Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Letting Go... The End Of An Era

Today someone is coming to haul off our '96 Oldsmobile... it recently blew a gasket, and it's not really worth repairing, especially since there are two newer cars out front which burn less fuel. I could probably fix it myself, but it's easier to just let go... we've had our use out of it, that's for sure, and the Olds has done more off-roading than most lifted "disco trucks" combined. Maybe that's why the car is starting to look like a "white trash beater"---you can only get sideways so many times in the dirt before a car takes on that "used" look. But overall I have no complaints... I went camping in the Olds countless times, and it always served me well. The trunk held a sh!tload of firewood, and all my outdoor gear easily fit in the cabin. The A/C and stereo cranked, never giving me any problem. I logged plenty of miles in the Olds right here in San Diego County, and it was a comfortable ride. That's one thing about an Oldsmobile: it doesn't lack comfort. I'm going to miss that old car... when I mashed the motor, it delivered, and some of my best memories are of flying down S-2 at 100 m.p.h., Van Halen's "D.O.A." blasting from my stereo. I'll also miss cruising down McCain Valley Road, cracking a beer from my big ol' cooler the nanosecond I hit the dirt. Even when parked in McCain Valley, Canyon Sin Nombre, Font's Point, and many other impromptu campsites, the car rocked by firelight, with music emanating from open windows and trunk... Pistols to Mozart, Johnny Cash to UB40, Marty Robbins to Pink Floyd, Bob Marley to Willie Nelson, Led Zeppelin to We The People... Who's to say that, on some subtle electromechanical level, a car has no soul? Sure, we'll save money with the smaller foreign cars outside, but I'm going to miss the Olds... gettin' sideways in a Toyota sedan just isn't the same. Fortunately, I have some cool shots of the Olds for my electronic scrapbook, and those pictures will remind me of all the good times I had behind the wheel of that car. Most readers already know the Olds production line ground to a halt years ago, so I can honestly and somewhat nostalgically say: "They don't make 'em like that anymore..."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

For nutty pies at Pizza by Aromi in La Mesa

Sicilian cousins add to the Italian goodness they dish out around Lake Murray

Today someone is coming to haul off our '96 Oldsmobile... it recently blew a gasket, and it's not really worth repairing, especially since there are two newer cars out front which burn less fuel. I could probably fix it myself, but it's easier to just let go... we've had our use out of it, that's for sure, and the Olds has done more off-roading than most lifted "disco trucks" combined. Maybe that's why the car is starting to look like a "white trash beater"---you can only get sideways so many times in the dirt before a car takes on that "used" look. But overall I have no complaints... I went camping in the Olds countless times, and it always served me well. The trunk held a sh!tload of firewood, and all my outdoor gear easily fit in the cabin. The A/C and stereo cranked, never giving me any problem. I logged plenty of miles in the Olds right here in San Diego County, and it was a comfortable ride. That's one thing about an Oldsmobile: it doesn't lack comfort. I'm going to miss that old car... when I mashed the motor, it delivered, and some of my best memories are of flying down S-2 at 100 m.p.h., Van Halen's "D.O.A." blasting from my stereo. I'll also miss cruising down McCain Valley Road, cracking a beer from my big ol' cooler the nanosecond I hit the dirt. Even when parked in McCain Valley, Canyon Sin Nombre, Font's Point, and many other impromptu campsites, the car rocked by firelight, with music emanating from open windows and trunk... Pistols to Mozart, Johnny Cash to UB40, Marty Robbins to Pink Floyd, Bob Marley to Willie Nelson, Led Zeppelin to We The People... Who's to say that, on some subtle electromechanical level, a car has no soul? Sure, we'll save money with the smaller foreign cars outside, but I'm going to miss the Olds... gettin' sideways in a Toyota sedan just isn't the same. Fortunately, I have some cool shots of the Olds for my electronic scrapbook, and those pictures will remind me of all the good times I had behind the wheel of that car. Most readers already know the Olds production line ground to a halt years ago, so I can honestly and somewhat nostalgically say: "They don't make 'em like that anymore..."

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Lowlifes and Lowriders (an airplane drunk and a lowrider)

Next Article

Chocolate cars in Tijuana

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader