{"id":13901,"date":"2013-02-04T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2013-02-04T20:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/?p=13901"},"modified":"2013-02-05T17:16:42","modified_gmt":"2013-02-06T01:16:42","slug":"out-to-pasture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/2013\/02\/04\/out-to-pasture\/","title":{"rendered":"Out To Pasture"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a quarter of a century of exceptionally reliable service to our family, I helped my mom finally retire her old 1988 Honda Accord. And by retire I don’t mean taking it out back behind the woodshed and putting it out of its misery Old Yeller-style. Nor do I mean sending it off with a gold watch to sit on a front porch somewhere and yell at kids in the front yard. No, the good state of California has a program for purchasing older model vehicles in an effort to take less efficient, gas-guzzlers that have difficulties passing smog checks off the streets. The ironic thing is that this 25 year-old Honda got better gas mileage than the six-year newer ’94 Infiniti that she drives right now. But it was getting long in the automotive tooth and was always the car with the most rust whenever any of us drove it around town. It just looked awful. But as long as it’s paid off, has all the doors and is drivable then there’s a very good chance that California Department of Consumer Affairs’ Consumer Assistance Program will give you at least $1,000 for it.<\/p>\n

Not bad for a deteriorating piece of transportation.<\/p>\n

After a minimal amount of forms to fill out and receiving a Letter of Eligibility from the state, I drove it one last time down to SA Recycling<\/a>, the only facility in San Diego that officially accepts retired vehicles. My mom followed in her Infiniti.<\/p>\n

It was a bitter-sweet journey. It’s embarrassing to drive but it has so much history with our family. At least it got to see the SeaWorld Skytower, the bay, the downtown skyline with the new library, and the Coronado Bay Bridge one last time.<\/p>\n

\"Prepped <\/a>
Prepped for a final journey <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Prepped <\/a>
Prepped for a final journey <\/div> <\/div>
\"One <\/a>
One last drive <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Entering <\/a>
Entering the yard <\/div> <\/div>
\"SA <\/a>
SA Recycling <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Next <\/a>
Next in line for the scale <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"2,600 <\/a>
2,600 lbs on the scale <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Parking <\/a>
Parking it one last time <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Last <\/a>
Last look <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a quarter of a century of exceptionally reliable service to our family, I helped my mom finally retire her old 1988 Honda Accord. And by retire I don’t mean taking it out back behind the woodshed and putting it out of its misery Old Yeller-style. Nor do I mean sending it off with a … <\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[188],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1s2SN-3Cd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6248,"url":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/2011\/04\/30\/cinco-de-mayo-in-april\/","url_meta":{"origin":13901,"position":0},"title":"Cinco De Mayo In April","date":"April 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"After the Art Walk in the morning, I went back to Old Town to walk around the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta celebration. Saw plenty of very colorful crafts being sold, some well done, others looking like the ones they sell at the border crossing in Tijuana. Got to meet 22-year\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3732,"url":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/2010\/12\/03\/lunch-with-my-paisano-tim\/","url_meta":{"origin":13901,"position":1},"title":"Lunch With My Paisano Tim","date":"December 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Had a great, freshly made in front if us Italian lunch with my old friend Tim at Pastalini's in Miramar.","rel":"","context":"In "Food"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Pastalini01-lo-res.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":662,"url":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/2010\/07\/12\/walkin-at-seaworld\/","url_meta":{"origin":13901,"position":2},"title":"Walkin’ At SeaWorld","date":"July 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Walked around SeaWorld with my mom for some exercise. Watched some Penguins being fed in front of a new mural painted onto the Penguin Encounter, and for the first time I saw keepers walking a 20 something year old Sulcata Tortoise named Buster.","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/SeaWorld01-lo-res.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8772,"url":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/2011\/09\/20\/walking-balboa-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":13901,"position":3},"title":"Walking Balboa Park","date":"September 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Had an hour between the Natural History Museum closing and the Wyatt Earp presentation this evening so I walked around Balboa Park taking pictures at the Museum of Man, the Alcazar Gardens and the \"Laguna de las Flores\" in front of the Botanical Building. There are more than 20,000 trees\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Balboa Park"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11865,"url":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/2012\/03\/05\/same-gopher-new-hole\/","url_meta":{"origin":13901,"position":4},"title":"Same Gopher, New Hole","date":"March 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While gardening today (and by gardening I mean back-breaking, glistening-muscular-Fabio-torso preparation for a big, double palm tree replanting tomorrow or Wednesday) I was revisited by my old friend, the gopher. He didn't stick around as long this time, but I was able to get close enough to get two shots.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fauna"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Gopher-03-05-12-lo-res-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12155,"url":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/2012\/03\/23\/adobe-chapel-and-lunch-in-old-town\/","url_meta":{"origin":13901,"position":5},"title":"Adobe Chapel And Lunch In Old Town","date":"March 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Took my mom down to Old Town this morning to visit the old Adobe Chapel on Conde St. It was the first parochial church in California's first parish. We had to first stop by the Whaley House Museum Shop to ask a docent to escort us down and unlock the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13901"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13915,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13901\/revisions\/13915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacsworlds.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}