my lemon love

my neon is pretty much dead.

i am really sad. she has been with me a long time. i think this is a real tragedy. she is 10 years old with only 86,000 miles on her. she should have many wonderful years left.

here is what the green monster has been facing:
1. leprosy. i'm not kidding. the paint is peeling on top and wearing off on the rear bumper. this has been happening for quite sometime. no one will come near her except me and those forced to ride in her. she is a beautiful car with an amazing spirit, but no one can get past the exterior.
2. broken AC. it broke in july. it would cost $900 to fix. i am leaving in sept. so it is not fixed
3. the ceiling is falling. the cloth on the ceiling has been hanging low for a while. but keeping the windows rolled down all the time has made this process accelerate rapidly and now it is just slightly ridiculous.
4. the locks work very inconsistently.
5. she burns oil like NO other.
6. no working horn.
7. a dent in the bumper from where someone hit my car in chapel hill and then drove away.

but today was the worst...the green monster's time is seriously almost over. here's what happened:

ever since i've gotten back from the beach (aug. 5) the neon has been making crazy noises. like a roaring. so i have added oil twice, once being wed. i spent the night in chapel hill last night and the horrible noises persisted. i even got my pal colin to listen and try to figure out what the problem could be. he suggested i check the oil but i was like, i put more in there on wednesday, i would really hope it is not that! i get back at 945 this morning, no problems. after lunch i am about to move my car so kyle can get out of the driveway. the neon makes the most insane noise i have ever heard. screeching. lots of smoke. i freak out and yell for dad. cut the car on again, same thing happens. we check the oil. absolutely no oil...great. we add 2 quarts of oil. cut the car on for a 3rd time, even more smoke and while i am trying to move the car onto the curb, the steering wheel stops functioning. at this point there is a lot of yelling in the driveway. i say something along the lines of: can we please just go to old navy and worry about this later! so we go to old navy. i got some new jeans and two shirts. we get home and the neon no longer makes a horrible noise! there is hope! we add another quart of oil.

so, she is doing better, but the steering wheel is not totally back to normal. like when you try to turn, it doesn't work. i only have 4 more weeks in the u.s. and i really wanted to spend some quality time with the neon. i am bummed. now i am flying to nashville instead of taking the neon on her last hurrah....

sigh. please keep the neon in your thoughts and prayers. she is feeling very depressed and hopeless.

love you all,
jess