Thursday, April 06, 2006
PRESIDENT NIELSON GETS A NEW CAR
WHAT A WONDERFUL SURPRISE TO WAKE UP ONE MORNING AND SEE A NEW CAR WAITING FOR ME IN FRONT OF THE MTC. I HAD NO IDEA THAT IT WAS TIME TO REPLACE THE OLDER ONE WE HAD, EXCEPT A COUPLE OF WEEKS EARLIER, THEY HAD PHONED FROM THE AREA OFFICE AND INDICATED THAT IT WAS TIME TO ROTATE VEHICLES, AND WOULD I PREFER A STANDARD OR AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - WELL, AFTER GIVING THE OBVIOUS ANSWER, I THOUGHT LITTLE MORE ABOUT IT UNTIL THAT GLORIOUS MORNING ARRIVED WHEN I LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW AND THOUGHT IMMEDIATELY OF THAT LINE FROM THE 'NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS' "WHEN WHAT TO MY WONDERING EYES SHOULD APPEAR BUT A....." NEW CAR. IT WAS ALL DECORATED WITH A NICE BOW ON THE FRONT, CLEAN AS A WHISTLE AND READY TO GO. MY ONLY CONCERN WAS TRYING TO DRIVE IT HERE IN GHANA. THE RULE OF THE ROAD SEEMS TO BE SNEAK IN WHERE EVER YOU CAN - INTIMIDATE THE NEXT DRIVER TO LET YOU GO FIRST - WEAVE IN AND OUT - WELL I JUST WAS WORRIED THAT WITH THIS SIZE OF A CAR THAT WOULD BE NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO DO - BUT WHAT A GREAT CAR!! MAYBE I COULD LEARN. FINALLY, COMMON SENSE TOOK OVER AND I PHONED THE AREA OFFICE AND EXPLAINED TO THEM WHAT MY PROBLEM WAS - WELL LO AND BEHOLD, THAT WASN'T MY CAR AT ALL - IT WAS ONE THAT HAD BEEN HIRED FOR A WEDDING AT THE CHURCH THAT DAY !!!!
SO....................................................
This is actually my new car - a little more reasonable in size - a lot more economical on the gas budget - and actually not too bad - it is a Toyota Avenissa - and it has both automatic and standard drive. If you want to switch from one to the other you can move the shift lever over to a row that has three different speeds on it L 2 D - and by shifting up and down on that row the car shifts to the appropriate gear - there is no clutch, so in a way its automatic, but you have full control (I guess - I haven't dared to try it yet - because the roads we drive on are so busy and congested you just don't feel much like experimenting. The head room is great - it is brand new (oh the smell) and we took the picture from this angle to show how great we are at repairing things. The second day we had taken it to Accra, we were in a stopped traffic snarl - no one moving very fast, and as we were waiting to move something bumped into the back of our car. I pulled over and got out and there was a motor bike that in its weaving and dodging in and out had hit us on the back bumper/fender. The fender was knocked loose and had about four white stripes on it from the bike. As routine I took the name and address and phone number of the driver of the bike (not sure how much was real, but the young fellow seemed really sorry and scared) I sensed there would be no insurance to help nor funds forthcoming, but I tried my best to put the fender/bumper back on - somewhat achieved it, but we drove home very slowly for fear the bumper might come lose and get run over. However, once home, we were able to clip it back into place, use a little paint thinner on the white stripes and lo and behold - can't even tell my brand new car has been in one accident already. Sister Nielson claims she arranged to have it delivered as my birthday present and is anxiously awaiting her birthday in July to see what I do to reciprocate .......Maybe a 54 inch television set?????
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