7 years of Nissan

This month marks the 7 year anniversary of me and the Nissan's relationship. I'm gonna buy it something nice, like a new windshield wiper motor. The Nissan is the longest constant in my life right now. Through thick and thin it has never failed me, and for that, I name today National Nissan Appreciation Day.

7 years ago, I was driving a chevy cavalier that my sister loaned me 600$ to buy(I think I paid her back, thanks sis), the heater core had just failed, and I cut the intake and outflow hoses and ran the heater core itself out of the heating/cooling system. This was a good simple fix, but winter was coming and it was gonna be cold in that car.

At the time, I was running a BBQ joint in a gas station, I had a second job at the gas station itself, and I had a severe gambling problem(thanks jeff starr). I drank too much, and my friends were drunks who liked to start fights in bars in downtown Pittsburgh. I had just started school to try and get my life on track.

One day, I saw the nissan sitting outside the gas station that I worked at, and I knew the guy who owned the car lot(he has since died, survived by the Nissan). He told me it was 8000$, and after doing some rough math, I sold my SWR working man's bass amp stack for the taxes, and bought me a Nissan.

The nissan was my 8th car, and I only had my license for 4 years. Yeah, I had some trouble with vehicles. At the time, I was broke...waaaay broke. The nissan was costing me close to 500$ a month between insurance and car payment. I didn't make much more than that back then, and with my gambling problem, even coming up with that much was usually tough. I made a promise to the nissan back then. I told it that I couldn't afford many problems, and that I was trusting it to run good for a long time. I promised it that as long as it ran well, I'd never sell it, and it would be my car.

Making promises to inanimate objects may sound stupid, but the nissan has kept up its end of the deal, and I try to never break a promise. The nissan doesn't get many double takes from girls, its not flashy, and its not fast. It doesn't go off road, and its not going to impress my friends. It just does its job, and it does it well. I could get a better car, a newer car, a car that would impress people, but why? The nissan and I go way back, I know it inside and out, every part that's been replaced, every squeak, rattle, and whurrr. We're old friends, and it'll stay that way for a while.