Atomictumor

Final deal:

Car: Talked down from $16900 to $15000.

Van: Talked up from $2500 to $2750

Loan: A little bigger than I thought, because I forgot that I owed money on the van still (HOW, after all this friggin planning, did I forget about THAT?)

I don’t like that van, and I never really did.  We figured, at the time, that we needed one, and they’re all pretty suck, just on account of they’re minivans.  It was extremely good at what it did, was comfy, etc, but by the end I was so sick of its electrical woes (power windows that don’t work, door open light constantly on, etc) that I was ready to light it on fire.
It was BJ’s vehicle, tho, and it was a little bittersweet leaving it.  She didn’t like it much either, but never bothered to learn to drive a stick, so we never swapped out.

When I cleaned it out yesterday, I found some things.  I found some of those little notebooks that she always kept around her, with things like to-do lists, and sketches and stuff.  It made me smile.  I found a hair scruntchy with a lot of hair in it, including on of her slightly multiplying, but still rare grey hairs.  I put it in the Volvo, and I’ll put it in the Mazda some other time, somewhere deep in a pocket, just to have a little bit of her around.

When we were dealing, or rather, waiting for people to do things in the back, the used car guy (Glen, I’ll admit, at Mazda Knoxville.  If anybody googles it, so far, I give em a mighty good rating) asked what happened to her.  I asked him if he really wanted to know, and told him.  It feels good to tell the story.  I start with the renewal, and her flu, and progressive degeneration.  Her bleeds, that shut her brain off, and the stroke, that broke it.  I do it with just a little bit of emotion in me, that I keep locked up in my jaw, because I don’t let it out around people, and particularly not strangers.

He gave condolences, and said that he had a girlfriend that worked at another dealership, and that that would really be hard, if he were in my shoes, what with kids and all.

Its not, really.  Not yet, maybe not ever.

—

I typed a bunch more that wouldn’t end this post on such a down note, but somehow it disappeared.  C’est le vie.  I’ll pop some pictures up later.

Night folks!!!

(PS: Woot!  I got a new car!!!)

And its not a rocket, and no, I’m not necessarily happy to see you…

—

I got a call from the used car guy, saying that his manager is tearing him a new one, and oh, by the way, do you happen to have the keys to the car from last night?

Quick check of the pocket indicates… yes.  Yes I do.

To be fair, tho, I remembered this morning that he still has one of my van keys, so we’re really even.

I’ll be picking up Pigpen after school today and heading on down to K-town, dropping the keys off.  I figure he’s going to try to pin me down, but I’m just going to act vaguely irritated that I drove down there three times, with nothing to show for it, and mention again what the other dealers are doing.

Oh yes.  Its on.

Well, in a big surprise for those of us that don’t pay a lick of attention to the weather, its totally snowing. And I mean, throwing down, snowing. Let me show you a graphical representation of today, vs yesterday.

The snowflakes are as big as Volkswagens, and have to weigh something like 3 or 4 kilograms.  Being an American, and educated in the public school system of Chattanooga, TN to boot, I only have a vague idea what a kilogram (or kilogramme, depending on how far you want to take this thing) weighs, but I assume it weighs something between 2 stones, and a breadbox.

This just in: It stopped snowing.

Never mind.