I guess

in the grand scheme of the universe, it doesn't matter much, but my putt putt little Civic turned 90,000 miles on the clock yesterday. Oh sure, not as much as some people, but still not bad. We've had the car for a bit over 6 years now, and put on about 50,000 miles - maybe closer to 60 by the time the car is in our hands 7 years. I imagine there would be more mileage on it had we not gotten the van 3 years ago, but Mrs. Skinny would surely have beaten me within an inch of my life had I made her go without a car for the last three years.

Don't get me wrong - I like the Civic well enough. We paid cash for it, so it's all mine. I've had some big ticket things fixed - brakes, shocks & struts, timing belt, but no major problems with the car. I do maybe 30 miles a day round trip, and once oldest is allowed on the school bus that will drop to 20. It's probably an ideal car for work commuting - decent gas mileage (I probably average 22-23 MPG) and enough room for me & a small child.

But the truth is I think I'm tired of the car. The silly thing has no pickup at all, the volume control on the radio is screwy, the dings & dents are becoming obvious, and... and...

I've never had a new car. We've always bought used, including the Odyssey. That only had 13,000 miles on it, and was only a year removed from new, so it's the closest we've ever come. I think I'd really like a new car. Oh, don't get me wrong - if I ever do get rid of the Civic, I'm probably going to get another, albeit newer, used car. But I think I'd like a new car. One that nobody but me and some Honda employees had ever driven. I'd like a six cylinder engine that jumps when you touch the accelerator.

Let's face it - I'd like intermittent wipers that have more options than my current choice of on or off.

I'll keep this one for a while. I'm not really getting another car anytime soon. We have too many other small items (yeshiva tuition being the primary, mortgage secondary) claiming the few pennies coming into my bank account. I don't really need to replace this car.

But I really, really have the itch to get something different.