Did You Call?

Earlier this week I wouldn't know if you'd called because my cel phone was, well, unavailable. It wasn't missing, but I couldn't exactly answer it if it rang. It all started when I went to pick up the nieces from their respective schools. Both kids in tow, I asked Elder Niece (newly promoted to the front seat after turning twelve) to call my mom since I'm not the sort of person who calls and drives. When in the car, I often leave my phone in the niche next to the emergency brake, so it was easy for her to make the call and then put the phone back where she found it. We went off on our merry way, and I didn't think another thing about it.

Eventually, we got home, bundled out of the car like a heard of elephants, ate snack, began homework, and started to make some dinner. Since we were still waiting to hear from my mom, I thought I would check my phone for messages. Oh noes! I left it in the car! Running out to the garage, I found that the phone was not in the usual niche. Instead, it was about four inches to the right wedged in another little crevice, but this one was the rubber gasket for the emergency brake! Are you visualizing this? I could just see the top sticking out next to the lever. I tried to pull it out, but of course it slipped down inside the housing like a ship beneath the waves (sigh).

Ten thousand attempts to retrieve the phone were unsuccessful, so the next day Delphinium and I made a pilgrimage to our favorite mechanic. We got to spend some quality time in the beautiful autumn sunshine while they fished the phone out for us. No harm done! Of course I know Elder Niece did not intend to do this, she doesn't have a trouble-making bone in her body, but I may need to be more careful next time. Who knows, with Delphinium learning to crawl soon this may be only the beginning.

Car Music

My little car and I recently celebrated our second anniversary together. Unlike my last car, this one is not exciting, it does not elicit any passion, it is not thrilling around curves. However, this new car also does not leave me stranded, require a close relationship with a mechanic, or guzzle gas. On the whole, the quiet, reliable life is entirely worthwhile. The only complaint I had was about the music.

My current car came with a cassette deck. Yes, a cassette deck. I don't own any cassettes, and I haven't owned any in at least ten years. What was the car maker thinking when, in 2003, they built a car with a cassette deck? The only thing I can do with the deck is play old audio books from the library. While I enjoy Georgette Heyer novels just as much as the next girl, it just wasn't the same as listening to actual music. Clearly the cassette deck had to go.

I tried several times to get a CD player, but something always seemed to get in the way. Most frequently that something was my own cheap nature. Why should it cost $150 to install a $99 CD player? Why, if they offer same day installation could I never get an appointment on the same day? Why are the guys who work in car audio departments always so snippy? Why does Circuit City suck so much? Who knows, but the end result of all that was that I never did get a CD player installed. Ah well, there's always NPR.

For two years, I listened to the radio or an audio book. I'd pretty much just given up on the whole CD player plan. Sure, I could've done more to pursue it, but I just didn't. Then along came my clever and heroic husband. With perfect nonchalance, he bought a CD player online (I would have dithered forever about the type) and installed it in my car. No fuss, no muss, and no scuff marks on the dash. It works perfectly.

I once again get to have a soundtrack when I drive. I love that. On my drive home last night, I got to listen to Barenaked Ladies, Green Day, and Fallout Boy. This morning, as the sun was coming up, it was Madeline Peyroux and Yo-Yo Ma. What a nice way to pass the time. Of course, my knowledge of current affairs and Heyer books might suffer, but I think I can live with that.

Car Buying for M Part 2: Playing the Harpy

A little while after our great test-driving extravaganza, M noticed another Subaru Forester XT in the paper. This one seemed to have all the features he wanted, and the trim package and color were a big improvement over the one we'd previously driven. Add these features to the significantly lower price, and we had to drive out and see what this car was actually like.

That meant a trip to a certain Seattle suburb. This is not a place where we normally spend a lot of time, but we soldiered through the traffic and found our way to the dealership filled with shiny new cars. Of course, we were not actually heading for the new car portion of things; no glossy Toyota showrooms for us. The used cars at this dealership were part of the much smaller, and much more utilitarian, Kia showroom. I warned M in the car that I planned to be the "bad cop," and so I put on my grumpiest face as the lot attendant first approached.

I let M do most of the talking as we were shown to the Subaru in question. Then, once we were on a test drive I started my show. "Why do you need a new car anyway? Your old one is perfectly good!" M almost jumped at my whiney tone and gave me a sidelong glance to check how serious I might be. I did my best to feign total innocence. I went on and on (hopefully not laying it on too thick) about how much the car cost, how we didn't need a new one, how the old one was still good, and how we shouldn't be spending money anyway. By the end, I was "wondering" if the car smelled funny. The very young lot attendant said nothing, but he heard everything I said.

