AQFAMOT: Day... Umm... Part 2.

This past Friday and Saturday, we (my family) took our first giant step in purchasing a vehicle. By this, I mean we actually got off our bums and went outside.

We spent the day in the Ottawa area, where we started our adventure at a GM dealership. We walked around what we thought was the single row of used cars, all of which were Buick, but it wasn't until we found the Pontiac's that a sales rep actually came out to meet us.

We didn't actually test drive anything at this location, mostly because it was my first car shopping experience, and I was nervous. However we did take a look at a few cars.

Pontiac G5 (2006?) - Mediocre unloaded car, with tiny passenger space and roll up windows. Some warranty. $10k

Nissan Alitma (2005?) - Mostly loaded, quite comfortable, ABS, sunroof and heated seats. No warranty. $11k - 60 000km

Pontiac G6 (2005) - Fully loaded, super comfortable, some rust on doors (not sure about underneath) No warranty $9k - 60 000 km, suspicious. Based on these 3 cars, I would have bought this one, assuming it all checked out.

Next Stop - Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge

We didn't see anything worth looking at here, though it did put us in view of our next stop...

Unimportant Sleazy Street Corner dealer (I don't actually remember what the place was called) We saw an Elantra with obvious accident damage (dents and paint issues) and an Ion that left too much to be desired, both with nearly 200 000 km on them, no options, and $10k.

Next Stop - the bus. We concluded our Ottawa tour here... or did we...

On our way home, we did stop off at Ford dealership, which is really what we wanted to do in the first place, and we spent more than a few hours here.

Cars that caught our attention:
2005-2006 Ford Focus, wagon, hatchback, and sedan, all of which left me unimpressed.
2005 Saturn Ion. Two thumbs up for the price.
2007 Ford Fusion, easily the best car I've seen yet.

I test drove 2 of these cars.

The Saturn Ion. What a headache. Not the car, but the sales rep. I was impressed with the price because it was well within our decided price range (the car was $8000), upon sitting in it, I explained to the car dealer that I was looking for something with ABS, which I knew the Ion didn't have, much to my surprise, he told me it did. I asked him to make sure, so he looked under the wheel, and then under the hood, and then confirmed that it had ABS. Maybe I lucked out? Not likely.

We walked over to the Fusion, started it up, and it made some less than impressive noises. When I asked what the problem was I was told that a) all Fusions sounds that way, and b) that it would be fix upon pickup. Not impressed, but overwhelmed by the overall awesomeness that is the Ford Fusion.

Back to the Ion. We took it for a spin. Not overly impressive, but it did everything a car should, it drove, it stopped, turned, handled well, had a bit of pick up, and for the price was 100% awesome. Upon return to the dealership, we decided to make an offer, where we started talking to some other guy, who reminded us that if the car had ABS, there would be an ABS light that turns on when you start the car.

Back to the car. No ABS. I knew it.

The ABS wouldn't have been a deal breaker, it was that we were lied to that turned us off the car.

Lets test drive the Fusion.

Orgasm on wheels is all that comes to mind. Comfortable and easy to drive, as far as I'm concerned, this may be the best car ever created. I wanted it. It wasn't until the guy pointed out that if we're not going to buy it, that he wasn't going to have it looked at that I was a little suspicious.

We left.

Saturday, we started with GM, where we decided we liked the Pontiac Vibe ( I feel like at this point that I should mention that my friend drives a Pontiac Grand Prix, which I might love as much as the Ford Fusion). I'm developing a preference for Pontiac. Leave it to me to choose the extinct. Out of our price range, we moved on.

A different Ford dealer ship had a single Ford Focus to offer, overpriced.

Saturn, which we almost didn't go to, is where the magic happened. Greeted by an awesome sales rep, who was awesome with my daughter (bonus point), we told him exactly what we were looking for, and he brought us to exactly what we were looking for, no recommendations to spend a little more over a longer period to equate to the same monthly payments (more bonus points), no gimmicks. He recommended the Hyundai Accent, which put us exactly where we needed to be, with everything we wanted, and we went to look around the lot.

Always reluctant to do what I'm told, we decided to test drive a 2007 Hyundai Elantra, and a Pontiac Pursuit.

The Elantra came first. At this point I've taken the Fusion off my list of comparable cars, because I won't buy any other car if I don't. Upon sitting in it, it gets points for being comfortable. Really comfortable. I'm tall, and it had lots of room for me, and then some. The controls are easy, and everything is where it should be. Ample storage, with your classing glasses compartment over head, a storage compartment over on the dash over the radio, another one under the radio, and a huge one in the traditional between the front seats position.

