Thankfulness: Day 8

I am thankful my 1999 Ford Windstar minivan is still running. It seems to keep chugging along despite the numerous things wrong with it. I am grateful that it gets me to where I am going in a mostly reliable manner.

Before I was let go from my job in March of 2011, I thought that my minivan was on it’s last legs. So I applied for and received pre-approval for a car loan. I was in the process of finding the right vehicle (since I tend to hang on to them for years), when I lost my job. Thank God I didn’t take on that debt!

So I am still driving the vehicle I thought would have died a couple of years ago. It has over 190,000 miles on it. But it is going and going and going. Very loudly, I might add, since the exhaust has developed a hole in it.

And the “check engine” light just popped back on again today. Not that I am too worried about that. In a vehicle this old, my mechanic said it would be unusual for the “check engine” light not to be on. It did go off the last time I had my oil changed (not related, I’m sure) and it stayed off until today. Oh well. It is like an old friend. I missed seeing that little engine shaped light on my dashboard.

I am very grateful that the old minivan is going still after all these years. I am hoping and praying that someday I acquire a new vehicle. But, until then, I have this old faithful Ford.