After the test drive, M said he was interested in hearing more about the car, so a meeting was arranged with a more senior car dealer. This person was not immediately available (what a surprise!), so we spent a few minutes cooling our heels among the Kias (motto: crappy but cheap!). Finally, we were ushered to a cubicle festooned with sales award plaques. Clearly the lot attendant had warned his boss about us because the presentation we got was almost entirely directed at me. We heard all about the merits of the new car, the excellent price, the repair record etc. Anything to try and convince us (me) that it was a good buy.

I continued to look grumpy, but when he started talking about price I had my most shining moments acting out my mean wife part. What price did they want for the new car?! No that can't be right?! HOW MUCH?! Then I got to do the same for the proposed value of the old car (I wash shock! Shocked!). By the end of the whole thing, we got very much better prices for both, and I believe I helped out in some small way by playing the harpy.

Yes, yes, I know you may be thinking that we got a good deal because of the bad economy and the lack of car buyers in general. Perhaps I am just flattering myself by saying that my act helped. That may all be true, but I hate the way car dealers play with their "victims" and try every trick to manipulate buyers (one tried to tell my mom that she couldn't even go get lunch if she wanted the price to "stick"). Therefore, it amuses me no end to play with them in just the same fashion. No matter what the real reason, I've checked around, and we did get an incredible deal on that car. The next time you are considering a car purchase, think about pressing a friend or family member into service as your own personal bad cop.

Car Buying for M Part 1: Luxury Cars Disappoint

Not long ago, M decided that it was time for a new car. His old one has done good service low these many years, but it needed expensive repairs, so he decided it was time for something new. Well, not new exactly, but new to us. I'm delighted that M concurs with my belief that a brand new car is rarely worth the premium price. By some estimates, a brand new car loses 20% of its value by driving off the lot. In short, that "new car smell" comes at quite a price. But I digress

M decided to get a new car, but he wanted one that still had the practicality and AWD of his old Subaru. The question was, should he just buy another Subaru, or would it be more interesting to trade to something different? SUV's were right out from the beginning (need I explain?). Audi, Toyota, Volvo, Volkswagen, Infiniti, Saab, and several others have cars that met his criteria, but when we did a Consumer Reports search, some of these makes went out the proverbial window too. It seems that many cars aiming for the luxury AWD market do not fair so well on reliability ratings. With the options somewhat narrowed down, we moved on to my favorite part: the test drive.

The Subaru Impreza STI came first. Heading out, this is the car I thought M would probably buy, but he surprised me. The car is fast and sporty, it corners well, and it has AWD, but it had a turbo lag that wasn't much fun, and it had the curse of all Subaru’s: very poor leg room both front and back (there's also the clutch issue in my mind, but M doesn't seem bothered by that). Thus we walked away from the STI without buying.

Next came the Infiniti G30. Do you remember those Infiniti commercials with Jonathan Price? You know, the ones that are supposed to make you think of Infiniti's as suave and elegant and the epitome of controlled power? Yeah, not so much as it turns out. I really expected something special given the price and the hype, but the best thing I can say for this car is that it sounds really cool when you first turn it on (with a silly push button instead of a key). That throaty purr is not enough to make up for the fact that driving this car is no fun at all. Smooth and powerful sure, but also strangely heavy and unresponsive. I've also come to the conclusion that a tiptronic (at least the ones we drove) is just a fancy/smart automatic. I'll stick with a real manual (at least in cars that are meant to be sporty) thank you.

We declined to drive the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 (which was stupid because it would have been fun to try once) because who wants to look that silly (plus it didn't meet M's criteria). We did not drive the BMW's, Volvos, Mercedes, Lexus, the RX-8 (sob!), the canary yellow Thunderbird or many of the other impractical or unreliable cars they had on that lot (I think maybe gas prices and the economy are helping people shed some of their sillier cars) In fact, by the end of that day, the only real contender on the list was a Subaru Forester XT in a most unlovely shade of brown. We went home without a new car.

