Clunkers

We're one of the 690,000 people who traded in under the clunker program.  And we did it almost on the last day of the program.  And we almost didn't make it, because in our typical fashion, we didn't do enough research, didn't know you had to buy a car off the lot, and you had to have all the paperwork with you for the clunker.
 
Anyway, we went hybrid but not the one we originally wanted.  There were no Prius' to be found on any lots.  We went American, and we went big, in terms of size.  So there's a Saturn Vue parked in front.
 
It was a bit of an indignity for our van, which we had had since 2000, when we bought it used from a colleague in Mexico.  Calling this car a clunker, which had served us well, had more than paid for itself and had helped just the previous week move all of Annie's "stuff" twice to Natick, Mass, was not a fair way to end its life.
 
Mary drove back on Monday to retrieve the EZ Pass from the finside windhsield (which we forgot, again in our typical fashion) and saw the van in the lot with all the other clunkers.  Sad.  But even in its decline it continued to help out, with a nice government rebate.