The Measure of Man

They say you can tell a lot about a person by what they do when they retire. (Actually I just made that up. I make up a lot of stuff now that I'm retired.) Take for instance cars. I know a lot of people who make sure they have a new car when they retire. Some even go in for that luxury model that they always promised themselves while they were working. That's okay; if that's your reward for all your hard work, good on you.

I had much more modest goals. I thought perhaps that I would find myself taking really good care of the cars. I imagined that I would wash them each, maybe a couple times a week. I would take the time to do the detailing that you always skimp on: good, thorough cleaning of the interior including ArmorAll on the dash; cleaning and polishing the chrome bits; engine scrubbing with a good degreaser.

Well, in point of fact, I have discovered that one of the reasons I didn't do that stuff before was that I really don't like it all that much. I've washed the cars from time to time, but that's generally been because they were disgustingly dirty. I washed them today, for instance, because it has been almond knocking season. They use machines that grab the almond trees about the throat and shake like hell to get the almonds off the tree. It raises plumes of dust all over the place, and that dust settles on everything in thick layers. I don't object to it because it's how the Valley makes a living, but it does make the cars really dirty.

The cars have indeed been cleaner since I retired, but that's not because I wash them more often. It is because without my commute, I eat less in the car. Having spent three hours a day in the car, five or six days a week, it was not unusual for me to eat two or three meals a week while driving. I used to joke with Sand that if I ever got stranded in the wilderness in my car, I had at least a week's worth of food spread about the floor of the car and under the seats.

We do take pretty good care of our cars. The red Prism is now 13 years old and has 280,000 miles on it. It is running perfectly, and it is still my preferred ride. The white Vibe is a mere pup at 8 years. The odometer just turned 100,000 miles two weeks ago on the road to San Diego. I'm thinking this one is going to last us the duration.

Hope so anyway. I just washed them.