The Olympics & Aretha

Man oh man, Olympic fever has swept our household. Since the opening ceremonies we've been watching every night. No night has been more exciting than when the US men's swim team beat the French in the relay. We were in bed & starting to doze off, but that race re-energized us & we were up screaming at the TV. In a word.....Wow. It was super great that one of the French girly-men talked trash before the race, about how they would "smash" the Americans, & then we win. Stupid Frenchman, don't talk trash before the race & give the US team bulletin board material. So anyway, we've been glues to the TV every night, cheering on the USA.

Now, for the latest events in our life. Kate's been driving a piece for a while now (actually the car she got when she turned 17). It's continually gone downhill in performance, reliability, & safety, plus she's been in a pissy mood almost everyday when she's gotten home from work, mostly due to her car. So we discussed it & we had the Honda Civic & Nissan Altima on our radar screen. Used. We tested a Civic last Thursday & Kate announced her decision that the Altima was her # 1 choice. I had initially stated my desire to wait until September to buy a car, because I knew she really needed something new & it would be much better for us to have 2 good cars, so I gave in to the fact that if we found a good car for a good price, it would be ok to move on it.

So, after looking online for advertised cars we visited a dealer just North of where we live & tested an Altima & Maxima. After leaving the lot & discussing, we went back to the lot to buy the Altima. I hate the car buying process; the whole negotiating & the way the salesmen & finance guys deal with you, & you sit there & know they're trying to screw you over & you probably are getting screwed over. And how they delve into your personal, financial, home, & every kind of past history they can & analyze you to the T. You sit there, & for us we know we both had great credit ratings, & we should get the best available rate but somehow the rates is higher & the payments are higher than desired, & the whole negotiating with the financiers & snakes. Geez, I really hate it. I was not happy, & didn't smile much. I kinda feel bad, but then again I don't want the guy screwing me over to think that it's all ok & I'm glad to do it & welcome it. Hahaha, not! Just cut the chit-chat & let's talk turkey, & give me an honest answer because I deserve it. The entire time I was confident we would get the car for payments we could easily make, & we did, so I'm happy Kate is in a better car, which we have dubbed Aretha. The ordeal was mentally draining though, & I don't wanna buy a car again anytime soon.

-Josh