9:19

"It's a match made in heaven... by a retarded angel."

~Woody Allen

Okay, I know, I know..."retarded" is no longer a politically correct term, and as a matter of fact, I don't used that term, but it was socially acceptable at the time Woody Allen used it, and I saw no reason to change it. So if that is all cleared up, let's get to today's blog post.


( Click The Photo To See A Larger Version )

See my car, well my former car, Lilith, well I knew there was a possibility that she had made it into Woody Allen's film Blue Jasmine, and here is the maybe, could-be, possible, confirmation. Look at the picture at the top. See the car silhouette in the window, just to the left of Cate Blanchette? Well, I think that might be Alan and I, inside Lilith, as we drove down Lexington avenue, on the day Woody filmed there. Now of course there is no way to know for sure, but that sure looks like my girl, and the sun seems to be in just the right place, plus the two young boys who played Ginger's sons were there that day, we saw them when the film crew broke for lunch! 

"What if nothing exists and we're all in somebody's dream?"

~Woody Allen

Okay, I am going to admit it, it would be the thrill of a lifetime to have accidentally made it into a Woody Allen movie, so yeah, I kinda really want it to be true. But at the same time, the car does look an awful lot like my car, so I am not completely delusional... maybe just partly so. LOL. At least as delusions and mistaken identities go, its harmless. You know the more I look at that photo, the more I am sure of it. It's Lilith. It was her last great hurrah. Less than a month later she died, and we traded her in for a new car. Our Denim Blue, 2013 Chevy Spark, that we named Carl.

It's strange to think that someone may be driving around in my movie star car. My Lilith, an uncredited extra in Woody Allen's amazing film, Blue Jasmine. And they don't even know it.

 
( Click The Photo To See A Larger Version )


Life is odd.

But seriously, it could be her... right?

"Eighty percent of success in life is showing up."

~Woody Allen

Mood: Hopeful

~Me :)

The Car, The Lock And The Key... The GM Recall Of 2014

"The worst dream of the night, when you are parted from someone you love and you do not know exactly where he is, but you know that he is in the presence of danger. You are tormented by a desire to keep the one you love safe."

~Whitney Otto, How To Make An American Quilt


The Lock. 2007 Saturn ION

I am just going to say upfront... this is a RANT! It has to do with the HUGE General Motors Recall Of 2014. It has to do with the fear I feel deep down in my soul, every single time my husband, Alan, gets in his car to leave for work, and then come home at the end of his work day. It has to do with the sleepless nights I have spent, after reading about the various problems other proud G.M. customers have had with their Saturn ION's and other G.M. cars. The repeated repairs at the owners cost. The dismissive behavior of G.M. and their dealerships. And the full on lying about there being any problems with the vehicles at all, because of G.M's bottom line... their loss of profit!

Here is what happened...

On a beautiful day in September of 2006, Alan and I decided that the time had finally come to trade in our 1998 and 1999 Saturns in for new ones. They had served us well, but they were ready to put out to pasture. It was a hard decision, at least for me, because I get attached to inanimate objects, and I absolutely loved my Saturn SL1! Her name was Angelica, and she took me through some profound moments during those years. You never really put it together... how much a car can mean to you... until you go to sell it, and you realize all the memories you make in your car. Vacations. Long drives on Sunday afternoons. The trip to the cemetery to say a final goodbye to your mother. 

Moments.

Okay, so the decision was made. Our late 1990's cars were reliable and so we reasoned why not just upgrade to the newest model Saturn? Which is what we did. Alan and I bought matching Saturn ION's, his in gold, mine in green. Cypress Green to be exact! I named her Lilith, and she was beautiful! She was dependable and got decent gas mileage, right up until 2 days after the warranty expired in 2009. That's when, for whatever reason, the problems began to happen. And they happened with such frequency that we couldn't afford to keep up with the repairs. Selling the car wasn't an option, because we wouldn't have gotten anything for it, so basically it sat in the driveway as little more than a planter box, while we saved up enough money to get it fixed!

