"My" Car

I used to own a car. Not a fancy car. A 1997 Toyota. I used it mainly to take me to shul and then the train station. Of course, car pooling the kids on Sundays.

Now I still technically own a car but I really only have "indicia of ownership". The registration is still in my name. I get to make the monthly payment. I usually buy the gas. I still get to drive it to shul.

But then I have to pick up my daughter, a high school senior, and then she drops me off at the train station. When I get back from work, I am at the mercy of my daughter (and often my wife) to pick me up. She is usually on time but sometimes comes a few minutes late. Sometimes I can't get through on the phone to tell her I'm when I'm arriving (despite the fact that we have two phone lines and about forty cell phones; go have teenagers). Once or twice she got so involved in her homework that she forgot to pick me up (and since I couldn't get though on the phone I ended up walking).

Why am I whining about this now? Last night I worked very late. Because of the weather, I couldn't get a car service so I took the train. In the good old days, my trusty old Toyota would have been waiting for me at the station. Last night I had to walk home 20 minutes in the snow (it was past midnight and I wasn't going to call home).

The good news? My holy daughter, zzg, will be going to a seminary in Eretz Yisrael next year. I get my car back in August.