My friend Mike bought Betsy when he & his team headed West this past summer to go to YC. At the time, this made a whole lot of sense because renting a car would be more costly then owning one. He went looking for a car, instead he got Betsy. She was born in 1985, a 300D. D for diesel. She’s a Benz and she knows it.
Betsy served her purpose, she made the trips to and from the city, she picked up the BufferBox team from the airport and back, she got groceries and hardware and anything else that came along the way. It was no surprise to me that Mike grew to love her and evidently opted to consider and eventually executed on the idea of taking her home with him to Waterloo.
What was more surprising was his ask to me to drive Betsy back with him. I couldn’t say no. She was on her last leg and I really wanted her to see the Great White North. So in mid-September I took the week off, flew Waterloo to San Francisco, met Mike early in the morning and we began our epic journey. The car was comfortably packed; anything that was left at BufferBox HQ West was now in travel with us. Mike got her a solid sound system and every hack under the sun to ensure she would survive the trip, and we headed for the bridge.
What was more surprising was his ask to me to drive Betsy back with him. I couldn’t say no. She was on her last leg and I really wanted her to see the Great White North. So in mid-September I took the week off, flew Waterloo to San Francisco, met Mike early in the morning and we began our epic journey. The car was comfortably packed; anything that was left at BufferBox HQ West was now in travel with us. Mike got her a solid sound system and every hack under the sun to ensure she would survive the trip, and we headed for the bridge.
We gassed up, Mike gave me a green bingo marker and I proceeded to write “From California to Canada” on the back window. The side ones were already covered with BufferBenz, a nickname that Betsy had inherited over the months.
My first time driving Betsy was an unforgettable one, my legs were too short to reach the pedals, and the seat didn’t slide due to rust, so I sat on the seat edge the entire time in order to control our speed. Because I was shorter thank Mike, my view of the speedometer was obstructed by the steering wheel, so I’d have to hunch over if I ever wanted to check my cruising speed & then straighten up again to get my eyes on the road. Try that for 4 hours, calf stretches have never felt so good :)
We took turns switching on and off duty, sometimes because we were tired, other times because Betsy needed us to. We spun her for over 12hrs each day, she’d slow down, sometimes even decreasing in speed as we climbed hills- she was no doubt a trooper. Late into the night, Mike’s hack at an external dashboard light with a red glow would be the only way to check our speed, I’d like to believe it set an ambient glow for evening cruising.
My first time driving Betsy was an unforgettable one, my legs were too short to reach the pedals, and the seat didn’t slide due to rust, so I sat on the seat edge the entire time in order to control our speed. Because I was shorter thank Mike, my view of the speedometer was obstructed by the steering wheel, so I’d have to hunch over if I ever wanted to check my cruising speed & then straighten up again to get my eyes on the road. Try that for 4 hours, calf stretches have never felt so good :)
We took turns switching on and off duty, sometimes because we were tired, other times because Betsy needed us to. We spun her for over 12hrs each day, she’d slow down, sometimes even decreasing in speed as we climbed hills- she was no doubt a trooper. Late into the night, Mike’s hack at an external dashboard light with a red glow would be the only way to check our speed, I’d like to believe it set an ambient glow for evening cruising.
Since Betsy was so old, Mike paid under $5 to get her into Canada! We had no problems at border crossing because of her build. We got honks on the freeway because of our messaging. We had more second glances on the road then ever before, Betsy was a showstopper. We even stuck the GoPro to her, switching lanes and going on and off ramps to get the best raw footage we could. One day during a long traffic delay, we found a second road and did an amazing photo shoot with her. Later that same day, we pulled over and ate pizza roadside with her, deepdish had never tasted so good!
That evening I headed home and crashed, glad to have discovered American terrain, glad to have experienced what many Canadian startup teams saw as they did the trip out West, and glad I took the time to roll with the long days. Mike and I are still friends, we hadn’t lost it on the trip. There were many a silent conversations, all of them equally enriching. I can fully understand why he grew to love Betsy so much, she’s part of the BufferBox family! Thanks for the good times
Betsy, she’s one helluva girl. Irreplaceable and hard to forget.
That evening I headed home and crashed, glad to have discovered American terrain, glad to have experienced what many Canadian startup teams saw as they did the trip out West, and glad I took the time to roll with the long days. Mike and I are still friends, we hadn’t lost it on the trip. There were many a silent conversations, all of them equally enriching. I can fully understand why he grew to love Betsy so much, she’s part of the BufferBox family! Thanks for the good times
Betsy, she’s one helluva girl. Irreplaceable and hard to forget.
