Car Update

First things first: thanks to my less-than-clear "Scrooge" remark in my last point, some of you mistakenly thought that *I* was the one who wanted a new car. Not so. I'm the Scrooge, whereas John has wanted a new car pretty much since birth. So sorry for the confusion, and for besmirching John's good name.

Ok, on to the update!

As you may have surmised, we've been car-shopping this past week. I even have the farmer's tan and frayed patience to show for it.

"What's wrong with this car? This one right here? I'll tell you what's wrong with this car, Mr. Pushy Car Salesman: I can't reach the pedals or see over the steering wheel. Yeah, that's right, I'M SHORT. Thanks for pretending not to notice. Now, lead me to your ridiculously tiny Hobbit cars, lay off the smirking, and we'll get along just fine."

I'm not generally that crabby, but for some reason it's approximately three thousand degrees in the shade right now here in Florida, and there is no such thing as shade on a car lot. I'm convinced this is a sales tactic.

"Aw, are you guys hot? Yeah? Well, I'd be glad to get you some nice, ice-cold water, if you'd care to accompany me back into the sales office and, say, fill out some paperwork."

Frankly, it almost worked. We were dripping sweat and *this* close to closing the deal on a decent car - one that was the identical brand and color of our old car, how sad is that? - when we decided we should probably take it for a test drive.

The car had "leather" seats. Sure, they claimed it was actual leather, but after baking in the three thousand degree sun all day it was more like "molten lava," and instantly adhered to any exposed flesh. Thank goodness I wasn't wearing shorts; otherwise most of my epidermal layer would still be in there. As it was, John and I emerged ten minutes later looking like we'd stood with our backs to a fire hose. Yeah. Yuck.

Living in Florida, we knew this would be the MO if we bought that car. So, we didn't. The sales guy? Yeah. Not so happy about that. A few of his remarks:

"But, it's leather!"

"Ok, sure, it's gonna be hot. But after you get going with the air blasting, it will cool down eventually."

"Leather is a luxury!"

"You think this is hot? I lived in [fill in state here]. Now THAT's hot. This is nothing."
(I'm still a little fuzzy on how this was supposed to make us want the car, but there you go.)

"It's LEATHER. You know how much that costs? This is a bargain."

And so on.

Despite all that, I'm pleased to tell you that this story does have a happy ending: Did you know they make orange cars? With cloth seats? That you can buy? And then you can own an orange car with cloth seats?!?

Ok, so maybe that's not a news flash. Still, after driving oh-so-practical 4-door sedans for most of my life, it was a real thrill to find and buy an ORANGE not-quite-as-practical 4-door sedan. And it'll be much easier to find in parking lots.

But the best part?

No more car shopping.

Can I get an "amen"?



UPDATE: Ok, ok! I'll post a picture already!

Mmmm, orangey goodness...

I didn't post a pic earlier because I was afraid it would look like bragging. When I explained this to John, he started laughing. "Jen," he said, "It's a KIA." So, um, yeah, here 'tis. (No offense meant towards Kia, either; this is by far the nicest car I've ever owned.)