On another weekend, we set out again, and this time we headed over to an Audi dealer. I expected the Audi dealership to be a funny place due to the level of snoots often put on by fancy car dealers. However, a very nice, low-pressure sales staff brought out an A4 for us to try. The Audi was certainly better than the Infiniti, but both cars lack the feedback that both M and I enjoy. The designers of these cars seem so focused on giving you a luxurious ride that they remove all "car" (feedback?) from the driving experience. I felt as though I could have been in an armchair watching a movie about driving. No thank you. I was all prepared to talk M down from buying such an expensive car, but I found it entirely unnecessary. Once again, we went home without a new car.

Stephenie Meyers' Twilight Series Part 2

Oh yes, the second reason I love Twilight? It's entirely selfish. These books are just plain fun to read! As I mentioned earlier, the characters are so well done, that you really do find yourself caring about them. I am also a sucker(har!) for a first person narrative story with excellent voice. Bella and Edward are the perfect star-crossed lovers, but they manage to be interesting long past the point of standard teen romance. Meyers also manages to confront some very serious themes, such as divorce, family connections, suicide and depression, and teenage alienation, all through the lens of this very unsual relationship.

In the end, I would recommend the first book in this series to nearly everyone (okay, to be fair, to nearly all women and older girls). For the adult reader, it takes just a couple days to finish the novel, and it is such a fun ride that you won't have time to worry about whether it represents highbrow or low. If you are still concered about looking silly being seen with the now famous cover, grab this for a plane ride, and tell everyone around you that your niece is making you read it.

Stephenie Meyers' Twilight Series Part 1

There are so many reviews and so much discussion out there of the Twilight series, but I just had to get in my two cents in case you'd written them off as pap for the very young. Actually, you're not entirely wrong, there is something a little bit pap-ish about them. They are certainly not the highest form of literature ever to grace the shelves. However, the good qualities of these books far outweigh the bad, and I must confess that I love them for two reasons.

First, I am thankful to Stephenie Meyers for writing on a level that works for such a wide array of kids. Her situations and settings may sometimes be a touch simplistic, but her characters are so beautifully drawn that readers really start to care what happens to them. This is another wonderful phenomenon, like Harry Potter, where I am seeing huge numbers of kids being hooked into reading by these books. Many kids, both good readers and poor, are telling me that these were the first books they ever read where they stopped noticing how many pages or minutes went by.

One little girl told me that it used to take her two weeks to read a short (roughly 150 page) book. She wasn't so sure about reading Twilight because it is so long (498 pages), but she was actually able to read it over a long weekend. She only stopped reading when her eyes were starting to hurt. When we had our booktalk about her reading, it was clear that her quick read had not hurt her comprehension in the slightest. That's a pretty engaging book if you ask me. She's also gone on to read the other three monster books in this series.

Success like this is invaluable to a struggling reader. Looking at a shelf full of big books, and knowing that YOU actually read, understood, and even enjoyed them is a huge thing for many of my kids. Lest you worry, I am happy to report that when this girl finished with Edward and Bella, she went on to read other books and series. This to me is the whole point of YA literature. If a kid happens accross just the right book at just the right time, it can mean a lifelong change in attitude towards books and reading. The trick is to keep exposing kids to different kids of books in hopes of hitting on that magic one.

Men and Their Small Devices

What is it about men and small electronics? Women are constantly accused of being shopping crazy, but take a guy into an electronics department, and he becomes a demon. Scads of men lined up and waited for hours when a certain new uber phone was released. Newly available applications are rigorously reviewed, and some men even pay large sums for applications that add no practical value to the actual device (green glowy gem anyone?). What is so absorbing about staring at that tiny screen?

Many men appear to think about their devices almost constantly. They caress them, play with them under the table, worry about their health, buy cases and decorations for them, and some even have them engraved. Then there is the urge to compare. When two device-owning males get together, they immediately begin competing to see whose is more powerful. If social convention would allow it, I think men would be playing with their devices 24/7 and in all situations. It seems that if the device-loving man doesn't get some quality time with his "little friend" every day, he gets very grumpy indeed.

I'm sure you've had experience with all this. You may have heard stories about men like this, you may have met a man or two who fits the profile, or you may even have a man in your life who's fallen victim to the scourge of small device envy. Precious hours of your relationship/marriage may have been purloined by these tiny devils that hold such captivating power over our men.

What can be done? Not a whole heck of a lot in my experience. If you are lucky enough to have a device-free male, thank you lucky stars, and try to ensure that he stays away from those already infected. The spread of this crisis is rampant because there is nothing the device lover enjoys more than showing off his special tool.

