The Small Things In Life (or how many times have I almost died?)

One of the great joys in my life is driving.
There is a certain freedom with being able to jump in a car and go where ever the hell you want to go, and all that really restricts you is fuel, and a road (strangely enough).
I got my licence when I was 17, and it's only recently that I got my first speeding ticket.
Snapped by a speed camera, I was tempted to turn back and beg for forgiveness from the officer manning the well-hidden white van parked well off the road. I figure that this was my first offence (aside from a parking ticket - which doesn't count because it was only the front half of my car parked in a taxi zone!) and that they should go easy on someone with such an impeccable driving record as mine. Then I snapped out of it and took it on the chin. I was speeding (and I do go over the limit at times - I'll admit that), so I should just deal with it.
My first car was an 850cc Morris Mini - white. It was my love, my joy. It also had a twisted body, which meant the passenger could watch the road passing by, through the crack in the bottom of the door. It's breaks failed once, leaving me to apply the handbrake and pull into a side-street at 60km/h one morning on the way to work, and was also known to have it's wipers stop - for no reason. But taking all this into account - it was my favourite car.
Before my mini, I got around in my Dad's Nissan Pulsar. This was a bit of a beast. My Dad had taken it to a performance mechanic for regular servicing - though it was just a stock standard vehicle. Thanks to their efforts, this thing almost killed me more times that I can recount. Sure, the argument might be that I almost killed myself in it - but it's easier to blame inanimate objects sometimes.
After the mini I had a long stint on a 50cc Yamaha Zooma moped. Riding that every day to work was really all about patience. It was super cheap to run (obviously) and whenever I rode past a bakery I'd get the awesome smell of fresh bread. It was great! Sadly, you were often overlooked by passing vehicles and I was almost killed on a number of occasions.
Next came a VL Commodore. This was probably one of the biggest pieces of crap that I've ever driven. Automatic (yuck!), with a history of 2 cracked heads (costing a few grand to fix each time), and at one point had a tendency to just pull to the right at the most inopportune of times. That was traded in for my Sister to get a Hyundai - which she still has.
Now I drive a Ford Focus, and I'd like to thank Colin McCray for introducing me to such a cool little car. I've had it for a few years now and have had many an adventure in it; from driving up to Summerset Dam and back home; to just cruising around at night because I didn't feel like going home, and had nowhere to be.
And it's this car that has brought me to the point of this blog.
I like my car, and I like to drive.