Everybody, Meet Joan (revisited)

About a year ago, back when I was still posting on LJ, I wrote a little blog dedication to my baby, pictured above.  I had taken the day off to get her inspected, and that time is just about here again.  She has an issue with a back seatbelt, and apparently an ignition problem that is subject to a recall, so right now I am in the lobby of Balise Honda in West Springfield, MA waiting for my baby's operation.

Even though these are apparently common problems, Honda may not have the necessary parts in stock--in which case I will have to come back later in the week.  But since I plan to be with my baby for the long haul, I'll put in the time...So here is the blog article I posted a year ago...since that time, she did hit 100,000 miles, and is actually at 108,000 miles now. And yes, I did the happy dance around her when she hit 100,000 miles.  Oddly enough, she hit it right as I was pulling in to the parking lot at work for the day.  At the end of the day, I did a happy dance around her and I believe one of the guys posted it on youtube...I think Joan wanted me to dance with her at that milestone.  How else can you explain it?Anyway, neither one of us much like the bitter cold, so we're happy for spring, and I'm hoping to take her joyriding soon:

I took today off to get my car inspected, and she is reaching a milestone very soon, so I thought that I would do a Joan appreciation post! The above picture is Joan. Joan Bennett actually is her name. Yes, she is named after the late silver screen actress who also starred onm Dark Shadows as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard later in life. I was in Media City one day in 2001 and Dark Shadows Collection 1 was on display. I picked it up. I own a few of the collections now, and fell in love with the supernatural soap opera. Here is a picture of Joan in her prime:

Back in 2008 I was in a lease with a little Sentra. Since my job was requiring that I travel out to Boston (a 180 mile round trip for me) what amounted to a couple times a month, I was way over on my lease mileage and still had another 7 or 8 months left. My parents helped me with getting out of the lease early and sold me the car they were going to trade in for a new one. The car was my mother's 2003 Honda Accord. She states she always called the car her "Black Beauty", but I never once heard her call it that. It was always referred to as "The Accord". But being a Dark Shadows fan, and having named my other black car the "Angelmobile", I decided to name the Accord Joan.

Joan is just a regular Honda--normal, potentially family type of car, but she has some classy sportiness about her--leather seats, a spoiler, a moon roof, and she's a coupe. Like me, she is a little glam version of the "car next door". Joan is also the last model of Accord that doesn't bitch at you to put on your seatbelt. She has a little red light that tells you that you might want to put on your seatbelt, but hey, if you don't want to, no big!

They say you don't appreciate things that you are given, or don't earn. I don't know who "they" are, but I do know that even though I only paid relatively little for Joan, she is my prized posession. She has been with my family since she was brand new in 2003, and I hope she is with me for many years to come.

She passed inspection today! Soon, she will hit the 100,000 miles mark. When she does, I plan to pull over where ever I am and do a happy dance in her honor.