Where Is My Bugatti Veyron?

dancingwithalsandlife.blogspot.com

Picture of the White Bugatti Veyron 

My father is a retired car dealer.  In my youth, I spent countless summer hours working at his business taking cars here and there to auto auctions.  While my girlfriends were reading Teen Beat, Teen, and Seventeen magazines with all the quizzes and tips about dating, pure pressure, make up and the latest boy bands, I was reading Car and Driver. Thanks to my father, I had an obsession with cars at an early age.  I couldn't wait until his Car and Driver magazine arrived in the mail so I could page through it to see all of the new hot trends. 

During this time I was exposed to all sorts of cars such as high performance, luxury, convertibles, classics, and family vehicles.  Taking test drives just furthered my obsession.  I guess deep down at my core I could say Im a Motörhead.  Although the joyrides were fun, one thing I despised about my summer job working at the auto dealership meant I was on car washing and auto detailing duty.   I can say cleaning the interior and exterior of those vehicles made me hate cleaning my own cars in adulthood. 

Summertime also meant enjoying the era of the muscle car, the American-made two door sports coups with powerful V8 engines designed for high-performance driving and what my hometown teens called, cruising the local strip.  While driving the local strip, drivers would show off their souped-up vehicles blaring the car stereo and hanging out with friends. Listening to the growling of the engines as they progressed through their gears was extremely exciting to me. I frequently would tag along with my sister and now brother-in-law in his 1977 firethorn red Camaro to join in on the fun.

Adulthood was a totally different story especially when the kids came along.  Joy rides just weren’t in the budget. Damn it! I could commiserate with a neighbor who was very meticulous about his sweet ride, a cool jeep, washing and waxing it like it was his pride and joy! Unfortunately, he, too, had to trade in his jeep for the dreaded, economical, family minivan when his baby arrived!  One day while washing and waxing his van, I yelled over to him, “Hey, Tom!  It doesn't matter how much you wax that stupid family van. It's not going to turn back into your Jeep!”  He gave me the sad puppy dog eyes and said, “I know. This really sucks, doesn't it?”  I replied, “It sure does!”  Because I, too, had a minivan with Cheerios, books and toys on the floor sitting in my driveway. Unlike my neighbor, my van was never washed or waxed. 

After experiencing 50 plus years, there are a few things that I would have tweaked.  During my adulthood, I never had the opportunity to pick out a car that I wanted to drive.  Looking back, I'm totally pissed about it now because I am no longer able to drive.  While raising children, we were the average, middle-class family on a budget.  Vehicle purchases were only what we could afford, and they typically were used cars, hand me downs, or like so many American families, the dreaded minivan like my neighbor! Even now we have a practical car, a Toyota Corolla which I constantly nag my spouse about because it has plastic hubcaps, his choice not mine.  A car just isn't the same without cool ass aluminum rims and maybe spinners. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the cars we had during those times. However, I was just hitting the point in my life of becoming an empty nester, a time when there should be a little more discretionary income to purchase things for myself. 

Prior to this, all of our dough went back into the family pot for expenses.  Then wham! ALS arrived!  ALS has taken a lot away from me including my job and income, buying a fun car, the ability to travel abroad, and updating the house the way I wanted.  Now the only upgrades we do are to accommodate my disabilities.  Our purchases are only out in necessity not for enjoyment.  Even though my spouse and I are empty-nesters, it actually feels like it did when we were raising our young family on a modest one salary income to enable one of us to stay home with them.  We ate a lot of pasta and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches back then which I'm finding is a pattern for us now as well. 

I would've loved to purchase a Bugatti Veryon.  I know it was a pipe dream.  I would never have been able to afford that kind of car on a social work salary along with my spouses income. However, sadly, when it was time for me to purchase my next new vehicle, it was a walker which I desperately needed due to my unsteady balance.  When I knew this was the next step on my ALS journey,  I didn't want to have an old lady walker because I am not 90 year old woman for goodness sakes!  

At an ALS clinic appointment, my prayers were answered when the physical therapist came into the room with an European style walker with the word nitro written on the side for me to try.  I immediately knew this was the four wheeled speed demon machine with nitrous that I was going to buy.  Even though it had plastic rims, I could use my imagination and pretend they were stylish aluminum rims on my Bugatti Veyron Walker. Hitting the gas and nitrous on my vehicle doesn't throw me back into my seat though because it only moves at a turtle speed which is expected.  When I showed my family my new nitrous vehicle, they were just as amazed at how cool it was.  I love the fact that my son-in-law nickname me Stacy, Hot Wheels, a nickname I should've earned a long time ago!

Another interesting fun fact about my new vehicle is that because it is not the typical walker, when I am out on the town, I am the envy of the entire geriatric population.  I get stopped frequently and asked, “Where did you get that thing? How does it work? I love the big wheels in the front, and oh, look at all the storage in the attached bag.  I almost can compare myself with owners of a Bugatti Veyron having people going gaga over it!  

So why am I talking so much about cars and walkers?  All of us work in providing for our families, but every once in a while, without going into debt, we should splurge and buy something we enjoy for ourselves. It is a must because we never know what life has waiting just around the corner, and a window of opportunity may have just closed. Can't always be all work and no fun along the way. Please go out and have a little fun every once in a while. If you don't do it for yourself, please do it for me!

I was hoping in my retirement I could purchase a joy ride vehicle to cruise around with my spouse. That probably isn't in the cards for us now! And I must say, I am totally dreading the day I may possibly need to go back to the dreaded minivan to transport a custom motorized wheelchair when I am no longer able to use my Bugatti Veyron walker. Damn it!

        

Here is a picture of my white Bugatti Veyron Walker with nitrous and rims. I even added a little cupholder for my cups of coffee, water or spirits and a place to hold my cell phone. I guess it's not so bad. With a little imagination I can close my eyes and feel like I am behind the wheel of that fast car. I may even decide to add running neon lights underneath or flame stickers on my Veyron for a little extra wow effect! 

Oh, and here is a picture of my brother-in-law's muscle car, the growling 1977 firethorn red Camaro.

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