Bug version:

This little piggy went to the Old Market

This little piggy stayed home

This little piggy had yoghurt

This little piggy had none

This little piggy went “wee wee wee wee” all the way home!

New car dumb, that is.

I’ve not been driving the pretty new car because…well because it is pretty.  Too pretty to drive.

But last night I wanted to spend some time with friends, so I loaded Bug into the car and went over to see them.  It was a little late when we returned home, it was the first time I’d driven my car in the dark.

For the last 10 years I’ve driven my little subaru where the lights come on when I turn the car on, and the lights shut off when I turn the car off.

My new little car has some fog lights that are always on when the car is on.

I drove all the way home without turning on my lights. I complained that I could not see the radio to change the channel, and why was it so dark in the car, and when it is that dark in the car, the digital dashboard seemed so painfully bright!  I pulled in my driveway and sat there for a moment thinking “There has to be a way to see the radio at night!”  And I started fiddling with things.  Then all of a sudden “AAAhhh!  Lights!  Inside AND outside the car!”

New car dumb, thats me!

I should have a litte more for you tomorrow, but I wanted to show off a swap package I received last week but was too busy to show off then!

When we were kids, one of our favorite family outings was to go biking on the Erie Canal.  We grew up doing this and biking long distances at a fairly young age, and some of my best memories are of long days biking through small towns, and stopping to shop here and there.

When I grew up, I found that typical bikes hurt my already injured wrists, and I needed a very upright bike.  I invested in a very expensive (for me) bike and it has traveled with me ever since.  But, since I’ve had Bug, it has been rather neglected.

Enter O’Kathy, whom I knit with.  You see, we met during the winter, so we knit together frequently. But I kept hearing stories about how she would not be knitting as often in the summer because she would have to be biking.  And while it was to be expected, I couldn’t imagine how someone would want to bike instead of knit.

But, I underestimated the O’Kathy power of persuasion.  All it took was one Thursday evening bike ride and I was again hooked.  So now I find myself biking instead of knitting!

J was supposed to come home this evening and I was going down to the airport to pick him up.  Of course I was really excited about this, as I haven’t seen him in 3 weeks. But, I got a message on Saturday that his mother was too sad about his leaving and wanted him to stay another 2 weeks.  And of course while I understand his mothers heartbreak over having a son so far away, I myself felt a bit bereft because my plans were completely changed.

But then I started to think, what would I do?  Why, one of my favorite things.  I asked O’Kathy if she would be around and up for a bike ride and she, of course, said yes.  So 3 of us did 20 miles today, ending up with a leisurely lunch at my favorite bistro.  To be honest, I felt like I could go another 20 miles.  So, we’ve another ride planned tomorrow!

Conclusion, if you don’t see me knitting, I am probably biking.  LOL

Now, the event which O’Kathy pulled me in with is called the Taco Ride, which takes place around here every single Thursday evening.  I had no idea what I was getting myself in to!  I didn’t realize that this event would have 1000-4000 people on it during the peak points of the year.  Imagine tons of people, all smiling, happy, and having fun!  You can’t beat it!

This Thursday she took some pictures, so I stole them off her camera (again!)

I know I’ve been somewhat absentee this week.  I have literally not been home in the evening since last Saturday, so my blogging time has been very limited.  As has my picture taking time.

And the reason?  Well, for the last 10 years, I’ve been driving this:

And, I’ve been happy about it!  My old hat has served me well, and I’ve loved it most of the time I’ve had it.  But I also knew that it was getting to be time to think about buying a new one.  This gave me fits of anxiety at first and I took my dad with me to search and test drive cars when I was last visiting them.  I was looking at subaru’s again, and then also at the honda fit and the honda civic.

I ended up choosing the civic for its gas mileage and its ability to still feel like a car when driving.  But then you know that the fun begins.  Now I’ve actually got to negotiate a price.  So I sat on my decision for at least a month.  After all, I was in no huge hurry to get a new car, I wasn’t desperate, I just knew it was about time.

Once I decided that now was a good time (indicated by the burning fluids now causing large puddles underneath my car AND the smoke from them feeding back into my air circulation system in my car, causing visible smoke) I contact 7 dealers.  One was in PA, and the rest in 3 states within a 3 hour radius.  My goal was to get them well below invoice price.

To do this, I decided I would get my quotes online.  I asked them for their lowest quotes and did not bring up that I might have a trade in at all.  I got one dealership on a low and firm quote by Monday afternoon.  Then I went in to check on my trade in.  I got a price they were willing to give me on that as well.  I then refused to put a deposit on the car to hold the car and went home.

