We’re all used to devastating catastrophic events in our lives; well, we’re having two of them here right now.

First is, my 25 year old Chrysler New Yorker (the only car my back will tolerate riding in at all, even for short drives to doctor or dentist) needs to go into the shop once again, with more evidence of aging. It’s had a number of breakdowns lately, all involving having to be rescued from a highway roadside.

Last week we made the local papers; we got a new fuel pump, which got my elderly vehicle going again after coming to a dead halt in the middle of nowhere the previous Friday, my watercolor teaching class day. We were getting gas after the class, when all of a sudden, the old gasket gave way, and we were sitting on top of an enormous gasoline storage tank below the pavement, on which we were sitting, helpless, in a huge 30 foot wide puddle of gasoline just waiting for a lit cigarette butt.

We were right next door to the fire station, and within 60 seconds, there were a bunch of guys in yellow slickers screaming to get out of the car, don’t slam the door, don’t try to take anything out with us, and to be careful not to make a spark!

Within half an hour, it was safe to remove our groceries and get out of the way of the tow truck guys, who were assisted by the firemen.

Okay, so after a third tow — we’re getting to know the towing guys by name — we had the 25 year old gasket replaced. But you’ll probably have already guessed what happened next…

I thought it would be good if our mechanic went through the whole car to see if anything else needed doing… so we brought it limping in.

Turns out that there’s a lot of stuff, small but important stuff, that needs doing on a car this old — think of it as a vintage or antique car — so, virtually all the power steering stuff, brakes, shocks, front axle leaks, air conditioner compressor blew up, plus some other stuff that involves rubber seals, hoses and such — all of which are easily destroyed by polluted atmosphere — well, those are pretty far gone after a quarter century.

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