rosette's blog

Legoland

A little too much glare

Hummer at Fisherman’s Wharf

Lego Painted Ladies

I <3 R2

Passed a strawberry patch – we went picking!

Chili Cheese Fries

Dean broke his flip-flop…

…Then fixed it

Dashboard Confessional at USD

Wiseman is the name of the 1986 Toyota van that I grew up with.  It was the beginning of my love affair with Toyota.  It took us on camping trips, served as a hanger for the clothes we used to sell at the swap meet, carried me on my first trip to Berkeley, and lived well past 200k miles.  Somehow, I think it became an extension of my Dad in my mind – calm and faithful and never causing trouble.  My mom’s cars would come and go, but not Wiseman…

Wiseman made it to the summer of 2008, chugging along like always, when the day came to take the SMOG test.  When he didn’t pass, he was put in the backyard, serving as a storage space for over a year.  Then in late March 2009, Wiseman was taken to the car graveyard, and that is the last I know of him.  

My mom said the junkyard man was probably going to work on Wiseman – maybe put new parts in him and sell him to someone else.  (We only got $100 in exchange for him)  And nowadays I’ve been seeing lots of Wisemen on the road – still going strong.  I look for the familiar scratches and dents in our Wiseman, but then I realize that those may have been fixed and I wouldn’t even recognize him if I saw him now. I wouldn’t be surprised if we did see him though; even when my dad was driving him out of the backyard, he said he ran just fine.   I hope whoever gets him treats him as well as my dad did, and that he makes it at least another 100k.

Oh Wiseman! I would have kept you! I would have maintained you myself or had Xzibit pimp you out for me!  I’m sorry my mom and dad just let you go!  All I can do now is hold onto the memories I have of you…

The little Jesus card dad kept right above the rear view mirror.

The dotted, peeling foam on the ceiling.

The skinny, slippery steering wheel, so hard to turn because it wasn’t power steering.

The backseat that could turn into a bed, although I never figured out how to make it do that.

The loud GRRRRRRRACK of the sliding door, where many a hand got smashed.

The tinting on the back window that got all scaley in the summer and made my skin crawl.

The rubbery, red bar going across the middle where Lani and I would hang like monkeys.

The heat of the space between the two front seats, where the engine was.

How hard it was to lower and raise the passenger side window.

The paper-thin metal frame with that distinctive hollow sound.

The few times I actually got to drive you, where it was like driving in a virtual reality game.

The manual locks that looked like that Domo character.

How one time someone broke into you and put toothpaste in your keyhole. [That sounds dirty]

The linoleum flooring dad put on top of the carpet.

The smell… There are no words for that smell…

I loved it – loved it all!  I miss you Wiseman!  Godspeed!

[photos to come]