Tariq's Web Journal

I can't believe it's almost September already. Summer just whizzed by. Just got back from a trip to Vancouver and Salt Spring Island. I'm so glad we did it. I actually feel like I had an actual summer now - went swimming almost everyday and things like that. I was starting to feel a little ripped off with all the weird weather here in Calgary. OK, well enough about the weather. Did I mention that I rode a scooter around Salt Spring Island? That was fuuuuun!! I had a little nervous feeling in my gut as we started to go faster, but it was a good nervous feeling, kinda like getting over a fear or something like that. Speaking of getting over fears, this trip also inspired me to take swimming lessons this month. I mean, I can sort of thrash around in the water, but I'll admit that I actually get a little bit scared going above my head in the ocean or in any bodies of water where I can't see the bottom. A sort of panic sets in, well not a sort of panic - a REAL panic. I need to get over that, yes indeed. Oh, and I have a question for you - why the heck does everyone get their cars broken into when they go to Vancouver? It happened to my girlfriend's car on the trip. Luckily, we didn't have anything of too great value in the trunk - but I did lose a sketch book that had a few good drawings and some potential song lyrics and she lost a book. That was annoying. Well, at least no windows got smashed, but it kind of put a damper on our evening - and we were having such a "love on" for Van at the time. Well, we still are. It is a beautiful city - except for the car theives. Hey, check out this month's issue of Beat Route magazine here in Calgary - my first "published" article! Yeah! TQ

Maybe this is not interesting news to anyone, but I had to just write it down here, maybe even to just document this monumentous event - my Fox is dead! My Fox is dead! My VW Fox that is. This is a car that I drove across the country many times, a car that I slept in and a car that I bought with my own money. Lately, I've been feeling like this day would be coming soon. I think I've called the AMA three times in the last two weeks for crying out loud. Last night, I was heading home after dropping off some CDs to my friend Johnny D at AXE music and I hear this "thud" and I felt the clutch go soft under my left foot. Luckily I had enough momentum to steer the thing off into a parking lot and into an actual parking spot - I hate the idea of having your car die right on the highway with all these people whizzing by and looking at you. This automobile heart attack would be in private - just me and the Fox. Well for a short while anyway - until the AMA came. I walked away leaving the keys still in it and they showed up eventually and towed it to my garage. The call came this morning that yes indeed the clutch was gone and a new one would cost around a thousand bucks. Not really worth it considering the condition of the Fox. Kinda sad though - I had that car since around 1993 and like I said, I've gone everywhere with it. Now it's like a death or something. Sometime today I'll take the plates off and take out any other things left in the glove box and then get someone to tow it away. It'll probably end up in a pick your part lot or maybe crushed up into one of those sqare boxes of metal you see in TV shots at junkyards. And no one will ever know of the great adventures me and the old Fox had, all the open roads that stretched ahead of it's gleaming headlights.