Friday Fill-Up
It was 1975. I purchased my first car. It was a 1971 Toyota. Those were the days when American made cars were boats. My little Toyota looked like a toy on the streets among them. It was mustard yellow.
My husband decided to give me lessons in knowing car parts. He always had a car, and I had not paid much attention to when he got fuel, changed the oil, etc.
Taking care of the car had always been his responsibility and he was good at it. He thought that since I now had my own car, that it was time I learned at least a little about them in the event anything happened on the road when we weren’t together.
The purpose for me getting a car was to drive our son to school and then myself to work. My husband based our gas budget on his experience. He was practical. We lived in Chicago where traffic jams and construction could mean edging along for more than 30 minutes, so he told me to always make sure that I had more than a quarter tank of fuel
Those were the days when gas stations had attendants. My husband, being a cautious and protective man, said that some of those attendants took advantage of women by offering to check their oil then telling them things that needed fixing that didn’t need fixing. Along with learning parts of the car, filling up on Fridays became our routine.
My little Toyota took leaded gas. At that time, a full tank cost $5.00. About 4 months after getting my little Toyota, my husband decided that since he had further to drive to work than I did, that it would be more economically beneficial for him to let me drive the boat of the Pontiac Catalina and for him to drive the Toyota. That he did – all week and weekends on $5.00 of fuel in the tank.
Those were the days!
Here’s hoping that this Friday you are filled with purpose, and that purpose drives you with righteous hope for the benefit of our family of mankind.
Feel free to use this thread for open discussion.
Posted on 07/18/2014, in Cyber Abuse, open discussion, Potpourri, Uncategorized and tagged 1970's, cost of fuel, open discussion, Pontiac, Toyota. Bookmark the permalink. 46 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
Xena, it is not a big surprise, knowing the part of the country where you live, that the metal termites were hard at work on your little yellow car. Yes, those were the days of cheap gas, but when one remembers back, that $5 worth of gas was pretty hard to pay for, and people still struggled to make ends meet, much like so many do today. I am a firm believer that the gas still costs us the same, only our money is worth less. The average family still struggles on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis just fighting for survival. The main changes in our country today is the upper end of the income bracket has managed to grow their incomes tremendously and the rest of the people have not… Poor wealth distribution is a major problem and seems to be getting worse daily…
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Crazy,
You’re right. I remember that $5.00 was quite a bit out of my $20 set-aside for work expenses a week, and that included lunch money and take-out treat on Fridays for my son.
I don’t know how young, single people survive these days.
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I just attempted to change it, the new name will be “crustyolemothman” and no that is not a bat (none in the belltower, yet)! Did it take? It took a while for the icon to change, so this will probably take a while as well.
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OMG! I love your car! My first car was a 1968 VW Beetle, which I bought from a co-worker in 1980. We lived in Germany, she had a week left in country before returning to the US and had to get rid of the car FAST! She wanted $600 for it. I said, “If you can wait until Thursday, I’ll give you $450 cash (Thursday was payday). She grumbled a bit, then agreed. Well, my husband (now my ex) had a hissy fit. WE DON’T NEED A CAR. WE ALREADY HAVE A CAR. I said, “No, dear, YOU have a car. I hitch rides, ride the school bus, however I can get to work.” Well, wouldn’t you know it–suddenly, his brand new SAAB 900 Turbo repeatedly failed to start. It was my little ’68 Beetle that got us around that winter! Snow banks, no problem. Just drive OVER them. I loved that little car!
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Sold that car 2 years later for $300 to a GI who–while I still drove the car–also installed a new cassette player (so it wouldn’t be stolen from his barracks room), replaced my muffler, and did tons of other work on the car for free, since he knew he would be getting the car when it was time for us to transfer.
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Linda, your comment made my heart smile. It also reminded me that I didn’t put in the price that I paid for that ’71 Toyota. $900. The guy wanted $1,300 but I already had a check from the credit union for $900 because originally, I saw a Cricket for that price. My husband test drove the Cricket and said there was something wrong with the choke.
Were you a manual or automatic driver?
Cassette player? Heck, it was good if cars came with FM radio back then. LOL!
