Cars, Cars and Even More Cars

Ever think to yourself you have nothing to write about and your life is just another day and you have nothing new to talk about or share and then some other days life just slaps you in the face with change?

Monday was a face slapper.

The day started fine. I got up early and gassed up the Honda and started uber driving. It was uneventful for the most part - well, except for the guy with heart problems in the back seat and I’m sure was close to death - but that’s irrelevant to the story so we’ll leave that for another day.

About 11am  it slows down and I take a breather. I floated the idea of trading in the Honda and getting a cheap Chevy Bolt to BW a few weeks earlier so on a lark I googled “Chevy Bolt for Sale Near Me” and lo and behold, this came up:

It’s a 2019 with 18000 miles on it for $18,000. Available 2 miles away.

I text BW the link just for fun and she replies back:

“Just go get it - We’ll figure it out”

Guys, I have said this before if you get permission from your wife to buy a car, TV or some other thing that usually is answered with a “No” -  do not ask questions. Just get it bought before she changes her mind.

Also, buy her flowers - or at least a bottle of wine because she’s a keeper.

An hour later we are at the dealership test driving this thing, and it’s great!

Numero Uno is it’s 100% electric. The Honda was getting 20 MPG, but this thing gets 160 MPG. Instead of paying $200+ a week in gas I will pretty much be ubering without any fuel costs. Charging from home should be about four bucks a day I figure. We have solar panels too so this should reduce the cost even further. Our electricity bill i so low that when the Tesla showed up there really wasn’t much of a difference in cost.

BW already has the Tesla so we’re already wired for sound when it comes to charging and wiring so getting out of the Honda and into this was a no brainer for the most part when it comes to operating costs. I had to buy a $50 adapter for  the Tesla charger because god forbid there’s any standard to connectors. Apple Lightning connector, I am looking at you.

Anyway, new car. Yay. Always an exciting day.

It’s been nicknamed bluey gooey by the four year old. We’re on a fox in sox book reading marathon currently. I am not sure if this will stick, but there you have it.

Of course the dealership experience was crappy as it always is. They low balled big time on the trade and wouldn’t budge at all. So we went across the street and sold the Honda  to another dealer right then and there for 30% more than their crappy trade offer.

And then the sales pitches for the warranties and other crap came. Sell me the car. Not the $2500 warranty.

We do get 4 free oil changes so that’s nice. 1

Goodbye Honda, it’s been nice.

We thought we would be out a car for a few days at most and I would have some time to vacuum but because this was a trade in the dealer hadn’t done any repairs yet and one thing that needed to get fixed was the passenger window that wouldn’t roll up. Of course, the part was hard/impossible to get due to the auto workers strike so not really the fault of the dealer.

Finally, they call and say the car is ready. We go to pick it up and they give us a hard time because it was a wire transfer and the young “sales manager” didn’t quite grasp the idea of a wire transfer. He thought it would take days. It took an hour. If I can help it, this will be the last time I set foot in a dealership. The entire system is so antiquated. Anyway, rant over. Dealers suck. The End.

How to Survive Unemployment

Of course I was in no hurry to get the car and get back to work because if you know me you will know that I like easy and if I have a choice between a:working and b:not working then “b” wins every time.

While I was unemployed and carless I took the bonus time to get around to finally selling more of my late father’s diecast car collection on eBay. I managed to get a few listed -  actually over 200.

Here’s a few photos:

Because I know absolutely nothing about diecast cars I have to tell you that Google Lens was a lifesaver. You point your phone at the car and it tells you it’s a 1956 Desoto or whatever it was. 2It was a huge time saver.

So far the sales have been going very well. There were a few cases where I got the size of these things mixed up but the buyers are pretty happy when you give them a full refund and tell them they can keep the car. I do not want these back. This has been a huge undertaking that I have been chipping away at for over 2 years on and off.

You should have seen BW’s face when I came home with thirteen moving boxes full of tiny diecast cars. I think sheer panic would describe it best. But,I have been getting there and slowly the basement has less junk in it.

It’s interesting what sells. The thing that you think would be worth nothing and looks like it came from Walmart is worth something. And then the opposite happens as well where you think that the car might be worth something only to find it doesn’t sell. If anybody is interested in a Billy Ray Cyrus Tour Bus diecast car let me know and I can hook you up.

So yea, October ended up being “car month” for us.

Speaking of October..

Three guesses what a 4 year old girl wants to be for Halloween?

If you guessed monkey princess then you have it right!3

She was thrilled with Halloween as this was the year that it finally clicked - you dress up and people give you candy. What’s not to like?

The ladies went out and I stayed home with the bowl of candy to give out. She had a great time. Her favorite candy? Sour Patch Kids. She was given full size chocolate bars and nope, not interested. She went straight for the stuff that gets stuck in her teeth.  I guess if she’s going to be allowed candy on a weeknight before bed I guess she might as well for the most horrible thing she could pick.

We Went Bowling

The weekends tend to sneak up on you when you’re a parent and then you realize it’s Friday and OMG What are we going to do with the child? We can’t let her watch YouTube for 2 days straight. 4

So we went bowling! Want to know the last time I went bowling? It was before the first iPhone was released - that’s for sure.

Bowling has changed some. There’s electronics that keep the score, there’s bumpers for the kids and heck, even the shoes are nicer.

It was a a great time. They even have lighter balls for her and a wire contraption that makes sure the ball actually hits a pin. Heck, there were times when I could have used that thing. I don’t remember bowling hurting so much  in the past. And there’s no smoking indoors anymore so the local lane was nice and bright and clean. It was a good time and we will be back. She had a “fuzzy lemonade” (Sprite) for a drink so she was thrilled.

I guess that’s it for now. You will note that she is back to having shorter hair because she won’t let us comb the long hair and it becomes a knotted mess. So goodbye long hair, we’ll try again later.

Until Next Time,

TH and Co.