As advised by the world's greatest team of Crossfire experts, I fearlessly ventured forth to clear debris from under the wiper panel. Here was my biggest surprise... a gaping opening to the HVAC blower. No wonder the cabin filter must be changed every 18K. How much would it have cost to cover this opening with a wire mesh? Wire mesh must cost significantly more than I thought.

I've never met a car that was perfect from the factory; that couldn't be improved upon in at least some small way. I don't mean style or color wise, because those things drive your decision to buy or not. I'm talking functionality like mushy brakes after disuse or leaky breather covers. If you look closely enough at anything--a car, person, place or thing--you will always find some kind of flaw. That's an acceptable practice if you're negotiating over something like a used vehicle, perhaps, but once the deal is done and you find yourself loving the car, person, or thing, do those little imperfections still matter? Are they a real problem or just part of the thing's character?

I'm currently (slowly) working down my Crossfire's "to-do" list. In honesty all any "to-do" list is, is a list of things we're unhappy about. But once I set my eyes upon that gorgeous hunk of metal & leather in my garage, and better still, drive it; I find it's benefits are such that my complaints no longer matter at all. I'm going through an attitudinal transformation as I age. Instead of always trying to point out or eliminate flaws I try to embrace them, and I'm enjoying everything in my personal life a lot more because of it. Don't get me wrong. I still make a "to-do" list. But I'm able to enjoy the car despite the fact the list exists. I love driving it, improving it and knowing that once again someone else took the depreciation hit besides me. It may not be perfect, but it makes me happy. Isn't that a kind of perfection?