Slip Sliding Away

The drive to work yesterday, even with a delayed start, was nothing short of exciting. The snow that fell over night turned to ice, and all the cars on the road were moving as gingerly as possible. Well, all the sane people were being careful, but there are always a few yahoos who think the laws of physics do not apply to them.

As I slowly crawled my way down one hill, an Explorer-type vehicle decided to test out this theory. The driver was at a stop coming from a side road, and decided just to punch it when he saw an opportunity in the line of cars. He made it across the first lane, but when he went to turn, the car hit ice, fishtailed wildly, hopped the curb, and came to rest on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, everyone else tried not to skid behind him. Eventually, the slow crawl of traffic continued leaving Mr. Bozo to sort himself out.

This was the first test of my new snow tires. How anyone who had ever driven studs could say that snow tires are just as good is completely beyond me. Studs are orders of magnitude better on both ice and snow. This is not to say that I'm disappointed with my snow tires. They are much better than three season, or (god forbid) summer slicks. On snow they are really quite reasonable as long as you remember that conditions are not normal and drive accordingly. On ice, though, they are a crutch and nothing more. Why don't I have studs? Because they tear up the road and are, therefore, not socially responsible. That doesn't stop me from missing them on days like this.

Greener Cars

I, like so many other Americans, love my car. I am constantly delighted by the fact that my very own car is out there in the garage, ready to go at any moment. I don't have to share, I don't have to wait for a scheduled stop, I don't have to get up extra early, I don't have to expose myself to the elements, or arrive sweaty and dirty. I am in control. I love these features, and I don't want lose them. In fact, my only concession to greener transportation practices, living four miles from my job, is pretty much accidental. In short, I am a bad person, and chances are, so are you.

After all, Automobile emissions are one of the worst forms of pollution, and they are major contributors of global warming, acid rain, and any number of other problems. Cars also represent an economic peril because of the trade imbalance surrounding the international crude oil market. Did I mention the political ramifications? We all know this stuff, but we are still unwilling to get out of our cars to combat the problem. I am in complete awe of those who park their cars in favor of bikes, busses, and other forms of alternative transport. Still, I represent the majority by sticking with my SOV. Given all of this, perhaps the best answer to the car question is to change the cars themselves. Two possible answers are coming soon car dealers near you.

The first is the eminently green, but not very thrilling Honda GX. This little car is not a hybrid like so many of the other eco cars out there. Instead, it runs entirely on natural gas. That's right, the stuff that so many of us have in our houses for heating and cooking is now a car fuel as well. A massive tank in the rear portion of the car (say goodbye to trunk space) holds the gas under pressure. With a few extra purchases, you can even fill your car from your home gas line. Emissions are so low they had to create a new class just for this car. There are only three disadvantages. First, on a home system it takes TWENTY HOURS to fill the tank, and a full tank will only take you about 250 miles. Second, it costs nearly $16k more than a standard Honda. Third, and most damning in my view, it does zero to sixty in a sloth-like 10.8 seconds. Driving this car must be a lot like martyring yourself for the cause.

The second option is a lot more attractive at least in a literal sense. The Tesla (gotta love the name), by Telsa Motors, appears to be the Holy Grail of electric cars. It is beautiful (built on a modified Lotus Elise chassis), and it is fast (zero to sixty in an amazing 4.4 seconds). Not only that, but it is an entirely gas-free car as well. 6800 lithium Ion batteries give it enough juice to go 250 miles before needing another charge. The battery pack is charged on a plug hardwired into your garage, and recharging to full takes only about 3.5 hours. Even if all the energy used in the car is generated by a coal power plant, the pollution per mile cost is still incredibly low compared to gasoline. What is not to love? The price. At more than $100k, this car is out of reach for all but the most dedicated Greenies. Fortunately, Telsa Motors has plans to build a more modest electric car in the near future.

There are, of course, many reasons to think that both of these new cars will not make it. There is always somebody standing around looking for a way to kill an idea that defies the status quo (especially when the status quo makes billions for The Monkey's Butt and his ilk). However, there is going to have to come a time when we get off oil, and it really should be sooner rather than later. When we do, I would just hope that my new car will be something more like the Tesla and less like the GX.

Obit For A Little Blue Car

I promise to keep this short, but be warned that it may be both maudlin and saccharine at the same time.

