"It was the best day." -- sending my Civic back to the dealership at lease end

The Civic is gone. Returned to Honda for them to do with what they will. After 36 months of joy, it was with a heavy heart that I turned over the keys (well, two of the keys. Jesse lost the third one years ago) and said goodbye to my little Ninja (she was named "Ninja" after a WHEEL flew off a semi truck on the freeway and I slammed the brakes, watched the wheel bounce right in front of me, then gunned it and got in front of the wheel in midair before it bounced again).

However, this goodbye was not without drama -- drama caused almost entirely by the incompetence of the employees at my local Honda dealership, but that's neither here nor there.

So now, let me tell you the story of "the best day" -- my last day with the Civic. None of this is made up and every one of these pictures is legit.

This story begins on Monday evening, when I first went to the Honda dealership to turn in the car. This was supposed to take about 10 minutes to do, and I had an appointment with them to take care of it.

After sitting in some dude's office for 45 minutes, I was finally told that they didn't actually know how to process a lease return, and the person who DID know how to process one wouldn't be in until the next day, so I would have to come back on Tuesday to actually return the car.

I was annoyed by this. Not only did they waste 45 minutes of my time, but my whole sentimental goodbye with my car was ruined. It's like if you said your tearful and heartfelt goodbyes with a dear friend before sending them through airport security for their flight to the great unknown, only to have them pop back out five minutes later and be like "oh shit my flight is canceled. Wanna get a tuna sub or something?" I mean, yeah, you're glad to have an extra day with your friend and all, but that goodbye was meaningful. And now ... you're just going to get tuna subs together. It's so anticlimactic.

But then I thought about it another way. Here I was given the gift of one extra day with my sweet little car. One extra day to do all the things we always wanted to do together but never did. And so we took advantage.

*Cue Semisonic's "Closing Time" to accompany the following slide show*

Closing time, open all the doors and let you out into the world ...

Closing time, turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl ...

Closing time, one last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer ...

Closing time, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here ...

I KNOW WHOOOO I WANT TO TAKE ME HOME! I KNOW WHO I WANT TO TAKE ME HOME! I KNOW WHO I WANT TO TAKE ME HOME ... TAKE ME HOOOOOOOOOMMMMMME ...

Closing time, time for you to go out to the places you will be from ...

Closing time, this room won't be open til your brothers or your sisters come ...

So gather up your jackets, move into the exits; I hope you have found a friend ...

Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end ...

I KNOW WHOOOO I WANT TO TAKE ME HOME! I KNOW WHO I WANT TO TAKE ME HOME! I KNOW WHO I WANT TO TAKE ME HOME ... TAKE ME HOOOOOOOOOMMMMMME ...

So, to my dearly beloved Honda Civic, take care of yourself. I'll always remember you, and this amazing day that we had.

Also, moments after I returned the car, I realized that I had set up my car insurance to expire at 11:59PM Monday night, as my original appointment to return the car was Monday at 5PM.

So all of these adventures were conducted without the benefit of insurance.

Oops.