Okay, that crumbled- rusted -fender Edsel was history. We were tired of hearing the lame jokes about Edsels. Most of them were not very nice. We needed a new car. This time we would stick with a well-established brand. Our adventure down the side street of "New! New! New!" was over. Dad had been smart enough not to get sucked in by the hype over the Tucker car. We should have learned from his experience that "Buyer Beware!" was more than just an idle threat. But Dad was gone to his reward and we were slow in wising up.

That picture in the newspaper of the new Olds caught our eye. Yes, they did have a model we could afford. We traded in our no-longer-fun Edsel and picked out a light blue two door Oldsmobile. Didn't we feel grand,driving out of their lot in our new car? Yes, indeedy!

Not long after that we came upon a State Police Road Safety Check on the way home from town. The officer waved us around it. We should have been on our way home. Nope! Wasn't going to happen. My husband, proud of our spanking new car, pulled into the line to be checked. It was a humid hot summer day. As it turned out, we would be there a while.

The ofiicer approached our new car. My husband sat proudly behind the wheel. A frown appeared on the officer's face as he took out his pad and started writing. My husband hadn't noticed, but I did. "Oh! Oh!" I thought. We are in trouble.

After checking my husband's drivers license and our car registration, we got the bad news. There were several violations. He read them off to my husband. First of all, no seat belts. (We thought they were optional.) Next, we had windshield wipers but not windshield washers. (They were now required, too.) The officer handed over the two tickets and added there would be no fine if we rectified the omissions within a certain number of days. Finally, on our way, we had sat in line or off to the side of the street for over an hour. - in the hot sun.

My husband was furious. Why hadn't the dealer told us of those requirements? We surmised that the car had been built before the new law came into effect. No wonder we had such a good price. I was wise enough not to remind him that he hadn't needed to go through the safety check line. He was suffering enough.

Our beautiful Oldsmobile ran fine, for a while. Then, at a stop light, it stalled. No amount of hitting the starter button would get the engine to turn over. We would have to sit there in traffic as the light turned green, red and green again and again. I could handle it when it happened to my husband, but not when it was my turn.

Our pastor, Father Conklin, drove a sporty new black Ford Mustang, the ultimate muscle car. After admiring it, i mentioned our balky Oldsmobile. "Don't you know what to do" he said. Lifting up the hood, he pointed out two little gears down at the left side of the motor. "When that happens, just push this down and you'll be on your way." He had had an Oldsmobile with the same problem.

I didn't have to wait long for it to happen again. It happened at a stoplight in heavy traffic.. With cars honking in frustration, I calmly opened the door, walked around to the front of the car, lifted up the hood and punched those two little gears. "Click," they said. Closing the hood, I got back in and hit the starter. "Whoom!" I was on my way when the light turned green again. We never bought another Oldsmobile.

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