The difference between Zak and Yaa...

Ever since my last car died (:( and yes I still haven’t gotten over it yet) my new car and I haven’t bonded in quite the same way as I would have liked. ‘Yaa’* is very different from ‘Zak’. Zak was reliable and we had an understanding between us. It was a good working relationship and I knew where we both stood. I knew when Zak’s oil needed changing, or when one of the tyres was a bit low on air, or how long Zak could last on the reserve tank before I really was in trouble. Basically after my first few outings with Zak, I never felt the need to test Zak’s limits ever again. Now it’s all different.

To be honest, Yaa has been good to me with no breakdowns so far (touch wood) and no major catastrophes. I wouldn’t say Yaa is unreliable because that would be untrue as Yaa does get me from A to B without any major dramas. I just never know how far I can push Yaa, without there being a major backlash. I mean I don’t kick or scream at Yaa, it’s more often a sort of pleading – ‘Please YaaYaa just make it up this hill’ or on the motorway it’s ‘Come on Yaa, you can move faster than this!’ or in particularly harsh and blustery conditions it’s usually ‘Please Allah, don’t let Yaa and I get blown away!’ There is also an element of uncertainty and this best example I have of this to date are my trips to the petrol station.

As I frequently make trips to the various Manchester hospitals and back, you can imagine the amount of petrol I go through on a weekly basis. So the first thing I did when I got Yaa, was to fill the tank, make a note of mileage and see how many miles we could last before we had to fill up again. Sad but practical and at least I knew what to expect. Except when we started out daily journeys to Manchester and back, I found my petrol running out quicker than expected. I thought there may be leak etc but after a thorough service, I found there were no such problems. Yet back and forth from Manchester, I would often found myself staring at the needle telling me how close I am to running out of fuel. You’re probably wondering why I don’t just fill up at the nearest station? Well firstly when you’re between petrol stations on the motorway and the next station is miles away so that won’t be any help. Also I am a creature of habit. I regularly fill up from a petrol station near my house and well I don’t like breaking my normal routine (OCD alert!). Other reasons also include other petrol stations are more expensive than the one near my home, I have a loyalty card and get points back every time I fill up (sad I know, but I blame my dad for this habit, lol) and finally I don’t like the idea of mixing lots of different petrol types together as I don’t think Yaa will appreciate it. If I absolutely have to fill up from somewhere, I often won’t get a full tank and will wait till I get home again, lol.

So Yaa and I play a game now... to see if I can make it to the next petrol station or not. It goes something along the lines of ‘Please Allah, get me and Yaa home safely. Please? Ok? We’re good? Ok, thank you!’ ... and thankfully I’ve been lucky enough to make it each time. It’s stupid but I like it. That’s when Yaa and I get on great! We stand united against... err petrol stations? Lol. The initial issues I had with Yaa, I think are partly do with the fact that Yaa doesn’t match what I had in my head. A tiny size, with little boot space, no electric windows or central locking, a funny engine noise upon starting – yep, Yaa definitely is very different from Zak. But at the same time, despite all that other stuff, Yaa is most definitely a little trooper... just like Zak and I’m grateful :)

* Sorry, a quick note; I actually call this car ‘Yaa’ – again my choice of name is based on the number plate. Sometimes it’s ‘YaaYaa’... I mean I tried’ Basanti no.2’ or just ‘Basanti’ for a while upon my cousin Sara’s recommendation but it just didn’t stick. So Yaa it is... and yes I know I’m weird.