The last straw

I took the leap and traded in the Prius.  I got it out of the shop two Mondays ago, and last Thursday something else went wrong.  I sat in the car, in my driveway and screamed (I hope the neighbors didn't hear, but if they did, I don't care).  When Rob got home that night, I told him I was ready to get rid of it.  But, I think that story has a happy ending.  

The carfax report on the Prius didn't show it had been wrecked, but it had.  In Florida.  And, the repairs weren't done well.  But, because it's been repaired, the dealership says I bought it as-is and they're not responsible for things going wrong.  And, I decided I wasn't sinking another penny into a car I'd only owned 6 months.  The dealership says they didn't know it had been wrecked, but I don't believe that.  And, they were charging me premium prices for the repairs they were doing (Rob looked into it and said they had really overcharged me for the last work they did).  

So, we went to the Honda dealer.  

When I bought the Prius, it was a tense and overwhelming experience.  Like swimming upstream.  But, Saturday's experience at Howdy Honda was the exact opposite.  We had a great salesman and their finance manager was no pressure.  When they had us test drive, they sent us to drive...there wasn't a salesman sitting in the back seat watching over my shoulder.  We got to actually play with the car's features on the road.  We tried to push every button.  The finance manager clearly explained what my options were, and when we'd made our selections she didn't pressure me to try to buy more.  At the Toyota dealer, the finance guy wouldn't let me go and finally called his manager in to try to pressure me.  All that did was make me uncomfortable and defiant.  It didn't make me buy.  I actually bought extras this time because it was so easy to say yes to some and no to others.  And, I loved that we got to haggle over the price.  It was the whole old-fashioned buying experience with bargaining and trips to go talk to his manger.  I loved that part.  It made me feel like I was part of the experience.  There's no haggling at Toyota.  

This is my new car.  A Honda CRV Sport-L Hybrid.  It won't get the same gas mileage as the Prius, but it should do pretty good.  We haven't driven it enough to get a really good measure of gas mileage yet.  It had 36 miles on it when we bought it and we put 6 of those on it in the test drive.  It's ginormous inside compared to the Prius.  We took it on a road trip yesterday to have lunch in the country and it did great, even on that piece of freeway where the speed limit is 85!  It was roomy and spacious and quiet and smooth where the Prius had been none of those things.  

Sometimes, I think of us as a couple and the example we set for the world to see.  First, the sales people made us comfortable, so we were able to be ourselves.  And, they got to see a couple make a hard decision (between this one and a less expensive one).  They got to see us have very serious conversation and they got to see us laugh.  And, the salesman gave us privacy to talk.  Anybody that thinks gay couples operate differently than straight couples only needed to watch us buy a car to see there's no difference.  

After we bought it, we went to lunch.  I drove.  Rob navigated.  It was a good thing because I was in kind of a fog and it probably would have been suppertime before I made it to the restaurant.  We parked far, far away, where no one else was parked.  

On the way into the grocery yesterday, I asked Rob if he preferred beef or pork balogna, since that's going to be an important part of our retirement plan now.  

Last week, I took three days off.  I had oral surgery Wednesday, a pre-colonoscopy appointment on Thursday, and took Bella to the vet on Friday, after which she had some kind of a panic attack.  Between all that, I managed to get most of the baby quilt quilted.  

I even managed to get her name (Emma) quilted into it.  

All that's left is quilting the borders and the binding.  I have zero ideas about the borders.  I shall be seeking inspiration in pictures of other people's quilts.  Art inspires art.  

Now that it's cooling off a little (there's a big difference between 100*F and 108*F) things are starting to bloom again.  

The plumbago has taken off.

So has the thryallis.  This one wants to lean because of where it's planted, but I don't mind.  It makes it look like a bigger plant.  

These are purple Mexican petunias.  They get about 6' tall will take as much sun as you give them.  I keep them in part sun to control their growth.  They're secretly plotting to take over the world.  

This one doesn't look much different in the picture, but it's a pink Mexican petunia.  Next year, there will be a white one, too.  I found it in a neighbor's untended garden and pulled one stem that is thriving.  

This echinacea and I are getting familiar.  It's a lovely flower but the plant isn't like my other echinacea.  It doesn't like too much sun.  I've repotted it and added good dirt to the really crappy soil it came in that wouldn't hold water, but it still wilts in the heat.  I plan to put it in the ground this fall and I'm going to bare root it to get rid of that powdery stuff it came potted in.  

Okay, that's it for me today.  I have a physical this week where the doctor and I will discuss my weight and the effect it's having on the rest of my health and what she suggests to help me bring it down.  

They lied about people eating pets.  JD said they lied about it and that it was okay to lie.  And, still their loyal idiots follow.  My Daddy taught me that you can't trust someone that lies on purpose, because if they'll tell a little lie, they'll tell any lie.  And, we are hearing every lie.  And, they're getting away with it because they're telling the biggest lie of all, that white people are suffering from white racism.  And, many white people want to hear that so bad that they're willing to sacrifice their christian faith in order to pretend it's true.  

Whatever happened to sitting back and counting our blessings and celebrating all the magnificent things the Lord has done for us.  When did it start being about making sure no one else gets the opportunities that the average white person receives every day, just because they're white.  

Yes, I'm white and I am privileged as hell.  I know that.  But, instead of reserving that for myself, I want to see everyone be as privileged as hell.  

Lane