Unfortunately, rust can be a problem with the old Alfa Romeo's, and holes opened up around the sunroof. This wasn't a problem when the weather was fine, but driving in the rain resulted in big drops of water dripping between the driver's seat and the passenger seat--not a good look if you're trying to impress a girl on the way out to dinner or the movies.

The Alfasud met a sticky end. In 1992 I left Melbourne to travel to Canada and England for a couple of years. I left the car with my mother who lived out in the country. I came back to Australia in 1994 just as the World Wide Web revolution was starting.

When I collected the Alfa from my mother, I found that two years of country driving had been cruel to my car, and it was in terrible shape. The rust had advanced, the carpets were ruined, the interior panels were falling off, and in wet weather the drip of water had developed into a waterfall that soaked the front seats (and the passengers). My mother literally carried a small umbrella in the car.

I took the car back to the city, and I continued doing Lotus Notes client development for the next year or two. During this time I squeezed another year or two of life out of the Alfa. By 1996 the poor Alfa's health had deteriorated, and it had to be push-started every time I wanted to go anywhere.

I didn't mind this, but my girlfriend didn't much enjoy it because she had to do the pushing while I worked the clutch. Detecting that the elaborate ignition procedure might be leading to our relationship needing a push start, I got rid of the Alfasud.

At about the same time, I got rid of the Lotus Notes client as a development target. I no longer saw any point in developing for the Notes client when clearly the Web browser had become the client platform of choice for both Internet and intranet development. The Alfa got towed away, and the Notes client… well I just stopped writing software for it.

I got a new car that wasn't Italian. It was Japanese--a Mazda. It was a much better car, by far. Turn the key, and the engine starts. Wet weather was no problem. Very nice. The new Mazda carried out the same function of getting me from point A to point B. It was, however, different from the Alfa.