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Sunday, September 30, 2007

The hardest part is saying yes 

Although, it may have been something more like, "Sure" or "Why not?" or "Okay, let's do it." I bought a car on Saturday. I test drove a used Accord last week, and while it was a sweet ride, there were a few things I wasn't crazy about, like the way the roof seemed to be a bit too low and cut into my eyeline, or how the top of the speedometer was covered by the steering wheel. Also, there were obviously some scratches on the driver's door that had been touched up pretty badly. So I went up to Toyota of Nashua to look at some Corollas and maybe a Yaris. Why all the way up to Nashua? I'm working with AutoAdvisors, this service my credit union offers for free. The guys go with you to the dealerships and act as your advocate and explain everything to you. Also, they have relationships with specific dealers and can get you a car for a few hundred over invoice in most cases. As it turns out, the guy I worked with is the son of my mother's good friend, Lillian. Good deal for me, because if I wasn't happy with him I didn't have to worry about going to his boss - I could go straight to his mom.

I tried out a dark blue Yaris sedan first. It was so completely adorable. You just want to tickle the fenders and say "Oo's a cute wittle car? Oo's a pwecious wittle car? Is it you? I think it's you." But compact is not the word to describe this thing. I had to adjust the steering wheel to get it off my knees. The instrument panel is in the middle of the dash so you have to look over there to check your speed. And the engine sounds kind of like a lawnmower. The funny thing was that at the Honda dealer the salesman was very nice, but before I could drive anything, he took a copy of my license, got my home phone number, my work phone number and my email address, and then he came along with me. At the Toyota place the guy just said, "Hold on, I'll get a license plate," screwed the thing on, and that was that. He didn't even ask if I had my license on me. My AutoAdvisor joined me because I had no idea where I was going and he said "Just keep driving, they don't know where you live!"

So, the Yaris was out. The next car was an '08 Corolla. The minute I got on the road my heart knew I was buying a Corolla. The thing was to get my head to agree. The one I drove was an LE and the last one left on the lot. The rest were CEs, which were a little cheaper, but didn't have power locks and windows. I could get a CE with the power package, but I'd have to wait and the price would be almost the same as the LE. What's the freakin' point? So I sat there with my mother, the salesman, and my Auto guy thinking, "Hmm, maybe I should wait for the CE, maybe I should test drive some more Hondas, maybe this, maybe that." And then I thought, "Fuck it. I need a car, I like this car, I can afford this car - just say yes and shake the man's hand." So I did. And, like Tracy told me when she signed the lease for her first Escape, I was excited, but I kind of wanted to cry, too.

It didn't really help that everyone and their grandmother was out buying a car on Saturday. The place was packed and it took forever to get the paperwork written up. We expected to get out of there around three. It was close to five when we hit the road. The car is not yet mine - I'm calling the credit union first thing tomorrow to get insurance - but I should be picking it up on Saturday. My AutoAdvisor guy was great. If you have a chance to use a service like that, I highly recommend it, especially if you have no freakin' clue how to go about buying a car, like me.

But I have a car! I can like, be all independent and shit now. This is what it looks like (it's the desert sand mica). I think I'll call her Goldie.

Friday, September 14, 2007

wtf? 

So, that's what happens to your blog when you get a regular nine to five and have no social life. Huh, who'dve thunk it. Four months without an entry. It's a far cry from college when I might post three or four times in a single day.

To sum up - still working at the hospital. although with more responsibility now. Since my partner in crime at check-in left for a cushy job as an office manager at another practice, I inherited most of her little duties (doing the discrepency list, preparing the copays for deposit, etc.) and I'm in charge of a doctor's schedule. I like the girl who replaced her - she's friendly and she caught on really fast, but I hope that she stays on for a good long while because god help me if I ever have to train someone else for my job again. There just isn't enough room up there for three people to work. I felt so freakin' claustrophobic and my workspace was all messy. It really amped up my anxiety level for no other reason other than I can't stand to have my desk cluttered.

I've learned to hate certain things about my commute, mostly the people who pass out free papers at the top of the stairs at the North Station green line stop. I call it "The Gauntlet." I think I mostly just annoyed with myself for finding it annoying, but for fuck's sake, it's a free paper. Free. I know people need to work, but why do you have to stand there impeding traffic, handing the damn things out? Your job can be done by a windowsill, which is where most of the papers not being handed out live until someone walks by and snatches them. I just don't understand. There are several other things I hate, but I'll have to add them in installments because I could take up several pages on that topic alone.

I'm going to try to keep up with the blogging again, just because I miss getting my thoughts down and reading about all the stupid stuff I do in the course of a day. Lately, I've had enough time to fuck around on the chud.com boards after work, so I obviously have enough time to blog. We'll see what happens.

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