Saying Goodbye
Call me a sentimental man.
Goodbyes are never easy for me. One of the hardest goodbye I had to gone through was saying goodbye to my first car of 8 years. Marchie.
Lots of memories in this car. I may have shift houses 3 times in the past 8 years but Marchie remained constant. He was the car which picked up my wife the first time we went out. He was the car that did the shuttle between her home as mine as we dated. He was our wedding car. Etc...etc...
It was September 2013, Marchie was getting sick that year. Visits to the mechanic was getting more frequent and the repair fees were getting higher. The high mileage from my teaching job did not help the situation.
I contemplated my options. Given the crazy prices of new cars in Singapore, it was not logical to get a new car. Carrying on with Marchie was going to make costs very high in the long run, not discounting the fact that I may not be even be able to arrive on location to teach.
I looked at the used car ads on the internet and decided to go to the 2nd hand dealers for a look.
The Whisperer wasn't exactly love at first sight as Marchie had been. Yes, it was slick looking and fairly luxurious. But it was a common Honda Civic shape. Black. Not exactly my favorite colour for a car. I love the technology behind it and the fact that it drives like a space ship. But looking at it externally, it looks normal, very normal.
The down payment was ludicrous. It took me a long while to decide on taking the Whisperer. Luckily with the help of wifey, we managed to pay it and am now driving it with only a little loan to service. Put it simply, it cost 1/3 of what a new Honda Civic Hybrid would cost us.
The excitement of driving a hybrid got to me before we took delivery of the Whisperer. I devour all technical literature available on Honda Hybrids and other hybrid techs.
But as the day towards handing Marchie over to the dealer gets nearer, I began to be more and more uncomfortable. Thoughts such as I will never see its cute shape waiting on the car park for me. I will never get to sit in its cockpit ever again. What will be its life after this?
I began to get insomnia as my mind constantly thought about the times I had with it. From the first day I pick up Marchie from the dealer, to my wedding, to the numerous trips to Malaysia in it.
It was nerve wrecking and wifey knew about it. I was tossing and turning in bed.
The day finally came and I ask my buddy YL to come along for the hand over. He was a Honda Civic driver and could guide me along as I took delivery of the Whisperer. Marchie wasn't packed yet when I drove to the dealer car park. I stopped the car and turn to YL, "Bro, can you help me pack Marchie. I can't bring myself to do it."
He nodded and went about helping me to do what I couldn't.
Goodbyes are never easy for me. One of the hardest goodbye I had to gone through was saying goodbye to my first car of 8 years. Marchie.
Lots of memories in this car. I may have shift houses 3 times in the past 8 years but Marchie remained constant. He was the car which picked up my wife the first time we went out. He was the car that did the shuttle between her home as mine as we dated. He was our wedding car. Etc...etc...
It was September 2013, Marchie was getting sick that year. Visits to the mechanic was getting more frequent and the repair fees were getting higher. The high mileage from my teaching job did not help the situation.
I contemplated my options. Given the crazy prices of new cars in Singapore, it was not logical to get a new car. Carrying on with Marchie was going to make costs very high in the long run, not discounting the fact that I may not be even be able to arrive on location to teach.
I looked at the used car ads on the internet and decided to go to the 2nd hand dealers for a look.
The Whisperer wasn't exactly love at first sight as Marchie had been. Yes, it was slick looking and fairly luxurious. But it was a common Honda Civic shape. Black. Not exactly my favorite colour for a car. I love the technology behind it and the fact that it drives like a space ship. But looking at it externally, it looks normal, very normal.
The down payment was ludicrous. It took me a long while to decide on taking the Whisperer. Luckily with the help of wifey, we managed to pay it and am now driving it with only a little loan to service. Put it simply, it cost 1/3 of what a new Honda Civic Hybrid would cost us.
The excitement of driving a hybrid got to me before we took delivery of the Whisperer. I devour all technical literature available on Honda Hybrids and other hybrid techs.
But as the day towards handing Marchie over to the dealer gets nearer, I began to be more and more uncomfortable. Thoughts such as I will never see its cute shape waiting on the car park for me. I will never get to sit in its cockpit ever again. What will be its life after this?
I began to get insomnia as my mind constantly thought about the times I had with it. From the first day I pick up Marchie from the dealer, to my wedding, to the numerous trips to Malaysia in it.
It was nerve wrecking and wifey knew about it. I was tossing and turning in bed.
The day finally came and I ask my buddy YL to come along for the hand over. He was a Honda Civic driver and could guide me along as I took delivery of the Whisperer. Marchie wasn't packed yet when I drove to the dealer car park. I stopped the car and turn to YL, "Bro, can you help me pack Marchie. I can't bring myself to do it."
He nodded and went about helping me to do what I couldn't.
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