Introducing ... Marley!

"Marley was dead, dead as a doornail, in fact." And so was the van when I first saw it. And so I thought if I bought it, I would have a name for it: Marley. Now I really don't name my vehicles. Closest I've ever come was to occasionally talk to one, using the name Betsy, which my dad used to use. But the thought and the name came into my head, so I starting thinking of the blue van as Marley.

You may recall the unfortunate incident of Samhain (known to Muggles as Halloween) when a poor, unlucky person ran a red light as I was going through the intersection, and I crashed into her, thus totaling the 2-year old Honda CR-V I semi-owned. One of my friends who was in the car with me works at a retirement home and told me that one of their residents had recently died and his car was for sale. She told me it was a Plymouth Grand Voyager, and I was immediately interested. You may also recall that my previous vehicle was a Plymouth Voyager (not so grand, but well-loved by me all the same). I had driven the previous Voyager for 11 years until the transmission gave out and I decided it was time for a new car, rather than a couple thousand dollar repair bill.

On a fair, but cold, Sunday afternoon, I went to look at the van, which was covered in dust, inside and out, and thought it would do. I then proceeded to ask all the men-folk I knew what they thought about buying a vehicle that had been sitting for 3 years (since the license plates were dated August 2006). To a one, they said, go for it. Especially since The Nephew (the previous owner having had no children of his own) said he would be happy to get $1,000 for it. Well! That was right in my price range. Of course, I knew I would want to have a good deal of work done on it, to bring it up to speed. One of the men, my co-worker and carpooler, Mark, offered to go visit it with me and give it a jump and see what the engine sounded like, etc. So we did that after work one evening. Mark checked out the belts, hoses, and such things, and said they weren't terribly old and creaky, and he looked at the oil and transmission fluid which looked clean. When he started it up, the engine sounded good, no knocks or pings. He said the tires, which are Toyo brand, were very good, and he would buy it. (I must say, I was very lucky to find Mark as a carpool mate, since he has been very helpful, and most kind to do all the driving while I didn't have a car.)

With this endorsement, I called The Nephew and told him his car was sold and what should we do. Now starts a series of my lessons in patience. The Nephew surprised me by saying he was in hospital, and could I send him an email with my particulars. This I did. Since he was rather incapacitated, I gave it a week without hearing from him to contact him again. I thought since he asked for an email that he might have a laptop in hospital with him. Who knows these days? On my second phone call, he told me he was back at work and was "buried in work" and said something to the effect that he would have to get a bill of sale and send me "the papers." After several days of considering his statement, I began to suppose that he might be some kind of senior level person with his company and that it might be of assistance to him to find a bill of sale form on the internet and email it to him, being the helpful, secretarial type of person that I am.

Bingo! The next day he called me and asked if I could complete the bill of sale and fax it to him, and he would sign it and fax it back to me with the papers. Progress is being made. I couldn't get to the fax quick enough. Within an hour or two, we had exchanged faxes. It turns out that he didn't register the van in his name, but got some paperwork from the Department of Licensing (DOL) that indicated he was the lawful owner of the van and that there was no registration. I called DOL to find out if they would accept fax copies, which I highly doubted, and they said no, and in fact, along with original copies, they would need a copy of the death certificate. Argh! Something else that The Nephew would have to dig out and send to me, or worse, request another copy. I emailed him this latest request and also asked his address, to mail him the payment. I used priority mail and enclosed a return, postage paid, priority mail envelope for him to send me back the documents.

In the meantime, after I put the payment in the mail, and had a copy of the bill of sale, I felt justified in taking possession of Marley and getting it to a mechanic (recommended by Mark) and starting the revivication process. First, Mark suggested I buy a new battery and he would install it, as well as take his air compressor and inflate the semi-flat tires. We did that a week ago Saturday. On Monday after work, I picked Marley up, running like a top, after about $1,100 worth of work. It needed front brakes, a transmission pan & gaskets, complete tune-up, oil change, etc. So now I had a dirty, but running, van in my driveway :-)

After much internal fretting, I received the necessary documents on Thursday last. I called my boss to say I would be in late on Friday, since I had to take Marley to get an emissions check, and then go to DOL. It was a good thing that I checked the hours of the emissions station online, since they don't open until 9:00 am. Since I was thinking they'd be open at 8:00 am, I used the time to take Marley for a good car wash, cleaning inside and out, and a waxing. The Works. And so it was a shining, bright Marley that Mr. Murphy met when he walked into the picture. I went to the emissions check station and was told that since Marley had recently had work done on it, and more specifically, had had a dead battery for who knows how long, I would have to follow the manufacturer's recommendations for re-setting the internal computers. Emissions couldn't get any readings, and they need to get at least 3 out of the 5 possible.

