And My Cleaning Lady Drives a Land Rover. . .

So why would I be fixated on the Cleaning Lady's car????

I think the answer will become painfully apparent when I introduce you to the cars currently in the Spin family stable:

• I believe that you have already met White Ice.  She's my 1999 Plymouth Voyager who, much like her owner, is currently having a slight problem with her internal thermostat.  (Who knew that cars could also go through menopause?)  What's more, she's recently developed a problem shifting gears (me too!!) and the windows on her passenger side are no longer operational.  (Last time I checked I didn't really have windows, but if I did, I'm sure they'd be sluggish at best.)

• And then there's Roberta.   She's my daughters' (well mine really, but Trigger and Ponzi think they own her) 2003 Jeep Liberty.  Roberta's biggest problem is that she's expensive to own. (Sound like anyone we know???)  Her cooling system is working just fine now because we just spent $1,000 to put a brand spanking new air conditioning system in her.  She's a little self-conscious about the dent that arrived on her passenger side back in 2005, but all-in-all this little car has successfully seen more of the Northeast corridor than most of Amtrak's passenger cars.

• Many of you may remember that last December, Percy went to join Zack in car heaven and so now Veggie has a brand spanking new white metro-sexual of a Nissan Sentra which she has appropriately christened, Ken.  And everyone in the Spin household knows that Ken is off limits the rest of the family.   That's okay.   Veggie pays for the car, gas, and insurance.  (She'll pay for her own tolls too just as soon as I can wrestle the EZpass gadget away from her.)

• And then there is Dad's Car - the 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee which is presently in car limbo.  You see, D.C. has been in the shop since the end of May as the mechanics take his engine apart in their spare time. . . looking for some fatal-sounding pinging noise coming from under the hood.   And, lest you think we have left D.C. to die a painful death alone, let me assure you that Drip Dry calls the mechanic every week or so wondering what steps he's taken to resuscitate the car and bring it back to life.  Let's try to forget that the usual answer just happens to be "none", and give kudos to Drip Dry for making the effort. . . 

So the fact that D.C. has been m.i.a. for the past six weeks, Trigger is home from college for the summer, and Ken has been placed on the do-not-disturb list, has left certain members of the household in quite a pickle - for now we have just two cars to be shared by four drivers.

And if past history is any indication, Spin family members are not good sharers.

So you see, I may not be envious of the fact that the Cleaning Lady lady drives a big, fat, fancy S.U.V.

I just may - in fact - be jealous of the fact that it has four wheels and actually goes somewhere when you shift gears and press the accelerator!