Wordless Wednesday
2002 Buick Century
Purchased January 9, 2003 ~ Traded July 26, 2008
R.I.P., old bucket.
(Rust In Pieces, that is.)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Eulogy Of The Car
2002 Buick Century
Purchased January 9, 2003 ~ Traded July 26, 2008
R.I.P., old bucket.
(Rust In Pieces, that is.)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Can I Bore You Some More?
Word of the Post
Today's word is: caliginous
/ca*lidge"i*nous/ adjective
Misty, dark, dim, obscure.
London is often portrayed as claiginous. The murky fog dims the lights, and gives the city at night an ominous glow.
I was under the impression that it meant "made of tin", because of the line in The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard calls the Tin Man a "clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk". Made of tin would actually be "ferruginous", but that wouldn't alliterate with clinking and clattering, now, would it? The idea being communicated (supposedly above everyone's head) is that the Tin Man is rusted and heartless. I imagine a batch of tin cans tied to the back of a car at a wedding. Empty, noisy, old, rusted and utterly without beauty. The Wizard is attempting to insult the Tin Man, and show his great intelligence.
At this link I found an interesting discussion of this thought, spawned by his own ponderances of irony. Here I found another, more directly related to the script of the movie. This person delves into the plot twist that the "Oz is not that brilliant after all."
~~~~~~~~~~
I have a matter of very great concern. I don't want to give names, or too many details, for the sake of privacy. Please pray for my friend. She had a tubal pregnancy that was ended today. I am praying, and knowing that many of you will do the same for her. I praise God for His family of believers to help in this time of pain.
Ferret and Zipper are in town for Zipper's oral surgery on Wednesday. They are working in the back of her throat to close a little hole, so that she can keep air separated between her mouth and her nose. It will help her be able to make more consonant sounds when she speaks. This could be very interesting in the long run. Zipper-Speak is very vowel oriented, and very hard to understand, even sometimes for her mom. I have to be looking at her, to see what she is trying to do with her mouth to really get what she says. Today at lunch, she told us she needed a "map". She meant "nap". Close. Still, she hit that P with perfect clarity, and that is new in the past few months to me.
We took the Buick in to the Honda dealership last night, and got all our personal stuff out of it. It is a 2002 model, but it had a book for a 2003. Whatever. At least it had a book. I have never been so very happy to be rid of a car. The relief is so sweet. When we thought about buying a car before this, we were in the finance office of the Hyundai dealer before the dread nearly made me puke. This time, I never got the growling pit feeling in my tummy, I never got the "get me out of here, NOW" voice in my head. It was almost painless. I say almost, only because I now have to PAY the price we agreed upon. A little more friendly conversation got us a better interest rate, yet again. This is a total of 13 points better than the loan we got on the Buick in 2003. We have paid off two cars, early, since then, and have very little other debt. It is good to know that the hard work we have done was not useless.
Now, we have to figure out what sort of coverage we wish to carry on our cars, and get the insurance set up. If you live in Oklahoma, and have need of an insurance quote, I have the guy for you.
There is much to do this week, and not nearly enough time to get it all done. I hope I don't lose my mind!
Raise your glass to mindless existence! I shall enjoy mine filled with a little water, on the rocks.
Today's word is: caliginous
/ca*lidge"i*nous/ adjective
Misty, dark, dim, obscure.
London is often portrayed as claiginous. The murky fog dims the lights, and gives the city at night an ominous glow.
I was under the impression that it meant "made of tin", because of the line in The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard calls the Tin Man a "clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk". Made of tin would actually be "ferruginous", but that wouldn't alliterate with clinking and clattering, now, would it? The idea being communicated (supposedly above everyone's head) is that the Tin Man is rusted and heartless. I imagine a batch of tin cans tied to the back of a car at a wedding. Empty, noisy, old, rusted and utterly without beauty. The Wizard is attempting to insult the Tin Man, and show his great intelligence.
At this link I found an interesting discussion of this thought, spawned by his own ponderances of irony. Here I found another, more directly related to the script of the movie. This person delves into the plot twist that the "Oz is not that brilliant after all."
~~~~~~~~~~
I have a matter of very great concern. I don't want to give names, or too many details, for the sake of privacy. Please pray for my friend. She had a tubal pregnancy that was ended today. I am praying, and knowing that many of you will do the same for her. I praise God for His family of believers to help in this time of pain.
