Travel Companions

Once upon a time, in the fair land of Chicago, there lived a beautiful maiden. One bright spring morning, in 2007, this fair maiden received a grand gift of a 1996 Dodge Neon. This beast of metal was christened Sylvester the Super. Sylvester was a noble machine; though ancient in years and imperfect and worn in body, Sylvester was a trooper.
For an entire year the fair maiden enjoyed the company of Sylvester the Super. Together they traveled many miles, visited many stores, carried much cargo and many people. The mobility enjoyed by the receipt of this grand gift was not unappreciated by the fair maiden and she shared the transport freely.

However, despite the dependable spirit of this beast of metal, it was clear that Sylvester was growing tired. The many ailments* that plagued this noble machine had taken their toll; it was clear Sylvester was dying. Still, the fair maid did what she could to ease the decline and prolong their time together.

Then, one fateful weekend in the early Spring of 2008, the maiden and Sylvester traveled to the distant land of Plover. They began their journey of 250 miles boldly and with determination, despite the heavy snow and slow traffic. About 60 miles from their destination they broke through the howling storm into the chill night. As they traveled on the lone, plowed lane in the highway, a light snow was falling quietly from the dark sky. Passing fields and trees and the empty highway, they continued carefully north. Suddenly, as they rounded a curve, Sylvester lost his footing and together they slid off the highway into a snow covered field. As they slid, Sylvester spun and they left the highway going backward. Fortunately, their descent was cushioned by 8 inches of freshly fallen, powdery snow.



Once they had come to a stop, the maiden emerged to survey the damage. Sylvester had once again proved himself a faithful friend; Sylvester had taken quite the beating but the fair maid sustained no damage. Covered in snow and completely tangled in a fence, despite their best joint efforts, the maiden was unable to pry Sylvester from the field. The cavalry was called and eventually Sylvester was carried to a nearby clinic to survey and nurse his wounds.

Sadly, the damage had been done and the final blow delt. On March 25, 2008 - almost exactly a year from their meeting- the two friends were forced to part. Sylvester the Super now rests in the clinic and the fair maiden went on to seek out a new transportation friend.

Happily, the quest for a new companion began and ended quickly and with great ease. The new companion, a 2005 Chevy Cavalier, practically leapt off the lot with excitement when it saw the fair maiden, and before long she took it home and it shall henceforth be called Maggie.


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* Things weren't all bad with Sylvester; all his windows rolled up and down, he'd recently gotten an oil change and the radio was great. There were some new dents, but main damage from that night was when the fence ripped off the exhaust system from the frame, but here is -

What Ailed Sylvester Pre-Fence Tangling:
-Blown head gasket (oil all over the engine)
-No pressure in the cylinders (made for painfully slow acceleration - zero zoom)
-Engine idled alternatingly fast and slow when the fan for the heater was on
-Speedometer would occasionally not work
-Leaky gas tank (not all the gas made it into the tank)
-Dented gas tank (didn't fill up all the way)
-All four struts were shot
-The belts were wearing out and needed replacing
-Brakes needed to be looked at
-Tires needed to be replaced
-Lock cylinder in driver's door had fallen into the door (to unlock the car one had to enter through the passenger side, reach over, unlock, then go around and open the driver side door)
-Tail light cover broken on right side (covered with red tape)
-Brake light holder rusted out (no blinker on the back right, despite the brand new bulb)
-Passenger seat wouldn't move forward (to get into back seat driver had to get out to let people in or climb over the seat)
-Driver side door (the old one replaced early on in their companionship) had the inner panel coming off - AGAIN (held in place AGAIN by duct tape)