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It was a manual. I’ve now driven an automatic for so long that I’d have to mentally walk myself through the steps if I ever drove a manual again. And my radio was AM only. So a cassette player was a real luxury.
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Linda. Same here. The thought of having to drive manual again is in the archives of my mind, along with converting fractions. 🙂
By the way, our secret; I still have a cassette player in the car I have now. LOL!
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You never know–maybe that cassette player will be worth sometime someday on Pawn Stars!
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Linda. LOL! But, what would I do with my cassette collection? 🙂 I still have and listen to vinyl. The oldest one is a Little Golden House 33 of “Bouncy, Bouncy, Ball.”
But I did get rid of the 8 tracks around 1995. 🙂
Geez. Why do I feel like those who did not live in the dinosaur age missed out on so much. 🙂
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I like watching House Hunters and House Hunters International on HGTV, just to see areas I’ve never had the opportunity to live–it always amazes me when people very vocally turn up their noses at a place that does not have granite counter tops or hardwood floors. I guess some of these people have never had to do without.
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Linda,
Yes, and I remember a time when people didn’t want hardwood floors but wall to wall carpeting. What would they do if all the houses had pantries, and there were no counters and cabinets in kitchens? I remember those days, and the kitchen table was used to prepare meals that were served in a dining room.
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Something, not sometime. Geesh! Senior moment!
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Being a car guy….and a hot rodder / racer at that, my 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th
11th 12th and 14th cars were all muscle / race or pro street cars and the term “gas mileage” was never in my vocabulary back them.
Naaaaa, it was all about having the baddest set of wheels in the county for me back then….man, those were the days !!!!
Hell….I got a 1983 Monte Carlo SS for my son back in 2012 when he was 14. Now he’ll have the baddest car in school. I can’t decide if we’re going to build a Big Inch Big Block or a stroker small block.
Must be something in the water ??
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LOL@Racer. Your son must be very proud of you. That car has to make him feel very special and also unique.
Want to hear something funny? As I was considering buying my first car, I asked about getting a Corvette. LOL!
Remember the little Chevy that had the engine in the back? I don’t remember the name.
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Yep, I remember……the Chevy Corvair
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Dreamer,
Love your new handle.
Corvair!! Thanks for reminding me.
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I LOVE your new handle too, butterflydreamer2!!!
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Your handle, butterflydreamer2, reflects the lyrics of “Butterfly” wonderfully!!
Let the current lift your heart and send it soaring
Write the timeless message clear across the sky
So that all of can read it and remember when we need it
That a dream conceived in truth can never die
Butterfly
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Thanks Xena and yahtzeebutterfly. A special thanks as well to crustyolemothman. I think it is wonderful that you chose to incorporate the “butterfly family” theme into your handle. You two were my inspiration to change mine. I must have sat here for hours trying to come up with something that fit with dreamer. I even had my husband trying to come up with something as well. And then it came to me, after reading your post again Xena. Yahtzeebutterfly gets a gold star…….
“That a dream conceived in truth can never die
Butterfly” ……… thus, butterflydreamer2
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butterflydreamer,
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Beautiful evolution of your handle:
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Remember Shanesha Taylor? She’s the mom who was arrested for leaving her 2 kids in the car while she went on a job interview.
She entered a settlement agreement that will dismiss the charges with her successful completion of parenting and substance-abuse classes and establishing education and child-care trusts in the amount of $10K for each of her three children. I wish Shanesha and her children the best.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale/2014/07/18/shanesha-taylor-charges-dismissed-abrk/12833413/
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I wish her and her children the best too, but have to confess that I’m amazed at the generosity fairness of the settlement. I live in Mesa, AZ and all you have to do is watch some of the current political ads on TV to see that racism is alive and well in Arizona!
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Linda, I’ve read many articles out of Arizona that make me sick. If I blogged on them, there would barely be time to eat and sleep. It appears that since 2008, racial discrimination and abuse of power is on the rampage across America.
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Oh to have it back again today, eh?
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Good afternoon, dear friend. Yes, it would be good to have the costs the same as back then with today’s income. There are times I wish that the vegetable wagons came through the neighborhood again. Regulations ran them out of business and now most of our fruit in my neck of the woods is imported from other countries. (sigh)
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Yes.
