Lu Lu





Over the years we have had several vehicles, at one time we actually had 2 pickup trucks, an old Datsun pickup and a Nissan 4X4 with an extended cab. When we first met, Marisa drove a new Hundi, and I had the old Datsun. We got rid of the Hundi, because at the time it had no resale value, and got Marisa the Nissan 4X4. My old Datsun was getting to the point that it was not going to pass smog pretty soon, so we got a Nissan 2 wheel drive pickup, but it was after we had already traded in the 4X4 for the Sentra. This is where the story begins...



	Nissan Sentra SER
	Sports Edition Rally Package

It all started years ago, way before we got the Nissan Sentra, but the Sentra is a good place to start our story. Although it was a used car, It only had 10,000 miles on it and it was in excellent condition. The Sentra was a nice car, it was sporty, had a 5 speed manual transmission, sun roof, very nice handling. But it never became that car, you know the car that is part of the family, has a name and an attitude? Yea, the Sentra never became that car. We liked the car and enjoyed driving it very much, but it was just a car. It was time to expand because Shawn was getting bigger and Brandon was too, so we went to the Nissan dealer and looked at a mini-van.

	The Birth of Lu Lu


	Nissan Quest - New Wheels

After a few weeks driving the mini-van, LuLu was borne. It started basically with an attitude that went something like this; "You had better not get anything on the seats or!". I heard rumors of having to walk home, never ever being able to ride in the car again, etc. But Lu Lu wasn't always there, she only appeared when you did something wrong to her, and the real strange thing was that she only appeared when Marisa was in the car. I never really understood that.

In early 2004 Marisa was getting close to graduating college which was an amazing feat considering that she attended school all the while taking care of a big kid (Shawn), growing boy (Brandon), a spoiled husband Me), and on top of all that, working full time. She came home one day after completing enough hours for a college degree, and told me she had driven her supervisor's BMW 325i and she loved it. That was all it took...

I thought about the several years that she had driven the Nissan Mini-van and never once complained about being a mini-van driving soccer mom, (Brandon and Shawn were both in soccer). We bought the mini-van because Shawn and Brandon were both growing up and the Sentra was getting to be too small for our family. I had a small Nissan pickup that we had purchased with cash and we used it as a trade because they wouldn't have given us enough trade-in value for the Sentra. She had driven this mini-van for about 5 years, it was finally paid off, and now she is telling me what she wants her next cat to be.


Home from Graduation	Just Purchased from Roseville BMW	Still has Stock Wheels

I woke up at the BMW dealer in Roseville, California and before we knew it we were test driving a 325i model, with the premium package, sports package, cold weather package and every other package you can think of except the M1 package, damn it. I won't say how much we paid but we got a good deal, and I demanded $11,000 for the van as a trade and they didn't even argue, even though the high blue was around $9k which they made me aware of, I insisted on $11k. It was one of the last 7 year, 70,000 mile maintenance packages also, now you only get 5/50.


New Custom Wheels	Living in Texas	Winter Time

In just a few days, with some lipo suction, a face lift, and a strong diet of Premium Fuel, Lu Lu was back and with a vengeance. I wouldn't say Lu Lu was a bitch, but she liked Marisa better, and when I would drive her, if I used a little too much brake, or dropped a french fry, oh my God, I am just glad the car didn't have ejection seats. Over the years Lu Lu became one of the family Now she wasn't just a car anymore, she was Lu Lu.

Within a couple of years, Lu Lu was paid off, a free and clear title and less than 25,000 miles. We like to have nice cars, but one thing we don't like is car payments. At the time we paid off Lu Lu, we were also paying for my new truck, an F150 FX 4X4, that too was paid off as soon as possible. At the time Marisa was hit on the freeway, both of our vehicles had been paid off for close to 5 years. On May 10th around 4:20 PM on southbound I820 in North Richland Hills, Marisa was heading home after working the dayshift, trying to get one of the property rooms organized. Marisa usually works the night shift, and if her shift had not changed for the 2 week period, or if she had taken my truck to work, this might not have happened. She was on her way home when the traffic came to a stop, which was normal considering the time of day.

Texting while driving not yet a crime in Texas but soon will be		He drove away from the scene even though his radiator was near empty Dumb Ass!
	The Murderer
She looked in the mirror and saw the Toyota coming at her at full speed. She only had time to press on the brake to avoid hitting the car in front of her, and that is most likely why the damage was so much, at least the rear damage. Had she been moving, or not on the brake, the impact may not have totaled it but then again, had she also hit the car in front of her, it may have been worse, and another family would have to go through what we had to go through. The guy driving the Toyota Camery was texting when he dropped his iPhone, he reached down to get the phone and when his eyes came back to the road, there was Marisa; bam! Marisa was not in uniform, so she immediately identified herself and took control of the situation. She traded insurance information and he admitted to her what he was doing when he hit her. He then asked if he could leave the scene. Marisa said, "hell no, I am a police officer, and there is more than $1,000 damage to my car, either of those reasons will require the local police to work the case, so hell no you're not going anywhere". He doesn't know how lucky he is. When the officer arrived on scene, he just happened to be someone Marisa had worked with in Irving, so this guy just pled guilty. He was cited for failure to maintain a safe speed, and released. He drove away, refusing an offer to call a tow. (look at the picture above, he had very little water left in his radiator). Dumb Ass!


Lu Lu is injured	Marisa is sure she won't survive	Diagnosis is grim

Lu Lu died on May 14th, 2010, after a long week in the hospital (repair facility). She was deemed a total loss because the location on the body where the right rear suspension mounts was crushed. Repairing it would not be as costly, however there would be a good chance it wouldn't drive the same, and to replace the section of the body with a new section pushed the amount of repairs over the insurance threshold. A Total Loss, Lu Lu was dead.



Meet Martha!		and Billy Bob
The Beamer Replacement
	Reality leaves a lot to the imagination ~ John Lennon