In case you hadn't heard, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is GOOD! I got a new car Monday. Well, to be more accurate, I got a gently used car. It's so nice to travel under the power of my own steam again. It's SUPER nice to travel in a vehicle that has working gages, vents, all the things that keep your car legal. (I Googled myself. My ENTIRE government name can be found on the innanets regarding *cough* "improper equipment".) I don't have to feel unworthy of the "good" parking spaces anymore. Do you know how long I've been parking a zillion miles away from my church, work, school, and the site of my sorority meetings out of fear that someone walking by would look in my car and see what a hot ghetto mess it was? Over 2 years, honey. When people questioned me, I called it cardio.
It's been a stressful month since I realized that I couldn't keep skating by the way I was doing. It all started with my car literally cutting off on me in the middle of the road. Mercifully, it was on a lightly traveled country road near my house, and not the highway or as I was crossing the railroad tracks in town. God really does shower the blessings! I got it started again, but it sounded like a motorcycle, or a lawnmower. My mechanic told me it was the engine and that it was time to start looking for a new car. Every "BAD CREDIT/SLOW CREDIT/NO CREDIT" car dealership commercial that came on tv had me surfing the net to see what they had on the lot. I followed a local auto swap page on facebook, as well as the page of some upstart car dealership that posted pics of cars that didn't look to be in much better shape than mine. My auntie, who is like another mother to me, was gracious enough to let me use her car to get to work when she could. Then I rented a car for about a week. That was a quick, temporary fix that included the extra added bonus of new car smell, but I was really nickeling and diming myself going that route.
I bit the bullet Saturday and went to a car dealership in a neighboring town. I haven't really cared for car salesmen since I was young and had some experiences with them being snarky and rude, but hey. Supply and demand, right? I needed to ride, so I went in. My salesman was a pretty nice guy and actually kinda cute, but my head was swimming from the stress of trying to find something right away so I could return the rental and return to normalcy by Monday. No time for flirting. Not to mention that this car lot was so yuge, they had golf carts to zip shoppers around in. I'm way too indecisive for that much choice. Cars for MILES, honey. (That may be why I got what I got, but I'm not complaining--more on that shortly.) I sat in several cars and test drove 2. One of my "sit-ins" was just like the car that I got from Enterprise Rental. I seriously considered that one. Another that I'd seen on the dealership's website and was REALLY interested in had a push button ignition. I'm old school--I like keys *shrug*. The salesman was really trying to talk up a car with heated seats. I gave that one the bypass. See, I have this thing about heated seats. I'm afraid they'll malfunction and blow my butt or vajayjay off. Oh! There was an almost sit-in too. My dealer tried to interest me in a 2004 Toyota Something-Or-Other, pitching what a smooth drive it was. I politely peeked into the driver's side window and it felt like someone had walked over my grave: Same early 2000's technology staring out at me reminding me of how my car used to be and what this one was destined to become. I thought to myself, "Um, SIR, I have spent the last 3 or 4 years watching my 2005 Chevy Cavalier decompose before my very eyes. You couldn't sell me a 2004 Anything even if it included a naked Keanu Reeves in the front passenger seat!"
Moving on...The two I drove were the same make and model, just different colors, one gray and the other green. The green one was a bumpy ride that reminded me way too much of the early days of my car's walk into the light and the interior smelled like cigarette smoke--that CANNOT be masked as I told you in my last post. The gray one had more miles--120,000+--but the ride was smooth, and gray is one of my favorite colors, so I chose that one. The interior is cloth in a very light gray. It's got some stains, but I think I can get rid of them; they're barely noticeable. But most people consider their cars their babies and I'm no exception; I was counting the fingers and toes, honey. I probably need to get seat covers because this chick LOVES to eat and drive. I'm not trying to get Taco Bell juice on the seats this early in the game.
