I am officially jeep-less. The signing of the papers and the transfer of the check went down last night, over beers in cans. (The last time I had a beer from a can was at least three years ago; it felt just as rednecky now as it did then. Or maybe it felt collegiate - going to school in Indiana can cause you to get the two scenarios confused.) Anyway, I woke up in a bit of a panic yesterday morning when I realized there was a lot of cleaning I had promised that hadn't been done yet. Six dollars in quarters, a small spray bottle of Armoral, a medium sized bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels later, and she was looking pretty good. Not surprisingly, that was the first time I had washed the jeep since I got her six years ago.
I had kind of been freaking out about not having a vehicle, and not being ready for a big change, but I think I was freaking out about being overwhelmed in general. When I started tuning up my bike and putting the fenders on (it's summer in Seattle, why wouldn't you need fenders?), I got excited. Things will be even more exciting if I can convince the Boeing Powers That Be that I should work from home one day a week, because you know, it's kind of a long haul to ride in EVERY day. Richard insisted that I have the Honda until I get the new ride, but we won't tell the PTB about that. So really, as far as getting around, there's nothing to freak out about. And besides, soon Adam will (probably) have two motor-powered means of transportation, one of which may be my other back up.
I'm almost positive the new car will be a Subaru Impreza. It's practical, utilitarian, and still has way more bells & whistles than the jeep. Apparently the one I'm ordering has leather interior, which I hope is more comfortable than the base model's cloth version. New Zealand Tony over at the dealership hasn't been able to produce a similar model to what I will order, which is kind of frustrating. The Subie (with Boeing employee pricing) will come in at approximately $10k less than either of the other two options, which is kind of a big chunk of change. The All4 Mini was super fun, super cute, and super cool, but was really just over the top for me. Too many buttons and options and costly accessories - if the point of this endeavor is better gas mileage and a vehicle I can lock up, the Subie does just fine. The other option was the Audi A3 deisel, and while I haven't even driven it, I can't imagine that it would be $10k better. $5k better, perhaps, but not ten. And the closest one is up in Bellingham and I just don't have four hours to trounce around testing a car I'm luke warm about already.
Hoping to get back to regular posting here, but I think I've said that before. Not sure if anyone is even still reading this, although I had a whopping 18 views today, which is at least 6 times more than I've ever had in a single day before. But I also don't recognize the webistes that are listed as the main recommenders to here, so I'm not sure the clientele is the targeted audience.
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