Seven years ago I was in graduate school. I was in the middle phase of my studies which meant a full class load, a major research project, and full-time teaching. It's one of those times in life when you are in danger of forgetting what your friends and family look like. My teaching assignment was 9th grade American history in a small town not far from the university. I hated this class. The amazing thing about 9th graders in this school is that half of them hate you before you even walk through the door simply because you are the teacher. I did not drink at the time, but they almost convinced me to take it up. Did I mention the part where I had less than no money? In short, I was feeling more than a little sorry for myself.

My car was also a source of trouble. I was driving a Toyota with more than 250K on the clock. The compression was gone from the engine, the water pump was going, there was a serious dent in the frame from an old accident (not mine thank you very much), and every time you used the turn signal the brights would come on. The car did get me where I needed to go, but it was not much fun keeping it running. Then came Christmas.

Well, okay, it was actually a little before Christmas, but still. My older brother called, and asked if I might want a different car. His co-worker was going to donate his extra car to charity, so my brother offered him a very small purchase price instead. I jumped at the chance. I didn't really know what I was getting, but anything with fewer miles had to be an improvement. My sister-in-law drove it down the following weekend. It was nearly mid-night when she arrived. I went out into the frosty November night, and... words fail me. I know this sounds overly dramatic, but it really was one of those moments.

At the time, the car was already nearly ten years old. However, it had only 40k, and it had been garaged through most of its life. In short, it was mint. Driving it for the first time was also quite the experience. The power and handling of that car were the perfect fit for the Mazda jingle "Zoom Zoom." That was only the beginning of our good times together. I won't bore you with too many (more) details, but having the RX-7 really was as good as I imagined. Perhaps my favorite drive was Peoria road where the pavement was in good shape and road curved and went over gentle hills. You could drive fast and not meet another car for miles.

Of course, there was the sad bit at the end where she got less and less reliable. However, none of us can help our failings when we start to get old. It was really hard signing the papers to sell, but it was time. I am grateful that I got the chance at all. I could have spent those years driving some other nice, reliable, and totally boring car, but I got to have my little blue RX-7 instead.

The Grand Car Parade Part 5

If you're growing tired of this endless car story, rest assured that I'm almost done. If you're really tired of it just skip the next post or two. What can I say; car buying is not something I do every day.

Okay, back to the story, we went o Michael's Toyota after striking out at a number of other places. Our cheerful, purple-clad saleslady had two possibilities in my price range. In fact, she did an elaborate interview and search thing that resulted in the two cars I'd identified online. One was an '00 Honda Civic with 62k, and the other was an '02 Toyota Corolla with 42k. On that level this Corolla seems the obvious choice. However, adding difficulty to the decision was the fact that the Honda was an automatic (a feature I wanted) and had a smaller price tag. We decided to take them both for a test drive.

The Corolla reminded me strongly of the Tercel I used to have. It is a stripped-down model down to the manual windows and the cassette deck. However, the driving experience is decent with tight steering, peppy engine response (at reasonable speeds anyway), and responsive brakes. The turning radius is good, and the clutch does not drive me crazy (I have a thing about clutches), and the visibility is okay. Over all, it's a good little car without many extra bells or whistles.

The Honda had many more "features" such as power windows and locks, a cd player, and an automatic transmission. Perhaps because the car is older it also had a much noisier more rattled ride, and the brakes were not as crisp. You just can't beat that Honda steering though. There was a slight shimmy at all speeds. The engine was also less peppy (partly because if the automatic of course), and it had annoying high whine when going up hills. In hindsight the choice seems obvious, but at the time it was a real struggle to decide which was the better deal. In the end, the warranty left on the Corolla sealed the choice.

Once I'd decided, it was time to argue about the trade-in value of the RX-7. This part was not fun. The salesman (oh yeah, our purple lady was, of course, replaced by a tough guy) tried at first to offer $1600 for my little blue streak. I was horrified, and told him so in no uncertain terms. After some finagling he agreed to double the price. I was still not happy about this, but I was willing to accept. The price of the Corolla also came down a bit, so I was feeling at least okay about the whole deal.