Now that I'm back in the driving (my own car) game, it's like I have a new lease on life. I wasn't scheduled to go to HN&S Monday, and I get my schedule mixed up often. I was sure I had to work, double checked my schedule and I didn't. I think, in this instance, I was just looking forward to the drive. Ha! I've been considering sub gigs as far out in the county as possible...because now I can, and I'm applying for a tutoring gig at one of those far-out schools to supplement my income. I do have a car payment again, after all.
Speaking of car payments, when I paid off my Chevy Cavalier, I swore I would drive it into the ground before I got another car, and I did. That extra $300 a month was SWEET. Wish I'd been wiser with it though. Interestingly enough, a co-worker said he was avoiding car payments like the plague as well. His car is a 1999 Something-Or-Other and he has to hold down the turn signal lever. It won't stay down on its own anymore. I guess there are lots of people on the highways and byways "struggle driving". Over the years, I think I've seen it all: Clear plastic sheeting in lieu of a window, giant holes in the bodywork from some unknown accident (and lack of auto insurance or adequate coverage), paint job gone to hell, bottle of Windex in the car for the windshield because the washer fluid receptacle sprung a leak (that one was me, btw)...But ohhhhh when you get those fresh wheels, you wonder how and why you let things go so far left for so long. That point was driven home to me yesterday (literally) when I went to the dumpster. In the country, the trash isn't picked up from our houses. We take refuse to the dumpster and the garbage man gets it there. I haven't rigged up my trunk with protective plastic yet, so I decided to take the trash in Old (Semi) Reliable one last time before deactivating my tags and registration. As I drove those back roads in a little blue car that sounded like Husqvarna's finest, I was simultaneously praising God and lamenting putting myself through such vehicular hell for so long. Never again though. This time, it's oil changes ON TIME, no smoking in the vehicle and just overall kid glove treatment. You won't catch me riding dirty again.
Without further ado--although you probably gave all of that typing above the bypass anyway--I present my new baby:
My beautician was kind enough to inform me that I now drive an SUV. Silly me, I thought it was just a really big car or a fat station wagon. HA! That's not what I planned to get; I set out looking for another sedan. Told y'all my head was swimming from stress and indecisiveness. (That means more gas, but it's easier for mom to get in an out of when I take her places.) Whatever she is, nothing but the best for Dorian...Get it? Because she's gray. Just let me be clever.
It's been a stressful month since I realized that I couldn't keep skating by the way I was doing. It all started with my car literally cutting off on me in the middle of the road. Mercifully, it was on a lightly traveled country road near my house, and not the highway or as I was crossing the railroad tracks in town. God really does shower the blessings! I got it started again, but it sounded like a motorcycle, or a lawnmower. My mechanic told me it was the engine and that it was time to start looking for a new car. Every "BAD CREDIT/SLOW CREDIT/NO CREDIT" car dealership commercial that came on tv had me surfing the net to see what they had on the lot. I followed a local auto swap page on facebook, as well as the page of some upstart car dealership that posted pics of cars that didn't look to be in much better shape than mine. My auntie, who is like another mother to me, was gracious enough to let me use her car to get to work when she could. Then I rented a car for about a week. That was a quick, temporary fix that included the extra added bonus of new car smell, but I was really nickeling and diming myself going that route.
