Lucia the little car and long road trips

My car has problems, it usually has one if not two a year. These mean some kind of repair is necessary, but even though it has a problem I don't throw it away. It gets fixed, maintained and used again. Since the pandemic has been here little Lucy or Lucia has been used for long trips between London and Scotland. In London Lucia has the luxury of a garage, in Scotland the poor thing is open to the elements and bird shite. She's now entering her 14th year of age. Her engine is not big but she endures, she has little in the way of insurance value, unless you can count my thankfulness.

She needs a good wash, she also needs something done to her speakers because they sound awful. I decided to start this myself, so bought a couple of speakers and then took one of the old ones out. Then bought a gas soldering iron. Then could not solder wires with the iron because I've not done it before. I bought adaptor rings for the speakers to help them fit in the car. So although one door now has no speaker the other three doors do. To make things worse the really bad speaker distortion is coming from a different speak still in the car. I have bought some connecting blocks and a tool which helps to put screw studs in metal so it's easier to fix the speaker in the door. I work during the day and it's too dark or cold to get a chance to do anything to the car. I've even thought about getting an Android radio to put in, but then you have to get a particular kind and also ensure the electrical connections are compatible. Did I say Lucia needs a wash?

So together we go on trips of about 500 miles, because I'm getting fat and old it's necessary to stop frequently to stretch my legs. This must be done every couple of hours. If I travel late at night to get out of London without traffic it means I will not be in Scotland to sometime the next day. My trips take about 11 to 12 hours. It's the rest stops which delay everything. There's a certain amount of preparation which must take place when I travel. Not just putting belonging in the car, it's the filling up of the tank and making sure I have a full flask. The other thing is carrying water, a sandwich and a full flask of hot tea. There's a period in the night when I'm aware my eyes get really tired. About 2 a.m. it's the death hour or two. I yawn, then sing, then talk, open the window a little, suck on a segment of lemon and fight sleep and death at the wheel. I've stopped before and spent time in a car park, engine off head back eyes closed, even being aware to allow myself a moment of sleep. It doesn't happen, but it is enough to get me back on track. A little walk around the car. Leg shake, half a cup of tea. Self talk and then back on the road. Having re-calculated how many more hours there are left to drive. Providing that is I don't take a wrong turn because the SATNAV just isn't clear enough in it's instructions. This happens mostly where lanes merge and then merge again.

It's near on two years I've been doing this trip every few months, or every few weeks depending on the lockdown or not lockdown. My small moving box keeps on going for now. It takes me to the woman I love, Sparkling Eyes. It's always a relief when the journey is over, care and distorted speakers permitting.