The next day, I asked him a few more questions about the car, still feeling that his price was the best I’d be able to get.  By Tuesday afternoon I had almost put a deposit on the car and called up dealership #2 whom I had a trade in appointment with and told them the deal was done and I wasn’t coming in.  But then I asked myself what I was gaining by rushing this?  Not a thing.

I got a message from dealership #3, she told me they would make it worth my while if I’d just come in and let them talk to me.  I realized that dealership # 3 was the only one that had my truly desired color.  But, color was not of first importance.  So I decided to keep my appointment with dealership #2, and then visit dealership #3 later on that evening.

I went to dealership #2 where they were really scrambling for my business.  I got them to agree to $250 more on my trade in than the first dealership, and in the end I got them to drop the price of the car another $500, which was less than I ever imagined I’d spend on that car!  But of course, I had to agree to it that very moment.  Which I refused to do.  I did tell her I would call her on her cell later that night.

Then Bug and I grabbed a bite to eat and headed to dealer #3.  I told them that I was informed that they would beat the lowest price I brought in, and that the lowest price had changed.  I had them look at my trade in.  And then they started throwing numbers at me.  Now, math is not really my strong point, but I am not dumb either.  I know that I can work out the numbers given time and a piece of paper.  Which is when the following conversation took place:

Me:  I am not understanding where you are getting these numbers from, and they don’t look right to me.

Salesguy explains again.

Me: Something is still not sitting right with this.  Let me get my notebook.

I then proceed to write numbers down and do the math.

Me: I understand the price I want to be paying for the car, and the price I am getting for my trade in, so why does this extra $154 keep popping up and being added on to the total price?

Salesguy: That is for the price of the splashguards. We put splashguards on all our cars here, and we need to charge you for that.

Me: (fuming) Wait a second, you’ve got me all the way down here because you want to beat any other deal I’ve gotten, and you promised to make it worth my while, but now you want to dicker about splash guards?!?!  Which are already on the car?  When I can walk out of here right now, go back to dealership #2 and get this price?  The price I want to pay?  You’ve GOT to be kidding me! We are hot, tired and annoyed, don’t waste our time!

Salesguy: (looking sheepish) Let me go talk to my manager.

That little outburst got the splashguard price taken off my total and the price dropped another $100.  At which point I was just about ready to sign.  But…I thought I’d call the other dealerships first.  I gave them a call and they were pretty angry and would not match my price.  One of them sarcastically commented “It is great when you can find a dealer that will give a car away for free.)

So, in the end, I got the car I wanted, for a price I never imagined, in the exact color I loved.  And, I had fun in the process!  When I pulled out the paperwork for my old subaru, I realized that the cost of the new car was significantly less than I paid for my subaru 10 years ago.  But now I have a car with bells and whistles!

Let me tell you about the firsts!  This is my first new car.  First car with a moonroof.  First car with a CD player.  First car with cruise control.  First car with intermittent adjustable windshield wipers.  There are a lot of firsts with this car!

And now for your pictures….

The color is urban titanium metallic. The interior is beige, which will be nice after looking at gray for the last 10 yrs.

It is a very pretty little car, but roomier in the back than the subaru, and plenty of room in the front even for my dad.

Dashboard looks pretty cool too!
I had a little trouble putting it in my garage because it is a little bigger than the subaru, but the real problem is that I cannot see the end of the nose of the car. So there was a lot of stopping and looking to see if I had pulled forward enough. I am sure I will get used to it.

I loved my subaru, and really had trouble deciding not to buy another. It took a lot to move over to a honda. But in the end, the leg room in the back combined with the better gas mileage, honda won out. We will see if I become as thrilled with Honda as I was with Subaru.

I need to steal a little from Margaret and Helen blog for a moment, since Helen has managed to sum up quickly what concerns me so much and what weighs heavily on my heart.

From this post:

“As Americans, many of us just can’t understand why terrorists from the Middle East would want to destroy us.  The very idea of their hating us so much is almost unfathomable.  Never mind that we have been occupying their homelands for more than 60 years.   Never mind that today we have dozens of “enduring” military bases just in Iraq and dozens more in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar…  Is that really so terrible? We’re just there looking to send back a little oil to help run our cars and our factories back home.   Why do they hate us so much?  I don’t know, but I wish it was a problem we could finally solve.