It was also loaded with other options (heated seats, A/C, Cd MP3, power everything) All of the lights, signals, cruise control were exactly where they made sense to be. Incredibly easy to drive, I could see myself driving it comfortably for hours upon hours. Thoroughly impressed with the overall ease of this car, I think I made my decision at this point.

Into the Pontiac Pursuit. Fun little car, not built for the tall, horrible seats. Lots of pick-up. If I could have taken the seat out of the Elantra and put it in this car, it would have been a definite yes. However, I think I drove it for 5 minutes before my back started to hurt.

Time for lunch (or so I told the dealer), already certain that I wanted the Elantra, We decided it was time to test drive a Kia. On a wild goose chase, we managed to find a Kia Rio and and Kia Spectra to test drive. The Rio was better than I thought it would be, quite comfortable, ample trunk space for a hatchback, and much quieter than I expected. My issue with this particular Rio was that it had a billion kilometers on it (140k actually, much more than the average of 60k we've been seeing), it was literally brake pedal to the floor to slow down. Assured once again that this would be fixed, we tried out the Spectra. The Elantra knock off lacked in the comfort and charm department, and without even leaving the lot, I was unimpressed with the breaks. These breaks made a lot of noise. For $800 less than the Elantra, we decided that it was time to go back to Hyundai.

After taking it for one more drive, we put in an offer, and that is where we are right now.

Today we find out if we can manage it, and if the recall issues that I just found out about have or will be rectified.

OMG WTF??? - BRB - Seriously?

I'm certain that's the context of at least a million IM/Texts right... now.

I don't get the Twitter thing. I sort of get the facebook thing.

I sort of feel like I'm forcing this post. I feel like writting, but I can't really think of any words. If I wrote what I'm feeling, it would go like this:


sajdhflhasdkjfnAPojsakljdbn:PWn vsajdfilhawelnf jsdofpjapwoieur asdnhkfjhaeirut8743ytrg23;oitgrkjsabdkf;janklfeasbfjkhadiosfuvnawuvjkandcvjkhaioery84t 2w3rnk3jro9a ew0nfjaksldnfvagkjhay84ty nasdlkfnkjnd;LH NOWrjf'pov.

So there you have it. That is what is on my mind.

I think about things I'd like to do with my life, and unfortunately, I cannot do all of them, simply because I'm only one person, and as far as I know, I'm mortal. My most recent non-project involves building an entire town from scratch, but perhaps I've been playing the Sims a little too much.

I'm off.

Words that Rhyme with...

Hippopotamus?

Here are a list of random words I feel like sharing:

Teaspoon
Apostrophe
Fajita
Cheers
Snuffleupagus (who's first name is actually Aloysius, says Wikipedia)
Mailbox
Chocobo
Caption

That's all. I guess the letter of the day is "C".

P.S. After running spellcheck, I've decided to add "snowflake" to the list, because it's the only alternative listed for "Snuffleupagus".

L is for Passion.

I was sitting here, playing guitar, and I spontaneously got the urge to write about things, a lot of things. Things I probably shouldn't think about, let alone write about.

As I may or may not stated, several times, I'm a neurotic, nostalgic, passionate hypocrite.

Though my neurosis may be self diagnosed, I assure you, it is there, and often displays itself in bouts of hysteria. I am over emotional, to the point where commercials make me cry, and my frustrations often leave me feeling like there's a foam bat following me around, hitting me in the head, continuously. I can see it vividly in my thoughts, it's a bright read bat, with a black handle that sort of looks like it may be wrapped in electrical tape (the handle, not the bat), the cartoon is Archie-like in style, and I'm a super-hot red head with great ass *sigh*.

My nostalgia is mostly based on feeling, where as I probably wouldn't repeat much of the crazy shit I've done that has gotten me to where I am today, though I would love to re-visit some of the intense feelings that have made me who I am. Actually making it home after getting caught at the zoo in a tornado, great feeling. The tornado part, not so much.

When I find myself passionate towards something, or someone, it often leaves me feeling (and acting) bat-shit crazy (I wasn't sure what made bat shit crazy, so I googled the term, and found references to t-shirts and Tom Cruise, still not sure where the term comes from, but it definitely means beyond crazy). Perhaps this is where my neurosis comes into play, I'm totally the type of person to return to a place I haven't been in years, just to see if the air still "breathes" the same. My passions often disguise themselves as obsessions, so if I'm stalking you, be flattered.

