my car has no air
           i don’t care
my car has no air
           i drive it here and there
my car has no air
           i don’t care

except when it is hot or rainy or hot and rainy

This is not my car

I remember the day that my dad bought the car.  He had me drive him to the dealership.  I was so impressed.  The car was all picked out, all washed and ready to go.  My dad opened his wallet, pulled out the check, signed a few papers, handed the check to the dealer rep and off we went.  He in his brand new car and me in my old car.

Nope not this one

The day that my mom handed over the keys to my dad’s car, I did the Snoopy dance.  She was settling my dad’s estate.  I had really mixed emotions because I would rather have my dad still with me.  I had something that I could care for as his proxy and came with very fond memories of my dad.  I have fond memories of my dad caring for his car and us changing the oil together.  Memories of me driving the car on family road trips, and him fussing if I stayed at a Stop sign too long or if I scraped the tires while parallel parking.  Oh, and getting up way too early in the morning to move the car to the opposite side of the street on street cleaning days. My car is like a legacy application.  It meets all of my requirements except when it does not.  My car used to meet all of my requirements.  My car has bench seating in the front, an AM/FM radio, cassette player, large trunk and a security system. It’s my road dog.  I’ve put freon in hopes of reviving the air conditioning feature. I have not had air for a couple of years now.  The cost of having the air conditioning fixed at the auto shop is more than the blue book value of the car.  Now how and when did that happen?  The emotional return on investment on having the air conditioning fixed is greater than the dollar value. Yet, every time I roll down the windows and stick my head out the window to catch a hint of air on a muggy hot or rainy or hot and rainy day, I strongly consider driving straight to the auto shop and doing it any way. Is that what happens with legacy applications? We get an emotional attachment.  We know all of the features and functions and they serve us well until they don’t.  Then we execute some manual process, equal to rolling down the windows,  to make allowances.    or we look at the cost of repairs or replacement then prioritize the expense with all of the other things we need to do.  And then Fall happens.  Fixing the air falls on the priority list in favor of a new shovel and firewood and heat.   Then summer comes around and we wish we had that $$ we spent on heat for $$$ (air).

This….is MY car

my car has no air
           sometimes it’s a bear
my car has no air
           passengers beware
my car has no air
           you may get frizzy hair