Speaking of problems I wish we could solve…  What are we going to do with all these illegal immigrants coming into our country uninvited?  The nerve, I tell you.  The very nerve of it just gets to me.   The  idea that those Mexicans would come here in hopes of earning money to send to their families back home is just too much to bear.  Before you know it, they’ll want to build a military base.  I mean can you imagine if those Mexicans were to start arriving inside tanks rather than inside trunks.  Imagine if they start taking our land rather than our landscaping jobs.  The very thought just makes me want to blow something up…

Is the whole situation becoming a little more clear?  People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.  It ruins the view and makes for a lot of sharp edges.

We need to educate ourselves if we are to finally understand our problems and how to solve them.  Did you know that  the US operates and/or controls between 700 and  800 military bases worldwide.   These facilities include more than 850,000 different buildings and equipment.  The underlying land surface is about 30 million acres – almost a third the size of California.  (Interestingly enough, the Hispanic population in California is about a third of the state’s population.) The total land area occupied by US military bases domestically and internationally is about 2,202,735 hectares, which makes the Pentagon one of the largest landowners worldwide.

Margaret, I don’t even know what a hectare is.  Do you?  So what does all this mean? To most of us – probably nothing.  And that’s the problem.  I mean it.  Really.”

Bug has taken to playing in the car when she gets the chance.  She came inside today to have lunch, and I smelled something strange.  I kept thinking that maybe J came home early or something, because it smelled like him suddenly in the house.  I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.  Then I realized that it was Bug.  So I asked her if she put on JJ’s cologne while she was in the car.  She said “Yes!  Because I love my JJ, he smells SOOO good!”

Announcement: Anyone who knows me knows how big a deal this is.  I ran over a snake with my lawn mower.  GO ME! I am shaking so hard!

When I was young, perhaps 4th or 5th grade, my feet were around a woman’s size 4.5 or 5.  When Mom took me school shopping that year, we realized that shoes in that size were really inexpensive!  Now, we didn’t really have a lot of extra money for clothing when I was growing up, and that didn’t bother me much as I tended to buck trends anyhow.  But that year, rather than purchasing one pair of dress shoes and one pair of sneakers, I ended up with 8 pairs of shoes!  I will never forget this memorable indulgence, and I am fairly certain that we only spent as much as we would have in previous years.  Do you remember this Mom?

That year I had my first pair of patent leather heels. (Not very high, and chunky, but they were heels!)  I remember my sneakers that year too, a periwinkle color that I was rather fond of.  But the shoes I remember most of all were a pair of red shoes with a stylized strap over the top.  They were flats.  They were the prettiest shoes I’d ever seen.  I really wanted to wear those shoes every single day.  I wore them until they wore out, and no longer fit, and then I tried to keep them even longer.  I often wore them with a denim dress with a zipper running down the front.

That dress had a story of its own, wearing that dress and those shoes, one of my classmates called me a “lesbian.”  I didn’t know what a lesbian was, and when I asked him, he told me it was a very skinny female.  *snerk*  Also this dress was used to harass me by some so called “friends” who would pull the front zipper down as I was leaving the bathroom.  It was a rough year, but at least I had red shoes!

Thus began my red shoe obsession, and as long as I can remember I’ve tried to have a pair of red shoes in my wardrobe.  I had a pair of cloth mary janes that I wore into literal pieces while I was in high school.  For the past 10 yrs I’ve had a pair of red chunk heeled boots which I absolutely love.  Unfortunately, after 10 yrs of wear, the leather is cracking and the heels are peeling.  But, I’ve had a hard time letting them go.

Last weekend, J and I went shoe shopping for his mom.  We were having trouble picking out shoes which we thought she might like.  We wanted comfort, but she is also very specific about a certain style.  We had a lovely shoe saleswoman who was very attentive and patient with us as we explained our conditions.  As we wandered through the born section, I saw a wonderful pair of red shoes!

Now, the trouble with shopping with J is that I have to be careful what I say, lest I end up with whatever it was I pointed out.  I learned within the first few months of our relationship to keep my mouth shut in order that he wouldn’t buy stuff for me that I didn’t care that much about.  But as I walked past these red shoes, headed straight for the pair we were looking at for his mom, I pointed to them and said “I think I’ll have to have a pair just like that some day!”  It was such an instantaneous reaction to a pair of red shoes that I never thought what consequence it would bring.

But, when we got home, in one of the 3 boxes of shoes were a pair in red just my size:

I think I can get rid of the boots now.