My gramma and I used to go right out our front door in Indy and buy from the Veggie Man/Truck who came by once a week. Loved it!
We also had Borden’s milk delivered in glass bottles to our door every morning.
Double sigh with you~
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Ahhh. The memories. 🙂 My mom used to tell me to run out and make sure the vegetable man didn’t leave before she got there. I grabbed my basket and my mom soon followed with her basket. Then there was washing the veggies after we got back home and my mom told me to watch out for the little green worms on cabbage. All those years and I only saw/found one such worm.
There was an actual “meat market” where the men cut meat according to order, and the grocery stores put purchases in boxes with your name and address on the box, and they were delivered to the house later.
But I think what I miss most about those days is the mutual respect everyone had for their neighbors in a diverse community. We didn’t care is the baker was Jewish or Italian, or the veggie guys Black or White. Neither did we care if a Sherman Shepherd had puppies with a Boxer. They were puppies, and we always wanted one. 🙂
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Yes to all!!!!
We/us were all different then.
I used to ride my bike all over Indy, all alone as a young child.
I never felt afraid. No one ever bothered me.
What a world it is now.
I hope you are putting this all in a book!
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Write a book? Me? LOL! My concentration for writing is pretty much limited to about an hour. That means I would complete a book in what — 10 years?
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Sounds like a plan~
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I learned to drive in my parents 1964 Lincoln Continental with the suicide doors. In 1975 I bought my first car, a 1968 Cougar. Out of all the cars I have owned, my favorite was a 1976 black Trans-AM with black leather interior.
BTW Xena, I still have and listen to my vinyl. I also have my grandparents vinyl as well, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, ext. I also have my stepfathers 78’s vinyl. I also have my 8 track player and tapes. Somehow I ended up with some of my brothers vinyl of the Moody Blues.
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dreamer, a 1964 Lincoln Continental was a boat! I bet that car road smooth like you were floating on air. It’s good to hear when others still have vinyl. Oh yeah — I remember the Moody Blues. Didn’t they have an album cover showing the cycle of life from infant in the womb to skeleton? That used to give me shivers.
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That car was a boat, or I should say is. It sat in the driveway for years, and then they donated it to the Towne Auto Museum in Sacramento in the 90’s. The Moody Blues music is way out there, I always liked the ending of this song, reminds me of the outerlimits or the twilight zone.
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Xena,
How do I get a gravitar, and those smiley faces, ect?
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dreamer,
Before I answer your question, I must tell you that seeing your handle brought tears of happiness to my eyes and heart. I see so much that can be learned and appreciated through the life cycle and nature of butterflies, and it makes me happy that you and others do too. I truly feel that we are family.
Now, to get a gravatar, here’s the link;
http://en.gravatar.com/
You will want to choose a photo and download it to your computer before signing-up. Or, you can choose several photos and switch between them. The instructions to change them will be given on that site after you sign-up.
For emoticons used in Word Press, see this link:
I just found this one on that page: 😀
For graphics, you can browse through http://www.glitter-graphics.com/ Choose the graphic that is HTML. The HTML is for blogs. The others are for forums, Facebook, etc.
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butterflydreamer2,
Here is a page with smiley faces:
https://www.google.com/search?q=smiley+face&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=2tfKU56pN4eGyATLgILoAw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ
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You right click the image you want to see options and then you click the option that says “copy image address.” Then just paste in where gravatar asks for the http which I think is the same thing as HTML. (Is that right, Xena?)
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Yahtzee,
The emoticons are separate and not the same as gravatars. They are HTML code for embedding emoticons into comments.
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Got it. Thanks.
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They said that they also created some secret emoticons for us to discover and so I am going to try these two:
:wow!:
:hurray:
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^5
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butterflydreamer2,
Love your new gravatar!
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Sybrina Fulton @SybrinaFulton 1h
Trayvon Martin peace walk & talk w/@kobebryant…thanks for the support Kobe #weremembertrayvonmartin #westandwithLA
http://t.co/cR05h1G1xo
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