BY BEA WESTERBERG

“I am still thinking what I want to be when I grow up”. Bea Westerberg

You can ask me the question, “And what did you do this week?” and I would answer, “It was a good week. Sitka is almost all back to his roaring self, the rains were so nice to come when they did, and I flew up to Hibbing, Mn and bought 2008 Mustang with Competition Orange color, 5 speed manual transmission, black racing stripes, a Shaker 1000 sound system and a few other goodies”. It probably is a crazy, impractical move, but I did it.

That is a bit out of the regular weekly program. You may recall that the April 11 garage and shop fire totally destroyed my 2004 Screaming Yellow Mustang. The insurance company and I have not come eye to eye on its value and since they can’t find one like it sold in the last several years in the United States, they are going by regular book value. They only made several hundred of the kind of car it was and nobody has had one for sale. To make a long story short, after many hours of research and shopping by the internet around the Unites States, I decided to change things up and go for a bit different car. I had another big learning experience with things like clear titles, CarFax, online CHATS, VIN numbers, dealer checkups, questions to ask, and how to ship a car from out of state. I will also mention that I probably caused a few gray hairs on Daughter Nissa.

Once I decided the car at the dealership in Eveleth, Mn was something I would want, I started asking some serious questions. We did a lot of back and forth and I made an offer on the already lowered price. At first the answer was no but within a hour they called back and said YES. I was planning to drive up to Eveleth and make sure I really wanted it. Trusty pickup and I made it as far as St. Paul and the low tire light went on. That plan got cancelled and it was back home to have the wonderful people at AA Auto Technicians check it out. They could not find anything wrong. I then came up with the idea of flying to Hibbing (nearest airport) and driving the car back. Neighbor Tony was my driver to the airport and bright and early on Thursday the 11th, I spent more time walking to the Delta A8 gate than I did on the whole actual flying trip to Hibbing. The dealership picked me up and in no time I was the owner of the above mentioned vehicle. It had been a while since I drove a stick shift and I was not shifting fast enough so the beginning was a little bumpy! (The sales person said he had the same problem and it takes just a bit of practice.)

My GPS and I headed for home. I got a little messed up in Duluth and had to try some of those ski slopes they call roads. I had to stop at a small gas station in the middle of nowhere because I did not negotiate for a full tank of gas. I start to drive away and the car stops. I can’t GET IT STARTED AGAIN! PANIC IN THE WOODS! I go inside and ask about help and they say try Googling. In line at the checkout was a guy that looked like he just came out of the woods after a few years of roughing it. He calls out to me and says, “Honey, if that orange thing is yours, you have to put the clutch flat to the floor and have it in neutral to start it”. I ran out and tried that and IT WAS THE ANSWER. He was still filling his 4 wheeler with gas and I thanked him to the stars and said I would do 10 extra good deeds in his name for saving me money, time and embarrassment. I asked him his first name and he sort of smiled and said, “just say Bill”.

Of course road construction is never done, so I had a few major waits and detours. Traffic was its usual mess once I got closer to the Cities so I really got my practice shifting. (I will admit I was thinking why I really wanted a manual, but it passed). The first thing I did when I got home was take the owner’s manual in and start to study it. I still have to figure out how to open the hood. And I just want to say to Bill, whoever you are, wherever you are, you are my HONEY.