On days like this!

On days like this I miss my car! Its a beautiful day, not so hot, with temperature in mid 70s. My first car ever was a Toyota Celica GT convertible, black with black top. And I paid hefty amount to buy it. More importantly, I spent a lot of time looking for a convertible car that looked good and was a convertible. My justification to buy it was that I lived in California where I could actually use a convertible. I remember saying to my (then) friend Anshu that all normal cars make me feel 'Claustrophobic'. To console him I said, "It should at least have a sun roof". (Which his car had!)

When I bought my car, my roommate suggested that a car is supposed to take you from Point A to Point B and in due course you will repent having spent so much money on it. I told my parents that I wanted to buy a cool car because its extension of one's personality. Sure enough, when they visited me, I had them squeeze into the back seat of my car! (Sorry)
I always parked my car behind an identical black Celica which was owned by the VP of that company. When he found out that the other car was owned by a lowly intern, he sure was embarassed. I loved showing off my car and I liked to put the hood down whenever I could which landed me in trouble when I had to drive hood half open on the highway since I could not stop. And for the first time, I did not enjoy people turning their heads. BTW, it had motorized hood and opened-closed very gracefully!
On one occasion, driving back from Fibbar maggies in mountain view, I realized I had left the car lights ON and drained the battery. After driving about a mile we got pulled over by cops. Luckily, the blonde factor worked (I mean Anshu factor, AHA San francisco!) and the cops let us go without giving a ticket or asking us to walk in a straight line! But as soon as the cops left, we found out that the car wont move and it began to rain. We were there in the middle of the night on the street side with the car top open. And I pressed the button to close the top and voila, it did close. That is when I realised that there was battery reserved exactly for this reason!
I had a good time with the car including the 180 degrees skid at the highway exit turning it facing into the incoming traffic. But thats not the point! The point is that after rotating completely, it still was standing solid on all four wheel and did not overturn! So eventually after Anoushka was born, I decided I have had enough fun with it and it was time to sell it.
I now drive a Toyota Sienna. Yes, its a minivan. But remember, car is just a means to get from point A to point B.
(Not! but I will say that till I get my new Mercedes hard top convertible. Its just the color that I cant decide on- red?)