fire at Accurate Frame ate up some of the Cougar's electrical wiring harness there has been a direct short to ground. If it sits for more than a few days without being started up, the battery goes dead. Both of us drove to a nearby auto parts store and bought a brand new battery for it. After installing a fresh battery and dumping half a paper cup full of gasoline directly into the carburetor, the Cougar had no problem coming to life.

Standing at the edge of my front lawn I watched Oswald drive away. It was really strange to see my car leaving without myself sitting behind the wheel. For a brief moment I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I quickly locked that down. Taking a deep breath I turned around and walked into the house. Seventeen years is a long time to have a car. So many memories.

I hoped Autumn would see from my actions that her comment really struck home with me, that I was listening to her. Autumn's opinions and thoughts mean a great deal to me because she is the most important person in my life. Sometimes I don't think Autumn realizes that fact. I wanted to show her that I am able to make changes in the way I live no matter how difficult those choices may seem at the time.