Michiru reached 100,000 miles today. I was so anxious about her reaching this point that I monitored her mileage over the last week, called Covington days in advance to set up an appointment and even predicted where I would be when the 99999 changed over (by the way, I was right!!!). She reached her milestone between routes 175 and 32 going south on 95. I pulled over to the side of the road at 0625 hrs, snapped a pic of the odometer and the sign for Ft. Meade/Columbia where we stopped. I could not have been happier!

Michiru has given me over 60,000 miles of pure driving satifaction. She has had her share of problems (some more expensive than others), but overall she has never quit on me. Some may say “what are you so happy about? It’s just a car…”. Long ago, my dad showed me why it’s just more than a car. He had a ‘84 Mazda 626 DX and named her Betsy. He purchased her brand new on 29 Feb 84. He loved that car and just like Mimi, she never quit. Even when other drivers tried their hardest to take Betsy out, dad loved her enough not to give up on her…in return, she never gave up on him. She made numerous trips from NY to Minnesota in addition to all the local driving that he did. She weathered several accidents, hit and runs, wear and tear…and still gave my dad her all. This is because he cared a whole lot about her and made it his business to keep her runnning no matter what.

Dad made it a point to name his vehicles. It is something that my mother, my husband, my siblings and I have embraced. I truly believe that when you name a car, you give it a soul and this soul will live as long as you love and maintain the vehicle. Call me crazy, but Mimi has a soul and it is not something that is limited to just my perception. Others have said something to the effect of noticing how ‘in tune’ I am with her. Even when I had Ami - my ‘89 Chevy Berretta - I proved that cars do have souls. Ami had several owners before me and she was abused quite a bit. Being a new car owner, I didn’t do the right thing with her all the time (ie timely oil changes) and despite my good intentions, she eventually started to give. When I went to basic training, I left her in NY. Somehow, she ended up back in Ohio and I had to go get her when I attended training in Texas. She made it all the way from Ohio to Texas, then started having problems. I thought I had the issue fixed, but she still exhibited problems. I started the search for a new car and finally got Mimi. I left Ami with a friend so he could get home to Tennessee. He told me that the radio stopped working halfway through his trip and had not worked for several months before I came to pick her up. Do you know that when I started the car the radio started working??? I had not touched the controls from its previous settings with my friend and it slowly started to come on. He even said it didn’t work on his way to pick us up. Coincidence??? Non-believers would say so, but I had 2 witnesses to include Will when that occurred. I eventually had to let Ami go and I sent her back to Ohio on the back of a flatbed truck. She deserved no less than the best to make her final trip back home. It was a very sad day because she was my first car and I felt like I had failed to maintain her like I should. I vowed not to make the same mistakes with Mimi.

Another question I get is ‘why do you go to the dealership for service? They are so expensive…’ If you get nothing from the post, you should realize by now that no expense to too great for Mimi. Even moreso, sometimes you have to pay for good customer service. I would rather have that than extra change in my pocket. When I first arrived to Silver Spring, I used to go to Midas for service. For a while, I was in that same frame of mind - dealerships are WAY too expensive. Things were okay until they got a new manager. This manager did not treat Will and I with the professionalism of the last manager (and consequently charged us over $900 for a brake job…), so that ended our maintenance stint with them. So how did I come across Covington??? There was a recall and they were listed as a place to get the recall serviced. I was so impressed by their courtesy and professionalism, that I decided to give them a try. 5 years and over 50,000 miles of service later, I still bring Mimi there for all her maintainence and even purchased Hotaru from them. Will was so impressed with the service that he asked if they would service his Altima! When the Vibe was introduced, I asked to be notified for a test drive. Not only was I notified, but I was the first person they notified as soon as it arrived. The staff knows me by name, they go out of their way to insure that I get the lowest price possible, they leave me thank you notes and they are huggable! Now tell me you could hug your average car salesman! They even go out of their way to surprise me - I called to find out Mimi’s status today and they told me that she was still being serviced. I took my time getting there only to find out that she was still being serviced because they were washing her! They normally charge to wash the car but they were doing it for free and without me knowing! They would have to do something completely off the wall to lose my business. If you are shopping for a car, I highly recommend Covington.

I am positive that Mimi will live on well beyond her time. So much for the car falling apart at 100,000 miles! Screw all of you that hate on the likes of GM and Ford! If you need proof that there are quality domestic vehicles, come and see Michiru. I promise that you will change your mind.

…and I feel so horrible. It started off just like any other evening - me yelling at Tabitha because she was eating Harmoni’s food. It is tough to keep a cat from what they want, especially if it is wet food. I can tell when Tabitha is committing the crime because her collar bell always bangs up against ceramic bowl. Just like every other night, I yell her name and the bell stops as she runs out the kitchen and up the stairs…this time it started up again and I got out of my seat and waited for her to run past me towards the stairs. While she is running, I always manage to catch her hind quarters with a tap to let her know that she was wrong. Something felt different this time…

I woke up on Saturday and just like every other morning, Tabitha and Luna greeted me at the bathroom. Tabitha’s tail looked funny…it was limping. After examining her, I felt the swelling near the base of her tail and she let me know that it hurt by letting out a loud meow. I woke up Will and told him “I broke the kitten…”.

It took a little coaxing to get her from under the bed so Will could examine her. We knew that she had to be looked at by a vet, so I started the non-internet search for emergency vets in the area (the Yellow Pages still has a purpose!). We found one in Ellicott City, called to confirm its location and packed up Tabbi. It is a very nice facility and the staff was nice as well. She had an x-ray taken and sure enough I had dislocated a bone in the tail. The Vet informed us that she can recover from this, however there is a chance that if it does not improve that the tail would have to be amputated. Those words struck me like a guilty verdict at a trial…I was responsible for causing pain and a potential life altering event for this cat.

Words cannot describe the way I feel everytime I look at her. She still loves me, but deep down I feel that she is always asking why…I have been beaten as a child, but I have never been beaten to the point that I was injured and had to be taken to the hospital…this makes me question how I will discipline my own children…

I quit my job last Monday.

I’ve been working there for just over five years, in a number of different roles. Now a new opportunity has presented itself, and I took it. I’ll be doing web development using a variety of technologies, specifically open source stuff like PHP.

I’m finishing up my last week at Prometric, tying up some loose ends. I don’t want to leave my coworkers in a lurch with me leaving and all, so I’m trying to make things a bit easier for them.

Now that my job search is over, I can get back to updating this site. I have a few things to talk about, like my birthday, my thoughts on March of the Penguins, and my favorite games of all time. I saw Nad typing an entry earlier today, so she should have something new soon too.