Tikkabik

It's the end of an era.

I finally applied for a duplicate title with the Registry of Motor Vehicles for our Frickin' Van -- the '89 Aerostar that, towards the end of its useful life with us, seemed to develop a new problem every few weeks.

The Frickin' Van hasn't been used since January, 2004 -- it's sat in a spot in the driveway, mouldering away.

At first, I had every intention of resurrecting it and using it as as second vehicle. But the expense and time involved in fixing everything that was wrong with it overwhelmed me, especially in the face of other, more pressing concerns and financial limitations.

So we've made do with one vehicle -- our beloved conversion van -- and haven't worried about it otherwise.

When I first bought the Aerostar, the title arrived in the mail a couple of weeks after I registered it. I made the mistake of leaving it on the kitchen table, and Emmeline, only about five at the time, took it upon herself to fill every square inch of white space on the title with pictures of kitties and flowers and anything else she could get to fit.

Needless to say, such a title wouldn't have passed muster with whoever was going to get the van from us. So a duplicate title needed to be applied for. I've been procrastinating very effectively since then in getting that done, but on the last day of September, I found myself at the Registry, renewing the registration on the other, working van.

Now I'm just waiting for the new title to show up. When it does, I'll find a non-profit that accepts car donations, which I've done with the last couple of cars I've driven into the ground. There are a lot of them -- they usually scrap the cars for parts, and use the money for their services. Plus the previous owner (me) gets a tidy little tax write-off.

Easier and less of a hassle than trying to find someone to sell it to for parts, or paying someone to haul it to a wrecking yard.