Cinnamon D*sign: MY CAR FRIENDS

Oh I'm so happy it's Thursday already! This week has been quite an inspirational for me. Even though nothing's changed externally, I feel very energized inside. The thing is, I feel as if I'm discovering more and more of what I want to do and achieve and learn. I'm beginning to grasp the outlook of my life the way I want it to look and feel, an overall atmosphere and feeling. That's a truly enjoyable sensation! Have you had any revelations recently?

Did I tell you about the sad happenings of my dear dear partner-car? It all began a couple of weeks ago, when V. and I began to count the money we spent on petrol. Since Freddie eats around 14L/100km during winter, we spend heaps of money to keep that petrol-burning station running. We calculated that if we bought a newer diesel, filling it up AND paying a loan would be even cheaper than buying petrol. So we found an intriguing looking SAAB 9-3 '00 2.2 TiD in the ads and went to see it on a chilly Saturday. The minute I got in it, I could feel that this is it - this car is for us. It reminded me of the wonderful SAAB 9-3 2.0lpt convertible that had been our partner during our road trip around the Peak District last year. Soon we had scrambled the money for the car (thanks to some very very generous people!) and took the little diesel to the MOT and - lo and behold - it scored ONE point for its broken rear-window wiper. You see, here in Latvia, absolutely everyone having a 10 year old car has to go through MOT at least two times, just because. Even if the car's in perfect condition, it'll get a mandatory point for oil leaking and rust regardless if it's true or not. But our little brave diesel had arrived from Italy 2 months ago and since then nothing had been done to it, it had just stood around and there you go - not a single problem with it! So we bought it. And it's an amazing car. The comfort level is beyond amazing. The engine is very dynamic and powerful despite its mere 115bhp and I finally have a turbine! BUT. What to do with our OTHER friend - Freddie? You know, our lovely trusty 9000! So we decide to lend it to a friend. Soon we receive a call for help. Our trusty partner has failed for the very first time. We rush to help as soon as we can and find Freddie stalled on a steep road uphill. I manage to start the car but the noise coming from its engine is just horrible. We tow it to a local service and a couple of days later get the verdict - the engine is ruined beyond repair. I still can't believe it, 2 years without a single complain and now it's just.. dead. I can't stop thinking about its heart breaking, I'm soo sentimental, I know. Surely we won't leave it that way and this weekend we'll be towing the car to our service and they'll see what they can do. In the worst case we're going to look for a new engine. This car is too much of a loyal friend to be left alone. And it's unbelievable, the paths of destiny! We had no idea Freddie had an engine problem but just out of the blue we decided to buy another car. If we hadn't bought the diesel, we would be left with no car and a huge bill for repairs. Now we have all the time in the world to get Freddie back on road while the diesel, Humphrey, as we like to call it, does the daily runner duty.

Let me introduce you to Mr. Humphrey!