My car is 10 years old this week. I bought it new; now there’s over 175,000 miles on it. I’ve been thinking that maybe it’s time to start looking for another vehicle. I don’t say that out loud, though, because I don’t want it to hear me and start acting up.

There’s nothing really “wrong” with my car, other than the fact that the heater fan only works on the highest setting. But it doesn’t hurt to look, does it?

I chose my car 10 years ago to “blend in” with the other teachers’ cars in the school parking lot. I got a 4-door, non-descript, Secret Service gray car in the hopes that the kids wouldn’t vandalize it as much as they had my “hot metallic cranberry” car.

So when I started taking a closer look at all the cars on the road today, to my horror, I discovered that car manufacturers have apparently forgotten that there is a whole RAINBOW of COLORS to choose from. During one trip to Astoria I saw only gray, black and white cars, with an occasional maroon pickup thrown in.

How depressing!

Even more depressing is the lump-like cookie cutter all the new cars seemed to be created from. Everything out there looks just alike! What happened to distinctive STYLE? Everything on the road is just a gray lump on four wheels.

Why should I buy a car with no color and no style? I’m in the prime of my life and I want my car to express my vibrant personality! I think I’ll form a one-woman protest and refuse to buy a car until Detroit starts thinking outside the box. As I said earlier, there’s nothing really wrong with the car I have.

And…. Whew! Look at all the money writing this blog just saved!