Sunday, February 21, 2010

R.I.P. Shaniqua

About a week ago, Jeremiah said his final goodbyes to his dearly beloved powder-blue 1998 Ford Taurus, affectionately known as Shaniqua. 
Two Mondays ago, Jeremiah was off to Dave's house to enjoy one of our many snow days. Unfortunately, he never made it to Dave's. Instead, Shaniqua decided to completely die right past an intersection on a four-way highway. Dead, and no lights to protect itself. Thankfully, a car noticed Jeremiah was stuck and decided to stop behind him and put her flashers on. Then, two more cars stopped behind that car. How decent of them? But then, a fourth car rammed into the third car, totaling both. Soon the highway was filled with EMS, fire, and four police vehicles. Shaniqua was towed to a nearby Good Year, and we were soon later informed that the damage would run us around $600 at least. Jeremiah figures the brakes are going to go soon, not to mention the air conditioning has been shot and the doors take a certain finesse to close properly. So, after a long deliberation, we decided to let her go. Although we don't have the money to buy a new car or add a monthly payment, we figured we could suffer through a one-car lifestyle for at least a little while. Luckily, Jeremiah's Aunt Patti has allowed us to borrow her car until she needs it. That's a huge help right now, since only having one car becomes highly complicated.
We had planned to just donate Shaniqua, to avoid having to pay more towing costs; however, one of the mechanics at Good Year had a brother who needs any kind of transportation he can get his hands on. God provided $400 for us from that guy, which we're so so thankful for.
Here she is, awaiting her fate in the Good Year parking lot.