Lastly, we had to go to the back and finish up with "the financing guy." Why him when I don't need financing? Good question. He spent some time trying to sell me extra warranty coverage. I sincerely hope that M will blog about this because he will have a better memory for the tactics used. The man spent quite a bit of time showing us an extended math problem about why warranties on new cars are stupid, but warranties on used cars are smart. He also tried to tell me that Toyotas are not as reliable as they used to be (was the saleslady lying then?). Finally, he tried to get me to buy a glass-etching service designed to protect against theft. Did you know that 85% of car thefts happen in King County? (Yeah, and about 85% of the people do too) It was very helpful to have M sitting next to me. Every once in a while I would glance over at his face. He had incredulity written all over him, so I knew I wasn't wrong to resist. Finally, I wrote one of the biggest checks of my life, and we were all finished.

Now I am the proud new owner of a Toyota Corolla. It isn't glamorous, but it is safe and reliable. I took it to my mechanic for inspection, and he said that it needed new windshield wipers and nothing else. It was hard getting rid of the RX-7, but in the end it really had to be done. The best part is that I own the car outright, and I didn't need a co-signer to do it.

The Grand Car Parade Part 4

Wheew! As you can tell from the previous posts, this whole car thing is getting pretty wearing. Not only is there the sorrow of losing the RX-7 and being rejected for the car loan, but I also have to put up with Slimy (note the capital "S") used car salesmen. The problem of getting a new car was just not resolving itself as quickly as I'd expected. Then, on yet another Saturday morning M and I set out to look at cars.

Our first stop was a dealership in the Northgate area of Seattle. Northgate is not my most favorite part of town, but this dealership had three different cars that looked like good candidates. The favorite was another '03 Toyota Matrix with only 39k, power everything, and a sunroof. When we arrived the car seemed just as nice as it seemed in the ad, but the dealership itself made the whole thing suspect. I have never seen anything like it.

The name of the business was painted in ten foot letters on the side of another building, but you could barely read it because of the pealing and cracking of the paint. The lot was fenced in a conglomeration of chains, airline cables, and plastic rope, and the asphalt had certainly seen better days. The most impressive part, however, was definitely the office. The door was made of plywood and was stained and warped to the point that it needed a shove just to open. The carpet inside looked like it came from a crime scene, and there were piles of junk all over the place. The best (or worst) part was the salesman himself. He was there by himself and trying to make three deals at once. He quickly unlocked the Matrix, but when I told him I wanted an inspection in Bellevue he just refused completely on the grounds that it was too far away. He said he just didn't have time to deal with us then, and could we come back another time? We left as quickly as possible.

Finally, after a few more false starts, M and I went back to Michael's Toyota where we'd driven a Matrix several weeks before. Our first salesman, Jo Jo (I'm not making that up) was not available, so a middle-aged lady in a brilliantly purple coat took charge of us. Their stock of Matrixes (?) were priced out of my range, but they did have several other cars for me to look at. The two strongest contenders were an '00 Honda Civic and an '02 Toyota Corolla. More on this experience tomorrow.

The Grand Car Parade Part 3

Once I'd decided not to pursue a car loan, I started to look at cars in a slightly more conservative price range. I found one little Toyota Matrix that seemed nice, so M and I went over to the dealership on a Sunday. The first guy who came out to greet was friendly, and his personality did not make me want to rush home and take a shower (if you know what I mean). He told us a little about the Matrix, gave us the keys, and told us to take it out on our own for a few minutes.

The test drive went fine. The automatic Matrix is not a sports car, but it is reasonably peppy, and it has a decent amount of power going up hills and passing other cars. Steering is tight although not as good as a same-level Honda. My only real complaints were a poor turning radius, and bad blind spot visibility due to the location of the center pillar. I do not see any of the problems with the instruments panel that some reviewers complained about. Over all, it's a nice, if not special little car to drive. I decided I was interested.

I took the car to my trusty mechanic who's been working on the RX-7 (frequently!) for the last seven years. He gave it a thorough going over, and determined that the car, in spite of only having 50k, had an oil leak in the engine. He felt that it was probably a small thing, but that it might also be a cracked head gasket (not a small thing at all). He suggested that the dealer fix the small thing, clean the leaked oil off the outside of the engine, and then run the car for a few miles at highway speeds. If the small fix did the trick there should be no more oil leaking out. He said he would be happy to take another look at it after they'd done the small fix (for free too because he's a good guy).

Given this information, I drove the car back to the dealer, told them what he said and gave them his documentation. The dealer was SHOCKED that it didn't pass inspection. He was AMAZED that we thought it might be the head gasket. There was NO WAY it could be the head gasket. He agreed to make the small repair and call me when it was ready to go back to my mechanic. He promised it would be repaired by the next afternoon. I've never heard from him again. What would you make of this experience? I could be wrong, but I would say that Championship Motors in Redmond is not a very trustworthy place.