Ferret and Zipper are in town for Zipper's oral surgery on Wednesday. They are working in the back of her throat to close a little hole, so that she can keep air separated between her mouth and her nose. It will help her be able to make more consonant sounds when she speaks. This could be very interesting in the long run. Zipper-Speak is very vowel oriented, and very hard to understand, even sometimes for her mom. I have to be looking at her, to see what she is trying to do with her mouth to really get what she says. Today at lunch, she told us she needed a "map". She meant "nap". Close. Still, she hit that P with perfect clarity, and that is new in the past few months to me.
We took the Buick in to the Honda dealership last night, and got all our personal stuff out of it. It is a 2002 model, but it had a book for a 2003. Whatever. At least it had a book. I have never been so very happy to be rid of a car. The relief is so sweet. When we thought about buying a car before this, we were in the finance office of the Hyundai dealer before the dread nearly made me puke. This time, I never got the growling pit feeling in my tummy, I never got the "get me out of here, NOW" voice in my head. It was almost painless. I say almost, only because I now have to PAY the price we agreed upon. A little more friendly conversation got us a better interest rate, yet again. This is a total of 13 points better than the loan we got on the Buick in 2003. We have paid off two cars, early, since then, and have very little other debt. It is good to know that the hard work we have done was not useless.
Now, we have to figure out what sort of coverage we wish to carry on our cars, and get the insurance set up. If you live in Oklahoma, and have need of an insurance quote, I have the guy for you.
There is much to do this week, and not nearly enough time to get it all done. I hope I don't lose my mind!
Raise your glass to mindless existence! I shall enjoy mine filled with a little water, on the rocks.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
...And We're Back. So, Chelf. Deal or No Deal?
OK. I have sent a few of you into a tizzy trying to guess what the "news" could be.
Muh hu ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I am such an evil blogger. Bad Chelf. Bad.
Sally is guessing that I am pregnant. (Nope. I do wish, though.)
Rachel caught me this morning at church. (I was hoping not to be seen just yet!)
Flea is every bit as impatient as I am, so... in light of the threat to my safety, here you go.
We bought a NEW car.
We couldn't find a Wii Fit, so we got a Honda Fit, instead. (DH just called it a Wee Fit. Isn't he funny?) Nearly as hard to find, and just as desirable. I have never in my life owned a brand new car. I love the smell of new car (plastic fumes) in the morning!
I am still running on the adrenaline from Saturday night. We were driving around, and decided to go look to see what the dealership had. There were three cars, all in my favorite color of BLUE... I even had two shades to pick from. Seriously, it came to a toss of a dime. (You think I am joking. How cute.) They were all 5-speed Manual, which gets better gas mileage, if you know how to drive one.
They were all sitting there... begging me to take them home.
And then I thought about the value of the Buick. That stupid, frustrating car that I have threatened to drive into the nearest lake. Maybe not the nearest lake, because Hefner is our area's water supply, and I like our water. But a lake, nevertheless. I added up in my head all the repairs that thing will need. I could repair our existing (and totally paid for!) car, at a cost of.... 6 months of payments toward this new one. And I still have no guarantee that it would be worry-free. It is so very out of warranty. Just the insurance and me against the probable loss of a stupid, worthless, scary, expensive piece of.... junk that we have owned for 5 1/2 years. (Notice please the restraint to keep the G-rating, and the anger out of that last sentence.) They gave us $3000, sight unseen, which I think is fair. I couldn't get $4000 by selling it on the street, because of the new issues it decided to give me. If they spend a little to fix it, they can make all their money back, or they can sell it at auction and let someone else worry about it.
If we decide that we can survive with only one car (as I don't work right now), we can always sell the Malibu to our friend, and use her payments to us as payments on the new one, too. I have a contingency plan for almost everything. I am tempted.
I can see the shaking heads, and hear the big sighs and screams of "NOOOOOO!!!!!" from those of you who know that I try to follow the plan of my rich friend Dave Ramsey. No, I really don't want a car payment. But... in all fairness, I don't want to finance the cost of repairs on a car that is bound to fail, either. And we would have to borrow to fix all the issues of the Buick. We got a much better rate (12 points better!) than we got when we financed the Buick. I got them to check another bank, and lower the interest again by 0.74%. See what a little pleasant conversation can do for you?
Would you like to see it?
The other blue was Vivid Blue Pearl, and was more a Royal Blue. This Baby Blue Silver shade is named Tidewater Blue Metallic. It sounds like a laundry detergent to me. I am going to apply for a special tag, MYCHELF. I have wanted that on a car ever since Amber called me that, 16 years ago. She was 2 at the time. She graduated High School this year. Now, like the car itself, I have the tough choice of what color to make the tag. If I go Baby Blue, I think it will clash, as will plain Silver. DH will have a hissy fit if I make it Pink. I was thinking if they have a White Pearl, that might look nice. If they have a "Choose Life" tag available still, and I can get my nickname on it, that may be the way to go.
