Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 49 -

First up, after a luxurious sleeping, I returned my plates for storage to the RTA since I no longer have a car to put them on. They charge me $50 a year to put them on a shelf!

Then we took Fahmi to pick up his new bike from Cell Bikes on Parramatta Road, Stanmore (insanely hot - it's very own hellishly hot micro-climate.. Parramatta Road that is, not Cell Bike,s which was beautifully air conditioned), which he rode home...

Then I got a shot of my gorgeous nephew Bodhi riding his new bike at my parents' place...

Finished off with a delightfully non-rainy night at the Open Air Cinema. It was closing night so jazz band playing, free ice cream, and a night club atmosphere and fireworks afterwards (we stayed for about 1/2 hour). We think they were testing the waters for possibly doing the nightclub thing next year. We shall see. The movie, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, was quite touching and I loved it.

What I loved most though was sharing a romantic meal and some wine with my beautiful guy looking over to the Harbour. Just gorgeous. Gorgeous!

The official photo taken by the StGeorge photographer

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 20 -

Today the money from the insurance pay out on the car writeoff went into the bank.


While it is good to have it all resolved, I am extremely sad that the car has gone to auto god.


I know it's just a car but as I've said before, it enabled so much of my life to happen, and I have only just realised how much it meant to me.


RIP Fido. You will be missed. I hope parts of you go on to a new wonderful life somewhere.


In honour of Fido, here's some very funny car fails to lighten the mood...

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 18 (Wednesday 18 January) - Farewell Fido

Today I said my final goodbyes to my car.

I know that those of you less sentimentally inclined might think it odd, but I am an emotional being, and while material things per se don't matter so much, it's what they're linked to, have become a part of, that matters greatly to me.

My car wasn't just a car. It was the vehicle I drove myself to and from FedEx in for years. That I bought shiny new one Saturday morning only to have to use it Saturday afternoon to clear as much as I could out of my room at a friend's place when their marriage broke up. It's how I collected multiple people from the airport, including dear friends like Kerry and Jason, and in which I dropped them back there bidding them sad farewells. It's the car in which Kerry and I belted out, and recorded on my iPhone mind you, Lipstick by Jedward at the 2011 Eurovision in the rooftop car park of Marrickville Metro. And it's where my gorgeous guy and I had lots of lovely chats we drove to and from just about everywhere.

Fido wasn't just a car. He was how my life happened in lots of ways, and while it's quite possible I can survive without a car for a while thanks to GoGet and public transport, I will miss the places my car could take me. I will miss jumping in the car, thinking for the 1000th time that I should have cleaned him, and wondering if today is the day I should removed my 90s era Powermac from the boot. I will miss having a car that ran well, didn't cost me a fortune (except at registration time and frankly I will be happy to have that $2000 back in the kitty) and was mine. It surprised me how much I liked my car. I didn't think I did really since I am not a car person really, but when it was taken from me, I suddenly missed it terribly and realised I liked it far more than I'd realised.

I am glad then that I got to say goodbye to Fido today. I had been told he'd already been taken to Milperra to be pulped but when I arrived at the assessment centre in Alexandria, he was still there and I was so happy! It made seem bizarre to those less sentimental than me, but it meant a lot to say goodbye to my car.  I thanked him for all the lovely memories, took some final photos including of me in the car, took one last look and walked away.

Goodbye Fido. It guts me that I had to choose a write off payment over you but I had to make the best of a nasty situation and sadly that involved letting my car go.

I am sorry it had to end this way.

This was supposed to be a smile. I am not sure what it is exactly.

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 17 (Tuesday 17 January) -

Today we found out from the mechanic that we had asked to quote for repair of the car - presuming we decided to throw in a second quote - that while they could come in under the write off threshold, that it simp,y wouldn't be worth spending all that money fixing a 15 year old car. 


So I was left with the dilemma - let my heart rule and save the car regardless of cost or be horribly pragmatic and let money be the deciding factor.


I know what I should decide, and what I likely will decide but can't bring myself to make that final awful decision...

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 16 (Monday 16 January) -

I spent today, thanks to my gorgeous guy who went to an enormous amount of trouble to research my options, agonising about what to do with my car.

What the VERO call rep failed to mention when they called me on Friday telling my car had been written off was that I did have options. I could choose to cancel the claim and take the car back, get a second quote, or just go with the write off.

There has been much to think about. My struggle is that I want my heart to rule and save my car, but the reality is I need to look at what the impact will be financially.

I feel like Solomon weighing up two impossible options... keep my lovely Fido or say goodbye.

Not Fido but the same make, year and colour.

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 13 - Pizza and Wine Baby!

After all my talk about the joys of healthy eating and exercise yesterday - today I eat pizza, drink wine and have chocolate! Oh yum! YUM! Great TGIF present to me.

Even better my guy is coming home today so I get to see him! Yay!!

SAD NEWS - I got the call today that my car is being written off. It came days earlier than I'd expected, and frankly left me feeling quite upset. Yes, I cried. It may seem silly to cry about a car but it represents so much of my life. 15 years of going everywhere in it - lots happened in it from having to move in a hurry in 1997 (on the day I got it actually!) when the couple I was living with's marriage collapsed in spectacular style to driving up and down to my mum and dad's a few times to going on dates with my lovely guy. It is a repository of memories and that's why its loss upsets me so much.

I have little recourse to it being written off as under a new NSW law passed in August last year, any car under 15 years is deemed to be a statutory write-off and can only be put back on the road with the RTA's say so, and only after applying in writing to them. My car is 14 3/4 so if the theft had happened in three months I would have been fine! I could have negotiated if my car was older but given its age my options are limited to none. It's this loss of control that angers me most - all the hassle, expense and so on, and I have no way to influence it at all.

It's left a stew of emotions and frankly if I could get those thieves why Id... well this cat sums it up nicely...

Thanks to Rose at work for this gem.

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 11 - Day of auto reckoning

I am leaving work at 3pm today to go to Mascot and do what my insurer charmingly calls a Theft Markup. Another step in the possible death or repair of my car Fido.

Nervous but I will see what happens before I invoke too many nerves...

P.S. The assessor turned out to be a lovely guy. Business-like yes but also very approachable and friendly and he let me explain (for once I didn't over explain!) why I'd love to keep the car if at all possible. I told him that I barley use, that it runs well, and if it could be returned to me, I'd be very happy. Of course, there are no guarantees but I am cautiously optimistic than it can be saved.

Big thanks to my wonderful friend Waz for driving me there and providing moral support. Hugely appreciated as my gorgeous guy was in Bathurst for work and couldn't be there even though he really wanted to.

Swimming Pretty in the Glass-Half-Full 2012: Day 9 - Will my car go to be with auto Jesus or can I save it?

Today I find out if my car lives.

Or dies.

I am a nervous wreck.

P.S. False alarm. Turns out all they did was...nothing. It sat at the tow truck drivers yard all day. It's due to go to Taren Point - yes way down in The Shore tomorrow, which I am not happy about it since it's nowhere near me and at some point I have to check it out.