My dear wife's two conditions that I would have to meet to have her blessings to start a volleyball club were: Get a cell phone and a new car. She didn't want me running out of town all the time with my old pickup that is falling apart around me, or without a way of getting a hold of me. I was willing to do some car shopping but the cell phone really hurt. I hate these things. But she did make sense so I got the cell phone. That left the car.
I have been shopping for a while and really struggling with what to do. Should I get a new car that I would keep for another 20 years or longer? Should I buy something small and practical that gets good gas mileage that I could drive for a few years then let my oldest daughter take to college with her. Should I finally break down and buy myself that nice fancy sports car or truck with all the bells and whistles that every guy always wants to own?
New or used, big or small, truck or car? I have been looking at cars online and in lots for several weeks. I hadn't really made any decisions, or picked any particular types of cars. But I kept coming back to look at the Honda CRVs, the Dodge Magnum, the Dodge Charger or a couple different used cars. Yesterday I stopped by the local Dodge dealer. They had a 2007 Dodge Magnum sitting on the lot. So the dealer and I took it out for a ride. The car was the low end model SE. That means it didn't have a lot of fancy bells and whistles. But then my basic requirements for a car are simple - air conditioner, stereo and cruise control. Everything thing else is optional. It was the silver color that I liked and it drove well. It pretty much has the same engine in it that our van has, and it has run great for the last 10 years.
The dealer made me what seemed like a pretty good offer on the car. But I wanted to do a little more looking around. When I got home I ran some numbers online to see what this particular car was running. It seems that the offer way below what most guidelines were telling me that I should expect to pay from a dealer.
So today I took my dear wife and kids back to let her check it out also. They all loved the car. I asked the dealer why the offer was so low. She told me that this car had been sitting around taking up space on the lot and no one has even casually looked at it. Everyone was looking at the loaded 08s. No one was interested in the low end 07s.
So we spent a couple hours getting all the paperwork signed and drove home my new car.
BTW, I let my wife write the check (from our joint account) for the downpayment we made on the car. That way she can claim she bought me a car for Christmas. I hope she doesn't try and take it away and wrap it up for Christmas Eve, like we are going to do with our daughter's letter jacket. She got it on Wednesday. We told her she could wear it for a few days but then we were going to take it away from her, wrap it up and put if under the Christmas Tree. We will have to do this at night though, because sleeping and showering seems to be the only time she isn't wearing it.
Back to the car, I like it even if it is a station wagon. I grew up knowing that station wagons were not cool. But now that I am an old man I put a little higher value on space, gas mileage and function that what is cool. besides being a station wagon it looks a little bit like a hearse and what better car for an old man to be driving than a hearse?
4 comments:
Tell us your cell phone number so we can call you all the time! Be sure to leave it on when you go to work too. Have you learned how to do text messages yet?
No text messaging. I can't understand why I should type a message to someone with only 12 keys when I can just call them and talk to them by only pressing 3 keys. Its not like I have to train myself to cheat on tests in school.
My dear wife is discovering that me having a cell phone and me actually picking it up and putting it in my pocket when I leave the house are two different things. I am getting better about it, but my phone still spends at least two days a week siting on the coffee table.
The phone is off when I am at work. The building I work in is a grounded metal building so no signal in there. Besides the room I work in, has a no cell phones or PDAs turned on while in that space.
Give's new meaning to the word "station wagon" I guess that's two words...
Where's the best place to eat in Ridgecrest?
Best place to eat in Ridgecrest is at home.
We have a lot of fast food restaurants. But not many national chains other than fast food places.
If you want Mexican there is a place on China Lake Blvd called La Fiesta that is pretty good. Casa Corona on Norma is also good.
Texas Cattle Co. on China Lake Blvd has good burgers. They used to be a pretty good spot for steaks or ribs but changed owners a few years ago and the quality of food went downhill right after that. But the burgers are still good.
Tokyo House on China Lake Blvd is a Beni-hana style Japanese place. Good food, nice dinner show but rather pricey. It is probably one of the nicer restaurants in town.
We have several good Chinese places in town. Golden Dragon on Norma, China Lake Buffet on China Lake Blvd and the little shop on the corner of Ridgecrest Blvd and Balsaam I brained jambed on the name. We always call it MeiWahs but it hasn't been called that for years. But all three are good.
For a fancy Steak house you are pretty much limited to the Lodge up on hwy 395. There is a brewery there and good local brews available. The last couple times I ordered the prime rib the cuts of meat were really sub-standard so I haven't gone back for a while. But my in-laws still eat there regularly and say the steaks are still good.
That is one things that we really need here in town a couple good basic family style restaurants. Places with good food, reasonable prices and casual enough you can take the kids.
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