As for me being a hypocrite, I believe at some point in our lives we all are hypocrites. However, with every passing day I find that I am picking up traits that I despise in other people. For example: I'm emo-blogging. Everything sucks. There. I said it.

Not everything sucks. A lot of things suck, like my inability to divide myself into two people so that I can be in two places at once, or in one place at the same time, which sounds kind of kinky, if you ask me. I think too much about things I can't change, and neglect the things I should be doing. In my head (I still appear as a red-head), when time runs out, everything just starts over again, only I'll know what to change (I experience a lot of déjà vu to support this delusion).

All in all, I've completely forgotten what it was I wanted to write about, so enjoy my self-abusive rant, and if I remember what it was, I just might write about it another time. I think I'll buy some hair dye this weekend.

Cheers.

Here's The Thing.

I don't do well when I feel trapped, but then really, who does?

There's a lack of cars here. I needed to get antibiotics for my daughter this morning, and had to rely on a good neighbor to be willing to make the 20 minute trip (and that's just one way).

In reality, I have no one to blame but myself for my increasing stress. I'm the one that didn't feel like I needed a liscence until the day I actually needed one. I'm the one who chose to be a stay at home momm, making it harder for me to re-enter the workforce when I need to, not that it matters because I couldn't get to work anyway.

The basement we live in sort of flooded. I think that was probably my fault too.

Anyway, still working on that car thing.

I have no patience today, so I'm gonna stop here.

My Foot Bone's Connected To...

Either your ass bone, or my mouth bone (jaw?).

Anyway, this entry starts what I think I'll call April's Quest For a Mode of Transportation, or Aqfamot. I like that, Aqfamot.

So, here it is, Aqfamot:Day One.

It isn't quite day one. Day one would either be a) the day we moved here, b) the day I received my g1, or c) Sunday, when the secondary car at the house was totalled. For story purposes, I'm going to go with Sunday.

Here's what happened:

Sunday: Might-as-well-be-mother-in-law flips car while trying to avoid a plow on the way to church. Bye-bye car.

Monday: Neighbors offer might-as-well-be-mother-in-law (baby-daddy-mama?) old station wagon free of charge. Mother-in-law offers it to us.

Tuesday: Wagon doesn't start. Charge Wagon.

Wednesday: Neighbor gets wagon started, drives wagon to us. Tow picks up wagon for inspection. Inspection says don't waist your money.

Wednesday afternoon: Car-less. Again.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't super excited about the 1997 Ford Escort Wagon, roll down windows, tape deck, and all the other wonderful features (namely, key-less remote entry, and that's about it). I really was quite excited. In the 30-seconds that it was in my possession, I adjusted the seats, mirrors, and programmed the radio. I was quite happy.

But I think this is a good thing. It's made me realize that I would be content without all the options that cars come with today, like heated seats, and sun/moon roofs, 6 CD/MP3/DVD/PS3 hook ups (I may have watched one too many episodes of Pimp My Ride). Hopefully this realization will help me to save money on my first drivable car.

Realistically, I just want to be able to leave the house without a chaperon (not the hat), preferably comfortably, and maybe have some music to listen to on the way, and I will totally buy cassettes if I have to. I may even still have a copy of the Offspring laying around. Retro's cool anyway, right? -sigh-

That being said, there's a comment on a post (2 posts ago I believe) from someone I don't know, in a language I wasn't sure of (let's hear it for Babel Fish), and I want to say thanks for taking the time to read my stuff.

I don't really know how this blog thing works. Generally, I don't read other people's blogs, though I have recently discovered that I can browse random blogs simply by pushing a button. I have several notebooks from high school with random rants and scribbles by me, and I guess I sort of thought of my blog as a notebook, that if someone wanted to, could read. Like a non-private diary of sorts.

Perhaps, while I'm not working on Aqfamot, I will explore the wondrous world of the blogger.

In the mean time, thanks for reading.

It's Raining, It's Snowing, The Old Man Is - Wait, That's Not How That Song Goes.

It's been raining/snowing/slushing for the last 3 days, possibly longer, but I can't think that far back. Right now, it's a nice fluffly snow that causes momentary white outs.

I think the cats are hungry.

Now there are fed.

And the dog is being obnoxious.

I love pets. Personally I have 2 cats, but the household total consists of 3 cats and a rather large dog.

I used to have fish. Janice has my fish tank. Fish are great, and apparently owning fish relieves stress (until they start eating each other).

I can't really think of anything else to write, so I'll leave this here.