You’ve probably noticed I haven’t been around much in the last couple of weeks. Holidays were great and a fantastic recharge. Got back to work and there seemed to be a couple of dramas, but nothing that wasn’t easily resolved. And then came the second day of being back at work - Black Tuesday.

For the last four years, I have had the privelige of driving a 1988 BMW 320i. Manual for the record, because I believe in driving my car. I had a little trouble with it on my holidays and promptly dropped it into my mechanic’s for a little check-up. I had a sneaking suspicion that something major was wrong but kinda laughed it off. And then came the call from my mechanic. 5:08pm. He called me at work and asked if I was sitting down. I wasn’t.

It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my beloved car due to a blown head gasket with a probable cracked cylinder head. I don’t think it gets any more heavy than that. My mechanic (Ray is his name) seemed genuinely upset, or maybe he felt bad after having stitched me for a princely sum to replace my exhaust a couple of weeks prior. A couple of friends have remarked I could easily fix this myself but when offered the opportunity to buy my car as a weekend project, both declined. A little too quickly for my liking. It probably isn’t too hard to fix myself and I do enjoy sticking my head in the engine bay from time to time, sadly it just doesn’t make financial sense and the emotions are too raw right now.

I loved that car. I’m not quite over it yet, especially considering I am temporarily renting a yellow 1987 Ferrari with purple decals along the doors. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Yeah, shame my Ferrari has a Toyota Corolla body kit. And it has a slushbox transmission - the ultimate slap in the face. So my search for a new baby has begun. Hopefully it will be resolved quickly and my hurt will have time to heal. But in the interim, if you live in Melbourne and need a good BMW mechanic, I wholeheartedly recommend the boys over at BM Central in Brunswick. They may not have been able to save my car (at a bargain price that is) but they’ve stayed in touch and given me plenty of assistance in finding a new car. And they shoot straight, a quality I appreciate in a mechanic.