making peace with the peugeot

I have never made it a secret that I am not a fan of our car. Before I moved to Spain, I had not had a car for 10 years and frankly didn't miss it. When I needed to get anywhere, I rented a car, took public transport or a cab, or walked. Mostly I walked. And I was happy with the arrangement....no car payments, no insurance headaches, no worrying whether my car would be where I last left it, no parking tickets, no stolen stereos, no oil changes...I could go on. No, I was quite content with my virtually car-free life. When I rented a car, I waited with great anticipation to see what model I would get the keys to. I had all the standard economy cars, of course, but there were the occasional unexpected upgrades, like the brand new Ford Mustang, black; it was a beauty. There was also the one Christmas Eve when Budget ran out of cars. I waited along with several people ahead of me as the workers drove to the Budget lots at the airport and train station in search of recently returned vehicles. After an hour, the manager announced they had a car, but they wanted the first woman in line to have a look at it. The blue-haired lady shuffled to the parking lot with a sales rep and immediately returned and said, "no way". Wow I thought to myself, what could it be to elicit such a response. Next in line was a couple who were headed to North Carolina to celebrate the holiday with their daughter. (We had all gotten to chatting as we waited.) The husband now accompanied the sales rep to the parking lot, and he too returned shaking his head "no way". Hmmm, I was up....I followed Alan out to the lot, which was still empty of cars, and around to the back. There was an enormous bright cherry red pickup truck, a Ford F350 to be precise. No hesitation, "Sure, I'll take it." Yes, it would be a pain to park in the city and all 5'4'' of me had to make a bit of effort to haul myself into the front seat. But whoa Nelly I could see everything from up there, and Big Jim, my brother, and I were leaving town the next day anyway. And where we were heading, to my parents' house 60 miles north, deer-hunting territory, we would fit right in. If only it came with a gun rack! But back to the Peugeot....my main beef, as I have stated before, has been that our car is an English model, ie, right-hand drive, which Big Jim bought without consulting me before I arrived in Spain. In Spain, people also drive on the right side, so it's a bit awkward. Big Jim loves to remind me that the right-hand drive car offers many advantages when driving down the mountain, specifically, you can see much better how close you are to the edge of the road. I find no comfort in this because on the other side of the edge is often a hundred foot drop or more. The car didn't earn any brownie points with me either the first year, when it seemed it was in the shop more than out. It had some mysterious water pump issue that the guys at the local garage couldn't pinpoint....I thought I was going to have to call Click and Clack on NPR but dreaded doing so because of their disdain for all Peugeots. Eventually the problems seemed to work themselves out....I think the poor thing had to adjust to its new climate, just like the rest of us. I had driven the car a few times, but always with Big Jim in the passenger seat. Now with Big Jim in Amsterdam most of the time, the Peugeot represents my freedom, my escape from the village when it feels like the mountains are closing in. So yesterday, I took my first solo trip down to the coast for a little shopping excursion at Eroski and Lidl. And I must admit, the car is a good little car. She handles really well, is easy to shift, has good power, etc. I made it down the mountain in a very respectable 25 minutes (Big Jim's record is just over 20 minutes, and that was at 5:30 am with no traffic) and back up in 30, and more than half the journey up was behind a lorry, which I passed on the other side of Sayalonga. I had never passed anyone on the mountain road, and it can be tricky because there are only a few places to safely do so. But one of the straight bits was clear, so I went for it, and it was fine. Driving down is more fun....you can pretty much freewheel all the way down. Coming up requires a bit more effort, but because I'm left handed, I find shifting easier than in a standard left-side drive car. I even got cocky and drove down Calle San Antonio to unload my groceries. c/ San Antonio would probably not classify as a street most places because it is so narrow, but I made it through just fine. One scrape at the narrowest bit, but that's normal for here...mostly caught the left wing mirror. So the Peugeot and I are now friends. I'm trying to come up with a name for her; I think that will strengthen our bond. Our next trip together will be Friday, when we go to pick up Big Jim from the airport....only 2 more days until B.J.'s first visit back. Very happy about that. :-) hasta manana, mylifeinspain