Reliving Memories?

Back when I was running my own consulting practice, I did a lot of driving. My southern clients preferred I work with them during spring and summer months while my northern clients preferred the winter months. It took me a long time to determine why this is so. Before learning the lesson, however, I thought having both northern and southern clients would be great. I would experience a very prolonged fall season of colorful leaves!

I could not have been more wrong. Northern clients (Minnesota and northern Wisconsin) cherished their summer months after a long hard winter, so they preferred I visit them for strategic planning sessions throughout the winter. Southern clients preferred summer months because their weather was milder in winter and fall and they wanted to spend personal time outdoors during those months. So, the long and short of it was I traveled in the heat in southerly climes and survived brutal winters in northern Minnesota near the Canadian border!

This meant my air conditioning in the car had to be terrific in hot months. Alternatively, my car had to be a great road car for winter extremes – 50 below wind-chill, icy roads, and blinding snowstorms. The latter worried me about sliding off slippery highways into a ditch in solitary locales. I was so worried about that happening that I changed cars. I bought my first Mercedes. It came equipped with cell phone service and satellite emergency connection telephony. If I happened into a wooded roadside ditch covered in snow, I knew the car would notify the Mercedes network and a rescue squad would eventually find me.

I know that sounds a little off kilter, but I found Mercedes ownership very calming and satisfying. That first car racked up 100,000 miles in less than 3 years. I replaced that car with a more expensive E-350 sedan with more gadgets and even better communication! That car was traded after 2 years and 72,000 miles for another Mercedes, this time one with full voice recognition for all the goodies packed into it. I could turn on the radio, switch from four built in radios (satellite, weather band, AM and FM) with a simple voice command. I could place calls and communicate freely hands free. I could also operate the navigation system easily with my speaking voice. Loved that!

Not quite two years into the last Mercedes I got sick with triple whammy ailments. I was essentially disabled for 18 months and eventually closed my consulting firm and retired. That meant selling the Mercedes and getting something much more practical financially. Since then, I have driven several used cars – one domestic sedan and a domestic minivan, plus some Korean autos. The domestics were surprisingly good by engineering and quality standards, but they were still not up to German standards. The Hyundai’s (three of them) were all quite good and very reliable. Size and comfort were a challenge but other than that, they were as good as the German engineered product.

I raise this issue because my last Hyundai neared lease end and I bought out the lease to gain the strong value it had in the current used car market. Last week I tradded it in for a used – very used – 2006 Mercedes R500. That car is very clean but 88,000 miles. The features take me back to my 2006 E350 sedan. The R500 is a station wagon body style with the space to handle our two walkers and some other handicap supplies. It is easy to get in and out of for Rocky and very comfortable. And it has a large V8 engine, something I haven’t had for many years. A lot of features come with this car. Over 600 pages of instructions were found in the glove compartment!

So here we are, studying late into the night how to use this car and its earlier technology. It takes me back to those days I first met Mercedes. Even then I needed to learn how to turn on the windshield wipers. Now I have to check if the current car has that same feature. Re-learning pre Bluetooth technology for handsfree cell phone use is another task.

Even with its age and failing air conditioning, this car is a trip down memory lane. It is a pleasant journey and one I hope to maintain until I no longer can drive.

Here’s hoping the AC can be repaired without having a car loan. For the time being my ride has no monthly payments. That’s a joy in itself! Wish us luck.

October 18, 2021