My New Subaru

I bought a new car on Tuesday — a 2005 Subaru Outback with 53,000 miles. My Saturn wagon was 9 years old, had 165,000 miles, was falling apart, was unsafe in winter and was costing too much in repairs. I am just thrilled. I never thought I would be able to afford one of these Subarus. This used car is as good as new. I called the dealership on Monday and they got the financing ready. I walked in Tuesday, selected the car and in an hour I drove home. The total time to pick it out and to sign papers: 3 hours. What a difference from a week of agony and waiting years ago!

This wire kitty, named after my Frankie cat from long ago, was unglued from the dash of my old car and re-glued onto the dash of the Subaru. What a great team at St. Jay Auto! From financing to servicing, this was actually an almost pleasant experience.

St. Johnsbury Automobiles (St. J Auto) Subaru Division

from subaru.com:

"SUBARU" is a Japanese word meaning "unite", as well as a term identifying a cluster of six stars, which the Greeks called the Pleiades - part of the Taurus constellation.
According to Greek mythology, Atlas' daughters turned into this group of stars. In 1953, five Japanese companies merged to form Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. The new corporation adopted the "Subaru" cluster of stars as the official logo for its line of automobiles.

Besides the Big and Little Dippers, the Pleiades is the only constellation I have ever been able to identify in the sky. I have always enjoyed the myth of this constellation. And Subaru has a solid reputation here in the north country — you can get through weather that will stop other cars cold.

My "New" Car Flickr Set

Technorati Tags: Subaru Outback, St. J Auto, Pleiades
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And the Winners are… | The BenSpark

And the Winners are… | The BenSpark

We won! We won a $10 gift certificate to Kodak in Drew's XShot contest. Now I can get Frankie's photo archived forever. Frankie, the meanest cat that ever lived; the greatest cat-love of my life.

I have put Drew's Photo-A-Day link in my sidebar for a couple of reasons. First in thanks. Second his photos truly are good. And third, he has written good posts about photo effects that I use every single day (but I never told him, shame on me).

And the final reason I am drawn to Drew: he is the age of my kids (younger than my oldest and older than my youngest) so that mother-thing in me kicks in, and he's a cute one! He also shares the same great name as my son, Andrew. 

But why "BenSpark"??

Technorati tags: XShot BenSpark Photo-A-Day photography

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Cats Tuesday: Frankie and Daisy

Frankie was my favorite cat ever. He was so mean that my daughter Amy (my resident vet technician) refused to pill him if needed or give him his shots. The vet even refused to care for him unless he was drugged! He lived in my bedroom except for food, water and litter box. When he left my room all the other animals hid. He attacked any dog or male cat that was within sight. He left the female cats alone and tolerated them in bed at night. But Frankie loved me. I could pill him, pet him, cuddle with him and even play with him. He slept in my arms under the covers every single night for fifteen years. Yes, he bit me a few times, but he had been an orphan. So he was going to be confused at times.

One night, Amy and her dog, Daisy, were asleep in my bed with me and Frankie. Frankie woke up and saw the dog (a 90 pound (40.8 kg) dog no less!) lying across his bed. His eyes narrowed. I was in a mood so I gently shoved Frankie towards the dog. Frankie got the message! He slowly slithered toward the dog. Poor innocent Daisy. She had actually nursed some of our orphaned kittens and here I was setting her up for a sneak attack!

When Frankie got close enough to Daisy, he flew in the air and landed on Daisy hissing and growling. Poor Daisy fell off of the bed in terror. All of the racket woke up Amy and in her fright, she fell off the bed too! Amy and Daisy sputtered nasty curses at me and Frankie. Frankie, his tail high, walked back to me and curled up in my arms and fell right back asleep.

Sweet Daisy sitting on the same bed.

I still chuckle when I think of the prank that I played on Daisy and Amy. Amy still gets mad. Both Frankie and Daisy are gone now. But they will never be forgotten. They were the best.

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