take one

I've been toying with the idea of adding a small car to my fleet just to save money. A small used car with a low buy in that gets thirty miles per gallon will just about pay for itself in two years.

However, the choices seemed limited and unappealing.

So the idea evolved into buying a sports car and letting the two cars, the truck and a motorcycle split the miles I pile onto my vehicles every year.

Then I found the perfect choice.

Turns out there was a low miles first generation Mazda RX-7 for sale in a nearby town. Found it on eBay.

I wrote the seller to ask if I could come up and look at the car.

Yes, he replied, but he kept it in a garage in another town and he would have to bring it home first.

So a few days later, I leave home early to see the car. It's raining, it's dreary, and I don't look forward to inspecting a car, much less driving it, under these conditions.

While driving I pick up my cell phone and check for messages.

The seller has called me, he says that he just had a call from his wife and she told him that she hit the Mazda while backing out of the garage!

Oh my God! I start to imagine all sorts of things. The hood, the nose, the headlights, both fenders!

I'm a little bit shocked but I press on. It's not too far away.

I find the house with no problem and there sits the car looking perfectly all right. 'Hmm, must have hit the rear,' I think.

I parked the truck and walked up to the door. There it is, she hit the passenger door, not a scratch anywhere else.

Well to make a short story shorter I looked the car over pretty good, got in it, decided it wasn't for me, said thank you very much and drove away, tail between my legs.

If I hadn't asked to see the car, it wouldn't have been there in the first place!

This is one of those sad little stories that invoke sadness, or laughter, kind of depends on the moment.