That New Car Smell

The winter roads left a thick layer of salt of grime on my beloved Jeep, so this weekend I decided to take it to the "do-it-yourself" carwash. I'm obsessed with the carwash - there's something about putting those tokens in and getting 4 minutes with the foaming brush and power washer that really gets me going. I'd have to buy 10 gallons of soap to equal the glorious pink suds that are readily available at these establishments..**sigh** I was in heaven.

So after getting up a nice lather and power washing the filth off my car, I took it over to the huge industrial vacuums and gave it the 'ole once over. I haven't really given the inside much of a cleaning since I bought the car and found some interesting items in the seats and floor:

• Approx. $3.46 in change
• A hacky - sac left by the previous owner
• A spare key to the car - wedged under the floor mat (who knew?!)

When I was all done the car looked b-e-a-utiful, but there was one thing left - the smell. It's a Jeep and sometimes it can get a musty smell from the canvas top or wet floormats. There's also been plenty of smoking in the car, so it also smells a little like a bar after last call. Lucky for me, there was a vending machine selling those little scented trees and I figured that would help a little bit. I chose the Cherry scent, which I was satisfied with at the time - I mean, it really overpowered every other smell I had going on.

Later that night, my friend Maria and I went out for coffee and she noticed the smell right away. "Hey, your car smells good. Well, actually it kinda smells like a rest stop bathroom that's just been cleaned." ...AWESOME! The thing is that she's right - I didn't realize it at the time, but it is sort of reminiscent of a fresh urinal mint.

So much for that new car smell...anybody want a ride?