Sonic Boom or Bust?

Last week, Kate and I went out shopping for “cute fall sweaters”, because the weather here has suddenly gone from heat wave hot to bone chilling cold, as it does here in Canada, and if there was a prize for the country with the most ridiculous weather, we would win every year. Don’t complain to me about YOUR heat—we have that. And your rainy season? We have that too. Arctic vortex? Absolutely. Can we have all three things in the same 48-hour timeframe? You bet your ass we can. And we’ll throw in some fog just to make driving even more exciting and dangerous.

Anyway, Kate and I went shopping, which was tremendous fun, because we did that thing where we each put on something, count to 3, and come out of the change room at the same time like Ta-da! and then compliment each other on our fine fashion choices. We hit the checkout with several cute sweaters then went out to the car. I may have mentioned my car on a couple of occasions—it’s a black 2013 custom Chevy Sonic Turbo with a red trim kit and racing stripes. I adore it, and it only has a little over 80085 kilometres on it (not quite 50, 000 miles, but that doesn’t look as fun on a digital readout), which isn’t bad for a 7-year-old car.

 

As we approached the car though, I noticed something on the windshield, something which was, more precisely, tucked under the windshield wiper. It was a piece of notepaper torn out of a notebook.

My heart immediately sank, thinking that someone had hit my car in the parking lot and left a note either of apology—“I’m so sorry I hit your adorable car. Please forgive me”—or of defiance—“Your stupid, albeit adorable, car was in my way and I had no choice but to hit it. Next time, park somewhere else”—but in neither of these scenarios was there anyone standing around looking sheepish or angry, holding insurance papers. I pulled the paper out from under the windshield wiper with trepidation and turned it over. Written on the paper were four words: Ontario Sonics On Facebook.

My sunken heart rose again, like a ship that had hit an iceberg, floated down to the bottom of the seabed, and was then winched back up by one of those other ships that they use for documentaries on shipwrecks and treasure and whatnot, and to make a long analogy short, I went from worried to excited. A Facebook group JUST for Chevy Sonic owners? I mean, I’ve never been a club-type person—I don’t suffer from FOMO, the fear of missing out, as much as I have a FOBI-a, which is the fear of being included. But still, I’d always secretly envied those people on motorcycles who always give a knowing wave when they pass someone else on a motorcycle. And now, I could be just as cool, nodding my head approvingly or flashing my lights as I passed another Sonic on the road (although it’s often hard to tell if a Sonic is approaching you until it’s close enough to read the tiny chrome nameplate).

The second we got in the door, I raced over to the computer to look up the Ontario Sonic group on Facebook. And after a few minutes, I came to the undeniable conclusion that it doesn’t exist. Cue heart sinking again, like it was a shipwreck full of treasure and whatnot, and the winch that was bringing it up to the surface of the ocean had suddenly snapped because Carl, the guy responsible for keeping the winch all lubed up, had a hangover and had forgotten to oil it, or whatever you do with winches anyway. There were several things that came up in my search: Ontario Antiques and Collectibles, Master Gardeners of Ontario, and Ontario Tornado/Blizzard Watch (it has hundreds of thousands of members, proving my previous point about the weather here, where you have to simultaneously watch out for tornadoes AND blizzards). And all I can do now is wonder: Why would someone write the name of a non-existent Facebook group on a piece of notepaper in turquoise ink and then put it under the windshield wiper of my car? Or…was it a suggestion? Perhaps the anonymous admirer was hoping that, with some encouragement, I would CREATE a Facebook group for Sonic owners. Alas, I would be the worst person to start a Facebook group, mostly because I would never go to the meetings I’d scheduled and would bring gluten-free cupcakes to the bake sale. But I would JOIN such a group if it existed. And now I’m off to join the Ontario Tornado/Blizzard Watch group. I hope they like gluten-free cupcakes.

(Update: Apparently there IS a group–thanks to Babbitman for his intrepid sleuthing. I’ve sent a Join request so we’ll see what happens next. To be continued…)

(Update to the Update: I am now a member. It’s a very strange group and I don’t think I want to be part of it. Someone posted asking about a “catless downpipe” and another person is asking for help to perform a “second cat delete”, and all I can think is these people hate cats…)

61 thoughts on “Sonic Boom or Bust?”

  1. Found them:
    ontario sonics
    Group · 30 members
    “decided to make a group for just sonic owners in Ontario. Feel free to add people. a place to learn about the car from other owners, where to get parts and what to get…”

    Also, love FOBI-a – our family definitely have that. 🙂

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  2. barbaramullenix says:

    I live in Florida and I could find it on Facebook! I don’t have a Sonic so won’t be joining, but if you just go to FB and in their search area type Ontario Sonics – several choices show up. About the 3rd or 4th one down is the one that Babbitman quotes.

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    • Seriously, I have searched several times and even after Babbit told me he’d found it, and I couldn’t get one of them to come up, let alone 4! Are the ones you found in Ontario Canada or Ontario California?

