April 12, 2006
Our tractor
As far as I've ever been concerned there were only two things to be said about the types of vehicle Ron and I bought yesterday:
1)pedestrian and cyclist-un-friendly inner-city-maurauding eco-disasters owned by pretentious prats who would never go 'off-road' in the thing, were making the road unnavigable for other road users, and were using the beast purely to provide a cushioning-zone for their own inadequacies as drivers.
2)the mark of the suburban mum.
Just as well I'm not one for generalisations then hey! It does explain though why, after buying Fergie*, I was then plummeted into the dark depths of Sartrian despair and confusion.
We didn't plan to buy one of these, (lets face it, the only thing I was PLANNING on buying yesterday was some moisturiser) but when we went through the list of things we wanted to do with our car, (get around the city, mustn't be too big, but still able to do extensive travelling with bicycles and camping gear, drive up the alps with snowboards, go off road in National Parks, deliver pet sheep to Uncle Ben) this was the only thing that ticked all the boxes. Without being the size of our entire Amsterdam apartment.
A part of me would be a lot happier with a beaten up old Landrover, the guilt-ridden-Irish-Catholic-Virgo part I suspect. Teeth chattering as we hurtle over the tram tracks, the wind whistling through the gaps between the doors and the body, Jacob bouncing around in his booster seat and the dents and scratches testimony to the fact that we're not in it for the image. 'Cept of course it's just a different image isn't it. I suppose I'll just have to get used to all the extra-creature comforts. And to looking like everyone else. And I'll have to get my licence!
Oh and by the way, Fergie is a 2001 Mazda Tribute v6 Luxury, details schmetails.
(As I've mentioned elsewhere I have removed the comments facility, you can email comments to you-know-where)
*I've named her Fergie in reference to the fact that these are called "Toorak tractors" and of course the old Fergie tractors. Being a bit broad in the hips she does also bear some resemblance to that other Fergie.
Posted by Faith