Car Wash

Today, my husband did a very nice thing for me - a mother's day gift in advance, I guess. He cleaned out the inside of my car (meaning he culled all the Starbucks straw wrappers, various odds and ends of papers, etc. - really not many compared to the wreck the van used to ALWAYS be) and then he took my car to the 'full service' car wash - where they vacuum, wash, Armour-All, and otherwise completely detail the car. It has not had a 'full service' car wash since the day we picked it up from the dealer. Mainly because I'm too thrifty to rationalize the expense but also because I lack the time and motivation to drive across town and spend over half an hour sitting around waiting for my car to be done. It has been washed - trust me on that. But usually, I take it through the Chevron drive through car wash. Which is only $5 and a trip down memory lane - I lived with my brother and his wife my 2nd year of college and I introduced my two nephews to the drive-through car wash. They were ASTOUNDED that you could SIT IN THE CAR while it was being washed....and it became a favorite 'let's go with Aunt Majah to the car wash!'. I also used to spoil them rotten by allowing them all kinds of sugary treats from the grocery store bakery. They thought YOGURT was ice cream until I moved in....and introduced them to cookies, cupcakes, etc. I didn't ruin them - but I sure had fun trying.

We have a running joke in our house - my car never gets washed. My car does not receive the same TLC that J.'s car does.

Another example revealed itself this week....our ongoing comedy routine ensued and I realized 'I really could do stand-up' 'cuz this stuff happens everyday.

J. had my car earlier in the week, making trips to Hayward to help his brother move. My 'truck' (small SUV but for some reason I've started calling it a truck - I just like the sound of it) has more room than his Camry - so we traded cars for a couple days this week. Upon returning home, I parked his car in 'my' space in the driveway - closest to the lawn. It's not where the Camry is usually parked - but old habits die hard and I just automatically pulled into 'my' space even though I wasn't driving 'my' car.

The next morning, J.'s car was soaking wet.....covered (every inch) with water. As mine has been for WEEKS. I've been complaining for weeks that we must have some kind of sprinkler problem - the sprinklers go on at 5:00AM out front so we never see it - so my car has been regularly soaked. Like a rainstorm just over MY car. Only now, the rainstorm was over J.'s car....and you know what happened, don't you? He immediately - within less than 7 hours - drove to Orchard Supply and bought a new sprinkler head and fixed it. The problem had existed for OVER A MONTH - but if it's MY CAR getting regularly soaked, water-spotted, it's 'OK, I'll fix it as soon as I can'. When it's HIS CAR getting soaked, it's done that same day.

Men.....

It's fixed now. And to make amends, he took MY CAR to get washed and cleanup up today. For every four full-service washes his car has, mine gets one. If it's lucky.