The Fortune-Hunting Mobile

It may not have escaped my devoted readership that it is some time since I last posted. Simply put, I was stumped for an appropriate topic for this all-important tone-setting post after my first two weeks on the west coast. Should I cover the need for earthquake straps for furniture? Becoming reacquainted with the concept of free refills in restaurants. after years of fancy brunch places where even a second cup of coffee was a line item on the check? Drive-thru ATMs, drive-thru coffee, drive-thru food, drive-thru haircuts (O.K, I'm improvising with the haircuts, but I wouldn't be surprised)...And this last thought gave me my inspiration.

Driving is probably the single biggest difference between my life in New York and my life out west. And so the decision of which car to drive should have been a weighty one. Instead, I had half made up my mind before I even arrived. I was coming to California, and so obviously, I needed a convertible.

Fortunately, I did not have to make a quick fire decision. My parents-in-law-to-be (also known as Dick & Karen, which is a lot easier than all those hyphens) - had very kindly lent me their second car, a Toyota Forerunner while they headed off on a cruise in Europe. Last weekend, Eric & I made an expedition to two local car dealerships to check out some possible Fortune-Hunting Mobile candidates.

We started in Santa Cruz, which was cool and slightly foggy. Not ideal for convertible shopping. The vehicle I have been dreaming of is a VW Beetle. We took a stick shift model for a spin, but kept the top up. I was not in love. The car was fine, but critically, the color combo (exterior, interior and convertible top) was not what I was looking for. So we headed over Highway 17 (locally known as "the hill") to Sunnyvale, where, happily, the weather started to cooperate.

Our second attempt was in an automatic version of the car. The color combo was still off, but with the top down, the sun shining and the sky blue, it was difficult not to fall in love. Until, that is, we sat down with the shifty looking used car salesman who presented paperwork which showed that the car had previously been a fleet vehicle. Now we all know that fleet vehicles (whether rentals or company cars) rarely receive the same love and attention as our own autos. Imagining regular visits to the mechanic and other horrors, we decided to pass.

Thinking that this car purchasing lark might prove more difficult than I had anticipated, I decided to switch gears. On Sunday, we headed out to an open house in the neighborhood. (Can't buy a car for a few thousand? Upgrade, and start looking at houses in the hundreds of thousands!)

The house was a disaster zone. A beautiful yard and an astonishingly attractive price had attracted lots of interest. But when you walked into the house, you gasped at the work it needed. An easy decision to walk away...

As we were driving home, we decided to scope out a couple of neighborhoods. And that was when we saw her. Cream leather seats, cream exterior and a convertible top as black as midnight. The magic combination. For sale. On the spur of the moment, we stopped, rang the bell, and started to chat to the current owner. 21,000 miles. A full service history. Rarely driven, and lovingly polished.

You know what happened next, reader, because you've already seen the picture. Meet Lucky, my new fortune-hunting mobile.