Getting to Know Helga

As I’m sure you’ve read, Helga entered my life on October 22. She is my first new car in about 25 years. Living in Toronto for so long, I didn’t need a car, except for the occasional carshare through Autoshare. Since moving to the country, I had been driving a borrowed car from my sister – a car affectionately known as “OB”, for Old Blue, the colour of the car. Well, OB left us earlier in October. He served us well, and owed us nothing. Enter Helga.

She is a 2022 Hyundai Venue, in silver. She’s smaller than you would expect from an SUV, but she’s perfect for what I need. And she’s so pretty.

Her name is a little controversial. Several years ago, I was given an Ancestry DNA kit by my best friend. Unsurprisingly, the results were 47% Scotland, 46% England, and 5% Ireland. The surprise was the 2% Norwegian. I learned from another friend that the Norwegian was quite common – it dates back to the Vikings cavorting about the British Isles 1000 years ago.

Well, my sister was apoplectic. Refused to believe there was any Norwegian in our ancestry. Made some scurrilous suggestions as to the reasons for the results. I won’t repeat those here, as you know how delicate I am. Anyway, to push her buttons a little, I named my car Helga, to honour our Nordic ancestry. I think it suits her.

I took her on our first road trip yesterday. She did quite well. She is petite, but she managed a trip to Costco admirably. She is a trusty steed. And she is apparently ready for Halloween. Here is her odometer as I pulled her into her parking spot.

I’m not very superstitious, so this doesn’t bother me. I would be as intrigued by “555”. Thoughts?