when a guy says, "I have this van here and it's in your price range, come down and see it" And you say, "Oh wow, okay, we'd love to see it." And you go down there and all you get to do is SEE it. Nope, can't drive it yet. Has to go through the service center first. Can't drive it now, service center is all backed up. Can't drive it yet, it's the guy's day off. Can't drive it today, waiting for a part. Can't drive it tomorrow, it has to be vacuumed. Or whatever.
I am wicked frustrated by this whole scene. I am just hoping that he is delaying so as to have this commission on his August books and not because he enjoys dangling us around on a hook like this. Grrrrr.
So instead of waiting until I had a van, I went ahead and bought the lumber for the loft bed and brought it home in the Metro. So there. Stupid van stuff.
Grrrrr! Let me know if you feel like sanding. I have a LOT of sanding to do...
The guy at the nice Honda place (not the jerk at the Dodge place) has found us a van in our price range. It is kinda mileage-heavy, but otherwise is gorgeous! We should get to test drive this afternoon...
Keep your fingers crossed that it is the van for us. I am tentatively very excited but trying not to get ecstatic yet.
Also, if you need a "Blue Thunder" movie (this is my mom's term for a movie you go see at the end of a very stressful week when you want to strangle the little anklebiters that you work with and you need a loud crashing action movie to take the edge off your nerves), The Island is a definite yes! What a lot of fun! Melanie will tell you to sit kinda far back, but I loved the feeling that everything was just crashing off the screen into our laps (we were at the break where the flat seats turn into stadium seats, so about 8 rows back or so, but still pretty close because I like to put my feet on the railing there). Woo hoo! That was a fun fun movie! Go see it and tell me if you agree.
I'll keep you posted on the vanage.
Today was a bummer. We had seen a used Honda Odyssey EX at a local dealership yesterday and decided might be in the market for a new (or at least new to us) vehicle. This Odyssey is just the one we want, we knew the asking price and we had a whole plan on how much we would offer to pay, in cash, out the door, no financing, no car payment, thank you very much Alex Trebek. We had discussed being very firm, and not being seduced into buying more than we could afford, and all that stuff.
So we drop the kids with Grammy and head down to see what the van is like. The dealer is very pleasant, photocopies my drivers license and gives us the keys. We drove all over the place. We sat in all the seats. We tried all the whistles and bells (and there are LOTS of whistles and bells on this model). We took the van by our friends who are Honda people and let THEM try all the whistles and bells. They liked the whistles. Also the bells.
We drove on country roads, we drove in town, we drove on the highway. We drove up hills and down hills, around twisty bends and corners. We went forwards and backed up. We were in love. We couldn't think of any good reasons not to buy the thing.
So we go back to the dealer and make our offer. He laughed at us. Then he laughed at our counter-offer, which was a jump-shift to our highest available amount. He said he wouldn't even take that number to his manager. He said, "This is how much we have in the van right now!" (the number was more than $2,000 more than our highest offer). We asked if we could discuss it in private for a moment. He went into his manager's office and told him, in a loud voice, what morons we were.
I still wanted to buy the van. Tim wanted to kill the guy -- or at least make a stern face at him and take our business elsewhere. We talked for a minute about our options, and we probably could have come up with the money the jackass wanted for the van I wanted, but we waited until he came back, said it was out of our price range, shook his hand (my hand was sweaty and I was really glad to slime his hand in the process) and left.
I'm really proud of myself on the one hand. I have a bad habit of talking Tim into things he does not really want to do. I am (and I know you are nodding as I say this) a master of the rationalization. I can rationalize just about anything if I want it bad enough. And have I mentioned that I really wanted this van? But it was important that I not do that this time, in part because the guy was such an ass about the whole thing. I mean what do I know from used Hondas? Our Honda people said our offer was okay -- now granted, we did not tell them the original asking price, so maybe they wouldn't have said that if we had given them all the information -- but the guy did not need to act the way he did. He really didn't deserve our business, although, as I've said, I really wanted the van.
But the worst part of it was the feeling I had as we were leaving -- it was like being a kid who has saved up 100 shiny pennies -- or even 200 shiny pennies, and she walks into the toystore and she's going to buy the biggest box of LEGOs the store has. She's been watching that big box of LEGOs for months -- saving and saving those pennies and now it's time to go buy them. So she goes up to the counter with the big box and opens her pudgy little hand and the pennies are there all sweaty and warm and cherished and the clerk tells her that not only is there not enough money to buy the big box of Legoes, but even the teensy little boxes of LEGO sets -- the ones that only let you build one little thing in one particular way -- are too expensive too. I think humiliated is the word I'm looking for, and all because some car dealer thinks he's really hot stuff -- ridiculous!
We'll get our new car one of these days and it will be terrific (partly because it won't get this jerk a big commission), but I really wasn't in the mood for this today. I was actually feeling better finally.... GRRRRR!
And I feel incredibly green right now. I'm just not really coping well. Things feel confusing and out of my control and I am frustrated by my inability to fight the black cloud that seems to be taking over inside my head.
I suspect it may be a brain cloud. I probably just need to find a volcano to jump into.
I usually feel so productive in the summer -- this year I just feel numb.
Don't call me and talk in a worried voice. I can't handle it right now.
Thirteen years ago today at about this time I was sleeping on the floor in my old bedroom at my parents house -- because all my women of honor were sleeping in the beds (I still haven't figured out how it ended up that way...) -- and not really sleeping well because I was nervous about getting married in a few hours.
Thirteen years ago -- whew, that's a long time. I feel so lucky to be where I am and who I am and WITH the person I'm with, still. This year has shown how precarious things can be, relationships especially, and it amazes me to be here, even while it feels so completely normal.
I am babbling and need to go to bed to be ready for the parade tomorrow, but I just wanted to say, Happy Anniversary to us. And thanks to everyone who makes us possible -- we couldn't do it without a hell of a lot of support!
I love you guys!