U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2022
    • Program Suggestions
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • A Different View Of German History
      • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
      • Demystifying Psychology
      • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
      • Zoom Short Course
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Making the Most of the Internet >
          • + Ian's Blog
          • + Links and references
      • O - Z >
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Tech Savvy Drop In
        • Travel Group
  • A-Col
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • Armchair History
    • Armchair Traveller
    • Art Appreciation
    • 'As Time Goes By' >
      • Home
      • 'On Friendship'
    • 'Be Connected'
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Chat n' Chew
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
  • Com-G
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Family Research
    • Family Research - Beginners
    • Film Discussion Group
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Lessons
      • German - Beginners
  • I-P
    • Investment
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball
    • Meditation
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork >
      • Patchwork Home
      • Patchwork Exhibition 2020
      • Patchwork - Beginners 2019
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
  • R -Z
    • Recorder Group
    • Russian Literature
    • Saturday Cards - '500'
    • Singing for Fun
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Android
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Apple
    • Tech Talks
    • The News - Fact or Fiction?
    • Wine Appreciation
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Program Guide 2022
    • Membership Application 2022
    • Month Overview Semester 1 2022
    • Full Timetable with Dates Semester 1 2022
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News - General
    • May Newsletter
    • Calendar 2022
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2022
    • Gallery 2021
    • Gallery 2020
    • Gallery 2019
    • Gallery 2018
    • Gallery 2017
    • Gallery 2016 >
      • + Christmas Lunch 2016
    • Gallery 2015 >
      • Christmas Lunch 2015
    • Gallery 2014
    • Lifeball Video
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Wangaratta
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
  • Contact

My 'Car Story'

19/7/2020

1 Comment

 
My husband, Sean and I arrived in Australia in 1965. Sean bought a car which he used to travel to work. How he bought that car is another story. I had no car. I got my driver’s license in Ireland when I was 18 but I could not afford to buy a car. I longed for a car of my own and at the time of this story, I could afford to buy one. Not a brand-new car, but a good used one.
 
One day I was walking past a car yard when I noticed a little beauty.  It was just what I wanted.  I went and had a good look at it. It was a Skoda. I knew some vehicle makes such as Ford, Hillman and Vauxhall and that was the limit of my knowledge. To me a car was a car. I had never heard of Skoda, but I liked the name of this car ‘Skoda Felicia’. I loved its low profile and sleekness, a bit like a sports car and, best of all, it was a mid-blue, my favourite colour.
 
I do not remember how much it cost, but it must have been in my price range. I bought it straight away, no test drive or mechanical inspection. I paid for it and drove it home. I was so proud of it and was delighted at having discovered such a nice car.
 
The next day I planned to go shopping in my car. It would not start. I kept trying and trying but it was as dead as a doornail. When Sean came home from work that evening, I asked him to check it out and tell me what was wrong with it. He sat in, turned the key and it fired up immediately. There was no problem. He said I must have been doing something wrong.
 
It wouldn’t start for me again the next day. When Sean tried to start it there was not a kick out of it. This proved to be an on-going issue. Sometimes it would start and other times it was impossible to start. We took it to an auto electrician, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. It was just temperamental. My lovely car was unreliable. I would have to buy another car.
 
One day Sean saw a ‘reliable’ car in a sales yard. He talked with the salesman, and they negotiated a deal. My Skoda was traded in for the ‘reliable’ car.  I was sad losing my dream car, but I liked the idea of having a car I could depend on to start.  I was looking forward to seeing my new reliable car. That was until my husband arrived home with a big clumsy beige Austin A 40.  I considered it a monstrosity.
 
The Austin A 40 remained my car for several years and it never let me down.  I never fell in love with it and mourned my lovely blue Skoda. I have never felt attached to a car since. People dream of owning Jaguars, Mercedes, Jeeps, or Landovers.  If I can’t have my Skoda, any reliable car will do.
 
 
Elizabeth Kearns.
 
As Time Goes By - July 2020
1 Comment
    Our Stories

    Car Stories

    The brief?  ‘So many formative moments happen in cars – tell us about a memorable experience you had in yours.  It could be your first taste of P-plate freedom, a revealing in-transit conversation, or how an accident, a flat tyre, or parking ticket set off a chain of events in your day…or?’  Over to you!

    Writers

    All
    Betty Milligan
    Beverley Lee
    Bev Morton
    Elizabeth Kearns
    Marg McCrohan
    Ray O'Shannessy

    Archives

    July 2020

    RSS Feed

    Image Acknowledgement:  Winton Raceway Website
We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
COVIDSafe Plan
U3A Benalla & District Flier 2022
​Membership Application/Renewal Form 
​
Program Guide 2022
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2022
Semester 1 Timetable Month Overview 2022
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla & District. 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria