Spongebob

I have anthropomorphized my truck. I named him "Spongebob" because he's "square and cute." Plus his grille looks like a sponge. I'll amend this post with a picture of him once I get a round toit.

I keep a Spongebob Squarepants doll in my console. My truck likes the doll there, so I've kept it there.

Spongebob loves to go on long trips. The summer after I bought him, we took him across the country from my home in New England to the Field of Dreams Movie Site to Yellowstone National Park to Burning Man and back again. Man, did he have fun. His running board on the right side got dented when we (Heidi, my wife, and I) got a little carried away off-roading in Wyoming. He really loved it. He cried, "Again!"

We've driven him across the country and back three times now, and we're doing it again this year (hopefully I'll be able to blog the trip). He's had to do it sometimes while hauling our 29-foot travel trailer. He doesn't like that so much, but he does realize it's his duty as that's primarily what we bought him for. Now the trailer is being kept in Nevada, dedicated for Burning Man, and now he's happier. I'm happier because without the trailer he gives me 17 mpg, but with it it's 4-7 depending on grades.

Last year his fan clutch went out when we crossed from Utah into Nevada. He started complaining while climbing hills, but then stopped complaining on the way down. At high speeds, he was fine, but at low speeds, there just wasn't any air flow. It was also 100 degrees in NW Nevada, which is actually much higher than average in early September. I had to come home a day late because he was sick :(, but eventually we found a place that could diagnose and fix his problem. One day late was actually lucky.

He gets scared when I talk about trading him in, so I've stopped doing that. I don't really want to anyway.

Spongebob is the only vehicle I've owned that I've named, let alone treated like an animal/person. I really can't explain why I've anthropomorphized that truck.

Most of you reading this will think I'm crazy. Some will think I'm just very imaginative. But a very small set of you who have also anthropomorphized a vehicle (probably many boat owners) will truly understand. And by that I mean, we're just...weird.