Last 11days .....

*SIGH* in another 11days, I'll lose my most trusty mode of transport... my proton, I've wanted to do a de-comissioning party for it as it has served me and my family for 15years, I cannot possibly let it go without a big bang.

However, due to the recent turn of events, my schedules around these few weekends are super tight, I'm afraid, I may not have the time/manpower to make it happen. :-(

Want to share how trusty my Proton is to our family....

My mum was still driving in her late 60s, with failing eye-sight and slower reaction time, she has often forgets to put down the handbrake before moving off, drives at 50-60kmh along the expressways, turn at snail pace and never once our Proton broke down on her or gave her much stress, it just responded to her and her not-so-skillful driving manner.

There were a few hair-raising incidents my mum had with Proton that still gives me the shivers..... but somehow, good blessings fall on mum and Proton and kept them both safe and sound till today.

Once, she parked the car in a multi-storey car-park as her usual favourite open-air car-park was full and she was in a hurry to get to her hair appointment. When she was trying to exit the carpark after getting her hair done, as she was unfamiliar with the turning angle of the carpark, she swerved too much towards the divider of the carpark and one of the wheels was trapped between the sides of the divider..... That divider was not an ordinary one, usual dividers are about 6inches high, this one is about 1foot. I seriously do not know how mum got Proton so high onto the divider and trapped the wheel there.... She said that there was on coming traffic which she was trying to avoid and as it was a downward slope, she reacted too much to the unfamilar turn and ended up in that state. In her state of panic, she attracted enough attention for a kind lady to offer to lend mum her mobile phone to call home to us. (yes, mum had refused the use of her mobile phone with reasons un-citable) This kind lady, not only lent mum her handphone to call us, this kind lady also sent mum home! So I quickly called the tow truck and went down to the scene of "action" to check it out... too bad cameras on mobiles were not fashionable... else, all will be captured graphically.

The tow truck guy was a really nice guy, he helped us to examine the vehicle and made sure that minimum damages were done to the car, wheel and axiel as he was lifting the wheel from the divider. He even offered not to overly charge us for his services if we were still able to drive the car into the garage on our own instead of using his tow truck. Thankfully, the damage done on Proton was minimum and there was little cost for repair.

I was thankful for the safety of both mum and Proton, if it had rolled off down the 100m slope of the carpark exit, it would definitely endangered mum's life.

Then there was another incident when mum was leaving a carpark (hmm.... I'm begining to think that she's not too good with carparks and dividers......), she had to cross one small two lane-traffic to get across to the other side for the correct direction to drive home after dinner. It must be getting dark really fast and she said that she swerved Proton to avoid another on-coming vehicle and ended up putting the whole undercarriage of Proton ONTO the center divider....

Yes, I can picture immediately how cruel this can be to a 12yr old car....

In a very brave action, mum reversed the car successfully and drove all the way home, 5km away..... it was when mum and dad reached the gates of our home that the undercarriage of Proton gave way (due to the crash into the divider) and Proton stopped. It had stopped Safely and in vincinity of our parent's home. Thank God for their safety.

I really cannot imagine what can really happend, explosion from the broken undercarriage? oil leak? water-tank burst? radiator torn? so many possible ugly events can happen to them, but thankfully, Proton pulled through and got them home safely.

I cannot be more thankful for Proton's strong, continuous, faithful service to our family.....

I'm so going to miss it.