[Petbunny] The Turquoise Dragon ATB

[Darin Ritchie]

Hi there Paul,

 

 

We are sorry to hear about the demise of the Turquoise Dragon.  :-(
Such a faithful little dragon wagon it has been.  Even with the best of
care they never last forever or as long as one would want.   We'll light
a little candle in it's memory.

 

 

Cheers, 

 

Darin, Lynn, Caitlyn, and the buns, Amelia, Pepe, Vinnie, Panda, Miffy,
Jackson,
and always and forever Tweek (ATB 20070823), Guido (ATB 20040404),
Frosty (ATB 20051014)

 

________________________________

From: Paul Halpern
Sent: Wed 1/9/2008 8:31 AM
To: PETBUNNY at LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: OT: The Turquoise Dragon ATB

(Sniff) PBers who followed the "On the Road with Uncle Paul" thread a 
couple of summers ago that narrated my journey from Nova Scotia to 
Colorado will remember the Turquoise Dragon, my tough little 1994 
Ford Escort hatchback that got me and a ton of baggage there and back 
in its usual reliable fashion.
 
Well, sadly, the Turquoise Dragon has succumbed to the nemesis of 
Nova Scotia cars--body rust. This became obvious when one of the rear 
shocks broke through the floor yesterday, not dramatically, but quite 
definitively--the Turquoise Dragon never did anything dramatic. Took 
it to my repair place, and they gave it a good looking over and found 
that the other shock was ready to do the same and the underside was 
full of holes as well--plus the rear brakes, front struts, one ball 
joint, etc., etc., were going fast. Repairing all this would have run 
me around $2700, which is simply not worth it on an old car like this.
 
What a shame. With all this, the engine starts every time and runs 
like new, even with nearly 140,000 miles on the clock. No wonder Ford 
quit making them; they lasted much too long.
 
I've never gotten sentimentally attached to the few cars I've owned, 
but the Turquoise Dragon is an exception. I always had the 
rustproofing renewed annually, but I suppose you can only do so much 
over many years when the roads are liberally strewn with rock salt 
during the winter and there's plenty of rain and snow.
 
I'm not the only one who had a special affection for this little 
piece of iron, either--the guy I bought it from said his wife was in 
tears when he drove it away for the last time to hand it over to me. 
I guess I'll clear everything out of it, take off the plates, and 
drain the gas tank (needless to say, I filled up the day before all 
this happened), then call an auto parts recycler to take the 
Turquoise Dragon off to the big scrap yard in the sky. Anyone who 
buys a used part from this one is getting a piece of a mighty fine 
little vehicle.
 
Goodbye, Turquoise Dragon. You were a good old wagon.
 
PH


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