goodbye, frankie.

Taking a break from house talk to say goodbye to a friend.

Francesca Helado aka Frankie Ice Cream

I was a late bloomer and didn’t get my license until two years ago (at 24). Keith and I were planning on moving from Monroeville (where I could catch a bus to work) to Gibsonia (where I could not catch a bus), so I needed to get my license ASAP. Luckily, Keith had taken on the task of teaching me to drive shortly after we started dating. I was a very very scared driver though. After one traumatizing drive on the turnpike, I sort of gave up. But with an impending move, I had to hurry and get my license. I also had to hurry and get a car.

So I bought Frankie off of craigslist. She was cheap. She was freshly inspected. She was a money pit. I stopped keeping track of how much money I put into her because it was easily double what I spent on her. But that’s what you get for buying a car off of craigslist. I gave a guy from work a ride to his car not too long ago and he asked if they had accidentally put an engine for a Mack truck in my car. The driver’s side door rattled so loud that on the very rare occasion it stopped rattling, I thought the car stalled. Both back windows were stuck in the up position. (They had both previously been stuck in the down position but I had my mechanic prop them up inside the windows because buying a new motor for the windows was stupidly expensive.) The trunk broke a month after I got her, stuck between open and closed so that you couldn’t open it, but the door ajar light was on the whole time. (One of my lovely uncles fixed that.) The left speaker stopped working one day on my way to work and I thought for a minute that I lost hearing in that ear.

She was loud, she was a mess, but she got me from point a to point b. She only stalled once. But she is off to greener pastures.

I was able to be rid of her because my wonderful father-in-law got a new car and gifted me his old car. So I am now the proud owner of:

Henrietta Guacamole

I might call her Hank for short. She’s a 99 Honda Accord and even though she is green, she is beautiful. She has everything my car didn’t and more. (Sunroof, leather seats, working windows, key fob (Frankie had to be opened by hand. And you couldn’t open the back door w/o first opening the front.) She was kept in immaculate condition, so aside from the mileage, it is like driving a brand new car. I could not be happier. Her only issue is that we can’t get my father-in-law’s plate off, haha. I am heading to the garage tomorrow though so they can hopefully get it off.

So although Frankie did the best she could, I am really excited to be rid of her and all of her baggage. New house, new car! I am having a great month!

Posted by katrina on April 23, 2012

https://jellyjars.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/goodbye-frankie/