Finding His Voice.

I didn't name Walden to be cute for this blog - I name all my vehicles. It's kind of weird when you think about it...like, I haven't named my coffee mug...but then again, cars are easily personified. Still, people are 50/50 when it comes to how they approach bonding with steel and wheels.

I definitely get my love of vehicles from my Mom - my Dad is very pragmatic about them...point A to B. To boot, my mom is a borderline crazy cat lady (as per the DSM V Coles Notes) - I feel personifying cars is a natural extension of that. I grew up with Vov the Volvo, Vanna Green the Caravan, Chloe the Camry and Harry the Honda.  The only car that didn't get a name was the 'gold Volvo' (always said with some bitterness) which imploded before it was Christened.

There are some loose naming conventions that one must follow. Alliteration is preferable or some sort of pun (Vanna Green) - though sometimes it's a bit of a stretch. Sangria the Seven was almost Ralph the Rex because she puked coolant everywhere on the first day I had her (a harbinger of what was to come)...but then the gender of the vehicle kiboshed that idea.

Gender and sex of a vehicle is the same. I haven't met a trans-gendered car yet...maybe they are out there, so I'll refer to it as sex. The sexing of a vehicle usually is straight forward and is based on design but sometimes they are androgynous. Walden theoretically could be female or male as he has some effeminite features. Sangria is definitely a girl, Vov, Evenrude and Erskine definitely boys.

Personality isn't always there. Chloe the Camry was as dull as her design and ride characteristics. I find that comes when you spend an inordinate amount of time with (and rely on) the vehicle. Evenrude was used as a delivery vehicle so I depended on him for my lively hood and spent a ton of time driving the snot out of him. He developed a fully blown personality, even more so than Sangria (who frankly is a bit of a bitch)...right down to a voice.

The voice usually appears when I've got passengers. I think it's hilarious...much to their chagrin.


While Evenrude (aka The Flea) was as you'd expect, spastic and grating - Walden's voice is more of a jaded Eeyore (of Winne the Pooh fame). He tends to claim to have traveled extensively and had crazy adventures - but usually they are just popular stories/movies with him as the protagonist. For example: "Did I ever tell you about the time I sailed up the congo and went too far up the river...?" or "Once, in the Andes and I had to rappel into a crevasse, even though I had no idea if there was a way out at the bottom..."

I'm embarking on a 10hr road trip with a passenger on Friday (you guessed it, more orienteering!) - hopefully she doesn't kill me...

Putting a face to a name - this is Evenrude