Still No New Car....

After DD's hockey game yesterday morning (7:45, at the dipper, against her friend A., we won 4-2), we went to breakfast at Denny's, then headed around to look at some vehicals.

We first pulled into a couple of used car lots, and even while walking around looking at some of the vehicals being offered, we were not approached by any salespeople. So, the first two lots, we left without seriously considering any of the vehicals they had for sale. (At one of the places DH went in to ask about the cost of a couple of the vehicals, and the sales-lady as much as told him that HE needs to get with our bank first & find out what they'll lend us, before she'll talk to him about buying any of the cars. She wanted HIM to do the dirty work first, before she'd do anything. *shaking head* We won't be going back THERE any time soon.)

Then we stopped at the Nissan Dealership where DH got his Toyota a year ago. We were approached immediately upon getting out of the car by the same salesman that sold DH the truck. At first he tried to get us interested in this 1999 mini-van, but I just wasn't interested in it. It was too big, inside & out. I don't need seating for 6 passengers. I don't need space for 4 kids in the back. And it wasn't a comfortable "sit" for me. Just too big. Too wide, too long, and hard to reach the peddles without "hugging" the steering wheel.

Anyway, then he showed us this 2008 Nissan Versa. OOoooooh, what a nice vehical. That thing would get up to 38 mi/gal in prime conditions, average Hwy conditions would bring 34 mi/gal. Much better than my MAXIMUM of 24 hwy miles to the gallon in my buick this last summer. Anyway, the final asking cost was in the range of $21,000 (that's with all the "$400 for this, $75 for this, and $500 for that" type things that get added onto the dealer's cost, which was little over $16,000). DH and I kind of had a feeling that would be a bit out of our price range, but the salesman kept telling us to let him run the numbers & see what he could come up with. The lowest we could get the payments on that, though, is $309 per month. About $100 more per month than we can afford, if we also want to be able to afford the required full-coverage insurance. *sigh* And that was WITH the longest financing time available. Oh well.

So, we left there rather disappointed, and wound up at the used car dealership where we bought my buick 6 years ago. Looked over a couple of vehicals, and saw a couple of PT Cruisers in the lot that we thought we'd go ahead & inquire about. Long story short, the one PT Cruiser that hadn't already been sold was a reconstructed vehical, but in our price range. (The salesman assured us that the reason the vehical had to be reconstructed was because it had been in an accident & totalled, but the damage was all cosmetic & the frame wasn't damaged at all.) We talked to our bank & our insurance company and both agreed to finance & cover this particular vehical. Well, we went for a test drive, and as we climbed in we found that the milage was 10,000 miles higher than the computer's records showed. Also, after climbing out after the test drive (and it does drive nicely!) DH was doing the usual "shaking the bumpers & kicking the tires" and found that the front bumper was not sturdily fixed, but also had a big crack on the underside that had been "tie-wired" back together. *shaking head* So, we went in to bring up these two issues with the salesman, at which point we were told that Oh yeah, the dealership-owner's wife had been driving it, that's where that extra 10,000 miles came from, though they still wouldn't say why the front bumper was so shoddily repaired. Kept saying it must have come back from the repair shop that way, they'd never noticed it like that before. (Yeah, right!) Well, having done all the financing bit, and gotten approved already, they magnanimously suggested we borrow the car for the weekend, drive it, put it through it's ropes, and bring it back with our final answer on Monday morning.

So, that's just what we've done. And tomorrow morning I'm going to take the car back & tell them that seeing as the front bumper could come off rather quickly I just don't feel like taking on another car that's already starting to fall apart. Thanks but no thanks.

On the other hand, we know now how a PT Cruiser drives, and when DH goes around for more vehical shopping today, he's going to keep his eyes open for a newer PT Cruiser, in better shape.

So, that's where the vehical search stands right now.

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I've come down with a cold. *shaking head* I'm sitting here right now sucking down some of my ACV & Honey "tea" and hoping I can keep this cold from getting full-blown. But the last few weeks have been hell on the immune systems of the folks around town. Seems all the kids have had either strep, the flu, a nasty stomach bug, or a cold that's knocking them all for a loop but can't really be qualified as something more massive than a cold. And this past week more & more of us grown-ups have been catching this crud. I think it's due in part to the lack of fresh air, the lack of sunlight, and being cooped up in consistently cramped quarters as we wait out the cold snap.

So, this morning my throat is sore, I keep coughing, and I've been somewhat shakey & cold, though not feverish at all. *sigh* I REFUSE to get sick. I had a mug of my ACV tea last night when I got home, and this morning. I'll have another mug this afternoon after work, then again tonight before bed. And I'm going to figure out some way to get some garlic into our supper tonight.

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This week's menu is looking like this:

Catfish tonight

Steak & baked potatoes tomorrow

Glorified Hash Browns on Tuesday.

Wednesday, we may have the Sloppy Joes I had planned for last night.

Thursday morning, we're heading out of town. I imagine that Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will include a lot of eatting at restaraunts & pizza parties with a bunch of screaming adolescent girls.

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That's right, as of Thursday morning, we'll be heading out of town for the weekend. DD's got a hockey tournament in Anchorage this coming weekend, so we won't be back till some time on Monday the 18th.

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Robin & Whim were both lovely and gave me awards this past week.

Robin awarded me with this:

And I'd like to pass it on to Connie at Ash Lane Farm. Grandma Connie is a fantastic woman who's warmth really shines as she posts about her family & friends, her pets, and the various reconstructionist gatherings she attends & participates in, over the course of the year.

I'd also like to pass this on to Tori for her sweetness. She's always wishing somebody a Happy Birthday on her blog. I don't know how she remembers the birthdates of all her friends, AND their pets, but she does. And whether the birthday "person" is 2 legged, or 4 legged, Tori has birthday wishes for them.

And last but not least, I'd like to pass this award on to Barb at Celtic Spirit. Though she's going through some hard times of her own, she's always got an encouraging word & some wisdom to share.

Whim gave me this award:

I'd like to pass this award on to Barefoot Gardner. It seems funny sometimes how two perfect strangers on different sides of the country can seem to have such amazing similarties & likes & dislikes. I'm convinced that if Barefoot Gardner & I lived in the same town, we'd probably wind up hanging out constantly.

I'd also like to pass it on to Mom. She's Mom. What more do I need to say?!?! *grin*

And last, to PeppyLady. I'm horrible about visiting her blog, but she so frequently stops here with lovely comments for me. So, PeppyLady, here you are!!!! You ARE appreciated, though I don't get to reciprocate visits as often as I should.

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The only other thing to post about, really quickly, is the weather. It's warming up in the middle of the day, a bit. I think yesterday it actually warmed up to about -10 deg. F. by early afternoon. That gave us a little time outside while looking at vehicals, when we could enjoy the sun. But, it was still -40 deg. at our house at 9 am.

On the other hand, DH dipped our fuel tank this morning and found that in the past week, we've only burnt 20 gallons of fuel. FIL, on the other hand, burnt 40 gallons in the past week. And my dad had an $800 fill-up of his tank yesterday. It's only been a month since the fuel company last delivered fuel to Dad. (On top of that, the debris stirred up by the fuel-tank-fill-up got sucked into the fuel lines at Dad's house, so he had to shell out an another $200 for an after-hours repair visit to flush the fuel-lines & get the furnace running again.)

The weather forcasters are now predicting that we could continue to have this cold weather for another couple of days at least. We'll see. *sigh*

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I think that covers it. I'm probably not going to be on more than once or twice till we get back from Anchorage, so......

Have a Blessed Week!!!!!