The Grand Car Parade Part 2

Naive idiot that I am, I thought that getting a car loan would be no big deal. After all, they give car loans to people with terrible credit all the time. My credit is excellent, and I have a large down payment, so I shouldn't have any trouble at all. Right? Ha, ha, little did I know.

We sat down with the loan officer; put all the pertinent numbers into her computer --- and --- red box. What's red box? That's when there's a problem. It seems that while I have excellent credit (fantastic credit even if I do say so myself) I have an unacceptable debt to earnings ratio. This means that, in their opinion, most of my paycheck goes to servicing debts. I was more than a little shocked at this because it is patently false. However, she soon explained that the entire house mortgage was being "held against me" as my personal debt. That, in combination to my student loan, is enough to put me in the red category. I argued that since M was equally on the mortgage maybe they should only assign 50% of the value to me. They countered that if something "happened" to him I would be responsible for the whole thing. I admitted that was true, but mentioned that we have mortgage insurance, so that is not a concern. They basically said that they don't care. They suggested I get a co-signer. Through extreme effort I remained civil.

I will NOT be getting a co-signer. I find that idea so offensive not because I don't trust M*, but because I can't stand the idea that I can't do this on my own. The purpose of a co-signer is to secure a loan for a person who, for whatever reason, can't be trusted to pay back the loan. I have the money for a large down, I have the good credit (I even qualified for the lowest interest rate), and I have a stable paycheck, but that isn't good enough. This seems (to me at least) to be proof once again that unmarried couples are discriminated against on a regular basis.

The end result of all of this, besides my impotent rage of course, is that I will not be getting a car loan. I've never liked paying interest anyway, so I just decided to use what I have and get a slightly less glamorous car. It may mean an older model or a few more miles on the clock, but at least I won't have a monthly car payment. It also means that I get the satisfaction of knowing that I am standing on my own two feet (if you know what I mean), and that I didn't need my daddy or my brother or my boyfriend to help me do it**.

Notes:
* I trust M implicitly or I wouldn't have bought a house with him. He has been nothing but kind and helpful in all of this, and he spoils me and looks after me all the time. However, a girl has to make some attempt to look after herself!

** All four of those men are dear, sweet people. I know they would cheerfully dig me out of any tough situation, and I am very lucky for that. Nevertheless, I try to slay my own dragons whenever possible.

The Grand Car Parade Part 1

Have you ever seen that Ikea commercial for lamps? You see the whole thing from the perspective of a lamp. It gets set out on the corner and then watches through the window as the people get and enjoy a new lamp from Ikea. Suddenly the sad music stops, and the manager of Ikea comes in to say "It's yust a lamp. Go ahead and get a new one." It's a very funny commercial, and they could have made it about me and my current car. I really need to make myself realize that it's "yust" a car.

I've been reluctantly, sorrowfully hunting for a new car for the past few months. I do NOT want to get ride of my beautiful, sporty little car. However, reality is knocking in a way that can no longer be ignored. The car is nearing twenty years old, it is no longer reliable, it is not at all well-suited to ice and snow, and it can only carry two people. In short, I need a new car, I must get a new car, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.

My car hunting took me to a huge dealership with thousands of cars to choose from. M came along as I test drove a Toyota Matrix with only 23k and All Wheel Drive. It was a nice car, but they wanted far more than I was willing to spend. We also had a quick look at the Subaru dealership, but there was nothing much to tempt me there. In the end I decided that I liked the Matrix, but I wanted one with a few more miles so it would be cheaper. Thus mostly decided (although still fantasizing about something with more pizzazz) I went off to the bank to request an auto loan. I thought this would be no big deal which certainly shows what I know. More soon.

Water Leak in your Mazda RX-7 Convertible

Answer #2 in the keyword analysis entries.

When my RX-7 was leaking inside the car without any visible source I searched and searched online for an answer. I could not find anything even close to helpful. Maybe this will save someone else some trouble.

Mazda RX-7 convertibles have excellent tops in that they do not tend to crack or leak. However, the shape of the top does necessitate a series of drains to move water off the top and to the ground without pooling in any unfortunate places. This means that your RX-7 has a little well on either side just behind the door. Each well leads to a small tube that allows the water to drain safely just under the car. If you park your car under trees or you let the car get very dirty these tubes can become clogged. Clogged tubes leads to water backing up the wells and pouring into the seatbelt assembly. This leads to a mysterious pool of water behind your seat. Luckily the cleaning of these tubes is reasonably cheap (about $200). Don't let them convince you to go in for dry-cleaning the carpets. I had only the slightest damp smell and even that is now gone.

