Musician's Widow

I drive a pick-up truck. Well, my husband and I share a truck right now, but even if we didn’t… I’d still be a pick-up girl.

It all started when I was little. I wanted a red and white truck. On the way to school, we’d pass a house with a red and white truck outside, and I’d staaaare at it as we passed. I wanted that truck. Sooo bad.

When I got my driver’s license, I drove a Ford Taurus. I liked it… it had a charm that I made my own. But at heart, I still wanted a truck. My parents surprised me one day by finding a red and white truck for sale on a Wal-Mart parking lot… I was GIDDY when they bought it for me to drive.

I got my red and white truck.

Me and my dad, first day of Senior Year beside my red and white truck

I drove it through the rest of my high school years. Sometime senior year, it needed exhaust work. My brother took it in and had dual exhaust put on it, giving it a deep growl.

I remember one of the guys in my class asking me why I made my truck so loud. I simply said, “Because I wanted it.” Barely holding back a snide, “Jealous?”

I put speakers behind the seat. Replaced the original radio with one that had a tape deck (so I could listen to my CDs using the tape deck adapter… remember those?) That was MY truck.

My parents still have that truck, and even my brother wants to own it some day. I figure its the one item that, some day, my brother and I will tussle in the front yard over…

My freshman year of college, my brother was in an auto accident. Safety items in the truck he was driving saved his life.

I went the very next day and bought my very first truck in MY name. (The salesman tried like hell to put me in a Focus. I pretty much told him he would get in me a truck or he’d not have a sale that day.) The white 2000 F-150 was stripped down. I can’t even remember if it had power door locks now, but I remember driving off that lot beside myself giddy.

Old truck & new truck

It was the first of a long line of trucks, due to my only being able to get into the truck by leasing it. I followed that 2000 F-150 with a black 2002 (which I wrecked), maroon 2003 (the only truck I’ve ever regretted trading in…), black 2005 (which I also wrecked at one time, but that was also the truck that took me to Nashville), grey 2007, and today’s 2010 maroon F-150.

The last truck is the first one that’s not on a lease, and its not just in my name. My husband and I are proud of that truck. It’s one of our only “prized possession,” I guess.

I should perhaps also admit I got into ALL of these trucks thanks to my brother working for the dealership. Without the family discount I’d have probably been on foot years ago…

Why trucks? Why NEW trucks? I can explain…

• Again, I’m a pick-up girl. I’ve driven trucks since the beginning, and driving a car just freaks me out a bit. I’m nowhere near as secure behind the wheel as I am in a truck. It’s a comfort thing.
• With all of my family over 800 miles away and my husband on the road, I refuse to not drive a reliable vehicle. REFUSE. Not only is my truck reliable, it comes with roadside assistance. An 800-number call, and I have Ford on the way to help me. This alone is priceless to me.
• We haul gear. All the time. We could NOT drive a car and hope to move my husband’s keyboard gear. A truck is absolutely a necessity for us. And we got a four door so it’ll be a family vehicle just as much as being a utility vehicle.

Gas prices are rising to an insane level once again, and, yes, driving a truck can put a serious pinch on the pocketbook at the gas station. Especially when you have about a 25 gallon tank. However, the gas mileage on our new truck is wayyyyyyyyyy better than any of my previous trucks. Plus, we have moved so close to everything that we actually can go about two weeks between fuel stops. So… yay that!

Not only do I just LIKE driving a truck (call it part of my personality), it’s something I’ve really sat down and thought about… its what makes sense for me and my husband.

Today, I had to go renew the tags on my truck. It’s a yearly task that I just really don’t like to go do. For one thing, its one more thing to attempt to budget into my expenses (which never really happens, but I’m trying). For another, it always ends up taking a lot of time out of my day. So, I embarked on my task with a bit of a grumpy attitude already.

Sitting in line for emissions testing

First stop, emissions testing. Growing up in small-town Texas, this was not a task I had to do before moving to Nashville. (Instead I had to do a state inspection, which is far more involved but it’s not a part of getting tags.) Of course, I pick the lane taking the longest to go through.  I amuse myself with Twitter while I wait… okay, I whine on Twitter while I wait.

Wouldn’t you know, though, that I get up to the front of the line and it takes my truck maybe a minute to be done. Made me shake my head to myself. Wait half an hour for the four cars ahead of me, only to fly through myself. But, hey, it was done and I was free to go.

Off I went to the county clerk’s office to get my tags. Only problem: I found the closest clerk’s office boarded up! What? I just drove by a couple weeks ago and they were there…

Understand, I am big on details. I like to have everything laid out ahead of time. I had the exact amount for my tags figured and the check written. I had all my paper work paper clipped in my passenger seat. I had planned this all down to the most minute detail. But I DIDN’T KNOW THE CLERK’S OFFICE MOVED!

So, I quickly found a parking lot to pull into, and I pulled out my handy-dandy Droid Incredible phone. I quickly Googled the clerk’s office and found in the bottom corner their new address. I copy and pasted it into my Navigator, and off I went to the new location, which just so happened to be a block from the vehicle emissions testing location.

Only, the address I had didn’t take me to the clerk’s office. It took me the National Guard!  I drove all around there, and I never could find the clerk’s office! I wasted a good 45 minutes just looking for an office that I’m not sure exists any more. I was annoyed and flustered by this time. (I’ve since looked the address up again and got the same location as my phone took me to. I’m so confused!)

I found another place to pull over, and I mapped my way to the clerk’s office the next town over.  Over 20 minutes away, and I knew the office closed in 30 minutes. Any traffic hang-ups and I’d be left out to dry for the day.

But, I went for it. I’d spent all this time on this task already, I might as well finish it. So off I went.  My Navigator took me right to the front door of the office, and I got in line to go drive-thru for renewals. I was about seven cars back from the window… and the line wasn’t moving. I looked at the clock and weighed my options.

See… I’ve been in the drive-thru line at the clerks office at closing time, and they didn’t care that there were cars already there. When it was closing time, they closed the window and refused to serve anyone else. I did NOT want that to happen to me again. I decided to back out of the line and find somewhere to park. Surely they wouldn’t throw me out physically if I got in the door before they closed.

I grabbed my neatly paper clipped stack of papers and went inside. I almost didn’t believe my eyes. There were two ladies just sitting there without anyone at their windows. I walked right up, and since I had everything together I was done less than five minutes. I couldn’t help but turn to look at the drive-thru as I strolled to my truck. It hadn’t moved an inch! SCORE! Finally, something went right.

Of course, then I couldn’t find my way back out of town without my Navigator, and it did try to take me the wrong way down one-way streets. (But, I AM smart enough to not follow any GPS blindly.) Of course, this was the one time I didn’t pack my phone charger, so by the time I got home, my battery was dead right along with my nerves frazzled.  I didn’t even put the tags on my truck yet, because I figured with my luck today I’d end up slicing my finger trying to get the old tags off!

At least this is a task that I hate to do that is done for another year. And I am going to keep in mind that I need to double check addresses before I leave the house — even to places that I’ve been to before. You never know when they’ll have moved and you’ll end up chasing your own tail. It is just a waste of time, gas, and frustration.