“This is a sponsored blog; while the views expressed here were genuinely mine, consideration was paid to me by The Northern California Honda Dealers Advertising Association to review this product.”
Dear Diary
You don’t know me yet, but I hope as I fill up this diary, you will come to know me as more than a 1991 Honda Civic, but instead as a driving machine who makes life happen, mile after mile. I know that I am getting on in miles, and I don’t know how many I have left, so I decided to start leaving a little travel log to pass on to younger models.
November 5th 2003
Right now I spend most of my days driving around with Dan. I go to college with him every day and drive him and lots of friends to go dancing, the movies, game nights, and all over the place. Move over vans, I’m the new party wagon! I have had my share of owners, and been around the block more than a few times, but THIS… This is fun! This is youth. This is life. This is freedom. This ole boy is just living it up! I’m along for the ride.
June 8, 2006
Success is sweet! I have been in it for the long haul, driving back and forth to college day after day after day. Driving to study sessions, research projects, playing calming “soft rock” tunes on my way to finals, and then blaring my celebration music on my way home! And now, it’s all paying off! This is the last week of the last semester of college. I’m graduating! Wooooo hoooooo! Can’t wait to see where Dan takes me to celebrate! I’m along for the wild ride.
October 12, 2006
Times change, people grow, youth doesn’t last forever. That is what I am learning. Dan has a fantastic “grown up” job now. He loves it’s. He’s successful at it and he deserves it. We both do. We aren’t driving our friends to dance parties anymore. Instead, we are driving them to their wedding parties. Dan and I recently drove to our friends Dave and Leanne’s wedding. Dan was a groomsman. I sure looked dashing all washed up for the wedding. Yeah, times change alright, but that’s life! I’m a stick shift. I can change gears with the best of them. I’m along for the ride.
January 20, 2007
New year, new owner. When you are a car as old as I am, you get too used to it. Humans, their lives change and their needs change. That’s ok! I’m glad to be whatever I need to be for whomever I need to be. Dan got a brand new car, that matches his brand new job perfectly. But he didn’t say goodbye without giving me one final ride… over to Dave and Leanne’s house. Remember them? Dan and I went to their wedding. They just had their first baby, and Dan thought that they could use my help. He’s a nice guy like that. Dave rides a motorcycle. Ha! You can’t take a baby on a motorcycle. Dan’s right. They DO need my help! I don’t know how I feel about baby spit-up on my plush interior, but I’m up for the challenge. Like I always say… I’m along for the ride!
August 17, 2009
So it’s been a while. Sorry for the lack of entries. Life has been crazy busy! Dave has started his own business and between that and the kid, we are busy, busy busy! I am driving him here, there and everywhere. Being a small business owner’s car makes me a one-car-show. I’m driving to business meetings like a luxury vehicle, hauling supplies like a pickup truck, transporting the kid like a mini-van and being there through it all like some kind of roaming creative space. Each day is something new. Each day brings new challenges and new successes. And I’m loving every mile of it. I’m along for the ride!
May 30, 2011
Things have been going well in the business. Dave and I have made a great team. I have learned that teamwork is important in building a business. Dave’s team is growing and that’s a good thing. Our business partner and employees are like family to us, and family takes care of each other. One of Dave’s employees needs a car so that he can make it to work and back, and I’m happy to oblige. A business is only as reliable as its employees and an employee is only as reliable as their transportation. So here I am helping the business any way I can. Yeah, I’m pretty versatile that way. As always, I’m along for the ride.
October 15, 2014
I know, I know! It’s been a while. Life has been, well, steady. Just been driving back and forth day by day. The morning commute, then the evening drive home. Steady is good for an old soul like me. Steady is life.
But, sometimes even the most steady of cars get tired. As the fall turns into winter my engine is getting a little slower. I am ready to head to that open parking lot in the sky, where oil never leaks and gas flows freely. I have worked hard. I’m a ’91 for goodness sakes! I have given it my all for all of these years and I’m ready to pass the odometer on to a younger model. So now, here I sit on the side of the road. I am still. I am not moving another mile, and I’m ok with that. I’m ready to be towed away, happy and satisfied with my years of service. I’m ready for whatever is next along the road for me. As I get hooked up to this tow truck, I hear the greatest compliment a car can ever receive. I hear my driver tell his friend, “I think I’ll get another Honda. This one has lasted forever and has always been a fantastic car to drive.”
So my last words are for you, younger model: Drive hard! Whether the road is bumpy or smooth, whether you are hauling kids or lumber, whether you are stuck in traffic or on the open road… Drive hard! And above all, whatever life throws at you, just be along for the ride!
As a Honda owner, you can share your own Honda story for the chance to be the star in the #NorCalGetsIt campaign. Through January 31, 2015 at 1pm CT, readers can visit Honda and share a story about what your Honda has gotten you through. One story will be chosen to be re-imagined as a short film in the #NorCalGetsIt campaign.
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