So home I went, called Chrysler and found I would have to do 3 "Global Good Rides." This consists of starting from a cold engine, warming up (basically until the heater comes on), driving 10 miles, then completely cooling down the engine. Chrysler said it might take a couple of days, but I figured with outside temps no higher than 27F, I should be able to get it done that day and still get back to emissions and then to DOL before they closed at 5:30 pm. {Mind you, all this driving is being done on license tabs that clearly read "2006" if anyone cared to look. Now I Really Know what it is like to be in a "Catch 22" situation. I had to drive the car to get the emissions check to get the new license tabs...} After my first cool-down took more like two hours (I had thought an hour would suffice), it occurred that if I opened the hood of the car, it would cool down faster, and that pretty much worked. So after my three little trips, I set out for emissions at 4:00 pm. Got there, and Marley passed the emissions, but failed the gas cap test. So off I go to the nearest auto parts store, buy a gas cap they say will work, and get back and the technician tells me no-go - it has got to look like the cap that is on it. ARGH! (((patience))) Back to the store, get my money back, they don't have the "right" one. Go to the other store around the corner, they say I need to go to the dealer. By now it is about 4:55 pm and I have lost any opportunities with emissions, since they close at 5:00 pm. I call the dealer, they tell me yes, they have the "right" gas cap and they are open 8 am to Noon on Saturday or 7:30 am on Monday. Of course, I had to work on Saturday, we were having our biggest H1N1 flu shot clinic yet. {So, dast I admit that I drove to work, across State Lines, without license tabs on Saturday...mostly under cover of darkness, and pulling the Cloak of Invisibility over me and Marley...}

So...this morning, bright and early, Janet drove me the good little distance to the Chrysler dealership, I bought the gas cap, and we came home. I took the new gas cap to emissions, the technician beamed and said, "That's the one!" and put it on Marley and gave me a new certificate indicating that Marley would not be unduly polluting the air. Next stop, DOL. This one terrified me, since what with all the other setbacks, I was just afraid they would say I didn't have the right paperwork, a "t" wasn't crossed correctly, or an "i" was dotted the wrong way...can you say "bundle of nerves?" I walked into the office, was greeted by two bright young clerks and I asked who wanted to have some fun? The first young lady said she could help me, and asked how I was and I told her, well, you're going to tell me how I am...I told her I bought the van from an estate, and pulled out the paperwork and she said, that I seemed to have everything. She started putting things in the computer and said, you paid $1,000 for this van? To which I responded in the affirmative, and she said the computer was saying it was worth about $4,500 (of course the State would like to tax the highest number possible). I said, well, I had to have about $1,100 worth of work done on it and that changed everything! She asked if I had my receipts and I did, and she made a copy of them, and Bob's My Uncle! I had new license plates and valid tabs!!! I am street-legal! Yippeeeee! Oh, I had to give her $187 for taxes and license, a small price to pay for the smile on my face :0) And so, here is Marley, blessed by the sun:

Now, it bothered me a bit that I was naming my vehicle with a male name...Marley...even though I liked the genesis of the whole naming process. But all modes of transportation seem to be named for female entities, and so I did feel a bit of disconnect having a male name. If I was going to have a name, it should be sort of "right." Well, DOL has solved that dilemma for me, because my new license plates read:



960-ZOA - and so, DOL has re-christened HER as Zoey - now wasn't that providential? I couldn't be more pleased and happy to introduce you to Zoey, the van formerly, albeit briefly, known as Marley. Here's to many happy years of traveling.

So now let me tell you a little bit of trivia about me and cars. I have now owned two vehicles that were previously owned by WWII pilots. My brother James informed me that my 1963 Pontiac Catalina (a fine vehicle!) was formerly owned by Pappy Boyington, of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" squadron. He discovered this by nosing into some maintenance receipts that were in the glove box. Zoey's previous owner was a pilot in the European theater. I only know this because he left some personal paperwork in the van, and I cleared it out and left it for The Nephew to collect next time he is in town (he lives in Colorado). In one file was his military paperwork, along with photos of him, and planes I imagine he flew. There were both fighter planes and bombers. So I am sure that Zoey could tell some stories.

This is enough of the story of Zoey for now. All is well and every manner of well. Safe travels! The Auld Girl