I bit the bullet Saturday and went to a car dealership in a neighboring town. I haven't really cared for car salesmen since I was young and had some experiences with them being snarky and rude, but hey. Supply and demand, right? I needed to ride, so I went in. My salesman was a pretty nice guy and actually kinda cute, but my head was swimming from the stress of trying to find something right away so I could return the rental and return to normalcy by Monday. No time for flirting. Not to mention that this car lot was so yuge, they had golf carts to zip shoppers around in. I'm way too indecisive for that much choice. Cars for MILES, honey. (That may be why I got what I got, but I'm not complaining--more on that shortly.) I sat in several cars and test drove 2. One of my "sit-ins" was just like the car that I got from Enterprise Rental. I seriously considered that one. Another that I'd seen on the dealership's website and was REALLY interested in had a push button ignition. I'm old school--I like keys *shrug*. The salesman was really trying to talk up a car with heated seats. I gave that one the bypass. See, I have this thing about heated seats. I'm afraid they'll malfunction and blow my butt or vajayjay off. Oh! There was an almost sit-in too. My dealer tried to interest me in a 2004 Toyota Something-Or-Other, pitching what a smooth drive it was. I politely peeked into the driver's side window and it felt like someone had walked over my grave: Same early 2000's technology staring out at me reminding me of how my car used to be and what this one was destined to become. I thought to myself, "Um, SIR, I have spent the last 3 or 4 years watching my 2005 Chevy Cavalier decompose before my very eyes. You couldn't sell me a 2004 Anything even if it included a naked Keanu Reeves in the front passenger seat!"
Moving on...The two I drove were the same make and model, just different colors, one gray and the other green. The green one was a bumpy ride that reminded me way too much of the early days of my car's walk into the light and the interior smelled like cigarette smoke--that CANNOT be masked as I told you in my last post. The gray one had more miles--120,000+--but the ride was smooth, and gray is one of my favorite colors, so I chose that one. The interior is cloth in a very light gray. It's got some stains, but I think I can get rid of them; they're barely noticeable. But most people consider their cars their babies and I'm no exception; I was counting the fingers and toes, honey. I probably need to get seat covers because this chick LOVES to eat and drive. I'm not trying to get Taco Bell juice on the seats this early in the game.
Now that I'm back in the driving (my own car) game, it's like I have a new lease on life. I wasn't scheduled to go to HN&S Monday, and I get my schedule mixed up often. I was sure I had to work, double checked my schedule and I didn't. I think, in this instance, I was just looking forward to the drive. Ha! I've been considering sub gigs as far out in the county as possible...because now I can, and I'm applying for a tutoring gig at one of those far-out schools to supplement my income. I do have a car payment again, after all.
Speaking of car payments, when I paid off my Chevy Cavalier, I swore I would drive it into the ground before I got another car, and I did. That extra $300 a month was SWEET. Wish I'd been wiser with it though. Interestingly enough, a co-worker said he was avoiding car payments like the plague as well. His car is a 1999 Something-Or-Other and he has to hold down the turn signal lever. It won't stay down on its own anymore. I guess there are lots of people on the highways and byways "struggle driving". Over the years, I think I've seen it all: Clear plastic sheeting in lieu of a window, giant holes in the bodywork from some unknown accident (and lack of auto insurance or adequate coverage), paint job gone to hell, bottle of Windex in the car for the windshield because the washer fluid receptacle sprung a leak (that one was me, btw)...But ohhhhh when you get those fresh wheels, you wonder how and why you let things go so far left for so long. That point was driven home to me yesterday (literally) when I went to the dumpster. In the country, the trash isn't picked up from our houses. We take refuse to the dumpster and the garbage man gets it there. I haven't rigged up my trunk with protective plastic yet, so I decided to take the trash in Old (Semi) Reliable one last time before deactivating my tags and registration. As I drove those back roads in a little blue car that sounded like Husqvarna's finest, I was simultaneously praising God and lamenting putting myself through such vehicular hell for so long. Never again though. This time, it's oil changes ON TIME, no smoking in the vehicle and just overall kid glove treatment. You won't catch me riding dirty again.
Without further ado--although you probably gave all of that typing above the bypass anyway--I present my new baby:
 |
| 2012 Honda CR-V |
My beautician was kind enough to inform me that I now drive an SUV. Silly me, I thought it was just a really big car or a fat station wagon. HA! That's not what I planned to get; I set out looking for another sedan. Told y'all my head was swimming from stress and indecisiveness. (That means more gas, but it's easier for mom to get in an out of when I take her places.) Whatever she is, nothing but the best for Dorian...Get it? Because she's gray. Just let me be clever.
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