Wet Car Update

This is the part I love about going to a dealer for service. Finding and fixing the leak cost about $260. Removing and dry-cleaning the carpet will cost more than $1100. Why so expensive? Because it will take more than 12 hours to remove and clean the carpet. The man just assumed that I was signing up for the entire job, and he was surprised when I said I wasn't so sure about the carpet. He warned me that it MIGHT start to smell if I don't replace the carpet. I asked if it would cause any body or mechanical damage, but he said no, it just might start to smell. For goodness sake! It's had leaks before and never gotten wiffy. I've had other water leaks in cars, and nothing horrible every came of them. If it starts to get smelly I plan to apply a bit of bleach and a heft sprinkling of baking soda. Baking soda only costs $.89 per box.

Car Puddle

For some time now my car has had a little problem with wetness. Not a big problem, mind you, just a damp patch on the floor when it rains really hard. It dries out quickly enough, and I've been lucky not to have any problems with mildew or stinky-ness. The odd bit is that there is no visible leak. The windshield is fine, the top seems sealed, and there is really no obvious way that the water is getting in. Three different mechanics have tried to find the problem without success. Mostly I've just lived with the problem, and been really glad that I had covered parking. Yesterday, however, things got quite a bit worse.

Washington may be the rainiest state in the U.S. (or is it Oregon?) but our rain is usually of the constant mist sort. It rarely pours for hours on end, but yesterday was special. I've never been in a proper monsoon, but I think it must be something like what we had. It was raining so hard that it was hard to see as you ran from building to building, and it did this for quite some time. Needless to say, when I went out to my car to go home I was not very happy. Instead of a little wet patch I found a two inch deep puddle of water on the driver's side. I sloshed my way home (even getting my cuffs wet in the process) and used beach towels to soak up the worst of the water.

Now I have accepted the need to do the unthinkable. I am taking my poor wet car TO THE DEALER! Normally I am loath to do this because I think they rip you off at every turn (I have many experiences to back this up) but I don't think I have a lot of choices at this point. Theoretically they will be able to find the leak because they know the ins and outs of this specific model of car. That or they will just spend 700 hours at $50 per hour inspecting each and every seam twice. Ouch, my wallet hurts already.

It Lives!

Despite all the toing and froing about the mechanic and the tow truck, my car is once again fixed! What was the matter? Shock of all shocks! The car was flooded! After the nice-but-slightly-dense mechanic believed it for himself it took hardly any time to get things cleaned out and running nicely again. Of course "fixed" and "running" are relative terms, and you never know when things may change for the worse. Either I need to buy a new car or take some extensive courses in auto repair. Nevertheless, I am once again an independent person, and I cannot complain about that.

More Fun With Cars

To borrow directly from a clever friend of mine--- Welcome to my pity party!

We got home from our trip this afternoon. I pushed to leave Portland early so I would have plenty of time to call the mechanic, renew AAA, and wait for the tow truck. In other words, I had accepted the situation, and I was prepared to deal with things. If only it could have been that easy. The mechanic, it turns out, is on vacation for the next two weeks (his entire shop that is) so I have no one to do the work. I had another recommendation from a friend, but when I went online to vet them I found an entire webpage devoted to how awful they are. Okay, next plan, I did some more research and found a place with good ratings and a AAA recommendation. They actually answered their phone AND they said that, yes, they do work on rotary engines. Sure, they are going to charge me $100 just to find out what is wrong (hello! It's flooded!) but at least they will do the work. Next, I called AAA to request the tow. My favorite (oh my god! I have a favorite towing company!) and most reliable towing company was "experiencing delays" and they would have to farm it out to someone else. The someone else came without calling first (bad towing manners), backed the car out crooked (bad towing technique), wanted me to steer it up the ramp (bad towing policy), and then failed to secure both sides with straps (bad towing mojo). In short, I was not impressed, and I missed my regular guys. Oh well, supposedly it survived the trip, and they will get started with "the diagnosis" (I told you IT'S FLOODED!!!) tomorrow. I really hope the car gods are finished having a laugh at my expense.