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      • barbaramullenix says:

        After clicking on it, I didn’t get any additional information, so I don’t know where they’re located. Maybe if you joined you could get more information from them, as it’s only ‘open’ to followers. (There was only the one listing, but it was the 3rd or 4th one down on the various listings, not a variety of choices)

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  3. I must have missed (or maybe have already forgotten!) in the 80085 post that you had a Sonic! Mine’s a red 2017 that I bought almost three years ago after my beloved old Neon of 17 years bit the dust. It’s not super or custom or anything fancy like that…. but it has a few quaint things about it like manual windows that endear it to me (and left it on the lot till the next model year, which is how I was able to snag it for a bargain price!)

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  4. What a bummer that group didn’t exist, but from what I’ve read in the comments you actually did find a group, so how cool is that? 🙂 It ended up turning out all right. I’m excited for you. I hope you meet some interesting people in your group. 🙂

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  6. Get a Subaru:) There are tons of clubs for Subaru owners. Alex was invited to one once. (Nate got a new Subaru and Alex got the old one.) Alex thought it would be cool to go, but the club met in a part of that state was too far away–not with swim and school and homework. In any case, glad there was no accident–and that you and Kate got cute sweaters!!!

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  8. That first paragraph made lough out loud… Amen! Have you ever experienced thunder snow? Yes, it is a real (and quite rare) thing, happening when you get lightnings during a snow storm. Here’s a short video about them, not caught here in Canada, but the guy’s reaction is just priceless 😉

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  9. Now I want to know what Carl is on because I feel like I’ve been winched up and down several times from the post to the comments and I don’t know whether I’m up or down. It’s weird because I’ve seen some cool cars–not so much the make and model, which I usually don’t notice, as the cool bumper stickers like one that says “I’m not lost, I’m exploring”–and I think about leaving a note on the windshield but I think how much that would freak me out.
    So you’ve confirmed both Canada’s reputation for wacky weather and politeness.

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    • Carl isn’t known as the Vodka King for nothing. And the only other time someone left a note on my car, it said, “You’re a great teacher”. I still have it, so you can’t discount the impact a kind note might have:-)

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  10. Wow, a super “Sonic” Facebook group (yes that was a Salt n Peppa reference), that apparently doesn’t exist in Ontario Canada. This sounds very suspicious, I’d do some serious investigating if I were you. They might hypnotize you to run errands for their money laundering to but car accent kits, I’m just sayin’. When I use to race my 1969 Camaro back in the day, I belonged to a small group of ladies called Domestic Torque Girls, not as catchy as your super spy, money laundering Chevy Sonic club, but there were only five of us. Drag racing then was male dominated, so we figured we needed to stick together, but good luck on joining or not joining them. As always Suzanne, you posts make me laugh and snot coffee through my nose…..🤣😝😂😆.

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  11. My first thought would be a sports team. But I don’t have a clue as to the names of your teams.  Weird message all in all.  At least it appears harmless, unless if course a strange vehicle lands near your gazebo with Sonics written on it, so beware 🥴😁🥰👽👾🤖

    Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

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  12. That’s the trouble with these Facebook (or any flavour of online group scenarios) enthusiast groups… I found similar for some camera owner ones when I used to do Facebook. It’s always more “let’s have a three page discussion, obsessive down to the smallest nerdy details” than it is just being casual-ish enthusiasts about owning a cool little cars (while wearing cute sweaters).

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  14. I’m sorry, isn’t this all about sweaters? Where are the sweaters? Tada! Sweaters please. Or, if you must, sweaters posed in front of black cars meant to be driven by Marshmallow-DJs. Or pumpkins dressed in sweaters. Or black dogs in the same. But, come on, sweaters!

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  18. Ok, so I’m a member of a couple of Toyota Celica groups & the content tends to revolve around Performance, Pimping & Problems. The cat references are indeed about catalytic converters: they are great for removing some bad emissions from exhaust fumes but they knock a few horsepower off performance. Some members will like to discuss modding their cars to up the power (air filters & turbos will also crop up), improve brakes, lower the suspension etc. Others may focus more on the looks, talking about fancy wheels, spoilers & internal & external vinyl wraps. I tend to ignore most of all that & just admire the pics. What’s really cool is just how friendly & supportive these groups are – everyone of them love their cars. They’re also great for helping with any problems you get. Definitely stay in the group, they will LOVE you! And if they have some local meet ups it’ll be a good laugh 😁

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  21. Update to update… I figured this was a car term her ya go…. “Cat in the up-pipe: is this really a concern?
    I’ve got a 2005 Outback 2.5 XT. 150,000 miles and runs good. In 2005 Subaru put a pre-cat in the up-pipe, and theoretically, it can disintegrate and start spewing parts into the turbo, which can then seize and spew parts into the engine, which can then seize etc.

    There are aftermarket up-pipes available for about $300 which don’t have that pre-cat. Or I can get a new Subaru up-pipe with the cat and remain legal, for a whole more $$$.

    My question is … is this really just a theoretical situation? Or has anyone actually experienced this?”
    Found this! Lol. It may refer to a catalytic converter? Not really about Cats. 😸

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  23. Here in Albuquerque last week, I got sunburned sitting outside on Sunday, woke up to 10 inches of snow on Monday and Tuesday which lingered through Wednesday’s sub-zero temps. By Thursday, the snow had all melted and on Friday, I was getting sunburned again. Would that be what you once referred to as “Fool’s Spring”?

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