 

Along the way Alan's car began to experience problems as well. Some of the same that my car had, and some that hadn't affect mine. The repairs were less expensive, but a bit more constant. We were doing our best to hold on until we got to the end of the payments. We finally made it! The pink slips came in the mail, and with the added money we now had each month, we put it together with our full tax return for the following year and put it into fixing my car, with the idea of now, with it completely fixed, I would have a car that was practically new. It only had 20,000 miles on it, and it was 6 years old. So, $3700.00 later, my car was fixed and drove like a dream, for exactly six months. Then the exact same fucking problem happened again!

The car nearly stopped dead on I580! We managed to limp to the side of the road, then we took the nearest exit, but let me tell you, it was some scary moments! Alan and I pulled over, on a street we were unfamiliar with, looked at each other, cussed a while, and agreed... enough was enough! The next day we took the car to a dealership, and traded it in for our current car... a 2013 Chevrolet Spark. And things have been less stressful every since, except for the fact that Alan is still driving his Saturn ION. I want him to get rid of that car, but he has held on because, frankly he just wanted a break from having to make an additional car payment. 

Understandable. 

But when I read about what has happened to others who have owned Saturn ION's... it keeps me up nights. I remember him calling me, late in day, and telling me that on his way home the power steering just stopped! Dead. Fortunately he was able to pull the car over, and then limp it home, but how scary is that? The dealership told us it was a faulty ignition switch, but that we would have to pay for it because it wasn't on a recall list. Between his car and mine, we replaced the ignition switch 3 times... at our own expense!

So, sleepless nights and now a letter sitting on my desk, from G.M. finally admitting that there is a problem, but also admitting that they knew there was a problem with the ignition switch put into G.M. cars as far back as the early 2000's. That means that they deliberately put that damn switch in our cars, prior to our purchase of them, knowing there was a safety problem of epic proportions. EPIC! And adding insult to injury, the recall letter reads as follows...

"G.M. is conducting a recall. We apologize for this inconvenience, however we are concerned about your safety and continued satisfaction with our products."

Then the letter goes onto say that they don't currently have the parts to fix the defect, but that they will contact me when they do. Until then, just drive the car with the key off the ring. In fact, drive the car with just the key, no fob. Nadda. Nothing. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Seriously?

 

Alan and I are in the process of considering our options. I don't know what exactly will happen. G.M. says they will pay for the past repairs, which I hope will go easily, but in that we have already sold one of the cars, who knows how that will go. Sheesh. In the mean time, Alan is still using his car to commute to work, and I am losing sleep every time he gets behind the wheel. Hopefully things will be decided soon, but I am not sure. We have had our share of sudden expenses, everything from Elvis's chemotherapy a few years back, to having to install a security system because the new owners of our cottage think they can walk into our gated yard any time they want. 

Life is dumb sometimes. And it's damn inconvenient. But at least we didn't die on the highway like some have. Whenever I get too far into feeling sorry for myself, I think of those poor souls, and I count my blessings, and remember to be grateful for this life. And for Alan. And I say a prayer of thanks, and then I pray for each new day, with the hope that all will be well, not just for us, but for others in the same boat we are in.

What else can I do?

Hey, at least there is a congressional probe underway. Gee, don't I just feel all better now?

Mood: NOT HAPPY

~Me :)

*Here Is Why You Should Pay Attention To The G.M. Recall Probe
(The Wire)

*A Complete Guide To The Stunning GM Recall That May Be Linked To Over 300 Deaths
(Business Insider)

Blue Jasmine... The Movie Poster And Cypress Green... The Car

"The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it's as though you always get in ten minutes after the big picture has started, and no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues."

~Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

 

Finally... the poster has been unveiled! Little by little, inch by inch, we move closer to the premier of Woody Allen's latest film Blue Jasmine. I have been waiting since last summer for this movie, and in just a couple months it will finally be in theaters and the big question I have had since we turned the corner onto 20th street, in San Francisco, that hot August day last year... Is the top of my Cypress green 2007 Saturn Ion visible from the second floor window where Woody was filming a scene? LOL. Did my car become a star that day? You bet! At least in my hopes it did! You see, to me, if you are seen in a Woody Allen movie, even if it is just the top of your head, or hood of one's car in this case, then you have made it into cinematic history. If the top of Lilith, my car, can be seen, I will have a permanent smile the rest of my days! I kid you not. I wouldn't want to have been seen in the film in a million years, I much too shy for that. But to see my car would be like having the best secret ever, a secret that's all mine, because who else would care but me? Does that make sense?

If Lilith is nowhere to be found in the movie, no worries, I enjoyed watching it being filmed so much that I am still smiling over it. Alan and I continue laugh about how completely out there I got just standing across the street from Mr. Allen. There I was, maybe 20 steps from someone I have admired and appreciated my whole life, I had all my cameras with me, I had every opportunity to get the quintessential Woody Allen photo, and what happens? My hands wouldn't stop shaking! I had to work incredibly hard to get the handful of photos I did, but at least I didn't give up! I didn't run away, or rather shy away. I stood there, tried to calm myself down, and got the photographs I came for! I met the challenge! Fear BE DAMNED!

"To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must no love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness."

~Woody Allen

If my car, Lilith, did indeed make it into the film, here is how she would appear...
 

I know, at first sight, not much to write home about. But to me... the thrill of a lifetime. I hated having to get rid of my beloved car last year. She and I have a lot of memories together! Oh my... alas... it was time. My Lilith died less than one month later. And I miss her, I really loved that car! So I can't help but hope, a little, that she somehow has done will I will never be able to do, live on immortal. To be seen, if only in a glimpse, world wide, as a splash of color in a Woody Allen film!

How can I not think of her lovingly, after all, if not for her, and Alan of course, I would have never been able to reach my lifetime goal of making inadvertent eye contact with Woody Allen! And I did it not once... but twice! :)

Tee Hee!

 

"80% of success is showing up."

~Woody Allen

Mood: Happy


~Me :)

Round Robin Challenge: Something Different

"I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs, because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it."

-Unknown

My car, Lilith, will be 1 yr old on September 29th. In that I am one of those, "girly-girls" I only really know the basics of what makes her tick, but the idea of the challenge this time, was to step out of your comfort zone, so, while I know how to turn on the engine, how to change the radio station, how to make the wipers work, and oh yeah, if things go ever so slightly awry with the engine, tires or brakes, I also know how to push the little green panic button that notifies OnStar, I don't really understand much more then that. LOL. So, in trying to achieve "something different" for this challenge, I decided to learn more about what makes my car go. Here is what I learned...

There, that was easy, and now I feel so smart! Next I might learn how to change a tire. I am woman... hear me roar! ROFL! This challenge came to us by way of Nancy, author of the blog, Nancy Luvs Pix. Be sure to pay a visit to her blog, to see her entry, and then be sure to visit all the Robins. It is our first challenge, since we changed the day we play the challenges to Saturdays. The Robins are a creative bunch of bloggers, artists every one! :) Just click the links below.

Linking List

1. Karen... Outpost Mavarin
POSTED!

2. Carly... Ellipsis
POSTED!

3. Janet... Fond Of Photography
POSTED!

4. Annie... Pictures of Craziness
POSTED!

5. Nancy... Nancy Luvs Pix
POSTED!

6. Suzanne R... New Suzanne R's Life
POSTED!

7. Jessica... QuickSilver Dreams
POSTED!

8. boliyou... Percolation
POSTED!

9. Vicki... Maraca
POSTED!

10. Gina... Gina's Space
POSTED!

11. Gattina... Keyhole Pictures
POSTED!

12. Steven... (sometimes photoblog)
POSTED!

13. Tara... A Long Walk Home
POSTED!

14. Teena... It's all about me!
POSTED!

-OndineMonet
"All About Lilith"
Berkeley, California
September 7th, 2007
Afternoon