Swimming with sharks

Being quite the bargain-hunter - and probably insane - I've decided to venture out to The Lost World.

You know it as the local car dealership.

With prices low, rebates plentiful, and a great rate from my credit union, I figured we should at least LOOK. Our 04 Explorer runs fine, but when you pile all the kids in there, little space is left for other necessities, like groceries or luggage. We need a minivan - a big one.

My first trip out this weekend didn't yield much. The sales people looked only mildly desperate, and the reaction wasn't what I expected. (Since I have been offered meals before to buy a car - a cup of coffee on a rainy day would seem like the least they could do)

Perhaps I'll try again - I wasn't feeling well, hubby wasn't there, so it might not have come across as serious. Still, for an industry struggling...not the way to bring in this customer!

Coming Monday...

Be sure to return for Monday's post...

I've increased my car's MPG from 28 to 36 - and will save about $500 a year from it. Learn how easy (and free) it is, and make it work for YOU!

(And in the meantime, be sure to check out the post below for my GIVEAWAY!)

Random Tuesday Topics

Stuff that’s on my mind…perhaps even bugging me. Chime in if you have an opinion!

Door Dings

I have a newish car…it’s a 2004 model, but I just bought it less than three weeks ago, so it feels NEW to me. And this makes me SO mad.

We’ve all done it – you get out of your car, perhaps in a hurry, and realize you’ve just whacked the car next to you with your door. You surreptitiously check out the spot while pretending to look in your purse/check pockets for mystery item/fix offspring’s ratty hair. Most times, you sigh with relief when you see no damage…then hustle your family through whatever your errand was so you can, please g-d, leave before the other person gets back.

But what do you do when you see a big dent?

Me, I’ve been lucky enough to never dent a car. So I’ve got to guess that the answer is…NOTHING. Because somebody, most likely here AT MY WORK, whacked my new car hard enough to dent it and chip the paint down to the primer.

Man, am I pissed.

Gardasil for boys too

Our eldest daughter got her first shot of Gardasil this week…the HPV vaccine that is supposed to protect against cervical cancer. I’m all for this vaccine, even though it really does hurt more than other shots. (It’s not just whiney teenagers being dramatic)

I couldn’t help but wonder, however…as I gazed at the blond heads of my boys eating dinner last night…why aren’t boys getting the shot too? Ok, yes, the obvious reason of not having a cervix. Still, since HPV is an STD – that means men are carriers of the disease, and passing it around! Would it not stand to reason that we should immunize men too, so they can’t be carriers…and can’t pass HPV along to unprotected women?

Perhaps there’s something to either HPV or the transfer mechanism that prevents this – but I haven’t seen anything about that. If it’s just “men don’t get cervical cancer” as the reason…then that’s incredibly sexist!

Petfinder Spam

Don’tcha hate spam? The nasty canned meat, AND the email kind?

We have three little guinea pigs – the kids love them, but they are just too much to deal with. Plus, the eldest son and possibly eldest daughter seem to be allergic to them (or maybe it’s the bedding)…and hubby definitely is. So…we’re looking for new homes for Ashley, Spiky, and Squeaker. (Anyone interested?!?)

I’ve posted an ad on Craigslist, as well as one on PetFinder.com – and have been absolutely deluged with spam from PetFinder. Creepy ones, sent to 20 or 30 email addresses, saying, “I am interest in you Pet. I live in US, have good home” etc. I can’t decide if these are email-phishing attempts, scary people who want my name/address, or what. I’m just very, very sure that I’m unhappy with PetFinder!

Stupid Oregon drivers

There’s so much that can be said here – see “Door Dings” above. However, specifically I’m thinking of the idiot in the white Jetta this morning, who made a left turn across a busy road – against the red light – without even flashing his/her brake lights. If you drive a white Jetta, and made such a left across Brookwood in Hillsboro around 8am this morning – YOU ARE A F*#@ING IDIOT. I don’t think you heard me this morning, so just wanted to repeat.

Etsy Alchemy…it’s addicting. Yep.

My weekend....sigh

If there's one thing I truly hate, it's used car shopping. All-day meetings stink, 2-hour elementary-school talent shows are painful, and childbirth is agonizing....but I'd seriously consider paying someone to do my car shopping for me.

Unfortunately, it has to be done. We are a two car family - no way to get around it - but the current arrangement isn't working. Since we have 4 kids in our blended family, we kinda have to own a gas-guzzler to get us around. It's big, it's blue, it gets 18 mpg when conditions are right...and right now, it's my 'commuter' car.

Switch cars with hubby you say? Great idea - except his car, while a sedan with better gas mileage, is on its last leg. Plus, it's a manual transmission, and I never learned to drive a stick shift. Ever. I should learn, I know that, but it's beside the point. This car needs replaced, like a year ago.

So off we'll go this weekend, making the rounds of the used car dealerships. Right now, hubby is still a SAHD, so we don't have the money to buy the car I want - new, from a dealership that brings you coffee and offers dinner at a steak place while they finish detailing your car. :'(

Instead, we'll be at the smaller places, with THIS GUY circling us like a shark. If we're lucky, we'll find a babysitter so we don't have 4 kids chirping helpful tidbits to the salesguy, like "mom hates negotiating" and "dad's just pretending, he really wants the car". On the other hand, if we're lucky, we'll have 4 tired and cranky kids with us for an excuse to leave - "sorry about that tantrum in your showroom, can we just roll the repair costs into the car?"

If all goes well, we'll drive away in a reasonably priced, utterly boring sedan that gets 30mpg and excites NO ONE when you cruise past. Yeah.

Can I interest anyone in a temp job paying minimum wage? Just for Saturday, I promise!