FISH SMELL IN REFRIGERATOR https://blog.dnevnik.hr/fish-smell-in-refrigerator

I remember this car very well. For the latter half of my childhood it was the main ‘family’ car and, later, in my very early driving days it was the main car I learned on. This was the Camry that began my interest in Camrys.

The Camry was not sexy or exciting. It was… white. And kind of looked like a refrigerator. A pleasant refrigerator, but a refrigerator. It was also quiet, comfortable, very roomy. I distinctly remember how slow and deliberate the steering was, how overboosted the brake pedal felt, and how the soft suspension would lazily float over potholes. Actually, apart from the anemic engine, it wasn’t drastically different than a current Camry, or any Camry in between.

Well, it also had those idiotic passive restraint motorized seatbelts. I still remember the day I shut the door with an ice cream cone in my hand, and the car knocked the entire thing into my lap as the belt slid up the A-pillar.

Another day, long long ago, when I was about twelve years old, my mother came to pick me and four other friends up from the movies. They piled in the back (along with the family dog, which she had felt necessary to bring along), and I got in the front. Jokingly, I asked if I could drive, and she replied, “sure, why not.” We parked, she got out and I jumped in the driver’s seat. I can still picture the rear suspension sagging on the ground, saddled with the weight of four pre-teens and a small canine. It was an empty mall parking lot, so there wasn’t much I could do wrong. I lazily drove around in circles for a few moments, then, suddenly, I decided to play a little trick. I shoved the gas pedal to floor, the front tires chirped and I heard a symphony of semi-frightened screams coming from the backseat and a “thump” as the terrier flew up and back into the rear windshield. It only lasted about three seconds, but what an exciting three seconds! Frightened by my actions, I slammed on the brakes and my mother came running over to order me out. I didn’t drive a car again until I was of legal age.

When I first got my learner's permit way back in the prehistoric era known as 2007, this was always the car I chose to drive. It was just so… relaxing. The red velour seats would cradle you to grocery store and back; the driving experience was so unflustered and ‘easy’. The doors shut with a solid thud. It was a sedate, predictable car that did its job, and did it well.

All good things have to end, and the Camry’s end was particularly painful. Eventually, I got my own car, and the Camry was handed over to The Worst Driver in America, sometimes colloquially referred to as “my brother”.

What has always amazed me about TWDiA is his uncanny ability to never completely total a car, but to accumulate enough small fender benders to demote any automobile to beater status, and quickly. Rear-end a Buick? No problem. T-bone a delivery van? Who cares! Clip a parked car in a parking ramp, slide into a ditch… it doesn’t matter! If memory serves me right, the poor Toyota was involved in no fewer than five (!) accidents over the course of about two years. It was aging very quickly at that point - rust holes started to develop, trim began falling off. The engine progressively became slower and louder. The power steering rack developed a leak and began to offer inconsistent boost. One day, on a cold February morning, the key was turned and…. nothing. After 22 years and 230,000 miles, it was time to say goodbye.

RIP Camry. Gone, but not forgotten.

Scuba Diver trying to put the straps around the boat to lift it up. Couldn't pay me to do that job. All types of chemicals from stuff on boats, gas, oil, refrigerators have been leaking into the water for the past year and a half.

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