Thanks to Dad, I learned on a Manual. However, it has been 13 or more years since I have driven one on a regular basis. You will have to ask DH if I did well driving today. I only killed it once. I think I did very well.
I am considering naming this car. The Bu (Malibu) and the Ick (Buick) have been just descriptive titles. I want some suggestions for Names for this Honda. Fenry is out, by the way. DH had a Honda Accord in High School that was Fenry Honda, so we don't want to taint that memory. But if you have any suggestions for this little beauty, I would love to hear them. I may even come up with a prize for a contest.
Hope I didn't disappoint too many of you. This car buying stuff is a real ADVENTURE. I am still high from the experience.
Muh hu ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I am such an evil blogger. Bad Chelf. Bad.
Sally is guessing that I am pregnant. (Nope. I do wish, though.)
Rachel caught me this morning at church. (I was hoping not to be seen just yet!)
Flea is every bit as impatient as I am, so... in light of the threat to my safety, here you go.
We bought a NEW car.
We couldn't find a Wii Fit, so we got a Honda Fit, instead. (DH just called it a Wee Fit. Isn't he funny?) Nearly as hard to find, and just as desirable. I have never in my life owned a brand new car. I love the smell of new car (plastic fumes) in the morning!
I am still running on the adrenaline from Saturday night. We were driving around, and decided to go look to see what the dealership had. There were three cars, all in my favorite color of BLUE... I even had two shades to pick from. Seriously, it came to a toss of a dime. (You think I am joking. How cute.) They were all 5-speed Manual, which gets better gas mileage, if you know how to drive one.
They were all sitting there... begging me to take them home.
And then I thought about the value of the Buick. That stupid, frustrating car that I have threatened to drive into the nearest lake. Maybe not the nearest lake, because Hefner is our area's water supply, and I like our water. But a lake, nevertheless. I added up in my head all the repairs that thing will need. I could repair our existing (and totally paid for!) car, at a cost of.... 6 months of payments toward this new one. And I still have no guarantee that it would be worry-free. It is so very out of warranty. Just the insurance and me against the probable loss of a stupid, worthless, scary, expensive piece of.... junk that we have owned for 5 1/2 years. (Notice please the restraint to keep the G-rating, and the anger out of that last sentence.) They gave us $3000, sight unseen, which I think is fair. I couldn't get $4000 by selling it on the street, because of the new issues it decided to give me. If they spend a little to fix it, they can make all their money back, or they can sell it at auction and let someone else worry about it.
If we decide that we can survive with only one car (as I don't work right now), we can always sell the Malibu to our friend, and use her payments to us as payments on the new one, too. I have a contingency plan for almost everything. I am tempted.
I can see the shaking heads, and hear the big sighs and screams of "NOOOOOO!!!!!" from those of you who know that I try to follow the plan of my rich friend Dave Ramsey. No, I really don't want a car payment. But... in all fairness, I don't want to finance the cost of repairs on a car that is bound to fail, either. And we would have to borrow to fix all the issues of the Buick. We got a much better rate (12 points better!) than we got when we financed the Buick. I got them to check another bank, and lower the interest again by 0.74%. See what a little pleasant conversation can do for you?
Would you like to see it?
The other blue was Vivid Blue Pearl, and was more a Royal Blue. This Baby Blue Silver shade is named Tidewater Blue Metallic. It sounds like a laundry detergent to me. I am going to apply for a special tag, MYCHELF. I have wanted that on a car ever since Amber called me that, 16 years ago. She was 2 at the time. She graduated High School this year. Now, like the car itself, I have the tough choice of what color to make the tag. If I go Baby Blue, I think it will clash, as will plain Silver. DH will have a hissy fit if I make it Pink. I was thinking if they have a White Pearl, that might look nice. If they have a "Choose Life" tag available still, and I can get my nickname on it, that may be the way to go.
Thanks to Dad, I learned on a Manual. However, it has been 13 or more years since I have driven one on a regular basis. You will have to ask DH if I did well driving today. I only killed it once. I think I did very well.
I am considering naming this car. The Bu (Malibu) and the Ick (Buick) have been just descriptive titles. I want some suggestions for Names for this Honda. Fenry is out, by the way. DH had a Honda Accord in High School that was Fenry Honda, so we don't want to taint that memory. But if you have any suggestions for this little beauty, I would love to hear them. I may even come up with a prize for a contest.
Hope I didn't disappoint too many of you. This car buying stuff is a real ADVENTURE. I am still high from the experience.
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