blogging, fun, GenX, momlife, parenting

Out and about on a Family Day holiday

by Writer of Words, etc

There was a time, after the first kid came almost 15 years ago, when I would have been willing and ready to move out into the country.

Get some property. A proper garden. Peace and quiet. A place to let the kids roam free…a pool…drive a truck.

For various reasons this didn’t happen.

Today, he’s ready, but I no longer am. There are many, many reasons I won’t bore you with.

But I digress.

What I actually wanted to talk about was trucks.

Because…if you live in the country you can justify driving a truck. Right?

Here in the city, unless you’re handy or into renos or construction, you really don’t need a gas guzzling, much-space-occupying vehicle.

Even if you like them.

So.

At the Canadian International Autoshow yesterday, when I saw these two car (licence) plates, I was both amused and irked simultaneously.

This will surprise none of my regular followers. You all know I am but a walking contradiction. 😂

Here are the plates:

What amused me is probably self-explanatory.

What irked me is the colours.

Pink

And pink with purple.

WHY?

And why this particular princess-pepto-bismol-bubblegum shade of pink?

Gross.

Anyway.

I won’t be getting a truck anytime soon. It’s highly doubtful that I’ll leave the city before the second kid finishes high school (she hasn’t even started yet). And after that, I doubt I’ll still be in the mood to start the kind of life we should have started 15 years ago… (Trust me, I’m not.)

(In his defense, he was an airline pilot at the time the first kid came, with brutal schedules. The house we bought (but shouldn’t have) and still live in (but shouldn’t be) is 20 min from the airport which was the primary attraction back then. You know how it goes: location, location, location.)

So that was one thing that irked me today – the pre-determined *pink for women* mentality. 😉

But back to the Autoshow.

We (they) inspected and tried out almost every car at the show.

When we (they) finished analyzing every car at the show for trunk space (youth sports family with gear) and rejected Canada’s #1 minivan as an option for us, we moved on.

I understand the appeal of the Caravans, but…ugh. We drove an Odyssey (used/preowned at the time) for a number of years but I’m not really partial to getting another huge van like that…(I did like it for space and comfort though.)

There was one car that had an interesting trunk…particularly appealing to people with dogs.

She doesn’t look impressed because I called that spot a “penalty box” and made her pose for me. 😀

My idea was to load hockey gear into the divided spots but they didn’t like it. 😐

Later, just before the crowds got annoying, we found an ’80 exhibition. Who remembers the station wagons with the wood panels?

They had a whole wall of boom boxes, cereal, and an assortment of toys from the ’80, as well as a few cars from the decade on display. It was fun!

Oh and David Hasselhoff aka Knight Rider was there…

It was a nice day, for a change. I admit freely that there has been more stress recently than I seem to be able to handle, so when my mom gave us some cash toward the Autoshow, we figured it would be good to get out of the house. Everyone likes cars, the teenager is a year away from getting his learner’s permit, and…well, it’s an outing.

Plus Monday was a holiday (Family Day).

The crowds were manageable until about 1pm but by 2pm I had reached my limit. We left a half hour later.

5 hours is a passable amount of time to spend at this show…

And now, it’s Tuesday. I woke with a headache at 3:45am, saw fresh snow outside, blamed the weather, gulped some Advil and here I am, unable to get back to sleep.

But I have good news: I may be back to dog walking…I new request came in. 🙂

Happy Tuesday! See you in the comments.

22 thoughts on “Out and about on a Family Day holiday”

  4. Despite being born on a farm, I’ve never ever driven a truck (a tractor a couple of times yes), but I knew I should have kept my little two seater Pontiac Fiero – it would have fit right in at the 80’s exhibit!

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. I totally agree with you about that purple and pink. Why? Why? Why?

    On a four-hour drive home from Madison, Wisconsin, on Sunday, the husband and I talked about downsizing from our Caravan (yes!) since the kids are gone (eight years now). We hope, by downsizing, that we will no longer be called upon to move the adult kids’ possessions. That being said, we picked up an office desk and chair for our son while in Madison. We are getting too old for this moving business. What you won’t do for your “kids.”

    Our local tourism office uses an old woodgrain wagon as part of their promotional touring gig.

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  6. I learned to drive in a truck, a very old blue Ford. Then, until I could earn enough money for my own 1st car I drove a different old blue truck to high school.

    I could have easily walked to school, but when offered the use of the truck as my transportation I jumped at the chance. Looking back, I think that battered, smelly, manual transmission truck was the best vehicle I’ve ever driven.

    The pink and purple crap though…no way.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I wanted the car I drive now to last until I no longer need or want to drive anymore, but now… I’m thinking that perhaps I should plan for a truck in my future. Maybe when I turn 70 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

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