Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

My Flickr Account

I have posted a lot of my glass photos to Flickr. It's become a little bit of an obsession these days now that the holiday sales have slowed down. For example, it's after 9 am and I'm still in bed surfing until either the laptop batteries die or my rumbling stomach forces me to get some breakfast.

A girl needs nice wheels

On Saturday I test drove a Subaru Outback. The dealer then let me keep it over the weekend and last night I went and officially bought it. It's bad ass black with the Limited and VDC package and seems to have every option known to man. It's now sitting in the garage waiting for me to take it for a spin. It is my first automatic car and a fear that is going to take some time getting used to. The heated leather seats, climate control, MP3 compatible system and sun roof, however will not take any getting used to :-)

I still feel a little sad about the Pathfinder and I'll miss having a car with no monthly payments, but all things considered my new black Outback is a pretty nice ride.
I think I'll call it Oscar.

Farewell Pathfinder

Today we lost the Pathfinder. RIP big guy, I'll miss you. After 11 years, 111,000 miles and countless trips to the mountains Percy the Pathfinder is gone. I always felt safe, I always felt in control, I knew I would always be safe behind the wheel.

Chris was driving him on I-70 when we hit some ice while changing lanes. We thought he was going to straighten up but the slide continued and then the wheels made a quick turn to the right. It's exactly like they say...it happened all in slow motion. I could see the concrete barrier and knew we were heading for it...I also knew that it was going to wreck Percy pretty badly, I knew it was over. We hit the concrete barrier and immediately both airbags released. The impact made us bounce back a few feet before coming to a rest. I looked up to see smoke or steam coming from the engine...then we were hit from behind and as my neck jerked I though "nice, we're going to cause a pile up on the highway".

Not knowing if it was steam or smoke I immediately tried to get out as the car began to fill with what turned out to be powder from the airbags. Percy had crumpled and the doors needed a big shove to open before I could get out and see the whole sorry situation.

A couple of nice people stopped to see if we were okay; a woman in a car and a King Soopers delivery driver, he helped us stop the horn that has stuck during the first impact. With the cars whizzing by on the highway, the cold and snow and the shock, we really could do without the noise of the horn. It was a UPS guy in the truck behind who hit us on his way to work. He took the whole thing pretty well, and we sat in his warm truck as we waited for the police and then for the tow trucks.

I emptied out Percy....all the car information, receipts, shopping bags, first aid kit and spare parking change. I remembered to take the Bee bear that was originally from my Mum's 205 and a Sterling dream catcher that I had originally given to Mum.

I knew as I saw him being dragged onto the flat bed truck, that I would never see him again.