Michael In the previous installment of this publication, I had reported that a program run by the state of California had offered me one thousand Dollars to take my 1991 Acura Integra, nick-named "Perly Perlman", off the streets. I had somewhat tongue-in-cheek announced that I'd be reporting live from the junk press soon, and little did I know that it would actually happen this fast! But recently, Angelika had told me that our backup car started acting up while she was driving across the Bay Bridge, and reportedly had to stop and pull a stuck clutch pedal back up by hand, so I acted quickly and purchased a new commuter mule for her: a 2011 Honda Fit. There's a hard to ignore trend to three car households in the U.S., but we only have two garage spots available, and parking on city streets means dealing with frequent break-ins and car theft, let alone the constant hassle of moving the vehicle because of residential parking and street cleaning days. And for that reason, we had to say good-bye to our beloved Perlman, after 17 years of service, and at the still young age of 24. Boo-hoo!

So I dialed the number listed on the flyer sent by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, got an actual human being on the line who explained the process: I had to make copies of the vehicle's title and the last three yearly registration receipts and fax those back to the program manager. Who keeps those receipts for the last three years? Turns out, Angelika had kept them neatly stapled together, but I'm pretty sure not many people are that organized. So I collected everything and faxed the copies back. Two days later, the phone rang and we were asked to schedule an appointment at a vehicle dismantler facility. The earliest available appointment was three weeks later, which sounded pretty crazy to me, but I agreed. On a Monday at 8 a.m., Perly Perlman was scheduled to be dropped off at a junkyard about two miles from our house.

In the meantime, we had to park one of the three cars on the street, which turned out to be a whole production because of San Francisco's silly 72 hour rule. It says that you can't park any car longer than 72 hours on the same street block, even if street cleaning or residential parking regulations would allow for it (Rundbrief 03/2009). So we picked one of the few streets in the neighborhood not yet infected by the fast-spreading residential parking disease, and found a spot during a weekday, when parking wasn't in high demand, as it is in the evening hours when it's nearly impossible to score a spot. We put a so-called "club" on the steering wheel to prevent socially deprived adolescents from joy-riding. Every three days, we pulled up with another car from the pool, and switched places with the parked vehicle in a quick tag team move. No violations of the 72 hour rule were reported.

At the dismantler facility, it all went down very quickly and professionally. The owner briefly inspected Perly Perlman, drove a few feet forward and backward, and accepted without any complaints. I had to fill out half a dozen pieces of paperwork, submit the vehicle title document and the last three registration receipts, and was assured that within a few days, I'd be receiving a check in the mail. Lacking a vehicle to drive home, I got a Lyft Internet cab home, which was only five dollars plus tip. Three days later, a check over 1000 Dollars arrived in the mail.

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• More topics you might be interested in:

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  	Monster Waves at Mavericks